Chapter 32 Qingming
Around the Qingming Festival, the weather is sunny and warm, and the streets are full of spring flowers in a riot of colour.
One day during the Qingming Festival holiday, Lu Xiaoping finally appeared at the "Hong" Club.
He did some weak warm-up exercises on the elliptical machine, but soon he was out of breath and sweating profusely.
He stopped, wiped the sweat off his face with a towel, and took a few sips of mineral water.
In the glass cubicle next door, girls were doing yoga to music. Lu Xiaoping moved closer to take a look and found that the coach was not Han Que, but a strange girl.
He walked listlessly to the fitness equipment area and sat there, continuing to wipe his sweat with a towel and drink water.
His eyes were dull and he looked listless.
Zhou Hongbin walked in from outside and saw him at a glance. He paused, turned around, and took the initiative to greet him: "Mr. Lu, why haven't you been here for so many days? You must have spent a lot of time playing abroad."
Lu Xiaoping said calmly: "I went to Southeast Asia for a while."
As he spoke, he glanced at the door through Zhou Hongbin.
Zhou Hongbin knew he was looking for someone and told him, "Han Que took a day off today and didn't come."
Lu Xiaoping lowered his head and looked at the plastic floor, his expression becoming even more dejected, and he remained silent.
Zhou Hongbin frowned: "You haven't contacted her?"
Lu Xiaoping sighed, shook his head and said, "No."
Zhou Hongbin glanced at the lonely expression on his face and patted him: "Come on, let's go outside to get some fresh air. It's too stuffy in here." Then he pulled him up, and the two walked out of the glass door and onto the terrace.
A breeze blew, bringing a hint of coolness, the air was fresh, and you could see the dark green mountains in the distance.
Lu Xiaoping leaned over the railing and took a long breath.
Zhou Hongbin looked at him with a pale face, bloodshot eyes and sunken eye sockets. He seemed like a different person after not seeing him for a while. He shook his head secretly, handed Lu Xiaoping a cigarette, lit it with a click, and brought it forward.
Lu Xiaoping took a few deep puffs and coughed several times because of the choking.
Zhou Hongbin also lit a cigarette, took a few puffs, and slowly blew out a smoke ring. He glanced at him and smiled, "It seems that not exercising really can't help. How come you're so weak after not being here for so long? You look like you've just recovered from a serious illness. Young man, this can't go on."
Lu Xiaoping smoked silently without saying anything.
Zhou Hongbin asked again: "Are you really sick? Did you catch a cold?"
Lu Xiaoping shook his head with a wooden face.
Zhou Hongbin continued to show concern for his health: "The weather is so hot and cold, it's easy to catch a cold. You have to be careful."
Lu Xiaoping looked into the distance weakly.
Zhou Hongbin stared at him for a while, then his eyes drifted off into the distance. After a moment of silence, he whispered, "You and Han Que broke up?"
Lu Xiaoping frowned.
Zhou Hongbin sighed softly and said, "Han Que has been coming less often lately. She said she's had a new boss and is very busy with work, often working overtime. She asked me to adjust my schedule and give her some rest, so she reduced her classes." He chuckled, "Even a few of my old clients have complained to me that they haven't seen her lately."
Lu Xiaoping finally snorted out loud.
Zhou Hongbin: "I told her she's busy and needs to focus on her job. It's just a part-time job for me."
He looked at Lu Xiaoping again and said casually, "Hey, there are a lot of people gossiping about her outside. They say that the son of Mr. Gu from Chengguang Group has taken a fancy to her and even invested in a company specifically for her. It sounds like it's true."
Lu Xiaoping's fingers trembled, cigarette ash fell to the ground, and he buried his head in his arms.
Zhou Hongbin added, "I don't believe it. I asked Wenwen, and it's true. It's all just these people spreading rumors." He nudged Lu Xiaoping with his elbow. "Don't believe it either. They're all rumors. I know Han Que well. She's not one of those scheming women out there. She's an honest worker. She rarely even takes leave. She just said today she wanted to visit her father's grave."
Lu Xiaoping raised his head and was stunned for a moment: "Her father is gone?"
Zhou Hongbin looked at him in surprise. "What? You didn't know? Han Que worked so hard part-time just to pay off her debts. Her father fell ill a few years ago and emptied out the family savings. Her mother is in poor health and has lost her job. She and her daughter rely on her to make ends meet, and she has to pay a large sum of money to her aunt every month. You haven't heard her say anything?"
Lu Xiaoping was shocked and murmured, "But she never told me, I..."
He lowered his head with a sad look on his face.
Zhou Hongbin was about to say something when the cell phone in his pocket rang. He took out the phone, patted Lu Xiaoping's shoulder soothingly, and walked aside to answer the call.
“…”
"Ah? Wenwen, I'm right here at the club. Are you tired from shopping? Are you alone?" Zhou Hongbin smiled helplessly. "Okay, okay, I won't ask. It's okay if I don't ask."
He glanced at Lu Xiaoping, who was about to smoke a cigarette when his hand holding the cigarette paused, suspended in mid-air without moving.
“…”
Zhou Hongbin added, "Come over then. You're near us, so if you're tired of shopping, come and rest here."
“…”
"It's okay, I'll treat you to dinner tonight. Ha, I don't even know you yet, but I just want to have a good meal. Okay, brother will treat you, okay?"
Seeing Lu Xiaoping looking up at him, Zhou Hongbin nodded knowingly and asked on the phone, "By the way, is Han Que free tonight? Can you ask her to come out too?"
“…”
Zhou Hongbin frowned, not knowing what the other party had said. He said softly, "I'm just asking casually." He lowered his voice again, "Lu Xiaoping is here with me. He probably wants to see Han Que. Okay, okay, I'm just asking casually. I won't meddle in other people's business."
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Hongbin looked at Lu Xiaoping's expectant eyes and shrugged.
Lu Xiaoping took a puff of his cigarette, put out the half-smoked cigarette in the flower bed, and sighed with a melancholy look in his eyes.
Zhou Hongbin looked at him and said, "Wenwen will be here soon, or you can have dinner with us. She and Han Que have the best relationship, so you can ask her if you have any questions."
"Brother Zhou..." Lu Xiaoping spoke hesitantly.
"What's wrong?" Zhou Hongbin looked at him.
Lu Xiaoping shook his head, his tone difficult, "I don't know what to do..." After a pause, he continued, "Actually, my family is very opposed to it. My mother and I have been arguing bitterly. I originally wanted to give up. After all, I have nothing now and I can't resist my family. I also really like Han Que. I have never been so nice to any girl as I am to her."
Zhou Hongbin nodded slightly.
He knew these second-generation rich people very well. They had no real skills and relied on the shade of the big trees at home. If there was a storm, they would be as weak as a blade of grass, especially Lu Xiaoping, who even had a secondary bank card and had no freedom at all.
Zhou Hongbin avoided the main issue and said something to address the situation, "Don't worry, let's wait and see. Things are not at the point of no return. The most important thing is to see what Han Que thinks. After all, this is a matter between the two of them, right?"
Lu Xiaoping nodded, took a deep breath, and his eyes were hazy. "During this period, Han didn't contact me at all, and I felt very upset. Every day I was thinking about how to deal with these things."
Zhou Hongbin scoffed inwardly, "Looking at your Moments, it's so exciting, it doesn't look like you're stuck in love at all, and now you're complaining about your misery." But he couldn't say anything, so he could only mumble and hum.
Lu Xiaoping continued, "I don't know if she's really like what my mom and Xu Tao said. She hooked me for money and tricked me into spending money. Now that she has a bigger fish, she's dumped me."
Zhou Hongbin pondered and said nothing.
He thought to himself, this is the point. You are feeling bad that you were used by Han Que and became a sucker and a victim.
But Zhou Hongbin knew that Han also had this idea.
But he didn't want to say anything bad about Han Que. After all, he was the backbone of his club's sales. If he admitted that Han Que was fishing, then his "Hong" club would become an institution that relied on the beauty of sales staff to cheat people out of money. This was not in line with the image of "professional sports and health institution" that Zhou Hongbin had always promoted.
Besides, it was Lu Xiaoping who pursued Han Que relentlessly, and all the clients in the "Hong" Club knew what was going on.
He had to speak for Han Que.
Zhou Hongbin patted Lu Xiaoping on the shoulder and said, "Han Que is not that kind of person. My sister has known her since junior high school and knows her very well. She has always been very honest with me and I have never seen her have any affair with any client. Your friends may not know her well."
After hearing this, Lu Xiaoping remained silent, and his expression became much more relaxed.
Zhou Hongbin saw it and sneered in his heart.
For Lu Xiaoping, perhaps what is more sad than a broken heart is being cheated by a woman.
Zhou Wenwen ended the call with Zhou Hongbin, thought about it, and finally called Han Que to ask if she wanted to have dinner together. "Come over when you're done. It's near my brother's club anyway, so it's not too far."
Han's voice was tired: "Forget it, I'm tired and don't want to run anymore."
Zhou Wenwen hesitated for a moment, then said, "My brother said Lu Xiaoping is here too. Do you want to go meet him..." After a pause, she added, "It would be good to clarify things."
Han took a breath on the phone and replied briefly: "No."
Zhou Wenwen frowned: "So what do you mean?"
Han obviously didn't want to continue with Lu Xiaoping, but she didn't contact him and kept dragging her feet. She was a little confused about what she was thinking.
"No." Han denied it outright. After a moment's thought, he added, "I don't mean anything else. I just don't want to take the initiative to talk to him." He paused and whispered, "It's not my fault. What do I have to explain?"
"Then just drag it out like this..." Zhou Wenwen chuckled and warned: "People will accuse you of playing both sides this way."
Han remained silent and did not respond.
The cell phone signal is bad, and the crackling sound of the electricity is mixed with the whistling sound of the wind.
After a while, Han said softly, "You go ahead. I'm visiting my father's grave."
After hanging up the phone, Han sat on the stone steps in a daze.
Liu Suping was mumbling something in front of Han's grave, wiping her eyes with a tissue as she spoke.
The sky was gloomy and the wind was blowing, and her snow-white hair fluttered in the wind.
The mountains in the distance are hidden in the misty white fog and their figures cannot be seen clearly.
Liu Suping stroked Han's black and white photo and cried, "Old Han, I haven't seen you for a long time. Your daughter wouldn't let me come alone, so I could only come when she was free. Now that you're gone, she doesn't care about me. I'm all alone... Forget it, I really want to go with you so that we can both take care of each other..."
Han frowned, feeling as if a stone was stuck in his heart, making him feel uncomfortable. He couldn't help but argue, "Mom, don't say nonsense to Dad. When have I ever ignored you? When have I ever told you not to come to see Dad? You don't even know the way. How could I let you come to see him alone? What if you get lost? Where would I find you..."
Liu Suping stopped crying and looked at her from the side. "When did I not know the way? You are talking nonsense."
Han moved his lips, wanting to argue, but then lowered his head.
The white chrysanthemum in his hand was torn into petals and fell on the tombstone.
Han Yourong's smiling eyes were staring at her.
Han Que lowered her head even more, and she said slowly: "You didn't, I was too busy and didn't bring you with me. It's my fault."
Liu Suping was victorious. She grinned at Han Yourong's photo and said, "See, I was right. Your daughter is just disobedient sometimes. It's no use ignoring her. You spoiled her too much in the past, and now she doesn't really listen to me. Sigh."
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