Rarely affectionate

In the winter of the second year after Lang Bai left, Yuan Cheng suddenly had a dream late one night.

He dreamed that he was standing in a long and dark tunnel. Lang Bai was wearing a white shirt and black trousers on the day of his death, standing far away at the darkest place at the end of the tunnel, thin and lonely.

Yuan Cheng felt his chest was being pressed heavily by something, he was so uncomfortable that he couldn't breathe, and desperately wanted to reach out to reach his little son, but Lang Bai just stood in the void and looked at him quietly, with a very sad expression on his face .

"Abai, Abai!" Yuan Cheng called out to him hoarsely, "Abai, come back! Dad is here, come back quickly!"

Lang Bai looked at him for a long time, until Yuan Cheng screamed again and again to the point of despair, he took out his hand from behind, and there was a bloody hole on his right hand.

"Dad, why did you hit me?"

Yuan Cheng stood still as if he had been immobilized, he opened his mouth and couldn't make a sound, his hands and feet were so heavy that he couldn't move, he could only watch Lang Bai slowly disappear into the boundless darkness.

"Dad, why did you hit me?..."

"My body is incomplete, not even a whole body..."

"Not even a complete body..."

"dad……"

"dad……"

Yuan Cheng sat up abruptly, his face was ashen and dripping with cold sweat, and he was panting heavily.

The door was knocked lightly a few times, and the old housekeeper asked softly outside the study: "Sir? It's almost two o'clock, don't you want to rest?"

"...No, no need." Yuan Cheng slowly came back to his senses, and saw that he was surrounded by his own study, with computers, documents, papers and pens spread out in front of him, and the clock in the corner was pointing to two o'clock in the morning. It was just a dream lying on the desk.

But everything in the dream was so clear, it was the first time he saw Lang Bai so clearly after death, wearing clothes, bare feet, clearly visible from the tips of his hair to the tips of his toes, and his mutilated right hand dripping with blood .Everything seems to be real, as if within reach, not like an illusory dream at all.

Yuan Cheng immigrated to Hong Kong when he was a teenager, and has lived on this island for decades. He has a little belief in superstition and ghosts.Lang Bai died for a whole year, no matter how painful Yuan Cheng was, he never dreamed of him once.At first, he guessed that the youngest son hated him, and said that he would not want to see each other in the next life, so he would definitely not want to dream of him in this life.Whenever he thinks this way, the heart-piercing feeling makes him wish he could die once.

Tonight was the first time he dreamed of Lang Bai after his death. He came to ask his father why he didn't even leave him a whole body.

Yuan Cheng sat in the dark study room for a long while, and suddenly felt that the younger son's question was very reasonable. He was born into this world with hands and feet intact, how could he leave behind him when he left? What about one hand?

His youngest son is the most handsome and the best-looking, he can play the piano and paint, and even embroider screens with a good hand, but that hand has been destroyed, how can he leave with peace of mind?

Yuan Cheng stood up abruptly. He moved so violently that he even brought the chair upside down. He didn't care. He hurried out of the study and called the housekeeper loudly: "Call Zhou Zhengrong and the others to come over! Hurry up!"

The old butler was taken aback: "What's wrong, sir?! Come! Come! What do you want? Speak slowly!"

Yuan Cheng took a deep breath and said, "I'm going to Myanmar, and I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Myanmar? . . . What are you going to do in Burma?"

"Buy jade."

The old housekeeper was completely confused: "Yushi has it at home, the old man's ancestral dowry brought by the eldest lady from his mother's house, there are some high-quality jade pieces and jade bracelets, if you want it, I will find it for you now... ..."

Yuan Cheng interrupted him: "I want a piece of jade that is as tall as others, do you have it at home?" He paused, and then said: "I don't feel relieved to leave this matter to others, I will use it as a substitute for Ah Bai. Go see for yourself."

The old housekeeper froze there for a moment, unable to say anything, and could only sigh after a long while: "...Then I will arrange for you."

When Lang Bai died in the sea, Yuan Cheng almost went crazy, forcing others to salvage his body every day, and he just sat on the boat and stared at it.But where can the body be found?The sea area where Lang Bai fell was turbulent, and he was swept away as soon as he fell, not to mention that so many days had passed, even if he found it, he would probably be soaked to the bone!

Those people were forced to salvage at the bottom of the sea for half a month, but nothing was salvaged, and they were miserable by the seawater.Later, Wang Yi was smart enough to persuade Yuan Cheng, "Generally, old people say that corpses that fall into the water can't be found, unless a double is used to replace him, maybe the corpse can be replaced, why don't we try?"

Poor Wang Yitang, a doctor who studied in the United States, followed the old housekeeper all day long to engage in this feudal superstition. He made several "stand-ins" one after another. They were all carved out of good wood into a teenager or a latte Cast it into a shape that looks like Langbai, and throw it into the place where Langbai fell into the water.Yuan Cheng was extremely sad at the time, as long as he found his youngest son's body, he was willing to try any method, so he just let Wang Yi toss about for a few months - of course nothing happened in the end.

Yuan Cheng was still sad, so Wang Yi persuaded him, young master, he even said such cruel things as not seeing him in the next life, why do you insist on obsessing over his body?What if he is lying quietly and comfortably on the bottom of the sea, and he doesn't want to be disturbed by you?Didn't your mobilization of the crowd make him restless?

These words were like cutting Yuan Cheng's heart with a knife. From then on, he no longer forced people to do seabed salvage, nor did he look around for expensive wood as a substitute. When I was young, I sat alone and looked through old photo albums.In just one year, the word "little son" became a taboo of the Yuan family.

While going to call Wang Yi, Zhou Zhengrong and the others, the old housekeeper wondered why Yuan Cheng suddenly remembered that he wanted to make a body for the young master, and why did he change it to jade this time?If he continues to despair like this, one day he will drag himself to death...

Yuan Cheng didn't waste a moment, and the next day he took Zhou Zhengrong and the others to Yangon, Myanmar to pick jade.

Yuan Cheng had no interest in betting on stones at all. He stood quietly and watched others bet, looking for sellers who cut out large pieces of jade.Although Yuan Cheng had never been a high-profile person, the aura of this group of people was very different from that of ordinary buyers. They stood by the market for a short while before they were noticed by many sellers.

A Burmese who sells wool came over and asked with an apologetic smile, "Bosses, are you looking at stones?"

Zhou Zhengrong took a look at Yuan Cheng, seeing that he didn't express anything, he shook his head and said, "We don't want wool, we want a good big piece of green, you may not have it."

The Burmese slapped his thigh: "No matter how good the full green is, it is cut out of wool! Besides, jade is one piece, and one piece will be lost, and it will be finished slowly, and the price will become higher and higher. Buy it The price of ready-made big greens is very high!"

Zhou Zhengrong laughed and said, "Our boss doesn't care about the price, but he wants a bigger piece. The bigger the better, the quality can't be too bad."

The Burmese endured it, and finally couldn't help asking: "How big is it?"

Zhou Zhengrong recalled the young master's height, and compared it with his hands: "It's almost like this...it can be carved into the size of a person."

The Burmese was taken aback: "Yo! It's so big! It's even more beautiful! It's rare to find. I've seen it before, but the price is just..."

Zhou Zhengrong thought that Mr. Yuan didn't care about the price.The youngest son is his life, his life is gone, what do you want money for?

After wandering around the Yangon market for several days, although I also cut out a few pieces of good old pit ice seeds, they were not big enough. Yuan Cheng looked at them one by one, and finally rejected them one by one.On the last day, it was also a coincidence that the wool merchant bought several huge new pieces, one of which was bought by the stone gambler and cut it on the spot. As a result, a piece of old pit jadeite half the height of a person was cut out from it. , the small and half-full green glass species is mixed with quasi-glass species, and the edges are light green in the same color, which looks very moist and lovely, and the edge is mixed with thick green and bright ice species. Lang Bailai.

The water head is so high, the emerald green is so full of old pit glass, and it is such a big piece. When it comes out, it makes a sensation in the whole market, and many buyers crowded over to watch.The stone gambler saw that the cut jade was so large, and knew that it would be difficult to get it out of Myanmar, so he wanted to sell it for a good price in Myanmar.Unexpectedly, when there was rumor of his intention to make a move, the people from the Yuan family came over with a blank check.

Yuan Cheng wanted to carve this piece of jade in order to put his youngest son in the ground. He never thought about bargaining at all, and within 10 minutes, he paid the money and delivered the jade, and ended the matter neatly. trade.

The stone gambler cut out a lot of jade, and it was the first time he saw a guest who gave money so happily. He looked at the check in his hand and thought it was a dream, so he couldn't help pinching himself: "Ouch! It hurts!"

Some jewelry companies and local smugglers, who were not reconciled, could not help but follow a few steps after seeing the treasure being traded away by a few outsiders.Unexpectedly, as soon as the jade stone arrived in Yuan's hands, Zhou Zhengrong immediately showed his guns with several bodyguards, armed with live ammunition, escorted the jade stone out of the Yangon market.

The local smugglers are old and sophisticated, and they can tell at a glance that these outsiders are very powerful, and they are a strong dragon from other places. They are really not easy to provoke, so they can only retreat angrily.

Yuan Cheng sat on the sofa in the hotel room, slowly stroking the jade material in front of him, which was half the height of a person, with sadness and warmth in his eyes.The old jade carving master he invited didn't dare to speak easily, and waited for a long time in fear, and finally couldn't help asking cautiously: "Mr. Yuan, are you planning to cut this piece of jade, or to carve it, or... ..."

Yuan Cheng raised his head, looked the master up and down carefully, and could not hear any emotion in his tone: "They all said that you are the best carver in Yangon, Myanmar. You have been a jade carver all your life, and you are best at carving people. Is it like this that I carved a jade Bodhisattva for the temple?"

The old master said honestly: "I don't know if it's best or not, but I've been carving people all my life. It's no problem to be a Jade Buddha and Jade Bodhisattva, and I can also carve according to the customer's appearance. But the customer is most interested So I can hang around for a while and be a model for me. Guest, do you want to sculpt according to your image?"

Zhou Zhengrong hurriedly hissed, and said in a low voice, "It's for our young master."

The master craftsman said: "It's okay to carve for a child, but it's best if the child can come out and let me have a look and copy it. Otherwise, I'm afraid it won't look like it will be a waste of such a good jade material like you."

Yuan Cheng was silent for a while, and then said in a low voice: "My youngest son...he is gone."

By the time of the last word, the ending almost completely sank, and there was an uncontrollable pain.

The old craftsman let out an "ah", thinking that it's no wonder that he bought such a large piece of old pit glass at a sky-high price, but he didn't make jewelry or chisel bracelets, just to carve a statue for a child.The worst thing in the world is a white-haired man giving a black-haired man. This man has such a large fortune for nothing, but his beloved son died. It is really pitiful.

Thinking of this, the master couldn't help feeling a little more sympathetic: "It doesn't matter if you're not here, if there are photos or portraits, let me take a look. Although it can't be very similar, it's fine to have a similar meaning after all."

"There are photos and portraits." Zhou Zhengrong immediately got up and took out a small suitcase, opened the lock solemnly, and took out a stack of photos left by Lang Bai before his death and later invited by Yuan Cheng. The portrait someone drew for him was respectfully and carefully handed over to the master.

Unexpectedly, the master took a look at the photo, and he let out a "huh", and then the more he looked at the photo, the more strange his expression became.

Zhou Zhengrong couldn't help but ask, "Is there something wrong? You're always..."

The old master pointed to Lang Bai on the photo, and affirmed: "I have seen this person before!"

Yuan Cheng suddenly raised his head: "Have you seen it? Abai has never been to Myanmar. Where did you meet him?"

"I, I did see it, last—last month!" Yuan Cheng's aura was so terrifying that the master couldn't help taking a half step back, but he still insisted: "During the Yangon Jadeite public sale last month, this A man came to ask me to carve my finger with a small piece of emerald. He was very handsome, more attractive than a movie star, I remember it very clearly! He also had a tall and big American friend with him, and the two of them came together. I will never admit my mistake!"

Zhou Zhengrong felt as if a thunderbolt had struck his head, and he subconsciously turned his head to look at Yuan Cheng. Because Yuan Cheng was too shocked, his face looked blank, without any expression.

"That's right! Also, one of his hands is different from others!" The master recalled it, and became more and more sure: "It's the right hand. There is a scar on his right hand, and his fingers can't be straightened! I remember this very clearly!"

There was a loud crash, and Yuan Cheng rushed over, staggering and even knocking over a chair.

"When did you say you saw him?" Yuan Cheng held on to the master tightly, his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked quite scary: "Also, where has he gone now?"