People like me who desert at the critical moment are most afraid of being looked down upon...
Just as Wen Zichuan arrived at the corner gate behind the Lantern Festival, his phone rang. It was Lin Hanzhen calling.
"Hello, Mom."
"Are you on holiday? Have you bought your train tickets?"
"It's a holiday. I bought the ticket for noon on the 3rd."
"Today is the day off, and you won't be home until the 29th?"
"I finally have a day off, so I'm going to spend a few days with my friends."
After his grandparents passed away, Wen Zichuan and Lin Hanzhen lived with each other. In the past, no matter whether he was at school or working, he would rush home to be with his mother as soon as he had a holiday.
This is the first time that I didn’t go home immediately after the holiday.
There was silence on the other end of the phone. Just as he was about to hang up, Lin Hanzhen suddenly asked, "Are you still living with that kid from the Cheng family? Is he the reason you're not going home?"
Mom hadn't asked about this for a while, so Wen Zichuan chose his words carefully, not wanting to lie to her or make her angry.
"No, let's just have dinner together. I've already bought my ticket for the 29th, and it's hard to change it now. How about I wait a few days and bring you a gift."
"Okay, I don't need anything. You only make a few bucks a year, so spend it sparingly. Don't waste it."
"I see. I won't buy anything too expensive. It's just a token of my appreciation."
As he was speaking, Cheng Sizhou just walked out of the corner gate. Seeing him, he waved happily, "I guessed you'd come to pick me up, so I came out early! Let's go, Master lives at the west gate, and there's going to be a traffic jam soon."
There was no one around, and his voice was so loud that his mother probably heard it.
Wen Zichuan frowned and mouthed to him: Answer the phone, wait for me.
"Are you going to the Jiang family?" Lin Hanzhen asked tentatively.
"Just going to visit and have dinner." Wen Zichuan replied.
"Don't go."
"Why?"
"Didn't I tell you last time? Your father was learning his craft under Master Lin. Jiang Yunli was the senior apprentice. Your father once had a huge argument with him, and it was very unpleasant. They looked down on us."
"Mom, this is all in the past. And I heard from Zhou... Cheng Sizhou that his master was very strict. If he made even the slightest mistake, he would be criticized and made to follow the rules. So, is it possible that it was my dad who made the mistake back then?"
"Don't talk about your dad like that."
"Okay, I won't say anything. But it's been over twenty years. Even if Master Jiang is a master, he wouldn't be so magnanimous as to attack a junior like me, would he?"
"Wen Zichuan, people's hearts are hidden, you don't know what others are thinking."
"Mom! Isn't it a bit inappropriate to speculate before we even meet?"
"Back then, for your father, I threw away my dignity and ran to Master Lin for help. All the apprentices in the Lin family saw how ridiculous our family was! Now you've grown up and don't listen to me anymore. You know that others look down on us, but you still go to his house. What are you going to do? If they ask you how your father and mother are doing, have you thought about your answer? Aren't our lives hard enough? Do you want to embarrass Mom again?"
"Mom, I'm not, I..."
Wen Zichuan understood. His mother always said that the Jiang family looked down on them, but in fact, it was his mother who had a grudge against the Jiang family because of what happened in the past.
Cheng Sizhou waited until he hung up the phone before leaning closer and asking, "What's wrong?"
Wen Zichuan shook his head and handed over the gift: "It's okay, let's go."
Cheng Sizhou took a taxi and pulled him into the back seat.
Zichuan was in a bad mood after he received the call. He asked again, and he just said that his mother urged him to go home early.
Cheng Sizhou knew that Zichuan didn't go back to Fengbo because he wanted to stay with him for a few more days. Since he had gotten the advantage, he should stop being so naughty and simply change the subject to divert his attention.
"Did you come back from Mr. Wei's place last night? Did you accompany Wei Xiaoming to class?"
"Well, it was the last time before the New Year. I wanted to make up for the few quarters I missed due to injury, so I went."
"You're a voice actor. Your lines are already good. Do you still need to learn them?"
"Dialogue classes aren't just about speaking lines; they're also about acting. Learning how to use lines to portray characters is crucial. Everyone has a different understanding of acting, and I think it's been quite informative and has given me some insights."
Cheng Sizhou didn't say it explicitly, but he actually felt sorry for Wen Zichuan.
Mr. Wei was very generous and spent a fortune to acquire the best teaching resources. He set up a "private school" for his godson Wei Xiaoming. Zichuan, an "auditor", could only learn secretly from the main teacher.
Learning is not about high or low, but seeing it this way made him feel uncomfortable. Zichuan, however, did not think too much about it. He thought that this opportunity was rare and he attended the class on time with the idea of learning as much as possible.
"Hey, it's vacation time now. Let's not talk about work anymore. I want to tell you some gossip." Cheng Sizhou said mysteriously.
"What gossip?" Wen Zichuan only knew that he didn't like being gossiped about, but it turned out that he would gossip about others.
"When you were in the hospital, I heard Wei Xiaoming say that he was bought by President Wei."
"Really? Oh, by the way, I heard from Boss Jin that Boss Wei...likes younger ones."
“…”
“…”
Cheng Sizhou and Wen Zichuan looked at each other in bewilderment. From the few contacts they had with Wei Jing, although this man was arrogant and conceited, and full of money, he looked like a normal person. How could he have such a bad habit of "torture"?
"At first, I only knew he liked men, and I didn't want you to have too much contact with him," Cheng Sizhou said, glancing at the driver, fearing his conversation would be too explosive and shock innocent people. "But then we both realized it, didn't we? His thoughts were completely on Wei Xiaoming."
"Xiaoming is already an adult, but I haven't asked him whether he likes President Wei."
"Here," Cheng Sizhou opened his phone and pushed Zhou Han's contact information to Wen Zichuan, "Zhou Yitang is your fan, and Brother Zhou is also our friend. Add him. In case Wei Xiaoming really has something going on, you can help him out."
Wen Zichuan nodded and sent a friend request to Zhou Han. "It's strange. President Wei never restricted Wei Xiaoming's freedom from the beginning to the end. If he didn't want to, he could have escaped or called the police."
Cheng Sizhou spread his hands: "Maybe there's an invisible rope behind him?"
The driver was obviously a man who had seen a lot of things. His expression did not change at all throughout the whole journey. It was not until the navigation software suddenly issued a prompt tone saying "You have deviated from the course" that Cheng Sizhou realized that the car had turned into Caoyan Lane.
"Master, why don't you take the main road?"
"It's rush hour after get off work, and the gambling is very intense. If you take a detour this way, you can arrive a few minutes earlier."
Cheng Sizhou rolled down the car window and when he passed a shop on the street, he hurriedly called out to Wen Zichuan: "Look at that shop, the one with the shutter down, that's where my master used to live."
"Master Lin?"
"Yes, that photo of ours was taken inside the shop."
Wen Zichuan had no recollection of this place at all. Not only did he not remember having been here before, but even the direction of the streets and the style of the buildings seemed unfamiliar to him.
"Caoyan Lane. Cao means transport by water, and Yan means to stay. During the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, the Cao Gang would often come here to rest after their freight runs. If they found anything good, they would bring it to the Lin family shop. The Lin family's ancestors once framed paintings for Empress Dowager Cixi in the palace, and that craft has been passed down for five or six generations!"
Cheng Sizhou feels very proud when talking about this.
The Lin family only had one daughter by the time of Master Lin, so Master Lin had no choice but to pass on all his life's skills to his son-in-law Jiang Yunli, who then inherited Master Jiang's legacy. In the future, he might also accept apprentices and pass on those skills and techniques from generation to generation.
"Is the shop still in business now?" If he had the chance, Wen Zichuan would like to go and take a look.
"It was originally left to my master and his wife. Later, my master entered the Lantern Museum and his wife entered the Cultural Center, so my master asked an uncle to take over. A few years ago, the uncle was dissatisfied with the poor business and moved to another place. The old shop was still under the name of my wife, but she was unable to run it anymore."
"It looks quite old. Is it going to be demolished soon?"
"Yes, they should be able to get a few million in compensation, so they won't have to worry about their retirement."
After the daughter of Mr. Jiang and Mrs. Lin passed away, they raised Cheng Sizhou as a half-son. After they turned 100, all their properties and money would most likely be left to him.
Wen Zichuan had this thought for no reason, but he asked himself whether he was jealous or covetous. It was just that the more he understood Cheng Sizhou, the more he felt that the gap between him and Cheng Sizhou was getting deeper and deeper.
After passing Caoyan Lane, the car stopped in front of a two-story old-style villa.
Cheng Sizhou paid the money and joked as he got out of the car, "Besides the shop, this small house is also the dowry that Master bought for Master's wife. Don't look at Master as a strict person. When he was young, he was even ridiculed for being a gigolo."
"Your master must be your master's most valued disciple, otherwise he wouldn't have married his daughter to him."
"Of course! When Master was young, he was not only skilled in craftsmanship, but also very handsome!"
Cheng Sizhou was holding a gift in one hand and holding Wen Zichuan's hand in the other. When he was about to knock on the door, he found that the person behind him did not move forward.
"Brother Zhou, otherwise, I won't go in."
"What's wrong? We're already at the door, why don't you come in with me?"
"I don't even know them, and it's so rude of me to just go to their house and eat for free when I first meet them."
"What's the matter? I told Master in advance to bring a friend along."
"Your family is having a great time, why would I interfere? Forget it, I'm not going."
Cheng Sizhou had already made plans. He would first bring Zichuan to have a meal so that they could get to know each other, and then start with the photo of Gu Yanxun and the porcelain gui and talk to his master about what happened back then.
Maybe others don’t know, but he knows very well that his master’s strictness only applies to work. Outside of the workplace, he is a very easy-going person.
For example, that uncle-in-law almost lost all his family fortune due to poor management, and it was the master who stepped in to help and revive the shop.
He also helped the curator, Gu Yanxun, and many, many other people.
If he knew that Zichuan was also the descendant of one of his junior fellow apprentices, but had been abandoned for so many years, he would definitely feel pity for Zichuan. Then, if he told them about their past, perhaps there would be a chance for them to accept it.
"Is that Xiao Zhou? The door is not locked, come in yourself." Lin Xin called him from upstairs.
"Here he comes!" Cheng Sizhou looked up and answered. When he turned around again, Wen Zichuan had already run away.
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