A Little Bit of Fire Shines on Hanzhou

After Dayong died, a new dynasty was established. There was a private school teacher in the countryside south of the Yangtze River. His surname was Lin. He was only known as Mr. Lin, but his name and identity were unknown. The gentleman is over seventy years old, his temples are covered with snow, his back is slightly stooped, and his eyes are warm and moist, as if he is hiding a pool of river water. At the end of the day's class, when the young boys had dispersed, a child picked up a scroll and asked, "Master often says, 'Those who are tough will last forever.' What does toughness mean?" Sir, he sat by the window. The setting sun outside the window was like blood, falling on the back of his hand covered with grooves. He pondered for a long time, then slowly said: "Toughness is not something that cannot be broken. It breaks but does not fall, falls down and rises again, and is still warm even after crying - this is called toughness." The childish child was puzzled and asked again: "If you can't get everything you want, and everything you love is separated, what's the point of living?" The gentleman smiled. There was great sadness and great tenderness in that smile. He looked far into the distance, as if he had seen through decades of war smoke and old friends, and said softly: "Just remember - in this world, perfection is never promised to anyone. People are not here to take, but to keep. If you can keep an inch of your true heart, you will be able to see an inch of the way forward." The childish child left ignorantly. The husband is alone in front of the solitary lamp, and the past events are like a flood, one after another, all flooding into his mind. That was more than seventy years ago. The story begins with the drafty Sophora japonica Lane in Qingxi County, Muzhou during the Taiping Period of Dayong Dynasty.