12. The last thought
Tang Sizhu was woken up by the ringing of his cell phone.
She was half asleep, and when she saw the caller ID "Qiao Shu", her eyes widened instantly, and she sat up suddenly, quickly wondering if she had overslept through the court session or the client meeting. Only when the call was connected did she remember that she had resigned and returned to Jiang Ming, and was no longer in Beijing.
"Did I wake you up? But it's a good thing, I'm here to give you some money."
Qiao Shu's gentle, clear voice came from the other end of the line. She was Tang Sizhuo's supervising attorney. She was demanding and strict, but also very caring towards her juniors. After four or five years with Tang Sizhuo, she had become almost like a sister to her.
In order to delay his work, Tang Sizhuo felt sleepy again. He yawned and lay back on the sofa.
"Good morning, sister. What's the money?"
"Forgot? When you left, you were still co-organizing a case, and the client hadn't paid the balance yet, so I asked you to transfer the case to me first. I'm withdrawing money this time to settle the balance on that case. You should get 20%, right? Nearly 30,000." Qiao Shu joked with her, "If I had known you forgot, I wouldn't have called and would have just embezzled it."
"That won't do. I'm very poor now. My computer was even smashed yesterday."
The last time Qiao Shu spoke to her on the phone was before Zeng Xiasheng was released from prison. Tang Sizhuo was busy getting acquainted with the work environment here. Later, Qiao Shu also became busy and had no time to call her, but she would still send messages every now and then to ask how she was doing.
The years she spent working with Qiao Shu were arguably the most relaxing in Tang Sizhuo's life. Zeng Xiasheng was halfway through his sentence, and she had gradually grown under Qiao Shu's guidance, no longer having to tutor people to make money. Although she still couldn't completely break free from drugs and alcohol, it seemed like there was hope. She longed to return in a few years with a polished resume and a job that would pay enough to support the two of them. She longed for Zeng Xiasheng to tell her what had happened and gently accept all her hard work over the years.
However, things are not always as she expected. The work is thankless, the case is unclear, and the man does not go home with her. Nothing goes smoothly.
When Tang Sizhu thought of this, his mood became depressed again.
Qiao Shu noticed her change and deliberately teased her, "Who is so bold as to smash our lawyer Tang's computer?"
"It's a long story. A... the husband of a divorce case hired someone to grab the evidence. He pulled my computer over and knocked it to the ground."
"Is Jiang Ming in such dire straits? Where's your little boyfriend? Oh no, he should be your older boyfriend now. He should be out, right? Didn't he help you?"
Tang Sizhuo sank into the sofa, his voice muffled, "I helped, and I almost beat him up."
After saying that, she suddenly realized that Qiao Shu was trying to trick her, but it was too late.
Qiao Shu had helped her resign and return to Jiang Ming, having worked with her partners to secure her position on the team. She was also given the option of returning at any time within two years. However, she only supported Tang Sizhuo's efforts to reopen the case and provide an explanation, and held no expectations for Zeng Xiasheng. No matter how Tang Sizhuo explained their past, Qiao Shu simply replied: People change, especially in prison.
Qiao Shu knew her limits and knew she couldn't persuade Tang Sizhuo, so she always told her not to push the relationship too fast even if she couldn't let go.
Sure enough, the voice on the phone suddenly turned cold. "Have you met him already? Are you on good terms?"
Tang Sizhuo didn't know where to start, so he could only vaguely say, "It's okay, I've met him a few times."
"Let me confirm with you, you didn't sleep with him, right?"
"Of course not! In fact—"
"Did you spend money on him?"
Tang Sizhuo looked at the pile of things Zeng Xiasheng had sorted out in the living room, thinking that if he didn't give them away, it meant he hadn't spent any money, so he also answered, "No."
Qiao Shu breathed a sigh of relief.
Tang Sizhu was a little unhappy after being asked several questions by her, "He is not that kind of person."
"I don't want to hear that."
Qiao Shu seemed to be calming herself down and was silent for a while before speaking again.
"Do you know how I, as an outsider, see this? He was in prison for the ten years between 20 and 30 when his energy and testosterone levels were at their peak. Now that he's just been released, his psychological and physical desire for women is at its peak. He has no money and no respectable social status. Now that a young, beautiful woman with a stable income is rushing to pay him a visit, who do you think is going to suffer the consequences?"
This was almost the same as the scolding she received when she first started working. Tang Sizhuo was extremely dissatisfied and was even more unwilling to hear others speculate about Zeng Xiasheng in this way. However, what Qiao Shu said made sense, and she really couldn't find any room for rebuttal.
"It's not that I'm conservative, nor do I think there can be true love between you. But as your mentor and your friend, I can't bear to see you fall into this fire pit. I say again, you are not allowed to satisfy him with sex or money. Do you understand?"
Tang Sizhuo said listlessly, "I know."
Qiao Shu tutted, "You sound so reluctant. Otherwise, I'll keep the commission. That way, if you get scammed out of all your money, I'll still have tens of thousands left for you in an emergency."
Tang Sizhuo couldn't stand it any longer. From yesterday until today, everyone had been telling her that Zeng Xiasheng couldn't be trusted, yet she'd fallen asleep in front of him twice, and he'd done nothing. If Zeng Xiasheng was after money or sex, he wouldn't have needed to lie to her; he'd just open his mouth and she'd be ready. But now, she couldn't give him the gifts she'd bought him, and he'd avoid her even when she tried to get close to him.
"Sister, I know you're right. I know you're worried for a reason, but he never asked me for a penny, and he never wanted to sleep with me. He's really not that kind of person."
Qiao Shu sighed heavily, wishing she could fly over and take her back to Beijing.
"Where has your rationality, sensitivity, and risk foresight as a lawyer gone? How long has it been? A month? Do you know how scarce a resource you are in his pool of potential spouses? He has a criminal record and no college degree, so it's hard for him to find a decent job, yet he can have a beautiful woman, an elite, surrounding him. He pretends to be making a killing for a year or two!" Qiao Shu gritted her teeth in anger. "Letting you go back to Jiang Ming is so you can solve your own problems. Don't make yourself a problem!"
Tang Sizhu tried to hold back, but her eyes still turned red. She curled up on the sofa and cried softly.
"Then what can I do? Sister, you helped me find a doctor, you know I'm not normal, what can I do? He is my last hope. If he really wants to lie to me, then let him lie. I accept it."
Chen Tianhao said the repair business had no future and that he needed to open two more stores to sell used phones. He disappeared for several days. Zeng Xiasheng couldn't reach him by phone, so he texted him, saying that since there were few customers after 8 p.m., he would no longer be in the store.
He locked the rolling shutter door, carried a bottle of water and went to the bus stop to wait for the bus. Half an hour later, he got off at the terminal and crossed the road to the park across the street.
The guard stopped him and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Applying for a position as a sorter."
The guard nodded and told him to wait. A few minutes later, a young man came running over and looked Zeng Xiasheng up and down. Although he was wearing winter clothes, Zeng Xiasheng was tall and strong, and at first glance he looked capable of work.
The person in charge hesitated, "Actually, our night shift... is already fully staffed—"
"I've done heavy physical work," Zeng Xiasheng said, "and I have nothing to do every night, so I can work part-time steadily."
"Are you sure?" The person in charge took his ID and led him inside. "The wages here are higher than those of other places, but the intensity is very high. Other places have four shifts, we have three. The night shift is from 9 pm to 5 am the next morning. Many people leave before they even work for a month."
Zeng Xiasheng nodded without saying much.
"I can assign you to the large-item sorting area, where the pay is highest, but you can only receive 70% each month in the early stages. The remaining pay will be distributed after you have worked for three months."
"Can."
After registering his identity and completing a brief training session, Zeng Xiasheng was given a set of work clothes. He took off his coat and sweater, put on a vest, and started working.
There were seven or eight other men with his stamina, all assigned to the large-item sorting area. While there were forklifts, many steps still required manual handling. Like worker ants, the men moved back and forth between the shelves and conveyor belts. Sweat quickly soaked their clothes, but Zeng Xiasheng regained a familiar sense of relaxation.
In the prison workshop, even healthy young men were often assigned heavy labor, like moving fabric or repairing lathes. While others shied away, Zeng Xiasheng repeatedly went back to the guards to negotiate for his rights. When his arms trembled from exhaustion, and his energy barely kept him standing, the nightmares of the past stopped tormenting him, and he no longer had to worry about the uncontrollable thoughts of what life Tang Sizhuo would lead in college.
Tang Sizhu is different from him. She is beautiful, smart and well-educated. She should live happily in the sunshine and walk with people who are as outstanding as her.
In the past ten years, she sent him many letters, but Zeng Xiasheng didn't dare to open any of them. Now they are still neatly kept in the closet of the rental house.
Sweat dripped down his cheeks, and he tilted his head to wipe it on his arm.
Chen Tianhao's repair shop supposedly provided a livelihood for both of them, but it wasn't exactly a comfortable living. Out of brotherly love, he split it 50/50, leaving Zeng Xiasheng with only around 3,000 yuan a month. It would take forever to repay Tang Sizhuo for the money he'd advanced. The night sorting here paid 25 yuan an hour, and even with a day or two off each month, the income was still substantial. Zeng Xiasheng calculated that with his lifestyle, even with the occasional emergency, saving 6,000 to 7,000 yuan a month was no problem.
During the day, when no one was around, he'd sit in a daze in the shop, thinking about the past few days. He hadn't paid a cent of the two hundred thousand yuan back, and he'd broken her computer. He owed her the same amount of money as he did her, and the debt kept growing. But she hadn't said a word. No matter how wronged or angry she was, she'd only asked him for a pineapple bun.
No one in the warehouse was talking, only the hum of conveyor belts and the exhausted sighs of the men. Under the blazing white light, everyone's shoulders were bent. After working for four or five hours, Zeng Xiasheng was sleepy and exhausted, his brain completely shut down, his lifting completely mechanical. He carried on until his shift change at five o'clock, then caught the first bus back home in the dim light of dawn.
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