Chang Geng tried to stand on his feet. He looked at the crowd with difficulty and shouted, “Shiliu!”
No answer. The people who were chasing after the Giant Kite started to surge simultaneously. Some people cheered, some shouted “It’s here!”, Some shouted “Stop pushing!” With frustration.
Chang Geng was hit by several people at this point, his frustration grew. He shouted as loud as he could, “Yifu!”
The crowd began rushing along the dark side of the river. Chang Geng, on the one hand, had to fight to stay strong against the flow of people, and he also had to look back and forth to look for Shiliu. He began to sweat. The admiration when he saw the Giant Kite just evaporated.
Having this kind of Yifu will spend years of your life!
Chang Geng angrily thought, ‘Shen Shiliu really only plays with people. On a hot day like this, because there’s nothing else to do, he really has to go here to see the crowd! ‘
At this moment, someone shouted loudly, “Stop pushing, someone is falling!”
As Chang Geng was looking left and right, he unconsciously began to look at the scream.
A small group of people by the river began to fall into confusion.
“Oh my God, how can someone really fall!”
“Go and look for military officers on duty!”
“Open the road! Please give way! Cannot move …..”
Chang Geng wanted to get away from the crowd who were desperately trying to get out when he faintly heard, “Lord Shiliu, be careful!”
Chang Geng was astonished. Suspecting that perhaps his nerves were getting the best from him, he stepped forward to grab hold of someone who had just separated from the crowd, “Who fell? Is Shen Shiliu?”
The man might or might not catch what Chang Geng said, he involuntarily nodded, “Looks like 一 let go of me first.”
There was an explosion in his head. He stood amidst the heat of the Giant Kite but a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.
At that moment, he immediately took a deep breath and quickly moved against the flow of people and headed towards the river’s edge at the fastest speed. His feet stumbled slightly before he could reach the fence to steady himself.
He hurried to look down and saw that there really were people who were struggling in the water.
The surface of the underground river water has a depth of about six or seven feet from the ground, one cannot see the bottom, because the river is cold and dark. Large white waves continuously hit. The people in the river did not have anything to hold on to, even their struggle could not be heard from where Chang Geng was, and there was no way to find out who was the person down there.
Chang Geng took off his coat, “Let me through! Please give way.”
Someone exclaimed, “You can’t jump right away! Someone bring a rope to the boy!”
It is not clear who quickly put a piece of string in the palm of his hand. Chang Geng gripped it. He looked up and looked at the Giant Kite that would arrive at any moment, and jumped into the river without hesitation.
“Fasten it! Hurry up! They will be swept away when the Giant Kite gets here!”
The power of the newly entered Giant Kite caused the waves to rise higher than the adults, crashing into Chang Geng’s chest as soon as he jumped in. River water enters his mouth and he is almost swept away. He quickly grabbed the rope hanging from the river’s edge and tried to wipe his face.
The loud sound of water crashing and the sound of Giant Kite slowing down at its speed was extremely deafening, Chang Geng’s vision was only filled with white waves. He could faintly hear someone shouting on the beach, “Don’t let the rope get further! Giant Kite will come! Quickly pull the boy before it’s too late!”
Chang Geng, “Wait!”
But all the sounds in the water were so loud that he could not even hear his own scream.
He moved his hands to signal those on the beach to stop pulling the rope, while he struggled to swim toward the place that had the strongest waves at the same time.
In the midst of chaos, someone held his hands frantically searching, and Chang Geng could not think much in this situation. He quickly grabbed the man’s wrist and pulled him into his arms. He didn’t have the chance to see who that person was, the Giant Kite was already rumbling as it moved forward.
The people on the beach didn’t dare to delay any longer, the rough rope fastened at his waist suddenly gave strength, his whole body felt heavy when several people on the beach joined together to pull him out.
After coming out of the surface of the water, he felt that the burden in his arms was a little inappropriate. Chang Geng quickly blinked to get rid of the water droplets on his eyelashes and suddenly discovered that the person he was pulling out was entirely not Shen Shiliu. It was a child who was eleven years old; Cao Niangzi.
At this moment, the sound of a long horn giving a signal from the Giant Kite pierced his ears, he could no longer think. He shouted and helped the half-unconscious Cao Niangzi to go up first.
The people on the beach shouted and tried their best to attract the two boys, but they were a little too slow. Chang Geng’s feet are still outside the river’s edge. The momentum of the Giant Kite could not be stopped, and the flaming fins almost brushed his feet. The distance is still far, but one can already feel intense heat waves and heat.
“The flamed fins must not be touched!”
“Be Careful!”
At this moment, a pair of pale hands quickly reached out, passed through all the screams, and grabbed Chang Geng’s arm and pulled him straight up. A group of people called out and retreated. Chang Geng felt as if he was about to fly out of the crowd, but ended up falling into a man’s arms.
He involuntarily took a deep breath, the aroma of the medicine immediately soaked his nostrils. Chang Geng jerked his face up, the tip of his nose almost scratching Shen Shiliu’s firm jaw line.
Shen Shiliu’s expression was very heavy, “I only turned my head for a moment and you have caused trouble!”
Scolded first, he suddenly couldn’t say a word.
Shen Shiliu, “There are so many officers and men on the beach, does anyone need a child like you to come to rescue?”
Chang Geng, “……”
His heart that had hung in the air fell back into place. The blood that gathered in his chest flowed through all his numb limbs like water rinsing through the floodgates. At this point, he could finally let out his first breath, there was a feeling of discomfort as if his internal organs had reversed. His legs were so weak that he could barely stand up.
Cao Niangzi had been taken to the side, he coughed several times and then slowly awoke. Seeing that the boy was no longer facing a serious problem, Shiliu pulled Chang Geng out of the crowd, a deep displeasure showed on his face. Chang Geng, whose legs were still weak and trembling, was dragged away by Shiliu. He scolded her as they walked, “The temperature of the fins has not subsided. If you touch it, it can wipe out half of your legs. Do you want to be disabled for life? A young child who doesn’t know his own limits …”
Chang Geng was still trembling trying to calm himself, but Shiliu the ‘villain’ had actually stolen those words from himself before he could say anything first. His anger suddenly ballooned.
He shouted at the top of his lungs, “I thought you fell !!”
Shen Shiliu raised both of his long eyebrows, “Stop looking for excuses! I have grown up, how can I fall into the river for no reason? “
Chang Geng, “……”
His heart, which had been easily sacrificed for caring, had been removed as if it were nothing. The burning red hot rushed up from the neck to the roots of his ears. He could not say whether it was due to shame or anger, only water could no longer get rid of this fire.
“Alright, don’t stay here anymore,” Shen Shiliu reached out and touched Chang Geng’s long wet hair. He took off his own outer robe and wrapped it around Chang Geng’s body. “This place is too chaotic. I won’t argue with you about this today. Hurry home and change your clothes, pay attention not to catch a cold.”
He is also quite generous!
Chang Geng roughly slapped Shiliu’s hand, his fingers accidentally bumped into something hard inside his sleeve.
Shen Shiliu, “Oh, this is the lip color I just bought, remember to bring it back for your mother …. Hey, Chang Geng, where do you want to go?”
Chang Geng didn’t wait for him to finish talking; He ran away without saying a word.
Chang Geng knew full well that he was stubborn. He purely reacts because he hears other people’s words. He hadn’t even seen who fell, but he had panicked and jumped after that too. Being scolded by Yifu is a very reasonable thing.
But thinking of the previous moments when worries burned in his heart, this man only casually bought lip color! The flames of anger that now shook him hurt his chest so much that he could not suppress them no matter how hard he tried.
Shen Shiliu who was suddenly abandoned by Chang Geng, awkwardly rubbed his nose. He came to the conclusion that every young man must go through a certain period in which they will not be predictable and moody.
Shen Shiliu, who was a father for the first time, was quite worried, he thought, “If before I knew that something like this would happen … I would save the iron wristband for this situation. Right now he must be really angry, how would I going to persuade him now? “
He stood near the river with his hands behind his back. The Giant Kite had moved past it from its side, the lights on its tail flickered. The dark river behind him slowly closes.
Shen Shiliu only felt worried for a moment, he began staring at the rear lights, but his gaze did not spread as usual when looking into the distance. Then, his eyebrows slowly interlocked.
Suddenly, his figure disappeared into the crowd like a fish in the water. His footsteps were unheard of, his movements were very fast, unlike ordinary days where he would search around for half a day only to find the exit.
Chang Geng returned home. The stinging summer breeze blew and hit the cold river water on his body, making him feel a little calmer, the irritation and wrinkles in his eyebrows gradually disappeared.
His eyes are very similar to those of Xiu Niang. The contours of his face that had just begun to mature look very deep. They are not like the people in the Central Plains … but they also do not resemble strangers. In short, this is a very special type of appearance.
Chang Geng had just entered the house when he immediately saw the old maid standing on her feet and looking out. The old maid was surprised when she first saw her messy appearance, “Oh no, how did you become like this?”
“It’s nothing,” Chang Geng said weakly. “Someone fell into the river, I jumped to help them and got wet.”
The old maid took a small step behind her and whispered, “Madame says that we should not prepare food, I assume that she wants to wait for Mayor 一 Ah yes, Madam has also asked the Young Master to come to his room, he said there are some personal problems between mothers and son. “
As Chang Geng stepped forward, his shoulders involuntarily tightened, and after a while, he nodded. He first returned to his own room to change into dry clothes. Feeling offended and annoyed, he carefully folded Shen Shiliu’s robe, then took the lip dye box and went to Xiu Niang’s room.
The old maid wanted to know about the mother-child relationship between Chang Geng and Xiu Niang, but she didn’t dare to ask. Therefore, he followed him and planned to eavesdrop.
Standing in front of Xiu Niang’s door, Chang Geng fixes his clothes, as formal as meeting a guest. Only after he looked quite neat and proper did he bow his head and knock on the door, “Mother.”
There was a cold and clear voice from a woman who was heard from inside, “Come in.”
Chang Geng reached out and pushed the door open. Upon entering, he looked back and saw the old maid peering at them. The old maid was surprised after meeting her gaze and looked away. When he looked back after a few moments, the doors had closed and nothing could be seen again.
Xiu Niang’s room was very dark, and the window facing the sun on one side was covered by her body.
As if he didn’t want to see any light, he sat alone in a dark corner, facing the mirror.
Chang Geng looked at his figure from behind and frowned slightly.
He did not know what had happened to Xiu Niang’s head. He wore a soft yellow dress and styled his hair in the style of an unmarried woman. The years that had passed treated her well, coupled with the darkness of the room that easily covered the wrinkles around her eyes, she really looked like a woman in her twenties.
When Chang Geng wanted to call him, Xiu Niang led and spoke first, “If there is no one else around, don’t call me mom 一 do you bring back the lip color?”
Chang Geng heard this. He swallowed back the second word ‘mother’ who was about to leave his mouth, then walked and gently placed the warmed box in his palm on his dressing table.
“Oh, this color is very beautiful. Very bright,” Xiu Niang finally showed a rare smile.
He wiped the lip color a little with the tips of his fingers, wiped his pale lips, and looked at himself in the mirror with enthusiasm. He asked, “Does it look good?”
Chang Geng stood coldly to the side and didn’t make a single sound. His heart felt strangely dark because he did not understand why he asked him to come here.
As he thought, his eyelids on one side suddenly twitched twice without warning. Chang Geng was confused, it seemed like there was a kind of bad feeling that swelled up in his heart.
At this moment, Xiu Niang opened her mouth, “In the future, you can stop calling me mother in front of outsiders.
“Our path as mothers and children, it ends here today.”
He lifted his face fully exhausted, holding out a pair of fragile hands like a piece of grass as if he wanted to adjust Chang Geng’s collar.
Chang Geng stepped back in surprise, “What do you mean?”
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