A snowflake floated in front of Zhang Xiaozu's eyes and landed on the back of his hand. It was immediately melted into snow water by his body temperature, leaving a drop of cold water stain.
Zhang Xiaozu looked stunned, looked up at the gray sky, and found snowflakes falling from the sky.
Although sparse, the snowflakes are very big, each one is as big as a pinky fingernail.
This is the biggest snowflake Zhang Xiaozu has ever seen.
"Grandpa, it's snowing! What big snowflakes!" Zhang Xiaozu turned to Butcher Zhang's sedan and shouted, his voice full of surprise.
Growing up in the south, he had only seen snowfall a handful of times since he was a child. Each time it snowed, the duration was very short, and the snowflakes were as small as fine sand.
However, even though the snow falls very slowly, every time it snows, the children can still make them howl with joy, and even the adults will be surprised and run out of the house to see the snow.
Butcher Zhang opened the car curtain, stretched out his hand to catch a snowflake, and asked with a smile: "You rarely see such big snowflakes in the south, right?"
Zhang Xiaozu nodded and said: "The snow in the south is as light as fine sand."
"Haha, I was as surprised as you when I first came to Northern Xinjiang and saw such big snowflakes."
Butcher Zhang looked up at the gray sky and said with a smile, "It looks like the snow will be heavy. You can feast your eyes on it."
"Awesome!" Zhang Xiaozu said happily.
As Butcher Zhang said, the snow got heavier and heavier, and finally it was so heavy that it covered the sky and the sun, and the sky and the earth were completely white.
The wind started to pick up, blowing snowflakes straight into people's necks.
drive!
Zhang Xiaopeng got so playful that he drove his thundering and flaming horse to run wildly in the wind and snow.
Butcher Zhang was sitting in the sedan chair, lighting the stove, listening to Zhang Xiaopou's cheerful shouts, and wanted to let time stay at this moment for a while, so that he could spend more time with his grandson.
But the bearers carrying the sedan couldn't hear his voice, and kept speeding up under the urging of the strong wind and heavy snow.
The road that was not far from the city gate came to an end in a short while.
The heavy snow adds a quiet color to Eternal City. Ancient buildings stand quietly in the wind and snow, telling the long history.
In an ordinary small courtyard in Dongcheng District, Zhang Guangyao stood under the eaves and looked at the snowy sky. His eyes were unfocused because his thoughts were no longer on the snow in front of him.
He was about the same height as Butcher Zhang, but unlike Butcher Zhang, he looked very thin, giving the impression that a gust of wind could blow him over.
His thin cheeks were morbidly pale, and his cheekbones were raised due to being too thin, which made his facial features look a bit deformed and his original appearance could not be seen. Only by careful observation could you barely tell that Zhang Xiaozhu looked similar. He is slightly similar.
"Sir, the wind is getting stronger and stronger. Be careful of catching a cold. Go back to the house quickly." The servant Zhang Quan took out a gray cloak from the house and put it on him, and advised him to go back to the house.
His thoughts were interrupted by Zhang Quan's voice. He lowered his head and rubbed his eyes that were sore from being opened for too long. Then he tightened his cloak and said, "Zhang Quan, when the snow stops, how about we go to the Imperial Capital to play?"
"Ah?" Zhang Quan was stunned for a moment and didn't react. He wondered if he had heard wrong, because his master had not left the Eternal City for more than ten years. To be precise, he had not left the courtyard for sixteen years. .
"I said I wanted to go to the imperial capital," Zhang Guangyao said.
Zhang Quan heard it clearly this time, and his face was like a flower in bloom for a moment, a smile of great surprise bloomed, and he shouted: "That's really great!"
His eyes were red with excitement and tears almost fell.
He was not happy and excited to go to the imperial capital, but happy and excited that his master could step out of the courtyard.
As Zhang Guangyao's personal servant, he knew very well that his master was not only physically ill, but also mentally ill. If the mental illness was not cured, it would be difficult to cure the physical illness.
Zhang Quan felt that this courtyard was a prison that his master had drawn for him. Only if he took the initiative to walk out of this prison could he hope to cure his heart disease. So when he heard his master say that he wanted to play in the imperial capital, That's why he was so excited.
"What's so good?" A woman poked her head out of the kitchen and asked curiously, looking at the master and servant under the eaves in front of the door.
This woman's name is Pearl, and she is Zhao Guangyao's maid. She is boiling medicine for Zhang Guangyao in the kitchen.
In this small courtyard, there are only three masters and servants living in front of them.
"I said I would go to the Imperial City to have some fun when the snow stops." Zhang Quan told Pearl loudly, for fear that she wouldn't hear.
"Really...really?" Pearl's reaction was the same as Zhang Quan's just now.
It's just that as a woman, she seems more emotional, and tears fall down when she gets excited.
She quickly put her head back into the kitchen, wiped away the tears on her face, and then shouted in a tearful voice: "Zhang Quan, go and get ready. The snow will stop tomorrow, and we can set off tomorrow."
In fact, she couldn't wait to leave now, fearing that her master would regret it.
"okay!"
Zhang Quan knew what Pearl was thinking, so he happily responded and ran into the room to pack his things.
He decided to set out regardless of whether it would snow or not tomorrow, so as to avoid a long night and many dreams.
Zhang Guangyao looked at the sky, his thoughts drifting into the distance again, falling on the distant imperial capital city, and on his unmasked son.
That day, when his mother came to tell him that he had a son, he thought that her mother was ill again. Even when his senior sister Wan Qingqiu explained, he didn't believe it. He felt that the senior sister was following his mother's words to appease the old man's emotions.
It wasn't until the two reported Zhang Xiaozu's name and life experience as an orphan, and told him that the Shen family in Zhongzhou sent people to capture Zhang Xiaozu, that he slowly accepted the shocking news in unbelievable shock.
He was so happy and excited that he didn't hold back his emotions and cried in front of his mother and senior sister.
However, after being happy, he felt deeply guilty and self-blame. Thinking that Zhang Xiaozu was already seventeen years old, not only had he failed to fulfill his responsibilities as a father, but he did not even know that he had such a son. He felt that he was too embarrassed to see Zhang Xiaozu and did not dare to do so. I didn’t know how to face Zhang Xiaozu’s questioning, and in the end I didn’t muster up the courage to go to the imperial capital with Huang Daonv and Wan Qingqiu to find Zhang Xiaozu.
But the appearance of Zhang Xiaozu revived his hopeless heart, and made him start to face reality little by little, after blindly choosing to escape.
So he thought a lot during this period, and recalled his whole life, and then he realized that he was nothing.
The old father and mother are already a hundred years old, but they are still working hard for the mistakes he made, and may even risk their lives. But he is hiding behind his elderly parents like a giant baby, enjoying their happiness with peace of mind. Hard work and dedication.
He was ashamed of his parents, his son, and even Zhang Quan and Zhenzhu who had taken good care of him for more than ten years.
In addition, he felt ashamed of a woman and didn't know if she was doing well or not. Was she already married to someone else?
Full of guilt, he struggled to muster up the courage to make up for everything he could.
Such thoughts were like the flame of rebirth. Once ignited in his heart, it was difficult to extinguish.
At this moment, he desperately wanted to go to the imperial capital, wanted to see his son, and wanted to know what his son would look like when he was born. Does he look more like him, or more like a child and his mother?
Boom, boom, boom!
A series of knocks on the door interrupted Zhang Guangyao's thoughts.
The knock on the door was not very loud, and was instantly drowned in the roar of the wind and snow.
Zhang Guangyao looked at the courtyard gate, not sure if he heard correctly, because he was lost in thought just now.
Zhang Quan was packing things in his room and Pearl was boiling medicine in the kitchen. Neither of them heard.
Boom, boom, boom!
A moment later the knock on the door rang again, followed by a voice: "Is anyone home?"
Zhang Guangyao heard clearly this time and immediately responded: "I'm at home, here I am."
Because he doesn't go out all year round, and except for the old man and the old lady who occasionally send someone to deliver something or send a message, no one else comes over, so the gate of his yard is basically bolted every day.
"Master, it's windy and snowy. Go back to the house quickly, and I'll open it, my slave." Pearl heard the door being called and came out of the kitchen. Seeing Zhang Guangyao trying to open the door despite the wind and snow, she quickly asked him to go back to the house.
"You go about your business, I'll drive it." Zhang Guangyao waved his hand at Pearl and quickened his pace towards the courtyard gate.
Pearl couldn't help being stunned when she saw this, because before, Zhang Guangyao would hide in the house almost in fear whenever he heard a knock on the door, but now he actually rushed to open the door, which surprised Pearl.
After a brief daze, Pearl couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth with a happy smile. She felt that her master's heartache was really about to be solved, or maybe... it had already been solved.
Zhang Guangyao walked to the door, a flash of panic flashing in his eyes.
Just as Pearl thought, he had been avoiding, rejecting and afraid of meeting strangers for more than ten years, so he would hide in the room whenever he heard a knock on the door.
Now he wants to make changes, face it bravely, and stop escaping, but the habits he has developed over more than ten years cannot be changed at once.
So when faced with the knocker outside the door, he still wanted to avoid it conditionally.
However, he only hesitated for a moment, then he pulled open the door latch with a loud bang, and then opened the courtyard door with all his strength.
Squeak——
With the old door shaft making a slightly harsh friction sound, the door slowly opened.
call--
The strong wind rushed in with heavy snow, hitting Zhang Guangyao's face. At the same time, a young man wearing dark green brocade clothes at the door came into his sight.
"Who are you looking for?"
Zhang Guangyao looked at the young man in front of him and frowned slightly, showing a thoughtful expression, because he felt that the young man looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.
"Hello." The young man bowed respectfully first, and then said with a slightly reserved expression: "I'm looking for Uncle Zhang Guangyao."
"Who are you? Why are you looking for him?" Zhang Guangyao asked.
"My name is Zhang Xiaozu, and I am his lost child." Zhang Xiaozu replied nervously.
He originally wanted his grandfather to accompany him, but his grandfather said that he would restrain his father, so it was better for him to come alone. Maybe when his father saw him, the accumulated emotions in his heart would burst out and his heartache would be cured.
So Zhang Xiaopeng bit the bullet and was led by a servant of the Zhang Mansion.
But the servant obviously got Zhang Butcher's advice. He just walked Zhang Xiaopou to the door and turned around to leave, leaving Zhang Xiaopou alone in the wind and snow, nervous and uneasy.
"I...I...I..."
Zhang Guangyao wanted to say that he was Zhang Guangyao, but he didn't even say it three times because his throat was so choked that he couldn't speak.
He suddenly understood why Zhang Xiaozu looked familiar, because Zhang Xiaozu's eyes and mouth looked so much like Shen Wenjun.
Then tears welled up from his eyes unsatisfactorily.
It turns out... my son is already this old.
For a moment, he felt that as a father, he had missed too many things.
"You...you are...my father?" Zhang Xiaozhu saw Zhang Guangyao's excited reaction, and seemed to have an answer in his heart, so he asked cautiously.
