Yunding Ranch

Chapter 1 The Uninvited Guest

The clear sky is as clear as a mirror, and occasionally a few cotton-like clouds can be seen on the transparent light blue canvas, it looks like you are on vacation, lying lazily on the hammock/ enjoying the sun The lightness and softness sprinkled down; a row of miscellaneous electric wires is set against the blue sky like a stave, and a few sparrows rise and fall among them, tossing and jumping, just like an artist who is working hard to compose music. There is a smell of nature; a gust of wind blows, the coldness in the air in March is mixed with a hint of spring, and a series of goosebumps appear on the surface of the skin, as if as long as you open your arms, you can ride the wind. Wandering in that intoxicating blue...

"Fourteen...Fourteen!" The voice in his ears grabbed Lu Li's wandering thoughts back, as if pulling the rope of a kite, and pulled him directly from the vast sky to the ground. .

Turning his head, Lu Li saw a pretty and youthful face. Because the distance was too close, he could even see the fine down on the face, which was covered with a light pink layer, and the emerald green eyes were rippling. A rosebud-like halo slowly bloomed in the depths of his pupils, "Hey, Alice!" Startled, Lu Li couldn't help but leaned back, but then realized that they were in class, so he quickly suppressed it. He raised his head and looked at the professor on the podium—fortunately, this is a large classroom, and his shout did not disturb the unmarried female professor who was over [-] years old.

"We are going to Miami today, do you want to join us?" Alice said in a low voice, with a hint of excitement in her eyes.

Lu Li hadn't fully recovered from the distraction just now, his thoughts paused for half a second, and then he remembered.Tomorrow is the spring break, and all American college students will enjoy this rare holiday to the fullest. Going to the beach in Miami to party is undoubtedly the first choice of most students, but Lu Li can only stay in New York and continue to run around for living expenses.

Lu Li, from a small mountain village in the southeastern part of China, is currently a senior student in the Department of Journalism at New York University and is about to graduate.In this day and age, studying abroad is no longer exclusive to wealthy families. Many working families are also sending their children abroad to receive higher education. This is the case for Lu Li's family. Both parents are well-behaved office workers, and their savings are very limited. , not to mention rich and powerful.Lu Li was able to come to the US to study entirely because of his own hard work and won the scholarship, which paid off the huge tuition fee.

In a blink of an eye, he was already a senior, and the pressure after graduation fell on his shoulders unknowingly. He had to start planning for the future, whether to find a job or continue to graduate school, whether to try to stay in the United States or go back to China Big cities, what unit should I choose for the internship, and what the direction of the graduation thesis will be, countless choices and countless possibilities can make people dazzled, but before he has time to worry about the confusion and confusion of the future, an accident at home disrupts the overall plan .

My father was hospitalized last October because of a sudden heart attack. After a seventeen-hour operation, he finally got through the difficulty. This is luck among misfortunes.But follow-up problems came one after another. Not only did most of the family's savings run out, but even the father needed to rest. There was no way to return to work in a short time, and the weight of the whole family fell on the mother.

Fortunately, Lu Li stayed in New York for the past two years during his summer vacation, working part-time to earn living expenses, so his problems won't become a burden to his family in a short time.However, he also realized that he had to bear more weight for his mother, so he began to increase his part-time working hours. As time passed, Lu Li was really overdrawn.

Spring break is a good time for most young people to enjoy a short break, but for Lu Li, it is the best time to work, especially because of the holiday, not only the hourly salary has increased, but also the tips have doubled .

"I have other plans." Lu Li politely declined, with a slight smile on his face, "Thank you for the invitation." While speaking, the professor had announced that the class was over, and other students around stood up and began to pack their textbooks. Seeing the regretful expression on Alice's face, Lu Li changed the subject, "I hope you can enjoy the sunshine there, and you won't feel it anymore after you come back." Lu Li pointed to the sunshine outside the window, "There is no such thing as a day like this. How much.” The weather in New York is really bad, and the sun is shining like today, just the first time in two weeks.

Alice was amused. Looking at Lu Li's eyes, which were like sparkling stars, the unfathomable black reached the extreme and revealed a faint light. The smile on the corner of her mouth involuntarily raised a little bit, "It seems , your plan is more alluring than the sunshine in Miami, which made me curious."

Lu Li smiled, and quickly packed his textbooks. He had to rush to the part-time restaurant immediately. If he was late, the head manager would show his face again. He motioned to Alice, and then Lu Li picked up his backpack and walked away quickly. With footsteps, Alice's voice came from behind, "Then I'm looking forward to your spring break story, remember to share it when you come back!" Lu Li turned around, raised his right hand, put his index and middle fingers on the end of his eyebrows, and said A salute gesture, without answering, turned around and left the classroom quickly.

I trotted all the way to the place where I parked my bicycle, found the key from my pocket, and opened the lock, but before I could drag the bicycle out, there was a shout from the far end, "Fourteen! Fourteen!" The voice came from Far and near, it was still a little thin at first, but it got louder and louder. When he raised his head, Lu Li saw seven or eight people bustling around the classroom window. These people were obviously booing, shouting in unison, "Fourteen !” With a mischievous smile on his face, other students around him cast their gazes.

Lu Li stood there, shaking his head helplessly, but his smile slowly rose. "Fourteen" was his nickname, after a stupid mistake he made at Orientation.

At that time, he went abroad for the first time. If it was paper strength, he had absolute confidence; but the dumb English under the domestic exam-oriented education did not have any confidence. He just imagined in his mind the scene of using English in daily life. His palms began to sweat, so that when his instructor asked his name, he subconsciously answered "NO.14"-his birthday is November [-]th, not only the instructor, but also the colleagues around him The other international students laughed.

At first, this nickname was only circulated among fellow Chinese, but over time, all the classmates called him this way.Lu Li didn't care, anyway, the name was just a code name. He even used "Fourteen" as his English name when he introduced himself, and then shared it with others as an interesting story. In the past two years of college life, I have made many friends.

Lu Li raised his right hand, as if he was a superstar facing the cheers of his fans, and waved condescendingly. Then, with a twist of his wrist, the palm of his waving hand turned into the middle finger of his right hand aimed at his classmates. This immediately caused everyone to burst into laughter Voice.

Just as Lu Li lowered his head to pull out the bicycle again, he heard shouting again, "Fourteen!" He raised his head, and saw Alice leaning against the window, "Someone is looking for you!" Alice stretched her entire right arm He stretched out the window and pointed in the direction of the gate.

Looking in the direction, Lu Li saw a middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes walking out quickly. He was looking around. The man looked about 40 years old. He was wearing a black suit and a white shirt. Yue's beer belly does not lose his professional aura, with a black briefcase in his right hand, he looks like an ordinary product manager on Wall Street.

The middle-aged man looked in the direction of the classroom, and saw all the students pointing at Lu Li in unison, like a natural weather vane. Lu Li couldn't help laughing at the scene.

However, the smile was only on the corner of his mouth, and Lu Li immediately walked towards the middle-aged man with his bicycle, "Sir, do you have anything to do with me?"

The middle-aged man was not in a hurry, and strode up to Lu Li. After stopping, he politely extended his right hand, "Good afternoon, I'm Mark Foster. Excuse me..." He paused After a pause, "Li-Mr. Lu?"

gentlemen.This word is really unfamiliar, Lu Li nodded with a smile, "Yes, I am Lu. So, you are British?" Americans don't like to use prefixes like "Mr."

"Boston, born and bred." Mark replied with a smile, but he didn't understand the humor in Lu Li's words just now.This made Lu Li complain: Sure enough, Bostonians don't have a sense of humor! "Excuse me, do you have time now?"

"Uh..." Lu Li looked at his watch, "5 minutes." Since Mark's words were always polite and seemed like business affairs, this made Lu Li more confused, but he didn't leave straight away, "I need to go to work, time Some rush, so..."

"It's okay." Mark waved his hand, quickly took out a business card from his pocket, and handed it to Lu Li, "I'm a lawyer at Will, Gaucher & Manggs, and I need to talk to you about Iraqi law. Regarding Ms. Sabella Allen's estate, when will you be free?"

Looking down at the business card in his hand, Lu Li's doubts were not relieved, but more and more, "Wait." Lu Li stopped Mark, and stopped walking forward with his bicycle, "What did you say? Inheritance? I don't know any Ms. Allen, and I have no inheritance, are you mistaken?"

Under the blue sky, the bright sunlight shone down, faintly drawing a golden border on Lu Li's shoulders.

(End of this chapter)