Feng Zhongliang is old and has difficulty walking. He is not keen on outdoor activities that many wealthy people like. In his spare time, he just tends to flowers and plants, write, and read books. He rarely has time to meet old friends for tea.
In the past, I would go to Pei’s house to play chess and chat with Old Man Pei to kill time.
But with his rebirth, Feng Nan and Pei Yi became estranged. Given Feng Zhongliang's personality, he probably won't have much contact with the Pei family anymore.
Jiang Se remembered that he had mentioned before that when he was young, he learned carving from his comrades in the revolutionary army. After the war, he was obsessed with this little skill for a while.
But after getting married and having children, I gave up this hobby in order to support my family.
Jiang Se has only returned to the capital since she visited Feng Zhongliang at Feng's house in October last year. Although she called Feng's family during the trip, she could clearly hear the loneliness in Feng Zhongliang's tone over the phone.
He is old and has old health problems. His children live far away in Hong Kong. Feng Nan and he are not close in the imperial capital. The only people who stay with him are his housekeeper and Xiao Liu.
Jiang Se thought carefully and remembered that Feng Zhongliang had not mentioned the stone sculpture for many years. She just bought him a small thing to help him pass the time and to make her elder happy.
“I see.”
Mo Anqi tidied up the table, thought about it and said:
"Or I can decide for you."
When she said this, she took a look at the pile of scripts. Jiang Se had been out of work for nearly half a year, and Xia Chaoqun had brought her a total of four or five scripts for her to choose from. In addition to the scripts, outlines and character personalities, these scripts also included the original novels. It was not an easy task to read them all and choose one.
In addition to these, Jiang Se also has school information to organize and then write a report. Only when the college professors are satisfied will this archaeological internship be considered a success.
Xia Chaoqun did not leave her much time to organize and write the report. Before he left, Xia Chaoqun had instructed her that she would have to start getting busy in a week or so at most, learning piano and dancing in order to attend the Steinay company's anniversary party in early June. Xia Chaoqun's requirements for her would definitely not be limited to just being familiar with a certain song at the party, and he would probably demand more from her.
"Selecting stones is not a task that can be completed in one or two hours." In particular, although Jiang Se has no requirements on the price of the stone, he has high requirements on the texture of the stone itself, which is something that can only be encountered by chance.
Although it is possible to buy something satisfactory if you spend a lot of money, it is still too troublesome.
Mo Anqi is her assistant, and she could have done these things for her.
I thought Jiang Se would nod in agreement after I said this, but as soon as Mo Anqi finished speaking, Jiang Se shook his head:
"No need. Just buy me a set of engraving tools and choose a suitable merchant. I will go there in person when the time comes."
Her words made Mo Anqi stand up straight, and he looked at her strangely for a long time.
"What's wrong?"
Jiang Se raised his head, and Mo Anqi hesitated:
"Sese, I thought you would please the old man of the Pei family, but why are you closer to Old Man Feng? It's as if he is your elder."
Jiang Se didn't say anything, so Mo Anqi stopped asking.
It took five days to finish the report. During these days, Mo Anqi picked out several merchants in the capital who had things she wanted. Jiang Se took the time to go and see them. He originally planned to buy a piece of Qingtian stone as a gift for Feng Zhongliang, but finally chose a piece of Tianhuang stone and spent nearly 800,000 yuan. The boss reluctantly gave it up for Jiang Se's sake.
Jiang Se had already called in advance before going to see Feng Zhongliang, and it was just around 8:30 when Jiang Se arrived.
When she took the elevator up, Feng Zhongliang was sitting in the living room, holding a cup of tea in one hand and a book in the other. When the sound of the elevator door opening rang out, his ears pricked up, but he forced himself not to turn his head.
The housekeeper handed Jiang Se a pair of slippers, and Aunt Wang took off her coat for her.
The heater was on in the house, but it was still very cold outside in the capital in February. Feng Zhongliang shouted with a cold face:
"Make some hot tea for the lady."
He turned his head and glanced at Jiang Se, his eyes showing excitement, but he pursed his lips tightly, forcibly holding back, and shouted:
"You're out in the world, wearing so little."
He put down the teacup, patted the armrest of the sofa, and looked a little serious:
"Children like you only care about how to look good, but don't care about the cold weather. You will suffer when you get old!"
As he was talking, Feng Zhongliang became unhappy:
"You got up late. It's already past eight o'clock. If you don't want to see me, then don't come!"
He shouted loudly, and the servants in the room held their breath and dared not speak.
The house was quiet. Feng Zhongliang got angry and the flesh on his cheeks trembled. He seemed to be a little regretful, but he was too embarrassed to ask for peace, so he turned his head away angrily.
Aunt Wang glanced at Jiang Se cautiously, fearing that she would be embarrassed. Young girls are very thin-skinned. Even Feng Zhongliang's granddaughter Feng Nan couldn't stand Feng Zhongliang's temper, let alone Jiang Se, an outsider.
"Don't bother with the old man."
Aunt Wang lowered her voice, glanced at Jiang Se who came with the gift, felt a little sympathetic towards her, and turned to look at Feng Zhongliang:
"The old man just missed you too much."
He never expresses his longing for her by words, but it is shown in his actions.
"After you called yesterday, the old man slept late at night and got up at around five in the morning and went downstairs to cut the flowers himself."
Aunt Wang pointed to the branches of wintersweets on the coffee table and said, "I've asked about the time more than a dozen times, and even asked Xiao Liu to personally watch over it."
Feng Zhongliang's attitude towards Jiang Se changed from rejection at the beginning to acceptance and then to liking her now. The servants in the house saw it all.
"The old man told the kitchen to make cakes, snacks, and fruits yesterday."
He had been waiting for a long time and got up too early, so he felt that even if Jiang Se came at around eight o'clock, it would still be too late for Feng Zhongliang.
"I understand."
Jiang Se nodded. She knew very well what kind of temper Feng Zhongliang had.
She picked up the things and walked towards Feng Zhongliang. He was still sulking with a gloomy face. It was unclear whether he was angry about his previous temper or because he was really a little depressed that Jiang Se came too late.
"grandfather."
Jiang Se squatted down, held the bag in his arms, and looked up at Feng Zhongliang:
"I'm back."
She smiled and said, "It's not that I don't want to come earlier, I'm just worried that it will disturb your rest."
Feng Zhongliang's lips moved, and the girl squatted in front of him, smiling sincerely, as if she was not embarrassed by his previous unreasonable anger and accusations. (To be continued)