After the divorce, he went on a motorcycle trip, and his ex-wife and daughter were filled with regre

"Holy crap..."

Jiang Ye couldn't help but swear, and the hairs on his body stood on end.

He suddenly stood up and stomped out the cigarette butt on the ground.

The sound continued.

"Such a beautiful day, such a lovely scene, yet what a waste... Whose courtyard enjoys such delightful pleasures..."

It really was a theatrical performance!

Moreover, judging from the lyrics, it seems to be a passage from the Kunqu opera "The Peony Pavilion".

Jiang Ye swallowed hard.

run?

The motorcycle is right next to me; I can just twist the throttle and go.

However, his intense curiosity and inherent ruthlessness made him abruptly stop in his tracks.

"Damn it, I want to see if it's a human or a ghost!"

Jiang Ye gritted his teeth.

He turned and walked to the motorcycle, took out a heavy, solid wrench from the toolbox, and gripped it tightly in his hand.

Then he picked up a high-powered flashlight.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Ye tiptoed and, following the direction from which the sound came, carefully parted the waist-high weeds and crept into the depths of the dense forest.

It was very dark in the woods.

The moonlight couldn't get in at all.

Jiang Ye dared not turn on the flashlight, for fear of alerting the enemy.

He could only move forward with difficulty, relying on the faint starlight.

The withered branches and fallen leaves underfoot snapped underfoot, making a faint "crack" sound that was amplified infinitely in the silent night.

The further you go in, the clearer the opera singing becomes.

"Flying at dawn and rolling at dusk, clouds and rosy hues adorn the pavilion... rain threads and wind fragments, misty waves and painted boats..."

The sound had a hissing and static characteristic of old cassette tapes.

Jiang Ye's palms were covered in cold sweat as he gripped the wrench.

He parted the last thicket of bushes.

The view suddenly opened up.

With the help of the moonlight shining down from above, Jiang Ye could see the scene in front of him clearly.

His pupils constricted sharply, and his heart nearly jumped out of his throat.

It's less than ten meters ahead.

A solitary grave stood there, starkly visible!

The soil on the grave looked quite old and was overgrown with weeds.

And on a bluestone slab in front of the grave.

There was a dark, shadowy figure sitting there!

The figure stood motionless with its back to Jiang Ye.

Next to the figure was an old-fashioned radio with an antenna.

The eerie opera music was coming from that radio.

Jiang Ye stared intently at the figure, not daring to even breathe.

Just then.

The figure seemed to sense something and slowly turned its head.

"Who's there?"

An old, hoarse, but very peaceful male voice rang out.

It was a human voice.

Jiang Ye's tense nerves instantly relaxed by more than half.

He let out a long breath, feeling that his back was soaked with cold sweat.

"Grandpa, it's me, just passing by."

Jiang Ye quickly turned on his flashlight, lowered the beam, and shone it on the open space between the two of them to show that he meant no harm.

He quietly tucked the wrench back into his lower back.

Using the last glimpse of the flashlight, Jiang Ye could make out the figure.

He was an elderly man who looked to be in his sixties.

He was wearing a faded blue Zhongshan suit and an old Liberation cap.

The old man's face was covered with deep wrinkles, like deep ravines.

But his eyes were clear, without the slightest panic or defensiveness.

Jiang Ye stepped forward and scratched his head somewhat awkwardly.

"Sir, I'm so sorry, I startled you."

"I was camping around here when I heard some noise. I thought... I thought I had encountered something unclean, so I came to check it out."

The old man looked at Jiang Ye and grinned.

When he smiled, he was missing a few teeth, making it seem like he was spitting air.

"Young man, you've got guts."

The old man stretched out his withered hand and pressed a button on the radio next to him.

A "click" sound.

The melodious and poignant Kunqu opera music came to an abrupt end.

The woods returned to tranquility.

"In this desolate wilderness, there's nothing unclean here."

The old man patted the bluestone slab beneath him and pointed to the solitary grave in front of him.

"This is my late husband's grave."

"My name is Li Jianguo, and I live in the village at the foot of the mountain. You can just call me Uncle Li."

Jiang Ye was stunned.

He looked at the solitary grave, then at Uncle Li sitting in front of it.

"Uncle Li, it's the middle of the night... why are you sitting here all alone?"

Uncle Li reached out and gently stroked the somewhat blurry black and white photograph on the tombstone.

"It's nothing."

"I just come over every night to keep her company."

"Spend some time with her?" Jiang Ye asked, somewhat puzzled.

"yes."

Uncle Li nodded, his gaze never leaving the tombstone.

"My late wife loved listening to operas, especially 'The Peony Pavilion.' When she was young, she could even sing a few lines along."

"Later, she fell ill and passed away. When she passed away, my biggest worry was her."

Uncle Li sighed, took out a clean handkerchief from his pocket, and carefully wiped the dust off the tombstone.

"She's a timid person, afraid of the dark, and afraid of being alone."

"Back in the day, I was afraid to turn off the lights when I slept at night. If it was thundering or raining, I would have to snuggle into my arms before I dared to close my eyes."

"Now she lies here alone on the cold ground, with no one around to talk to. How pitiful."

"So, every day after dinner, I bring this radio up here."

Play her favorite music and tell her about the interesting things that happened in the village today.

Tell her that the old sow in the house has given birth again, and that the jujubes from the jujube tree in the yard are especially sweet this year.

As Li Bo spoke, he started laughing to himself.

"Sometimes, I get sleepy while we're talking."

"I'm sleepy, so I'll just lay out some clothes there and take a nap."

"Just pretend... I'm still sleeping next to her."

Listening to Uncle Li's seemingly ordinary yet deeply affectionate words.

Jiang Ye was completely stunned.

He stood there, feeling as if something had struck his heart hard.

A sudden surge of sourness welled up in my nose.

He looked at the old man with a face full of wrinkles, and at the lonely grave overgrown with weeds.

My mind was suddenly in turmoil.

He raised his head and looked at the cold, clear crescent moon overhead.

I couldn't help but let out a deep sigh.

In this materialistic and restless society.

In this era where even marriage requires calculating car, house, and dowry, and divorce necessitates going to court over property,...

Is there really such a thing as love?

There are still people who are willing to stay in this desolate wilderness, among lonely graves and wandering ghosts, day after day, year after year, to guard a person who has already died.

Just because I was afraid she would be lonely, and afraid she would be afraid of the dark.

Jiang Ye's eyes felt a little hot.

He suddenly understood.

After leaving Hanzhou, he had been searching for the "Cloud Wilderness Realm".

The kind of love he longed for—a love without calculation, without complaints, only a pure connection of souls.

Actually, it's not in any famous mountains or rivers, nor in any secluded paradise.

It's right in front of you.

Between this old man named Li Jianguo and his deceased wife.

The woman he had always envisioned in his heart, the woman from the Cloud Wasteland.

Isn't this the kind of relationship we should all have?

You don't need to have a prominent position or a lot of wealth.

As long as you are alive, we can support each other through thick and thin.

Even if you die, I would still play your favorite opera at your grave to keep you company through every long and cold night.

Jiang Ye didn't say anything more.

He silently bowed deeply towards Uncle Li's lonely grave.

Then, he turned off the flashlight and tiptoed out of the dense forest.

He returned to his tent.

The campfire was almost out, with only a few dark red embers flickering in the night wind.

Jiang Ye sat in the folding chair and remained silent for a very long time.

He took out his phone.

I took a picture of the dark woods in the distance where a solitary grave was hidden.

Nothing was clearly visible in the photo, only a deep blackness and a faint glimmer of starlight on the horizon.

Jiang Ye opened WeChat Moments.

I selected this photo.

His fingers hovered over the screen for a moment, then he typed out a line of text, word by word.

"How wonderful it would be if someone could stay with me like this when I die one day."