◎First update◎
The movie playing on the screen ended, melodious music sounded, and the lights in the theater suddenly came on, illuminating the dark room.
Liang Baozhen pulled her hand back abruptly, and lifted her hair as if nothing had happened. She glanced at Xu Shengjie quietly. The man still had a serious face, but his ears were a little red.
Seeing Xu Shengjie like this, Liang Baozhen was no longer shy!
There are people who are more shy than me!
When we walked out of the cinema, the weather was not good. It started to rain heavily, pouring down on the ground, blocking the way home for those who had just watched the movie.
Standing under the eaves to avoid the rain, Liang Baozhen looked far away and happened to see the building of the Children's Palace opposite. She had heard that the children of the workshop director Yang Jianlin were learning painting at the Children's Palace. Nowadays, some far-sighted families with good conditions have already taken action and spared no effort to cultivate their children.
Later, thinking back to the plot of the book, there are all kinds of training courses from the Children's Palace. Liang Baozhen looked at Xu Shengjie, "Didn't we say before that Xiaowei and Xiaoya should learn to swim? We haven't found the time yet, otherwise we could let them go to the Children's Palace to learn, the teachers there are also professionals."
Xu Shengjie followed Liang Baozhen's line of sight and saw three large red characters in the distance - Children's Palace. He didn't know much about the Children's Palace. He vaguely heard what it was for, but since his wife had said so, it must be good. "Okay, let's go back and talk to them about it."
The rain was pouring down. When it finally stopped, Liang Baozhen sat in the back seat of Xu Shengjie's car. She looked at the Children's Palace passing by and sneezed violently.
"Aqiu~"
After returning home, the two walked quickly into the house. Seeing that they were wet with rain, Zhou Yun went to the stove to work, peeled ginger slices, took a piece of brown sugar and a scallion, and prepared to cook a bowl of ginger soup to ward off the cold.
"Grandma, I'll do it. You go to bed." Xu Shengjie took over Zhou Yun's work and cooked the ginger soup. He then went to grandma's room and brought a quilt to put on the bed, smoothing the four corners. "It's cold tonight, cover yourself with a thicker blanket."
"I know. Remember to drink a bowl each with Baozhen. Don't catch a cold." Zhou Yun then went to sleep.
The boiling ginger soup went down her throat, stimulating her taste buds with a hint of sweetness, bitterness and spiciness. Liang Baozhen quite liked the taste and gulped down a bowl of it. "The ginger soup you cooked is quite delicious."
Xu Shengjie paused while holding the bowl, swallowed the ginger soup in his mouth, and slowly said, "My mother used to cook it this way."
This was the first time Liang Baozhen heard Xu Shengjie mention his parents. She just listened silently without saying a word.
"My mother's tea was delicious, but brown sugar was harder to come by and it took a long time to get one. She liked to put a small piece of brown sugar in the water, which would make the water sweet."
"Your parents..." Liang Baozhen carefully observed Xu Shengjie's expression. It seemed that there was nothing unusual. Instead, it was her cautious expression that was seen by Xu Shengjie.
"It's okay. It's been so many years." Xu Shengjie put away the two bowls, rinsed them and put them back in the cupboard. He returned to the table and said to Liang Baozhen, "My parents passed away suddenly. They were supposed to go home after get off work, but then the workers in the workshop said they wanted to get together at the state-owned hotel for dinner. Everyone was fine when they left, so they drank two taels of wine. But they didn't come back that night."
"What happened next? Did you go out to look for it?"
"We did look for him. My grandmother took me to the National Cotton Mill. There were still workers working the night shift in the workshop. They all said he had gone home and no one knew where he had gone. He was not found until the next day in the river."
"Did he fall into the water accidentally?"
"We reported it to the police, but they didn't find anything. Everyone guessed that my mom had drunk a little that night, and it was raining heavily, so the road was slippery and she accidentally fell down. My dad didn't think too much about it and jumped down to save her, but in the end, neither of us got up."
"The police didn't find anything back then? Could it be an accident?" Liang Baozhen always felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't tell what it was.
"My parents have never offended anyone. Besides, all the money on them was there, and it didn't look like anyone was trying to steal anything. The police didn't find out anything, and finally ruled it an accidental fall into the water..." Xu Shengjie sighed, thinking of what Zhou Yun said. Maybe it was really fate. He was only twelve years old at the time and suffered quite a trauma, but he later gradually walked out of the shadow.
"Let's go to bed." Xu Shengjie got up first, and forced a smile, "It's a pity that my parents didn't see you."
Liang Baozhen stood up and took Xu Shengjie's hand, holding it tightly. She smiled like a ray of warm sunshine in the cold wind, "They must have seen it in heaven."
Xu Shengjie shook his wife's hand back vigorously, holding it tightly.
——
Chen Siming originally wanted to go to the workshop to find Liang Baozhen on the afternoon of her birthday. These days, he always wanted to talk to Liang Baozhen, but his father Chen Yong repeatedly warned him not to cause trouble, especially not to cause problems with his work style, so he never dared to act.
But Liang Baozhen’s birthday was different. On this day, he had to express his gratitude. The scarf he bought for her was not given away, so this time he took the scarf as a gift. However, he only saw Liang Baozhen leaving in a hurry and getting on the back seat of Xu Shengjie’s bicycle.
He had to go find her today and express his feelings.
Liang Baozhen got off work at noon and was preparing to go to lunch. Wang Xin's spoon fell in the workshop and she had to go back to get it. Liang Baozhen stood under the tree outside the workshop waiting for her with her lunch box.
"Baby!" Chen Siming finally got to see his beloved whom he had been thinking about day and night. At this moment, he didn't care about the crowds of people in the factory and just walked straight past.
When the two got engaged and then broke off the engagement, most people in the factory only knew that the factory director's son had engaged a country girl, but they didn't know who she was. Even now that Liang Baozhen had joined the factory, no one knew the reason behind it.
Liang Baozhen looked at Chen Siming warily, frowned unconsciously, and turned to leave.
"Baozhen, don't go!" Chen Siming tried to reach out to stop her, but Liang Baozhen dodged him.
"Chen Siming, what do you want to do? Believe it or not, I am now called the Security Department?" Liang Baozhen frowned at this villain and couldn't help but sneered, "Then your son, the factory director, will have a worse reputation and will have to undergo ideological education to correct his behavior."
"Hey, Baozhen, don't hide when you see me. I was sorry for you at the beginning, but you can't blame me. It was Dong Jiayan who seduced me!" Chen Siming said, trying his best to distance himself from her. "I had no choice but to marry her. From the beginning to the end, the only person I wanted to marry was you."
"Humph." Liang Baozhen raised her chin and looked at the hypocritical man. "Don't blame everything on Dong Jiayan. Even flies don't bite flawless eggs. Besides, is this the only thing you have?"
The book also says that he was also entangled with other women.
But now that something has happened, he is still trying to distance himself from the problem.
"Anyway, let's not talk about the past. There's no point talking about all those grudges. I just want to apologize to you now. I'm sorry..." Chen Siming saw that Liang Baozhen was very disgusted with him now, so he didn't dare to say anything to provoke her. He could only hold back his thoughts of renewing their relationship with her. The most urgent thing was to make Liang Baozhen think better of him. "Yesterday was your birthday, wasn't it? I bought you a scarf, I hope you can accept it."
"I can't afford it." Liang Baozhen looked at the Lihua silk scarf and remembered the one Dong Jiayan asked her to buy. This person really refused to repent. Seeing this person pestering her, she remembered that Chen Yong didn't like this little son who didn't have much ability, and valued the male protagonist in the book, that is, the eldest brother Chen Siming. She couldn't help but smile, "Chen Siming, you should take care of yourself more when you have time. I heard that Director Chen is going to hand over the position of the purchasing office to your brother."
Chen Siming's eyes flashed with surprise. How come he hadn't heard of this? "Where did you hear this from?"
"It's all spreading outside, don't you know? You have no ability and no status, and only Dong Jiayan was blind enough to follow you. Maybe she regrets it now." Having said that, Liang Baozhen walked away. Instead of being entangled by Chen Siming, it would be better to let him fight his brother. Chen Siming has no ability, and he only had a good ending thanks to his brother's halo.
But this man was jealous and could not stand provocation, so he immediately went to inquire about the matter.
The position in the factory is his life. If the position of director of the purchasing office is taken by his elder brother, he will fight for it back even if it means seeking death!
Of course what Liang Baozhen said was correct. Recently, many people in the factory have heard the rumor that Chen Yong felt that Chen Siming had been bringing shame to the Chen family recently, so he was preparing to train his eldest son, Chen Sixian.
Chen Sixian has always had a good business sense. After graduating from the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University, he did not focus on his father's factory, but instead set his sights on the black market, hoping to make a fortune.
He despised and yet helped his disappointing younger brother. After all, they were brothers and were connected by blood.
"Dad, I don't want to work in the factory. I don't want the position of purchasing director anymore. You can let Siming continue to do it." Chen Sixian directly rejected his father's good intentions in his father Chen Yong's study. He didn't care about the position at all, and he was too lazy to compete with his younger brother for it.
"Siming is too impetuous and has problems with his lifestyle. I am really worried about letting him take over in the future. I wish he was half as steady as you..."
Bang!
The study door was pushed open forcefully. Chen Siming stood at the doorway angrily. He could no longer suppress his anger after hearing his father and elder brother's insults against him. "Dad, do you look down on me so much? And you, Chen Sixian, do you think I can only pick up what you don't want?"
"Chen Siming, how can you talk like that?" Chen Yong looked sternly, cast a sharp gaze at his second son, and said in a deep voice, "How can you talk to your father and brother like that? You have little ability, but you are really good at bullying!"
Knock, knock, knock! Chen Siming stepped forward. At this moment, his grief and the humiliation of being outdone by his elder brother overcame his rationality. "Dad, have you ever considered me your son? In your eyes, there is only Chen Sixian!"
Bang!
Chen Yong slapped Chen Siming with his palm, leaving five red marks on his face. He was very strong, and after being provoked by his son, he lost all control. "Get out of here! If you do it again, get out of the cotton mill and beg on the street!"
"What are you guys doing?" Guo Mingli heard the noise in the study and hurried over. When she saw the slap marks on Chen Siming's face, she cried out in pain, "Who hit you?!"
Chen Siming is her favorite, she loves him more than her elder son. When Chen Sixian was born, Chen Yong and his wife were busy working hard to build their careers, and their son was mainly taken care of by Chen Yong's parents. When they brought him back, the child was already grown up. He was filial, but not very close to his biological mother. Chen Siming was different. She raised him with great difficulty. Although they were both her biological children, their importance was different.
"Chen Yong, why did you hit Siming? If you have something to say, just talk it out!"
"Speak? Don't you see what he has become?" Chen Yong was so angry when he saw his disappointing son. He pushed aside the people blocking the door and walked straight out.
"Sixian, you know that your father has a bad temper, why don't you try to persuade him?" Guo Mingli frowned and glanced at her eldest son, then coaxed Chen Siming to go back to the house to apply medicine to her son.
...
Dong Jiayan came back from shopping in the department store, carrying a lot of bags. Since she married into the Chen family, her living conditions have been really good. She has no shortage of meat and has bought a lot of things. Chen Siming doesn't pay much attention to her and is still thinking about Liang Baozhen, but in the end, he doesn't restrict her when it comes to money.
But when I came back today, the atmosphere at home was not right. When Guo Mingli saw Dong Jiayan coming back from outside and buying a lot of things, she scolded her, "Jiayan, you married into our Chen family and it's a great honor. Not to mention that you have to do laundry, cook and serve Siming at home every day, but you should at least take care of your man, right? You just go out all day, how many things have you bought?"
"Mom." Dong Jiayan was a little afraid of her mother-in-law. Guo Mingli was not someone to be trifled with. "I went out because I wanted to buy some clothes for Siming. He is the director of the National Cotton Mill, so he must dress nicely."
"Alright, alright, go in and take a look. He had a fight with his dad and brother today, and he's in a bad mood." Guo Mingli felt irritated for no reason and sent her daughter-in-law into the house.
Dong Jiayan walked back to the door of the room. As soon as she grasped the door handle, she heard Chen Siming talking on the phone in the room. The Chen family's living room and three bedrooms were all equipped with telephones, which was really a great honor.
"Yes, I have figured it out now. I still have to buy cotton from you... Yes, the money is in place. I can turn a blind eye to the details."
The sounds inside were intermittent. Dong Jiayan didn't quite understand what was said. She pushed the door open and went in. Chen Siming hung up the phone in a hurry.
The author has something to say:
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: 1 bottle of Shuqing; 1 bottle of Chiyiwanfan; 10 bottles of Shuiqianduo;
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