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Epilogue
Another new year.
Shen Ce is the only surviving descendant of the eldest grandson of the long house. The Shen family's old house in Macau was completely handed over to Shen Ce and Zhao Zhao. On the roof of the collection building, he built a small building upstairs, and built a flower house larger than the small building and the Montreal flower house. Zhaozhao put the gardener on leave for a few days in advance. During the Spring Festival, she took care of the flowers.
Before the New Year's Eve dinner, don't know who came up with the idea first, asking everyone to eat in the flower room.
There were no outsiders in the family during the New Year. The men of the Shen family moved tables and moved flower pots, the women served dishes and set up several tables. There were the fewest people in the long house, only Uncle Shen, Mother Zhaozhao, as well as Shen Ce and Zhaozhao. The four of them couldn't make up a table and merged with the old people.
The people at this table are of a large generation, and of course it has become the object of toasts for the whole family.
Zhaozhao didn't eat a few chopsticks, and all the people around him during the meal were: "little auntie, little auntie..." She just hoped that everyone would grow up slowly, not to be called grandma before they were 30 years old.
"In the past, this Spring Festival was not a festival, it was called New Year's Day, and it was called New Year's Day." The old housekeeper and his wife were also at this table. The old housekeeper was happy when he saw the family carnival scene, and started talking, "In 1914, everyone just left the Qing government, They all wanted to get rid of the old and innovate. At that time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that in the future, the first day of the lunar calendar should be taken care of. The Dragon Boat Festival is called the Summer Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival is the autumn festival, and the winter solstice is the winter festival. The original 'New Year's Day' was moved to the first month of the solar calendar. It's been a day. You see it's been called for almost a hundred years, and you're used to it."
The chatterbox opened, and the old man at the table couldn't hold it back. He talked about the last century, the situation when the Shen family first arrived in Macau, and the changes before and after the handover. Uncle Shen thought of the original intention of the Shen family's move to Macau, and was filled with emotion: "I met Baoying because Macau has opened the license. You see how busy Taipa Island is now, and it was all built after the license was released. It's not easy. Ah, to this day."
Shen Ce listened a lot and didn't say much.
When it was late, the old man went back to his room to rest, leaving a group of young people here.
The children gathered around, and according to their parents' instructions: this is the newest couple in the family, and the wedding banquet is on the Lantern Festival. Tonight, everyone will warm up first, especially the children will be surrounded by them, adding blessings and joy to them. Everyone focused on the two of them, chatting and talking, mentioning Zhaozhao's ability to distinguish incense.
Shen Yan made a commotion and asked everyone to bring flowers and try the skills of "Shen's new daughter-in-law".
Her eyes were covered with a scarf and her nose was exposed.
At first, everyone followed the rules and brought in flowers, such as Sparrow, Camellia, Strelitzia, Antlers and Begonia, etc... Later, aloe vera was brought on the stage, bamboo was brought up, and cactus had to be tried. It's a pity that there is no difficulty in the slightest. If there is any taste, Zhaozhao will catch it as soon as he smells it.
"The last two." Shen Yan thought of a strange move.
She waited. A potted plant was moved and placed on the ground.
"Galan."
No suspense, guess right.
"the last one."
Strangely this time, there was no movement of the flowerpot falling to the ground, or the footsteps of people carrying small potted plants. Very shallow, familiar aroma, her heart is gradually clear.
"Shen Ce." She reached out and touched the front of the man's shirt, confirming it.
The whole room answered her with laughter, Zhaozhao untied his scarf and met his smiling eyes.
"Why don't you praise me?" She handed him the scarf.
"As expected." He answered as a matter of course, and if he couldn't tell, it was not Shen Zhaozhao.
Liang Jinshan opened her eyes and called it amazing.
"The husband and wife are deeply in love." Shen Yan said. Liang Jinshan glanced at her childhood sweetheart husband, then leaned in to smell it, shook her head and denied: "Let me come, I can't do it."
The children were sent to sleep first when they kept the new year until late at night.
The last group left to clean up are the same age. The men moved the table to clear the dishes, and the women returned the bonsai in the flower room. "I thought you raised all kinds of rare and exotic plants in the flower house. I have been to Shen Ce's mother's flower house a few times, but I have never seen it before," Liang Jinshan said, "I didn't expect you to keep so many tiger thorn plums. But You have raised this plum so well, like a tree."
Clivia, thorn plum and narcissus are the favorites of the older generation to keep at home, because they are easy to raise and do not need to be taken care of. They are the four seasons flowers.
But Zhaozhao raising tigers and thorns plums is different from ordinary people.
Although there are more than a dozen pots of small bonsai, they are all raised to play. The most eye-catching and well-cared-for large pots of thorny plums are all located in the northeast corner of the flower house. Not a single large pot has a dozen thorny branches, each of which is nearly two meters high, standing in this pot of thorny branches. It's like entering a forest of thorns.
When they looked up, they could see clusters of crimson petals that were very much like red plums.
"I like its name," Zhaozhao said.
"Tiger thorn plum," Liang Jinshan looked up at the flowers, "It's alright to call it thorn plum, why should it be tiger thorn plum?"
Where is the tiger?
Zhaozhao shook his head and stared at the plants: "Who knows."
On the morning of the first day of the new year, Shen Ce took her away from home early in the morning and walked around.
The Macao Tourism Office has held many Chinese New Year activities. The first day of the new year is naturally the most lively. They happened to meet the Golden Dragon Parade team on the side of the road. Shen Ce was afraid that she would be crowded by the crowd, so he took her to hide in a shop. When someone opened a shop to do business, it was always unethical to occupy a seat for no reason. When entering the shop, Shen Ce gave her the hot egg tarts first, let her eat, and asked the boss to decide. A batch of pork jerky was prepared as a gift, ready to be picked up in the next two days and sent to the branch in Jiujiang as an additional New Year gift from the head office during the New Year holiday. The boss, who used to be watching the excitement around the door of the store, suddenly made a big business, happily saying that the golden dragon is auspicious and the new year is auspicious.
"Have there been New Year's Days in the past?" She ate all the egg tarts and asked Shen Ce, "Did it start in the Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties, or the Southern and Northern Dynasties?"
"It originated in Shun," he replied. "Shun succeeded the emperor and led his subjects to worship heaven and earth, and that day will be the beginning of the year from now on."
Zhaozhao nodded, thinking that the ancestors are really powerful, and it is thousands of years of inheritance at every turn.
Suddenly, two actors in ancient costumes, dressed as the God of Wealth, passed by. When they saw such a beautiful girl at the entrance of the store, they gave a golden ingot as a gift to passersby, and Zhaozhao hugged them with a smile. There were too many people outside the door, and she couldn't leave for a while. She stuffed all the plastic gold ingots as gifts to Shen Ce, and ran to the place where she tried the pork jerky, trying this and that. Shen Ce is the first big customer in the new year, and the owner is warmly entertained and recommends her various tastes.
"Black pepper is delicious," she commented.
"Is your appetite so good today? You eat a lot for breakfast." He asked behind her.
Zhaozhao smiled, took a half step back, and leaned on him: "I like pork the most, it's not like you don't know."
She ate and said, "When I was sleeping last night, I thought of something and forgot to tell you. You see, famous families in ancient times liked to add a place name to their name. Should they live here in the past? Call you"
She picked out a satay-flavored piece to try, as if thinking.
After a few seconds, he turned around and asked, "Chai Sang and Shen Ce?"
He was silent.
Every time she looked at the long scroll in the collection building, she would become more convinced that the story of the white tiger and the red flower that Shen Ce told herself should have happened in Chai Sang thousands of years ago. His strong feelings for Chai Sang and the riverside are melted into every inch of ink.
"Is it right?" Seeing that Shen Ce didn't answer, she asked him.
"Yes," he replied softly, he was about to speak, then stopped, stopped for half a minute, and regained a steady tone, "but before the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was another name for men."
"Lang Jun?" She noticed, "Yes, I read it in the book."
She recalled the stories of characters that have been circulating for hundreds of years, and analogized his name: "It should be called Shen Lang, Chai Sang Shen Lang."
He was sure that she did not understand the meaning behind these words, and remained silent.
The boss cut a few pieces of new flavors and handed them to her, Zhaozhao smiled, took the minced pork breast in the white porcelain bowl, and pondered the four characters of Chai Sang Shen Lang, even more romantic. If you are on the bank of a river, a figure in front of the waves...
She raised her eyes and looked at Shen Ce.
The "God of Wealth" who distributed gold ingots took pictures with a group of children at the door. There is no river water, no smoke and waves, only the lively streets of Macau during the New Year, the fragrant egg tarts and milk...
In fact, she didn't say what she wanted to say.
"I've been stumped by something recently," she looked at him seriously, "and wanted to ask you."
Shen Ce saw joy in her eyes, and estimated that she wanted to be amused, smile, and wait for her crazy ideas.
"If," she asked quietly, after a deliberate pause, "I have a baby, guess who it is?"
He stopped for the second time in just two minutes.
"I wanted to tell you yesterday," she smiled happily, proud that she scared him, "but then I thought about it, it's better to give you as a New Year's gift."
He had long lost his mocking mood and stared at her.
She didn't expect that he would be shaken to such a degree, she took his hand and said, "I didn't lie to you, I also feel it suddenly. I have endured so hard these days. I want to say it directly and share it with you every minute."
He pursed his lips slightly, as if he had a lot to say... People who don't know his temperament can't even tell whether he is happy or angry.
But Zhaozhao knew that she knew him and knew that he was speechless with joy.
She swayed her right hand in front of Shen Ce's eyes and said softly, "If you don't respond again, the boss will think I'm forcing marriage..."
Suddenly, she was hugged.
She consciously leaned in front of him and closed her eyes.
The strength of Shen Ce's arm answered all her questions.
...
Since Zhao Zhao said that he had his flesh and blood, the most unforgettable scene that had been branded deep in his heart drowned him.
She opened her eyes, tears were falling down, trying to see him clearly, they were all an outline, a shadow. His fingers slid in his palm, unable to draw a complete word.
No one could see it, and the half word left in his palm was "take". She didn't dare to finish the "marriage", until she died, she was hesitating and wandering, not wanting him to know, not wanting to embarrass him...
The words that she could not finish in the past are finally fulfilled today.
He put his arms around her waist and opened his eyes. People in ancient costumes were still busy, smiling, sending stacks of gold ingots and auspicious blessings to tourists and children in the past. Zhao Zhao in his arms has a very faint aroma that is rarely seen in ordinary people, the smell of incense when it burns out... In the past, when he saw the incense ashes that were not scattered in the furnace, all he thought of were words related to the end.
realized now,
Burning incense into ashes is not a kind of pious expectation, but a silent response to countless prayers.
All life and death are due to reincarnation. Cloudy and sunny, round and short, everything is complete.
—— The end of the network ——