Your distance (5)
Perhaps because Mr. Duan trusted Lu Heng, or perhaps because Lu Heng was truly qualified for the position, he was already fully responsible for presiding over meetings of this level. Lu Heng, wearing a new pair of gold-rimmed glasses, sat at the end of the long table, exuding a hint of dignity. He listened to the speeches with his head tilted, occasionally asking questions, his voice soft but his content pointed.
Normally, subordinates could still exchange some jokes with the chief in the office, but on such occasions they were often as obedient as quails. After all, the chief's tradition of using both kindness and severity to control people was his traditional way of managing people, and running into him at a critical moment was tantamount to suicide.
After the meeting, Lu Heng stared at the data stream on the display screen for a while, curled up the corners of his mouth to reveal a relieved smile, and then simply began to talk about the arrangements for the short vacation after the project was completed. He also revealed slightly that because of his efforts, the vacation would be longer than before and the subsidy would be a little higher.
After going through a difficult time, people always need a shot of adrenaline. The subordinates who had just felt a chill down their spines from the chief's cold gaze couldn't help but feel relieved.
The rest of the people filed out. Lu Heng turned his head and lowered his eyes, explaining something to his assistant. The assistant answered in a low voice, and he nodded slightly, put on his coat, stood up and said goodbye to everyone.
The temperature in the central area of Baita has dropped significantly recently, so it's a bit chilly when you get into the driver's seat. Lu Heng lowered his head and blew on his fingers while turning on the temperature control system.
He has an appointment today.
He looked up and checked his face in the rearview mirror. The frames barely covered the dark circles under his eyes, and even though he tried to smile, the fatigue on his face was hard to hide. Lu Heng looked away expressionlessly, drove out of the basement, and drove straight onto the main road.
He was stopped for a while when passing the White Tower sentry post, and was allowed to enter only after showing his ID and the official's handwritten letter.
There was a small bracket behind the name on the certificate, adding two words: Guide.
Lu Heng put away his ID, drove into the White Pagoda without looking around, and pursed his lips tightly.
The reception room was empty. Lu Heng closed the door after entering. The light from the lamplight fell on his face, making it look pale. Five minutes later, there was a gentle knock on the door. A dignified sentry in military uniform, obviously not young anymore, pushed open the door, his expression serious.
Lu Heng stood up and greeted him. He didn't know the other person's name, but the other person knew everything about him. It was a bit unfair, but considering what he wanted to accomplish, this unfairness could almost be ignored.
The officer shook his hand quickly and firmly: "Are you sure that the materials you submitted earlier are true?"
"Yes, sir." Lu Heng looked at him with a calm gaze.
The officer was silent for a moment, then warned, "Think carefully."
Lu Heng's expression was as calm as ever, but at this moment he had a serious smile on his face and nodded slightly, which was considered an answer.
The two sat in the reception room for a while, talking in low voices. Half an hour later, Lu Heng stood up and said goodbye.
"Wait a minute." The officer stopped him as he reached for the doorknob. "You know you'll be sentenced for hiding your identity as a guide for so many years, right?"
"Of course I know." Lu Heng's expression remained unchanged.
"Then you should know that helping others conceal something is also a serious crime," the officer said suggestively. "If you could explain this a little more, I think things would be less troublesome for you. Breaking completely with the Duan family only requires a little more courage to burn your boats."
Lu Heng stood there without saying a word. The officer thought his attitude had softened and his expression softened a little. The next second, he saw Lu Heng turn around and smile, but his attitude was so tough that he frowned.
"I'm sorry, sir. I have nothing to say." Lu Heng's voice was very soft, and his smile was breathy. "Except for me, no one else is hiding their identity. I promise you."
When he returned home, the room was pitch black. Lu Heng stood at the entrance and rubbed his eyes. He glanced from the light to the dark. After opening his eyes, he noticed that Duan Xingzhi was sitting upright on the sofa, looking at him sinisterly.
"..." Lu Heng was startled and whispered, "Why are you sitting in such a dark place?"
Duan Xingzhi didn't answer immediately. Lu Heng reluctantly changed her shoes, sat next to him, and stroked his hair: "I'm back, aren't I?"
In all honesty, Lu Heng still felt that the two of them were still in a long cold war. However, Duan Xingzhi always insisted that both Lu Heng and himself should at least show up at home on time. This persistence made Lu Heng somewhat unsure of how to respond.
If I don't agree, I would be too dishonest to myself; but if I agree, there will be no chance to be soft-hearted.
As he thought of this, he reached out to hold Duan Xingzhi's face. The young sentry's eyes sparkled in the darkness. Lu Heng was stunned for a moment, and rubbed them with the back of his knuckles, only to find that he was crying.
"What's wrong with you?" Lu Heng was genuinely frightened, even the gentle tone she'd forced herself to speak vanished as she eagerly tried to twist his face. Duan Xingzhi twisted his face to prevent him from touching him, pursing his lips and gasping softly, but his tone still contained resentment: "What can I do?"
Lu Heng still forced his face to turn over, tilted her head slightly and kissed his eyelids. Duan Xingzhi frowned: "Don't think I will forgive you every time you do this!"
"Okay, I won't forgive you, I won't forgive you." Lu Heng sighed and hugged him for a while before letting go.
"Where are you going?" Duan Xingzhi's voice suddenly became heavy.
Lu Heng, who had already stood up, could only turn his head again. Duan Xingzhi naturally opened his arms and put his face against his lower abdomen.
"What's going on?" Lu Heng's voice softened.
Duan Xingzhi said sullenly, "I have a bad feeling."
Even after their breakup, Duan Xingzhi's temper remained volatile, his mood swings frustrating. As Lu Heng held him in his arms, she wondered if Duan Xingzhi could tolerate this kind of relationship any longer. It was like a piece of porcelain on the edge of a cliff, and the best thing he could do was to push it off or rescue it immediately.
"How could there be a bad premonition?" He tried his best to keep his tone light.
Duan Xingzhi said nothing, wiped away the few tears that were still there, and looked up at Lu Heng, his eyes still red. "Let's do it?"
-
Lu Heng had been distracted today, so he'd taken a few extra bites from Duan Xingzhi, but he didn't immediately groan like he usually did. After Duan Xingzhi finished biting him, he looked at him nervously, and Lu Heng just whispered, "It's okay."
Duan Xingzhi didn't have many quirks when doing this kind of thing, and Lu Heng, feeling guilty, indulged him excessively many times.
At the end, Duan Xingzhi held Lu Heng tightly and refused to let him go. Lu Heng was already very tired, so he agreed. Duan Xingzhi hugged him from behind and sighed deeply.
After confirming that Duan Xingzhi was actually sighing and not intentionally blowing air on her neck, Lu Heng turned her head and asked, "What's wrong?"
"What does this 'again' mean?" Duan Xingzhi was dissatisfied. "Can't I be upset?"
Lu Heng then stopped talking. Duan Xingzhi's irritability today made him feel very uneasy, especially after he did that.
In the final stage before the completion of an important project, some "minor problems" in the group's finances were submitted to Baita for review.
He felt Duan Xingzhi's breathing rising and falling behind him and thought, I am taking away everything that belongs to you.
Although Lu Heng will have to pay a corresponding price after that, he subjectively does not feel that his suffering is sufficient to constitute the entire reason for Duan Xingzhi's forgiveness.
He had long closed his spiritual realm to Duan Xingzhi, in order to conceal all the secrets, glorious or dishonorable. And if things really came to the day of success, what would Duan Xingzhi do?
Lu Heng found that he had no idea or confidence about this. He could only hold his breath and wait, waiting for the moment when everything would finally come. Just like Duan Xingzhi, who was staring at the back of his neck from behind, was actually also holding his breath and waiting for Lu Heng's favor again.
-
A few weeks later, Bai Ta's car arrived at the headquarters, causing quite a stir. The news, blaring from the lobby to the top floor amidst the sirens, added fuel to the fire. Lu Heng glanced outside, then calmly stood up, put on his coat, and took the elevator downstairs.
He happened to meet his subordinate in the elevator. He politely asked the chief where he was going and offered to press the button for him. Lu Heng raised his chin and said, "First floor, going to surrender."
"What?" The subordinate's eyes suddenly widened.
Without being asked, Lu Heng slowly answered, "Because I concealed my identity as a guide."
"What???" The subordinate was completely shocked.
The elevator arrived at the first floor just then. Lu Heng turned around and smiled, thinking this was a slick exit. There was always a price to pay to disrupt Mr. Duan's empire, but it didn't matter. Compared to the benefits the materials he submitted for the review could bring to the White Tower, the crime of concealing his identity was far too minor.
Therefore, Lu Heng had no doubt that after causing Mr. Duan to fall, he would be released from prison and return to the group soon, regardless of whether his reputation would be affected by it. It was completely obvious that the group still needed him.
But what he didn't expect was that when he was calmly escorted into the car by the White Tower soldiers with a gun pointed at his lower back, Duan Xingzhi, who was supposed to be inspecting the branch, suddenly appeared in front of him without warning.
“!”
Duan Xingzhi, who was standing before him, looked exhausted. He jumped out of the car and hurriedly ran towards Lu Heng, shouting and yelling in frustration. Lu Heng was being pushed into the car by someone's hand. With a sudden thought, she twisted her body and turned around, smiling at Duan Xingzhi from a distance.
Duan Xingzhi was stunned for a moment, and then he ran even faster. However, the next second Lu Heng bent down and got into the back seat. The car started quickly and drove towards the exit.
"Lu Heng! Lu Heng! Stop!" Duan Xingzhi took the last few steps just long enough to catch up with the rear of the car, so his extremely panicked roar finally penetrated the glass and reached Lu Heng's ears, "Lu Heng!"
Lu Heng sat in the back seat without looking back, feeling a little guilty when she thought about how furious Duan Xingzhi might be when he found out the truth.
Duan Xingzhi's voice finally faded away, and Lu Heng found herself feeling relieved.
But his expression froze when the White Tower soldier confirmed the details with him. Because the charge on the document was "economic crime," not "concealing identity."
Apart from Mr. Duan, I can't think of anyone else who could stir up the facts to such an extent.
Lu Heng closed his eyes. The scenery outside the window glided by quickly, gradually becoming blurred.
-
This was a very bad day for Duan Xingzhi. First, he heard that someone from the White Tower was coming to the headquarters downstairs. After rushing over, he happened to see Lu Heng being taken away. He was still standing there in a daze when his father called him up to the top floor and gave him a beating.
Duan Xingzhi's mind was still buzzing, and it took him a long time to realize that Mr. Duan was talking about Lu Heng. In short, Lu Heng was an ungrateful person who could never be tamed, and Duan Xingzhi was a brainless second-generation rich kid who didn't even realize that the other party was planning to do such a thing. He was completely useless.
However - Mr. Duan changed his tone and said that it would not be a bad thing to let Lu Heng take some of the blame.
Duan Xingzhi stood there, listening blankly. The world suddenly became incredibly loud and incredibly quiet, his father's mouth opening and closing, indistinct. All the information, concepts, emotions, and thoughts finally condensed into this single sentence: Oh, Lu Heng still doesn't trust you.
Even now, I still don't trust you. Even though I was taken away by the people from the White Tower for such an unknown reason, I will not ask you for even a single word.
It was obvious that seven years ago, I had to go through a lot of trouble to help him settle that matter.
Mr. Duan finished speaking and sat there waiting for Duan Xingzhi to speak. The latter turned his head suddenly, pushed open the office door and walked out.
"Stop!" Mr. Duan shouted, "Where are you going?"
"What does it have to do with you!" Duan Xingzhi slammed the door shut.
Even after being away from Lu Heng for just a moment, he felt his emotions and perceptions were out of control. A subtle mental force pulled him towards the White Pagoda. He had to reach it now, immediately.
-
It was several years later that Duan Xingzhi saw Lu Heng again.
That day he rushed to the White Pagoda, but of course he never saw Lu Heng again. The latter was a criminal whom Mr. Duan had personally sent to prison. He had been imprisoned and chained up in layers of prison, living alone in the depths of the White Pagoda, where he never saw the sun, for a long time.
Mr. Duan was certainly aware of Duan Xingzhi and Lu Heng's somewhat ambiguous relationship, but he was also surprised by how things had escalated to this point. After a reprimand, he thought his only son would calm down somewhat. But Duan Xingzhi remained quiet for a few days, then suddenly turned around and entered the White Pagoda again, claiming he was a sentry who had failed to fulfill his military service and was now applying to be sent to the border. When the news reached the Duan residence, Mr. Duan was so angry that he practically fell off his chair.
The original intention of suppressing Lu Heng's impulsive behavior was to warn him. If he didn't have ulterior motives, he would have really promoted Lu Heng. Mr. Duan might have defended himself in this way if he had the chance. But how could Duan Xingzhi listen to a word? After calming down, he could only think that Lu Heng had not come to the Duan family for him in the first place, and in the following years, he had completely ignored him, leaving so cruelly without saying anything. And yet he still played the forced love scene with him. Lu Heng probably hated him to the point of being unbearable.
In this case, the group will not be able to stay no matter what.
During his years of service at the border, Duan Xingzhi was, naturally, his usual troublemaker. He would find excuses to slip back into the White Pagoda's central area, sounding out any concerns, and patiently requesting prison visits time and again. The only news he received was that Chief Lu was actively cooperating and receiving a sentence reduction. The more Duan Xingzhi listened, the more irritated he became. More than anything else, he wanted to know if Lu Heng was eating and sleeping well, and if he continued to hate him.
Then, we finally got the news that Lu Heng was released from prison... and then disappeared without a trace in an instant.
After a few years, the traction between the outposts had become very weak. For the first time, Duan Xingzhi solemnly asked for a long vacation and returned to the central area of Baita. With the help of that insignificant traction, he searched one street after another.
Until he saw Lu Heng, dressed neatly, sitting there through the glass door, talking to another guide with a relaxed expression.
We're meeting soon, Lu Heng.
The distance between you is shortened again.
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