Bonus Chap.
Thanks for the kofi [somebody]
“Up ahead is Shenzhen City. Li, do you have a ……” David scratched his hair in distress, “How does the old Chinese saying go, the closer you get to home the more joy and excitement you feel! What a wonderful emotion!”
Li Zheng gave him an amused look, “It’s the fear of being close to home, meaning the closer you are to home the more timid and lacking in courage you are, lest something unfortunate happen to your hometown.”
“Oh, then whoever said that must be a pessimist.” David frowned in discontent.
Watching as the two talked, the surrounding air pressure around Liang Zhe suddenly lowered, his expression showed his struggle.
Liang Zhe didn’t like water, when his parents were in trouble when he was a child, those search and rescue personnel pointed to a vast sea and told him his mother and father fell into it, and couldn’t be found.
More than a decade later, he almost died in the sea. So for that water, Liang Zhe had a physical and psychological aversion to it.
Seeing David put his hand on Li Zheng’s shoulder, Liang Zhe’s lips pursed into a straight line, he walked quickly to the deck, ignoring the stunned gaze of his subordinates.
David was talking enthusiastically, only to feel his body being pushed to the side, he revealed a dissatisfied expression and looked back. He saw Mr. Liang squeezing in between him and Li Zheng, looking at him coldly.
David subconsciously touched the back of his neck, then showed a puzzled expression, “Dear Mr. Liang, may I ask what you want?”
For this local snake in Hong Kong, as the executive vice president of the Asian region of Roche, David had to have a respectful and polite attitude, Liang’s status in Hong Kong was like the British Spencer Family. For this kind of deep-rooted old family, they could never be offended by wage earners.
Liang Zhe coldly hummed, as he disdainfully glanced at David, and then slowly turned away.
His gaze fell to the sea outside the railing, and his face turned pale.
David was baffled, when did he offend this distinguished gentleman? The young gentleman looked at him as if …… he were a raptor in a zoo competing with his own kind for a mate, yes, that was the feeling!
Mate? He couldn’t help but move his gaze to Li Zheng.
David was startled by his own whimsical thoughts and shook his head hard, he must have been working too hard on the paperwork these past few days to have such a ridiculous delusion.
Li Zheng keenly sensed the tense emotions on Liang Zhe, his gaze swept over Liang Zhe’s left hand holding the railing, as well as his slightly pale face, he stood straighter and raised his right hand up to block Liang Zhe’s eyes.
“Don’t look.” He said gently.
Liang Zhe felt the warm touch on his eyes, his tightly pursed lips relaxed for a moment, and he put his hand over Li Zheng’s hand for a long time without moving.
Li Zheng was surprised by Liang Zhe’s action and smiled slightly. After he became uncomfortable and moved his palm uneasily, but the hand over his hand held on tighter.
Liang Zhe couldn’t see Li Zheng’s current expression, he just subconsciously didn’t want him to move, so he stopped him.
Time passed, Li Zheng’s expression turned from surprise to embarrassment, and then slowly, his cheeks began to turn red, followed by his neck.
Li Zheng felt his blood rushing violently toward his head, his head, which was always clear, became chaotic all of a sudden, as if the motor was an overused machine, hot as if it would break down at any moment.
He took a deep breath, the cold sea breeze rushed straight to his brain along his nasal cavity, he yanked down his palm hard, then turned around to face the sea with strong composure, “In just a few months, Shenzhen has really changed a lot.”
David blinked his blue eyes and looked at Mr. Liang who was standing with an aggrieved expression, and then looked at Li Zheng who looked into the distance as if he was seriously pointing out the sky.
Why did he feel like there was something wrong with this scene?
But apparently, David’s IQ and emotional intelligence weren’t enough for him to figure out what had happened between his good friend Li Zheng and the distinguished Mr. Liang in just a few minutes.
He covered the blinding sunlight with his hand and looked out in the direction Li Zheng was pointing.
“A big change? Li, how come I didn’t notice it?”
Li Zheng stalled, his eyes swept over the puzzled David, and Liang Zhe who was staring straight at him, and coughed dryly, “Look at the sky over there.”
“That’s the direction of the urban area of Shenzhen, I remember that when I left, there weren’t so many long chimneys with black smoke in Shenzhen.” That was true, when Li Zheng left, the number of long chimneys was obviously not so many.
David couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.
“Yes, what a nostalgic sight. The first industrial revolution! The great transformation that transformed Britain from a European power into a world-class Sunset Empire. I had seen London in those days in my textbooks. Huge factories, long chimneys, a London shrouded in black fog. Oh! That’s what Shenzhen looks like now!”
David got excited as he spoke.
“Li, I’m so thrilled. You know what? I have a premonition that I seem to be witnessing a great piece of history! China is waking up, this great nation with ancient history, is slowly waking up! Oh, I’m so excited. I have to take note of it, I’m going to get my camera!”
David covered his chest and danced around incoherently as he ran towards the center of the ship amidst the stunned gazes of a group of passengers nearby.
Li Zheng was also stunned by David’s reaction, he had been speaking casually, but didn’t expect to draw such a sentiment from him, thinking about what David just said, Li Zheng’s expression couldn’t help but become solemn.
He glanced at Liang Zhe, who was still secretly looking at him, and was suddenly in a very good mood.
Li Zheng opened his mouth and said, “David is right, I am very lucky.”
“What?” Liang Zhe looked at him.
Li Zheng smiled gently as he patted Liang Zhe’s arm, “Don’t look down, look forward, that land is my motherland, it is undergoing a great change, I am lucky and honored to see and experience this glorious history.”
The sun shone on Li Zheng’s body, creating a dazzling glow around him, even his hair was glowing.
Liang Zhe didn’t say anything for a long time, he looked at the huge piece of land not far away.
It was much larger than Hong Kong. Standing on the deck, Liang Zhe could see that the chimneys emitting annoying black smoke. It wasn’t a sight that would make the heart happy.
But for some reason, Liang Zhe had an indescribable feeling for this land that he had never set foot in before.
It was warm.
“Well, I’m lucky too.” He suddenly spoke.
Li Zheng looked up at him in surprise, and what caught his eyes was a pair of smiling eyes.
It turned out that …… Liang Zhe could also smile.
“Oh, here I come, here I come! Fortunately, when I went back to Japan last time, I bought the latest camera model. What a wise decision that was.” David ran over with a huge camera in his arms.
“Li, help me hold the camera stand together!”
Li Zheng: ……
The ship drove fast during the day, and about half an hour later, Li Zheng and the others had already seen the port of China.
The political situation was still unclear, it seemed a bit cold.
When the ship was about to dock, it made a heavy sound. A soldier-like person at the port trotted over, holding a red flag to direct the time and direction of the ship’s docking.
Qiu Zhengye, the vice governor of Haidong Province, and the leaders of the Shenzhen Region had been sitting in the port office for a long time, and when they heard the sound of the ship’s air sound, Qiu Zhengye’s movement of drinking tea paused, and the tea bowl was placed heavily on the table.
“Is it the ship?” He asked in a deep voice.
The port official looked at the watch on his wrist and nodded repeatedly, “It should be right, there are only a few trips between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and this one arrived half an hour early!”
Qiu Zhengye smiled and stood up fiercely, the rest of the large and small provincial and regional officials in the room also stood up all at once, the scene of more than twenty people standing up at the same time was something else.
“Well, then let’s go out.” Saying that, he led the way towards the door.
The leader of the Region walked behind, and when he passed by the port official, he slightly turned his head sideways and instructed the port official, “Tell the people underneath to be milder and more diligent, and make the foreign friends feel as warm as spring!”
The port official smiled and immediately stood up straight, “Follow the leader’s instructions!”
The ship slowly docked under the command of the soldiers, the chains were slowly lowered, and the huge iron plate side landed heavily on the shore.
The ship’s passengers walked along the iron plate to the shore one after another. In 1983, those who could travel between Hong Kong and the mainland weren’t simple people.
When they saw the group of people led by Qiu Zhengye, some passengers froze, obviously recognizing Qiu Zhengye and others.
“Governor Qiu?” A middle-aged man with a big belly spoke Cantonese with a Hong Kong accent and walked up to Qiu Zhengye with a smile.
He swept his gaze over several familiar faces behind Qiu Zhengye, “Xu Shu. The secretary is also here, you guys are?”
Qiu Zhengye became the vice governor of health in Haidong Province. Before becoming the vice governor of Haidong Province in charge of health, Qiu Zhengye had been in charge of investment promotion in the Shenzhen region. This middle-aged man with a big belly was the one he met at that time.
A businessman from Hong Kong who didn’t have good moral character.