Canary [Rebirth]

Ningjin is different from Huaicheng in the south. The weather in March is still cold and windy, the sky is gray and smoky, and the flowers have never bloomed in spring.

It was just in the evening when Pei Xiangque left work and walked out of the dusty and sandy construction site.He took off his safety helmet, went to the sink and carefully cleaned every crevice of his nails, and then went to cook with the dishes.

There was chaos all around, people on the construction site were in groups, squatting all over the place, swallowing their meals with the dust.

When Pei Xiangque walked into the small shed where the food was cooked, the bucket containing the food was already empty.Originally, the aunt who was in charge of the canteen saw that he was too young to compete with young and middle-aged people, so she would specially leave a copy for him.Unfortunately today, it was just in time for the holiday, and the aunt asked her son to take care of the shift, so naturally there were only leftovers left.That boy was eager to learn, and there were still books in front of him to study at this time, so he managed to separate his thoughts and scooped up the leftovers from the bottom of the bucket to fill Pei Xiangque's dishes.

Pei Xiangque took a quick glance. It was a book from the first year of high school.If he is still studying, he should be in the first year of high school according to his age.

Too bad he doesn't read anymore.

Pei Xiangque carried his own dishes, didn't bother him any more, and didn't join any small group, but walked back to his dormitory on the path.

It’s a dormitory, but it’s actually a small tin box made up of metal sheets and steel bars temporarily. There is no temperature difference, and it is still terribly cold, freezing directly into human bones.

However, the iron box that Pei Xiangque stayed in was extremely small, it could only accommodate a bed, and the gap between the bed and the door could barely squeeze a person to walk straight through.He closed the door carefully, took off his shoes and coat, and put them on the wooden board under the bed.He rubbed his hands that were red from the cold again, until he felt some warmth, then raised his chopsticks, and contentedly tasted the messy-looking, not delicious hodgepodge in front of him.

After eating, Pei Xiangque took out an old mobile phone half the size of a palm from his pocket, and pressed the switch.The blue bottom screen was blurry. Pei Xiangque squinted his round eyes, glanced at the time, picked out another recording from the folder, and played it.

At first it was a noisy mixed sound, and nothing could be heard clearly. After a while, a voice gradually became clear.

A rough, low-pitched male voice talked for a long time, with a tone of complacency and disdain, and people around him interrupted from time to time. Finally, amidst laughter, the progress bar of the recording came to an end.

Although this is far from the sound recorded by professional recording equipment, it is still easy for ordinary people to hear what is said in it.

Pei Xiangque was different. He suffered from a language barrier since he was a child, so he really couldn't understand.Those words were like tangled threads of nonsense, tightly entangled in his consciousness.

But this is just the first time.Soon, Pei Xiangque pulled back the progress bar again, patiently and carefully listened to it many times, and wrote down the recognizable or self-guessed words on paper from time to time.

On the first few sheets of paper, several words that he is very sure of have been listed.

"That idiot."

"Can't even talk."

"Old Zhu, you are amazing."

"Cheat fool's money."

Pei Xiangque pressed the pause button, frowned, vaguely discerned a few words, and hurriedly jotted them down on paper.

"Money... cut in half... send..."

Pei Xiangque didn't know how to speak, and he couldn't understand other people's words, but he was not a fool. After hearing these words, he could guess the rest.

Zhu San, that is, the old Zhu in the recording, secretly deducted half of the salary that Pei Xiangque entrusted him to send back, and swallowed it himself.

Zhu San is a fellow villager of Pei Xiangque, it is said that he is doing well outside, and he comes back every year with a lot of money.Pei Xiangque's father, Pei Ding, entrusted his son to Zhu San and took him out to work.

At that time, Pei Xiangque was only a little over 15 years old, and he was still considered a child laborer, and no formal place would accept him.But Zhu Sanwai was not a formal engineering team, there was a mixed bag of fish and dragons in it, and he didn't pay attention to Pei Xiangque's age.On the contrary, because he was too young and not strong enough, he cut his wages by half.

Pei Xiangque couldn't communicate because of the language barrier. For the sake of convenience, Pei Ding asked Pei Xiangque to ask Zhu San to send money back for him. Unexpectedly, Zhu San secretly made more than half of it and put it into his own pocket.In fact, Pei Xiangque originally gave Zhu San a small half of his salary as a care fee.But Zhu San is too greedy.

Pei Xiangque lay on the bed in a daze for a long time, with an incandescent light bulb hanging from the iron roof, swayed by the wind coming in through the crack of the door, and the dim light enveloped Pei Xiangque's whole body.His skin used to be very fair, but now it has been tanned to the color of black charcoal, and he is very thin, only his outstanding facial features can be vaguely seen, but he is curled up like a dingy little sparrow who can't eat enough .

He was thinking about how to get the money back, at least, he would not be able to hand over the money to Zhu San in the future.But after thinking for a long time, Pei Xiangque couldn't come up with any solution.He has no strength, no one he knows, and nothing but himself.

Pei Xiangque was shivering on the cold bed. He almost forgot that he was only 16 years old. He was supposed to know nothing at an age, but it was so hard to live.

Lu Yu arrived in Ningjin yesterday morning. He was still young at this time, and his resistance to sleeping pills was not too strong. He swallowed a few pills casually and fell asleep for two hours.In the dream, there was a fair and white Pei Xiangque who was even smaller than before.But as soon as he woke up from the dream, Pei Xiangque's shadow disappeared silently like a broken mirror.Lu Yu didn't care too much, and rubbed his forehead. He has arrived in Ningjin now, and the day when he will meet a real 16-year-old Pei Xiangque is not far away.

For the next whole day, Lu Yu was negotiating business with his co-workers here, and there were too many quarrels.He is only 24 years old now, and he looks too young to fight in the mall, so he can't convince the crowd.And this is not Huaicheng, where Lu Yu has been running for a long time. He is an outsider in Ningjin, which makes people feel that he is particularly easy to bully.

But Lu Yu is not someone who can be bullied.Lu Yu did have a lot of time and energy, but he just wanted to spend it on Pei Xiangque.

From eight o'clock in the morning to ten o'clock in the evening, the two sides talked for a whole day, and the people across the table couldn't hold it anymore. They had no choice but to sign the last name and said, "I'm old, and I can't compare with you young people, and I'm so powerful. , and can hold on.”

Lu Yu's wrist is tough, others can't easily benefit from him, but he is indeed capable, and there is no one in the younger generation who can compare to him.Now he has a 20-year-old shell, but he is actually in his thirties, and he is even more familiar with business affairs, unrivaled.

He took the signed contract from his assistant Li Chengguang, flipped through it again, stood up and nodded to the opposite side, raised his narrow eyebrows slightly, and finally turned and left.

Li Chengguang had a calm personality, opened the door for Lu Yu, and asked softly, "Are you going back to the hotel, or go to see the venue first?"

Lu Yu was startled, and turned his head to look out the window. There were thousands of bright lights, and Pei Xiangque's lamp was also in one of them.

His heart suddenly softened, and his tone was a little relaxed, "Going back to the hotel, I still have one most important thing to do."

Li Chengguang nodded, and the driver drove slowly to the hotel.

After returning to the hotel, Lu Yu opened the drawer first, and there was a document that was delivered not long ago.He propped his forehead with one hand, and slowly opened a sealed file bag with the other, and took out a few thin sheets of paper from inside, shining through the too strong light.Lu Yu read it from the beginning to the end without missing a single word, and read it over and over again many times.

Li Chengguang was a little curious. Although he hadn't been with Lu Yu for long, he still knew his boss's personality.He always strategizes and stays idle, how important is it that it deserves Lu Yu's attention?

In fact, these papers recorded the first 16 years of Pei Xiangque's life.Lu Yu only knew vaguely in his previous life. When he really wanted to understand Pei Xiangque completely, the past and the past were no longer necessary.

Because Pei Xiangque died.

Until Lu Yu returned to the present nine years ago.

Pei Xiangque was born in a water town in the south. His mother died early due to illness. His father, Pei Ding, married another woman and gave birth to his second child, Pei Xianglong.As the saying goes, if you have a stepmother, you have a stepfather.Pei Ding married Zhou Xiu, especially after having Pei Xianglong, he had a language barrier and couldn't speak well, and Pei Xiangque, who was called a fool by outsiders, looked down on him even more.Pei Xiangque's grades were not good, not too bad, but Pei Ding didn't let him continue his studies, but sent him out to work to support his family when he was only 15 years old.

Pei Xiangque is now working illegally at a small construction site in Ningjin.

This is also the reason why Lu Yu immediately put aside the matter of Huaicheng and rushed to Ningjin.

His canary is waiting for him here.

Li Chengguang dialed a phone number, and the phone rang twice, until the word "Hello" came over in a calm manner, and Li Chengguang asked, "Excuse me, are you Director Chen?"

This is a private call from the director of Ming'an District Bureau of Ningjin City.

The project contracted by Lu Yu was huge, and it was no secret that there were traces of government involvement behind it.Everyone in Ningjin City who is a little well-informed knows about Lu Yu, and Director Chen is no exception.

The two exchanged a few polite greetings before Lu Yu answered the phone and said politely, "I have something to trouble Director Chen."

The other end was taken aback, and he didn't agree immediately, but said politely: "Mr. Lu, why bother to say whether it's troublesome or not."

Lu Yu's eyes fell on the documents on the table, "I heard that there are some irregular engineering teams in Ming'an District, which will hinder our next project."

This sentence has not been finished yet, but the unfinished meaning is understood by both parties.Lu Yu's project has nothing to do with Ming'an District, which is an obvious excuse, but no one will expose it.

Director Chen was also puzzled, wondering what this Mr. Lu from out of town was planning to do, but such a small matter could still be accepted, so he agreed immediately.

Lu Yu added another sentence before hanging up the phone, and told Li Chengguang, "Prepare a gift some other day and send it to Chief Chen's home."

Li Chengguang responded and backed away quietly.

After solving this matter, Lu Yu's heart suddenly relaxed.

In fact, it's no wonder that Pei Xiangque doesn't love herself, Lu Yu knows it well.

In his previous life, his reunion with Pei Xiangque started with forced sex and captivity. Lu Yu used all the methods of coercion, temptation, and robbery to Pei Xiangque during this period.So even if there is a seed of love in the end, it probably won't bear fruit.

But this life is different, Lu Yu wants to have a different start from Pei Xiangque.

Lu Yu couldn't help but raise the corners of his lips.

What he had lost, and what he did want, would always be his.