Shuming sent me home and we sat upstairs for a while. My mother greeted him warmly, brewed a cup of premium Dahongpao, and asked him how long his trip had taken and what he was busy with. Shuming answered her questions one by one. I firmly believe that he has a way of dealing with elders and he takes it seriously.
We never open the windows much at home, and after drinking hot tea, the living room was a little stuffy. I took a tissue and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He smiled embarrassedly and took the tissue.
His mother asked him, "I heard that the stock market has been doing well recently. I have some spare money and want to try it out. You have been doing this for a long time, can you give me some good advice?"
I slid open the French window, and a cool breeze blew in. A grass moth took the opportunity to slip in and landed on the back of the sofa. Li Shuming said, "Recently, interest rates have been lowered, and funds are flowing into the stock market. It is indeed a good time, but the domestic financial market is immature at present. The stock market is mostly influenced by policies and does not follow economic laws. If you have extra money, you can invest a little in it for fun, but if you expect to make a profit, I am afraid you will be disappointed."
My mother nodded. I asked again, "Shu Ming, when did you start investing in stocks?"
"After my sister started working, she had a stable income. I had some extra money on hand, so I invested a little to try. But it happened to be the end of the bull market, and my hard-earned money went down the drain. I had to live frugally for half a year," Shu Ming said with emotion.
"You've been supporting your sister through college?"
"Well, she studied at a technical college and graduated in three years. But she was very sensible and also worked part-time at school."
I nodded in admiration. It's really not easy to be the eldest brother.
"It's not easy. I see that you are still working hard now, but when you were young, you were too busy struggling to start a family?" My mother asked so deeply and pointedly. I felt embarrassed for her, but she didn't care. Maybe she felt that she was very familiar with him.
Li Shuming took a sip of tea, shook his head helplessly, and smiled generously, "When I was a child, my mother asked someone to tell me that I would have a hard life."
Dealt with quite well.
I sent Shuming downstairs when someone called. He didn't shy away from saying, "I'm afraid I can't leave because I have something else to do... Thank you, thank you, I won't come over, let's meet some other day..."
Tiring socializing.
The autumn wind brought a slight chill, and the garden in the community was covered with golden leaves. The moonlight was exceptionally bright, and even a little bit seductive. When we said goodbye, he held my hand, his palm was warm, and the warmth came from his fingertips. "See you tomorrow!"
"See you tomorrow!" I waved my hand, watched him open the car door, and watched his car slowly drive out.
The next day, I received a call from my father, saying that he had something important to discuss with me.
After all, my father is a businessman. He keeps an eye on everything and has a keen eye on everything. In such a short time, he has already understood Li Shuming's identity. "I heard that he works at the head office?"
I nodded.
The father's tone softened, "Qinqin, Daddy is sorry for you."
"Why are you saying this?"
"You know, Xiaorong offered me a big sum of money, but I don't have that much cash on hand. I have to withdraw money from the company. Our working capital is also tight, so it's impossible for us to take out so much at once. There's really no other way. Xiaorong only gives me three months." My father looked very embarrassed, probably because he was overwhelmed by recent events.
"Dad, you promised it yourself."
The father took a sip of water and sighed heavily, "Yes, the relationship between husband and wife has come to this point... I have been applying for a loan recently to make up for the funding gap, but the bank said that there are some problems with the real estate mortgage, and for 'self-employed' people like us, the risk is a bit greater, so..." After saying this, he smiled self-deprecatingly.
"You always have a way." I remember someone in his industry who I knew very well.
"I have asked for help, but it's still difficult. What I mean is, since you have the resources, why not ask Xiao Li for help? He is in charge of this area and is in a higher-up position, so his words are influential. It's not a hassle, just a matter of a word. I will definitely thank him." The father raised his eyebrows.
Ah, he actually called Li Shuming a "resource", how funny, a good person is almost like an oil deposit.
I was still amazed at how well-informed the businessman was. He had learned so much about his background in just half a day. "Dad, he and I are just friends."
The father smiled slightly disdainfully, "Friend? Dad is an experienced person, how can he not see this? He has reached this position, so he must be a man of experience. Qinqin, I can feel that he will definitely pay attention to your affairs. So, Dad asks you once, okay?"
Seeing that I remained silent, my father continued, "Also, I persuaded Xiao Cao not to make it public. We all know who did what. Advise your mother that people should have good intentions..."
He brought this up again, and even I was a little confused, but after thinking about it carefully, I still believed that my mother would not do such a terrible thing.
My father tried to persuade me, but I didn't dare to agree. I just said I would go back and think about it. Before leaving, he told me that Grandpa Xu from Taipei had recently come to Shanghai and would go back to his hometown to visit in the next two days.
The three generations of the Xu family have become distant from my life. If I have nothing better to do, I would like to hide in the dark study alone, lean on the easy chair in the corner, turn out those yellowed letters, and think about the stories related to the Xu family from the beginning.
However, there are more urgent things to do now, and I have no time to look back on the past.
My relationship with Li Shuming was still ambiguous, and I didn't want any interest involved, but I also knew something about my father's difficulties. Although he had let my mother down, and I really hated that woman for destroying a good family and hated my father for being heartless, after thinking it over, I didn't want him to fail in business and become destitute. Moreover, they always talked about Cao Lingxi's accident... I decided to give my mother a try. If she could be more lenient, my father's situation wouldn't be so embarrassing, and we could separate and live our own lives. At this point, I couldn't say that I was intentionally biased towards either side.
My mother was unwilling to give in. It seemed that she felt quite accomplished in forcing Zhao Xinyue to this state of desperation. She also told me, "I also hope to get a divorce sooner, the sooner the better. After getting the money, we can live separately. Qinqin, will you live with your mother?"
"Of course." I just didn't expect my mother to be so heartless to him.
The day before Shuming returned to Beijing, I shamelessly mentioned this to him. He asked thoughtfully, are they really going to get a divorce
I answered yes, maybe it would be better to separate.
Shu Ming sighed, "Qinqin, I almost misjudged you. It's rare that you can see so clearly."
I looked up at him in confusion, a little confused.
"What I mean is that with so many changes happening in your family, you can still maintain a relatively objective attitude towards the problem, which is commendable."
"No matter what, no matter how much I hate him, I don't want him to fail, so, Shu Ming, please help me think of a solution."
Li Shuming nodded. I was so excited that I didn’t know what to do. I threw myself into his arms with gratitude. How could I not be reluctant to leave such an embrace that I could rely on
We hugged each other tightly. He gently rested his chin on my forehead. His fingers stayed in my hair for a while, then he slowly let me go and held my shoulders with clear eyes. "Qinqin, I wish I had the right to watch you grow old."
I didn't know how to answer. Although I was confused, I still pouted at him mischievously and said, "What a boring thing that is!"
"Maybe a lifetime is not enough to study it!" He smiled gently and stretched out his finger to touch my nose lightly.
This is how our relationship was established. (To be continued)