The rocking chair swayed gently, and many past memories surged into my mind like a tide.
I still remember when I was a child, my father would sit in the rocking chair while I set up a desk in the yard, reciting the names of ancient masters and asking my father many questions.
In those memories, my father, old as he was, held a book, rocking and answering all my questions.
I always had so many questions back then, yet I never asked my father where he went or what he did outside.
Sometimes I wonder, if I had asked him about these things, would he have answered me?
Perhaps, perhaps not…
Watching Bai Hanyan sweep the yard, my thoughts slowly drifted back to the past, pondering how my father would handle the last few pages of his notebook that he had torn out.
I suddenly remembered when I was thirteen, I argued with my father because I didn't want to do my homework. He spanked me, and in my anger, I tore up my homework.
When my father saw me tear up the homework, he didn't get angry. Instead, he picked up the discarded homework, then went to his study.
At that time, I was very scared, afraid that my father would blame me, and I was restless.
Two days later, he called me to the study. I saw that the homework I had torn was completely restored by him, and the torn marks had miraculously disappeared.
It was then that I learned he had used a repair technique, saying that restoring paper was actually very simple, requiring only a certain method to bring it back.
I thought it was very magical and pestered him to teach me. My father said he would teach me after I went to high school.
Later, when I went to high school, I gradually forgot about it. Later, I saw a method for repairing paper in the "Seven Star Nine Secrets Profound Void Techniques," but I never tried it.
If my father tore out the last few pages of his notebook, where would he put them?
He didn't want to destroy the notebook, but he also didn't want anyone to see the last few pages. What would he do?
Thinking of this, I quickly took out the notebook I had brought, placed it on the table, and then took out the "Seven Star Nine Secrets Profound Void Techniques."
After studying it for a while, I found that some parts of the notebook left by my father had indeed been repaired!
Every ten pages, one page had been repaired!
I rushed out of the study, asking Bai Hanyan to help me get a basin of water. Gritting my teeth, I cut out all the repaired pages, and then I put them all into the water.
Soon, the papers in the water began to change, and the repaired marks became visible.
Each page had only a corner repaired, and those corners had text on them!
"Quick, give me your camera!" I said to Bai Hanyan.
She had brought her camera with her this time.
She quickly found the camera in her backpack, and I pointed to the papers in the basin and said, "Hurry and take pictures! Quickly!"
Bai Hanyan didn't understand what I was doing, but she did as I said.
I took out each page and, after soaking them, found all the repaired marks.
After doing all this, the handwriting on the papers became blurred by the soaking water, making the content completely invisible.
I let out a sigh, turned to look at the study, and vaguely saw the figure of my father busy in the study. I smiled and said to Bai Hanyan, "Let's go."
"Go where?" she asked, looking at me with confusion.
"My purpose for coming here has been achieved. Let's go to the county first and find a photo studio to get the pictures developed," I said.
Bai Hanyan's eyes were full of doubt, but she held back and didn't ask any more questions.
We went to the county town and found a photo studio. We asked the owner to develop the photos for me. The owner said we could pick them up the next day.
So we found a hotel to stay in, one room for each of us.
After dinner that evening, we returned to our rooms. Just as I was about to lie down on the bed, anticipating picking up the photos the next day, there was a knock on the door.
I opened the door, and Bai Hanyan pushed it open and walked in: "I can't sleep..."
I was stunned, my heart pounding. What did this girl want?
Seeing my blank look, she said impatiently, "Don't worry, I won't do anything to you. Besides, I'm not that kind of person. I just want to come and chat with you."
Hearing her words, I breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, I felt a bit awkward.
I poured her a glass of water. She asked me, "What's the use of the photos you asked me to take for you today?"
"They contain some information left by my father."
"What information?"
I shook my head. "I don't know yet. I'll figure it out after I get the photos tomorrow…"
There was no need to hide this from her, so I told her everything.
I said that my father had torn out the last few pages of his notebook and then, through special means, had spliced them onto other pages. To know the content, one would have to piece together all the puzzles, like playing a jigsaw puzzle, to understand it clearly.
"What content is so secret?" Bai Hanyan asked curiously.
"I don't know yet, but it should be very important content, otherwise, my father wouldn't have used such troublesome methods," I said.
I now understood why, when I read my father's notes before, there were so many disconnected words.
It turned out that the content with disconnected words was formed by splicing, which is why it was so confusing.
"Xiang Fei, do you think Sui Hou Zhu was that angry?" Bai Hanyan asked me.
"Why do you suddenly ask that?"
"Last time you came to my house for dinner, you told my father a lot about my grandfather, and my father told me everything," Bai Hanyan said, interlacing her fingers. "Can Sui Hou Zhu really make people live forever?"
I gave a bitter smile. "Who knows?"
"Then do you think there are really people in this world who can live forever?"
I was stunned for a moment and thought of An Ying. "Perhaps…"
"Then, if you could live forever, what would you do?" Bai Hanyan asked me innocently.
"What else? Just live well, of course."
"Through what means of living?"
I didn't understand her meaning. She said helplessly, "For example, if you could live forever, you wouldn't want others to find out, right? Then you would have to leave those who know you every once in a while and go to live somewhere else. Only after everyone who knows you dies could you return to your original place."
"Maybe," I said. "What's wrong with that?"
"Don't you think that's very painful?" Bai Hanyan sighed. "Watching those you know die one by one, then making new acquaintances, and watching them die too… an endless cycle, never-ending… How painful would that be?"
I was slightly stunned and said slowly, "Maybe you get used to it and it's no longer painful…"