The next time he saw Ai Qing was six years later in Vienna.
She walked on the red carpet with her crutches and walked into the Golden Hall that Huai Shi once dreamed of. Standing next to her piano, she received applause and praise from the world.
Huai Shi and the teacher sat below the stage.
They witnessed the arrival of the peak of her life.
"Are you envious?" The teacher sitting next to him asked, "If you hadn't given up, you might be standing here now."
"To be honest, a little."
Huai Shi nodded, and then shook his head indifferently, "But I missed it all, didn't I?"
"It's not too late to pick up the cello again," the teacher said, "It doesn't matter if you start from scratch. I've recently retired, and I'm very free."
"… Thinking about it, it's still very difficult."
Huai Shi smiled bitterly and looked down at his calloused hands, "To be honest, I'm already rusty with the bow technique, and I don't have time to learn from scratch."
"Is the northwest very busy?"
"The water project is very troublesome, and the budget is not enough. Many times, I have to do it myself." Huai Shi shrugged, "To be honest, I rarely take a bath. This time, I washed several times in the hotel, and I felt that my hair and feet were full of the smell of dirt … Coming here, I feel rustic, and I'm a shame to Xiao Qing."
Over the years, he wandered around the world like a vagrant.
He saw too many people who were once as helpless as he was. Even if they tried their best to do something within their power, it was still not enough.
What could a person accomplish with all his strength?
Compared to the really huge difficulties, the money that was enough for a person to live a lifetime without worrying about food and clothing was still too small.
It could not even bring a trivial water source to the stranded villages in the Wilderness.
He could only try again.
But the results were very little.
"It's good that you can come." The teacher patted his knee and stared at his daughter on the stage, "How was your chat backstage just now?"
"A few words." Huai Shi shook his head. "It's been too long. We're too unfamiliar with each other. Instead, we don't know what to talk about. We can only greet each other like strangers. Every time she's so cold, it always makes me wonder if I did something wrong back then."
"Everyone makes mistakes. If a person can't even make a mistake in life, that would be too sad."
The teacher comforted him. "Although most of the time I feel that it was a mistake for you to give up the cello, sometimes I think that if you didn't give up, you might not have achieved what you have today, and you wouldn't have been able to help so many people.
The student aid program, Dawn Education, and the water source project … Many people have succeeded because of you. Huai Shi, you don't have to be depressed. You should hold your head high for them. "
Huai Shi nodded and said nothing more.
"The performance is over. Let's go backstage to pick her up."
The teacher slowly got up. Huai Shi reached out to support her. Only then did he realize that there were wrinkles on the back of her hand. Unknowingly, her hair gradually revealed a trace of white.
Huai Shi was stunned.
"I'm old. Is this something to be surprised about?" The teacher chuckled softly.
"You're only fifty years old. You're still young," Huai Shi said.
"You're the ones who are still young."
The teacher said, "You still have a chance to make mistakes before you get old —"
She never knew how to speak softly and treat people with gentleness.
No matter how rebellious a child was, she could always guide them on the right track with a smile.
As long as she was behind him, Huai Shi could move forward with confidence.
But a year later, he suddenly received news that his teacher was critically ill.
She had a sudden cerebral hemorrhage.
It was said that she fell when she was going down the stairs.
At that time, Huai Shi was at the construction site when he received a call from Ai Qing. When the other end of the phone told him the news, he was stunned.
He stood there in disbelief.
At that time, everyone was still celebrating the completion of the project. In the jubilant atmosphere, Huai Shi sat on the ground. A few confused children surrounded him and wanted to pull him up, but they felt that this uncle was like a stone.
So heavy and without any warmth.
Huai Shi said goodbye to his colleagues in a daze. He took a six-hour car ride to the airport. After waiting for midnight, he took a plane to Xin Hai.
When the plane finally rose from the ground, he suddenly remembered what his teacher had once said.
"No matter how attractive art is, it can't be compared to things that are more direct and heavier … Huai Shi, art is floating in the clouds, but there will always be people who can't adapt to a floating life and will choose to step on the ground."
When he chose to step on the ground, he couldn't find a place to feel safe. But when he flew into the clouds again, he realized that he couldn't find a place to return.
He covered his face and finally let out a muffled cry.
Like a child who had lost his mother.
.
When Huai Shi arrived at the room, his teacher was already awake.
It was like he had used up all the good luck in his life.
It was a false alarm.
Outside the room, after he heard about the situation, he collapsed to the ground. Sweat poured down his back. His hands trembled as he climbed up, and he could not help but laugh like an idiot.
When Ai Qing accompanied him inside the room, he grabbed the doctor's hand and asked about his condition again and again. Then he asked about the things that he should pay attention to. The doctor seemed to have seen his share of questions. He only patted his shoulder and waited for him to calm down.
He sat on the chair outside the room and waited blankly.
Until the door was pushed open and Ai Qing walked out with a walking stick. She told him, "Mother is waiting for you inside."
He hesitated for a long time, but he could not summon up the courage.
Suddenly, someone kicked him from behind.
It was Ai Qing.
"You keep hesitating. It's so annoying."
She closed the door.
Huai Shi was stunned for a long time. "Her leg is healed? When was it? "
"Two years ago, she had the surgery."
The old woman on the bed spoke. "I wanted to tell you, but she stopped me. She kept thinking about when it would be like this … Haha, you must be scared, right?"
The old woman's pale face squeezed out a mischievous smile.
He did not know that she was referring to his condition.
Or to Ai Qing's recovery.
Huai Shi was stunned for a long time. Finally, he could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. "Teacher, it's good that you're fine."
"It's just a fall. There's no need to make a fuss." The teacher shook her head. "You walked too far, didn't you? It took you so long to walk … If I were critically ill, I wouldn't even be able to see you for the last time. "
"I'm sorry." Huai Shi lowered his head.
The teacher on the bed laughed. "Saying sorry means that you think you've made a mistake. You seem to always make mistakes, Huai Shi."
"Yes." Huai Shi nodded.
"But in a person's life, they have to do something right, don't they?
In the long silence, Huai Shi was stunned.
He could not refute, but … he did not know what to say.
He could only lower his head. "I'm sorry."
"What have you done to me this time, Huai Shi?" The old woman shook her head. "The things you've done over the years … Dawn Education, the Northwest Water Conservancy Project, and the student aid program. Are these things wrong? Everyone is grateful for the help you do for them, Huai Shi, but have you forgotten yourself? "
"I just …"
"You just haven't found it yet. I know." The old woman sighed. "But before helping everyone, shouldn't you help yourself first?"
"Why can't you look back occasionally when you're walking forward?" The old woman looked into his eyes and whispered, "Look at me, look at Xiao Qing, look at your friends … because we're also looking at you, waiting for you to come back one day."
"…"
Huai Shi was stunned.
In the silence, the old woman listened to the music on the TV and hummed softly, "How man's road smustaman walkdown?"
How many roads did a person have to walk to become a man?
Huai Shi did not know.
But at this moment, he had an unprecedented regret and uneasiness. He had walked such a long road, and how long had he made those people who were staring at him wait?
Was it so important to become a man?
Over the years, he had traveled around the world in fear and confusion, like a wandering soul with nowhere to go. Even if he had done all he could to do those things, could it really make him feel satisfied?
"Huai Shi, love makes people choose to wait." The teacher suddenly whispered, "But don't let the people who love you wait too long."
At that moment, he finally came to a realization.
"Do you understand?"
The old woman smiled and gently raised her hand to comb his hair. She was full of joy. "Go, go — do the right thing.
You still have the possibility to save all of this before you really get old. "
Huai Shi looked at the teacher reluctantly, turned around, and ran away.
He almost bumped into Ai Qing, who had just entered the door.
"Are you crazy!" Ai Qing looked at him running away in shock. She looked back at her mother blankly. "What's wrong with him? Is he on drugs? “
The old woman on the hospital bed laughed.
"Probably … he's finally grown up?"
.
Huai Shi ran in the wind.
He pulled off the cumbersome backpack and threw it aside. He tore off his bow tie and ran with all his might. As if instinctively, he rushed to a certain place, to a certain place where someone was.
To the place where she was waiting for him.
Until he was so tired that he could not breathe and staggered forward, he finally found the silhouette in his memory that was becoming clearer and clearer.
She was still there.
When he looked back in shock, he saw the face that he had not seen for a long time. The sincere outline of the young man still remained.
Even if he was in such a sorry state.
For a moment, Huai Shi felt an unprecedented joy.
Thank God.
She was still here.
Huai Shi used the last of his strength, took a deep breath, and summoned all of his courage.
"Fu Yi."
He said, "I have something to tell you —"
From then on, it was a long time.
.
[The End. One of them]
Then, at the moment when everything came to an end.
Time started again, and everything was renewed.
Huai Shi opened his eyes again and heard a familiar voice.
"Name?"
.
.
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