One day in 2011, Yang Jiang suddenly received a call from Qian Zhongshu's younger brother.
The younger brother asked Yang Jiang earnestly: "Your 100th birthday is coming, what are you going to do?" ”
Yang Jiang looked at the family portrait of a family of three on the wall of the living room, smiled and replied lightly: "You can eat a bowl of shou noodles for me at home." ”
At that time, Yang Jiang lived alone in the old house in Sanlihe, which she called "the inn of the world", and had long been closed.
Looking back on the past years, Yang Jiang always said calmly:
If the world leaves me for a day, I will live seriously for a day and never let down the time.
In this world, Yang Jiang has laughed, loved and saddened, but no matter when, she lives seriously.
It is this seriousness that makes Yang Jiang's life extremely rich.
The famous educator Tao Xingzhi once said: If you want to give someone a bowl of water, you must have a bucket of water.
If you want to give love, you must have enough love in your heart.
Fortunately, Yang Jiang has enjoyed abundant love since he was a child.
When Yang Jiang was born, she was only a small group, and when she grew up, she was also the shortest of her sisters.
Her mother took good care of her, and her father said, "Cats are good for those who are short-legged and short-bodied." It can be seen that her parents have a preference for her.
When she was 4 years old, her father was transferred to Beijing to serve as the director of the High Court of Justice, and Yang Jiang could have stayed in her hometown in Wuxi, but her parents insisted on taking her with them and teaching her personally.
Yang Jiang's parents were born in a scholarly family, his father was resolute and loving, and his mother was gentle and dignified.
In Yang Jiang's memory, his parents have never quarreled, and some are just considerate and caring for each other.
Yang Jiang's mother usually has the habit of keeping accounts, and she will write down the family's income and expenditure.
Sometimes, however, you can't remember what you're spending about.
Seeing his mother meditating on this, his father would gently take the account book and write the words "confused account" to prevent her from continuing to work hard.
Whenever this happens, Yang Jiang will see the tender love flowing in the eyes of his parents.
The warm family atmosphere gave Yang Jiang the first impression of love.
However, a happy childhood will also have a haze.
My father had studied abroad and believed in Western medicine.
Once, when my father was sick with typhoid fever, he was only allowed to be treated by Western doctors.
However, the medical conditions at that time were limited, and Western medicine was helpless, so when my father was dying, my mother quietly invited a Chinese medicine doctor.
Even though he was terminally ill, his father still had a deep rejection of Chinese medicine.
In order to let my father eat the Chinese medicine, my mother tried her best to grind the Chinese medicine into powder, carefully put it into the empty Western medicine capsules, and gently coaxed my father to take it.
Seeing his withered father, who recovered little by little under the careful care of his mother, Yang Jiang's heart was deeply touched:
It turns out that love is the cure for all diseases.
Growing up in a family full of love, Yang Jiang is so lucky.
If a person has been wrapped in love since childhood, then she will also know how to love when she grows up.
With abundant love in the heart, people will have enough security in their hearts, so that they will not blindly ask for love because of the lack of love.
Because the true meaning of love is never to ask, but to give.
In the process of giving love, people's hearts will be further satisfied and grown.
It is precisely because of this that love can support a person to overcome obstacles and move forward fearlessly on the long road of life.
A person's mouth may deceive, but the heart does not.
No matter when or what, only by being true to your heart will you feel at ease and have no regrets.
When Yang Jiang was 16 years old, his classmates at school organized a speech on the street.
Yang Jiang was reluctant to go because he was worried that the people on the street would be rude to the female students.
At first, Yang Jiang was afraid of offending her classmates and was reluctant to say it directly, so she begged her father to ask for leave for herself.
But his father told Yang Jiang: "You are reasonable, you can also say, it's up to you whether you go or not." ”
It was his father's encouragement that made Yang Jiang dare to face his heart and act bravely according to his own wishes in the years to come.
It is precisely by listening to the guidance of her heart that she and Qian Zhongshu have achieved their perfect marriage.
When Yang Jiang and Qian Zhongshu met for the first time, the two had a good impression of each other.
When Qian Zhong wrote a letter to ask her to meet, Yang Jiang chose to go to the appointment happily.
But before that, Yang Jiang heard from a friend that Qian Zhongshu's family had booked a young lady for him as his wife.
Although Yang Jiang had doubts in her heart, she still chose to trust her own judgment.
Unexpectedly, after Qian Zhongshu saw Yang Jiang, the first thing he said was: "I'm not engaged." ”
It turned out that the girl that Qian Zhongshu's family had a crush on, Qian Zhongshu never admitted it.
After listening to Qian Zhongshu's sincere explanation, Yang Jiang was relieved, and immediately replied: "I don't have a boyfriend either." ”
Afterwards, Yang Jiang recalled that fortunately she chose to listen to her inner voice at that time and did not blindly believe the words of others, otherwise she and Qian Zhongshu would miss each other.
Many years later, it was also because of listening to his inner voice that the 38-year-old Yang Jiang once again made an important choice in life.
That year, due to the war, many people in Suzhou took refuge in the concession of Shanghai.
One day, the principal of Suzhou Zhenhua Girls' School approached Yang Jiang and hoped that she could help build a branch of Zhenhua Girls' School in Shanghai, so that the students scattered in Shanghai could continue their studies.
In the face of the principal's plea, Yang Jiang resolutely accepted the task, just because she couldn't bear to see the children interrupt their studies due to the war.
Choosing a school location, finding a teacher, making a budget, setting a schedule...... After a year of arduous preparation, Zhenhua Girls' School Shanghai Branch was finally established.
However, when the school was on the right track, Yang Jiang firmly resigned from all positions.
Because she found that her busy work schedule had left her no time to take care of her family.
Yang Jiang said that when she chose to rebuild the girls' school, she was just bent on doing something for the students who were scattered.
Now that the girls' school is on the right track, she is willing to obey her heart again, return to her family, teach her husband and daughter for the rest of her life, and concentrate on learning.
Whether it is to accept the preparatory task or give up all positions, it is Yang Jiang's heartfelt choice.
For his choice, Yang Jiang has never regretted it.
Life is like this, the choices and trade-offs again and again have made you embark on your own life path.
Prosperity or tranquility is the result of one's own choice.
When you stand at the crossroads of life and don't know how to choose, you might as well stop, close your eyes, and quietly listen to your inner voice.
There is a poem that says: "Where the heart desires, the past is done." ”
If it is a heartfelt choice, even if you wear straw sandals, you will go all out without regrets.
Only in this way can we minimize regrets in our lives.
Life is like a journey.
Sunny winds or storms are experiences.
In 1938, when they heard that the motherland was in turmoil, Yang Jiang and Qian Zhongshu, who were originally studying abroad, immediately gave up their stable life in France and returned to their families.
Later, the University of Hong Kong and universities in the United Kingdom invited Yang Jiang and Qian Zhongshu to teach, but they refused.
In the war-torn era, Yang Jiang not only had to take care of the elderly and children at home, but also had to run for a living.
She has worked as an elementary school teacher, as a tutor, and as a writer...... Every day I am so busy that my feet don't touch the ground.
Later, Yang Jiang was considered a "cancer" because he had studied and taught English.
Half of her hair had been shaved;
was also arranged to clean the women's toilet;
Yang Jiang, who is nearly 60 years old, was even sent to guard the vegetable garden, guarding the vegetable field 24 hours a day.
She loves cleanliness, she has not taken a bath for two months, and the back of her hand is cleaner than the palm of her hand......
All kinds of experiences, in the eyes of outsiders, are simply unbearable.
Someone asked Yang Jiang: Do you regret not leaving in the first place?
Without thinking about it, Yang Jiang replied calmly:
"There is nothing to regret, and people don't have to live for the sake of happiness."
Life is nothing more than an experience, whether it is suffering or setbacks, if it comes, it will be safe.
Yang Jiang was 86 years old, and his only daughter, Qian Yuan, died of spinal cancer.
In the midst of the pain, she quickly adjusted and went to take care of her husband who was lying on the hospital bed.
Unexpectedly, Qian Zhongshu also died the next year.
Faced with a heavy blow, Yang Jiang was relieved:
If I walk in front, Qian Yuan and Zhong Shu will definitely not be able to stand it, and let me carry the burden of pain, isn't it a good thing?
After that, Yang Jiang closed her door to thank guests, quietly sorted out her husband's posthumous manuscripts, and published "Qian Zhongshu Manuscript Collection".
At the age of ninety-two, Yang Jiang wrote his memoir "We" in simple words.
At the age of ninety-six, Yang Jiang wrote his feelings on fate, life and death and other issues into a collection of essays "Walking on the Edge of Life".
In the book, she wrote: "The joys and sorrows, hopes, and sorrows of the past are like a dream, and they are all gone. ”
The more hardships he has experienced, the more calm Yang Jiang's attitude towards life becomes.
In life, it is good to be happy and stable, but when misfortune comes, it is better to bear it calmly than to avoid it in a panic.
As Su Shi wrote in his poem: "Don't listen to the sound of the forest beating the leaves, why not chant and walk slowly." ”
Knowing how to stay calm in the midst of misfortune can we move forward quietly and firmly in the turbulent waves of life.
This kind of quiet and calm after suffering is the elegance that emanates from the depths of the soul.
In 2016, 105-year-old Yang Jiang quietly finished her life.
This centenarian has left an elegant and timeless back to the world.
In this life, she was pampered and grew up, leaving in silence.
Although there were frustrations and grief, they were also resolved by her calmness one by one.
Life in the world is actually an experience, if the heart is calm, it is elegant.