The Jade of the Republic of China

Shen Yutong went to Ziliujing, and it was scheduled for the beginning of Xia.

Although he stayed abroad at the age of 17, after returning to China, he also shouldered the heavy burden of the refined salt factory.But for at least half a year, the Shen family was reluctant and worried.

Mr. Shen and Mr. Shen sent letters and telegrams to the shopkeeper of Ziliujing early on, asking him to make arrangements there in advance.The sister-in-law personally prepared the luggage for him, two suitcases and one rattan box, which were full of food and clothing.

In addition to his personal servant A Fu, Shen Yuan also sent Cheng Da, the best bodyguard in the family, to follow.

On the day of departure, Shen Yuan personally sent him to the pier with a usual serious expression and a usual gentle tone: "When you get there, call back immediately to report that you are safe. If you are not used to it, come back early and let Brother Tianci take care of it. "

Shen Yutong said with a smile: "I know, Ziliujing is not a remote place. I used to go there with my father when I was young. What can I not get used to?"

Shen Yuan said: "When I was a child, there were wars every day in the past few years, and Sichuan was not stable. Anyway, if there is something to do, it's up to you. No matter how important the salt factory is, it is not as important as your safety."

Shen Yutong's eyes fell on the graying temples of her elder brother, and they all said that the elder brother is the father, and Shen Yuan spent no less attention on her younger brother than her sons and daughters.He lost his mother since he was a child, but because he has a good brother and sister-in-law, he has never felt the pain of not having a mother.

He is the young master who was favored in the high school, but now that his father and brother are old, it's time for him as the young master to provoke the Shen family.After pondering for a moment, he pretended to be relaxed and smiled, and said, "Brother, I am no longer a child, so you don't have to worry about me all the time."

Shen Yuan sighed wistfully: "I just know that you are not a child anymore, and you can fly by yourself. On the one hand, I am happy for you, but on the other hand, I am a little bit reluctant. I am afraid that you will be hurt by the wind and rain when flying out. I always want to protect you." You are forever. But elder brother is so much older than you, and he wants to protect you for the rest of his life, but he has more than enough energy."

Shen Yutong smiled and said, "Brother, you have worked hard for your family for so many years, and I will protect you from now on."

"Okay, okay," Shen Yuan laughed loudly when he heard him say this: "I don't want to talk too much anymore, let's board the boat."

The two brothers waved their goodbyes after the romance was over. Shen Yutong led the servant and Cheng Da, and followed the passenger team into the gate.

At the same time, not far behind them, Sun Zhidong and his party also set foot on the pier, preparing to board the same passenger ship bound for Chongqing.

In addition to Meng Liansheng, Sun Zhidong also brought Du Zan, his right-hand man. As for his right-hand man, Chen Yong, he stayed in Shanghai to take care of Lixin's affairs.

"Huh? Isn't that Second Young Master Shen? He's going to Sichuan too?" Du Zan, who was walking in front, suddenly asked.

Sun Zhidong glanced in the direction he pointed, and said casually, "The Shen family has a salt factory in Ziliujing. I read in the newspaper that Shen Er is going to set up a refined salt factory there."

Meng Liansheng followed his gaze, and sure enough, he saw Shen Yutong in the crowd in front of him.He was wearing a gray shirt and black trousers with suspenders.

Still stand out from the crowd.

Shen Yutong called him a few days ago about going to Sichuan.It took half a year at least to set up a factory in Sichuan. At that time, he thought that he would not see each other for at least half a year, and he felt quite disappointed.

A few days later, Bai Qinghe sent him and Sun Zhidong to Xikang.

Although he has not been to many places, but because he loves to read and read newspapers, his geographical knowledge is not poor. Knowing that Xikang is not far from Ziliujing, he thought about going there, and maybe he could meet Shen Yutong.

Seeing that the other party is on the same boat as him now, he almost jumps for joy, but since Sun Zhidong and Du Zan are beside him, the joy is only rolling in his chest, not written on his face.

As if thinking of something, Sun Zhidong glanced at Meng Liansheng who was following behind him: "By the way, Xiao Meng, aren't you familiar with Shen Er? We've been on the boat for a few days, and we happen to have more companions, so why don't you go say hello first? "

Meng Liansheng showed a restrained smile, and said calmly, "Let's talk about it when we get on the boat."

River liners are not comparable to cruise ships going overseas. Even first-class cabins are small, with only one bunk bed and a desk. Fortunately, the room is clean.

Ah Fu went abroad with Shen Yutong, and while cleaning up his young master's room, he complained: "This first-class cabin is not half the size of the cruise ship we were on back then, and it looks aggrieved."

Shen Yutong didn't care too much: "It takes two months to travel from Shanghai to England, and it only takes a week for this boat to reach Chongqing, and it's an inland river, so the conditions are almost fine."

He took off his suspenders, pulled the shirt out of his trousers, undid the top two buttons, and sat idly on the bed, letting Ah Fu take out two books and put them on the table.

It was still early at this moment, and there was nothing to do during the long journey, so I just took time to make up for the books I didn't have time to read these days.

After Ah Fu cleaned up for him, he saw that he was half leaning on the bed reading a book, so he stopped disturbing him, exited and went back to the next room.

The passenger ship quickly whistled and sailed away from the shore bit by bit.

In summer, the south of the Yangtze River has already become hot.Fortunately, although the cabin is small, it has windows. The boat is traveling on the water, and the river wind blows in, so it is quite comfortable.

Shen Yutong was in this pleasant breeze, and when he was fascinated by the book, someone knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" He asked casually without looking up.

The people outside said: "It's me, Xiao Meng."

Shen Yutong was startled for a moment, and even quickly looked around to make sure that he was on the boat to Chongqing, and then got out of bed to open the door.

The one standing at the door was Meng Liansheng, whom he hadn't seen for almost a month.

"Xiao Meng, why are you here?" Shen Yutong opened his eyes wide, his expression almost out of control with surprise.

Meng Liansheng said calmly: "Boss Sun and I went to Xikang to do business. I saw you there when I got on the boat just now. I'll come to say hello to you when I'm settled."

"Come in first." Shen Yutong hurriedly pulled him in, "Why didn't you tell me that you were going to Xikang?"

Meng Liansheng said: "The boss made a hasty decision, and I haven't had time to tell you."'

Shen Yutong originally asked the question casually. Although he regarded the other party as a younger brother and had a kind of tacit closeness to each other, in fact, he had very little contact with him, and the number of times he met was more. It was not necessary to tell him such things. .

However, he was very happy to see Meng Liansheng on the boat—so happy.

There are no chairs and stools in the cabin, so you can only sit on the bed.

Meng Liansheng's eyes fell on the clean checkered bed sheet, which should be Shen Yutong's own quilt, because it looked so clean and tidy, he hesitated and didn't sit down right away.

Shen Yutong sat down first, patted the seat beside her, and said with a smile: "Sit down, what are you doing in a daze?"

Only then did Meng Liansheng sit down beside him.

Shen Yutong pushed the dim sum plate on the small table towards him a little: "Eat something."

Meng Liansheng casually picked up a piece of milk candy, peeled it off and put it in his mouth.Looking at the few books on the table, he said, "Second Young Master, are you reading?"

Shen Yutong said: "It's boring on the boat, so I brought a few books to pass the time. If you have nothing to do, come to me to read these few days, and we can still talk."

Meng Liansheng nodded: "Yes."

The two chatted a little bit about the recent situation, and had some snacks, and it was almost noon.Meng Liansheng took out the copper pocket watch on his body and said, "I have to go have dinner with Brother Dong."

Shen Yutong said: "Okay, if you want to come to my place to read in the afternoon, come over after dinner."

Meng Liansheng smiled at him: "Okay."

Maybe it was because his expression was too cute, Shen Yutong had an inexplicable urge to touch his head.

It seems that my cheap brother is a bit addicted.

Meng Liansheng went to the restaurant for lunch, Sun Zhidong and Du Zan went to gamble, and Shi Shiran came to Shen Yutong's cabin.

The restaurant on the ship was noisy, and Shen Yutong didn't want to join in the noise, so he ate lunch in the room.At this moment, he had already finished eating, and asked Ah Fu to prepare a fresh fruit plate and tea again.

Ah Fu only knew that his young master was particular about it, but he didn't know it was to welcome Meng Liansheng.

"What book do you want to read? Pick it yourself."

Shen Yutong had already taken out all the books from the box and put them neatly on the table.Meng Liansheng, who was sitting by the bed, picked up a few books and flipped through them, and finally picked out an English book: "Just this one, I haven't read any English books yet, so I can ask the second son to teach me what I don't understand. "

Shen Yutong didn't expect that he wanted to read English books, but he didn't forget that the kid knew a few words when he was in Fancai restaurant.

It's just been a year.

"Have you been studying English?" He asked curiously.

Meng Liansheng nodded: "Working in the concession, you have to deal with foreign patrols. It's inconvenient not to know a little English. Mr. Bai invited the young master to be a foreigner. I will attend classes with me when I have time. I see English words that I don't understand outside. , I’ll write it down and go home and look it up in the dictionary.” At this point, he raised the corners of his mouth slightly, showing a rare childish complacency, “Second Young Master, let me tell you, I can recognize thousands of English words now, English newspapers You can take a rough look.”

"Really?" Shen Yutong smiled and praised, "That's really amazing."

Being praised by him, Meng Liansheng seemed a little embarrassed again, and said in a low voice, "However, in front of the second son who has been abroad, my English level is not good enough."

Shen Yutong smiled and said: "You have only studied for a year, and it is not a systematic study. It is already very good to be able to read newspapers. It seems that your memory is very good."

Meng Liansheng nodded: "Well, my memory is not bad." Not only is it not bad, but there is nothing wrong with saying that it has a photographic memory.

Shen Yutong sat down beside him and said, "This is a collection of Oscar Wilde's fairy tales. It's relatively easy to read. Ask me if you don't understand."

When he was studying in England, he had read a lot of Oscar Wilde's plays, but he hadn't read much of the playwright's fairy tales. This time, he picked a random volume and took it with him when he went out, thinking that it was easy to understand and suitable for killing time.

After that, he took off his shoes and took the book he was reading, sat on the bed, moved inside, and patted the place next to him: "You come up too, it's more comfortable to lean on."

The bed was less than one meter wide, and it was really crowded with two big men sitting side by side.Meng Liansheng glanced at him, pursed his lips and said, "It's okay, I can just sit like this."

Shen Yutong is a pampered young man from a rich family. Although he has not paid much attention to life these years, he is also used to how to be comfortable.Leaning on the bed like this, Meng Liansheng sat on the edge of the bed with his back straightened and his head bowed. His cheap brother felt very sorry.So he smiled and pulled at the other party: "Come up and lean on."

Being pulled like this, Meng Liansheng hesitated for a while, but finally took off his shoes and sat on it.He was wearing a pair of sandals, and just before coming over from dinner, he went to wipe his feet, so his bare feet were clean.

Shen Yutong was of a normal man's stature, while Meng Liansheng looked thin, but he was actually a young man with broad shoulders.Two big men sat side by side on the small single bed, leaning shoulder to shoulder without any gap.

Shen Yutong could almost clearly feel the other party's hard and strong arms.

He subconsciously glanced at the handsome and pure side face next to him, and thought that he was indeed a person, he thought he was a child at first, but his body was so strong.

There was wind blowing in through the window, but it wasn't too hot.

It's just that Shen Yutong invited people to read the book together, but he couldn't understand the words in the book for some reason.Meng Liansheng, on the other hand, lowered his head slightly, staring at the English book in his hand seriously with his black eyes under his thick long eyelashes.

Shen Yutong looked at him calmly from the corner of his eye. He was no longer the child when we first met two years ago, but he still looked as innocent as before.

Calculating carefully, he and Meng Liansheng didn't meet many times, and based on the time they spent together, they could only be regarded as casual acquaintances.But there is always an indescribable sense of intimacy, leaning side by side on the bed at this moment, he feels so natural.

Naturally, I wanted to touch each other a little bit.

Of course it's just a thought.

Perhaps Meng Liansheng saw something he didn't understand, and frowned slightly with his thick black brows. He moved the book over, leaned slightly, and pointed to an English word on it: "Second Young Master, what does this mean?"

Shen Yutong followed his fingertips and translated the word for him.

Meng Liansheng nodded, memorized it in his heart, sat upright again, and continued reading seriously, with a sense of hunger and thirst.

After a while, when I encountered something I didn't understand, I came over to ask Shen Yutong for advice.

Shen Yutong has only turned over two pages of the book in his hand. He has successfully finished the first chapter of the fairy tale collection and started to read the second chapter.

"what does this mean?"

Shen Yutong glanced at the book in his hand and said, "Nightingale."

This is Wilde's famous fairy tale "The Nightingale and the Rose".

Meng Liansheng nodded knowingly.

Time passed slowly as the ship sailed, and the shadow of the sun gradually changed its direction in the room.Meng Liansheng finished the second chapter.

Probably a little tired, he temporarily closed the book and put it on the small table beside the bed, sat up straight and stretched his arms, picked up a piece of watermelon in the fruit plate, the watermelon was peeled and carefully cut by Ah Fu Small pieces, inserted with a toothpick, one piece is no more than two or three bites.

He didn't eat it right away, but looked at Shen Yutong: "Second Young Master, do you want to eat?"

Shen Yutong didn't read much into the book in his hand, and now he felt a little thirsty, and was about to sit up straight to get the watermelon, but Meng Liansheng put the watermelon in his hand to his mouth.

He froze for a moment, then bent his lips into a smile, and put the watermelon in his mouth with his hand.

He took a big mouthful of it, and the red juice soaked out from the corner of his mouth, which made his fair cheeks more jade-like.Meng Liansheng stared at the redness at the corner of his mouth, his eyes moved slightly, he turned around silently, picked up a piece of watermelon and began to eat slowly.

Shen Yutong moved to sit next to him, took a piece of watermelon, and asked casually, "Is the book good?"

Meng Liansheng nodded: "Well, it looks good."

Shen Yutong said with a smile: "Then you evaluate the evaluation."

Meng Liansheng thought for a while, and said seriously: "Talking about the "Nightingale and the Rose" I just finished reading, I think Nightingale is too stupid, this boy is not worth it to water a red rose for him with his life. A person wants What, you should fight for it on your own, if you are not worthy of your lover, you should try to improve yourself instead of expecting others to give it to you, so it is fitting that the girl did not agree to the boy's courtship in the end."

Shen Yutong was taken aback for a moment, he didn't expect him to interpret it from this angle, but it didn't make sense after thinking about it.

He shook his head with a smile, and said, "This statement is interesting."

Meng Liansheng seemed to feel that he had said something wrong, so he touched the back of his ear uncomfortably, and said, "Actually, I just said it casually. I don't know if I understood it. The second son laughed."

Shen Yutong smiled and said, "A thousand readers have a thousand Hamlets. There is no standard answer in literature. I think what you said is very good."

"I still need to learn more from Second Young Master."

"Second Young Master is not rich in learning, he wants to study with you."

The author has something to say:

Think of Anan who was dizzy in the previous article.

Look at Xiaomeng who is eager to read books.

They are all attacks, this is the gap.