The Twelve Years: Song of the Unsung Friends

Shen Xi sat in Packett's back seat, and Dr. Tan closed the car door for her first, and then closed the door of the apartment behind him.

In this way, only him and Fu Dongwen were left at the door.

When Fu Tong realized that he had something to say, he took a half step back and took shelter from the rain under the eaves.

At three o'clock in the morning, there was a cigarette seller squatting on the side of the road.

"How can you take her back to China?" The joking in the apartment just now was a disguise, and it was Dr. Tan who wanted to say at this time, "Didn't you say that you should send her abroad and not pick it up again? Like a nobleman, isn't this the future you have booked for her?"

Fu Dongwen didn't say anything, and waved to the smoker.

"One hundred for thirty cents, sir." The woman selling cigarettes handed over the cigarettes.

Fu Tongwen paid the money and stuffed the cigarette to Dr. Tan.

"Look, I never asked you to quit smoking, although I hate tobacco," Fu Dongwen knew that he was making a big trouble for himself without being reminded. "She has her ambitions, and I have no right to deprive him of it. ."

Three years ago, the car took Shen Xi to the pier. When she boarded the ship, they were both there, but they didn't show up. Sending Shen Xi to the United States was indeed an agreement reached by the two of them. But just in the room, he overturned the plan.

Tan Qingxiang is thinking about him, he shouldn't meet Shen Xi again, let alone take her back to China.

Seeing that he was silent, Dr. Tan lowered his head to light up his cigarette, and after taking a few deep breaths, he persuaded him with all his heart: "Send her to California, if you insist, she will obey. Only one step away will you be successful, let her stay in the United States. Is the most correct."

Fu Tongwen didn't answer. He took out the cigarette from his fingers and pressed the cigarette holder lightly with his lips. The **** of the cigarette flickered. It was really smoking. Fu Dongwen's pupils have the reflection of a street lamp, there is light, no temperature, and it unexpectedly matches the majestic rain on the streets of New York.

He spit out the smoke.

"This can make you addicted?" The cigarette was thrown into a puddle by the roadside, "Weak-willed."

This is the end of the issue, which is beyond dispute.

Soon, Fu Tongwen and Doctor Tan both got in the car.

Because it was not dawn, the car sent them to a low-rise factory.

There are four rows of sewing machines, narrow aisles, and waste cotton threads on the ground.

"The female worker hasn't been here for three days," the driver said in English with a strong accent. "Ten kilometers away from here, there is a DuPont factory that produces ammunition. There is a lot of money. Everyone went there, so you guys. You can rest here at ease. At dawn, we will go to the dock." The driver finished speaking and returned to the car.

Doctor Tan sat for a while, and went outside to smoke and refresh himself.

She and Fu Dongwen were left in the factory.

"Will it?" Fu Dongwen sat on the stool and stepped on the pedal of the sewing machine twice.

"I haven't used it." Shen Xi confessed

There is no chance to get in touch with this rare thing in China, and no time to study it in the United States.

"Come and try." Fu Dongwen let go of the stool.

Shen Xi sat down.

He propped his right hand on the edge and observed the machine.

"The footstep plank will run on its own. But, find a piece of cloth."

The two looked around at the same time, no.

Fu Dongwen looked at his suit, got an idea, took it off, turned it over and put it under the needle: "Come on."

Shen Xi pulled out the lining and stuffed it under his head a little bit: "Step on like this?" She motioned with her toes.

"I think so."

Shen Xi was surprised: "Do you think?"

Fu Dongwen smiled: "Do you think I used it?"

"It's not..." She stroked her hair awkwardly and focused on the sewing machine.

His thin and white face was close at hand, waiting to see her experiment with this "toy". The breath fell on her side, one light, one heavy... Shen Xi was startled, remembering that he was in the theater that day, and it was the same in the dark.

"Afraid of breaking it?" Fu Dongwen asked in a low voice, seeing her still.

Shen Xi lightly shook his head, closed his mind, and gently stepped on the pedal at the same time. The lining of the suit was grabbed by the needle and thread and slid out of her hand. She carefully stopped the movement under her feet and looked closer. The fine needles were densely threaded. It was a good thing.

Fu Dongwen slid his finger across her eyes and touched the stitches: "Very good."

"Yeah." She was heartened.

His fingers are close to his eyes, and his nails are properly manicured, long, and straight.

This made her remember the gossip of listening to the maid at Fu's house: San Ye had been waiting for her to trim her nails in the early years, and every time the little maid had done this, she would blush to learn from everyone, what San Ye had chatted with her. Later, somehow, the private words of the people let Fu Tongwen know, so since then no maid has touched his hand. The people in the Sanye's room were also replaced by small servants.

"Although Sanye is romantic, it is also the most advanced romantic, and will not eat people's tofu." The maid reads little, and this sentence is strange.

But Shen Xi could understand what she wanted to say.

"You know, how much does this cost in Beijing?" He patted the sewing machine. "Forty to fifty silver."

She guessed: "You want to do this too."

Fu Dongwen didn't deny it, but smiled, with a slight self-deprecation: "I want to do everything."

"I want to do this too," he took off the pen from the pocket of his suit and looked at this little thing under the light with a lot of emotion. "The British started doing it more than a hundred years ago, but we are still Not yet. At that time... During the Jiaqing period?"

"Ok."

For more than a hundred years, Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi, Guangxu, Xuantong... six emperors.

With this calculation, the distance of time becomes more obvious.

Shen Xi tried to comfort him: "It's all made by people, and we are all learning."

"The future of China will be in the hands of your generation," Fu Tongwen smiled, tearing off the thread on the suit and putting it on again: "I'll go out for some breath."

Obviously only ten years have passed, but the attitude of saying this is like an old man.

She watched Fu Dongwen leave the factory, his shadow dragged on the ground for a long time and disappeared outside the iron gate.

He didn't come in until dawn.

At nine thirty, they arrived at the dock. The heavy rain never stopped.

This was the case when she left China, and now she is going back to China.

However, it was Qiulin when I left home, and it was a spring rain when I returned home, so the signs are better. Shen Xi comforted himself.

On the wharf, there are lingering goodbyes among relatives and tears in the eyes of lovers. Many women held umbrellas, making this bustling pier more and more crowded. Afraid that Shen Xi would be squeezed away by the crowd, Fu Tongwen took her hand and placed it on his arm: "Take me." Shen Xi nodded and clasped his arm: "Where is Doctor Tan?"

"I am looking for someone to send my luggage on board."

The relationship between him and Dr. Tan is really strange, like a classmate, a doctor in the house, and a servant. Up to now, Shen Xi couldn't see through what they were.

The two got on the ship, and after Fu Tongwen handed out the ticket, someone was sent to the special class cabin.

His room is a suite.

The luggage was moved in quickly. Shen Xi stood in the living room, counting his luggage, and heard the porter whispering outside the door, saying that they, the Chinese couple, were stingy and could afford the most expensive room, but they had no servants.

Shen Xi pretended not to hear it, walked to the window, and looked out: "You can see the sea here, it's better than when I came."

Fu Tongwen smiled: "I came here and was seasick?"

"I can't bear to look back," she shook her head, "I can't think about it, I feel dizzy."

"Complaining that I didn't arrange it for you?" He laughed.

Shen Xi shook his head again and continued to look outside.

When the transporter left, Fu Dongwen opened the largest leather suitcase, picked up a stack of shirts, and threw them on the bed.

Do you want to help him? Shen Xi turned his head, his eyes hesitated.

Fu Dongwen didn't seem to have the idea of ​​letting her touch her hands. He put his shirts, waistcoats, and suits together and hung them in the closet in turn. He turned his back to her and suddenly said, "I have something to discuss with you."

It turns out I still need to help.

Shen Xi smiled secretly, consciously came to Fu Dongwen's side, took the hanger in his hand, picked up a pair of trousers, and put it on: "There is no need to discuss this matter, I will help you arrange it all."

Fu Dongwen shook his head: "You don't need this."

"It's okay," Shen Xi hung up his trousers, "You are welcome, Brother Third."

"It's not polite," he laughed. "What I want to discuss with you is about your residence."

Shen Xi turned around and looked at him.

"During this time at sea, you want to live with me here. There is no single room." Fu Dongwen looked upright and looked at the big bed, "You sleep in bed, I sleep--" He thought for a while. And said, "Look again at night."

She was startled: "Is the room gone?"

I took her away temporarily.

"This is a reason, and for your safety. If you mind me...you can also live in a room with Qingxiang, I think he has a better reputation than mine."

Shen Xi said without thinking, "I don't sleep with him."

What nonsense...

She rushed to the ground, and the roots of her ears burned up.

Fu Dongwen wanted to control, but he couldn't hold back, he still smiled: "Even if you want, he doesn't dare. He is an honest man."

He actually made a joke about it, and Shen Xi couldn't help but feel hot.

Fu Dongwen was smiling again.

This time she had the taste of watching a theater, she thought flusteredly, what was wrong with what she said would make him laugh like this.

"Look, you are no better than me. Characters are luxury items for you and me." Fu Dongwen's eyes fell to a place four meters behind her.

Shen Xi turned around in a panic, and saw the person standing outside the door: "...Doctor Tan."

"San Ye's words, just listen." Tan Qingxiang responded to Fu Dongwen, already familiar with the road.

Fu Dongwen likes to avoid the heavy and the slightest, and he prefers to tell the truth: "I am not used to sharing a room with a girl. It is not safe to leave you alone. Furthermore, he needs the doctor's care at night, Miss Shen, this time sorry to bother you."

Righteous words, not to smile. It's like entrusting a patient.

The appearance of Dr. Tan made her feel embarrassed for a while, but she also solved the embarrassment of the matter.

She has to take care of him and cover him. It is right to live in a room. Shen Xi relieved himself, exchanged with Dr. Tan about the western medicine Fu Dongwen needed, and also got a binaural stethoscope. Syringes and needles are emergency items, and it is best not to use them. It was only then that Shen Xi knew that Dr. Tan was a doctor who studied cardiopulmonary function, which was very surprised.

Doctor Tan said with a smile: "Don't be surprised, it was not convenient to let you know his specific situation in the past."

She understood his defenses.

"And I also noticed that you are curious." Naturally, Doctor Tan has to take precautions.

When did he discover his curiosity? Was she seeing Dr. Tan in the Fu's house for a consultation, or later in New York trying to see his medicine? Shen Xi looked at the medicines and was relieved that it was not tuberculosis. In the past few years, whenever she thinks about him, she will remember the scene of coughing constantly. It should have just been cold.

But at the same time she also had regrets, it was the heart, the direction she gave up.

"I have done an electrocardiogram in New York this time," Dr. Tan smiled, "Don't worry too much, he is currently in stable physical condition."

She remembered this thing, and the professor showed them on the spot. The recorder will be placed more than a thousand meters away, and the subject's arms will be immersed in salt water for inspection. But the professor also said that what they see is not the latest product, there are better ones.

I don't know if he is using the latest recorder.

Shen Xi frowned, regretting again that he had not thoroughly questioned and discussed this examination with the professor. Even if she showed the result to her, she couldn't guarantee that she would understand it.

"This is not your specialty," Dr. Tan comforted her, "Don't think about it."

After the two doctors handed over the work to the patients, Dr. Tan suggested that Fu Dongwen should sleep deeply for two hours.

After the cruise ship left the port, Shen Xi closed the curtains to cover up the light-transmitting gaps, and it was as dark as night.

She turned around, and Fu Dongwen put the vest on the side seat.

In the dark, his back in a shirt was slightly thin: "I will take up your bed first. At night, let's sleep on the floor."

"No, I sleep on the floor," Shen Xi retorted, "Let you sleep on the floor, I will have nightmares because of the loss of medical ethics."

"Let a girl sleep on the floor, I probably can't be considered a man anymore," Fu Dongwen smiled and glanced at her in the dark. "I am also a new-style man who has studied abroad. Is that really an image in your heart?"

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Suddenly I found that the title of this chapter was quite appropriate... Shen Sheng... Isn't it just sleeping...