Depth can be seen

Chapter 35

The leaves on the mountain are all yellow, and under the reflection of the street lamps, they look like a magnificent sea of ​​fire.

Luo Tanshen was wearing a cashmere coat, standing by the stone railing on the third-floor terrace, with an unlit cigarette between his fingers.

The real sea of ​​fire is blazing and capable of melting everything.The yellow leaves in late autumn are dilapidated and desolate, and the shape of the sea of ​​fire can only be imitated by the warm-toned lights, but the temperature of the sea of ​​fire cannot be obtained after all.

This cold "sea of ​​fire" was reflected in Luo Tanshen's eyes.When the leaves swayed with the autumn wind, the "sea of ​​fire" was also surging in his eyes.

He lowered his eyelashes and tightened his clothes.

It was very windy on the terrace, and although the cashmere coat was thick, there was only one single piece of clothing underneath, and his feet were bare, so he was a little cold.

"Master, why are you standing here? What if you catch a cold?" Aunt Zhou called out from the terrace with black tea and refreshments, "Come in quickly, Mr. Lin is here and wants to see you."

Luo Tan went into the room deeply, took the plate from Aunt Zhou's hand, put it on the coffee table, and told her to go to bed early and not to work too hard.

"Master!" Lin Xiuhan has already hurried upstairs, before taking off his coat, and the scarf is still around his neck.

Luo Tan nodded deeply at him, indicating to find a place to sit. Aunt Zhou was afraid that the two of them would go to the terrace again while chatting, so she quickly closed the door of the terrace before going downstairs to rest.

After a while of footsteps, the third floor suddenly became very quiet, except for the sound of Lin Xiuhan taking off his coat.

Luo Tan took a deep sip of the red tea, "Have you found it?"

"Zhou Jinchuan only returned to the original city in August last year." Lin Xiuhan had been busy all day, and this trip came in a hurry, with a tired expression, he poured half a cup of tea before continuing: "He has been living in Chizhen before."

Luo Tanshen put down his teacup, "Him?"

"Of course not only him, but also..." Lin Xiuhan frowned slightly, "He and..."

"There's nothing to say." Luo Tan shook his head lightly, "It's not that I don't know. He and his wife have children, right?"

Lin Xiuhan took out a towel, wiped the sweat from his forehead and neck, and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, "Yes, he, his wife Lu Mingmin, and their child Zhou Renjia."

After finishing speaking, Lin Xiuhan watched Luo Tan's deep expression vigilantly, and did not continue immediately.

He has only come to work with Luo Tanshen in recent years, and he has not experienced what happened seven years ago, but since entering Luo's, he knows that the name "Zhou Jinchuan" and Zhou Jinchuan's family are scars that Luo Tanshen cannot reveal.

Earlier, when he hadn't figured out Luo Tan's deep temper, he didn't even dare to mention the name of Luo Xiaoyu, the former young master of the Luo family, for fear of making Luo Tan deeply sad. Later, he found that Aunt Zhou would occasionally talk about Luo Xiaoyu. It was only when I was a child that I realized that in front of Luo Tanshen, only Zhou Jinchuan was taboo, not Luo Xiaoyu.Occasionally, when Luo Tanshen was in a particularly good mood, he would take the initiative to talk about Luo Xiaoyu's well-being.

Even if he has never met the person who died young, he can still imagine the tenderness and beauty of the other person from the photos and Luo Tanshen's description.

The opposite of beauty is not ugliness, but disillusionment.

Zhou Jinchuan was the culprit.

Lin Xiuhan took a deep breath, not daring to lie, and told all the facts of the investigation, "You let Zhou Jinchuan's family get out of the original city. He lived in Chizhen for more than five years. He came back suddenly last year because of Lu Mingmin's illness. , malignant lymphoma, the hospital in Chi Town cannot treat it, and Yuancheng is the closest big city to Chi Town, and..."

"And it's also the only big city that Zhou Jinchuan is familiar with." Luo Tan sneered deeply, and threw the cigarette he had held in his hand into the ashtray.

Lin Xiuhan looked at the cigarette, there seemed to be some sweat stains on the cigarette paper, with obvious creases.

Obviously, although Luo Tanshen had no expression on his face, there was a storm in his heart.

"What job does he do in Chi Town?" Luo Tan folded his legs deeply, "Driving a tricycle to solicit customers like in Yuancheng?"

"You know he drives a tricycle now?"

"Didn't he just have a car accident while driving a tricycle?" Luo Tan was a little impatient, "He returned to the original city last year, you didn't know about it at all?"

"Master, you have to trust me." Lin Xiuhan straightened his back, "I really don't know, no one told me."

Luo Tan sighed deeply, then laughed again, "Okay, it seems that they plan to hide it from me for the rest of their lives, so they didn't know they were caught by me."

Lin Xiuhan knew that "they" referred to the Luo family's parents.Over the years, Luo Tanshen's relationship with his family has become weaker and weaker. Every time he mentions it, he uses the word "they", without any sense of family affection.

"Why are you in a daze?" Luo Tanshen said suddenly, "You haven't answered yet—what does Zhou Jinchuan do for a living in Chi Town."

Lin Xiuhan immediately came back to his senses, "He used to be a university teacher in Yuancheng, and when something like that happened, you, you..."

"Let me tell you—I was tormented by me, and I messed up my work." Luo Tan's eyes were deep and cold, but there was a smile on his lips, "Of course he can't be regarded as an intellectual, so?"

"He worked as a mason for others." Lin Xiuhan said: "Worked in a private decoration company. Before his wife Lu Mingmin got sick, she worked as a cashier in a supermarket."

Luo Tan snorted deeply, "Then it seems that their family is doing well."

Lin Xiuhan didn't know whether to nod or not.

"However, isn't there a saying that says 'It's not that the time has not come yet'?" Luo Tanshen seemed satisfied, but actually gritted his teeth in pain, "My brother wants me to forgive their family and give Zhou Jinchuan a way out. I must satisfy his last wish." wish. But he is so kind that he is blind, but God is sober.”

Lin Xiuhan said in a timely manner: "Lu Mingmin's illness has exhausted the old family of the Zhou family. Now they can't afford good medicine at all. They have already gone home for conservative treatment. Their family is now renting in the old community near the motorcycle factory. It's very bad, and the expenses are all dependent on Zhou Jinchuan driving a tricycle. The news from the hospital is that Lu Mingmin can survive until the Spring Festival at most, not this winter."

"What about Zhou Jinchuan?" Luo Tan asked deeply.

Lin Xiuhan couldn't empathize with Luo Tan's deep hatred and pain, but he could understand the helplessness of ordinary people being destroyed by cancer. Hearing the words, he sighed from the bottom of his heart and said: "The legs and arms are broken, and the internal organs are also damaged to varying degrees. It's worse. Their children are quite young..."

Luo Tan said in a playful tone, "You seem to feel sorry for him?"

Only then did Lin Xiuhan realize that he had lost his composure, and hurriedly made amends, "Isn't it just a response to what you said just now, 'doesn't it mean that the time has not been reported'? Master, God is fair, and the wicked must be punished."

Luo Tan deeply saw his panic, but didn't point it out, just squinted his eyes, "It's a pity that no matter how much you punish the wicked, my brother won't come back."

Lin Xiuhan quietly wiped off the sweat from his palms, knowing that it is best to keep silent at this time.

Luo Tanshen stood up and walked to the window.

The "sea of ​​fire" is still so bright, the night wind howls, and the blown leaves are like flying sparks.

He suddenly remembered that when he was a child, the grandmother who loved him the most died, and he couldn't help crying.Luo Xiaoyu picked him up, wiped away his tears, and whispered softly, "Everyone is a candle, and people die like candles. This is an inviolable law of nature. Xiaoshen, life and death are the things we must do in this life." Don't be too sad about what you have to go through. If grandma knows that you are so sad, she will not feel at ease when she leaves. "

"But I don't want grandma's candle to go out!" He was still crying, clasping his hands together, "I can protect her candle, and I can protect her from the wind!"

Luo Xiaoyu shook his head, "But no matter how you block the wind, when the candle burns out, it will still go out."

He can't understand.

Many years later, when Luo Xiaoyu left in despair, he finally understood.

Grandmother died in bed, dead, even though he covered the candle with his whole body, the candle still quietly extinguished after burning out.

Luo Xiaoyu was heartbroken. He thought that he had grown up and could become a safe haven for his brother, but he still couldn't get back his desire to die, and his brother's candle was extinguished.

People are gone like a candle is extinguished, he held the candle so stubbornly, trying to block all the storms, but he couldn't save his grandmother, and he couldn't save his brother.

Suddenly, the street lights flickered out, and the "sea of ​​fire" disappeared immediately.

The end of his eyes trembled slightly.

In fact, the grand "sea of ​​fire" is no different from a candle. When it burns, it is vigorous, and when it goes out, it only takes a moment.

He turned around, returned to the sofa, and drank the cool black tea in one gulp.

Lin Xiuhan had to ask, "Master, what are you going to do next?"

"Will Zhou Jinchuan survive?" Luo Tan asked deeply.

"It's not life-threatening. But his injury is too serious, and the follow-up treatment will cost a lot, so the root cause of the disease will definitely be found." Lin Xiuhan said: "And the car accident was caused by him going backwards. Lu Mingmin suddenly fell ill at home and had to be sent to the doctor immediately. He was in a hurry to go home before he The retrograde and the van collided. People living in that area are all people with difficult families, and the owner of the van is just doing a small business, and he can’t pay his medical expenses at all.”

Luo Tan frowned deeply, "That is to say, if he wants to heal himself, he will use his wife's life-saving money?"

"Correct."

"That's really interesting. There's only such a small amount of money in total, and I spend it on my wife. Sooner or later, I'll lose my money and spend it on myself, and I'll be disabled anyway." Luo Tan gritted his teeth deeply, "I'd like to see, he's like this." People who give up everything for their true love, how will they choose this time."

The back of Lin Xiuhan's neck was covered with cold sweat.

At this moment, Luo Tanshen made him feel cold all over his body.Ever since he became Luo Tanshen's secretary, he has noticed that this is a person who has no feelings and lacks the ability to empathize, but only now did he realize that Luo Tanshen's heart was so gloomy.

As far as he knew, Luo Xiaoyu did commit suicide because of Zhou Jinchuan, but Zhou Jinchuan's future and life were also ruined.Now that seven years have passed, the elders of Luo's family have stopped asking about this matter. Knowing that Zhou Jinchuan brought his wife and children back to the original city for treatment, they turned a blind eye and did not stop him from the side, but Luo Tanshen still couldn't let it go. .

Not only can't let go, but also eager to "taste" the suffering of Zhou Jinchuan's family.

"I'll meet him and his wife and son in two days." Luo Tan smiled cruelly, and said, "Let's not talk about that, did you find anything from Shan Yufei?"

Lin Xiuhan completely forgot about it, so he could only say: "Young Master, I have been busy investigating Zhou Jinchuan today..."

Luo Tan waved his hand deeply, "Thank you for your hard work, let me know what you find."

Lin Xiuhan wanted to ask what he and Shan Yufei had been doing all afternoon, but at this moment he lost his mood and only talked about work matters before driving away.

The villa became empty, only the sound of lonely footsteps.Luo Tanshen sat on the sofa for a long time, took a lighter and a small candle, and walked to the yard.

There was a stone table under the ginkgo tree. He lit the candle and stared at the swaying candlelight. After a while, he bent down and gently held the candlelight with his hands.

Those who love him are no longer in this world, the only thing he can do is to light a candle in the cold night, and deceive himself like a mirror in the center of the candle.

The candles were not extinguished.

The candlelight is like the stars in his eyes.

He pursed his lips and smiled lightly.

The autumn nights in the area where the motorcycle factory belongs do not have the romance of a villa in the mountains. The sparse trees and most of the broken street lamps cannot transform into a "sea of ​​fire", but only reflect desertion and depression.

He didn't have to work the night shift, so he could go to bed early, but Shan Yufei couldn't fall asleep. It was past twelve o'clock, and he was still sitting at the desk reading a college textbook.

On the side, the sheets removed in the afternoon were neatly folded, and they were not washed, and the shirt that Luo Tanshen left behind was placed on top.

A small voice came from outside the door, and he recognized that it was Shan Shanhai Qiye.

Soon, the door of the next bedroom was closed again.

He was stunned for a while, closed the book, and when he got up and saw the bed sheet, quilt cover and shirt, the corners of his mouth inadvertently tightened.