They Regretted it After Their Hearts Turned to Ashes

From time to time, there will be quite amazing fireworks displays on the cruise.

Choose the night when it is clear and windless, the water is calm and the view is the best, and the sea is the quietest and most expansive.

Fireworks bloom in the night sky, and colorful lights are reflected on the water, filling the field of vision with splendor and enthusiasm, making people doubt whether they are in reality or a dream for a moment.

The fireworks were fleeting, and Mr. Ming Xiao, who was slowly repaying his debts, put his easel on the balcony, always looking for the most suitable opportunity to record the short moment.

But in the end, when the painting was finished, it was slightly different from what was expected.

…

Xun Zhen came to Mingchi for a return visit, and was quite curious about this half-finished new painting. Before leaving, he secretly asked Mr. Ming to ask: "Is the painting a fireworks show?"

As the first friend to hold Captain Ming first, President Xun got his wish and got the ticket.

Unfortunately, the timing was bad, and he ran into several domestic and foreign seminars that he had to attend one after another.

Questions like this should have been asked by Ming Chi himself.

Mingchi is the kind of postoperative patient who can save the team's worries. He does not deliberately conceal his condition. He regularly reviews and actively cooperates with return visits. The speed of recovery is also quite surprising.

If you don’t consider that you often work too hard during rehabilitation and always forget to rest and relax, this performance should be taken by Corey to set an example.

So, of course, it was not that the visit of the doctor Xun Zhen was unwelcome.

It's just that the living room is too quiet, the atmosphere is too inappropriate to disturb, and it is not suitable for staying at all.

Xun Zhen checked the scale again, signed it with satisfaction, folded it up and put it away, and couldn't help but think of what he saw just now.

Actually it's nothing special.

It's just that Mr. Ming has finished his work and is accompanying the little gentleman at home to paint. Xun Zhen came to pay a return visit, and the two stopped together to entertain him, and Mingchi made tea for him.

Described in this way, it does seem quite ordinary and bland.

…

But if I was sitting on that sofa at that time, waiting for the pale water vapor to rise with the aroma of tea. Seeing Mingchi skimming the tea foam, sealing the pot and dividing the cups, and watching Mr. Ming concentrate on sealing the pot and dividing the cups, you will feel that the third person in this space is quite redundant.

In that room, due to work reasons, Dean Xun, who did not have time to bring his wife on the boat, poured three cups of tea, took a look at the scenery outside the balcony, and admired the unfinished painting for a long time.

Finally, when Ming Chi finished filling out the scale, Xun Zhen took the initiative to grab the scale and leave, and he helped to bring it to the door.

…

Xun Zhen came back to his senses, saw Ming Lu's inquiring look, and reacted: "There is no problem with painting."

"Combined with the previous changes in painting style, composition and color, his condition is very stable."

Xun Zhen combined the results of Mingchi's answer and analyzed it purely from a psychological point of view: "I probably won't need to do the scale often in the future."

Ming Lu nodded and answered his previous question: "It's not a fireworks show."

"No wonder." Xun Zhen's last doubt was resolved, but he couldn't help but wonder, "What is that?"

On the day Xun Zhen got on the boat, just in time for a fireworks show, he was deeply impressed by the dazzling splendor.

The atmosphere of the performance was not so deserted. Fireworks crowded the sky, half of the sky was bright, and the snow-white hull of the cruise ship was colorfully reflected.

Minglu put down what he was doing and looked up at him.

Xun Zhen was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head to check his clothes and found nothing wrong: "Manager Ming?"

"President Xun." Ming Lu took a chair, "Sit."

Manager Ming checked the timetable, took out his pocket watch, checked the time, and put it back in his pocket: "It may be a little long to explain this matter."

…

The matter started from the port where Xun Zhen boarded the ship.

After the ship had gone for a week, it berthed into the fixed passenger exchange port in the route, where passengers boarded and disembarked.

It was not only Xun Zhen who boarded the ship at that port, but also a car.

A collection car of the same model, the same production line, and the same period as the car sent by Mrs. Ren back then. It should have exactly the same configuration and is a limited-edition collection car.

"This car is very popular, and Mrs. Ren asked us to order it."

The heir of the multinational jewelry group came to deliver the car and explained to Ming Lu: "I looked good at first, and I ordered one myself. I have been collecting it for all these years, but I haven't started driving it yet."

He had business to discuss this time, so he didn't travel on the boat, but the place to talk about business happened to be not far from here, so he brought the car over by the way.

Along with him was Mr. Lao, the founder of the group, who was already very old.

The old man is nearly ninety years old, and his body is still quite strong. In the past two years, he has been traveling around the world with a few friends he made since the beginning of the year. He happened to come here to watch the sea.

"I didn't tell the old man about those things." The heir said to Ming Lu, "I heard that the little boy was here, the old man wanted to meet and have a chat over dinner."

"Exactly, the old man said that the design inspiration last time came from the children's paintings."

The heir smiled: "According to the rules of our industry, whether it is remuneration or profit sharing, he has to talk about it in person."

Mingchi listened to Uncle Lu's talk about dinner, and went to the study with a blanket to find Mr. Lu for an afternoon nap.

Before dinner, Ming Chi specially took another hot shower without a cane, and followed Uncle Lu off the boat to the predetermined restaurant.

The old gentleman really didn't know those things.

He is already quite old, and it is long past the time when he has to worry about personal relationships, and the business has been handed over to young people, but occasionally he personally makes one or two jewelry design drafts.

This time the design is related to the newly mined diamond mine. A lot of pigeon blood-grade rubies were produced in that mining area. The color was pure and saturated, and the overall quality was quite high.

The old man was considering the design plan, and just received the "Sunset" sent from the Ming family, and he was immediately inspired.

The whole dinner time, they talked mostly about some color inspiration. The old man and his friends discussed for a while, and proposed several new design ideas, which they asked Mingchi in turn.

Mingchi understood quite quickly, and he immediately touched the door after listening to the explanation. When asked his own opinion, he tried to speak while thinking.

After all, he does not have a deep understanding of design, and his opinions are inevitably unprofessional. But also because he was not constrained by habitual thinking, the seniors were quite pleasantly surprised, and they held him and chatted all night.

After a meal, even the moon dipped in the west, and before the chatting among several friends, the old gentleman poked them away one by one with a cane, leaving the children alone to talk a few more words.

The old man said he wanted to see the sea, and Mingchi helped him to the terrace, when suddenly the old hand grabbed his wrist.

…

The moonlight was fading, and the old gentleman's eyes were still sharp and bright, looking at the young man in front of him.

After Ren Shuangmei passed away, the child who would be brought to parties for tea by her, and who would be gently pushed by her back to chat, never appeared in their field of vision again.

It's ten years in a flash.

In the eyes of older people, ten years is not a long time. After all, it is only a small period that is not so long and not so short.

But the elderly are easy to miss, like this dinner that Ming Chi came to today.

Those friends who came to see Mingchi were also sitting at the table back then, half-jokingly quizzing the child about various questions, and were surprised and admired by the answers far beyond expectations.

Friends are still those friends, with different ages and hobbies. When the interest comes, they get together for a while.

This child seems to have been the same as back then, without any unpleasant qualities in these ten years. It is still the same pure and thorough as the past, but it is more calm and stable than then.

The only change seems to be Ren Shuangmei, who is no longer there.

"The paintings you sent."

After a while, the old gentleman said, "I've seen them all, and they're all very good."

Ming Chi's eyes lit up slightly.

Over the years, he has maintained correspondence with the old gentleman. Mingchi sent the painting, and the old gentleman would also send him a letter back.

Those letters are still there and kept carefully and properly. Ming Chi has re-read every one of them. The old gentleman will give quite professional opinions and comments on his paintings every time.

The founder's grandfather is not as strict with him as he is with students, and the opening remarks every time is "everything is very good".

Mingchi took out a note and a pen from his pocket and wanted to record it, but the old man held his arm down.

"I won't talk about painting today." The old man motioned for him to put away his pen. "We've talked about painting enough, too much."

The old gentleman said, "Let's talk about you."

Ming Chi was about to put away the pen and paper, when he heard the words, he was stunned and stopped.

"You're thinking." The old man looked into his eyes.

"You're thinking, the paintings sent to me should be in the right order, and the change in style is reasonable."

The old gentleman looked at him: "A gifted child who encountered some sad things, passed it smoothly and grew up smoothly."

"That's it." Mingchi rolled his eyes and put the note back in his pocket, "Grandpa, I'm having a great time now."

The old man also smiled.

This sentence is also the same as ten years ago - at that time, he liked this child's talent very much, and wanted to take this child named "Huo Miao" away from Ren Shuangmei.

Since this child is estranged, he can live in his own home, study design with him, study and live abroad, and become a designer in the future.

He found that the children were interested in car toys, so he told the children that they could play with all the cars in the garage at home, and life would be super good when they came to the house.

At that time, not only did Ren Shuangmei disagree, she didn't let go of anything she said while holding the child, and the child herself absolutely disagreed.

The little boy bowed his thanks in a proper manner, then tried his best to open his eyes seriously and looked at him seriously.

"Grandpa." The child clenched Ren Shuangmei's clothes tightly, stood up straight with her chest raised and her head held high, too proud, "I'm living a super good life now, I'm the luckiest person in the world."

As before, the old gentleman raised his hand and slowly rubbed the child's head.

"I have grown up and have the ability to make myself live well, so I don't need to be protected and taken care of."

The old gentleman said: "Of course there is no doubt about that."

He spoke slowly, and when he saw the same little pride in the eyes of the young man in front of him, he couldn't help laughing and shook his head gently.

"I heard that the car Shuangmei sent you is broken."

The old gentleman asked softly, "How did it break?"

Ming Chi came back to his senses, lowered his eyes, and thought about it seriously.

In fact, he can't remember this incident, but considering the cause and effect, and the pictures saved in the mobile phone, he can probably guess: "I didn't protect it well."

"I should have protected it." Ming Chi said, "I—"

The old gentleman shook his head slowly: "Nothing is more important than people."

"Shuangmei actually reserved a car for you at the beginning," the old man said. "You know, we ordered two cars together, just to prevent this kind of thing."

Ming Chi was stunned.

He looked at the old gentleman seriously, his fingers slowly bent, clenched, then pursed his lips and shook his head: "Probably not."

Auntie wouldn't leave a second car for him.

Because if there were no accidents, he would never let the first car break down.

As for the accidents that happened later, they were so unpredictable and unpredictable that even my aunt could not have imagined them in the first place.

"Is it the uncle who ordered one?" Ming Chi thought for a while, and immediately guessed what was going on, "Grandpa, may I—"

He knew that the request was a bit presumptuous. But that car was a limited edition, most of which were bought for collection after leaving the factory, and it was never re-engraved later, even if the price was increased, it was difficult to buy it again.

"Excuse me... Does uncle often open it?"

Ming Chi took a deep breath, he had never made such a request to anyone, and now he is almost a little embarrassed: "I—"

The old man looked at him silently for a while, and sighed when he saw that he still couldn't say these words.

The old man waved his hand and motioned Mingchi to come to the terrace.

"The source of inspiration for the design last time was your "Sunset", which should give you dividends or compensation."

The old man took the initiative to mention this matter, and then asked warmly, "What do you want?"

Ming Chi was startled and shook his head: "Grandpa is my teacher."

"need nothing."

The old gentleman nodded and held his wrist: "The comfort that is made up can be seen through at a glance."

"I want to pay for that car myself, but I don't know how to say it or how to ask."

"I remember that Shuangmei tried very hard to correct you."

The old gentleman walked to the railing on the terrace: "You can say what you want."

Mingchi was pulled over by him, and he also reflected on himself, and felt that he was indeed a lot worse than his thirteen-year-old self in this regard.

He simply hesitated, took a deep breath and was about to speak, but when he looked up, he glanced across the parking lot below the terrace, but suddenly stopped.

Mingchi turned around, he couldn't help but looked carefully at the parking lot outside the window, then turned back to look at his grandfather.

"Shuangmei used a lot of strength to correct you."

The old man said, "You are the most obedient child I have ever met. You will not forget what she taught you for no reason, and you will not fail to live up to her expectations for so many years."

"So today when I first saw you, I was thinking."

The old gentleman's other hand took out the car key from his pocket and put it in Mingchi's hand: "This kid, when he grew up, the world treated him very badly."

Ming Chi held the bunch of keys.

His chest heaved a few times, his fingers tightened unconsciously, and he finally remembered shaking his head when the key pressed against his palm.

Mingchi shook his head slowly: "No."

"No, grandpa." Mingchi whispered, "I am the luckiest person."

He clutched the set of keys firmly, and bent down to bow.

"This is your reward."

The old man interrupted before he could thank him, reminding him, "Remember what Shuangmei taught you."

Mingchi swallowed the words forcefully, and squeezed the bunch of keys again. He couldn't help pursing his lips, and his ears turned red.

The old man smiled: "Children."

The corners of the kid's mouth couldn't fall.

The child has grown very tall, no longer being held tightly to rub his ears, and no longer tugged by the corners of his clothes, but he still stands tall with his chest and head held high, proudly standing upright.

Mingchi stood up straight, and he said softly, "I am the luckiest person."

He gripped the set of keys so tightly that, as he curled his fingers, he accidentally touched the button on the remote.

Mingchi was too familiar with the remote control of this car, and when he noticed this, he raised his head almost as a conditioned reflex, and walked quickly to the railing to look over.

The same car as I remembered was parked not far away.

Stop where he can get there in a few minutes if he just runs over there.

The car received the signal, and it rang twice, and the headlights suddenly came on, illuminating the ground in front of it.

…

Probably some kind of childish hallucination that only children have.

The pendant hidden in the shirt was hot, and he gently touched his chest in his heartbeat, greeting him.

His car flashed its headlights twice in the night, smiling at him.