Chapter 44 (2/2)

bamboo table in the bookstore. Zhang Yang although he doesn’t drink wine,

poured a cup for himself to accompany the old man. The more they drank, the

more they talked. They talked about everything. The old man was also talking

with zest from the Qin dynasty to the Tang dynasty, and then from the Tang

dynasty to present, his happy times and exaggerating about his past about the

rivers and lakes which made Zhang Yang to recall the school janitor, uncle

w.a.n.g. Both of them had a common hobby: to brag!

“Uncle Li, don’t you have afamily?”

“No.” Lao Li suddenly got into a depressed mood when Zhang

Yang asked the question.

“I’m sorry, uncle Li, I didn’t mean to upset you.” Zhang

Yang immediately felt the mood and quickly poured some wine for the old man as an

apology.

“Oh, that’s alright, when people get old, they get like

this, nostalgic, sentimental, in fact, although uncle Li is an orphan, he has a

family, a wife …” The old man sighed.

“Then you are old … … what about master’s wife?” Zhang Yang

didn’t know how to address, and finally felt that ‘master’s wife’ would be

appropriate. Although the old man wasn’t a master, he felt that the old man was

very good to him, it was an indescribable feeling.

(#s.h.i.+mu (master’s wife)= a respectful term for your master’s

wife)

“18 years ago, my wife and I had some business in Africa, so

we both went there knowing that the other party was prepared for us. And though

we ended up completing the task, my wife and I lost contact in the chaos …” the

old man said.

“Lost contact?”  Didn’t

you have a cell phone? No contact address? Zhang Yang was incredibly shocked.

For two normal people to actually lose contact in this modern society with

modern communication technology, it was extremely strange. And also to know

that the phone was really popularized twenty years ago.

“Well, our mobile phones used during a.s.sa.s.sinations are

temporary. When we went to Africa, we had abandoned all the contact tools,

because those things could easily bring us more trouble. And besides, we also

had a fixed contact information. No matter the success or failure of the

mission, we had an appointment to meet at the XX building in C city and be sure

to wait until the other arrives, …”

“XX building, I’ve never heard about the XX building in C

city ah!” Although Zhang Yang wasn’t the head of C city, he still knew C city

like the palm of his hand, but he had never heard of XX building. “Oh, there

was 18 years ago, you see, just less than 100 meters of the commercial street

from the alley, Xx building was there. At that time, it was the landmark

building of C city. After we were separated, I waited there for two years

because just two years later, that place was demolished and a large commercial

plaza was built.” The old man sighed again.

“ … Then that means, even if master’s wife came to C city,

she couldn’t have found you? Zhang Yang stood up and walked towards the door to

look at the high tower of the commercial mall. He felt uncomfortable in his

heart. Usually, he used to see such tragedy on TV only, but he never believed

in it. He couldn’t even think that there are actually living examples of such

tragedies.

“I think the chances of her living in this world is pretty

minimal.”

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