Your distance (1)

Lu Heng awakened to become a guide at the age of seventeen.

This should have been a joyous occasion. The number of White Tower citizens who could awaken to become sentinels or guides was already rare, and those with above-average talent like Lu Heng were even rarer. Becoming a guide and joining the military—once these two steps, the rest of their lives would be completely covered by the White Tower, with no more potential for setbacks.

This should have been a joyous occasion for Lu Heng, who lost his father at a young age and had been eager to rise to prominence since childhood. He could escape the confined space before him and reach higher. Wealth, power, dignity... all of these would be achieved through his exceptional talent and the hard work of a young man.

Unfortunately, just a week after he awakened as a guide, Lu Heng had unforeseenly sold his life to others.

The other party was a renowned entrepreneur named Duan, and tracing back to Lu Heng's distant ancestral home, he could be considered a close neighbor. It was precisely because of this connection that, after the group had safely navigated a period of reform, Mr. Duan felt reassured. Reflecting on the hardships his elders had endured in starting their own businesses, he condescended to take time off and return home to visit his old haunts, including the middle school where Lu Heng had attended.

The appearance of this middle school is roughly the same as the one that the elders of the Duan family saw when they were young. The teaching building is still old and dilapidated, the playground is covered with dust, and some older and more awakened students are training for admission to the military academy.

It can be seen that the accidental rise of a family at that time will not bring an opportunity for those who come later to escape from the quagmire. Mr. Duan watched for a while through the exceptionally clean glass window and felt bored. In addition, the principal in the office was too cautious, and there was occasional blatant flattery in his words, which made people feel annoyed.

Mr. Duan raised his hand, said goodbye and was about to leave.

The assistant respectfully opened the door for him, and Mr. Duan walked out. Just as he was about to frown and instruct the assistant to arrange to return to the central area of ​​the White Pagoda as soon as possible, the sound of leather shoes suddenly stopped. He met a pair of burning eyes, which were filled with desire, caution and a kind of imperceptible fanaticism, and the pale face caught his eye.

Is a student.

To be precise, he was a poor student.

Seventeen-year-old Lu Heng was malnourished and thin. His growing height lacked warm food and other helpful spiritual guidance from adults. He swayed in his school uniform with the sleeves rolled up, like a tree that was too lacking in water and fertilizer.

He was hurriedly heading to the president's office, clutching an acceptance letter from a certain university, when he happened to pass a man in a high-end suit with a cold expression. He tactfully stopped, lowered his head, and made way. The paper in his hand drooped slightly, just enough to reveal the gold-stamped school emblem on the top.

Mr. Duan recognized the school badge and raised an eyebrow in surprise. It was a prestigious university with a very low acceptance rate. Many of his subordinates had graduated from the business school there, but he had never known that the university would one day recruit students here.

This remote and poor place.

"name."

Lu Heng immediately raised his head boldly, revealing a smile that was a bit shy and nervous, yet one that was made brave by respect and admiration for the person before him. He spoke his name clearly, but said little else. Mr. Duan lowered his eyes and looked at him with a calm expression.

At this moment, the principal rushed out of the office and stood behind Mr. Duan, panting. Seeing Lu Heng, who was wearing a washed-out school uniform, standing with such an important person, his expression immediately became a little terrified.

Lu Heng was not intimidated and waited for Mr. Duan's next reaction. Sure enough, the latter perfunctorily stretched out his finger and tapped twice on his paper, indicating that he should speak.

Lu Heng, drawing on the prepared remarks he had prepared all the way here, quickly and concisely explained his purpose. He had been accepted into the university and had come to ask the president for his signature, which was required for the social subsidy he was applying for.

"Lu Heng, didn't I tell you in advance that I have a distinguished guest to meet this afternoon, and you can come back tomorrow if you have anything! Do you know that Mr. Duan's time is money? Can a young man like you just waste it?" The principal spoke hurriedly, as if trying to shirk his responsibility when the student accidentally bumped into Mr. Duan.

Mr. Duan, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly laughed when he heard this. He looked straight at Lu Heng and said with great certainty, "You did it on purpose."

The principal's face turned pale and he wanted to slap himself.

Lu Heng also smiled. "Yes, I did it on purpose. Mr. Duan, I've admired you since I was a child. I read your autobiography when I was in elementary school. You said that we should always seize every opportunity. I remembered it for a long time, and meeting you today is the first time I've truly put it into practice."

In fact, Lu Heng had just read the autobiography in the reading room half an hour ago. He had simply randomly picked out a sentence from the jacket, making a risky move. But what was so risky about it? No successful entrepreneur would be reluctant to hear a young man's earnest compliments.

Mr. Duan then laughed even more heartily. Lu Heng was still a little too young at the time to accurately discern whether Mr. Duan's laughter contained any deeper meaning, but he keenly realized that, for now, at least he would have the tuition money and all the conveniences and benefits that came with it.

For the seventeen-year-old Lu Heng, this was like a blessing in disguise.

By the time Mr. Duan's assistant transferred the funding to Lu Heng's account and even awarded him a new scholarship in front of the whole school with great fanfare, it was after Lu Heng had awakened as a guide.

Mr. Duan and his team have always been cautious in their work, and this high profile had its own purpose. Mr. Duan's wife's early death was well known, and with it came much speculation about his private life. From then on, Lu Heng and Mr. Duan's relationship was open and transparent, preventing others from speculating. It was a relationship between giver and recipient, sponsor and recipient, superior and inferior, and the dignified and the humble.

The sun was very bright that day. Lu Heng stood beside the principal on the playground to receive the award, her face pale.

It wasn't because the sun was too strong, making him dizzy, nor was it because the scholarship certificate in his hand seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, pressing him down, but because Lu Heng, who had awakened to become a guide, was experiencing the first overwhelming emotional torrent in his life.

The classmates who looked up at him from the audience were either envious or contemptuous, or hostile or admiring. Those irreversible things that made him regress pressed him down tightly, like a dragnet with no place to escape.

Lu Heng always suspected that this was a test from Mr. Duan, even though Mr. Duan probably didn't know he had awakened as a guide at the time, and didn't care to know. But Lu Heng never asked Mr. Duan about it later. He couldn't open up to the Duan family; it was destined from the beginning.

Lu Heng concealed his identity as a guide and went to college.

He didn't think military life under the White Tower's jurisdiction was much better than the life sponsored by Mr. Duan, and even felt that the latter might be more suitable for his personality. But if his identity was exposed, then being selected into the military and at least completing his service would become inevitable, and he couldn't let it disrupt his plans.

Because concealing the identity of a guide is a felony.

Because of this, Lu Heng has to build a solid barrier for both his mind and soul, which will make him always sober and firm, block out external things, and move forward from then on.

My first semester at university went smoothly.

Lu Heng was fully prepared, like a fish finally released into water.

Although everyone in his small hometown knew that he was very smart, the close relationship between relatives and neighbors prevented him from fully displaying his talents. But here, in the central area of ​​​​White Pagoda, all challenges made him feel excited and excited.

This kind of excitement was so thrilling that it burned from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, stretching the seventeen-year-old Lu Heng into the air.

Mr. Duan was very busy. During the first semester of her freshman year, Lu Heng only met him once, apart from contacting his assistant.

It seemed that Mr. Duan, as an entrepreneur, had been invited to Lu Heng's university lecture, and after the lecture, he was naturally ordered to leave. Lu Heng was funded by Mr. Duan, and this was known to everyone, so he could have gotten into the limousine at the school gate without hesitation.

"Mr. Duan!" Lu Hengfu smiled eagerly as he bent down to get into the car. "It's been a while since I've seen you. Everything is going well for me, both academically and with my clubs. Assistant Lin said that if I keep this up, I'll have a good chance of getting an internship at the group during the winter break."

He presented the image of a grateful, hardworking man who became one of the few recipients of funding from the large group because of his intelligence and talent. He never mentioned how many alumni he had made friends with and connected with through the name of the Duan family, and he was very tight-lipped.

A face that was gradually filled with wealth, power, and finally abundant self-esteem that did not belong to her became so beautiful. Mr. Duan glanced at it indifferently and just said, "Get in the car."

After Lu Heng sat down and the car started moving, the young man had already begun chatting gently and boastfully when Mr. Duan raised his hand to stop him and said, "You are dressed too poorly."

"What?" Lu Heng's face was dazed for a moment.

"Social status, money, power... these are just a piece of clothing for a person, they mean nothing. But before putting on these empty clothes, people must first have decent, practical clothes to cope with any occasion. They are the sum of etiquette, interpersonal relationships, and so on." Mr. Duan's tone was calm, but Lu Heng could feel cold sweat dripping down her face. "Since you have the courage to wear those empty clothes, I believe it wouldn't be a bad idea for me to help you put on two solid clothes."

Lu Heng didn't dare to say anything more, but still tried his best to act frankly as Mr. Duan said, as if he had put on these two pieces of real and virtual clothes at the same time, and they naturally belonged to the seventeen-year-old Lu Heng.

However, in fact, apart from saying these seemingly plausible words that day, Mr. Duan really just took him to buy clothes.

Of course, most of the time it was Assistant Lin who chose for him, and Mr. Duan just sat lazily on the side checking the communicator, looking up at him from time to time, nodding or shaking his head.

At the end, Lu Heng didn't want Lin Zhu's help and insisted on walking with the bags by herself, which made her feel very strange.

"Wait a minute." Mr. Duan said suddenly.

Lu Heng followed his gaze and saw an eyewear store.

"Go in." Mr. Duan raised his chin slightly.

Lu Heng then went in without hesitation, feeling somewhat uneasy. However, thinking that Mr. Duan had probably calmed down about his bold behavior at school, he gradually felt relieved.

Mr. Duan picked out a pair of gold-rimmed glasses for him. Lu Heng's eyesight was not bad, at most he was slightly nearsighted. He had never worn glasses before, thinking that wearing glasses made him look a little weaker.

"It's good, it suits you." Mr. Duan said the first nice word today.

Lu Heng thanked him before looking in the mirror. The boy had a subtle look of pride on his face, but the frames of his glasses covered his eyes, completely hiding the pride.

Is it suitable for you?

Maybe it's appropriate.

Because even when Lu Heng was imprisoned, he still wore glasses, so naturally, they weren't the same pair. They made him suddenly grow from a teenager to an adult, and his life was divided into two distinct sides: the light and the dark. On this side, he had to do everything in his power to conceal himself and protect himself from being discovered.

Before the winter vacation, Lu Heng celebrated his 18th birthday, and then after the final exams, as Lin Zhu had said before, he came to the group for an internship.

There wasn't much to say about the internship. Mr. Duan had been incredibly busy since that time he took him clothes shopping, and he hadn't had time to pay much attention to Lu Heng. Lu Heng worked alongside his teacher, and his intelligence and quick thinking soon earned him a lot of unexpected praise.

It is impossible that Lu Heng has the power to choose the position himself. I don’t know whether it was Mr. Duan’s idea or Lin Zhu’s arrangement, but he is doing financial work.

To some extent, it is a cautious trust. Judging from all previous experiences, Mr. Duan really believes in "employ people if you are suspicious, and be suspicious of people you employ."

When Mr. Duan contacted him again, it was almost the end of the year. Lu Heng was still trying to figure out how to tell Mr. Duan that he was going home for the New Year. Lin Zhu came to pick him up again, but this time, he didn't drive the stretch limousine that Mr. Duan used to drive, but a more modest business sedan.

Just to continue what I said, this standard is already a mercy.

Lu Heng and Lin Zhudong talked in a roundabout way, but they couldn't figure out what Mr. Duan meant this time. The car drove through the garden driveway - this was Lu Heng's first time at Mr. Duan's residence.

It was also here that he met Duan Xingzhi for the first time.