A foreign city, dear you

As the music started, the figure of a kind old mother appeared on the background wall of the stage.

The first prize winner went on stage first.

Ye Lian wanted to listen to his recitation carefully. Since he won the first prize, he must have something outstanding.

But Ye Lian couldn't listen any longer because she was too nervous to calm down.

Ye Lian was the third one to go on stage and recite.

The stage background changed again:

Two silhouettes, one big and one small. The big one is the mother, the small one is the child.

The mother held her child's hand, walking on the country road in the golden sunshine...

The picture is very warm and loving.

Ye Lian seemed to see her mother.

But in Ye Lian's memory, her mother seemed to rarely hold her hand.

Mother always walked in front in a hurry. She had to hurry on her way or finish her work. She would turn back from time to time to urge Ye Lian, "Hurry up, hurry up..."

Ye Lian felt that the scene of following her mother and chasing after her was also very heartwarming, and it was very touching when she thought about it now, because her mother was always ahead, using her hard work and tenacity to support her childhood.

Thinking of her mother, Ye Lian felt full of strength again.

She felt her mother's smiling face in front of her, talking to her: Hurry up, it's your turn.

Ye Lian seemed to be following behind her mother again, feeling warm and at peace in her heart. Amid the applause of the crowd, she walked calmly onto the stage.

*

It was already past nine o'clock when the party ended.

Ye Lian walked out of the Cultural and Arts Center, excited and proud.

Her recitation was successful.

Her words and her voice touched the hearts of the audience.

The silence in the audience when she recited and the thunderous applause when she bowed were the best proof.

It’s a bit far from Xiangyang Town to Jiayuyuan, and the cultural and art center is also some distance away from the subway entrance.

But Ye Lian was not worried about going home, because she knew that her Qian must be waiting for her outside.

Ye Lian called Cao Xueqin and it turned out to be true.

Cao Xueqin said his car was parked at the square outside the Cultural and Arts Center.

Ye Lian then walked outside.

She saw the familiar car and she knew that the person she was most familiar with was in the car.

Cao Xueqin had originally planned to attend the party tonight to support Ye Lian, but he was unable to come due to some urgent matters. He said it was a great pity that he was unable to see the great writer Ye.

Haha, ever since Ye Lian won the award, Cao Xueqin has jokingly called Ye Lian the great writer Ye.

Ye Lian approached Fox and opened the passenger door.

"Oh, welcome, great writer Ye. It's an honor to serve you, great writer Ye." Cao Xueqin praised him highly.

Ye Lian smiled: "Don't come here."

"How was it? The recitation was successful, right?" Cao Xueqin started the car.

"It's okay. I was nervous at first, but then I forgot about it."

"It's a shame I couldn't be there tonight."

"I'll keep this in mind tonight."

"No, isn't there something wrong?"

"Then how do you make up for it?"

"Aren't I here to pick you up?"

Ye Lian blinked her eyes, wanting to make full use of Cao Xueqian's "debt" and said, "No, that's not enough. I'll punish you by making you wash the dishes again."

"Okay, I'll wash the dishes." In front of the great writer Ye, Cao Xueqin was quite straightforward.

Ye Lian smiled secretly, this was a seamless transformation.

"What's in your bag?" Cao Xueqin asked when he saw Ye Lian carrying a bag.

"Some gifts and an envelope."

"What's in the envelope?"

"Don't tell you."

"Still keeping me in suspense? Are you bullying me for not knowing how to write? I'll write one for Mother's Day next year too. You write 'Eternal Mother's Love' and I'll write 'Eternal Father's Love', humph."

"Haha, you're still humming. Are you crazy? You wrote about fatherly love on Mother's Day? I'm sure you'll get a special award."

Cao Xueqin couldn't help but laugh.

Ye Lian took out the envelope and wanted to give it to Cao Xueqin.

"I'm driving, open it and take a look."

Ye Lian then pulled out the contents.

"Oh," Cao Xueqian was surprised, "there's still money. How much?"

"one thousand."

"So good? We provide you with food, a stage, gifts, and tickets?"

"That's right." Ye Lian said proudly.

Ye Lian treasured the thousand yuan very much and felt that it had extraordinary significance. She didn't even plan to spend it. She wanted to keep it as a souvenir.

She counted the thousand yuan one by one again, with an irrepressible smile on her face. She felt even happier than when she first received her salary at Tongxin Factory.

Cao Xueqin was driving and glanced at Ye Lian from time to time.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" Ye Lian asked.

"Nothing, I'm just looking at my wife, why do you need to ask? My wife is so beautiful tonight, I can look at her however I want."

"What's so beautiful about it?" Ye Lian seemed indifferent, but in fact she was very happy.

In order to go on stage, Ye Lian specially wore a long dress tonight. She, who never wears makeup, had a professional beautician put on some light makeup for her.

Fox got on the national highway and drove towards Jiayuyuan.

Ye Lian looked out the window.

The sky outside the window is bright and colorful, just like her mood.

*

The next night, which was Mother's Day, Ye Lian took Cao Xueqin's arm and took a walk in Shahong Park.

A tall, thin man saw them and walked towards them.

Ye Lian and Cao Xueqin both knew this man. He was their next-door neighbor. His surname was Xu and he was a big lawyer. He was slightly younger than Cao Xueqin.

Unlike Ye Lian and Cao Xueqin, Lawyer Xu bought his own house in Jiayuyuan instead of renting it.

Ye Lian and her family got along well with Lawyer Xu's family within a few days of moving to Jiayuyuan, especially Cao Xueqian and Lawyer Xu, who would happily greet or chat with them whenever they met.

Lawyer Xu approached and greeted, "Mr. Cao, sister-in-law, are you taking a walk? So romantic?"

Cao Xueqian replied: "Good evening, Lawyer Xu. We are just going to take a walk in the park."

Lawyer Xu followed and walked forward slowly: "Your family is really enviable, your family is harmonious and beautiful, and everyone in the family is of high quality."

Cao Xueqian quickly said modestly: "Teacher Xu, you are too kind. How can it be as good as you say?"

"Really, that's the truth. Your son is so outstanding, you have a successful career, and your sister-in-law is also a cultured person. The article your sister-in-law wrote is so good that it moved me so much that tears came out."

Ye Lian was surprised and asked, "Where did Lawyer Xu see my article?"

"Mr. Cao's circle of friends. I never thought my sister-in-law could write such good articles."

It turned out that this afternoon, Ye Lian received pictures of the evening recitation from the Women's Federation of Xiangyang Town, as well as a link to the article they had prepared. Ye Lian forwarded it to Cao Xueqin to read, but Cao Xueqin immediately posted it on his Moments.

Ye Lian hadn't noticed Cao Xueqin's circle of friends yet.

So I was very surprised to hear what Lawyer Xu said just now.

"Thank you, Lawyer Xu. It's not well written. I hope Lawyer Xu can give more suggestions for revision."

"Sister-in-law is too modest. Don't talk about me. The Chinese teacher said that your essay cannot be improved."

"How to say?"

"This afternoon I went to school to pick up my son and talked to his Chinese teacher about this writing problem. I suddenly remembered your article, so I showed it to the Chinese teacher and asked her if an article like this could be further revised. Guess what the Chinese teacher said?"

"What do you mean?" Ye Lian was of course curious.

"The Chinese teacher said that the article did not need to be revised. The emotions were very strong and any changes would be unnecessary and would affect the original flavor of the article."

"Lawyer Xu is really thoughtful. Thank you for the comments from your young master's teacher, but my article is really not that good and still has many shortcomings." Ye Lian said modestly.

Ye Lian was very surprised, and of course very happy. She didn't expect Lawyer Xu to praise her article so much, nor did she expect a Chinese teacher to evaluate her article in this way.

Lawyer Xu also added Ye Lian’s WeChat and said that he would like Ye Lian to guide his son’s writing in the future.

Ye Lian was a little flattered. Although she knew that Lawyer Xu didn't take his words seriously, she kept saying that she didn't deserve it.

After walking for a while, Lawyer Xu's wife came to find him, and Lawyer Xu left.

"Look, great writer Ye, you are now famous." Cao Xueqin smiled.

"I didn't even know you posted my article on WeChat Moments." Ye Lian said.

"I have to publish it. My wife writes such good articles. I'm proud of her!" Cao Xueqin imitated the tone of a skit and said the three words "I'm proud" in a very cool and funny way.

Ye Lian was amused and burst into laughter.

After laughing, Ye Lian said to Cao Xueqin: "You posted it on WeChat Moments, so many people know about it, right? I feel embarrassed."

"Aren't you embarrassed about this? You should be proud. Many people were moved by your article. They said it reminded them of their childhood and reminded them of their mothers."

“Are there many comments?”

"That's for sure."

"Let me see." Ye Lian wanted to take Cao Xueqin's cell phone to look at it.

"Open your phone and take a look. You don't even pay attention to your husband's Moments." Cao Xueqin felt aggrieved.

Ye Lian then remembered that she could also watch it on her mobile phone.

She opened her phone and entered Cao Xueqin’s circle of friends.

Cao Xueqin posted this on his circle of friends: My wife is as beautiful as a flower, and my wife is talented in writing. Please enjoy my leader's beautiful article "Eternal Mother's Love" and relive the childhood of mother's love.

This Cao Xueqian brags without thinking. Is he as beautiful as a flower? Is he a talented writer? He really brags about it.

He has many WeChat friends, so I guess many people saw it.

Sure enough, many people liked it and there were many comments:

"It's so well written."

“So touching.”

“What a vivid image.”

"I miss my old mother."

"As long as my mother is there, love is there. My childhood was hard, but also very happy."

"It makes me cry..."

"Haha, Mr. Cao, how could you have such a talented and beautiful wife?"

……

The comments were varied and, with Cao Xueqin's humorous and interesting replies, it became a very long list.

Cao Xueqin also told Ye Lian that Grandma Lanshan had called him specially to say that Ye Lian's article was so well written. Grandpa Lanshan read it to her and she cried. Life was so difficult in the past and it was not easy for Ye Lian's mother.

……

Ye Lian watched and listened with a smile, feeling a little touched in her heart.

She exited Cao Xueqin’s circle of friends and went to her own WeChat page, where she saw many unread messages in the high school classmates group.

She clicked on it and found that her classmates were discussing her article.

I don’t know who posted her article in the WeChat group.

The students are expressing their emotions, empathy and memories of the past.

Some people are also asking, who is this Ye Lian?

Students who are familiar with Ye Lian explained who Ye Lian is, which class she was in before the division into liberal arts and science in high school, and which class she was in after the division.

……

Ye Lian looked a little excited.

I didn't expect that a person who was unknown in high school would cause a small sensation with an article he wrote after he was over 40 years old.

The Internet is truly magical. It was transmitted to so many people’s mobile phones in an instant.

Ye Lian watched everyone speak and didn't dare to say anything. She accidentally became a celebrity in the group and was afraid that she couldn't handle it.

Ye Lian was looking at her phone the whole time, and if Cao Xueqin hadn't pulled her back, she would have almost bumped into someone.

"Haven't you finished reading it yet?" Cao Xueqin asked, thinking that Ye Lian was still reading the circle of friends he posted.

"I was watching the chat in my high school group."

"What are you talking about? Why are you so engrossed in watching?"

"Someone sent my article to the group."

"Really? Let me see."

Ye Lian gave the phone to Cao Xueqin.

Cao Xueqin flipped through the pages, handed the phone back to Ye Lian, and then hugged Ye Lian's shoulders tightly.

"Hey, why are you holding me so tight? How can I walk?"

"Because I'm afraid."

"What are you afraid of?"

"I think you're going to become famous. If I don't hold you tighter, I'm afraid you'll fly away."

"Haha, you feel a sense of crisis?"

"The sense of crisis is huge, so I have to lock you in my arms."

Ye Lian giggled.