Chapter 24 Chapter 24 Invasion Chen

Zhi had a very long dream.

He always couldn't sleep when traveling by car, whether it was a high-speed train or a car, once the tires rolled over the ground, the friction with the dust and stones was like rolling over his heart, and he shuddered.

So in this rare dream of light sleep, he could not distinguish between reality and illusion, and stayed in drowsiness for a long time. The fog did not dissipate for a long time. No matter how hard he rubbed his eyes, he could not see clearly.

But he definitely felt the presence of his mother.

After his mother left this family completely, no one was willing to step into it. The construction team renovated the house inside and out, and the traces of charcoal fire disappeared, but the hot residual heat in the air often woke him up in the middle of the night.

Shen Zhi suffered from insomnia for a week and began to learn fighting techniques to have the power to fight against unknown things.

When he used this beautiful set of moves on the new bodyguard, the other party was surprised how a ten-year-old child could learn such standard movements by himself.

"Where did you learn it from? Who taught you?"

The young Shen Zhi remained silent, his big eyes gleaming with alertness, locking onto the vital points of this big guy like a young eagle.

"Don't be afraid, I'm your new bodyguard and driver, and I'll take you to school in the future. I'll wait for you at the door on time at 7 o'clock every day, and I'll go to school after school." The bodyguard grabbed his arm that was about to attack, "You can tell me if you have any problems, such as being bullied at school."

Before leaving, he turned back and added, "You're too thin and too young. It would be better to start practicing when you're older. Your family doesn't allow you to learn, right? Then I can teach you secretly...if you can pay me." Shen

Zhi ignored him. Finally, after falling flat three times a week later, the bodyguard sternly warned him, "You've been practicing secretly again recently, absolutely not, your muscles and bones will be damaged. You will get sick and you won't grow taller. If you still don't listen to me, or don't tell me the reason, I can only ask Mr. Shen to clarify."

That was the first time Shen Zhi spoke to him.

He asked calmly, "Can fists beat ghosts?"

The scenes of those years were clearly reproduced in the dream, and the frames passed like flowing water. The background color changed from colorful to gray, faded, overexposed... until it became dark. Shen Zhi woke up suddenly.

"Where is this?!" Feng Ran's angry shout rang in his ears, "Shen Zhi, what did you do again!" Shen

Zhi paused, woke up slowly from his drowsiness, and reconnected with the real world.

"On the way home. You were too tired and fell asleep." He said, "Where did you go?"

The driver replied: "There are still forty minutes to go."

After a few emotional ventings, Feng Ran was forced to calm down. The argument on the highway had no result, and he had to think about how to get out of it completely.

On the way, Shen Zhi mentioned the equity transfer again. Feng Ran thought he was just using this as an excuse, and heard that there was money to be made, thinking that it would be stupid not to take advantage of it, so he agreed. Unexpectedly, after returning, he really took him to the company and convened a meeting with the leaders.

This meeting was more like a family gathering. There were no outsiders at the table. The topic started with Shen's father's health, focusing on the renovation of his aunt's house, his cousin's high school entrance examination results, and his aunt's embroidery skills. The redistribution and transfer of equity lasted only two minutes and thirty seconds. Shen Zhi offered tea to his aunts and uncles. As soon as he finished speaking, everyone hit it off and turned to talk about where to meet for today's dinner.

Feng Ran played with his phone until it ran out of battery. He tore up the copies and folded paper stars on the table. Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore and told Shen Zhi to go out for some fresh air. The whole family dispersed.

Shen Zhi didn't know what considerations he made, but he actually assigned some work to Feng Ran. At first, he didn't want to be constrained by it, but when he learned that the salary was not cheap, he hesitated and agreed to work for a while.

Because Feng Qing sent him a message a few days ago, saying that Uncle Shen's condition had worsened, and his mother really couldn't afford the living expenses, so she asked her to find a way out.

Shen Zhi still maintained an ambiguous relationship with the company. When he was away, Feng Ran often met Shen Yuan. He was too lazy to think about how the other party came back from abroad, and even more lazy to take the initiative to cause trouble. This guy was extremely attentive to him. When he saw him, he was like a dog seeing a bone, and his tail shook like a propeller, which made him shudder.

Dominated by heavy tasks and working more than twelve hours a day, Feng Ran gradually forgot many things. For example, his sister's clock-in no longer appeared on time every day, Xiaofu's phone calls were no longer answered in time, and Liu Mang never bothered him again. The games he bought were covered in dust on the hard drive, and even his old friends reduced their contact with him. Time became as fast as an arrow, shuttling between the company and Shen Zhi's home, and his body and mind seemed to be under invisible house arrest.

In a trance, it was already late autumn.

After the long meeting that day, Shen Zhi rarely called immediately. Feng Ran turned on the computer, and the fan noise was like thunder, which annoyed everyone.

He walked along the familiar streets with his computer in his arms, took the subway and bus for a few stops to the repair shop, and the boss said he would come to pick it up in two hours.

He returned to the street and wandered around bored. The autumn air was strong, he was wearing thin clothes, and his phone was running out of battery. He called Chen Zhi several times but no one answered.

He suddenly felt bored. He walked for twenty minutes in one breath. That street was full of bars he had visited before.

But -

the bars were gone, replaced by convenience stores, milk tea shops and coffee shops.

He was not sure and continued to walk in until he saw the cold morning.

Under the strange rules on the blackboard, a new sentence was added. He looked closely and immediately couldn't move.

- This person is not allowed to enter. Next to it was a photo of him drunk that day. There was also a black line on his eyes.

He walked in immediately. The long-haired boss was not there, only a student-like boy with short and neat hair, simple clothes, and one of the most attractive looks.

He was concentrating on cutting ice cubes, and Feng Ran walked over and knocked on the bar.

"Where's your boss? What does that mean by the door?"

The student looked up at him and said, "It's you. Literally." He was not surprised at all.

"What do you think of me?"

The student hesitated. Feng Ran was not very friendly and stared at him, as if he was going to throw the ice cubes on the table to the floor in the next second. The student smiled at him helplessly: "We don't have any opinion on you, maybe your brother has some opinion on us."

"Brother? I--"

the student said, "Many families around here were forced to close down--not really closed down, but just moved away, one after another. We spent a lot of effort to stay."

At this time, the long-haired man appeared. When he saw him, he was like a plague god: "Hey, didn't you see the blackboard at the door? Get out, get out."

The student shook his head: "Just tell him clearly."

The long-haired man said reluctantly: "I received hush money. Anyway, someone bribed us. Either move out or don't let you come again."

The student added: "To some extent, you are quite famous now."

Feng Ran was stunned, trying to explore the authenticity of the answer from the other person's eyes. Even a little hesitation or evasion would increase his courage to overturn his guess.

But both of them looked at him calmly. Finally, the student showed him a transaction on his phone. The initiator was Shen Zhi's profile picture and name.

Feng Ran was like in a dream: "Why don't you move? And why? Tell me the truth?"

"We have nowhere to go." None of them answered the second question, perhaps because they failed to organize their words, or because Feng Ran left in a hurry without giving them a chance.

"I won't come again. You can take down the photos."

He walked along the long street with a shaky step, occasionally stopping. The place that he had just become familiar with became unfamiliar again. Thinking of the people who ate and lived with him day and night, they were also unfamiliar.

Was it really Shen Zhi who did it? ... Is he so capable? What is his purpose?

He sat on the bench until sunset. His mobile phone was turned off, but he didn't want to get the computer or go back to Shen Zhi's house.

Until the last moment of the sunset, the G-Class stopped in front of him. In the golden sunlight, the car window was lowered, and Shen Zhi's eyes were filled with infinite fatigue and tenderness.

"I've been looking for you for a long time."

Feng Ran sat still. Shen Zhi got out of the car and took his mobile phone, but he still didn't respond.

"It's out of battery." Shen Zhi said, "I'll get the computer. Let's go home for dinner. Tomorrow is a day off. Come on a business trip with me."

"Okay." He responded after a while, "How did you find me?" "

I searched for almost an hour in the five kilometers outside the repair city."

...

Feng Ran didn't pay attention to what he said until the boiling water overflowed and put out the flames, and Shen Zhi called his name.

Chen Zhi turned off the fire and took the pot away: "I've called you for the third time. You're so absent-minded, what's wrong? You didn't talk on the way. Did something happen this afternoon? Did you meet someone, or..."

Feng Ran said: "I met someone."

"Who?"

"An old friend. "

"What's wrong?"

"He said his mother died." Feng Ran made up a story. Chen Zhi turned to look at him, and he added, "It happened a few days ago, a car accident."

"Then..."

"I have to call Ren He."

The last time he contacted Ren He was a few months ago. He tentatively sent a message to him, and Ren He replied with a question mark three minutes later.

Feng Ran: "Are you busy?"

Ren He called again with a question mark.

This guy likes to send question marks when he's unhappy, but I haven't messed with him recently? Feng Ran replied: "Something's up, call me."

Ren He was with the band members, and he was drinking. He kept shouting and complaining about him for not replying to messages and not answering calls. Feng Ran didn't hear it clearly, so he agreed randomly, and finally waited for him to come to a quiet place and got to the point.

"When are you returning?"

Ren He said with a thick tongue, "Oh, we've just arrived here, why should we go back if there's nothing to do. What happened?" Shen

Zhi leaned out to look at him, and he said, "I'll be out for a while, soon."

"Dinner will be ready soon."

"Five minutes."

Feng Ran closed the door and said, "Something happened, I guess you have to come back."

"Huh?"

"Do you remember our grandma who lived in the back street? Her surname was Liu, the grandma who used to make rice soup for us. She passed away some time ago, do you think you can come back when you have time?" "

Ah? What...who? The grandma with the surname Liu?"

"Yeah, that's right. You should come back, she doesn't have many relatives."

"You've been talking about this for so long, is it just this kind of thing?" Ren He finally sobered up a little, "Feng Ran, you're kidding me? When did such a person appear? Whose history are you putting on my head?"

Feng Ran insisted: "Yes, you're drunk. You won't be back for a few days, and the leave will be over soon. I can't handle it myself. There are too many relatives on her side, it's a mess."

Ren He seemed to have figured out what he meant, paused for a long time and said: "Okay, then we'll talk about it. What are you busy with recently?"

"Working in Shen Zhi's company."

"Didn't you go home?"

"No."

The call was interrupted, and the screen showed a call from Shen Zhi.

Feng Ran didn't answer and went home directly.

"Winter is coming again." He changed his shoes and took off his coat in the entrance hall, and suddenly found that his clothes had occupied most of the shoe cabinet and hangers, messy, and spreading. Shen Zhi's clothes were neatly and lonely in the corner, and his living space was squeezed.

Chen Zhi said, "It's early. It will take a few more rains before the temperature drops."

When asked about the business trip, Chen Zhi answered all the questions, and then he said, "I guess I can't go with you. You heard today that an old man in my hometown passed away. I'll go back." Chen

Zhi didn't say anything at the time. The next morning, he was notified that the business trip was postponed, so he went home with him to do some work before going on the business trip together.

Chen Zhi spoke slowly. In a place where no one knew, Feng Ran's heart cooled down inch by inch, and some emotions changed, like overnight food that no one patronized.

"Only you can go with me, not by myself, right?"

"What are you talking about?" Chen Zhi was a little surprised, "It's a notice from the partner, just sent over. Do you want to see it?"

He went to the rooftop to smoke again.

This trick is to boil a frog in warm water. Little by little, it invades and occupies his trivial life, taking away his time, penetrating every hole until it eats away everything.

His travel is restricted, his communication equipment is secretly monitored, and his external entertainment is prohibited. His unique social activities and interpersonal relationships will be eradicated invisibly.

Perfect. Not a drop of water leaked out. He almost wanted to applaud - if he wasn't the one who had to bear all this, and if Chen Zhi wasn't the one who started it.

When Shen Zhi came over, the rooftop was littered with cigarette butts. Feng Ran stood facing the wind with his collar open, holding an extinguished cigarette between his fingertips, and white smoke curled away.

"You smoke so much?" Shen Zhi stepped over those new or old cigarette butts, as if he was stepping over a bridge to Feng Ran's world. But his eyes were looking at a distant place, his cheeks and emotions were hidden in the darkness. No passage allowed.

Shen Zhi lowered his head and picked up the lighter on the ground, the gift that he had snatched from Shen Yuan but for which he had paid a huge price, and handed it over.

Feng Ran glanced at it and didn't take it. Both of them remained silent.

After a muffled thunder in the sky, a continuous rain fell. The rooftop had a roof, so he wasn't soaked, but Feng Ran still shuddered. He wanted to say something, but felt that he was asking for trouble.

He walked towards home, and Shen Zhi followed not far away.

He turned his head suddenly, and the people behind him also stopped.

"Let go." He said, "Or stop, Shen Zhi. Don't continue... let each other regret it. It's not too late now."

He thought Shen Zhi would play dumb, but he didn't. He smiled and met his gaze calmly.

"I can't stop, and it's too late."