Shanghai morning

As soon as he stepped out of the gate of Jardine Matheson, the wind on the river rushed towards his face, and Wang Yao shivered from the cold.

"Xiao Wang, are you afraid of the cold?" Al looked at the trembling Wang Yao.

"Don't call me that, Xiao Wang can only be called by people who are older than me." Wang Yao corrected coldly.

"Okay, how about calling you Yao?" Al asked with a smile.

"As you like." Wang Yao didn't want to talk nonsense with this foreigner that he hated.

Suddenly his shoulders felt warm, and a thick jacket with a fur collar was draped over Wang Yao's body. Wang Yao looked at Al in astonishment, and the young man smiled indifferently: "Shanghai is very warm to me!"

Wang Yao still had a grudge against what happened yesterday, he didn't know how Al could pretend to be so indifferent, maybe he really didn't take it seriously at all?

Al took out a plate of chocolates, tore open the package and took a bite, looked at the silent Wang Yao, then took out another plate and handed it over: "Have a taste?"

Wang Yao hesitated for a while, and finally threw away the old saying "The honest man will not get cheap food" to tomorrow, reached out and took the well-wrapped chocolate and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Why don't you eat?" Al looked at him strangely.

"Leave it to my sister." Wang Yao whispered.

Al's eyes bulged, and he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

This is nothing ridiculous, if you have ever tasted the taste of starvation, Wang Yao said in his heart.

Al held back a smile and broke the chocolate in half, and handed the unbitten half to Wang Yao.Wang Yao thought for a while, and finally took it and started to eat. This kind of hard sweet food melts in the mouth, and it is better than the candied haws in Beiping.

Seeing Wang Yao's eating, Al thought it was amusing, it reminded him of the otter that built a dam on the river, that kind of small animal always held the branch with its slender claws and gnawed quickly.

It is not comfortable to drag a heavy body around Shanghai/Shanghai with a foreigner he does not like, but Wang Yao can't offend Al, which is tantamount to offending Arthur.

Different from the Bund, although there are Western-style buildings on both sides of the Suzhou River, they are much shorter. Looking west from the railing of the Waibaidu Bridge, you feel like you are in a small European town.

"Venice of the East!" Al exclaimed happily, "It's a pity I didn't take out my camera, I must take more pictures some other day!"

Wang Yao thought it was funny, how could Arthur, who is meticulous and hard-working, have such a playful cousin?

"No, the Venice of the East is Suzhou, which is in the north." Wang Yao corrected.

"Oh? What's it like there?" Al asked with interest.

"Xiaoqiao Liushui, you foreigners don't understand." Wang Yao was very dizzy and didn't want to talk much.

"Oriental people, Chinese people, you always have a lot of mysterious things, don't you?" Al smiled and turned to look at Wang Yao. The wind on the river blew his blond hair soft and handsome.

"It's not a mystery to us," Wang Yao supported his soft body with the railing, "You foreigners make us feel strange."

"What's so strange?" Al suddenly grabbed Wang Yao's hand and put it on his nose, "Is it here?"

"More than that." Wang Yao was amused.

"That's right here," Al put Wang Yao's hand on his blond hair again. Due to the large height gap between the two, he had to bend down to do this action, "or here." He took Wang Yao's hand again Make gestures in front of your own eyes.

"No, the strangest thing is here," Wang Yao covered his heart with his other hand, "We seem to never understand each other."

Al suddenly laughed at himself: "Actually, you hate me to death, don't you?"

Wang Yao looked at Al in surprise, and he could probably guess what he wanted to say.

"You lost the money, it has something to do with me and that German, doesn't it?" Al pointed to Wang Yao's gauze-wrapped head.

"I was not careful." Wang Yao said coldly, if he said he didn't hate Al, it would be a lie, but it was not because of losing money, but because of Al's insulting behavior, he was searched in the street like a thief.As for the loss of money, he put it all on the head of the German, beheading the German over and over again in his heart.

In the high-end coffee shop next to No. [-] on the Bund, Wang Yao almost slumped on a comfortable chair and walked almost half of the concession with Al. He really couldn't bear it anymore.It's two o'clock in the afternoon, and they haven't even eaten lunch. They don't know how Al has so much energy.

"Aren't you hungry? The dim sum in this shop is delicious, especially girls like it." Al introduced it like a few treasures.

dessert?If he has a good appetite, Wang Yao would prefer to eat a big bowl of wonton noodles at a roadside shop, but now he has no appetite because of the fever, he just wants to lie down and rest.The chair is very soft, it would be nice if I could just lie down like this.

The waiter brought coffee and rich refreshments. Wang Yao knew that Westerners would drink coffee with a small amount of desserts, but it was too much now, right?

"You definitely want to bring back some for your sister!" Al smiled and pointed to the plates of beautiful and delicate pastries.

Wang Yao looked at Al, and asked the waiter for a paper bag in embarrassment. The waiter fulfilled his request, although his attitude was polite, but there was disgust and contempt in his eyes that could not be concealed.Al suddenly grabbed a piece of pastry and put it in his pocket, and said generously to the stunned waiter, "My friends and I really like the pastries here, you are great!"

Seeing Al's indifferent look, Wang Yao was suddenly grateful.

After drinking coffee, Al suggested: "Go and see where I live, the scenery is beautiful!"

Wang Yao really didn't have the strength to go any further, but Al picked up his body and kept talking about how beautiful the view from him was. Wang Yao couldn't struggle and had to be dragged away by him.Al lives in the Sassoon Building at the intersection of Nanjing East Road, which is the tallest building on the Bund and a symbol of the Bund, but in Wang Yao's view, this building is very stupid—Chinese people will never accept green roofs.

Following Al into the elevator, he ascended all the way to the ninth floor. Al excitedly opened the door of his room, and an elegant and tidy Western-style suite was displayed in front of Wang Yao. It was not as luxurious as Wang Yao imagined, but it was simple at first glance. You will find that even the details of this room are artistic and luxurious, a perfect combination of simplicity and nobility.

"Come on, look down!" Al opened the window and pointed down.

Wang Yao looked out, and saw the vast and magnificent Huangpu River meandering in front of him. He had never seen the Huangpu River from such a high place, and he was really surprised that it had such a different effect.

"Are you sick? After playing with me for a long time, you must be very uncomfortable." Al suddenly looked down at Wang Yao and said, "But you dare not refuse, because Arthur is your boss."

Wang Yao's eyes widened. It turned out that Al had already noticed it, but even so, he still forced him to accompany him with his sick body, so foreigners are like this, and it is impossible to have any sympathy for Chinese people.

When Wang Yao was distracted, Al suddenly put his body down, and his back touched the soft mattress. Wang Yao was startled, and looked up at Al in horror. Al's sky blue eyes softened: "Sleep for a while, I will Won't tell Arthur."

Very tired, the bed was very comfortable, like the magic power of hypnosis, Wang Yao soon fell into a drowsy sleep, still frowning uncomfortably in his sleep.

Waking up from fatigue, Wang Yao couldn't figure out where he was for a while, the decorative painting on the ceiling was something he had never seen before.Then, the memory came back to his mind bit by bit, he moved his still sore body, covered with a warm and soft quilt, some clothes were taken off, some shirt buttons were unbuttoned, and an ice pack was placed around his neck.Turning his face sideways, he saw the back of Al standing by the window, the setting sun reflected on his blond hair, emitting waves of luster.

"I fell asleep?" Wang Yao asked aloud, and found that his voice was hoarse.

"Did you sleep well? You have a fever." Al turned around and said to Wang Yao with a smile.

"What time is it?" Wang Yao remembered that he had not returned to Jardine Matheson, and wondered how Arthur would be angry.

"Don't worry, I'll explain it to you." Al put his hands together with a smile.

Wang Yao propped himself up from the bed weakly, and walked slowly to Al's side: "I'm sorry to trouble you."

"By the way, I'll tell you a secret," Al leaned into Wang Yao's ear, "I'm not Arthur's cousin, I'm his father's illegitimate son."

Wang Yao was startled and stared at Al's eyes.

"Yes, I am an illegitimate child, born to the old man's American mistress, and one of the legal heirs of the Kirkland family." Al said, "I am afraid that I will cause a division in the future and ruin the Kirkland family's property, so the old man hopes that I can marry A Arthur worked together to reorganize the family business, and declared that I was Arthur's cousin."

"Then what do you think?" Wang Yao suddenly felt that knowing this secret was in a dangerous situation.

"I'm not interested in the Kirkland estate," Al said nonchalantly. "I'm a reporter. I like to travel and discover new things."

"You really don't want to? Then what are your plans for the future?" Wang Yao asked carefully.

"What's the use of planning for such a long-term? I only care about the present." Al opened his arms and made a hug towards the window, "Now I like Shanghai/Shanghai very much. This is a place full of vitality, depraved, exciting, and sexy. , like a coquettish woman, but when you think you can hug her, you will find that you don't know the real her at all."

Wang Yao also looked out of the window, and the scenery in front of him made him feel a strong shock: it is obviously the same place, but it glows with strange brilliance under the setting sun, and the red-dyed Huangpu River is rippling with endless vitality and magnificent momentum, Like a vigorous movement, magnificent and grand.The steamer sailed slowly across the river with low air whistle, instantly making people feel eternity.

"Look there, there will definitely be earth-shaking changes in the future, this is the magic of Shanghai." Al said, pointing to Lujiazui across the river.

For the first time, Wang Yao was completely intoxicated by the beautiful scenery in front of him, without any worldly distracting thoughts.The two stood silently in front of the window until the last ray of light was swallowed up by the night.