Later that day, Ava suddenly asked Alja to book a restaurant nearby. There was no foreshadowing of the incident, and Ava didn't explain why.
Soon, the chefs came to Ava's kitchen and started working with their guys and ingredients on their shoulders.
At eight o'clock in the evening, everyone set up a long table in the hall, lit candles, and started a candlelight dinner. During the dinner, Ava took out the red wine that she had treasured for many years, and everyone except Hesta tasted some.
"Really don't want some?" Alja approached Hesta, "I don't know what happened to Ava today because she suddenly had a whim... If you miss today, you may never have the chance to drink it again!"
"I'm not used to drinking." Hesta smiled and shook his head, "Besides, I get drunk when I touch alcohol, so forget it."
"…Okay, okay, hey."
Under the soft light, the women's cups clinked together, making a crisp sound.
Like the last night reading meeting, everyone talked about many interesting topics at the dinner table, about the past, about the future, about everyone's hometown and ambitions. Ava was still as witty as last time, and Hesta's eyes were still a little red and swollen. She didn't want other people's eyes to fall on her, and just listened silently.
At the end of the dinner, Hesta felt that she was exhausted to the extreme. She urgently needed to go back to the basement to take a nap. After all, she still had a lot to do in the second half of the night. However, before going downstairs, Ava called out to her.
Hesta followed Ava and came to the glass house again. The book that Ava had read in the afternoon was still on the coffee table. Ava picked up the book and handed it to her, "For you, Jane."
Hesta took it. The book was very thin and old, with a black title printed on the light gray cover: "Origin".
"...What is this about?" Hesta asked.
"You'll know it after you see it." Ava whispered.
Hesta returned to the basement with the book. She turned on the lamp and discovered that the cover of the book must have been bound later.
Underneath the word "Origin" on the title page is Ava's handwriting:
The Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State
Hesta looked at this line of writing.
Is this the full title of the book? Or is it Ava’s summary of the book? Hesta is currently unknown. She opened the pages of the book and browsed through the table of contents. She found that there were many unheard of place names and ethnic groups. At the same time, although there were two prefaces and the first chapter in the table of contents of the book, the actual text started from the second chapter. To begin with - it's not quite complete.
Hesta reluctantly read a page and a half, feeling lost in the clouds, so she quickly closed the book and put it on the desk. This book "Origin" made her less interested, and she had no intention of reading it for the time being.
The sound of other people moving around could be heard in the open space outside the cell.
Hesta slumped down on the chair, and the sleepiness she had felt during the dinner had been swept away. Although she still felt very tired and tired, her whole body was so awake that she couldn't be more awake. Some thoughts were rushing in her mind. It made her unable to sleep.
Hestad leaned over the desk in the cell again. She spread out a piece of manuscript paper and carefully refilled the pen with ink. After making all preparations, she wrote a line of words on the paper.
"Dear Liz:"
As soon as this cute name fell on the paper, Hesta felt a sore nose. Her hand holding the pen unconsciously exerted force, but the pen tip was still shaking.
Hesta had to take a deep breath and stopped writing.
Tears fell freely like summer rain. They wet the letter paper and blurred the wet handwriting. Hesta looked up at the ceiling for a while, then threw herself on the table and buried her face in her arms.
After a moment, she straightened up and took another piece of paper, frowning and continued writing.
Dear Liz:
This is another letter that I can't send because I really don't know your address.
How have you been over the past month or so? The weather in the third district is getting colder and colder. It may snow soon. Once it snows, winter will come... I think this will be a winter that I will never forget.
Tonight, many people and I were sitting around Ava's living room chatting, and suddenly everyone started talking about their hometown. Someone asked me where my hometown is, but I couldn’t answer. According to their definition, hometown should not only be the place where a person is born and grow up, it should also be a place that people miss and cherish deeply, because where a person's hometown is, her roots are there.
I never seem to have a place like this.
So I asked Ava if there were people in the world who were born without a hometown. Ava said there were, and there were many.
Another girl was surprised and said, how could a person not have a hometown? A wandering person may live a life that moves to many places, but there will always be one or two places she wants to return to.
At that time, I thought carefully about Short Ring Lane, St. Anne's Abbey, and the Reserve Base... I think each of them left some mark on me, but my roots are rooted in them. Somewhere... I don't think so.
Later, Ava said that if people are compared to seeds, some people are lucky because they grow wherever they are born; others have a rougher time. Although they are also seeds, they have been unable to find them. to soil suitable for them.
Most of them can only be trapped in the dark underground throughout their lives. The nutrients that the land can provide them are so poor that forcing them to sprout will only cause them to be exhausted prematurely and then wither prematurely. These people were born without a hometown.
I don’t know why, but when I heard Ava say these words, I suddenly thought of you and myself. At that moment, I realized that I actually have a hometown. My hometown is Askia, which you once described to me.
But Liz, I have only recently realized that some of the things we took for granted may have never existed in this world. There has never been a moment like this when I wish you were still with me, but I also understand that this is not a world you will like, Liz, this world is not worthy of you.
Askia gave birth to you and brought you to me, telling me that besides the jungle, there is another ideal land in this world. There, everyone is ashamed to bully the weak, and the weak do not have to suffer bullying because of their lack of strength, because there is a group of lovely people there who are always ready to defend a peaceful order with their blood and sweat.
Under this order, everyone is interdependent, there is no oppression, no slaughter, everyone and every seed grows freely in the wind and in the soil...
Liz, does such a world really exist?
If so, I really want to go there.
Can you wait for me there?
I dreamed about you last night. I dreamed about you telling me about your experiences in the afterlife. Just like before in Wulian, you and I complained about the strange behaviors of some ghosts. You are still as enthusiastic about your work as before, handling every trivial matter at hand responsibly.
But Liz, I know, I know that there is no world after death in this world. If all dead souls can still wander around the world, there will not be so many sinful people in this world who can still survive. You are gone, you have completely left me, but Roger is still alive in this world...
I can't write any more, Liz, I have some other work waiting for me tonight.
I hope you are well.
your painful friend
simple
