Ashes of Love, We’ll Never Meet Again

There was only one month left on the calendar and she did not have time to argue with them.

The three old ladies met up with old friends whom they had not seen for a long time. They were dressed fashionably and drove a car, taking a ride from the countryside to the bustling city, attracting the attention of passers-by.

"Look, a cool grandma! I want to be like her when I grow old."

"Coolness knows no age—long live happiness!"

While waiting at a red light, a young driver rolled down his window and asked, "Grandma, are you okay driving alone?"

She smiled and replied, "No problem, I've been driving for decades."

"Grandma’s pension must be pretty good, right?" 

"Enough to eat, drink and have fun."

A few old friends went on a road trip without telling their families and visited the primary school campus to reminisce about their childhood. The swings they swung on together were long gone. 

Happiness back then was simple and a popsicle could make them satisfied.

They went to the high school to see the place where they had struggled together, how they had worked silently for their dreams day and night and they still remembered the brightly lit study room and the sound of pens scratching across paper.

They experienced success and failure together, although time had passed, they would still think of it at a certain inadvertent moment.

Decades passed in a flash and everyone became old ladies.

They were so carefree on the road that the next day, the internet was flooded with searches about them. 

[Enviable old age life.]

[Happy life of old girlfriends.]

Clara never thought that she would be the object of everyone's pursuit on the Internet during her lifetime. She was so happy.

Clara accompanied them all the way. She did not tell them that she was going to die. The purpose of the old friends meeting was to have fun. 

Why bother discussing life and death? She would accompany them to this point in this life.

A few days later, when Clara returned home, Jackie was pacing anxiously in the living room. 

“Why did you come back just now? You are so willful at such an old age. It would be dangerous for you to drive out.”

Clara looked at him coldly as she answered, “There's nothing to worry about. I know what's going on.”

Time passed quickly and there were only a few days left before she fell ill. Clara sent messages to her son and daughter respectively in the evening, saying that she missed them. 

In fact, Clara just wanted to see them for the last time, as she was afraid that she would never see them again.

A few days later, the son and daughter returned home together.

Clara endured the discomfort and cooked a table full of their favorite meals.

Her son's mouth was full of oil as he ate and her daughter kept saying, "It's delicious, delicious,” and kept saying comforting words.

After dinner, the family sat in the living room, brewing tea around the stove and talking about their childhood. 

The occasional laughter coming from the living room made Clara feel as if the family was as happy as before.

Clara wore a pair of reading glasses and held a yellowed photo album in her hand, flipping through the pages one by one. 

From time to time, she tapped her daughter's nose with her hand, her eyes full of gentle smiles. “You were beautiful when you were a child. Every time I took you out, you would attract everyone to come to you.”

Her daughter smiled slightly, with two dimples on her cheeks. “It's all because of mom and dad's good genes,” she said.

Clara was amused and smiled, pointing to another photo and said, “Look at your brother, he has been very naughty since he was a child.”

The smile on her lips lingered for a long time. A breeze blew in and Clara looked into the distance, her eyes full of kindness.

At that time, her son and daughter were both in their 50s and had lost their immaturity and become more mature and steady. They all had their own families and careers. 

Holding their hands, Clara felt indescribably satisfied. No matter what, every little bit of the past was a happy experience when she recalled it.

But Jackie kept fiddling with his cell phone, frowning for a while and looking outside the door from time to time.

Clara pretended not to see it and did not bother to pay attention, but her daughter could not help it.