Chapter 129 Chapter 129 Two in one, please subscribe...
Chapter 129
Jiang Meishu was a bit embarrassed, and she couldn't explain. She just said vaguely, "I discussed it with him for a long time before he agreed. Have you decided? Do you want to rest first or kneel first?"
Liang Rui gobbled the pancake so hard he almost rolled his eyes from choking. Jiang Meishu handed him an enamel pot, which had been fully stocked with food and drink when she arrived. Liang Rui took the pot and gulped down the pancake, finally getting it down.
Only then did he feel a little more alive.
"Kneel down first. I've kneeled enough. I'll go rest."
Otherwise, if he has to get up and kneel in the middle of the night, regardless of whether he can get up or not, even if he does get up, he won’t want to kneel.
Jiang Meishu, "That's fine."
He handed me another pillow, "Put it under your knees to prevent them from getting hurt."
"These are my socks, thick winter socks. I cut one end off. Put them directly on your knees before kneeling to avoid hurting them too badly."
Liang Rui looked at the pillow and the knee pad.
He was speechless for a long time, his eyes were a little moist, his hand trembled slightly, and then he took it. The soft pillow in his hand made him feel a little unreal.
This was not the first time Liang Rui came in to kneel before the tablet. Even when the weather was cold before, he knelt alone. Later he got used to it.
But this was his first time kneeling before the memorial tablet. Some people brought him food and drinks, and some even brought him a pillow to kneel on.
He took it without saying anything.
Jiang Meishu didn't force him. She punched a hole in the middle of the thick wool socks in her hand and said, "Stretch out your legs and I'll put them on for you."
Liang Rui stretched out his legs silently. Because he was kneeling on the mat, which was not soft at all, his knees were already bruised.
When Jiang Meishu saw the bruises, she suddenly paused and put the knee pads up from his feet little by little, the pain on her face almost impossible to conceal.
She doesn't speak.
Liang Rui too.
Liang Rui looked up and saw the expression on her face. He was silent for a while, and then he murmured, "Little Mom, don't worry about me, go to sleep."
When Jiang Meishu heard "stepmother", she suddenly looked up.
In the darkness, Liang Rui's expression was unclear, but his red eyes could be vaguely seen in the moonlight.
Jiang Meishu was stunned. "What did you call me?"
Liang Rui pursed his lips, not daring to look at her, nor was he too embarrassed to shout a second time. In the darkness, his ears felt especially hot, as if they were on fire.
Liang Rui had never thought in his life that he would ask Jiang Meishu, who was six years older than him, to call him stepmother.
Never thought about it once.
But when I actually shouted it out, it was not as difficult as I imagined.
Jiang Meishu suddenly laughed, "Call me little mom, and I promise you won't kneel."
She pulled Liang Rui to his feet and said, "Come on, I'll take you to find your dad."
Liang Rui couldn't get up. He always accepted the punishment from his father Liang Qiurun and never resisted it.
So he knelt in this room countless times.
When Jiang Meishu tried to plead for him again, Liang Rui refused, "No need."
"It's fine now."
He actually smiled, a rare moment, with a hint of satisfaction. "I've got a full stomach, plenty of water, knee pads, and a pillow. That's good enough."
“That’s pretty good.”
Jiang Meishu wanted to persuade him, but Liang Rui was very firm, "That's it."
He looked up at Jiang Meishu and said, "Little Mom, go and have a rest."
Once the stepmother called out, it didn't seem so difficult.
Jiang Meishu was still a little hesitant.
Liang Rui pushed her out and said, "Go ahead. There are too many mosquitoes here at night. You don't need to stay here."
Jiang Meishu wants to ask, what about you? ?
But when she saw Liang Rui's determined eyes, she was speechless.
Jiang Meishu left, looking back every few steps. When she returned to the room, Liang Qiurun seemed to be asleep and didn't seem to notice her leaving.
However, after Jiang Meishu fell into a deep sleep, Liang Qiurun suddenly sat up, looked at her for a moment, and then sighed slightly.
He tiptoed out of the room.
He went to the room where Liang Rui was punished to kneel, and stood at the door and watched for a while. Liang Rui seemed to be dozing off, kneeling there, with his head tilted slightly, almost without stopping.
Liang Rui was kneeling on a pillow, with bowls, chopsticks and a kettle beside him. It was not difficult to guess who sent these.
Liang Qiurun walked over slowly, seemingly with no intention of disturbing him. However, the sheet in her hand seemed to have been held for a long time.
Liang Rui noticed it and opened his eyes suddenly. When he saw Liang Qiurun accompanying him, he thought he was dreaming.
After a while, he murmured, "Dad."
Liang Qiurun hummed, "Awake?" He draped the sheet in his hand over Liang Rui.
Although it is very hot in August, the temperature will slowly drop in the second half of the night. If you sleep without covering yourself with anything, you will definitely catch a cold.
Liang Rui hummed, as if he didn't want to pay attention to Liang Qiurun.
Liang Qiurun naturally knew this too, so he knelt down with Liang Rui and lit three incense sticks towards the tablet.
Then, he asked him, "Do you know why I punished you?"
It was three o'clock in the morning, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse outside, with only the chirping of crickets.
The small room was exceptionally quiet. Due to the current situation, even the memorial tablets were kept secret these days, and outsiders were not allowed to see them. Therefore, if you were not careful, you would not be able to enter this room on weekdays.
In the quiet little room, only Liang Qiurun and Liang Rui were present. Liang Rui naturally heard his question and hummed softly, "I know."
"Why?"
Liang Qiurun suddenly asked him.
Liang Rui lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, "I shouldn't have taken my stepmother on this adventure."
"Because I couldn't protect her."
This was the reason why he refused to leave no matter how Jiang Meishu called him. He deserved this punishment of kneeling. He had taken Jiang Meishu out, but he was unable to protect her intact.
If Jiang Meishu had not reacted quickly, they might both have been killed. If he had been killed, it would have been fine, as he would have just been beaten up. But if it had been Jiang Meishu.
Liang Rui simply couldn't bear to think about the consequences.
"Now that you know it, it's fine." Liang Qiurun stood up and looked at his wrist. It was already three o'clock in the morning, and six hours had passed.
"stand up."
He raised his hand to support Liang Rui.
Liang Rui was a little surprised. You know, his father never had any physical contact with him. This was something he discovered a long time ago.
He looked at the hand Liang Qiurun handed over, hesitated for a moment, but still took it.
Liang Qiurun didn't refuse him, but pulled him up calmly and forcefully. This made Liang Rui secretly happy. It seemed that his father was slowly accepting him?
This made Liang Rui feel happy.
Even the bruises on my knees didn't seem to hurt so much anymore.
After Liang Rui got up, Liang Qiurun bent down and picked up the pillow on the ground. "Did she give it to me?"
Liang Rui nodded, "Yes."
"Dad, can you give me your pillow?"
"What's wrong?"
Liang Rui, "This is a gift from my stepmother."
Liang Qiurun was stunned when he heard this. He handed the pillow over and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Do you accept her?"
He always knew that Liang Rui only regarded Jiang Meishu as a friend, not as a relative or a mother.
So when Liang Rui called Jiang Meishu, he always called her by her full name. If you say it's respectful, he called her by her name, but if you say it's disrespectful, Liang Rui could take the knife for Jiang Meishu.
Because Jiang Meishu was so close to him in age, Liang Rui couldn't call her "stepmother". But today, he called her out, and he did it in front of Liang Qiurun.
This made Liang Qiurun feel extremely relieved, as if the big stone in his heart had finally fallen.
"Your stepmother is very protective of you, so you should treat her well in the future."
Liang Rui hummed, hugging the pillow, pinching his knuckles until they turned white, "Dad, I know."
It is unknown what the father and son said to each other.
All I know is that when Liang Rui went back to rest, his expression became much more serious.
The next morning, Jiang Meishu woke up with a start just after six o'clock. She checked her schedule and turned to run to the small room next door. However, as soon as she stepped out the door, she saw Liang Qiurun, practicing military boxing in the morning light.
His movements were smooth and flowing, and if you looked closely you could see the fierceness of his punches.
It is quite different from Liang Qiurun's usual image.
"Are you up?" Perhaps he noticed the movement behind him, Liang Qiurun slowly retracted his fist, and his whole body gradually relaxed. Then he turned around and saw Jiang Meishu wearing a sleeveless pajamas, with her white arms exposed, as tender as lotus root nodes.
Jiang Meishu nodded, a little hesitant, "Has Liang Rui gone home yet?"
"I went back to the house to rest at three in the morning."
Jiang Meishu heaved a sigh of relief when she heard this, "That's fine."
"No, how did you know?" He seemed to realize it belatedly.
"I'm going to take him back."
Liang Qiurun stretched his body, and the tip of his white nose, covered with sweat, slid down to his collarbone and all the way into his chest.
There is a kind of beauty that is difficult to distinguish between male and female.
Jiang Meishu paused and looked away shyly. Even though she and Liang Qiurun had been fooling around in bed together so many times, she still felt a little embarrassed in front of such a beauty.
She was trying to change the subject, "You're not mad at him anymore?"
Liang Qiurun was clearly gritting his teeth yesterday when Liang Rui's punishment was mentioned, but today it was completely different.
He even went to accompany her back to the room.
"Punishment is punishment, and love is love."
"These are two different things."
Liang Qiurun walked up to her. In the morning light, his straight face was coated with a layer of gold, and he looked handsome, elegant and gentle like jade.
"You don't have to worry about him. It's still early to go back to sleep."
Jiang Meishu was a little hesitant.
Liang Qiurun held her shoulders and walked her inside. "Go to bed. It's only six o'clock. Wait until after nine o'clock. Comrade Wang will have finished making breakfast by then."
Jiang Meishu then nodded.
She didn't sleep well last night, and was worried that Liang Rui might kneel for too long and hurt his knees, so she had nightmares all night.
After Liang Qiurun said this, she really went down the slope.
When Jiang Meishu woke up again, it was already half past ten, and she was still a little dazed. However, she had a very good sleep because she had no pressure. When she woke up, she was full of energy.
"Where's Liang Rui?"
She came out and saw Comrade Wang setting the table, so she asked casually.
"Not awake yet."
Jiang Meishu thought for a moment, drank the soy milk in one gulp, and then said, "Don't call him."
"Let him have a good rest."
Comrade Wang sighed, a little hesitant, "But if I continue sleeping, I won't have breakfast or lunch, which might be harmful to my health."
Jiang Meishu herself had come here before, and she said calmly, "Let him get enough sleep first, then we'll talk."
In her opinion, sleeping is more important than eating.
Comrade Wang then stopped talking.
After dinner, Jiang Meishu planned to visit her sister during the day; it had been a while since she'd seen her niece. Seeing two bags of brown sugar at home, she took them along with two milk powder coupons, intending to buy two more cans of powder and bring them to the Overseas Chinese Store when she passed by.
But she was just about to go out.
Liang Rui called her from behind, "Where are you going?"
He had just woken up and his hair was in a mess. It seemed like he had just run away on the spur of the moment, and one of his shoes was missing, as if he was afraid that Jiang Meishu would leave.
Jiang Meishu didn't expect Liang Rui to wake her up like this. She was a little surprised and raised the things in her hand. "I'm going to see my sister and the child. I'll be back later."
Liang Rui didn't hesitate at all, "I'll go with you."
Afraid that Jiang Meishu would reject him, he added, "It's summer vacation, and I don't want to be too bored."
Jiang Meishu thought about it and decided that instead of leaving him alone at home, she might as well take him with her. She nodded and said, "Go change your clothes. I'll wait for you outside."
Liang Rui nodded, spent three minutes solving his personal problems, and then ran out.
Jiang Meishu glanced at him and asked, "Your legs don't hurt anymore?"
"Fortunately, I can walk."
A little painful, but not a major problem.
Seeing that he didn't force it, Jiang Meishu finally took him out. However, as soon as they came out, they saw Director He waiting at the door. This time, he had learned his lesson and didn't bring his wife and children with him.
He obviously knew that Jiang Meishu and the others disliked his wife and children very much.
Seeing Jiang Meishu coming out, Director He immediately came over and said with an apologetic smile, "Comrade Jiang, classmate Liang Rui."
"I've been waiting for you for a long time."
He was holding an apology gift in his hand.
"I came here to talk to you about what happened to our Hongqiang. I want to apologize to you on his behalf. Can you just leave it at that—" He only said two words before finishing.
Jiang Meishu looked up and answered firmly, "No."
"Director He, I just want to ask you a question."
"If it was Liang Rui and I who were beaten by your son He Hongqiang yesterday, could he have let the thugs let Liang Rui and me go at the most critical moment?"
Director He had no way of answering this question. He opened his mouth, trying to say yes against his conscience.
But I can't say it.
He knew his son's character very well: he was violent and aggressive and would do anything to achieve his goals.
Seeing that Director He did not answer.
Jiang Meishu pursed her lips, her tone slightly cold, "Look, you can't do it, but you're making it difficult for us to do it. Isn't this embarrassing?"
Director He opened his mouth and said, "It's different."
"Our Hongqiang is still young. If you don't forgive him, his life will be ruined."
He could see that Liang Qiurun was pissed off this time, and it was obvious that Liang Qiurun was going to get to the bottom of it.
This is why Director He appeared at the door of the Liang family so early in the morning. He didn't dare and couldn't go to Liang Qiurun because he knew that Liang Qiurun would never show mercy, so he planned to find Jiang Meishu.
Thinking that female comrades are soft-hearted, I might persuade them with a little talk.
But what surprised Director He was that Jiang Meishu was so persistent and refused to give in at all, which put him in a difficult position.
Seeing Jiang Meishu about to leave with Liang Rui, he immediately staggered after them, "Comrade Jiang."
He blocked the way of Jiang Meishu and Liang Rui. Liang Rui stood up and said coldly to Director He, "If you continue like this, I guarantee that He Hongqiang's fate will be even worse than it is now."
As long as they don't give in, He Hongqiang's sentence will be increased.
Gathering a crowd to fight, bribing Honghong, and suspected of harming others, no matter which of these, is enough to make He Hongqiang suffer, not to mention that He Hongqiang already had a criminal record.
If these things ferment, they will become the last straw that breaks the camel's back for He Hongqiang.
After hearing Liang Rui's words, Director He took several steps back and staggered. "Is there no possibility of turning things around?"
Liang Rui said coldly, "No."
He pulled Jiang Meishu and was about to leave, but she didn't forget to look back at him warningly.
Seeing that Director He hadn't caught up, Liang Rui breathed a sigh of relief. Jiang Meishu also glanced back. Director He was in his sixties or seventies, with gray hair and a hunched body. At this moment, because his apology was not accepted, he looked like he had suddenly aged many years.
However, Jiang Meishu had no sympathy. She looked away and said to Liang Rui, "This is the result of not raising a son well. You still have to clean up your son's mess when you are old."
Liang Rui also looked back. At this moment, he seemed to see the appearance of his former father Liang Qiurun on the vicissitudes of life on the face of the old factory director He.
This is how his father would apologize every time he got into fights or made trouble.
However, things that I had never cared about or looked down upon before seemed to be magnified at this moment. Those past memories suddenly became clear.
This made Liang Rui's heart ache dully, and he murmured, "Was I like this before?"
Jiang Meishu looked up at him and said faintly, "You just found out?"
Liang Rui was a little sad at first, and he got angry when he heard this. "Don't you know how to comfort me? You're still scolding me."
Jiang Meishu said, "The facts are the facts. How can I comfort you? Should I lie to you and say that you were fine before? That you didn't worry your father at all?"
"Liang Rui, I'm afraid you've forgotten why I married your father."
Liang Rui looked at her in surprise, "Not because you like her?"
Jiang Meishu rolled her eyes. "Like? I fell in love with your dad the first time we met on a blind date. It's not that easy for adults to like each other."
"Don't you know why your dad goes on blind dates?"
Don’t you know?
Liang Rui knew it, but there were some things he never thought about in detail or deeply. All those problems that had been ignored in the past surfaced at this moment.
Liang Rui pursed his lips and said, "Then I feel sorry for my dad."
His father married because of him.
Jiang Meishu, "It's not always possible to get it."
She said faintly, "If it weren't for you, your father wouldn't have married a good wife like me, right?"
With just one sentence, Liang Rui's sadness disappeared instantly.
"Jiang Meilan, can you be more modest?" Liang Rui glanced at her. "If you keep going like this, your tail will stick up if it has one."
Jiang Meishu didn't bother to pay attention to him. She took a bus to the Overseas Chinese Store to buy two cans of milk powder. The bus was too crowded, and Liang Rui was like a bodyguard, protecting Jiang Meishu the whole way. He followed her nonchalantly until they arrived at her sister's house, unlike before when he was always tense.
When she arrived, Shen's mother was washing diapers in the courtyard pool.
Jiang Meilan held the child in her arms and coaxed him slowly in the yard. The child was only two months old and had slowly grown up a little, but it seemed that he had entered the second month and was particularly naughty.
He kept whimpering and crying.
When Jiang Meishu came over, she saw her sister soothing the child, sweating profusely, and asked, "What happened?"
Jiang Meilan was somewhat delighted to see Jiang Meishu coming over. However, before she could say anything, the child in her arms started crying again, crying as thinly as a kitten, and her brows were furrowed, turning pale and blue, looking very uncomfortable.
"Does she have a stomachache?"
Jiang Meishu asked in a low voice.
Jiang Meilan shook her head. "I don't know. He's full, his diaper is clean, and he's pooped, but I don't know why he keeps crying."
She has been exhausted from taking care of the children these days.
Jiang Meishu hesitated and said, "I'll touch her belly."
Although she had never raised a child, she had seen this kind of thing on the Internet in her previous life. She heard that babies would be fussy and have intestinal gas in the second month.
Jiang Meishu felt around but couldn't figure out what was wrong. She had never taken care of a child, so naturally she couldn't tell whether the belly was bloated or not.
She thought for a moment and said, "Fill a bottle with warm water and put it on the baby's belly as a warm compress."
However, Jiang Meishu didn't expect that her method was really effective. The warm water bottle was put on the baby for only about five minutes before the baby started to fart non-stop. After that, the baby seemed to be much more comfortable and even a little drowsy.
Jiang Meilan fed the child and put him to bed after he fell asleep.
He said to Jiang Meishu, "You came at the right time. If you didn't come to find me, I would have come to find you."
Jiang Meishu, "What's wrong?"
She put down the milk powder and brown sugar.
Jiang Meilan saw it and said, "I'm only telling you this." This meant that Liang Rui was going to be kicked out, so Jiang Meishu winked at Liang Rui.
Liang Rui went out knowing his limits.
As soon as he left.
Jiang Meilan said to Jiang Meishu, "Today is August 6th. I clearly remember that on August 11th, the largest cannery in the capital will catch fire."
Jiang Meishu's eyes widened a bit, "Huh?"
She was still a little confused.
Jiang Meilan continued, "After the fire at the cannery, all the goods and equipment inside were burned, causing the price of canned goods throughout the capital to triple, and there's still no market for them."
Jiang Meishu frowned slightly, "Sister, what do you mean?"
Jiang Meilan lowered her eyes, "Do you want to do this business?"
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