Later, I Was Alone

In 2008, the green train during the Spring Festival was like a panting steel beast, packed with people returning home. It was in this sweltering carriage that Chen Mo met the girl carrying a huge mountaineering bag and dragging a snakeskin bag that was about to explode - Lin He. Her face was flushed, and the hair on her forehead was soaked with sweat, but she still shouted to him at the top of her lungs: "Hey, help me!" It was the beginning of an embarrassing and vivid period, and two young hearts quietly approached amidst the crowding and the smell of sweat. In that era when Nokia was still used, they made a vow "forever". They bought an old house in the county town and had a big fight over whether the walls should be painted pink or gray, but ended up living in the cheapest white house. Life was poor but enjoyable, and the birth of their daughter Chen Nian added a bit of excitement to the small family. At that time, Chen Mo always put the soft and glutinous millet porridge into a black thermos cup in the early morning and delivered it to Lin He. The paint-peeling thermos cup became the warmest witness of their fireworks in the world, filled with tiny pieces of love and expectation. However, the cruelty of life often comes unexpectedly. In 2016, cracks began to appear on the originally white wall. Lin He suddenly became seriously ill and was confined to a wheelchair and hospital bed after surgery. The woman who once could carry a snakeskin bag and walk as fast as flying has gradually lost all ability to take care of herself. Chen Mo quit his job and changed from an ordinary husband to a silent caregiver. He learned to wipe and change his wife's body, use a syringe to inject liquid food little by little, and endured the exhaustion and despair day after day. The black thermos cup still appeared on the bedside every day, but what it contained was more of Chen Mo's silent tears and unwillingness to fate. On the day Lin He left, there was no earth-shattering cry, just like a lamp that had run out of power, it went out quietly. After the funeral, the hustle and bustle dissipated, and only Chen Mo and his daughter were left in the huge house, relying on each other. He repairs light bulbs alone, attends parent-teacher meetings alone, and faces the daily necessities of life alone. The old thermos cup was put into the depths of the cupboard, and together with the years that could not be returned, it was sealed in dust. Later, Chen Mo would often sit alone in the living room late at night, stroking the cold thermos cup in his hand. He thought of the cold wind on the train that year, of Lin He's fierce look, and of their promise to grow old together. The most painful thing in this world is not the separation of life and death, but that from now on, the lights of thousands of homes will be without her. Purpose: The story is not only about mourning the death of the wife, but also about how the survivors are forced to move forward in the torrent of time. Time took away his lover, but he also used his identity as "father" to support the male protagonist's survival.