The True Scandal

Chapter 20

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Xu Sheng played for a very long time that day, and Tang Zhi and the driver also waited for a very long time.

From eight o'clock until ten o'clock, they got out of the car and walked around.

Next to the gray cement load-bearing pillar, the driver told Tang Zhi: "Mr. Xu may not come out until very late today."

He took out the cigarette and wanted to smoke it, but finally put it back.

Tang Zhi kept looking at him. He seemed a little embarrassed and asked Tang Zhi: "Does Mr. Tang smoke?"

"I can smoke," Tang Zhi said, "but it's not addictive."

A few years ago, on a fishing boat that lacked entertainment, after collecting the nets every evening, Tang Zhi and the crew squatted on the deck and smoked.

In the setting sun, the gray smoke gathers together noisily, which can drive away the fishy smell that Xu Keyu hates.

Tang Zhi is not disgusted with most unpleasant smells.

Nothing is more offensive than the smell of human desire.

The driver was afraid of the smell of cigarette smoke on his body. Xu Sheng could smell it when he got into the car, so he didn't smoke in the end. Although Tang Zhi was hungry, he didn't dare to eat because Xu Sheng could probably smell it.

The two of them could only chat while walking around the parking area for a while, looking at the sky outside.

At half past twelve, Xu Sheng finally came out. There was no Xu Hefu or anyone else on the golf cart, only Xu Sheng.

He got in the car and asked the driver to drive home. Tang Zhi also sent a message asking the chef to prepare food.

Just after sending the news, Xu Sheng said in the back seat: "Come out of the country with me next month and go to Xicheng, MI state. You can find time to apply for a visa."

Tang Zhi grabbed the phone, was stunned for a moment, and asked Xu Sheng: "How long will it take?"

"Ten days and a half," Xu Sheng said, "I'll be back once everything is done."

Tang Zhi said "Okay", paused for a while, and then said to Xu Sheng: "Mr. Xu, the marriage is over. I want to visit my mother next week."

Xu Sheng was quiet for a while and then said, "Choose a day when there are fewer things to do."

Tang Zhi was a little happy and thanked him.

Tang Zhi asked Xu Sheng to accompany his grandfather to visit the prison one day. He originally planned to walk to the women's prison by subway and bus as before, but the road to the foot of the mountain was too far, so he asked the driver to give him a ride. .

While Tang Zhi was waiting for the car, Xu Sheng was also sitting in the living room waiting for Xu Hefu's driver to pick him up.

"I won't come back for dinner tonight." Xu Sheng suddenly told him.

Tang Zhi agreed and wished Xu Sheng, "Happy climbing."

Xu Sheng moved his lips.

Tang Zhi knew that Xu Sheng wanted him not to be so affectionate, but maybe because he was going out soon, he was too lazy to say it.

The way to the prison was a bit far, and Tang Zhi was a little anxious.

Counting from the time he left Binang in January, he had not seen his mother for nearly four months. Lawyer Zhong told his mother that he had been busy with a lot of things recently, so he had delayed his visit to the prison. He also told him some information about his mother, such as her mother being in good health and full of energy.

The outer door of the prison is very old, and the walls are made of long, foggy blue tiles. The cement in the middle of the tiles has turned black. On the first floor, there are a few small and medium-sized characters built in steel on the head, "Chengshan Women's Prison".

After parking the car, the driver discussed with Tang Zhi that his wife had something to do and wanted to pick up his daughter from get out of class on her behalf and then take her home.

Tang Zhi thought that since Xu Sheng wouldn't go home for dinner anyway, he had nothing important to do, so he made an appointment with the driver to meet at the prison gate in three hours.

He walked into the prison and saw that the male police officer standing at the door was new and he had never seen him before, so he said, "I'm here to visit Xi Manxiang" and showed the officer his reservation code.

The police officer used the walkie-talkie to ask his colleagues to come out and take him away.

Chengshan Women's Prison houses all felons and the inspection is very strict. Tang Zhi kept his bag and mobile phone and went through another security check before coming to the visiting area.

The visiting area is very small, divided into four grids for visitors to communicate with prisoners.

Before Tang Zhi's mother arrived, the prison guard took him to cell No. 3 to sit down. The two cells next to him were already occupied.

While waiting, the soft whispers of the people around him passed around the wooden board on both sides and reached Tang Zhi's ears.

"My son is very good," the man on his right said to the female prisoner. "Last week he got full marks in English and physics."

“… I want to be a lawyer in the future.”

Tang Zhi was infected and smiled involuntarily.

He himself once told his mother, "I want to be a lawyer in the future." When he was in high school, he didn't take it seriously now. He hoped that this boy with perfect scores in English physics would succeed.

A few seconds later, the door on the other side of the visiting area opened, and my mother finally arrived.

Her hair was shaved very short, and she was wearing a gray prison uniform. She seemed a little fatter than the last time Tang Zhi saw her, and she was in good spirits.

Xi Manxiang looks much younger than her peers. Tang Zhi looks 50 or 60% similar to her, but her eyebrows are more feminine, her eyebrows are raised high, and she is very heroic. Xi Manxiang is considered a tall and powerful woman among women. She claimed to be the leader of a gang in prison a few years ago, so Tang Zhi didn't have to worry.

Both of them picked up the microphone. Xi Manxiang first called Tang Zhi "baby" on the other end, and said to Tang Zhi: "Lawyer Zhong said that you have been so busy recently that you don't even have time to see me."

"I'm a bit busy," Tang Zhi smiled at her, "I'm going abroad with my boss next month."

"Mom, I miss you so much." He said sweetly.

"What a fool you are," Xi Manxiang said. "If Lawyer Zhong hadn't come, I would have thought you ran away owing a lot of loan sharks."

Tang Zhi choked for a moment, then she asked again: "Are you working for the Xu family for Lawyer Zhong? Is it Xu Hefu's company? He donated a TV to us a few years ago and put it in the cafeteria. We turn it on every noon and evening. He shot the promotional video himself.”

"That's right." Tang Zhi said.

After all, Xu Sheng is also a member of the Xu family.

"Oh." Xi Manxiang suddenly fell silent for a while, looked at Tang Zhi through the thick transparent glass, stopped talking for a while, and said, "The baby has grown up."

"It's awesome," she said.

Xi Manxiang looked at Tang Zhi with eyes full of maternal love, trust and care. Tang Zhi felt that she might be the only one in the entire solar system who regarded Tang Zhi as a treasure.

"Yeah," Tang Zhi smiled at her, "It's pretty awesome."

The two chatted casually for a few more words, and Xi Manxiang suddenly changed the subject: "Baby, are you in love?"

Tang Zhi shook his head: "No."

"Is it because I..." she said, "...I don't dare to contact even good girls."

Perhaps because she had been in prison for a long time, her language was very direct. She grabbed the microphone and looked at Tang Zhi seriously, as if if Tang Zhi said yes, she would immediately sever the mother-child relationship with Tang Zhi.

Tang Zhi couldn't laugh or cry: "Don't talk nonsense."

"Why are you talking nonsense? If you meet a good girl who also likes you, just go and fall in love," she said stubbornly, "Go and have a date right away."

Xi Manxiang looked serious, and Tang Zhi said "Oh" honestly. She was still dissatisfied and asked him, "Are you unable to listen to what I say?"

"No," Tang Zhi denied, pretending to be obedient and perfunctory, "I listened."

Xi Manxiang didn't seem to believe it. She looked at Tang Zhi suspiciously and said, "Really?" and then asked him, "Then what do you like? Have you really never been in love?"

"No," Tang Zhi said worriedly, "No, Mom, are you missing anything in there? I will find a way to bring it in for you."

"What can I lack? I don't lack anything." Xi Manxiang did not follow his lead and continued the topic, "We have a new girl here. Her son is about the same age as you. Why do you think your girlfriend has changed ten years ago?" How many rounds have it been, and what other cannons are there—hey, I don’t understand, do you have any?”

She looked at Tang Zhi, and the anticipation in her eyes made Tang Zhi feel heavy.

He knew that his mother wanted to talk about sex, but he didn't know whether he should say this dirty word in front of him.

"No," he could hardly count how many times he said "no" in just twenty minutes. "I don't have time to look for it."

His mother thought he was an outstanding white-collar graduate from Binhai University and his sexual orientation was very common.

However, don't say that Tang Zhi doesn't have a sex partner, even if he does, he should be a man.

After saying this, Tang Zhi suddenly thought of Xu Keyu. He finally remembered that he was actually legally married to a girl from a good family.

The girl might like him a little bit, she might need him very much, but he doesn't like her.

Tang Zhixin was like a balloon filled with hot water at 40 degrees Celsius. The water would not cool down and could not be squeezed out. Moreover, it was very heavy and kept falling down.

At this moment, Tang Zhi looked into his mother's eyes and suddenly felt a very fanatical and absurd desire for rebellion.

He wanted to tell his mother that he was gay. But in the next second, he was discouraged. After a while, he said to her almost deliberately: "Mom, how old am I? How can anyone get married at the age of twenty-two in modern society."

Suddenly, the small bell in the hand of the prison guard standing behind her rang and made a shrill sound.

Thirty minutes have come for the prison visit.

His fucking mouth moved. He observed her somewhat dry rose-colored lower lip, the subtle wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, her bright eyes, and her hand that was holding the microphone and shaking slightly because she didn't want to put it down.

She leaned her right elbow on the cracking wooden tabletop and stared at him, as if the harder a person exerted, the slower he would forget.

"Baby," she said suddenly, "I love you."

The prison guard hung up the phone for her. Before Tang Zhi could speak, he looked up and watched her stand up and walk back.

When the door opposite closed, Tang Zhi also walked out.

He took out his cell phone and checked the time. It would be an hour and a half before the driver would pick him up, so he sat on the iron chair in the prison lobby for a while.

Tang Zhi didn't want to look at his phone or think. He sat blankly for a long time, watching the visitors come in and out again. Then he stood up and went to the canteen next to the prison to buy a pack of cigarettes and a cigarette. Lighter.

The lighter was red, with a transparent plastic shell, and oil was sloshing around in the shell.

Regardless of his image, Tang Zhi squatted beside the smoke-extinguishing platform, opened the cigarette, took out one, lit it, and took a puff, looking at the gray asphalt road in front of him and the dense pine trees on both sides of the road.

The weather is so bad. Tang Zhi thought.

Gray-white smoke curled up between his fingers, drifting upward through the gap between his upper and lower eyelashes, making his eyes hurt.

After smoking half a cigarette, the car that came to pick him up slowly drove uphill. Tang Zhi walked to the smoke-extinguishing platform, put out the cigarette, and got into the car.

Xu Sheng accompanied his grandfather on mountain climbing during the day, and spent most of the night at the bridge club with his grandfather's climbing partners. When he returned home, it was already close to eleven o'clock.

The butler's right leg is not very good at walking yet, but it guards the door for him.

Xu Sheng went upstairs to take a shower, and before going to bed, he suddenly remembered that some documents Tang Zhi had asked Tang Zhi to get back from the real estate company had not yet been signed, so he dialed the internal line in Tang Zhi's room, hoping that Tang Zhi would deliver them.

After waiting for a long time, Tang Zhi didn't answer. Xu Sheng was a little impatient and called Tang Zhi's cell phone again, but still didn't answer.

The housekeeper went to bed. Xu Sheng thought that his legs were not fully recovered and did not want to wake him up, so he went to the door of Tang Zhi's room and knocked on the door.

After a few knocks, the door opened.

"What are you doing?" Tang Zhi was wearing pajamas and looked at Xu Sheng sleepily.

"I fell asleep." He said to Xu Sheng again.

Tang Zhi's voice was soft and sleepy, and the ending tone was a bit long, as if he was coquettishly coquettish.

Xu Sheng looked at him and said unmoved: "Where are the documents I asked you to get?"

Tang Zhi thought for a while and told him: "In the study."

"Take me to get it." Xu Sheng said.

Tang Zhi sighed inaudibly, said "Okay", and walked towards the study with his slippers.

Xu Sheng followed him and walked to the door of the study. He saw Tang Zhi's hand on the doorknob, opened the door, turned on the light, and walked in.

Tang Zhi's movements were not large, he moved lazily and slowly, as if he was still immersed in a dream.

He walked to his desk, took the document, and handed it to Xu Sheng. Perhaps because he didn't want Xu Sheng to pick on him, Tang Zhi handed it very carefully and didn't touch Xu Sheng at all.

Xu Sheng read the document for a while, signed two names, and looked up at Tang Zhi. Tang Zhi's eyes were a little out of focus, as if he was about to fall asleep standing up.

"Tang Zhi." He called Tang Zhi.

Tang Zhi woke up suddenly, his eyes widened, looked at him, and asked in surprise: "What's wrong, Mr. Xu?"

Xu Sheng just called him casually and didn't want to ask him anything, so he was stunned for a moment and asked an impromptu question without thinking: "How about your visit to the prison in the afternoon?"

Tang Zhi probably didn't expect that Xu Sheng would care about him, so he was stunned and said, "It's okay."

"It's still the same as before," he said.

Xu Sheng said "Yeah", lowered his head and continued to sign. After a while, Tang Zhi whispered: "But today I suddenly wanted to have a girlfriend."

Xu Sheng raised his eyes and looked at him. He didn't look at Xu Sheng, but looked at the window and said, "I didn't tell her about Miss Xu, but I almost came out impulsively."

Tang Zhi had a sharp chin and a slender neck. He was standing, Xu Sheng was sitting, and Xu Sheng wanted to look up to him.

Xu Sheng withdrew his gaze and did not answer.

After a long time, he finished signing all the documents and found that Tang Zhi was standing swaying with his eyes closed, his head moving little by little, and he called out again: "Tang Zhi."

Tang Zhi's behavior was different from the last time. He opened his eyes listlessly and glanced at him, looking unhappy.

"Let's go." Xu Sheng said, standing up.

Tang Zhi slowly walked out again, walked to the closed door, and almost bumped into it, but Xu Shengli grabbed him.

Tang Zhi's body was very warm and the touch under his nightgown was a little soft. He was pulled back by Xu Sheng and bumped against Xu Sheng again before he regained some energy.

Xu Sheng looked down at him, but he did not raise his head. His cheek was less than ten centimeters away from Xu Sheng. If he came a little closer, his chin would touch Xu Sheng's shoulder.

"Oh, the door is not open." Tang Zhi realized the reason for Xu Sheng's dragging him, raised his hand to open the door, and walked out without stopping.