Chapter 32
When Fu Jingyuan was away, Rong Xiang entertained himself.
He was wearing a traditional Chinese jacket and trousers, a white sun hat, and wooden clogs. He was squatting in the shade by the gate, buying flowers.
The flower seller was a little girl of about seven or eight years old, with dark skin and a pretty face. She walked along the road, intending to carry a basket of flowers to a restaurant ahead to sell, but as she passed a beautiful house, she saw someone squatting at the gate and casually asked, "Big brother, would you like to buy some flowers?"
Rongxiang laughed: "You should call me uncle."
The little girl smiled brightly, revealing her white teeth: "Uncle, would you like to buy some flowers?"
Rongxiang nodded and waved to the little girl: "What kind of flowers are these?"
The little girl ran over with a large basket and squatted down in front of Rongxiang: "Jasmine flowers and roses. They're all so fresh and will stay fresh for a long time!"
Rongxiang took out his pocket watch from his pocket and looked at it: "It's only a little past three o'clock and you're already going to sell flowers? The petals will wilt and look ugly by evening."
The little girl pointed to the side: "I sell flowers in the lobby of Qin Fu Restaurant up ahead. It's open day and night, and there's no sun there, so the flowers won't get damaged. If I go early, I can sell them all and then take the money home to buy rice for my sister."
Rongxiang saw that the child was thin and small, wearing a thick, tattered cotton jacket and short pants that revealed half of his calves. He also noticed that the asphalt road was melted by the scorching sun, and every step left a footprint. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the child: "It's too hot today, so don't go any further. How about you sell these flowers to your uncle?"
The little girl was a bit stunned: "Huh?"
Rongxiang turned around and shouted, "Xiao Meng!"
Xiao Meng, who had been standing in the shade behind the gatehouse, stepped forward in response: "What is it, Third Master?"
"Give the child two dollars, then take the flowers back inside."
Xiao Meng immediately pulled two banknotes from his pocket and handed them over. But when the little girl looked up and saw him clearly, she was so frightened that she fell to the ground. It turned out that the bandages on Xiao Meng's face had been removed, and the three deeper wounds had just healed and scabbed over, their bright red color quite frightening. The scabs on the other smaller wounds were peeling off, making his face look tattered and terrifying at first glance. Rong Xiang knew the little girl was frightened, so he reached out and took the money, handing it to her while gently comforting her, "Don't be afraid, he's just injured his face. It won't be scary once it heals."
The little girl cautiously accepted the money, and seeing that Xiao Meng had already taken the bouquet and walked away, she felt relieved: "Thank you, Uncle, but one yuan is enough for the whole basket of flowers."
Rongxiang took a handful of milk candies from his pocket and put them into her empty basket: "Uncle is giving you candies. Go home quickly, it's so hot."
Watching the little girl leave, thanking him profusely, Rong Xiang sighed softly and stood up, supporting himself on his knees. He rarely did a good deed, and at that moment, he felt a slight tremor within him—he was moved by his own actions.
Seeing him get up, Xiao Meng strode up behind him and reported blankly, "Third Master, Aunt Yu said the kitchen has made some new plum juice and is asking if you'd like to drink chilled plum juice or chilled Coca-Cola later."
Rongxiang stood on the square lawn in the courtyard, the sun blazing down on his face. He took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. After thinking for a while, he finally said, "Let's drink plum juice instead!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a car horn sounded at the door. He turned around and saw that it was Fu Jingyuan.
Fu Jingyuan looked disheveled, a straw hat in one hand and a briefcase in the other, his clothes soaked with sweat as if he had been in a drenched pool. Rong Xiang nodded to him, "You've arrived?"
The other person nodded while wiping away sweat, saying, "It's so hot."
Rongxiang pointed to the gate ahead: "Go in and rest. There's iced plum juice and Coca-Cola for you."
Fu Jingyuan had no appetite for those sweet drinks. His first priority after entering the room was to take a shower and change his clothes, and then he ate ice cubes while enjoying the electric fan. After calming down a bit, he told Rong Xiang about his conversation with Chairman Cui that day.
"After I left, the more I thought about it, the more I felt something was off about him. He was acting strangely. Especially at the end, he was unbelievably kind. Don't you think there's something fishy going on?"
Rong Xiang looked down and fiddled with the candy wrapper in his hand: "Well... since you're Fu Yangshan's brother, you're inevitably connected to those so-called thugs. And if Cui wants to stay in this chairman's position for long, he'll eventually have to resolve this issue. You say you won't get involved, but others don't think so."
Fu Jingyuan said urgently, "But I really have absolutely no interest in these things—I don't want to benefit from anyone, I—"
“What’s the use of you telling me this? If I were surnamed Cui, I would think that you instigated those regimental commanders to cause trouble and rebel, and then you handed in your resignation to wipe all the blame off your hands.”
Fu Jingyuan felt a little unconvinced when he heard him say that, thinking to himself, "You're a petty person, that's why you thought of that."
Rongxiang, observing his expression, knew that he didn't quite agree with what he said, so he smiled and said, "I was just guessing—you don't need to take it to heart."
Fu Jingyuan agreed, but he was still feeling uneasy. Rong Xiang looked at his troubled expression and secretly envied him—most troubles in politics stemmed from power struggles, while his current power was limited to choosing between plum juice and Coca-Cola.
Fu Jingyuan crunched on the ice cubes, then suddenly seemed to remember something, got up, grabbed his document folder, and opened it: "I sold the two mansions in the western suburbs a few days ago. The price was pretty good, a total of 350,000 yuan. I've put a passbook for you at the Bank of Communications, you can take it."
Rongxiang looked at him with slight surprise: "Why are you giving me so much money all of a sudden?"
Fu Jingyuan sat down next to him with a grin and patted his shoulder: "The bride price!"
Rongxiang didn't understand: "What etiquette?"
"When people get married, they have to give a bride price, don't they?"
Rongxiang realized what was happening and felt both annoyed and amused, but he still said seriously, "But my family is very poor and we don't have any dowry to give. What should we do?"
"Sigh, since the deed is done, I have no choice but to marry her despite my reluctance."
The next second, he heard a loud "smack" and Rong Xiang slapped him squarely on the back of the neck.
"Oh dear... murdering her husband?"
Rongxiang ignored him and turned back to hand the document to Xiao Meng.
Fu Jingyuan lost a large sum of money and got slapped hard, but he was secretly pleased. He clung to Rong Xiang shamelessly, working himself up until he was sweating. Rong Xiang drank his soda, letting him grope him with his own amusement. Xiao Meng stood in the corner of the room, folding paper cranes with small square pieces of paper, occasionally glancing up at the two people on the sofa.
Fu Jingyuan felt very happy. He rubbed his face against Rong Xiang's chest like a cat being affectionate. Rong Xiang had a peculiar quality that sometimes made people feel that he was fragile and helpless and needed protection; other times he seemed calm and mature, and you could play the role of an ignorant child in front of him to win his care and pity.
Rong Xiang put down the empty soda bottle and patted Fu Jingyuan on the back. He thought that as long as this guy didn't ramble on and on with his annoying platitudes, he was actually a very good person. It seemed his life was pretty much over—actually, he was lucky; without Fu Jingyuan, he would have died long ago—there was plenty of time ahead, so he'd just have to live with him slowly!
Fu Jingyuan lingered there for another five days. On the sixth day, he sent someone to inquire about plane tickets, only to be told that the route from Xi'an to Shanghai was temporarily closed, but he could take a route from Xi'an to Shijiazhuang, and then transfer in Shijiazhuang to Shanghai. Fu Jingyuan felt this was extremely troublesome, so he postponed his departure again.
Just then, the troops in the city began to riot again due to insufficient pay. Chairman Cui called Fu Jingyuan several times a day, ordering him to personally suppress the unrest. Fu Jingyuan, however, remained as still as a meditating monk, ignoring everything. If the pressure from above became too intense, he simply hid away, not even showing his face.
Chairman Cui was filled with hatred, but dared not easily lay a hand on those soldiers. He could only secretly plot to teach them a lesson.
This year's weather seems somewhat abnormal compared to previous years. August was scorching hot, but September brought more rain than sunshine.
The garden mansion, situated on higher ground, was not a problem. However, the asphalt road in front of the gate had turned into a river, deep enough to submerge tires. Cars had to enter and exit through the back gate, but that road was extremely muddy and contained two large puddles.
Fu Jingyuan was wearing a sailor-style pullover short-sleeved cotton shirt and blue sweatpants. He was standing barefoot on the ground answering the phone, looking like a male student about to participate in a sports meet. Rong Xiang, on the other hand, was wearing a shirt and trousers, sitting properly on the chair next to him eating snacks.
"Ha, great news!" After hanging up the phone, Fu Jingyuan turned around and jumped over, his face beaming with smiles. "Guess what? Manager Zhao from the airline just told me that the route from Xi'an to Shanghai is open, and he has already sent someone to deliver the ticket for the day after tomorrow to my home."
Rongxiang's hand trembled slightly: "Then... what about Xiao Meng?"
“Xiao Meng is coming with us. The baby is too small, so we can send him to my sister-in-law’s place.”
Rongxiang then put the pastry in his hand into his mouth: "You're willing to take him with you?"
Fu Jingyuan scratched his head: "To tell you the truth, I didn't like him at first because you two were too close. But I don't know why, ever since you beat him up that day, I suddenly felt sorry for him and found him much more agreeable. And—" He laughed: "He's very capable and loyal. Maybe he could be our head butler in the future, don't you think?"
Rongxiang coughed a few times, choked by the crumbs in the pastry: "So...you were jealous of him before?"
Fu Jingyuan said confidently, "Look at him, he follows you around like a shadow every day... I think the two of you don't even need to talk, just communicating with your eyes is enough."
Rongxiang took a handkerchief to wipe his hands, shook his head and said, "Don't talk about it anymore. Me and Xiao Meng—just thinking about it is disgusting, like incest."
Hearing this, Fu Jingyuan felt more relaxed and sat down on the carpet, putting on his socks as he asked, "How about coming with me to my house to pick up the plane tickets? We can also see the rain outside. Let Xiao Meng drive. What do you think?"
Rongxiang patted the crumbs off his clothes: "Okay."
The car's journey from the back door to the highway was a harrowing one, nearly plunging into a muddy ditch several times. The people inside swayed violently. Fu Jingyuan quietly put his arm around Rong Xiang's waist, murmuring contentedly, "Rocking and rocking, rocking all the way to Grandma's bridge..."
Rong Xiang rolled his eyes at him: "Stop talking nonsense!"
Fu Jingyuan chuckled. Finally, he could really leave. He was so happy he was almost dizzy, and he wanted to shout out loud. Once the car was on the highway, he suddenly turned to Rong Xiang and said, "Remind me, when we get to my house, don't forget to take my photos with you. There are so many, you haven't seen them yet."
Rongxiang couldn't help but smile: "Okay, I'll bring it back and look at it slowly."
The car slowly drove into the bustling city, but with such bad weather, the city was not lively. The shops were open as usual, and the colorful lights of the department store flickered in the drizzle. However, there were few pedestrians outside, with only a few villagers selling fruit, holding up broken bamboo umbrellas and guarding a few baskets of fresh fruit by the roadside, calling out their wares.
Rong Xiang and Fu Jingyuan were holding hands, each looking out the window. Suddenly, they heard a very loud car horn, which beeped twice. Fu Jingyuan pressed his face against the window and looked out. He saw a black vintage car slowly stop in front of him. The door opened, and Cui Dongsheng leaned out, waving frantically at him with a big smile.
Rongxiang also came over to take a look: "Isn't this the square face from that day?"
Fu Jingyuan rolled down his car window and waved in return, muttering to himself, "I'm most afraid of running into this guy; his enthusiasm is inexplicable."
He thought that after exchanging greetings, they could go their separate ways, but Cui Dongfang kept waving his hand, clearly trying to summon Fu Jingyuan over.
Fu Jingyuan turned back to Rong Xiang and frowned: "What's that idiot Cui up to now? I bet his girl's in the car too!"
Rongxiang frowned, but at the same time found it very funny.
Fu Jingyuan looked again and saw that Cui Dongsheng was still waving and calling out, "Mr. Fu! Please come here!"
Fu Jingyuan sighed to Rong Xiang, "There's really no other way! I'll go take a look." With that, he opened the car door and walked towards Cui Dongfang while holding an umbrella.
Rong Xiang sat in the car, his face turned to the side as he stared at Fu Jingyuan's tall, straight back as he walked forward with an extremely reluctant air. When they reached Cui Dongsheng's car, the two smiled and spoke to each other. Then Cui Dongsheng retreated into the car, closed the door, drove off, and rolled down the window to wave goodbye to him.
Rong Xiang watched as Cui Dongsheng's car started moving before closing his eyes, leaning back in his seat, and letting out a soft sigh.
My mind is very peaceful, like a still pond.
Then he heard a gunshot.
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