Hear this life

Huang Yuanshan is an impatient person. Once he makes a decision, he can hardly wait to do it.

She summoned the servant to pay the bill and hurriedly took Wen Tingli out of the cafe.

Wen Tingli looked back as she walked. Although Huang Yuanshan was generous and open-minded, he was also a bit careless. From beginning to end, she did not notice that there were two men following her from behind.

"The Lu family bought two plots of land in the French Concession." Huang Yuanshan jumped into the rickshaw without thinking, "One plot was used to build a school, and the other plot was used to build a house. The Lu Mansion is located not far from your school. It only takes seven to eight minutes to drive there."

She looked at her watch and said, "I don't know if Lu Shicheng is at home. We are lucky. The Lu family is now headed by this young master Lu. Although he has a strong personality, he is always easier to deal with than his two uncles."

Personality. This was the second time Wen Tingli heard someone use these two words to describe Lu Shicheng, and she became more and more curious: "What kind of person is he?"

"Who?" Huang Yuanshan was stunned. "You mean Young Master Lu? Well, this person is definitely not an ordinary person. It is difficult to explain him in a few words. You will know when you see him yourself later."

Not long after the car drove out, a French-style white mansion appeared in front of us. The roads on both sides were lined with lush and dense sycamore trees, and the surroundings were extremely quiet.

Huang Yuanshan parked the car outside the majestic iron gate with carved patterns, got out and handed his business card to the doorman who came out after hearing the voice: "My last name is Huang, this is Miss Wen, we have an urgent matter to pay a visit to Mr. Lu."

Wen Tingli quietly looked inside through the iron gate. There was a huge front garden with a very spacious circular driveway inside the gate. The conspicuous white main house was located at the end of the driveway. The structure of the whole house was neat, grand, and quiet. Apart from the chirping of birds and the gurgling of water, there was almost no disturbing noisy sound around.

A gust of wind blew by, bringing a pleasant floral scent from inside the wall. She was secretly guessing what kind of flower it was when a middle-aged steward came out and bowed to the two of them.

"Ms. Huang, Miss Wen, please follow me." Her behavior was very proper.

Following the steward inside, we walked around the houses, passed by bushes, and crossed the long and winding front garden, and finally arrived in front of a fountain. We thought that the main house was in front, but suddenly a wide lawn appeared.

At this moment, the steward suddenly stopped, Wen Tingli and Huang Yuanshan also stopped and looked forward in the direction of the steward. In the refreshing green ahead, they suddenly caught a glimpse of a strange moving white.

Looking closely, I saw that it was actually a group of snow-white pigeons moving.

There was a man feeding the pigeons.

He was facing away from the light, but you could tell he was very young.

"Master Cheng, the guests are here."

The man scattered all the pigeons and turned his head to look behind him.

Wen Tingli was stunned.

This man had an extremely handsome appearance, bright eyes, and an outstanding temperament. Just standing there quietly reminded people of an elegant Chinese ink painting. She had seen so many people since she was a child, and this was the first time she wanted to use "beautiful" to describe a man.

The man glanced at Huang Yuanshan and Wen Tingli and walked towards them.

"Mr. Lu." Huang Yuanshan said cheerfully, "We meet again."

Lu Shicheng took out a handkerchief to wipe his hands clean, and took the initiative to shake hands with Huang Yuanshan. Wen Tingli thought to herself that she had thought that Mr. Lu would be arrogant, but she didn't expect him to be very well-educated.

After shaking hands with Huang Yuanshan, he looked at Wen Tingli with a questioning look in his eyes.

"Oh, this is Miss Wen." Huang Yuanshan introduced warmly, "She just transferred to your Shiwu Middle School. The matter I want to talk to Mr. Lu about today is also somewhat related to Miss Wen."

Lu Shicheng must have been very aware that the atmosphere here was still quite conservative. Seeing that Wen Tingli was dressed like a student, he just nodded to her and did not shake hands with her.

Looking closely, he has a high and beautiful nose, eyebrows of just the right thickness, and eyes that are deep and bottomless, like a tranquil lake of black jade.

Wen Tingli's heart moved. The person she bumped into when she ran out of Qiao's house that night seemed to be Lu Shicheng. He was as quiet as he is now. What impressed her most was that although he was hit hard by her, he did not forget to help her pick up the fallen headdress.

She couldn't help but feel a little fond of this man and smiled politely: "Hello, Mr. Lu."

Lu Shicheng glanced at the steward beside him, and the steward said hurriedly: "The tea is ready. I will serve tea to Ms. Huang and Miss Wen right away."

Lu Shicheng made a "please" gesture to Huang Yuanshan and Wen Tingli, and personally led the two to the house nearby.

Wen Tingli lagged behind them by a few steps. As they walked, her eyes fell curiously on Lu Shicheng. This man was handsome from head to toe.

She is tall and straight, with broad and thin shoulders, long legs, and even her hands are more beautiful than others. Her nails are smooth and round, and her fingers are long and bony.

Huang Yuanshan couldn't wait to talk about his purpose while he was still on the road.

"…This is the first time that Shanghai has held a formal student drama competition. It is led by our company and Shishi Middle School, in cooperation with the Shanghai Film Association and several middle schools in Shanghai…If it can be successfully held, it will have a profound positive impact on young people…Huang believes that this is an excellent opportunity to develop the Chinese film industry."

Lu Shicheng listened quietly. It was unclear whether he was interested or not, but at least he seemed to be listening quite seriously.

At this moment, Wen Tingli suddenly realized that she had not heard Lu Shicheng speak since a while ago.

What’s even more puzzling is that Huang Yuanshan doesn’t seem to be surprised by this at all.

After entering the main house, Lu Shicheng pointed to the sofa beside him and asked Huang Yuanshan and Wen Tingli to sit down. Although he was so young, his temperament was very calm.

At this time, the steward came in personally with some tea snacks, all of which were served on white copper trays with white teacups, but the tea in each cup was different.

A bowl of light green tea was placed in front of Huang Yuanshan, while a cup of honeysuckle rose tea was given to Wen Tingli, in addition to a few plates of exquisite snacks.

Huang Yuanshan had no mood to drink tea. He just talked about his plan in high spirits.

Lu Shicheng sat on the sofa opposite and listened attentively. Although he did not speak from beginning to end, he gave people a very comfortable, relaxed and tolerant feeling, which made Wen Tingli, as a guest, gradually relax from being cramped.

"Mr. Lu, this is why I came here today." Huang Yuanshan said with a grin, "Actually, I should have said hello in advance, but I heard that Mr. Lu will be going back to Nanyang soon, so I had to come and bother you without hesitation. This competition is quite large, and if we want to make it decent, we must organize it as soon as possible. If you agree that Shishi Girls' High School and Golden Pictures will jointly host this competition, I will shamelessly ask you to personally say hello to your school's board of directors."

Lu Shicheng did not respond immediately, as if he was thinking seriously.

Huang Yuanshan was a little nervous and turned his head to give Wen Tingli a look. Wen Tingli raised her eyebrows quietly. Although she hoped that Lu Shicheng would agree to this more than anyone else, it seemed that it was not her turn to speak in this situation.

Lu Shicheng saw the expressions of the two people and suddenly looked up at the steward. The steward smiled and said, "Mr. Lu said it was just a small matter. He can write a letter for Ms. Huang. Ms. Huang will take the letter to the school directors of Shishi Middle School tomorrow. They will follow Mr. Lu's instructions."

Wen Tingli and Huang Yuanshan were overjoyed: "This couldn't be better."

Lu Shicheng walked to a cherry wood desk and sat down, took out a pen from his jacket pocket, finished writing the letter, and handed it to Huang Yuanshan.

Wen Tingli glanced over and saw that the handwriting was just like the person himself, beautiful and vigorous.

Huang Yuanshan shook Lu Shicheng's hand and said cheerfully, "Mr. Lu is the most straightforward and generous person I have ever met! I would like to thank Mr. Lu on behalf of the Shanghai film industry."

Lu Shicheng still didn't say a word. He personally sent the two men to the door of the hall, stood on the steps, and signaled the steward to invite the two men out.

After walking for a long time, Wen Tingli subconsciously turned back and just saw Lu Shicheng turning back to the hall.

This person was very well-educated from beginning to end.

The two of them got out and into the car. Wen Tingli couldn't help but ask the question in her mind: "Sister Huang, didn't you notice that Mr. Lu didn't say anything just now?"

Huang Yuanshan was busy putting the letter away. He was shocked when he heard this: "You don't know?"

Wen Tingli was puzzled: "Know what?"

Huang Yuanshan turned the car around and drove quickly in the direction he came from. After he had gone a long way, he lowered his voice and said, "Mr. Lu is mute."

"what?!"

Huang Yuanshan looked at Wen Tingli carefully, as if trying to determine whether her expression was fake.

"Have you never heard of the rumors about the Lu family before?"

Wen Tingli shook her head blankly: "Is Mr. Lu born mute?"

"He's not dumb, he just won't speak."

Wen Tingli's curiosity has been completely aroused: "What is going on?"

Huang Yuanshan then talked about a tragic incident that happened to the Lu family in the past.

It turned out that Mr. Lu Hongjun was the second generation heir of the Nanyang Lu family and had three sons. The eldest son, Lu Keding, who was also the father of Lu Shicheng, was born to Mr. Lu's first wife, Yu.

The second son, Lu Kening, and the youngest son, Lu Kejian, were born to a concubine from Southeast Asia that Mr. Lu took in locally.

It is said that this Nanyang woman was extremely beautiful, and Mr. Lu fell in love with her at first sight. Not only did he marry her despite the opposition of his clansmen, he also built a palace-like villa for her and took great care of her.

Because he loved his wife, Mr. Lu loved her family more. He especially favored the third son who looked very much like his mother.

It just so happens that the eldest son, Lu Keding, born to the first wife, is the most promising. He is amiable and respectable, and he values ​​his promises and keeps his word. Whenever the clan members mention him, they always speak highly of him. On the other hand, the two younger sons born to the Nanyang woman are far inferior to the eldest son in both temperament and ability.

Mr. Lu probably also knew that a child like his eldest son was born to be the head of the family. Considering that the Lu family's business must have a reliable heir to continue in the future, he finally paid more and more attention to his eldest son day by day. Not only did he hand over most of the business to his eldest son, he also often took him to attend banquets hosted by the local government.

Seven or eight years passed like this, and just when everyone accepted that Lu Ke would be the new generation head of the Lu family, an unexpected tragedy occurred.

That year, Lu Keding bought a piece of land in Dutch Grosbaport and took his wife and son to live there temporarily, planning to spend a year to build a large palm plantation there. Everything was calm at the beginning, but bandit riots broke out in the area not long after, and Lu Keding and his family of three were unfortunately kidnapped by the kidnappers.

Before Mr. Lu could send someone to deliver the money, the Lu couple were torn to pieces. Both of them fell in a pool of blood. Only four-year-old Lu Shicheng survived.

Perhaps because he witnessed the scene of his parents being murdered, the four-year-old Lu Shicheng was greatly shocked. Not only did he fall seriously ill, but he also became a "mute" from then on. In order to treat his grandson, Mr. Lu invited famous doctors from home and abroad, but they were unable to make Lu Shicheng speak.

At this point, Huang Yuanshan showed a meaningful expression: "Some people say that the group of people back then were not kidnappers at all, but hired thugs by Second Master Lu and Third Master Lu. Others say that Lu Shicheng was just pretending not to be able to speak because he wanted to prevent the two uncles from killing him as well."

Wen Tingli was startled: "Did they really do this? Even if they are not biological brothers, why would they do such a cruel thing?"

Huang Yuanshan shook his head: "Being loved by their father is one thing, and being accepted by the clan is another. I heard that the two brothers never got the approval of the Lu family, and were often called "Nanyang bastards" behind their backs. In addition, the wife of the eldest house was bullied by the second house a lot in the past. The two brothers were probably worried that the eldest brother would drive them out of the Lu family after taking power, so they took the initiative. Of course, after getting rid of the Lu family's grandfather, the two brothers did enjoy a glorious life for many years. As for when Lu Shicheng grew up——"

Wen Tingli recalled a piece of news she had read in the newspaper two years ago, and a flash of light flashed through her mind: "That time it said that two wealthy men from Southeast Asia had a car accident in Shanghai. Could they be the Second Master Lu and the Third Master Lu?"

The newspaper said that the second master lost consciousness in the car accident and now needs someone to take care of his eating, drinking, defecating and urinating.

The third master also became disabled.

"It's them two." Huang Yuanshan coughed, "After the two brothers got into trouble, the young Lu Shicheng took over the Lu family."

A guess popped up in Wen Tingli's mind, but she didn't dare to say it. Huang Yuanshan also had a look of awe on his face: "Before, you asked me what kind of person Mr. Lu was. I said he was definitely not an ordinary person. Now you understand what it means to sleep on straw and taste gall. Tsk tsk. At such a young age, he was able to lie dormant for so many years without making a sound, secretly waiting for the opportunity to kill his enemy. This kind of mentality -"

She then scratched her head and said, "These are just rumors. Just treat them as stories and don't take them seriously."

Wen Tingli pointed at her ears, then at her mouth, and shook her head cautiously. After a while, she couldn't help but ask again, "Master Lu, are you still unwilling to speak?"

Huang Yuanshan shrugged. "Maybe he has developed a habit of not wanting to speak, or maybe the tragedy back then really left him with a so-called psychological trauma (note). Anyway, I've never heard him speak. Fortunately, his hearing is very good, so there's no need to worry about communication problems when talking to him. Just now, you saw that he always has a pen hanging in his suit pocket. Occasionally, when he wants to say something, he writes it down on paper for others to see."

"Wouldn't it be too much trouble to deal with him like this?"

"Trouble?" Huang Yuanshan's eyes widened. "I don't know how many people in Shanghai want to get in touch with this Mr. Lu. If you find it annoying, just go away. There will be others to take your place."

(End of this chapter)