Friends in time

　　I visited a friend's house, met someone, felt familiar, chatted for a while, and hit it off very well. The more I think about it in the future, the more strange it is. I feel a tingle in my heart. This man used to be a friend of mine! -I met for business many years ago, and then I had a personal relationship. That year, it was fashionable to have a second job. I remember that he opened a food stall in the night market. The boss, the chef and the waiter all worked together. After frying the dishes, he flew between the tables and chairs with plates, like an acrobat. I often sit around, and when the night market broke up, we drank under the street lamp and lamented that it was not easy to make money.

　　Friends who used to be so close, face to face after decades, don't know each other? But anyway, our friendship has been interrupted for many years. When was it? What is the reason? I can't remember anything.

　　When people reach middle age, they feel that there are fewer friends around them-some are doomed and "naturally" separated; Some people gradually become cold and distant because of barriers and cracks, and eventually become strangers. The former makes me sigh that the years are ruthless, while the latter makes me feel impermanent.

　　Life is like walking, from the starting point to the end point, walk side by side with the people you meet, and then go your own way. Those who walked too slowly turned around and disappeared; Walk too fast to catch up. Whether fast or slow, they are drifting away. Those friends who lost from me all went to different places-this "place", including space and time. Yes, time is also a place to go. For example, if I go to Shanghai, I can meet my friends in Shanghai; Then, I "go" to 2008, and of course I can meet my friends in 2008. This man who runs a food stall is such a friend in time. I remember that year was 1999. In the memory of 1999, there was friendship between us.

　　Friends can't do it, and try to avoid meeting each other in space, so don't try to save the lost friendship, but remember that they all become friends in time and exist forever in another form.

　　When I was a teenager, there were so many wage earners, but only we were congenial. We went to the photo studio to take photos (it was a grand and luxurious thing to go to the photo studio at that time, witnessing the depth of friendship). Later, when the factory closed down, we went our separate ways. Last year, I was nostalgic, and I got his phone number, and I reported my family name, scientific name, birth name and even nickname. He still couldn't remember who I was until I mentioned the factory. Then meet and invite each other to dinner. I invited him, and he was more enthusiastic about the friends I brought than I was; He invited me, and I felt more relaxed in communicating with his friends. Only the two of us, sitting side by side, are stiff and embarrassed, and can't find the feeling of that year.

　　I haven't seen you since, but I have become a fashionable "WeChat friend". Later, he may have changed the name of WeChat, but I couldn't find him again without making comments in time (mostly because I couldn't afford to find him). However, the friendship between him and the teenager is both cordial and touching, and he reunited in space and in time, as if he were not the same person.

　　Lost friends live in different time periods, just like friends in space, living in different cities or communities. Time is superior to space, and it takes a long journey to reach the space, but the arrival time is jumping. You can come and go freely, just close your eyes and wander.

　　Text: the reading essence of the original edition of Thinking and Wisdom

　　Photo courtesy: Muyang

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