heavy rock

At dusk, Li Yanqi pushed his bicycle through the bustling vegetable market. There were several handfuls of green vegetables and a bag of pears in the front basket of the second-hand bicycle, and a bag of tofu was hanging on the handlebar. When he walked to the gate of the market, he stopped After looking at it, I bought two more dragon fruits.Li Yanlin has been too busy working overtime recently, two blisters developed on the corners of his mouth, and he needs to eat more fruits to clear the fire.

Li Yanqi took out his mobile phone to check the time, got on his bicycle and hurried home.

This is the closest vegetable market to the neighborhood where they live. Every day after get off work, he takes the subway and gets off at the nearest station, and then rides his bicycle home. He can also buy some fruits and vegetables along the way.There is also a small supermarket near the community. It doesn’t have all the items, but it is enough to buy daily necessities such as rice noodles and seasonings.

After entering the community, Li Yanqi parked his bicycle downstairs, locked the bike, picked up the things in the basket and went upstairs.The grandma on the first floor came out to throw out the trash and saw him smiling and saying hello, "Get off work?"

Li Yanqi smiled and said, "Grandma Zhao, have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet," Grandma Zhao threw the garbage bag into the garbage bin across the sidewalk, and turned her head to call him, "Don't rush to leave, how did you think about what I told you yesterday? Let me tell you, That girl has a good personality and looks quite white."

Li Yanqi suddenly had a headache, "Grandma Zhao, my brother and I have no plans to start a family for the time being. You see, we are very poor, we have no savings, and we are so busy all day long that we can't afford a house. Girls nowadays have high requirements. You need a car and a house, and you need to be within the third ring road. No way, the conditions are not enough.”

Grandma Zhao laughed, "The girl didn't say she wanted a car or a house. How about meeting first? The introducer is a relative of my wife's family, and he is reliable."

Li Yanqi quickly waved his hands, "No, no, I don't have time, the company still asks me to work overtime."

Grandma Zhao called him from behind, "You don't want to ask your brother, I told them that both brothers are very handsome."

"He doesn't have time either," Li Yanqi hurried upstairs, "Thank you, Grandma Zhao."

Grandma Zhao muttered a few words, she had no choice but to go home by herself.

Li Yanqi breathed a sigh of relief.It seems that older ladies, regardless of class, are keen to play matchmaking games.He remembered that when he was still living in the Li family's old house, his grandma met some old friends and always talked about which family's daughter looked good with whose young master and so on.I didn't expect to encounter such dumbfounding things when I lived in this old living area built in the 90s.

Li Yanqi climbed up to the top floor, and changed the plastic bag in his hand to carry it in one hand, intending to use the other hand to pick up the key to open the door.Before the key was found, the door was opened. Li Yanlin appeared at the door and took several plastic bags with his hand, "Didn't you say you would come back later today?"

Li Yanqi breathed a sigh of relief, and squatted in the entrance to change his shoes, "I ran around the construction site for a day, and when I was about to get off work, Wang Gong answered a phone call, saying that I had to go to a meeting in the department temporarily, so he asked me to come back first." He is now in a house As a budget clerk in a construction company, the work is very hard, and you need to go to the construction site every now and then.The only advantage is that you often have to deal with the design institute, and Li Yanlin works in the design institute.

Li Yanqi was just about to ask why Li Yanlin came back so early today, when he raised his eyes, he saw an old man in a suit and leather shoes sitting in the room, and he was an acquaintance whom he hadn't seen for many years—lawyer Huang Youfa Huang.

Lee's legal counsel.

Li Yanqi couldn't help being stunned for a moment, and turned to look at Li Yanlin, but saw that the expression on his face was a little dazed, as if he had just been stimulated by something, and his eyes were a little fluttering.

Huang Youfa nodded at him with a slightly embarrassed expression.When the two brothers were just kicked out of the Li family by Chongyan, he had met the two brothers in private, expressing clearly his willingness to stay in the Li family, and offered to give the brothers some assistance.But they were rejected bluntly by the brothers, and they never met again after that.

Ten years passed in a blink of an eye.

Li Yanqi knew that something must have happened for Huang Youfa to appear here, so his heart sank, and he turned his questioning eyes to his younger brother.Li Yanlin didn't look at him, but put on a dull face and carried the plastic bag into the kitchen, then walked out lightly, and sat down on the sofa opposite Huang Youfa.

Huang Youfa coughed twice, "Master, I'm here because I have something important to announce."

Li Yanqi nodded, motioning him to wait a moment.He changed his slippers, ran to the bathroom to wash his face, and then changed his dusty overalls and stuffed them into the washing machine. After washing his hands, he came out and sat down. "Okay, tell me."

Huang Youfa took out a stack of documents from his work bag, and pushed them along the surface of the coffee table in front of Li Yanqi, "Young Master, this is Mr. Chong's will, please take a look first. He left 60.00% of Li's shares in his hand to Li Yanqi. about you……"

Li Yanqi stood up suddenly, "What did you say?!"

Huang Youfa said: "He holds [-]%..."

"The previous sentence!" Li Yanqi interrupted him rudely, "You mean 'will'? Has something... happened to him?" For some reason, he felt that he couldn't say the word "death".

Huang Youfa's eyes turned red, he took out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of his eyes twice, his voice was a little choked up, "Mr. Chong had a serious car accident, and he passed away before the ambulance arrived."

Li Yanqi was dizzy for a while, and had an unreal feeling, "Passed... passed away?"

The Chong Yan who turned the Li family upside down, the Chong Yan who arrogantly drove them all out of the Li family's old house... just disappeared? !

This is a strange story of a prince who turned into a beggar, and then at a certain moment on a certain day, the magic was suddenly released, and the down-and-out, sloppy beggar turned back into a prince.

Li Yanqi squatted in the living room of the second bedroom of the rental house, packing his and his brother's luggage.They lived here for nearly three years and moved twice before moving here.During this period, a lot of things have been added one after another: a pile of reference books, a simple foldable bookshelf, and a tea coaster with cartoon rabbits on it.They lived in this community for the longest time and accumulated the most things.Gao Yun once subtly suggested to him to arrange assistants to come and help him pack his luggage, but Li Yanqi refused.This is his and Li Yanlin's home, a home that they have arranged bit by bit, and only the two of them. Everything here is imprinted with their memories—memories that they don't want others to touch.

Gao Yun stood on the sofa a little further away, with his laptop propped on his lap, and gave him a brief introduction to Li's operations over the past few years.Occasionally she would stop and wipe the corners of her eyes with a tissue in her hand.

Li Yanqi looked at her in surprise. He hadn't seen this woman for ten years. When he first saw her, he thought she was smarter and more capable than he remembered. He didn't expect that she would cry. The bastard of inheritance weeps.Li Yanqi felt incredible, was she brainwashed by that little bastard Chong Yan? !

Gao Yun closed the frontmost document, sniffed his nose lightly, and said, "That's all. What else does Mr. Li want to ask?"

Li Yanqi was silent for a while, "What kind of person is Chongyan?"

Gao Yun blinked his wet eyelashes, as if he was about to cry again but finally held back, "Which aspect is Mr. Li referring to?"

Li Yanqi frowned.To be honest, it was not a pleasant experience to see a lady who was about to reach retirement age crying in front of him, but he was really curious, and also had some... uncontrollable anger.He secretly decided to fire this woman after he took over Li's daily work.Her attitude towards Chong-yan is just too irritating.

"All." Li Yanqi said coldly, "As long as you know."

Gao Yun was sensitive to the hostility in Li Yanqi's attitude, and she immediately realized what Li Yanqi was thinking, and the corners of her mouth twitched slightly, as if a little mocking, but also a little sad, "All I know is a robot. The time has expanded Li's territory by a full quarter. You may not know that the total value of Li's stock you currently hold has increased nearly forty times in ten years."

Li Yanqi, "..."

"President Li, what else do you want to ask?" Gao Yun looked at him indifferently.

After Li Yanqi took over the Li family, she would resign, and both of them knew it well.Looking into his slightly gloomy eyes, Gao Yun suddenly remembered Chong Yan's first day at work.At that time, he was sitting behind the large desk in the general manager's office, and pushed her resignation report back along the table with an indifferent expression, "I think you probably made a mistake: you are working for Mrs. Li, Rather than working for a specific person. The people sitting in this office may be different, but Li Shi is still Li Shi, and this has not changed. I dare to use you, do you dare to stay?"

Gao Yun's eyes were slightly wet.What a clumsy way of provocative tactics, but she was actually moved.

Li Yanqi saw her expression in his eyes, and could hardly hide his hatred, "You seem to have a lot of affection for him. Huh?"

"Very affectionate?" Gao Yun seemed to find this statement very interesting, and smiled faintly, "People in the company used to call me Secretary Gao, does Mr. Li know what they called me in the past ten years? They called me Gao, Prime Minister, Prime Minister."

For positions such as assistant and secretary, the scope of work is actually somewhat vague, and it all depends on what kind of boss you meet.Different bosses will give this role different meanings: the right-hand man at work, the assistant who takes care of private life, or even a vase or lover.Chong Yan didn't need her as a life assistant. He said that if he just served tea and water, it would be enough to hire a nanny, so why hire her with a master's degree in economics?

"I am his work partner, partner, and comrade-in-arms. He gives me a lot of work authority and...respect." Gao Yun paused for a moment, looked straight into Li Yanqi's eyes and said, "You might not like to hear me say that , but before Mr. Zhong came to power, I had been thinking about job-hopping. Because I think Mr. Li... What Mr. Li needs more is a careful life assistant who is good at making tea, knows how to choose gifts for his lover, and arrange Dates, restaurant reservations in time, without knowing economics."

Li Yanqi felt a little embarrassed in his heart.

"What's the point of saying this now?" Gao Yun lowered his head and sighed softly, "I have already submitted my resignation report to the HR department. When the assistant I have selected with Mr. Li finishes handing over, I will It's time to go." Because of the comparison, some things will be seen more clearly.Perhaps Chong Yan's method of coming to power is not glorious enough, but his ability is beyond doubt.At least in the point of employing people without suspicion, the Li family father and son are not as good as him.

Li Yanqi is not stupid, he can fully understand the meaning of Gao Yun's words.At this point, maybe she is right, at least neither he nor Li Chengyun will delegate too much power to the secretary or assistant.Li Chengyun once taught him: the more people around you, the more you have to be careful.Because only those around you will know your secrets and have more chances to betray you.

Don't Chong Yan think so?

Li Yanqi was silent.

Gao Yun nodded, and stepped back very lightly.

This was the last night the brothers spent in this dilapidated neighborhood.

The heating in the community is not sufficient. At night, you have to hug each other to feel warm.Sometimes when the temperature drops, we need to put an extra layer of blanket on top of the quilt.The house is too old, and there are gaps in the doors and windows. When the wind blows, the cold wind will sneak in along the gaps, whining, as if some kind of animal is roaring tirelessly.

But only here, Li Yanqi thought, he can hug the one he loves without any scruples, fall asleep together, and wake up in the morning light together.This is the most peaceful and happy life they ever imagined when they were young, and it is so unbelievable that it came quietly at the saddest moment of their fate.

Fortune comes and disaster depends on, disaster comes and good fortune lies.

Li Yanqi suddenly felt a sense of reluctance. He knew that tomorrow they would move back to the old house of the Li family where they grew up. There were separate rooms for him and Li Yanlin, separated by a wide corridor. The second bedroom is two or three times as large.Sophisticated, comfortable and empty.

Li Yanqi hugged the person in his arms tightly.Starting tomorrow, everything will be different, and there will be countless pairs of eyes around them: examining, flattering, fearful, and malicious.Living in such an invisible net, can they still kiss and hug without any scruples like they do now?

Li Yanqi once felt that he had no choice but to accept this kind of life. Every day, he squeezed the subway to go to work like thousands of ordinary office workers in this city, and after a busy day, he dragged his tiredness Go home with your body, buy vegetables and cook with your loved ones, watch TV and do housework together, and spend every peaceful and stable night.

Li Yanqi didn't even dare to think about such a life in the past, because there was no possibility of realizing it.Yet he lived like this for many years.

Li Yanqi sighed lightly.

Li Yanlin turned over and put his arms around his waist.

"Not asleep yet?"

Li Yanlin rubbed against his chest, "You are sighing, how can I sleep?"

Li Yanqi touched his face, "Have you completed the resignation procedures?"

"No," Li Yanlin said, "I will not resign. I will continue to work on my job. It is enough for Mrs. Li to have you. What am I going to do? Be your secretary? Make coffee for you every day? Send documents?"

Li Yanqi laughed.

Li Yanlin said: "I can't live here. After I go back, I will find a suitable house near the design institute. If the price is right, I can buy it directly and decorate it..."

Li Yanqi interrupted him, "Aren't you going home?"

Li Yanlin shook his head, "I live outside. Come over when you are resting."

Li Yanqi knew that Li Yanlin was planning for their future life. If they moved back to Li's old house, it would be almost impossible to live the life they are living now.He patted him on the back sadly, "It will be fine."

Li Yanlin shook his head, "No, the good times are over. Brother, it's over."

Li Yanqi was silent for a moment, "It will be fine, Ah Lin, it will be fine."

Li Yanlin let out a sigh of relief, and didn't want to continue discussing this topic, "We can go to see my father, Chong Yan is really cruel. We haven't been allowed to meet for so long..."

"No way," Li Yanqi sighed, "He hates us and doesn't want us to see Dad. If we insist on meeting, Dad's living benefits will be cancelled. He is getting old, is it true that he should eat pickles every day? "

"Where's Dad?" Li Yanlin asked him, "Does he also hate Chongyan?"

The brothers fell silent together.

After a long time, Li Yanqi said softly, "I don't know."

Li's old house has a history of more than a hundred years. Li Chengyun was born, grew up, married and had children here.His child was also born and raised here, from a babbling toddler to a tall and burly young man, Li Yanqi once thought that he knew every inch of the land here so well that he couldn't be more familiar with it, but after being separated for ten years, Li Yanqi felt that Everything you see is strange.

This is a very strange feeling. The body relaxes because it returns to a familiar place, but the spirit tenses up because of the strange breath.The courtyard, the house, and even the dining room were almost the same as I remembered, yet it looked as if everything had changed.

Li Chengyun may have felt the same way, he began to become taciturn.After living in the original room for a few days, he asked people to move his things to the room on the first floor where Mr. Li used to live.There is a side door leading to the garden behind.According to the report from the newly appointed butler of the Li family, when he went to work in the company, Li Chengyun stayed in the flower room in the backyard all day long, sometimes pruning and watering the flowers and trees with the gardener, and sometimes soaking in water. Pot of tea, sitting there quietly in a daze.

Li Yanlin would come back to visit them every few days, but he never planned to move back.There are a lot of things going on in the company, Li Yanqi is so busy that he barely touches the ground, he hardly has time for appointments.Faced with such a situation, Li Yanlin also felt at a loss, not knowing what they should do in the future.

The father and son finally got together, and life returned to its original state.However, Li Chengyun aged rapidly in a short period of time.It was only two or three months after moving back, when Li Yanqi was having breakfast together one morning, Li Yanqi was shocked to find that age spots had grown on the back of his father's hands.

Ten years have changed so many things.

At that moment, Li Yanqi felt that he didn't know him.

Three months later, the outskirts of the city, the cemetery.

Li Yanqi lit a cigarette, took a puff, and half-kneeled to insert it in front of Chongyan's tomb.The dead people looked at him quietly through the black and white photos on the tombstone.

Li Yanqi felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.This is not the sharp-eyed young man in his impression.Chong Yan seemed to have quietly turned into another person Li Yanqi didn't know in a time he didn't know, peaceful with almost no edges and corners, so quiet that he was almost silent, as if he had nothing to say when facing anyone It can be said.

so strange.

Li Yanqi doesn't like this person, never did.But his life has undergone earth-shaking changes because of the appearance of this person, and he can't even taste whether these changes are good or bad.

Li Yanqi silently stared at the photo on the tombstone, and after a while murmured: "No one would have thought that you would leave Mrs. Li to me. Chongyan, what do you think you are doing this for? Huh?"

The breeze blows over the hills, and a layer of soft green has emerged on the distant mountains.

"I used to hate you to death..." Li Yanqi shook his head, with a slightly self-deprecating expression, "But now, I often think, what would happen if you were still alive and sitting in that seat... Chong Yan, You know, it's so tiring. All the hard work in my life combined is not as tiring as these two months. I don't know how you survive day by day. They say you don't even have five hours of rest every day... ...It's completely different from my life habits all these years, it's really tiring. You see, I'm starting to lose my hair."

Chong Yan in the photo looked at him quietly, and seemed to penetrate him, looking at the misty valley in the distance.

"Dad started to look more and more like you. Gao Yun said that you used to be like this: you don't like to talk, you always like to be alone, and you don't allow others to make a sound when there are people around... Sometimes he will call you The name, I don’t know what I remembered. Both A Lin and I felt that he actually felt a little guilty towards you, but he never said it.” Li Yanqi paused for a while, suddenly feeling helpless, yes, so what if I said it ?Chong Yan was dead, and Yang Shu had been dead for many years.Even if he felt ashamed in his heart, so what?

"Chongyan, I actually don't hate you very much anymore. Without you, Ah Lin and I would not have had such a peaceful ten years."

"This has been my happiest decade."

"In the future, maybe there will be no such happy days..."

"Go all the way," Li Yanqi said softly: "If everything can be done again, I hope you can have a different life."