Chu Shichen was unaware that his body was shaking violently. When the wind blew from the river, his scalp, neck, back of his hands, and all the exposed skin and flesh became tighter and tighter, as if someone was twisting and pinching them.
The ends of his hair were frozen and became sharp, pricking his earlobes, making them red as if they were congested. Chu Shichen could only take care of his head but not his feet. His leather shoes were soaked with water, and the ground was wet and slippery when he stepped on it.
Zhou Kesen was sweating profusely, squatted down and said, "Come up!"
Chu Shichen asked: "Uncle Sen, what are you doing?"
Zhou Kesen urged, "How can you walk like this? Come on up, I'll carry you!"
Chu Shichen was somewhat moved. He bent down and helped Zhou Kesen up. He didn't let go, but held Zhou Kesen's arm for strength and said, "Uncle Sen, how old am I now?"
Zhou Kesen was born and raised in Northeast China. He knew how cold the river water was in this season, but he didn't know when Chu Shichen became so strong. He said helplessly: "You kid is really..."
With every step, Chu Shichen felt like his feet were stepping on a knife blade. There were a lot of gravels on the shore. He gritted his teeth and said, "This road is a bit difficult to walk on."
Zhou Kesen asked: "Can you hold on?"
"Yes." Chu Shichen said with a double meaning, "No matter how difficult the road is, I will keep going."
Zhou Kesen patted the back of his hand, and they supported each other and walked to the parking lot.
Chu Shichen got into the back of the car. The moment he sat down, his clothes were squeezed and water dripped out. He said embarrassedly, "Uncle Sen, I got the car wet."
Zhou Kesen said angrily: "You still care about taking care of the car!"
A layer of ice condensed on the surface of the wool coat. Chu Shichen hunched his shoulders and leaned against the car door. Perhaps his cheeks were too cold, and he actually felt warmth against the glass.
Zhou Kesen quickly started the car and turned the heater to maximum, occasionally checking Chu Shichen's condition in the rearview mirror.
He stayed upstairs all night without sleeping last night. He must be frozen. He just jumped into the river. He must be dying. Zhou Kesen said, "Don't sleep. You can't sleep like this."
Chu Shichen opened his eyes quietly: "Yeah."
Zhou Kesen asked: "Where do you live? How about coming to my place?"
How could Chu Shichen have the nerve to go to someone else's house in this state? Besides, Zhou Kesen's parents were there, and he would scare the old man again. He replied, "I'll go back to the hotel, my luggage is in the room."
Zhou Kesen was almost speeding all the way. He stepped on the accelerator and found the hotel. He didn't care whether he would be ticketed or not and just parked the car on the curb in front of the door.
Chu Shichen's appearance was so eye-catching that he stunned the receptionist at the door.
The room was on the fifteenth floor, which was not very high. Chu Shichen stared at the rising numbers in the elevator and felt that the time was longer than ever before.
When they got to the room, Zhou Kesen said, "Hurry up and change your wet clothes."
Chu Shichen took off the coat Zhou Kesen had put on him. It was already wet. He took one from the suitcase and said, "Uncle Sen, you can wear mine for now."
Zhou Kesen was angry and anxious all morning, and he was sweating even with his bare chest. Just then his cell phone rang, so he waved his hand and walked to the other side of the room to answer it.
"Hello, Mr. Zhang?"
Chu Shichen inevitably heard something. This "Mr. Zhang" seemed to be the boss of Ying'an Technology. He called to ask Zhou Kesen about the results of his meeting with a client. After a few words, Zhou Kesen did not say it explicitly and parted ways with the client on bad terms.
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Kesen took out his cigarette box as usual, but suddenly remembered that he was in a hotel, so he put it back into his pocket.
At this time, Chu Shichen said: "Try again."
Zhou Kesen didn't react: "What?"
Chu Shichen's ultimate goal is to invite Zhou Kesen back to Yisi, but he must be moral when doing things for others and deal with the current troubles. He said, "Let's meet with that client again."
Zhou Kesen said: "That's not something you should worry about. If we can't reach an agreement, it's useless to meet twice."
"Then why can't we reach an agreement?" Chu Shichen said, "Uncle Sen, you can't be impatient. Let the customer state his needs first. Even if he completely denies it in his heart, he should at least praise it a little. Then, whether you refute or fight for it, you should focus on the interests that he cares about most. He will definitely pay attention. It's normal for him to agree or question. The important thing is that he will think about your point of view, and then you can talk in depth."
After listening to this, Zhou Kesen looked at Chu Shichen with a bit of surprise and a bit of unfamiliarity. In four years, this useless Young Master Chu seemed to have changed a lot.
Chu Shichen was nervous when he was being watched, and was afraid that if he said too much, he would be exposed. He tried hard to hide his calmness and continued to take off his clothes, but he couldn't even grin, and could only complain dryly: "I'm freezing to death."
Zhou Kesen came back to his senses: "Soak in hot water, and quickly go to bed and cover yourself with a blanket!"
Chu Shichen said: "Uncle Sen, don't worry about me, go and get busy."
Zhou Kesen said, "How can I leave with your behavior?"
"I can take care of myself." Chu Shichen assured, "Besides, this is a hotel, the waiters are always available, don't worry."
Zhou Kesen gave many instructions, and the company called again to urge him to leave, so he had no choice but to leave first.
The room suddenly became quiet. Chu Shichen moved to the bathroom. Layers of wet clothes stuck to his body. He took them off one by one until he was exhausted.
After covering it for too long, his skin turned an abnormally pale blue. Chu Shichen turned on the shower, and the hot water sprayed down and bit him, causing a dense itchy sensation all over his body.
He washed for a long time, making sure he was clean from head to toe, brushing his teeth and rinsing his mouth repeatedly, not wanting to recall the taste of the river water.
While his body was still warm from the hot water, Chu Shichen got into bed and covered himself with the quilt. He picked up the cell phone that had fallen out when he was taking off his clothes, pressed it but there was no response. It was broken.
Chu Shichen felt extremely distressed. Such an advanced and magical thing, which could communicate with each other thousands of miles away, receive messages in one second, and do so many things... couldn't even be soaked in water
What's the reason for this
He even planned to take it with him into the grave when he died.
Chu Shichen observed a moment of silence for his phone for ten minutes. He didn't call home yesterday, so he used the landline on the bedside table to call Mrs. Chu. He spoke three or five sentences, using up his last bit of energy.
After the call ended, Chu Shichen held the receiver but did not put it down. He recalled another string of numbers and dialed the second call.
After only one ring, Chu Shichen answered the phone and said, "Mr. Xiang, it's me. This is the hotel number."
The sound quality of the landline phone was not very good. Xiang Mingzhang's voice sounded hoarse and not gentle at all: "Why can't I get through to your cell phone?"
Chu Shichen said: "It's broken."
Xiang Mingzhang asked: "Nothing happened?"
Chu Shichen answered "no" while sliding into the quilt. When he was a child, his grandmother taught him that he should not sleep in a crooked position, but should lie flat so that he could breathe smoothly.
But he was too cold, so he curled up on his side and covered his face with the receiver: "Mr. Zhou is willing to forgive me."
Xiang Mingzhang said: "It's faster than I expected. How did you do it?"
Chu Shichen's teeth chattered as he lied intermittently: "I bought some fruit... and went to beg him."
Xiang Mingzhang did not show any happy reaction, nor did he have the patience to continue playing dumb. He said seriously, "Chu Shichen, you sound very listless. Tell me what's wrong with you?"
"Aren't you in the hotel?" Xiang Mingzhang asked, "Why is the room so cold? Did you catch a cold?"
Chu Shichen didn't blow dry his hair, but inserted his five fingers into the wet hair. In his daze, he misunderstood Xiang Mingzhang's meaning: "... It's really cold, I'm not lying to you."
Xiang Mingzhang explained anxiously: "I didn't say you lied to me. Do you have a cold? Have you taken medicine?"
Chu Shichen thought in a daze, will I not feel cold after taking the medicine
He desperately wanted to warm up his body, and desperately searched for ways in his mind. Every time he drank, he would get hot and he said, "I want a sip of wine."
Xiang Mingzhang: "What, wine?"
There was a hotel menu on the bedside table. The front was a Chinese restaurant, and the back of the bed was a Russian restaurant. Chu Shichen looked at the colorful bottles in the picture and murmured, "I want to drink... vodka."
Everything went dark before Chu Shichen’s eyes, and he finally couldn’t hold on any longer. The receiver rolled from his loosened hands to the side of his pillow.
"… Hello?"
"Chu Shichen?"
"Chu Shichen!"
Xiang Mingzhang called more than ten times but got no response, and after hanging up he could not get through again.
Chu Shichen fell asleep, or more like fainted, with half of his face buried in the pillow, the paleness of his skin gradually fading, and a blush appeared again with great force.
He dreamed that he was floating in the water, in an unfathomable ocean, boundless and with no end in sight.
He struggled desperately, stretching out his dripping hands again and again, but no one came to hold him back. He lost his strength and kept sinking, sinking, his lungs empty, and the salty seawater choked his mouth and nose.
When the storm suddenly stopped and the thunderstorm ceased, he was the only one who fell face down into the deep sea, suffocating, and was no longer known to anyone.
"No… "
Chu Shichen woke up suddenly. It was almost evening and his stifled breathing was particularly harsh in the dim light.
It turned out that he was very scared. The moment he jumped into the water he realized that he was afraid of the cold water, afraid of floating, and afraid of the despair of not being able to grasp anything.
Chu Shichen pressed his forehead for a while, turned on the light, saw the receiver, and the call ended inexplicably. Would Xiang Mingzhang be worried on the other end
But he called back today, and what about tomorrow? He wouldn't stay in the hotel all the time. In this new century, it is simply impossible to move around without a mobile phone.
Chu Shichen weighed the options, wiped his face, got out of bed, put on his clothes, and changed into a pair of spare sneakers.
Coming out of the hotel, Chu Shichen thought it would be very cold, but the cool air on his face made him feel a little more comfortable.
Located in a bustling business district, there is a shopping mall at the end of the street. Chu Shichen wrapped his scarf tightly and walked over. He quickly bought a mobile phone, the same model as the broken one.
Fortunately, the phone card was still usable. Chu Shichen's fingers were swollen from the cold and his movements were clumsy. The shopping guide helped him install it and said, "Sir, it's OK."
Chu Shichen nodded confusedly: "Thank you."
He walked out of the mall holding his cell phone. When he turned it on, more than a dozen missed calls popped up, some from last night and some from today. Almost all of them were from Xiang Mingzhang.
The most recent call was half an hour ago, when Chu Shichen dialed while walking back.
The call was connected almost immediately, and Chu Shichen said, "Sorry, I accidentally fell asleep."
Unlike the urgency of answering the phone, Xiang Mingzhang's tone was very calm: "What happened to you?"
Chu Shichen couldn't walk fast. Every step he took felt like a bump, which then caused him to feel dizzy. He heard a car horn, but he couldn't tell whether it was coming from the street or from his cell phone.
"I took a nap," he repeated irrelevantly.
Xiang Mingzhang called him: "Chu Shichen."
"Hmm?" Chu Shichen tried to answer, "Are you off work?"
Xiang Mingzhang said: "Answer my question."
The hotel was not far ahead, but Chu Shichen could not walk anymore. He stopped and stood on the sidewalk in embarrassment. They were more than 2,000 kilometers apart. How should he give the appropriate answer
He wanted to continue pretending, but it was really not working. He had a headache and his hands and feet ached. No wonder the cold wind felt comfortable, because his whole body was burning.
But he told his family that everything was going well, but complained to Xiang Mingzhang
What if Xiang Mingzhang gives him comfort but he feels it is not enough and wants more
So forget it, we should forget it.
Chu Shichen moved his lips, but before he could utter a word, he felt dizzy and could not stand steadily, so he squatted down, supporting himself on the cold road with one hand.
Xiang Mingzhang heard the groaning, the rustling of clothes, and the sound of a car passing by, and his calmness suddenly shattered: "Chu Shichen, where are you?"
Chu Shichen said: "On the street."
Xiang Mingzhang asked, "Why are you running around if you're not feeling well?"
Chu Shichen replied: "I'm buying a mobile phone."
Xiang Mingzhang said fiercely: "Why does it matter when you can't buy a mobile phone?"
Chu Shichen said weakly: "I'm afraid, afraid that you can't find me."
"I shouldn't have let you go to Harbin alone."
Chu Shichen squatted on the ground, his hands were dirty, and his whole body was shaking with hot and cold. Why was he taught a lesson? Why was he in such a mess? It was clearly not his fault.
He felt a sense of grievance in a delayed manner, and said with all his strength: "It's okay for me."
The phone was silent for a moment.
Xiang Mingzhang asked: "Then why don't you get up?"
Chu Shichen was stunned for a moment, then raised his head hastily. A taxi on the street braked to a stop, the door opened, and Xiang Mingzhang got out of the car holding his cell phone.
He came in such a hurry that he didn't even change out of the suit and tie he wore for work. He just put on a long black down jacket. Xiang Mingzhang appeared on the streets of Harbin, looking exhausted.
Chu Shichen suspected it was an illusion and stood up shakily.
His legs and feet were numb, but before he could stumble and fall, Xiang Mingzhang had already strode over and took him into his arms.
The call was not over yet. Xiang Mingzhang leaned down and rubbed Chu Shichen's forehead. It was so hot that he frowned in displeasure, but his tone was clearly coaxing. The last sentence he said face to face was: "Don't be afraid. I can find you anywhere."
(End of this chapter)