Chapter 113 Rewind (End): First Encounter
The summer in Lincheng is very cool, with the maximum temperature not exceeding 30 degrees Celsius.
This is Luo Qinglin's last holiday working at Jingyun Cemetery. He will be entering the third year of high school next month and he has no time to work at the cemetery again.
This job was introduced to Luo Qinglin by Officer Qiao. After the age of 16, Luo Qinglin was unwilling to live on Officer Qiao's kindness and insisted on squeezing out time to go out to work and support himself.
Seeing that he was stubborn, Officer Qiao had no choice but to take him to meet the person in charge of Jingyun Cemetery to see if there was any job suitable for him.
However, sweeping the cemetery, clearing weeds, wiping tombstones, comforting the relatives of the deceased when necessary, and helping with worship do not require much brainpower.
The person in charge saw that Luo Qinglin had fair skin, wore a pair of old-fashioned gold-rimmed glasses, and looked very calm, so he agreed to let him work in the cemetery during his holidays.
The salary offered by the person in charge was not high, only two thousand yuan a month, but it was enough for Luo Qinglin.
What's more, during the holidays, he can live in the staff dormitory next to the cemetery without having to spend money on food and accommodation, which is even better for Luo Qinglin.
After the beginning of autumn in August, the weather gradually became cooler. The cemetery was always covered with green shade and cold winds. Luo Qinglin had to put on a thin coat when he left the dormitory every day.
"Xiao Luo, come here quickly." The security guard waved at Luo Qinglin.
"What's wrong?" Luo Qinglin quickened his pace and ran to the door.
"Come and take a look," the security guard pointed at a young man not far away and whispered, "Is he a student of your school?"
At that time, compared to his freshman year in high school, Luo Qinglin's myopia had worsened a lot, almost exceeding 400 degrees, but the lenses of his glasses were still over 100 degrees, so when looking at distant places, he might not be able to see clearly even if he squinted.
"What's wrong? Who is he?" Luo Qinglin squinted his eyes. The boy's face was blurred under the light and only a rough outline could be seen.
"I don't know, he must be a young master from some noble family. He was wearing gold and silver yesterday and looked very noble. I heard that he is a student of your No. 1 Middle School!" the security guard said mysteriously.
Young master?
How could a young master from a noble family appear in his small town? This kind of plot only happens in TV dramas. Luo Qinglin felt that the security guard was exaggerating. It was already the 21st century, and there was no such thing as an aristocratic family.
The "young master" was only wearing a T-shirt and jeans. He stood under a pine tree with his head down, not knowing whether he was looking at the ground or thinking.
Probably sensing Luo Qinglin's gaze, the young master turned his head and stared at him from a distance.
Although Luo Qinglin couldn't see the person clearly, he could feel the person's gaze, which was like ice, with scrutiny and the condescending look of a superior, which made him feel inexplicably cold and shivered.
Luo Qinglin did not dare to greet the young master. He immediately turned sideways and asked the security guard carefully, "Did anyone in his family die?"
The security guard seemed to be afraid of the young master's cold gaze. He scratched his head, turned sideways, and answered stealthily, "I heard that his aunt passed away. She was buried in the middle of the night yesterday. His cousin fainted from crying and was sent to the hospital on the spot!"
During the two years that he worked at the cemetery, Luo Qinglin had seen many scenes of relatives dying, but he still couldn't get used to it. After all, every time he saw others crying, he would think of his own mother.
Although the memories of the past are already quite vague and chaotic, they are piled up in my mind like paste. But his emotions seemed to be unleashed by his illness, and Luo Qinglin often instinctively felt worried about the suffering of others.
"It's half past seven," the security guard looked at the time and took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Luo Qinglin, "Come on, go on, go to work."
Luo Qinglin took a long breath, adjusted his heavy mood, lowered his head and unfolded the paper.
There is a long list of tomb-sweeping orders on the paper. Some customers, who are unable to return in time for tomb-sweeping due to work or other trivial matters, will ask the cemetery staff to do the tomb-sweeping on their behalf.
Luo Qinglin took a quick glance, planned the order and route of the sacrifice in his mind, went to the service area to get the sacrificial items and wet towels, and started to work.
For a whole morning, Luo Qinglin followed the path, first wiped the tombstone clean, knelt on his knees and worshiped devoutly, and then offered the sacrificial items requested by the customer in front of the tomb.
Each customer requests different items. In addition to the most basic burning paper and flowers, there are also some strange requests, such as putting a bottle of Coke, a pack of cigarettes, or a few dice.
There are a wide variety of sacrificial items, and Luo Qinglin can always guess what kind of person the tomb owner was when he was alive based on these items.
By noon, only 1/2 of the tomb-sweeping orders had been completed, and Luo Qinglin's legs and waist were already numb from kneeling.
After stretching his muscles, Luo Qinglin packed up his things and prepared to go have lunch before coming back to work, trying to get off work early and go back to the dormitory to review his lessons.
When passing through the gate of the cemetery, Luo Qinglin saw that the young master was still standing under the tree, with his head down, wondering what he was thinking about.
After peeking for only a few seconds, the young master suddenly raised his head and cast a cold gaze towards Luo Qinglin again.
Luo Qinglin was startled and quickly turned around, pretending nothing had happened. He turned around and walked out of the cemetery with his shoulders hunched.
"Stop!" A shout suddenly came from behind.
The young master's voice was just like his gaze, cold with a lazy hint of indifference. It didn't sound like he was talking to a stranger, but rather like he was talking to the servant who served him.
"You... are calling me?" Luo Qinglin stopped, turned around and asked hesitantly.
The young master didn't say anything, but just waved at Luo Qinglin arrogantly, motioning him to come over.
Luo Qinglin swallowed his saliva, stood there hesitating for a moment, then walked slowly towards the pine tree.
The closer he got to the young master, the more inexplicably nervous Luo Qinglin felt.
"What can I do for you?" After approaching, Luo Qinglin did not dare to look at the young master's face. He only dared to look at the ground and asked with evasive eyes.
"Where to have lunch?"
The young master's Mandarin sounds very strange. Although the intonation is standard, the word order and usage are strange.
"Lunch? Do you want to have lunch?" Luo Qinglin asked doubtfully.
The young master nodded twice indifferently without saying a word. He stared at Luo Qinglin with cold eyes, which made him scared.
"Then I'll take you to the cafeteria, you follow me." After saying that, Luo Qinglin immediately turned around, not daring to look at the young master, and walked towards the cafeteria with a stiff body.
Crossing the cemetery area and the funeral area, Luo Qinglin led the young master to the rest area.
The food in the cafeteria was pretty average, just some common home-cooked dishes. Luo Qinglin swiped his employee card, took a meat dish, a vegetable dish and rice, and was about to find a place to sit down.
However, when he turned around, Luo Qinglin discovered that the young master had been following him. He seemed dissatisfied with the food on his tray, frowning and saying nothing.
At this point, as the distance got closer, Luo Qinglin could see the young master's appearance clearly.
She has cold white skin, plump red lips, is thin, has a prominent jaw, and exudes the cold and aloof temperament of a flower on the mountain top.
However, contrary to this cold temperament, the young master actually has a pair of fox eyes with upturned corners, which makes him more beautiful than anyone Luo Qinglin has ever seen.
Perhaps it was because the amber eyes were too beautiful, Luo Qinglin quickly looked away and said, "If you want to eat anything, you can go over there and order it. I'm leaving first, bye."
After saying that, Luo Qinglin wanted to run away, but the young master grabbed his arm and said, "I don't have RMB, buy it for me and I'll give you the money."
The young master took out five banknotes from his pocket and placed them on Luo Qinglin's tray. Luo Qinglin took a closer look and found that they were five 100-yuan British pounds.
Luo Qinglin had never seen so much money before, so he quickly refused and said, "You don't have to pay me. I'm an employee and I don't have to pay for meals. I'll give this to you and I'll go get another meal."
Luo Qinglin handed the tray to the young master without saying anything, turned around quickly, ran to the food window and ordered another meat and a vegetable dish.
After receiving the new meal, Luo Qinglin looked back and found that the young master had already chosen a seat and sat down. He then felt relieved and walked lightly to the corner and sat alone.
As soon as he sat down, Luo Qinglin wanted to finish his meal in no time and go back to work early, but before he even started eating, the young master came over with a tray and sat down in front of him.
"What's wrong?" Being stared at by the young master, Luo Qinglin felt inexplicably nervous.
"Why don't you sit with me?" the young master asked with a cold face.
Because your eyes are so beautiful, they're scary, Luo Qinglin thought.
Luo Qinglin didn't reply. He lowered his eyes and quickly ate his meal, fearing that he would have to stay with this cold young master for even a second longer.
Yu Guangzhong, the young master ate slowly. Luo Qinglin had almost finished half a bowl of rice, but the young master was still chewing the first bite of dry-pot cauliflower.
Luo Qinglin lowered his head and didn't even look at the food on the plate. He even put the dried chilies into his mouth. His cheeks were bulging like a hamster.
"Are you hungry?" the young master asked, seeing that he was eating quickly.
Luo Qinglin shook his head silently, took the last bite of rice, stood up, waved goodbye to the young master, and ran away in a panic with the tray.
After escaping from the cafeteria and running all the way back to the cemetery, Luo Qinglin's inexplicably panicked heartbeat slowed down.
Luo Qinglin didn't know what he was so nervous about, but when the young master stared at him closely, he felt at a loss.
After slapping his face hard, Luo Qinglin cheered himself up, put those beautiful eyes out of his mind, continued to work seriously, went back to the dormitory to review, and did things step by step.
Luo Qinglin originally thought that the young master only came to pay tribute to his relatives, and that he had been separated from his family that day, so he came to seek his help.
But on the second day, the third day, the fourth day... when Luo Qinglin went to work, the young master was still standing under the pine tree. When he saw him, he didn't say anything. He just stood there, staring at him without saying a word.
If other people hadn't been able to see the young master, Luo Qinglin would have thought he was a ghost.
For two whole weeks, Luo Qinglin could see the young master on his way to and from get off work. Every day, the two of them just looked at each other from a distance without saying a word.
Fortunately, Luo Qinglin's eyesight was not as good as his myopia. At a distance, he couldn't see the young master's appearance at all, and the inexplicable tension in his heart was also relieved a lot.
It was also for this reason that sometimes Luo Qinglin would get off work early and return to the dormitory, and he could still wave goodbye to the young master freely without feeling awkward at all.
However, life is not static, it is always full of surprises, and so is love.
On Luo Qinglin's last day working at the cemetery, a love accident came quietly, seemingly without any sound, but inside it was earth-shattering...
The author has something to say:
Luo Qinglin: Why are you staring at me? (Fear)
Jiang Yanyu: I just love to look at my wife, I just have to look at her!
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