Gentle to the Bone - Chapter 33

What Lu Jingce looked like before, in fact, he himself can’t remember clearly.

The memories of his youth were already too vague for him. He occasionally recalled the past, and it seemed that only Shen Yansheng was always clear in his memory.

It was thirteen years ago, and Jiangcheng ushered in the hottest summer in history.

That day was two days after he got his high school admission letter. Under the scorching sun, he was helping people move things in town in order to earn some tuition and living expenses so that he could study in Beicheng.

It was an ordinary day that was almost indistinguishable from the past.

Lu Jingce was helping to unload a restaurant, unloading boxes of beer from the car, and then moving them into the store.

Classmate Pei Xin suddenly ran over sweating profusely, “Ace! Ace! Something happened to your grandma!”

Lu Jingce put down his things and strode towards Pei Xin.

That year, Lu Jingce had just turned sixteen years old. He was tall and thin, and he had a calmness and calmness in his eyes that was different from his peers.

“What’s wrong?”

Pei Xin gasped for breath, sweating profusely, and said, “Just now your village called our commissary and said that your grandmother suddenly fainted when she was working in the field.”

Pei Xin remembered that day until a long time later, the high temperature of 42 degrees in Jiangcheng. He ran back to the village with Lu Jingce. When he got home, he saw his grandma lying unconscious on the bed. Lu Jingce didn’t say a word and carried grandma on his back. Go to the village entrance.

They drove to the town’s health center, but the health center couldn’t find out the results, so they were sent to the county hospital.

Lu Jingce didn’t say a word from the beginning to the end, he carried his grandma on his back and went to the station in the town.

Pei Xin followed behind, a little anxious, “Ace, it’s getting dark now, why don’t you go tomorrow.”

Lu Jingce still didn’t speak, so silent that people who didn’t know him might even think he couldn’t speak.

Fortunately, Pei Xin was used to Lu Jingce’s temperament. When he arrived at the station, he hesitated for a while, but got on the bus with Lu Jingce.

It takes an hour and a half to drive from Yunlai Town to the county seat. When we arrived at the county seat, it was already dark.

Lu Jingce walked in front with his grandmother on his back, and Pei Xin chased after him. It was already eight o’clock in the evening when he arrived at the hospital by bus.

Lu Jingce carried the 2,000 yuan he had saved over the years, went to register with his grandmother, and then stood outside the corridor waiting for his grandmother’s examination results.

About ten o’clock in the evening, the staff came out and shouted, “Are the family members of Chen Lixiu’s family here?”

Lu Jingce walked over, “I am.”

The staff looked him up and down, and then asked, “Is your family here?”

“No adults.” Lu Jingce said, “I can take charge.”

The staff hesitated, and finally let Lu Jingce in.

Seeing Lu Jingce go in, Pei Xin hurriedly followed.

The doctor was watching the film when he looked up and saw two boys walking in. He was stunned and asked, “Are you Chen Lixiu’s family?”

Pei Xin pointed to Lu Jingce, “He is Grandma Chen’s grandson.”

The doctor looked at Lu Jingce and asked, “What about your adults?”

“No adults.” Lu Jingce said the same thing. He looked at the doctor and asked dryly, “What happened to my grandma?”

The doctor hesitated and asked Lu Jingce how old he was.

Pei Xin couldn’t stand beside him, and said anxiously, “Doctor, he and grandma are the only two in their family. There are no other adults. Just talk!”

Half an hour later, Pei Xin sat with Lu Jingce on the roadside outside the hospital.

The summer night in Jiangcheng was still unbearably hot. Pei Xin walked around in front of Lu Jingce. Twenty minutes later, he finally couldn’t help it. He sat down beside Lu Jingce and said, “Why don’t we go back first. It’s so big. You can’t make up your mind alone. Go back to the adults to discuss and see if you can get some money somewhere.”

Lu Jingce finally raised his head and glanced at Pei Xin.

Pei Xin looked at Lu Jingce’s dark eyes, and at that moment he suddenly remembered that Lu Jingce has no other relatives in this world except his grandma. He wanted to find someone to discuss, but who could he find?

He can’t rely on anyone but himself.

That night, Pei Xin accompanied Lu Jingce to the hospital for one night, and the next morning, Lu Jingce let him go back.

He was a little worried and asked, “What about you? What about grandma?”

Lu Jingce still had that expressionless expression, and said, “I will find a way myself.”

Pei Xin was only in his teens at the time, he was spoiled by his parents and he was no different from a little kid. After Lu Jingce drove him back, he went out to look for a house.

With a small amount of money left on him, he rented a small house for his grandmother near the hospital.

The small house of more than ten square meters is in a narrow alley, with little light coming in, and it is damp and dark all year round.

The only advantage is that it is close to the hospital, so it is convenient to take my grandma for an examination. Even if there is an emergency, I can rush to the hospital as quickly as possible.

After his grandma was settled, Lu Jingce went out to find something to do.

He searched street by street, looked at the job recruitment information on the wall, and finally found the job on the construction site.

For Lu Jingce at that time, it was already the highest paying job he could find. As long as he was willing to do it, he would get paid.

The first time I saw Shen Yansheng was at that time.

It was still an ordinary day. At noon, the workers were smoking and resting under the eaves. Lu Jingce wanted to make more money and refused to stop. At noon, he was also carrying bricks under the scorching sun under the high temperature of 42-3 degrees.

At that time, the construction site was not much money per day. It was to see how much work a person did and how much it would cost to unload a truck of bricks.

Lu Jingce unloaded the bricks from the truck, put them into the bucket truck, and pushed them upstairs.

He went back and forth several times, and the fourth time he tried to get into the elevator with the truck, seven or eight adults bigger than him blocked the elevator door.

He looked up at them, and the man at the head said: “Little brother, what are you doing so actively at work? You’ve already moved, what else are we going to move?”

As he spoke, the burly man patted Lu Jingce on the shoulder, and said, “You have to follow the rules when you are here with us. How about you courting death, you unruly little thing?”

Lu Jingce looked at the other party coldly and said, “The things are just there. If you want to make money, you can move them yourself. No one will tie you up.”

After he finished speaking, he wanted to enter from the elevator next to him. The burly man probably didn’t expect that someone would dare to disobey him. With a look, the men next to him immediately blocked Lu Jingce and prevented him from entering the elevator.

Lu Jingce raised his head and looked at them coldly.

The man in the lead had a smug smile on his face, spread his legs and pointed, “Want to take the elevator, right? Come on, climb over from Dad, and I’ll let you sit.”

Seven or eight men laughed at the same time, and everyone’s face was hideous and ugly.

Lu Jingce confronted them with a cold face for a few seconds, his rationality made him decide not to waste time confronting them head-on.

He picked up the bricks from the truck in silence and climbed the stairs upstairs.

Those men were **** on the construction site. It was not a day or two to bully newcomers. It was probably the first time that Lu Jingce was so thorny, so he decided to teach him a lesson.

When Lu Jingce came down from the upstairs, a man pounced on him from behind, throwing Lu Jingce to the ground, and punching him in the face.

That year, Lu Jingce had just turned sixteen. He gritted his teeth and got up from the ground, grabbed the opponent’s collar, and slammed the opponent back.

Those men probably didn’t expect that Lu Jingce would dare to fight back. This punch directly angered them. Seven or eight men went up together. Lu Jingce’s two fists were no match for four, and he was quickly beaten to the point of blood.

Just when he thought he was about to die here, when his consciousness was chaotic, a girl’s voice suddenly came from his ear.

“Stop! What are you doing?!”

Several men were fighting right at the top, looked up and saw a little girl walk in, the man at the head stood up with a smirk on his face, “Little girl, I advise you not to mind your own business, otherwise don’t blame us for teaching you a lesson together. .”

Shen Yansheng was wearing a white skirt and holding a beautiful sun umbrella in her hand. Seeing the boy who was struggling to get up covered in blood, she couldn’t help frowning. She walked over to help him up, and looked up at the boys. A vicious man said, “Do you know who I am? If you are sensible, get out of here, or else you will not be able to eat and walk around!”

“Ha!” The man laughed exaggeratedly, “I’m so **** scared, little girl, if you want to get out of the movie, you’re asking for it!”

After speaking, he stretched out his hand to grab Shen Yansheng with a wicked smile. Lu Jingce pushed Shen Yansheng out with the last trace of consciousness, “Run!”

Shen Yansheng was pushed several steps away, and she didn’t realize she was afraid until then, and when she saw the fight inside, her face turned pale, and she ran out.

After about two or three minutes, a man in a suit and leather shoes hurried over with a few security guards, and as soon as he entered the lobby of the building, he shouted, “Stop!”

A few men heard this stern shout, turned around to see the person coming, paused, and then let go.

Lu Jingce got up from the ground covered in blood, Shen Yansheng hurried in to support him, and said, “It’s alright, I’ll take you to the hospital.”

Lu Jingce didn’t speak, he avoided Shen Yansheng’s hand, bent his back slightly, and walked out on his own with some vain steps.

Shen Yansheng hurriedly chased out, grabbed Lu Jingce’s arm, and asked worriedly, “Where are you going? You are so badly injured that you are going to the hospital.”

Lu Jingce still ignored her, avoiding her and continuing to walk out.

At that time, Lu Jingce was like a small animal that was seriously injured in the wild. He didn’t want anyone to see it, he just wanted to find a place to hide and lick the wound.

The scorching sun was directly on him, he dragged his heavy pace, and when he was about to reach the intersection, he finally collapsed due to lack of energy.

When he woke up, Lu Jingce saw the white ceiling of the hospital. The smell of disinfectant in the air made him wake up quickly.

He sat up from the bed and saw that the nurse was putting a bottle on him.

The nurse was startled and shouted, “Hey! What are you doing!”

Lu Jingce got off the bed and walked straight out.

When he was walking to the door of the ward, he happened to bump into Shen Yansheng who came in from outside.

It was the first time that Lu Jingce saw Shen Yansheng clearly. He glanced at her silently, trying to get out from her side.

Shen Yansheng reacted, hurriedly grabbed him, and asked with wide eyes, “Where are you going? You are seriously injured and will be hospitalized.”

The nurse also hurried over and said, “I’ve never seen anything like this before. How can I pull out the needle by myself? It scared me to death.”

Shen Yansheng looked down at his hand and found that the back of his hand was still bleeding. He subconsciously pulled the person inside and said, “Don’t worry, what happened on my father’s construction site will be covered by my father’s medical expenses. , you’ve healed your wounds before you leave.”

Lu Jingce was a little impatient, he let go of Shen Yansheng’s hand and walked straight out.

Shen Yansheng was stunned for a few seconds, and when he chased him out, he was long gone.

That year, Shen Yansheng had just turned sixteen.

In her sixteen years of life, she had never seen anyone stranger than that boy.

She originally thought that she would never see the boy again, but who knew that when she went to the construction site to look for her father the next day, she would see him again.

He was still injured, and he was working under the sun again.

Shen Yansheng watched him move the bricks from the ground into the bucket truck, and subconsciously walked over, stood on the steps beside the road, and propped the parasol in his hand on top of his head.

The scorching sun was suddenly blocked, and a shadow was suddenly cast above the head. Lu Jingce couldn’t help but stunned for a moment, then raised his head subconsciously.

Shen Yansheng smiled at him and said, “Why did you leave yesterday? You still have injuries, why don’t you rest at home for a few more days?”

Lu Jingce didn’t answer her. He lowered his head and continued to work. He filled a truckload of bricks and walked towards the building.

Shen Yansheng stood on the spot, looked at the other party’s back, and once again confirmed that this is really a weirdo.

At noon, Shen Yansheng went out to eat, propped up her sun umbrella, and was about to go back to her father’s office to take a nap.

When passing the construction site, I saw that strange boy sitting on the roadside eating steamed buns from a distance.

She walked towards him unconsciously, “Do you eat this at noon?”

Lu Jingce paused when he heard the words, then looked up at her subconsciously.

Shen Yansheng stroked her skirt and sat down beside her. She stared at each other for a while and introduced herself: “My name is Shen Yansheng, Yan of Dayan, Sheng of Shengxiao.”

The other party ignored her, and did not know if he heard her speak.

Not discouraged, she continued to chat with the other party, “How about you? What’s your name?”

The other party still ignored her, silently eating the steamed bun in his hand, taking a mouthful of the steamed bun and drinking a sip of water.

Shen Yansheng noticed that the mineral water bottle he was drinking from was very old, and even the label was missing. It should be cold boiled water that he filled.

“The people who beat you yesterday have been arrested and will not appear on this construction site again in the future.”

“You still have injuries. Can you just eat steamed buns? Isn’t there a lunch box on the construction site? Don’t you?”

The other party finally answered her, his voice muffled, and said, “Yes.”

“Then why don’t you eat the lunch box?” Shen Yansheng looked around, but did not see the lunch box, and looked at the other party with some doubts.

The other party stopped talking again, like a stuffy gourd.

Shen Yansheng stared at him for a while, and couldn’t help but ask, “Has anyone ever said that you are boring? Why don’t you speak?”

Hearing this, Lu Jingce paused, and finally turned his head to look at Shen Yansheng.

Shen Yansheng smiled and said, “You look about the same age as me. Are you out for a summer job?”

Lu Jingce gave a dull “um”, looked away, swallowed the last mouthful of steamed buns, and got up to continue to work.

Shen Yansheng sat there for a while, seeing that the other party didn’t want to pay attention to her, she was a little bored for a while, got up and left with an umbrella.

Later in those days, when Shen Yansheng went to the construction site to find his father every day, he could see Lu Jingce.

He was either moving bricks or carrying sandbags. In short, he never saw him rest or communicated with anyone.

Shen Yansheng tried to talk to him a few times, and found that the other party didn’t pay much attention to her, so he stopped making fun of himself, and he didn’t stop every time he passed by, and went straight to his father’s office with an umbrella.

Until one day at the end of August, there was a sudden heavy rain in Jiangcheng.

It was three o’clock in the afternoon when Shen Yansheng came out of the swimming pool and saw the dark clouds outside, the torrential rain pouring down, and the thunder and lightning roaring.

It was obviously three o’clock in the afternoon, and the whole city was as dark as six or seven in the evening.

Shen Yansheng took a taxi home, only to find that he did not have the key when he got home. She called her mother, only to know that her mother accompanied her father to the next county to purchase stones, and asked her to go to her father’s office to get a spare key.

So she took another taxi to the construction site.

Because of the rain, no one was working on the construction site.

Shen Yansheng got out of the car and hurriedly walked into the construction site with an umbrella.

When he was about to walk to the office building, he saw a familiar figure in the distance, struggling to carry sandbags in the heavy rain.

Lightning flashed overhead, as if the sky was about to collapse.

Shen Yansheng was very surprised, and hurriedly trotted over. She saw that the other party was soaking wet, and thunder suddenly rumbled above her head. She shouted loudly, “It’s raining so hard, what are you doing?!”

Lu Jingce heard the voice and looked up at Shen Yansheng.

He was still silent, but looked at Shen Yansheng for a while longer than usual.

The rainstorm washed over the umbrella that Shen Yansheng was holding, and lightning pierced the sky above her head.

Shen Yansheng’s skirt and shoes were also soaked by the rain, and thunder and lightning kept on top of her head. She felt it was dangerous, she reached out to pull Lu Jingce, and said, “Don’t do it, come with me.”

After speaking, regardless of whether the other party agrees or not, he forcibly drags the other party to the front office building.

When he entered the hall, he didn’t let go. He pulled Lu Jingce towards the elevator and said, “My dad has a hairdryer in his office. You are soaked all over. Use the hairdryer to blow it in a while.”

Pressing the elevator, she pulled Lu Jingce in.

Lu Jingce’s eyes fell on Shen Yansheng’s fair and clean hand, and then instinctively pulled his hand back.

Maybe Shen Yansheng was too clean. He instinctively stood against the wall and deliberately kept a distance from Shen Yansheng, afraid that the dirt on his body would get on her.

When the elevator reached the fourth floor, Shen Yansheng went out first, turned around and said to Lu Jingce as he walked out, “It’s just ahead.”

When she walked outside her father’s office, she took out the key from her bag to open the door. The financial aunt in the next office happened to be out to throw things. Seeing that she brought a boy up, she laughed and joked: “Yo, Sheng Sheng is making a boyfriend. Woolen cloth?”

Shen Yansheng smiled generously and said, “No, it’s my friend.”

She opened the office door, went into the room to find a hairdryer, and said, “Sit down for a while, and I’ll go find a hairdryer for you.”

Lu Jingce stood at the door and saw the clean and bright office, but he didn’t go in for a long time.

When Shen Yansheng found the hair dryer from the lounge next door and took it out, she saw Lu Jingce still standing at the door, she smiled and said, “Why are you still standing there, come in quickly.”

He walked to Lu Jingce, handed him the hairdryer, and then went to the remote control to turn on the air conditioner.

Lu Jingce was silent for a while, and finally said, “Can I wash my hands?”

“Okay.” Shen Yansheng put down the remote control of the air conditioner, walked to the bathroom, helped turn on the light, turned back to Lu Jingce and smiled, “Here.”

Lu Jingce went in to wash his hands, and then took a hairdryer inside to dry his clothes and trousers. He came out of the bathroom. He stood there, looked at Shen Yansheng, and asked, “Where is the hairdryer?”

“Just give it to me.” Shen Yansheng came over to take the hair dryer and put it on the table next to it.

She walked to the refrigerator, turned around and asked Lu Jingce with a smile, “What would you like to drink? Coke, orange juice, grape juice.”

Lu Jingce said, “No need, I’ll go first.”

“Hey!” Shen Yansheng hurriedly stopped him and said, “It’s still raining heavily outside. If you want to leave, wait for the rain to stop before leaving. You were injured a few days ago and haven’t been cured. If it rains again, , what should I do if I fall ill?”

Lu Jingce finally hesitated for a while.

He is not afraid of falling ill, he is just afraid that he will not be able to make money again if he falls ill, and that he will not be able to save money to treat his grandmother.

Shen Yansheng thought for a while and said, “I think you should drink some warm water, it’s just been raining for so long.”

While talking, he took the kettle to boil water, turned around and said to Lu Jingce, “Sit down, don’t stand still.”

There was only one leather sofa in the office for guests to sit on. Lu Jingce hesitated for a while, and finally sat down.

It’s just that I didn’t sit too hard, for fear of soiling other people’s sofas.

When the water was boiling, Shen Yansheng went to his father’s drawer to find the spare key at home and put it in his bag.

Looking up, she saw Lu Jingce sitting on the sofa silently, she smiled and chatted with him, and asked, “Are you from Jiangcheng?”

Lu Jingce gave a dull “um”.

Shen Yansheng said: “I’m not from Jiangcheng. I’m from Beicheng. I just finished the high school entrance examination this year. It happened that my father had a project in Jiangcheng. My mother and I came here to find him.”

The boiling water was ready, Shen Yansheng found a disposable cup to pour water for Lu Jingce, and asked, “What fun places are there in Jiangcheng?”

Lu Jingce said dullly, “I don’t know.”

“Is there anything delicious?”

“do not know.”

Shen Yansheng couldn’t help laughing, looked at him sideways, and said, “Why don’t you know anything.”

Lu Jingce was silent for a while, then said dryly, “I’m not from the city, I came from the country.”

“Really?” Shen Yansheng said with a smile: “My hometown is also in the countryside, do you know Yuzhou?”

Lu Jingce said, “I saw it on the map.”

“My hometown is in a small town in Yuzhou. It is beautiful, with small bridges and flowing water, and the folk customs are simple.”

With that said, he brought the water cup over, handed it to Lu Jingce, and said, “Drink some warm water, it’s just been raining for so long, don’t catch a cold.”

“Thank you.” Lu Jingce reached out and took it.

Shen Yansheng’s eyes fell on his hand, and he was slightly stunned.

Lu Jingce seemed to notice her gaze, took the cup, and put his hand back.

Shen Yansheng recovered and said, “Wait for me.”

She said and went straight out the door.

After about five minutes, when she came back, she had a bottle of sterilized iodophor and a few band-aids in her hand.

Sitting next to Lu Jingce, he unscrewed the iodine and said, “Why are there so many wounds on your hand? Be careful when you move things.”

She took a cotton swab and dipped it in iodine, then took Lu Jingce’s hand and tried to wipe it.

The wounds on Lu Jingce’s hands were all new. Most of them were scratched or smashed by bricks while moving bricks.

It had just been rained again, and the wound was soaked by the rain, and it was a little inflamed. The moment I rubbed the iodophor, there was a slight tingling pain, and the back of Lu Jingce’s hand shook unconsciously.

Shen Yansheng stopped immediately and looked up at him, “Does it hurt?”

Lu Jingce shook his head and said, “It doesn’t hurt.”

Shen Yansheng lowered his head again and carefully disinfected him, and said, “The wound is a little inflamed, and it must be a little painful. You should not touch the water recently, or it will definitely become inflamed repeatedly.”

Lu Jingce said “um”.

His eyes fell on Shen Yansheng’s face unconsciously. The two were so close together that he could clearly see her long and dense eyelashes, her focused expression, and the sight under her right eye. A small red mole.

In that year, Lu Jingce was sixteen years old, and the boy was moved, and from then on, he was invincible, and it was a long ten years.

At the end of August, Shen Yansheng was going back to Beicheng.

On the day she left, she deliberately went to say goodbye to Lu Jingce.

That day was actually no different from usual. Lu Jingce was working on the construction site as usual, and he was reluctant to eat the lunch he received at noon, so he wanted to keep it and take it home to his grandmother.

He was still under the scorching sun, sitting by the roadside eating steamed buns, swallowing a mouthful of steamed buns.

Until the girl’s beautiful shoes suddenly appeared in his sight, he raised his head and met Shen Yansheng’s smiling face.

She was wearing a goose-yellow dress today, holding a sun umbrella, and her long hair was tied into a beautiful ball head.

Shen Yansheng is no different from usual, just as good-looking.

She put away the umbrella, stroked her skirt and sat down beside him, and said, “Why are you eating steamed buns again?”

Lu Jingce said, “I have enough to eat.”

“But it’s not nutritious.” After speaking, he handed Lu Jingce the paper bag he was carrying.

Lu Jingce was stunned, and looked at her sideways.

Shen Yansheng smiled and said, “Take it.”

“What?” Lu Jingce asked subconsciously.

“You’ll know if you open it and take a look.”

Lu Jingce hesitated, then put the steamed buns in the plastic bag and put them aside.

He took the paper bag that Shen Yansheng handed him, opened it, and took out the things, only to find that it was a lunch.

It was the most hearty lunch Lu Jingce had ever seen when he was sixteen years old.

He turned his head sideways and looked at Shen Yansheng in confusion.

Shen Yansheng smiled and said, “I’m leaving.”

Lu Jingce couldn’t help but paused when he heard the words.

He looked at her and said nothing.

Shen Yansheng said: “School is about to start, I have to go back to school.”

Lu Jingce’s throat was slightly astringent, and after a long silence, he asked her dryly, “Which school did you go to?”

Shen Yansheng said, “North City No. 1 Middle School.”

As he spoke, he smiled shyly, and whispered to Lu Jingce, “Actually, I’m not good at studying, and those who pay high prices can only attend ordinary classes.”

Lu Jingce said, “You can still work hard in high school.”

Shen Yansheng smiled and said, “I think so too.”

Having said that, she took out something from her bag and said, “This is for you.”

Lu Jingce lowered his head and saw a red something resembling a peace knot on Shen Yansheng’s palm.

He was stunned for a moment, then looked up at Shen Yansheng.

Shen Yansheng smiled and shoved the things into his hands, and said, “I have nothing to do at home recently, and I have one myself.”

As he spoke, he shook the peace knot on his phone.

“My mom said it was a good wish, and it would keep us safe when worn.”

Lu Jingce’s throat rolled, he looked at Shen Yansheng and wanted to say something, but for the first time he suddenly realized that he was so bad at expressing.

A lot of words were stuck in my throat, and finally I just said dryly, “Thank you.”

Shen Yansheng smiled and said, “You shouldn’t always eat steamed buns in the future, you will suffer from malnutrition in the long run.”

Lu Jingce gave a dull “um”.

Shen Yansheng smiled, picked up the umbrella, stood up, and said, “Then I’m leaving.”

This was the last time Lu Jingce saw Shen Yansheng in Jiangcheng. He looked at the back of her leaving with an umbrella, and finally remembered that he hadn’t even told her what his name was.

When Shen Yansheng’s figure disappeared, he retracted his gaze a little empty, and his eyes fell on the concrete floor, where there was a photo of Shen Yansheng’s ID card that accidentally fell out when he was just picking up something.

Lu Jingce stared at it for a few seconds, couldn’t help picking it up, and quietly put it into his trousers pocket together with Ping’an knot.

The encounter with Shen Yansheng, for Lu Jingce, was God’s mercy, and let him have a beautiful dream.

He knew better than anyone that there were thousands of mountains and rivers between him and Shen Yansheng, and they would never be people of the same world in this life.

Occasionally he would have a dream, and when he mentioned it to his grandmother, even his grandmother said: “As the old saying goes, the right family is right, a young lady from a rich family will not marry into a poor family, and a girl from a poor family will not marry into a wealthy family. As the saying goes, what kind of pot goes with what kind of lid is not a person from the same world, and they don’t even have a common language.”

In September, Lu Jingce also went to Beicheng.

But he didn’t go to school. Grandma’s condition is getting worse and worse, cancer cells are spreading in the body, he needs to earn enough money as soon as possible to perform surgery on grandma.

One of Pei Xin’s distant uncles was doing business at sea and was short of manpower. He decided not to go to school and followed Pei Xin to Beicheng to join him.

On the green-skinned train to Beicheng, Pei Xin sighed for the hundredth time, “Are you really going to go to sea? Ah Ce, you are different from me. I’m not a student anyway, it doesn’t matter if you go out to the society early to make money, but you It’s different, you study so well. A student from Jiangcheng Village went to Beicheng to participate in the competition, and he could hang and beat those top students. Beicheng No. 1 Middle School personally threw an olive branch to you, and you just gave up?”

“I heard people say that if you can go to the experimental class of Beicheng No. 1 Middle School, you are the reservists of Peking University and Tsinghua University. If you go to study, you may not know in the future…”

“Can you stop arguing?” Lu Jingce was suddenly upset and looked at Pei Xin with a frown.

Pei Xin was so frightened that he obediently shut his mouth and said, “Alright, alright, I won’t say it anymore.”

He asked again: “Do you want to eat instant noodles? I’ll buy it?”

Lu Jingce pulled up the hat of his sweater to cover his head, lay down on the table, and said angrily, “Don’t eat.”

After sitting on a green leather seat for more than ten hours, the day I arrived at Beicheng Railway Station was 7:00 p.m. on September 18th.

Pei Xin’s uncle personally drove to the train station to pick them up and said, “Get in the car first, I’ll take you to dinner first, and talk slowly when you have something to eat.”

The place to eat was in a Jianghu restaurant in Beicheng. Pei Xin’s uncle specially reserved a private room. Lu Jingce made it clear that he was willing to do maritime business with him.

Liu Xueshan looked Lu Jingce up and down, and said, “Pei Xin’s father has already told me about your situation on the phone. But to be honest, it’s really a pity not to study in your condition. You must think clearly for yourself. .”

“I think about it very clearly.” Lu Jingce said, “I want to make money.”

Liu Xueshan said, “I know your grandma’s situation.”

Having said this, he sighed and said, “If you are sure to do business with me, I will definitely not treat you badly. But the money at sea is not so easy to earn, and many times you have to rely on the sky to eat. Once you go to sea, it will take more than half a year. , and the sea is not like on land, you may encounter danger at any time, you must think about it yourself.”

“I figured it out.”

Liu Xueshan nodded and said, “Okay, then you are ready to get used to it on the ship in a few days.”

The days of fishing at sea were really hard. When Pei Xin was on the boat, he vomited faintly every day.

Once lying on the deck looking at the sky, I said to Lu Jingce, “These days are really uncommon. The thought of staying on the ship for half a year makes me crazy.”

Lu Jingce sat against the wall of the boat, with one leg straight and the other bent, a red peace knot in his hand.

He looked at the vast sea, his eyes calm as if there was no emotion.

Pei Xin sat up from the deck, looked at Lu Jingce with his legs crossed, and asked, “Ace, are we really going to spend a lifetime at sea?”

Lu Jingce was silent for a long time, then said in a low voice, “I didn’t want to go that far.”

“Then what do you think?”

Lu Jingce finally looked sideways at Pei Xin and said, “I just want to save enough money to treat my grandma.”

“What about after that?”

Lu Jingce leaned his head against the wall of the boat, closed his eyes, and said lightly, “We’ll talk about it later.”

Lu Jingce followed Liu Xueshan for two years. At the age of eighteen, Liu Xueshan gave him a boat and let him go to sea by himself. He took 30% of the money he made.

At that time, Pei Xin had already changed careers. He really couldn’t adapt to the life at sea. He went to study as a chef and found a restaurant as an apprentice.

The days at sea were long and lonely, and Lu Jingce became more and more reticent in those two years. Sometimes sitting on the deck is a whole day, looking at the sea and the sky.

Occasionally recalling his short eighteen years, everything seemed so poor.

During those two years, he often thought of Shen Yansheng. Only when I think of Shen Yansheng can I feel that his heart is still beating.

Occasionally I regret it, why didn’t I tell Shen Yansheng what his name was, or leave a contact information.

But on second thought, what if he stayed. There is absolutely no chance that their lives will intersect.

At the age of nineteen, Lu Jingce had an accident at sea and survived to save his life.

But he was also fortunate that in that year, he earned enough money to finally bring his grandmother to Beicheng for better treatment.

The result of the surgical treatment was unexpectedly smooth. Pei Xin said that it was God who couldn’t stand his suffering, so he let his grandma live and stay by his side.

Otherwise, if grandma also left, Lu Jingce’s life would be too pitiful.

However, because of an accident at sea, Lu Jingce also began to consider changing careers. In fact, he didn’t want to stay at sea all his life, nor was he satisfied with the little money he made at sea.

Having experienced his grandmother’s illness, he became more and more deeply aware that in this world, people can live with dignity only if they have enough money.

Seeing Shen Yansheng again was the night when Lu Jingce decided to go abroad and his friend practiced it for him.

It was near A University. Pei Xin saved a little money in the past two years and opened a small restaurant near the university.

He lived a small but beautiful life, and he had a girlfriend, and he was going to get married by the end of the year.

When Pei Xin knew that Lu Jingce was going to go abroad, he still complained to him very much, and said, “Seeing that I am going to get married at the end of the year, you have to leave at this time.”

Lu Jingce gave a rare smile and said, “The red envelopes for the newlyweds will not be missing from you.”

“Is this a problem with red envelopes?” Pei Xin exclaimed, “I’m getting married at the end of the year, but my best brother can’t come and be my best man!”

Cheng Zhou sneered and joked: “You should be happy, A Ce came to be the best man for you, and I will steal the limelight for you.”

Pei Xin pouted, although he didn’t want to admit it, Lu Jingce was indeed handsome, but when he was present, they all became foils.

Thinking of this, Pei Xin couldn’t help but ask: “Ace, you really don’t think about Xinxin’s business? My daughter-in-law asked me to ask you again, Xinxin is very beautiful, and she is gentle—”

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Jingce gave him a sidelong glance. He subconsciously closed his mouth and said, “Forget it, take it as if I didn’t say anything.”

It was at that time that Lu Jingce saw Shen Yansheng. When he looked up out the window, he happened to see Shen Yansheng getting off a black car.

His eyes flashed for a moment, almost subconsciously.