After dinner, my dad chatted with me and asked me about the recent situation in the store, and I replied that everything was fine and that there were more customers than I expected.

"I heard that it was very lively on the weekend, and the neighbors complained."

Dad laughed while drinking tea, and after talking about the complaint, he quickly explained, "But it's okay, I think young people should get together often, this kind of atmosphere is actually very good." ”

I smiled at my father, always feeling a little reluctant, and my father also saw that my expression was a little weird, probably like unfermented steamed buns.

"What's wrong? Is Ritsu upset? ”

It's fine, but when Dad asked, my eyes were really hot, and I thought, "Dad, don't be so understanding, okay?" ”

Outside the window, in the night sky at more than seven o'clock, the tassels are rising in the bright place of the sunset, reflecting the father's face, and the outline is soft.

Mom walked up to us with half a watermelon in her hand, put it down and went back to the kitchen, as if it was her territory.

"Eat watermelon, there is a lot of rain this year, it is rare to have such a good watermelon." Dad naturally changed the subject, and I gratefully picked up the spoon and scooped a large mouthful of watermelon into my mouth – it was so sweet.

After a few bites in a row, I asked my dad, "Isn't it better to get a decent job?" ”

"Decent? Why? Does Lixia feel that her current self is not decent? ”

"No," I shook my head, and quickly nodded again, "it seems like that, brother and sister, for example—it's more decent." ”

"When did Lixia start to have this idea?"

Last month's family dinner, Dad came back late, so I didn't see everyone talking about my embarrassment at work at the dinner table, it seems that having a serious job is normal in the eyes of adults, this thought seems to still bother me anyway, like a layer of glutinous rice candy wrapped in fruit candy, transparent, once damp, you can't get rid of it, or it doesn't exist, and you can eat it directly with paper candy in your mouth.

"It's been a while, it's not a problem, to talk about it, it should be said that it seems that I am a person who lacks a strong heart, does Dad know about "Shepherd Boy's Fantasy Journey"? I might want to be more like Santiago, the boy who dreamed of treasure in a dream, who went all the way south to Africa, across the Sahara Desert in the "Sea of Death", a teenager with a persistent heart. I don't seem to have that belief. ”

Dad doesn't seem to understand, listening to me say these inexplicable words, maybe it's just some complaints, and it's really a little embarrassing Dad.

"I know the book, I know." After eating a bite of watermelon, my father looked at me and said happily: "I know this book, although I haven't read it, but I know this story, do you remember Aunt Qiu Xiao?" ”

"Aunt Qiu Xiao? Dad is talking about Aunt Qiu Xiao who likes to sing Kunqu Opera? There seems to be an impression. ”

Aunt Qiu Xiao said by Dad is a relative of Grandma's family, that is, the child of Grandma's sisters, simply put, it is a distant relative of our family, when I was still in elementary school, I met Aunt Qiu Xiao for the first time, it seemed that it was during the World Expo held in Shanghai, Aunt Qiu Xiao came from Ningbo to Shanghai to visit the World Expo, and it is also a season like this, the difference is that it was very hot that year, Dad drove to the airport to pick up Aunt Qiu Xiao, I sat in the back seat, listening to the English story played in the car, while looking at the scenery outside the window.

Aunt Qiu Xiao is very small, and she is in her early 20s, thinking that from the perspective of elementary school, Aunt Qiu Xiao is definitely beautiful, but even now that I think about it, I feel that Aunt Qiu Xiao's temperament is particularly elegant.

But the memory ended here, and then I occasionally listened to my father and grandmother talk about Aunt Qiu Xiao's journey to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to learn Kunqu Opera, but I never had the opportunity to see her again.

"Aunt Qiu Xiao has a lot of people in her hometown in Ningbo, and there is also a very good boy by her side, and the two of them have also come to talk about marriage, and the family has arranged a very good job for Aunt Qiu Xiao, after graduating from college, getting married and working, it looks - decent, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's a life that is understandable even if it's not particularly good."

"Lixia is right, but Qiu Xiao doesn't think so, her own statement is that one day she listened to random music on the radio as usual, and suddenly she was attracted by a song, and at that moment, she felt that she had found what she wanted to do in life, so this voice lingered in her mind."

"Is it Kunqu Opera? Kunqu opera is really good, especially the Kunqu opera book is particularly beautiful, and it simply incorporates all the beauty of the poems. ”

"I don't understand this, I'll still talk about this story, it's the story of "Shepherd Boy's Fantasy Journey" you said, which was told to me by your Aunt Qiu Xiao."

"Oh?" No wonder Dad suddenly mentioned Aunt Qiu Xiao, it turned out to be related to this book.

"She came to Shanghai to listen to the performance of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, saying that she bought two tickets and asked me to go with me, I don't understand these operas, so I said that I went to pick her up for dinner after listening to the opera, and my grandmother also missed her, on the way back to my grandmother's house, Aunt Qiu Xiao told me this story, saying that she was hesitant at the time, and she didn't know whether she wanted to change her current simple and stable life and pursue something meaningless."

"Yes, Aunt Qiu Xiao was already in her 20s at the time, and there is generally no special future for learning to sing at this age, and now she has to start studying and practicing hard at a very young age."

Dad nodded again and again, "She understands all of this, and she has considered it, so she said that she was hesitant at the time, in fact, as a hobby, Ningbo is so close to Shanghai, even if it is very convenient to Hangzhou, go to listen to the opera or sign up for an amateur class to study on weekends or during the break, and there is no need to change the state of life at all." ”

"That's true, but listening to my father, Aunt Qiu Xiao never returned to Ningbo since?"

"Rarely go back. After she told me the story, I understood, and she said that she read the book when she was hesitant, but she just flipped through the book in the bookstore and said that it was a bestseller, and many people read it, so she picked it up and read it for a while, and she understood what she wanted to live her life like. ”

"Can you travel the world for your dreams?" I sighed a little exaggeratedly.

"That's what it means, so Aunt Qiu Xiao began to study, and diligence is always useful, she does sing better and better, this story is what Aunt Qiu Xiao told me, I don't know if it's the story you said."

That's right, that's the story, I nodded, and my dad handed me the watermelon, saying it was too sweet, and it was better for him to eat less.

But I had a feeling of summer refreshment, and I ate one bite after another.