The Jade of the Republic of China

Meng Liansheng came to Shanghai at the end of summer, and it was already late autumn in a blink of an eye.

Most of the workers on the wharf earn money to support their families. He and his cousin are both single, and one person feeds the whole family without hunger. After three months, he has unknowingly saved more than a dozen yuan.Fish and dragons are mixed in the work shed, and money is very insecure, even when sleeping, you have to carry it on your body.

A dozen yuan is already a huge amount of money for ordinary people, and now the bank in Shanghai is about to replace the bank, which is convenient and safe, so Meng Liansheng took a rainy day and went to the bank with his own money and his cousin's money.

Most of the people who went to the bank to do business were dressed decently, but he looked really out of place as a young man in a patched jacket.Fortunately, he was literate and good at learning to imitate. He quietly observed for a while, and saved the money smoothly without making a fool of himself.

Coming out of the bank, the rain has stopped.

The climate in the south of the Yangtze River is not comfortable. It was originally humid, but after the temperature dropped suddenly, the wet chill could penetrate the bones.

A gust of cold wind blew, and Meng Liansheng shivered. He looked down at his clothes, thinking that the pier was very windy, and he still had two dollars in his pocket, so he decided to buy thick clothes for himself and his cousin for the winter.

Three months in Shanghai, this is the second time he has come to the French Concession, and the last time he just glanced at it while passing by, this time he was able to see clearly.

The buildings are tall, the streets are wide, and the cars on the road are driving fast—in short, they are faster than the ox carts and horse-drawn carts in the countryside, splashing a splash of water on the water-logged road from time to time.Occasionally, a tram rang its bell and stopped at a roadside stop sign.

The tall sycamore trees on both sides have withered in the wind and rain, leaving only a few solitary yellow leaves hanging precariously on the branches.

All this made Meng Liansheng strange and indifferent.

Then, before entering a department store.

He saw Shen Yutong.

He has a good memory. In the past two months, he has polished thousands of pairs of shoes and met thousands of guests, but he still recognized Shen Yutong who was more than ten meters away. Because this noble son has a handsome face that is unforgettable.

Meng Liansheng involuntarily stopped and looked at the person.

At that time, the Second Young Master Shen was walking towards a black Chevrolet car parked by the side of the road with his servant, A Fu, carrying the things they bought from the department store.

When he was about to reach the car, a man in a short coat suddenly hurried past him, walked a few steps, and then suddenly ran away.

Shen Yutong came to his senses later, touched the pocket of his trousers, and his face changed suddenly: "My wallet!"

"Wallet?" Ah Fu was obviously more ignorant than his young master.

But someone was quicker than them.

Because Meng Liansheng saw Shen Yutong, he naturally noticed the pickpocket who stole the wallet.When the man ran away, he quickly came back to his senses and instinctively chased after him.

The greatest skill of those who do sneaky things is to run fast.But Meng Liansheng, who roamed the mountains and fields since he was a child, is obviously better than the astute pickpockets in Shanghai.

He caught up with the man in a narrow alley.

The man was driven out of breath, and seeing that there was no way ahead, he had to stop, leaning against the wall and turning his head to look fiercely at Meng Liansheng who was chasing him.

The two were about the same age, and Meng Liansheng was not born to be powerful, on the contrary, he was just a thin boy with a gentle and harmless face.

His dark eyes looked right at the man, his usual expressionless face, he walked step by step, without anger or fear, only a strange calm and indifference.

The man originally watched him chasing him alone and didn't take it seriously, but now he was inexplicably uneasy because of the other party's calmness, and the bluff and ferocity on his face gradually collapsed.

He gritted his teeth and spat, pulled the wallet out of his trouser waist, threw it on the ground, then ran two steps forward, clasping his hands against the wall, like a flexible gecko, slithered over the wall and escaped.

Meng Liansheng watched the other party disappear from the wall before continuing to slowly walk forward and pick up the wallet from the ground.The brown wallet was a little dusty, and he wiped it off with his fingers, then turned and walked back holding the wallet.

When he reached the entrance of the alley, Ah Fu had already chased him. He saw Meng Liansheng chasing the pickpocket. Seeing that he was fully dressed and holding Shen Yutong's brown wallet in his hand, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you little brother, our family The young master will definitely thank you very much."

Meng Liansheng silently handed him the wallet.

Ah Fu took the wallet, turned his head, and saw that Shen Yutong had walked over unhurriedly, and hurriedly waved: "Second Young Master, this little brother helped recover the wallet."

Shen Yutong nodded distantly. He was wearing a black suit today, with a shirt and a vest inside, and a pair of black leather shoes under his feet. Even if he was walking on the muddy road that had just rained, he still looked elegant like a nobleman.

Walking up to the two of them, he casually took the wallet from Chang Gui, and said to Meng Liansheng with a smile, "Thank you, little brother, for your generous help." Opening the wallet, he only looked at the two photos inside, without counting the banknotes. Then he casually took out two ten-dollar bills and handed them to the young man in front of him, "A little thought will be my reward, and I hope my little brother will not dislike you."

Meng Liansheng's eyes fell on the silver bill in his hand, he took two steps back and waved his hand, stammering, "No...no need."

Shen Yutong stretched out in mid-air and didn't take it back immediately. After being stunned for a while, he looked at the young man in front of him calmly. The worn-out black jacket on the other party was already a bit short-sighted, and it should have been worn for several autumns.

Obviously, this is a poor child.

In the end, he set his eyes on Meng Liansheng's face, who was smiling slightly and staring at him with dark eyes, with a pure sincerity inside, as if he had never been polluted by the world.

Obviously, his refusal was obviously not being polite to himself.

This can't help but make Shen Yutong feel that the two pieces of money in his hand are an insult to the kindness of the young man.

He took the money back with a smile, and said: "Little brother, you helped me, I must thank you, if not, I will treat you to a meal."

Meng Liansheng still waved his hand: "No need, it's just a little effort."

Shen Yutong glanced at him again, and suddenly thought of something, and gasped, "Did we meet somewhere?"

Meng Liansheng was slightly taken aback, remembering that day at the pier, the other party was sitting opposite to him, and when he looked at him, he had to look up.At that time, although they were not far apart, it seemed that one was in the clouds and the other was in the dirt.

But at this moment, the two are standing opposite each other, he is not much shorter than the other, and he only needs to look at the other at the same level.

He didn't think shining shoes was as lowly a job as before, but now he suddenly finds it difficult to talk about it, as if as long as he doesn't say anything, he and the other party are equal.

So he shook his head instinctively, took a few steps back, then waved his hands, turned around and walked away quickly.

Shen Yutong watched in amazement as the other party left without saying a word, and after a moment of stupefaction, she shook her head amusedly.

Ah Fu on the side said: "This little brother is really interesting!"

Shen Yutong nodded and smiled, "It's really rare in this world to have such a child who is so righteous and doesn't ask for anything in return."

Having said that, Shanghai is such a big place, and the intersection between two people who are so different from each other is really insignificant. No one knows if there will be a chance to meet again next time.

Of course he didn't take this matter to heart.

Meng Liansheng, who was saying goodbye to Shen Yutong, went into the nearby department store with the two oceans on his back.Passing by a suit brand, he thought of Shen Yutong and his well-made suits.

He looked down at the jacket on his body, and walked in.

The clerk was a young man in a three-piece suit. Seeing such a well-dressed young man, he looked around curiously, with a trace of disdain on his face, as if he had forgotten that he was just working for someone else. Not a huge salary.

He glanced at each other with the eyes of a superior person looking at an inferior person, and said contemptuously: "The cheapest suit in the store is three yuan a set. If you don't buy it, don't touch it, in case it will be dirty and affect the sale."

Meng Liansheng withdrew his hand on the fabric of the clothes, and looked at the arrogant shop assistant next to him expressionlessly.Because he saw his pretentiousness and bluff, the other party's contempt was irrelevant to him.

He nodded and walked out. Just as he reached the door, he heard the people inside complaining: "Nowadays, some people dare to enter any store without considering how many oceans they have in their pockets!"

Meng Liansheng subconsciously touched the two oceans in his pocket.

Two oceans can't afford a suit, and he, a shoe shiner, doesn't need a suit.

Coming out of the department store, he found a plainclothes Chinese clothing store nearby.

The boss is an old tailor, and the clothes are sold very cheaply. Two sets of quilted short jackets for grown men cost nothing more than five cents.Meng Liansheng was very satisfied, and carrying two sets of new clothes, he walked back to the old work shed beside the pier through the slanting wind and drizzle in late autumn.

Shen Yutong returned to Shen's garden after having lunch at the old Zhengxing restaurant.

His mother died young, and his elder sister-in-law Biyun acted as his half-mother. Biyun is a decent young mistress. She married into the Shen family for 20 years and lived the life of a dignified wife. Although she is over forty, she is well-maintained and happy. A face without a trace of wrinkles, rich and elegant, wearing jewelry all over the body, is worth a few lifetimes of ordinary people.

Seeing the big and small bags Ah Fu was carrying, she took them over with a smile.

Since Shen Yutong will go to work in the factory at home in a few days, he went out today to buy some new clothes.

Biyun dug out the new suits that my uncle had bought. They were pretty good in shape and quality, and they were all branded items from department stores.

"How much is this set?" She picked up one of the sets and asked casually.

The clothes were bought casually in a department store, and Shen Yutong didn't pay much attention to the price: "It seems to be ten yuan."

"So cheap?" Biyun frowned and clicked his tongue, obviously thinking that a suit worth ten yuan couldn't match his handsome uncle, "But it doesn't matter, you can make do with these clothes first. I often make clothes for your elder brother That shop is full of foreign tailors, so there is nothing to say about the craftsmanship of making suits, and my sister-in-law will take you there later."

Shen Yutong smiled: "Thank you sister-in-law."

The author has something to say:

Top hunters usually appear as prey.

So no matter what happens to the little shoe shiner, don't pity him, isn't he worth it?