My grandpa was called Li Fa. As a rebellious youth, he ran away from home, and the Li family mansion was looted. From then on, the family fell into decline.
Years later, Li Fa returned home in glory, rekindling the family's hopes of rising again. But a Hongmen Banquet cost the Li family its last chance to turn things around...
Li Fa spent his whole life healing the wounds in his heart. Nearing a hundred, he came to understand the true meaning of life. On his deathbed, he gave his eldest grandson the family genealogy, passed down since the Song Dynasty, hoping he would continue to preserve it.
But fate had other plans. His eldest grandson died young, and the family genealogy, passed down for generations, was burned after the funeral.
I grew up listening to my grandpa's stories and witnessing the rise and fall of our family. Only then did I truly understand that the things we work so hard to scheme for and painstakingly cultivate may not be what our descendants cherish. All we can do is live our own lives well. We are powerless to change the fate of anyone or anything. Just as Li Fa often gazed at the fields in the distance while he was alive, lamenting the impermanence of life...
