Upper Class

It's not yet July, and the weather is getting hot.After nine o'clock, the temperature went straight to thirty degrees.

Lin Sitao was wearing a safety helmet and only work clothes, no undershirt underneath, and he was still sweating from the heat.He has been working on the construction site for more than ten days, and he is already used to the rhythm here.

He was staring at the concrete intently, but he didn't notice that two Cherokees were parked beside the construction site, and a dozen people got out of the cars one after another.

"Hey! There's someone from above." Lao Chen yelled loudly, he was an old worker on the construction site, and Lin Sitao followed him when he came here to work.

"Master," Lin Sitao called him, "Is it time to add water?"

Old Chen gave a "hmm", still staring at the approaching crowd.He suddenly pushed Lin Sitao: "It seems to be calling you! Come over!"

Lin Sitao raised his head in a daze, and saw Wu Jianghai, their foreman not far away, desperately waving to him. Amid the roar of the machine, he could vaguely hear him opening his mouth and shouting: "Lin! Tao! Lin Sitao! Come here!"

He hesitated for a moment, then trotted up to the group of people.

The group of people were all wearing good quality shirts and watches, probably because no one was sweating profusely after getting out of the car for a while.

The person surrounded by stars and moons was the most exaggerated--Lin Sitao couldn't tell where the exaggeration was, he only glanced at it, then hurriedly looked away--that person was more than ten centimeters taller than Lin Sitao, Like the kind of actor who plays emperors and generals in TV dramas.

"Lin Sitao, raise your head and tell me, how old are you this year?" the man opened his mouth.

Lin Sitao didn't recover, he had already done what he said. He raised his head, looked into the man's eyes, and murmured, "I'm 17 years old."

He Xian looked suspiciously at the child in front of him.

Really just a kid!

Before he even got out of the car, he saw a thin figure from the back, less than 1 meters tall, with a large overalls hanging on his body, and he was sweating profusely mixing concrete, and the back of the clothes was wet a lot.When the car turned around, he saw the man's face, and he couldn't help being surprised—it was a child who looked to be about 7 years old at most.A face is extremely childish, and the complexion is baked red and black.

As soon as he got out of the car, he called Ding Shengguang.

"How dare you use child labor on the construction site?"

Ding Shengguang asked Wu Jianghai immediately: "What's the matter with child labor on the construction site?"

Wu Jianghai was taken aback, and swore to the sky: "Mr. Ding, you know me, and you always follow the rules. What we fear most on the construction site is safety problems. I will not die if I use child labor."

He Xian pointed: "What is that?"

Wu Jianghai looked in the direction he pointed, suddenly realized, and said: "That! He just has a small face and a baby face. He is really not a child laborer!"

He Xian didn't believe him.He has seen so many men that he can tell the difference between a baby face and a real child.

Now Lin Sitao stood in front of He Xian and replied, "I'm 17 years old."

The voice is very thin and light, with a slightly hoarse voice.

His hair looked like it hadn't been cut for a while, sticking out from under the helmet and resting on his forehead, wet with sweat.It seemed that his face was only the size of a palm.A pair of eyes are not too small, just red from lack of sleep.The tip of the nose is as small and sharp as a little girl's, and even the movement of the wings of the nose seems cautious, and the thin lips are drawn into a line.

The feeling is just one word: small.

Young, pitifully young, in the first and second grades of junior high school, children of this age should be playing like crazy during summer vacation.

He Xian glanced at his hand again.The nails on the hands are round, the fingers are slender, and the joints are not thick.Clearly it hasn't been deformed by long hours of hard work.

"Don't be afraid, you are not at fault for this matter, it will not be held to you, and it will not affect you in any way. Please tell me the truth, have you reached the age of sixteen?"

He Xian said clearly and gently.

"Director He..." Wu Haiyang interjected, and Ding Shengguang stopped him: "Shut up."

Lin Sitao looked at these grown-ups before he realized it.When he came out to work with Lao Chen, he was even joked-"You are so small, will you be treated as a child laborer!"

In a hurry, he said louder: "I'm already in high school, and I'll be 18 in the fall! I have an ID card!"

He Xian nodded: "Okay. Now you follow this Supervisor Ding, go to the office, and get your ID card for him to verify."

Ding Shengguang smiled and waved to Lin Sitao: "Come on, kid, go and have a rest."

Lin Sitao had never received such attention before, he nodded stiffly.

Half an hour later, Ding Shengguang came back to He Xian with a relaxed expression: "I've verified it with the system—it's rare for Director He to take a look. That child is already 17 years old, and he is really young."

Wu Haiyang seemed to be pardoned.

He was really afraid that Lin Sitao had used a fake ID just now, so he let it go.While thinking that if it was really a child laborer, he would kill Lao Chen, at the same time he did not forget to flatter He Xian.

"Director He is doing this for our own good. This is seriousness and seriousness that most people can't do!"

He Xian was already used to this.He has been praised since he was a child, and he has become numb.Besides, he is not in the mood to listen to these now.Cut the conversation aside and continue to discuss business with the people in the laboratory.

By lunch time the joke had spread.Everyone started calling Lin Sitao a "child laborer" and joked about him.

"I heard he's from City J." Standing on the balcony on the second floor of the director's office, Ding Shengguang said suddenly when he saw the workers below in twos and threes going to cook.

"Who?" He Xian flipped through the laboratory data reports while eating.

"Child labor."

He Xian corrected him: "It should be non-child labor."

"I remember my cousin's family is from J City?" Ding Shengguang said.He and He Xian are related, they are distant cousins.

He Xian's grandfather is indeed from J City.

City J is only a hundred kilometers away from Shanghai. Driven by Shanghai these years, it is a very lively small town.

During elementary school winter and summer vacations, he often went back to J City with his mother Zhou Qin for a short stay.Although my grandfather's old house is not as prosperous as their own home in Shanghai, there is an artificial lake right outside the compound.It is said that swimmers drown in it every year.Zhou Qin always stared at him very closely and forbade him to go to the lake.

He still remembers often being able to hear the voices of his mother, grandmother, and aunt talking and laughing in a low voice during his nap.Which family's son stabbed Lou Zi, which family's unworthy sons and grandsons broke up when they divided the family property, which family decided to go abroad, and which family's luck was going to Beijing, all of them were well known.

Of course, the one they talked about the most was the He family.

Business trips, inspections, so and so visited the old man of the He family again.Amidst the slight sound of the electric fan, Zhou Qin's voice was elegant and firm: "Immigration is not bad, but with the storms and waves coming, it is more promising to stay in the country..."

However, during the summer vacation in the fourth grade of elementary school, Zhou Qin took him back to J City and fell ill.

She said she was sick, but she didn't go to the hospital, she just lay in her bedroom every day.The eyes were red and swollen, and the voice was hoarse and broken.Zhou's living room suddenly became very deserted.

One night in the middle of the night, He Xian was awakened by a noise.

He had never heard Zhou Qin cry so hysterically.

"Let me die! Let me die! He is not human... How did our family treat him back then... He treated me like this! Let me die!"

He ran out from the upstairs room and saw Zhou Qin lying on the sofa, soaked from head to toe. She was barefoot, her long hair was loose, and she looked like she had been fished out of the water.

Grandma wrapped Zhou Qinqin in a blanket and was crying non-stop while holding her.Grandpa sat on the side, covered his face, and was crying too.

No one expected that He Xian would appear.Zhou Qin's crying stopped abruptly, she and He Xian looked at each other for a few seconds, then suddenly jumped up, stumbled and hugged him, like a water ghost returning from the bottom of a lake.

"Every day! Every day!" She shouted his nickname hoarsely.

The summer vacation is over.After entering the fifth grade, Zhou Qin and his father He Budong divorced.He BuTong went to Beijing, Zhou Qin was still working in Shanghai at that time, she insisted not to let He Xian live with her, and asked He BuTong to take He Xian to Beijing.

Within a few years, my grandparents passed away one after another, and returning to J City was a hasty funeral.He Xian's memories of City J gradually became thinner, and when Ding Shengguang suddenly mentioned it, He Xian didn't feel anything for a while.

"Oh," he said matter-of-factly, "There should be quite a few people from City J coming here to work."

Ding Shengguang glanced at him: "I have booked a hotel reception for the evening, you must go."

He Xian has never been keen on entertainment, he would rather eat junk fast food alone than go out drinking and singing with a bunch of people.

"Just go." He dealt with Ding Shengguang casually.

Ding Shengguang smiled: "Comrade Xiaohe, is it me that people really want to invite? I'm just studying with the prince! If you don't want to go, what's the point of us holding each other's feet?"

"It's good to maintain a sense of mystery, but it's wrong to reject people thousands of miles away..." He was very conscientious, trying to persuade He Xian.

He Xian glared at him.Ding Shengguang stopped.

But unexpectedly, He Xian said: "I will go."

When we got to the hotel, Ding Shengguang was still happy at first. He Xian drank freely and didn't shake his face at anyone. He smiled the whole time and seemed to be in a good mood. Can't help but take a second look.Everyone feels that they have been given enough face.

Later, Ding Shengguang gradually felt that something was wrong—He Xian was completely open to all comers, toasted and drank a glass, and drank half a glass of baijiu directly in one gulp.

No matter how good the alcohol capacity is, this is not the way to drink.Ding Shengguang helped him block some people from going crazy.In the end, I drank a piece on the table.

Ding Shengguang opened a room for him and carried him there to rest.

"You're using alcohol to relieve your worries. I know you're upset, so there's no need to do this, right? Ah? If something happens to you, won't your mother beat me? Old Zhou Laohe, I can't afford to offend you, so forgive me Let's go..." Ding Shengguang also drank a lot, muttering about He Xian.

He Xian was also drunk, but he was not like Ding Sheng who talked too much when he drank too much.He tasted very good wine, and when he drank too much, he didn't cry, make noise, or talk much, but was depressed and listless.

Ding Shengguang settled He Xian down.I went out and made a phone call, and called his No. [-] local girlfriend to pick him up for the night.

He Xian lay on the bed for half an hour, then suddenly got up, rushed into the bathroom and vomited for a while.

After vomiting, he felt much more awake and left the hotel directly.

He took a taxi, wandered around the city for a while, and then went near the construction site.

The construction site was still under construction at night. Standing on the bridge, he could see the lights on the construction site.At this time, in the dead of night, there is only one stage left in the whole universe of lighting, sound and image.

He Xian stared at the river under the bridge, it was dark and quiet.He lay on the side of the railing and watched it for an unknown number of minutes, fascinated by it.He raised his leg—and stepped on it with surprisingly little effort.

He was staggering and trying to get the other leg across when someone grabbed his arm and held him back.

"Director He!" The voice broke out in panic, and then he was dragged by the waist and suddenly pulled off the bridge railing.The momentum was too great, and the two fell on the bridge together.

The man knelt beside him, still in shock, and asked in a whisper, "Director He, are you okay..."

He Xian lay on the ground and laughed loudly.He finally felt that he had drunk too much.

"It's okay... I'm drunk..."

It had been a long time since he shed tears from laughter, and he sat up slowly, only then did he see clearly the person who dragged him down.

That person didn't wear a hard hat, he had a teenager's face, his eyes were wet, and he didn't know if he was frightened.

"It's you, child labor..." He Xian couldn't remember his name for a while.

Lin Sitao didn't correct him, but whispered, "I'll take you back, Director He.