"How much longer?!" Hou Laohu poured a sip of wine into his mouth and asked in a low voice. The old crow had a smile on his face and didn't mind at all: "If you're optimistic, five years." Not optimistic, two years. I'm basically not optimistic. ”

Hou Laohu held the wine jar and smiled: "Not bad!" It's better than the veteran guy, who lived for several years. ”

"Who's to say it isn't!" The old crow laughed and said, "That old guy has been confronting me for almost half of his life, and he still doesn't have to ask me in the end?!" Your little monkey is also competitive, otherwise I won't be able to win this bet. ”

When Hou Laohu heard this, he put down the wine jar and watched his nephew and niece enter the house with their two children and close the door. Only then sighed: "There are no winners!" All of us lost. Nobody wins. ”

Now, the old crow stopped talking. just silently picked up the wine jar, touched Hou Laohu and poured wine into his throat.

"It was at this time that I realized that it was really good for people to live." The old crow put down the wine jar and smiled: "Fortunately, I can live a little longer, which is also very good." ”

Hou Laohu didn't squeak, just squinted at the door. After a long time, he said: "It is never easy to live. It's nice to be alive. It's just that you shouldn't involve the little monkey cub in this matter. ”

"All I promised you was that he would help you do that. Then come back, and pay off the favor that my Hou family owes you. The two do not owe each other. ”

As he spoke, Hou Laohu's squinting eyes looked at the old crow: "But I didn't say it, it will come to this extent." Don't tell me there's no problem now, you and I know it. Now the little monkey cub is kind of hanging up outside. ”

"So I'm paving the way for him." The old crow looked at Hou Laohu seriously, and said sincerely, word by word: "The cub of the Hou family, it's time to go out." It's not a matter of tossing and turning here. ”

Hou Laohu smiled: "Is it like this toss with your family?!" Toss until now, you have a leftover, and no one has gone to the ancestral grave to sweep it. ”

"Everyone is dead, and those who sacrifice and sweep are just like that." The old crow said lightly: "I don't expect to sacrifice when I die." It's all said that it's okay, and it burns the sea. Don't think about it. ”

But seeing the old crow with a faint smile, he whispered: "No one knows when you are alive, and you are silent when you die." It's also good, and it matches well enough. ”

Hou Laohu didn't seem to know how to respond to the old crow's words, and was silent for a while before saying, "Burn it, take it back." Anyway, give me a thought, and I will give you a pillar of incense when you are seventy or eighty. ”

"When you come back this time, don't leave first......" Hou Laohu continued, and said leisurely: "The incense in your house is broken, this is not suitable." Your old aunt back then, and now she has a few grandchildren. Take one back, so that someone in Chongyang will give the ancestors a sacrifice. ”

The old crow surprisingly didn't object, but silently touched the wine jar with Hou Laohu. The two gray-haired old fellows were silent drinking in the moonlight......

Washington, D.C., is still the same farm. The veteran gently folded his pillow quilt, and the marching bed was still so neat. Albert stood behind him in silence.

Taking out his leather shoes, the veteran sat silently on the chair and wiped his leather shoes. Continue.

The sunset was on the farm, and everything seemed so peaceful. Old but neat house, just repainted. It looks like a scene often seen in old American Westerns.

It's just that the veteran wears a military uniform without a military rank. And he didn't wear jeans or a cowboy hat. The lid of his pot was obviously freshly shaved. It's just that his face is a little gray.

The four words of life are almost imprinted on his face.

"How's the cooperation with the jackals?" Without looking up, the veteran asked lightly. Albert's voice was extremely calm: "Everything is going in order, the task has been decided. Next week, I'll be on my way. They will do their best to assist me. ”

Polishing his shoes, the veteran said lightly: "You shouldn't come to see me, it's a waste of time." A dead man, nothing to look at. Doing your job well is the greatest memory for me. ”

"If there's no way to see you off on the last trip, I don't think there's any point in me doing this." Albert was silent for a while before he said: "If we are loyal to this country, then at least we can remember and be remembered." ”

"I also hope that my heirs can give me a ride in the last moments of my life. Of course, maybe I didn't have that chance. ”

The veteran wiped his hands on his shoes and paused. But he slowly raised his head and looked at Albert: "Do you regret it?!" Or did you ever blame me?! ”

"No, I've never thought of it that way." Albert is still so solemn: "I have always felt that it is my honor. ”