Love is the sunny flower of time

1

In 2003, I was studying art at the University of Frankfurt in Germany. To save money, I rented a shabby apartment in a small town not far from the university. The apartment was on the first floor, and there was a wooden fence at the door, with a piece of white paint peeling off and a tangle of green vegetation.

In order to support the living expenses and tuition fees, I worked day and night to earn money, during the study, once lost a lot of weight.

It was a summer afternoon, I dragged my tired body back from school, took out the key to open the door, a slightly hoarse middle-aged man's voice came: "I have been paying attention to you for a long time."

The sun was shining, and through the fence more than half a meter high, I saw a slightly fat bearded German man, his light curly brown hair under a pair of green eyes, like amber. Wearing a Burgundy baggy T-shirt and beige shorts, he smiled at me with a beer bottle in his hand. But the contorted expression on his face told me that perhaps he looked better without smiling.

It was the first time I had seen my neighbors after living here for nearly half a year. Maybe I'm too busy, maybe my neighbors are too quiet. In short, this sudden greeting let me some at a loss.

"You didn't notice the flowers, did you?" He asked me.

Subconsciously, I looked at the vegetation on the fence. Yellow flowers could be seen faintly among the green leaves. I took a deep breath and could smell the faint fragrance, but the fragrance did not remove my fatigue.

"Can you come to my house for a cup of tea?" He took a sip of wine and looked at me.

His question made me squirm. My mind ran a hundred thousand reasons, but I couldn't think of a single reason why he'd invited me to tea.

"Actually, I want you to be my model." He looked at me imploringly, and finally added, "Paid, 20 euros an hour."

The price was much higher than washing dishes in a Chinese restaurant. I couldn't help but nod.

"That's great." He danced with excitement and warmly invited me to his home.

With a smile, I walked around the fence and went to his house.

After a few small talk, I learned that the German man's name was Joseph and that he was a painter. I think he was a crazy painter, because his house was almost full of his paintings. He proudly introduced me to the creative inspiration of each of his paintings, and I was attracted by an abstract painting hanging on the living room wall. It was a woman in a bright red cheongsam, her hair covering two-thirds of her face with matted hair. Only a pair of pale lips showed her features, and the yellow pupils of the black cat in her arms were full of resentment. I wonder what kind of woman this is.

"How do you feel about three hours at a time? Joseph sensed my curiosity about the painting, but instead of gushing about his inspiration, he spoke directly to me about my modeling hours.

"Very good." I said with a smile.

2

That Sunday was my third visit to his house. Sitting still as a sculpture in a high chair by the window was no easier than washing dishes in a Chinese restaurant. Time is quiet, the sun through the blinds thin hit on my body. It was the first time since arriving in Germany that I really felt the sun. In retrospect, I suddenly feel that I have been in a hurry. In a hurry to attend class, in a hurry to work, in order to study, in order to make a living, I hurried to forget myself.

I was a little sleepy from the fatigue of the past few days. While I was napping, someone opened the door and woke me up. A chubby German woman in a floral dress appeared at the door, her eyes flashing with sadness and then a warm smile on her lips. This is Joseph's wife, I suppose.

"My wife Hannah has just come back from her holiday in the Aegean Sea and needs to rest. Let's go to the yard." 'said Joseph.

Hannah and I said hello and followed Joseph to the yard in front of the apartment.

The weather is good, warm and cold. The towering trees next to the apartment were full of leaves, swaying gently in the breeze. Across the street, on several flowering trees, pale pink and lavender flowers were in full bloom, and the sound of honey bees could be heard. I closed my eyes and felt a rare moment of leisure.

Joseph put the drawing board down on the stone table, and instead of continuing his work, looked at me.

Without resting, Hannah brought out a pot of tea and asked us to join her. The three of them sat on the wicker chair, basking in the sun, chatting with each other.

"You are like an old friend of ours." Hannah smiled at me, adding after a pause, "You're almost her."

I smiled and didn't know how to answer.

"That's all for today, Petunia. I need to get back to the studio and finish this picture." 'said Joseph suddenly, picking up his drawing board and going into the room. Perhaps the artist's mood is as uncertain as the weather here. I nodded and prepared to go home.

"Penny, come to my house next Wednesday for cookies and be sure to try my cooking." Hannah invited me out of the blue.

The hospitality was so great that I agreed. It's a foreign country. It's nice to have a place to stay.

3

On Wednesday, it was rainy and chilly.

After school, I smelled cookies from next door. It made me eager to go to Joseph's house for a hot cup of coffee and some freshly baked cookies.

When I rang the doorbell, Hannah, wearing a white apron, opened the door for me. When she saw me, she smiled and gave me a big hug. The room is perfumed with chocolate sauce and milk.

"Tea or coffee?" Hannah brought a plate of fresh cookies to the table.

"Coffee." I sat down and did not see Joseph, who was not supposed to be at home.

"Petunia, do you know why Joseph asked you to be his model?" Hannah asked me as she finished her coffee.

I shook my head.

"Because you look so much like Jane from twelve years ago." She looked at me and said, "Jane is Joseph's ex-wife."

I was surprised and wondering why Hannah was telling me this.

Hannah looked at the picture of a woman in a cheongsam in the living room and said dryly, "That's Jane."

Can any woman talk about another woman in her husband's heart with such a pale expression? What about Western women? But the subtle tone of Hannah's voice moved me. She not only with Joseph, but also with a painting day and night, which needs to be how to measure.

'Jane was a bit of a loner but a very kind person who took in stray cats. She died of anorexia after two years of marriage to Joseph.' 'She was very thin and liked to wear a cheongsam,' Hannah said of Jane. 'Joseph painted so many pictures of her that he kept this one. He threw the rest into the fire.'

I gasped.

Hannah pulled back her eyes and smiled. "How do my cookies taste?"

"It's better than anything in the store." I ate one and was amazed at her baking skills.

"It's the taste Joseph likes." Hannah smiled happily. "I've been doing it for him for over a decade. Practice makes perfect."

4

It was a week before I went to Joseph's again.

"Sorry, I've been in the studio all this time." Joseph gave me an apologetic smile.

"I don't think I'll need molds anymore." 'he said, with a faint glow on his tired face.' I've been getting the feeling I want for days. '

"I haven't seen any of your paintings these days." I am a little upset that I will lose such a good part-time job.

Joseph looked at me strangely for a long time. Then he said slowly, "Penny, I've been thinking about moving out of here for a while, to be with Hannah."

I had known my neighbors for less than a hundred days when I heard the news that they were leaving. I couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

"Because I've lived here for so long, it's time to move on." Joseph looked out of the window and said sadly, 'Will you give me a hug? Petunia." I was at a loss when Hannah came into the living room. She smiled and nodded at me. So I gave Joseph a hug.

After Joseph's family moved out, the apartment next door remained empty, and I resumed my usual haste. Just as I was in a hurry to forget myself again, I suddenly received a delivery.

It was an afternoon, and the sun dappled through the towering trees beside the apartment on the open space in front of the door. I opened the package and there was a picture. It was also an afternoon. The green vegetation was covered with small flowers. On the front steps of the apartment stood a woman in a pale blue dress and white shoes, squinting up at the sky with her hands in front of her forehead. It was clearly the afternoon on which Joseph had first greeted me, and the woman in the picture was me. But on closer inspection, the woman was thinner than me.

There was also a photo in the package. It was Joseph and Hannah's wedding photo. Behind the photo was the small print: "Thank you for being here, so I can finally get out of my mind and have the courage to walk down the aisle again, Joseph." I couldn't help crying when I saw the happy Hannah in the photo. Moved by Joseph's dedication to Jane, and moved by Hannah's waiting for Joseph for many years.

Love is the time of the Xiangyang flower, the sun will rise and fall in the east, the flower will result.