Zhang Yong stood at the gate of the abandoned factory, and the scene in front of him was as desolate as ever. This was once his lifelong home and a place he was once proud of, but now it only has dilapidated iron gates and dusty open spaces. Zhang Yong hasn’t been here for many years, but today, he once again stood on this deserted street, as if he wanted to throw his whole life here.
“What are you doing back?” he whispered to himself.
He is not a person who can cry easily. Over the years, life has made him very hard. Whenever he thinks of the past, he will feel a silent pain, as if his heart was suddenly pierced by a needle, and the pain is unfathomable. But he has long learned to hide these pains, and even he himself no longer knows where they come from and how to disappear.
When he was young, he, like many people, had dreams for the future and a desire for happiness. At that time, he always felt that as long as he worked hard, his life would follow the trajectory he wanted. So, he went to college, found a job in a factory, and became an ordinary worker, day after day, year after year.
He had several passionate loves, and he had dreamed of creating a home of his own with his own hands. But as the years went by, life always crushed these dreams into the dust of reality. He saw people around him leave one by one, marry others, or go to more distant places, becoming unfamiliar faces in his eyes. He also saw some people who originally had great ideals, but eventually succumbed to the pressure of life and became workers like him, shuttling between workshops and construction sites.
Zhang Yong had not returned home for a long time, and even wandered outside for several years. Whenever he stood on the streets of a certain city, he would think of the dream he had once had, the dream of wanting to change his destiny and make himself live a better life. But as time went by, he found more and more that dreams would not necessarily come true in reality. Life is like a road of no return. The farther you go, the harder it is to turn back.
He thought of the relationship he had in the past, which was his first love. Her name is Xiao Min. She is not particularly outstanding, but she has a warm temperament. At that time, they often ate and walked together, and lived a simple and satisfying life every day. Zhang Yong always felt that he had the whole world with her. However, when the burden of life gradually fell on their shoulders, love gradually became silent in the trivialities and helplessness of day after day.
They finally broke up for a simple reason: Xiao Min decided to leave the city to pursue her future, while Zhang Yong stayed and continued his factory life. There was no right or wrong, they were just forced to make a choice in this world. Zhang Yong did not ask where Xiao Min had gone or how she was doing now. The flow of life made him gradually understand that many things, once lost, can never be found again.
Zhang Yong continued to wander at the door of the abandoned factory, with an empty space in front of him, only the sound of the wind blowing and the occasional roar of a distant train. Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him, and he turned around and saw a young man walking over, wearing work clothes, with a little fatigue on his face.
“Lao Zhang, you’re back?” The young man looked at him with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
“Yes.” Zhang Yong nodded, his voice low, “Come back to take a look.”
The young man didn’t ask any more questions, just stood aside silently. Zhang Yong lowered his head, looked at the dust under his feet, and a complex emotion surged in his heart. He knew that no matter what, he would never go back to this place. And he himself was no longer the young man who once had dreams.
As the years passed, Zhang Yong finally understood that life was never a smooth journey. Whether it was love, dreams or family, they were just a fragment of life, and as time went by, they would eventually be left behind. Only the hard reality is what will always accompany us.
Zhang Yong turned slowly and looked at the streets in the distance. Those places that once moved his heart now seemed to have become unfamiliar. He didn’t think too much, but just walked forward silently. Life, maybe it’s like this, no matter how reluctant, no matter how painful, we have to go on alone after all.