I met Ai Qing again in Vienna six years later.

She held her crutch and stepped on the red carpet and walked into the golden hall that Huai Shi had dreamed of. She stood next to her piano, and gave her the applause and praise from all over the world.

Huai Shi and Teacher were sitting in the audience.

Witness the arrival of the peak moment of her life.

"Are you envious?" asked the teacher sitting next to him: "If you didn't give up, you might be the one standing here now."

"To be honest, a little bit."

Huai Shi nodded, then shook her head indifferently: "But I missed it all, didn't you?"

"It's still time to pick up the cello again," said the teacher. "It's okay to start from scratch. It happens that I've retired recently and I'm very idle."

"...I thought about it for a while, it was still very difficult."

Huai Shi smiled bitterly, looked down at her calloused hands: "To be honest, I'm not even familiar with the technique of arching, and I don't have time to learn from scratch anymore."

“Is the Northwest very busy?”

"Water conservancy projects are very troublesome, and the budget is not enough, so I can only get off in person." Huai Shi shrugged: "To be honest, I don't even take a shower. This time I took a special shower in the hotel several times, and I felt that my hair and the body were full of fishy smell... I felt that it was rustic when I came here, which made Xiaoqing embarrassed."

He has been wandering around the world like a wandering place over the years.

I have seen too many people who were once as helpless as him. Even if I try my best to do something within my ability, it is still not enough.

What can one do to accomplish?

And the real huge difficulties must be too small for a person to have enough food and clothing for the rest of his life.

It cannot even bring any insignificant water to the villages trapped in the wasteland.

He could only try again.

However, the results were minimal.

"It's good if you can come." The teacher patted his knees and stared at his daughter on the stage: "How are you talking in the backstage just now?"

"A few words." Huai Shi shook her head: "It's too long and too strange. Instead, I don't know what to talk about. I can only say hello to each other like strangers. Every time she is so cold, I always make me suspect that I did something wrong back then."

"Everyone will make mistakes. It would be too sad if a person can't even make mistakes when he is alive."

The teacher comforted him: "Although most of the time I think it is a mistake for you to give up the cello, sometimes I think that if you don't give up, you may not have achieved what you are today, and you can't help so many people.

Student aid programs, Dawn education, and water source engineering... Many people have achieved success because of you. Huai Shi, there is no need to be depressed, you should hold your head up for them."

Huai Shi nodded and didn't say anything.

"The performance is over, let's go to the backstage to pick her up."

The teacher slowly stood up, Huai Shi reached out to support her, and then she realized that wrinkles had appeared on the back of her hand. Before she knew it, her hair gradually revealed a hint of white.

Huai Shi was stunned.

"I'm old, is this something to be surprised about?" the teacher chuckled softly.

"I am only fifty years old, and I am still young." Huai Shi said.

"You are still young."

The teacher said, "You still have a chance to make mistakes before you get old."

How can she always speak whisper and treat people with gentleness.

No matter how rebellious a child is, he can guide them on the right track with a smile.

As long as she is behind her, Huai Shi can move forward with confidence.

But a year later, he suddenly received news that his teacher was critically ill.

Sudden cerebral hemorrhage.

It is said that he fell down when he was down.

At that time, Huai Shi was on the construction site and received a call from Ai Qing. When the other end of the phone told him the news, he was stunned.

He stood there in disbelief.

At that time, everyone was still celebrating the completion of the project. In a joyful atmosphere, Huai Shi sat on the ground. Several confused children surrounded him and wanted to pull him up, but they felt that the uncle was like a stone.

So heavy and without any temperature.

Huai Shi said goodbye to her colleagues in a daze, took the bus to the airport for six hours, and after waiting in the middle of the night, she boarded a plane and rushed to Xinhai.

When the plane finally soared from the ground, he suddenly remembered what the teacher had said.

"No matter how attractive the art itself is, it cannot compare to those more intuitive and heavier things... Huai Shi, art is floating in the clouds, but there are always people who cannot adapt to the floating life and choose to step on the ground more realistically."

When he chose to step on the ground, he never found a place of peace of mind, but when he flew into the clouds again, he found that he was almost unable to find his place of return.

He covered his face and finally made a vague cry.

Like a child who lost his mother.

When Huai Shi arrived at the ward, the teacher was already awake.

It seems like I have used up all my good luck in this life.

It was just a false alarm.

Outside the ward, after hearing about the situation, he collapsed on the ground, sweating profusely, and his hands trembled, and he couldn't help laughing like a fool.

While Ai Qing was with him, he grabbed the doctor's hand, asked about the condition over and over again, and then asked for precautions. The doctor seemed to have seen many questions, so he just patted his shoulder and waited for him to finally calm down.

Sitting on a chair outside the ward, waiting dullly.

Until the door was pushed open, Ai Qing, who was holding a crutch, walked out and told him: "Mother is waiting for you inside."

He hesitated for a long time, but he couldn't muster up the courage.

He was suddenly kicked behind him.

It's Ai Qing.

"I'm so annoying."

She closed the door.

Huai Shi was stunned for a long time: "Have your legs been well? When?"

"She had surgery a few years ago."

The old man on the hospital bed made a voice: "I originally wanted to tell you, but she stopped her. She kept thinking about when she would be like now... Haha, wasn't she scared?"

The old man's pale face squeezed out a prank-like smile.

I don't know what it means.

It was Ai Qing's recovery.

Huai Shi was stunned for a long time, and finally couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief: "Teacher, you're fine."

"I just fell down, so there is no need to make a fuss." The teacher shook his head: "You have walked too far, right? I've used it for so long... If I'm critically ill, wouldn't I even be able to see the last time?"

"I'm sorry." Huai Shi lowered her head.

The teacher on the hospital bed laughed: "Say sorry, it proves that you feel that you have made a mistake. You seem to be making mistakes, Huai Shi."

"Yes." Huai Shi nodded.

"But a person always has to do the right thing in his life, right?

During the long silence, Huai Shi was stunned.

I can't refute it, but I... I don't know what to say.

He could only lower his head: "I'm sorry."

"What else do you have to do to be sorry for me, Huai Shi." The old man shook his head: "What you have done over the years... Liming Education, Northwest Water Conservancy Project, and the student assistance program. Are these wrong? Everyone is thanking you for your help for them, Huai Shi, but have you forgotten yourself?"

"I just..."

"You just haven't found it yet, I know." The old man sighed: "But shouldn't you help yourself first before helping everyone?"

"Why can't you look back occasionally when you walk forward?" The old man looked at his pupils and said softly: "Look at me, look at Xiaoqing, look at your friends... because we are also looking at you, waiting for you to come back one day."

“…”

Huai Shi stood there in a daze.

In the silence, the old man listened to the music on the TV and hummed softly: "howmanyroadsmustamanwalkdown?"

How many ways does a person have to go to become a man?

Huai Shi doesn't know.

But at this moment, he felt unprecedented regret and uneasiness: how long has he walked such a long way and made those who stare at him wait?

Is it so important to be a man?

Over the years, he has been traveling around the world in fear and confusion, as if he is homeless as a wandering soul. Even if he has done all his efforts to do, can he really satisfy himself?

"Huaishi, love will make people choose to wait." The teacher suddenly said softly: "But don't let the person who loves you wait too long."
To be continued...