After Mi Yang had his meal in the cafeteria, he received another call saying that there was a package for him.
I thought the mail was small, but when I got there, I found that it was a few large cartons with solid packaging. The contents seemed solid, and one person couldn't lift it. Seeing him coming, the courier said to him, "Why don't you see if you can borrow a flatbed truck or something, and I can help you load it? We can't get into the school, and we can't deliver it to the dormitory. These boxes are all books, and they are very heavy."
When Mi Yang saw that the address of the mail was Shanhai Town, he knew that this was the book that Mi Hong sent to him. He nodded and said, "I have a car. Please wait for a moment."
Mi Yang usually used a bicycle that he had ridden for many years, but now it was obvious that the bicycle could not be moved, so he had to drive the sports car over. Under the gaze of everyone, he and the courier moved the boxes of books in. The sports car had little storage space in the front and back, and even two boxes were piled on the seats.
The people who helped him move the boxes felt sorry for him and asked him, "Can you just put it there?"
Mi Yang said: "It's okay, there are books in the cardboard box, it won't be damaged."
Courier:"… "
The courier was not asking about the contents of the carton, he was worried about the leather seats on the sports car. But Mi Yang didn't care, he didn't say much, he just left after the handover was clear.
Before the New Year, when Mi Hong asked about the situation of his bookstore, he mentioned that he would ship all the books at home to him after he settled down. This time, he probably cleared out all the inventory at once and packed them up and sent them to Mi Yang.
Mi Yang drove to the store and Fu Qisheng was there. Seeing so many things, he hurried over to help move them in.
Fu Qisheng was steady and strong. Mi Yang originally wanted to carry the boxes in with him, but Fu Qisheng easily carried two boxes in by himself and soon finished moving everything.
During this period, Bai Luochuan was afraid that he would be too busy, so he asked Fu Qisheng to come and keep an eye on things. Mi Yang only needed to take care of the school and book repairing matters, and he didn't need to interfere with other things. Now, one of Fu Qisheng's brothers follows Bai Luochuan, and the other follows Mi Yang. Judging from the body shape alone, Zhao Haisheng's iron tower-like body is more intimidating, but in terms of strength, the plain-looking Fu Qisheng is stronger. Bai Luochuan kept Fu Qisheng here, partly because he wanted him to help with the store, and partly because he wanted him to be a bodyguard.
Mi Yang unpacked the boxes, sorted the books, and put them on the bookshelf together with Fu Qisheng. Some of these books were from the Bai family's old house, and the other part were accumulated by Mi Hong over the years. There were many rare books among them, all of which had been repaired.
After Fu Qisheng put the last book away, he looked at the small bookshelf that was now full and couldn't help but say, "There are so many."
Mi Yang nodded, and vaguely realized something, but the thought flashed by so quickly that he couldn't catch it. He picked up an old book and flipped through it, then smiled and said, "Leave them here and find a new owner for them."
There are many old professors and scholars around here, some of whom like these very much. Most of the customers who send books for repair are these people. Mi Yang deals with them a lot and they have become friends with each other. After he got the books, he saw that there were a few books that the old professors in the school wanted to find, so he called them to inform them. By the evening, he had only notified two or three people, but there were seven or eight old professors who came.
After someone came in, he said to Mi Yang, "It's not my fault. It was Teacher Qiu who showed off to us first. We heard him and came with him to take a look. How about it? Do you have any more copies of Yanshizhai?"
Several old people followed behind also came in. Miyang was a big place, so they didn't go anywhere. They all crowded around the small bookshelf, looking up with shining eyes to see the newly arrived books, and exclaimed in amazement, "There's even this one! Oh, if Old Huang saw it, he would crawl over from his sickbed to buy it home. But since he's not here, it's still a bargain for me, haha!"
Fu Qisheng stood aside, wiping the wooden table, glancing at Mi Yang and the old professors, who were patiently introducing them. He couldn't tell what was good about it, but when he was with Mi Yang, he always felt like he was still in Shanhai Town, which was particularly reassuring, as if that familiar feeling had returned, as comfortable as soaking in a pool of spring water in summer.
Fu Qisheng's ears twitched and he turned to look at the door.
After a while, Bai Luochuan came in with Zhao Haisheng. Fu Qisheng opened his mouth and was about to call for help, but Bai Luochuan raised his hand to stop him and said, "You do your thing, I'll take a look myself."
Fu Qisheng nodded and went back to wiping the table.
Zhao Haisheng looked at it with some envy. He had been busy following Xiao Bai these days and was exhausted day and night. Even though he was just following orders, he felt that his brain capacity was not enough and he envied those who could do physical work.
Bai Luochuan stood not far away and watched Mi Yang open the book and talk to those old professors. He did not go over to disturb them. That was Mi Yang's small circle, and he just wanted him to be happy in it.
Bai Luochuan chuckled, looked up at Fu Qisheng and asked, "Are there any books you want to dry today? I think there's still enough time. I'll help take them to the backyard."
Fu Qisheng agreed and handed him a small cardboard box from behind the counter. Zhao Haisheng saw it and rolled up his sleeves to help, "Anything else? I'm strong, I'll do it."
Fu Qisheng shook his head and said, "Brother, please help me lift the table and move it to another position. I will place two asparagus ferns here in two days."
Zhao Haisheng naturally agreed, bent down and moved the table, but he was not satisfied after finishing the work, and wanted to dry the books. Fu Qisheng pulled his arm and whispered, "It's too hot to dry the books, and it's almost night, how can you dry the books at this time?"
Zhao Haisheng blinked: "What happened just now..."
Fu Qisheng tried to hold back, but couldn't help laughing and said, "That was something Mi Yang found specially for Brother Bai to play with. It was just that small box, a special case."
Zhao Haisheng also understood, chuckled twice and didn't insist on working anymore.
Mi Hong mailed the books from Shanhai Town one after another. When Mi Yang finally received a tool packed in a small camphor wood box, he also received a call from Shanhai Town that day, and Mi Hong went there.
Mi Hong has lived alone in the camphor forest all year round. The Cheng family and the staff of the forest ranger team were worried about him being there alone, and would go to check on him often. This time, it was the forest ranger team who went to visit him, and when they found him, he was lying on the bed, as if he was taking a nap, and he was no longer breathing.
Mi Yang's family rushed back that day. Cheng Qing cried on the way, and his eyes were still red. Mi Zehai held on, entertaining guests who came to pay their respects during the day. When it was quiet at night, he knelt in front of the coffin, kowtowed and cried. He was so old, but he cried like a child.
"It's all my fault. I felt that Dad didn't talk much last month. Why didn't I think..." Cheng Qing already had a few white hairs on his temples, and his eyes were now full of bloodshot. "I should have come back earlier to see him."
Cheng Qing's crying made the old lady Cheng who was comforting her sigh. She patted Cheng Qing's arm and advised her, "When the forest ranger called, we also went to see him, and they also called an ambulance. We all heard the doctor say that he passed away peacefully without much pain. You shouldn't blame yourself too much. When a person lives to such an old age, he probably knows when he will pass away. In my opinion, it is a blessing to pass away without illness and pain... Besides, his wife passed away early, and he was forced to stay for so many years, and he was tired."
As a junior, Mi Yang stayed with Mi Xue to burn paper money for three days.
Bai Luochuan stayed with him for as long as he stayed.
Bai Luochuan didn't say much to comfort him. He just held his hand tightly and occasionally looked down at him with tension in his eyes.
Mi Yang saw it, and he raised the corner of his lips slightly and said, "It's okay, I'm fine." After saying this twice, he couldn't deceive himself anymore, and added in a low voice, "I just miss grandpa a little bit."
Bai Luochuan put his hand on his shoulder, hesitated for a moment, then held him in his arms and patted him gently, saying, "I'll accompany you back to see him every year in the future."
Mi Yang nodded. The hug was short, but enough to support him to complete the journey.
Mi Hong passed away more than a year later than Mi Yang remembered, but the season was similar, when the camphor flowers fell and began to bear fruit. This strange old man did not fall ill and be hospitalized like before. He passed away peacefully, as if he was going to keep an old appointment.
He dressed himself in the most decent clothes, chose the best season, neither too cold nor too hot, and until the end of his life he was unwilling to cause any trouble to his children.
Mi Hong stayed to keep vigil for seven days and bid farewell to his old father.