Yang Zhao felt that this was a journey that was too lazy.
On the third day, they went to the famous Wuye Temple in Wutai Mountain. The incense in Wuye Temple is the most prosperous in Wutai Mountain. The staff said that a lot of incense money in Wuye Temple was used to support other temples in remote locations. , so it is still rich.
Yang Zhao left incense money in the previous temples, but at Wuye Temple, where he was looking for money and official career, he didn't ask for incense, and he didn't even keep it for a long time.
Chen Mingsheng asked her if she wanted to buy a lotus lantern to light it up, but Yang Zhao said no.
"I don't ask for money, I just ask for safety," she said.
After returning to their residence from Wuye Temple, Yang Zhao and Chen Mingsheng seldom went out.
Yang Zhao felt that she was infected by Chen Mingsheng's laziness. In fact, she could see that Chen Mingsheng was not very interested in traveling, far less than his interest in her.
Yang Zhao felt that if she hadn't insisted on going out, Chen Mingsheng could have stayed in the house for a week.
"You are like an old man." Yang Zhao said, "You have no vitality at all."
Chen Mingsheng took a drag on his cigarette, and said with a smile, "How do you think I'm so energetic?"
Yang Zhao packed his luggage, took out his mobile phone to look at it, and said, "Let's leave the day after tomorrow. Tickets are easier to buy on Tuesday."
Chen Mingsheng said, "Yes."
After Yang Zhao packed his things, he sat beside Chen Mingsheng, thought for a while, and said, "After going back..."
She hesitated to speak, but Chen Mingsheng said, "What happened after I went back."
Yang Zhao said, "When I go back, I want to take you to meet my parents."
Chen Mingsheng stopped holding the cigarette, looked at Yang Zhao, and said, "Yang Zhao, I..."
Yang Zhao's gaze was very straightforward, she looked at Chen Mingsheng without blinking, Chen Mingsheng remembered what she said to him that night, she said Chen Mingsheng, don't be weak, never.
Chen Mingsheng put down his cigarette, nodded, and said in a low voice, "Okay."
Yang Zhao said, "Will you take me to meet your parents?"
Chen Mingsheng said, "Yes."
He kept his head down, looking at the ground in front of him. Yang Zhao felt that he still had other things to say. Sure enough, after a while of silence, Chen Mingsheng said, "Yang Zhao, my family... my family's situation is a bit special."
Yang Zhao said, "What do you mean?"
Chen Mingsheng said: "I have never met my father, he died before I was born."
Yang Zhao was taken aback, "Not born?"
"Yes." Chen Mingsheng said, "When my mother was pregnant with me, something happened to him."
Yang Zhao looked at him, and Chen Mingsheng continued, "My mother has always taken me with me."
Yang Zhao said, "Then it's not easy for your mother."
Chen Mingsheng was silent for a while, and said: "She hasn't been in a good state in the past two years, maybe because she is old, and she always likes to recall the past. She said many times that she saw my dad at home."
Yang Zhao frowned slightly, and said, "It's a mental problem. Have you found a doctor for her yet?"
Chen Mingsheng shook his head and said, "She won't let her, she won't let anyone accompany her, and she won't even let me call her."
"You are not allowed to make phone calls?" Yang Zhao said, "Is she withdrawn, or is she suffering from symptoms of depression or autism? Anyway, it is a bit too much not to make phone calls."
Chen Mingsheng looked at the faint sparks on the cigarette butt, and said in a low voice, "Psychological disorder. My dad died because he called her back then."
Chen Mingsheng turned his head and saw Yang Zhao looking at him. He tightened his hands and said, "Don't be afraid, it was an accident."
Yang Zhao nodded.
For the remaining two days, Yang Zhao was completely infected by Chen Mingsheng, and stayed in the house with him, at most taking a walk outside the door.
For two whole days, the wine pool and the meat forest were in the dark.
Yang Zhao asked him, "That's why you came to travel, right?"
Chen Mingsheng kissed her until he couldn't breathe, and said hoarsely, "Who knows."
Of course, Yang Zhao's physical strength was incomparable to Chen Mingsheng's. In the end, he was tossed like a dead fish and lay on the bed. She was hugged tightly by Chen Mingsheng, looking out the window at the sky, the temple, and the white pagoda.
Yang Zhao once again felt that this was a really lazy journey.
The journey back was smooth and smooth. They set off early, got off the train at around nine o'clock in the evening, and returned to the city where they lived.
When he smelled the icy smell of this northern city, Yang Zhao felt as if he had passed away.
Chen Mingsheng was carrying his travel bag and said to Yang Zhao, "You wait for me at the door, I'll pick up the car."
Yang Zhao nodded.
When Chen Mingsheng came back, Yang Zhao put the suitcase in the trunk and sat in front. Chen Mingsheng said, "Shall I take you home?"
Yang Zhao said, "Do you want to go eat something together?"
Chen Mingsheng said, "Are you hungry?"
Yang Zhao shook his head, "...no."
Chen Mingsheng said, "Then what are you going to eat?"
Yang Zhao didn't speak.
Chen Mingsheng glanced at her from the corner of his eye, while Yang Zhao was looking out the window, his heart softened, and he said softly, "You are too tired today, go back and have a good rest, I will contact you tomorrow."
Yang Zhao turned his head, looked at him for a while, and said with a smile, "Okay."
Chen Mingsheng sent Yang Zhao home and drove home by himself. When he got downstairs, he sat in the car and didn't come out. He turned off the car, didn't turn on the lights, and just sat there in the dark.
After a while, he took out his mobile phone and dialed a series of phone numbers.
After three rings, the phone was connected.
"Hello."
On the other side of the phone, there was a simple answer, the voice was alienated and cold.
"Hey, Mom, it's me."
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while, and then Chen Mingsheng's mother said flatly, "Mingsheng, why are you calling?"
Chen Mingsheng opened his mouth and said, "You, how is your health recently?"
"I'm fine." His mother replied quickly, "If you're fine, don't call me all the time. Mom is doing it for your own good. Your situation is special. In case you are—"
"Mom." Chen Mingsheng had to interrupt her and whispered, "I'm done..."
"Mingsheng, don't be so careless. If you've always been so casual, it's easy for people to take advantage of you. Do you still remember that your father was—"
"Mom..." Chen Mingsheng couldn't help calling her, "My dad has been dead for so many years, can you stop thinking about him?"
"Chen Mingsheng!" Suddenly, Chen Mingsheng gritted his teeth.
"You haven't met your dad, but it doesn't mean that he loves you less than others! It's because you haven't met him, so you will never know how brave he is! How Mom has always taught you, Have you forgotten? Mingsheng, your father has suffered all his life, if you don’t even understand him, then his life will be in vain! It will be in vain, do you know that!?”
"Mom, calm down, I know, I know." Chen Mingsheng said, "I just want you to—"
"You don't have to make me do anything. Mom is fine. Be careful yourself. If you need it, you can contact me. If you don't, don't make random calls." After she finished speaking, she hung up the phone.
Chen Mingsheng listened to the busy tone on the phone for a long time before opening his mouth in a low voice:
"...Mom, I made a girlfriend." He held the phone, his voice almost choked up, "I think she really treats me..."
The night was so deep that it was almost impossible to see the bottom.
Yang Zhao's vacation is over.
Xue Miao had already been waiting, and gave Yang Zhao a list of the accumulated work, ranking four according to the importance, from top to bottom.
When Yang Zhao saw the email, he immediately called Xue Miao.
"Are you kidding, when will I be able to make four orders in two months?"
Xue Miao laughed and asked about Yang Zhao's recent situation, but he didn't mention the work reduction anyway. Yang Zhao also knew his character, so he said, "I can continue."
As soon as Xue Miao heard this, she immediately said: "That's great, Xiao Zhao, the first job has to be expedited, and the rest can be done in March next year."
Yang Zhao sneered and said, "Isn't it two months?"
Xue Miao laughed dryly and hung up the phone hastily.
Yang Zhao contacted Teacher Sun from the school again, and Teacher Sun praised Yang Jintian for his recent study vigor, saying that his grades had improved rapidly.
Yang Zhao put down the phone and heaved a sigh of relief. She turned her chair and looked out the window, feeling that everything was going well.
While Chen Mingsheng was driving a customer, he came to the pedestrian street in the city center. After the passengers got off the bus, Chen Mingsheng took a look inside the pedestrian street. This pedestrian street is considered a feature of this city. It was built in the style of the Qing Dynasty, and many of them were ancient buildings from that year.
When Chen Mingsheng saw the cards issued by a family, he paused, parked his car in a street outside, and walked into the pedestrian street with a cane.
It was a gold shop, and Chen Mingsheng entered the shop. There were several customers in the store, and they came in pairs. When Chen Mingsheng came to the counter, he saw the bright white lights inside the counter, illuminating all the gold and silver jewelry in splendor.
Chen Mingsheng looked at a ring, which was placed in a separate showcase, pure white, gorgeous and gleaming.
He looked at it for a while, and a salesperson came over. She first glanced at Chen Mingsheng's crutches, and then asked in a blink of an eye, "Sir, do you need anything?"
Chen Mingsheng glanced at her, and the salesman gestured to the ring in the showcase with his palm, and said, "The main diamond of this wedding ring belongs to a princess cut diamond, with a score of more than 150 points, and the auxiliary diamonds are twenty-four round diamonds. Forty-eight points, the diamond ring is cut and processed by high-quality Belgium, the inlay material is 18K gold, other materials can also be customized, the estimated weight is about seven grams."
Chen Mingsheng couldn't understand the fraction or the type of diamond. He looked at the ring and whispered, "How much is this ring?"
The salesman withdrew his hand, smiled at him, and said, "98,800 yuan, sir."
Chen Mingsheng looked at the ring on display in the showcase. It was placed in the center of the showcase, with two layers of protective cover to allow it to display itself safely.
He suddenly felt that the ring inside was very similar to Yang Zhao.
Proud and low-key, everyone can see this ring, but there are not so many people who can actually open the two layers of glass and get in touch with her.
You can judge her, you can dismiss her, but no matter how you look at her, she will not change in any way.
"Sir." The salesman said, "We have other rings with better quality and lower price, why don't you come here and have a look."
Chen Mingsheng turned his head, shook his head lightly, and said, "No need."
The salesman didn't seem to want to receive him very much, and when he saw that he said no, he turned around and left.
Chen Mingsheng limped out of the gold shop with a prosthetic limb and a cane.
Under the strong midday sun, he felt a little dazzled.
When the phone rang, Chen Mingsheng knew it was time to find Yang Zhao. He picked up the phone, but it wasn't who he thought it was.
"Chen Mingsheng."
The moment Chen Mingsheng heard this voice, he woke up from the blazing sunlight, and everything around him became quiet.
"Old Xu..."
"Where are you now?"
Chen Mingsheng said, "It's still here."
The man named Lao Xu gave Chen Mingsheng an address.
"Meet here at six o'clock in the evening."
Chen Mingsheng replied in a low voice, "Okay."
After putting down the phone, Chen Mingsheng realized that his palms were sweating. Old Xu hadn't contacted him for a long time, and he even thought for a while that they would never contact him again.
Chen Mingsheng stood on the side of the pedestrian street for a while, then called Yang Zhao.
"Hello, Chen Mingsheng?"
"Hmm." Hearing Yang Zhao's voice, Chen Mingsheng couldn't help but chuckled in a low voice, and said, "What are you doing?"
"Let's sort out the next work." Yang Zhao said, "Have you finished your work in the morning? Come to my place for dinner."
Chen Mingsheng said: "I... I ran a little far now, and it's too late for noon."
Yang Zhao paused and said, "Then, at night?"
Chen Mingsheng said, "I'll look for you tomorrow."
Yang Zhao said, "That's fine." After she finished speaking, she added, "Don't work too hard."
Chen Mingsheng said, "I know."
After a few more words, they hung up the phone.
Chen Mingsheng returned to the car and leaned back in the chair, his mind blank.
Several young people came to the car window and asked him, "Master, is the car leaving?"
Chen Mingsheng recovered, nodded, "Let's go."
At six o'clock in the evening, Chen Mingsheng came to a small hotel as agreed.
The location of the hotel is relatively remote, but there is a bus station next to it, and the flow of people is moving, and fish and dragons are mixed. Chen Mingsheng parked his car at the entrance of the hotel and went in by himself.
On the first floor, an old man was looking at the store. He looked at Chen Mingsheng and said, "Do you live in a store?"
Chen Mingsheng shook his head, walked upstairs without saying a word.
The old man glanced at it, then listened to the radio.
Chen Mingsheng came to a room on the second floor and knocked on the door.
The door was quickly opened, and the person who opened the door was Chen Mingsheng's former colleague, Wen Lei.
"Brother Sheng, come in." Wen Lei's expression was a bit serious, and his brows were also furrowed, which was very different from the previous image of a hippie smile.
Chen Mingsheng entered the room, and Wen Lei closed the door behind him.
The room was not big, and now it smelled of smoke. When Chen Mingsheng walked inside, he saw a person standing by the window sill.
Chen Mingsheng said, "Old Xu."
This man named Lao Xu turned his head. He was about fifty years old, with gray hair, stern eyes, and obvious wrinkles on his face. He was holding a cigarette in his hand and staring at Chen Mingsheng intently.
Chen Mingsheng said, "Why did you come to find me?"
Old Xu narrowed his eyes slightly, "What did you do not long ago?"
Chen Mingsheng paused and said, "Nothing."
Old Xu said: "I asked you what you did not long ago?!"
Chen Mingsheng said in a low voice, "I went out to play."
"Just for fun?" Old Xu's voice was a little harsh, "You just for fun!?"
Chen Mingsheng vaguely felt that his eyes were a little strange, and said, "What's the matter?"
Old Xu didn't speak, he took a newspaper from the table with his backhand, and threw it to Chen Mingsheng.
Chen Mingsheng got the newspaper, turned it over and took a look.
The headline is a review article, "Inevitable Social Conflict", which is five or six pages long and divided into several paragraphs. The first paragraph is about the conflict between doctors and patients. Chen Mingsheng glanced at it and turned to the next page. The second page was about the conflict between the police and the people.
The moment Chen Mingsheng saw the second page, his hands stopped.
The accompanying picture of the conflict between the police and the people is a picture of a police station, in which there is a woman crying and sitting on the ground, playing hysterically. Next to her are her mother, child, and the police officer who advised her.
Behind the officers, a man leaned against the wall, smoking a cigarette.
That's him.
Chen Mingsheng's mind was running fast. He thought of that day, those two drug addicts, that woman, that reporter.
Then, he suddenly remembered that there was another person behind that reporter.
He looked like the reporter's underling, or an assistant.
This photo was taken with a mobile phone, and he didn't notice it at the time.
Chen Mingsheng's back was sweating.
He flipped through the photos quickly.
Yang Zhao... Is there Yang Zhao!
The next few pages were written about other things. He turned to this page again, and there were a total of three pictures of the conflict between the police and the people, which seemed to be solicited. He looked at the first picture carefully. Beside him, Yang Zhao's figure was buried in a dark corner, and there was a policeman in front of him. Only a corner of his clothes could be seen.
Chen Mingsheng's heart was clenched tightly, and he felt that he couldn't breathe smoothly.
Chen Mingsheng took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, lowered his head, and said, "Is there any news?"
"What's the news!? Someone dialed your previous number yesterday. What news do you say!?" Old Xu was so angry that his hand holding the cigarette trembled.
"Chen Mingsheng, if you want to pretend to be dead, just pretend to be a bitch! What are you trying to do? We spent so much time trying to get you out of the way, but now you are fine and reported to me directly!"
Chen Mingsheng took a deep breath, leaned against the wall, and whispered, "Who is calling?"
"Don't care who it is, you just stay honest with me now, and I will contact you again in the next few days." Old Xu stubbed out the cigarette. Walking towards the door, when he passed by Chen Mingsheng, he stopped for a moment and said:
"Chen Mingsheng, since you have been dug out, you have to be mentally prepared." After speaking, he left without looking back.
The door was slammed shut, Wen Lei pursed his lips, and said to Chen Mingsheng: "Brother Sheng, don't blame Lao Xu for speaking harshly."
Chen Mingsheng shook his head and said, "It was my mistake."
Wen Lei hesitated for a moment, then said, "Brother Sheng, Team Yan died two months ago."
Chen Mingsheng raised his head suddenly, his eyes were astonished.
[You think about it, before you make a decision, I can give you time, freedom, and full consideration. But once you make a decision, I won't allow you to go back on your word.]
[To do, or not to do.]
…
Chen Mingsheng's voice was hoarse, and he said depressedly, "How did you die?"
Wen Lei's eyes were a little red, and he said: "The information given by the informant was wrong, and he was ambushed." Wen Lei rubbed his mouth and said, "Just wait and see if you can suppress it. But Brother Sheng, To be honest, I don't have much hope, you..." Wen Lei looked up, just in time to see Chen Mingsheng's empty trouser legs, he turned his head unbearably, and said:
"Get ready to go back and get on with it."
After Wen Lei also left, Chen Mingsheng was still leaning against the wall, smoking cigarettes one by one.
The night was so deep that it was almost impossible to see the bottom.