The next day, it wasn't until about one o'clock in the afternoon that the four people who played cards last night finally woke up.
The latest person to wake up was Mark Levi. Yu Dong smiled and asked him how the battle went last night, whether he lost or won. He told Yu Dong that last night was fine, neither losing nor winning.
Yu Dong asked him again how he felt about playing cards. He said he didn't feel much at all, but he did talk about chatting with Bi Feiyu and the others.
"Several gentlemen are very interesting, especially Mr. Yu Hua. His words are very meaningful. It is an honor for me to play poker with them. I hope to have such opportunities often in the future."
Yu Dong smiled and said: "As long as you meet them often, there will certainly be no shortage of opportunities to play cards."
Originally, Yu Dong thought that Mark Levi was able to save money because he was a novice and had good poker luck. Later, after Yu Hua and the others woke up, Yu Dong learned from several of them that Mark Levi was not just lucky.
So simple.
They played cards until seven o'clock in the morning. At first, Mark Levy relied on luck, but after playing for a while, it was obvious that he was on his way, and later his cards became more impressive.
Yu Dong couldn't help feeling that Mark Levi was indeed very smart and learned anything very quickly. No wonder he was so bald.
…
Yu Dong and the others were not in a hurry to leave in the afternoon. They planned to have a good two days in Saint-Malo. Mark Levy was also very enthusiastic. He took Yu Dong and the others around and took them to eat a lot. It was all him.
Host.
Later, when Yu Dong and the others left Paris, Mark Levy arrived at the airport. Before leaving, he told Yu Dong very seriously that he wanted to communicate with them in Chinese when they meet next time.
…
"Do you think Mark Levy can really communicate with us in Chinese next time?"
While chatting on the plane, Yu Hua talked about Mark Levy's "brave words" and asked Bi Feiyu and the others with a smile.
Bi Feiyu smiled and replied: "It depends on when we meet next time. If it takes two or three years, there is still hope."
Wang Shuo leaned his head against the porthole, "I don't think he can speak Chinese well, but according to his talent in playing cards, it will be more difficult to win money from him next time we meet. This may be our only chance these days, but we missed it.
."
Mo Yan leaned on the other side and said, "Why do you always think about winning other people's money when playing cards? Playing cards is originally a matter of self-cultivation, but when it comes to your mouth, it becomes very philistine."
After hearing this, Wang Shuo sat up and looked at Mo Yan: "Mo Yan, this doesn't sound like what you said. It's so pretentious. It sounds like it was said by Yu Dong or Su Tong."
Yu Dong leaned on the back of the chair and closed his eyes to rest. After hearing Wang Shuo's words, he opened his eyes to look at him, and then closed his eyes again. Wang Shuo had such a mouth, it was best to ignore him.
Yu Hua smiled and said, "I think Mo Yan is right. Playing cards is about cultivating one's moral character."
Wang Shuo snorted with his nose, "Oh, cultivate yourself and cultivate your character. You will win the most money every time."
Speaking of winning money, Yu Hua turned to look out the porthole: "Look, the clouds."
…
After Yu Dong and the others got off the plane in Yanjing, they were not in a hurry to return to Jinling. They finally came to Yanjing and naturally wanted to visit their acquaintances in Yanjing.
The most important thing is that they want to see Mr. Wang Zengqi Wang.
Since the beginning of this year, Yu Dong has been paying close attention to Mr. Wang's health, because he remembered that Mr. Wang passed away in the past two years.
Before they went to France, Mr. Wang's eldest son, Wang Lang, told them that his father had been in poor health recently and was getting increasingly depressed. In particular, his appetite was getting worse and worse, he often couldn't eat, and he was getting thinner and thinner.
The main reason is that the old man loves to drink too much. Although he was diagnosed with liver cancer, he still can't quit drinking. When he sees Wuliangye, he drinks not only half a bottle, but also three or four ounces.
When Yu Dong and others came to Yanjing to participate in the Congress of Representatives, they also met Mr. Wang. Mr. Wang was in high spirits that time. He drank wine and danced twice, and his steps were quite vigorous.
It's only been a few months, but my body has deteriorated to this extent.
This time Yu Dong and the others came to Yanjing, just in time to see the old gentleman.
It was still Puhuangyu's old house. When Yu Dong and others went there, in addition to Wang Zengqi and his wife, their eldest son Wang Lang was also there.
Wang Lang was in his forties and worked in a news outlet. When he saw Yu Dong and the others, he was very enthusiastic, "The old man always misses you guys, but I finally look forward to having you here. Now that you are here, I can feel more relaxed."
"
At this time, Shi Songqing came out with a tray of teacups and scolded his son, "What's the point of taking it easy? Pour water for the guests."
Wang Lang smiled and said: "I was just kidding, it's really easy."
Yu Dong and the others smiled and said a few polite words, then ran to say hello to Wang Zengqi.
Compared with the last time we met, the old gentleman had lost a lot of weight. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and was sitting at the desk with his hands folded in front of him.
"You are here."
The old gentleman made a gesture to get up, but Yu Dong and the others quickly said: "No, no, no, no, please sit down and talk."
Wang Zengqi didn't get up again. He smiled and said, "I heard from Wang Lang that you just came back from France?"
"Well, I went to a literary festival."
"That's a good thing." Wang Zengqi nodded and saw someone hiding behind Yu Dong, so he turned his head to look.
Yu Dong stepped aside in cooperation, revealing Wang Shuo behind him.
Wang Zengqi smiled and said: "It's you, Wang Shuo."
Wang Shuo touched his head and smiled: "Long time no see, Mr. Wang."
"It's been a long time since we last met. The last time we met was in Qiongzhou. It took three years..."
"four years ago."
"Young people have good memories." Wang Zengqi said with a smile: "I still remember that PEN meeting. I went with Songqing. What impressed me deeply was that we bought a jackfruit and carried it with great difficulty.
When I came to Yanjing, I cut it open but found that I couldn't eat it. All my efforts were in vain... Well, was Su Tong there that time?"
Su Tong smiled and nodded: "You have a good memory. I did go there, and Ye Zhaoyan, Ge Fei and others... also invited Yu Dong, but he didn't go."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Is there such a thing?" Yu Dong looked confused, he had no impression at all.
"I did mention it to you, but I was very busy at that time and didn't pay attention to me at all."
"What was I doing at that time?"
"I remember." Bi Feiyu said: "At that time, you were in seclusion all day for "Going to the West", let alone going to Qiongzhou to participate in the PEN Conference. At that time, a group of us spent a lot of effort to let you go out for fun.
."
Yu Dong patted his forehead and said, "That's what happened. I remembered it."
Not long after school started at that time, he was thinking about how to write "To the West" every day, and he wrote for a month without writing the beginning. Later, Liu Changmin and the others became anxious and dragged him out of the single dormitory.
Went out and walked around in Gulin Park.
I still remember that he told a joke about "a bowl of shit", and he felt much better after he said it.
Unexpectedly, Su Tong went to Qiongzhou and met with Wang Zengqi and Wang Shuo.
Wang Zengqi looked at Yu Dong and asked about the new book: "Your new book has been making a fuss even before it came out. Wang Lang told me that people from all walks of life are paying attention to it, which made me interested. A few days ago,
I feel like my body and bones are not right, and I might not be able to hold on any longer. When I think about not seeing your new book yet, I decide to try harder to hold on, at least until your new book comes out."
As soon as the old gentleman said these words, the atmosphere in the room suddenly dropped to freezing point, and no one knew what to say.
Yu Dong was also stunned. He didn't expect that Mr. Wang would pay so much attention to his new book. He was moved but also a little uncomfortable.
Seeing that they were silent, Wang Zengqi suddenly burst out laughing: "Are you serious?"
…
"Old man, you just love to joke. Look how funny you are to Yu Dong and the others."
Wang Lang came over with tea and handed a cup to each of Yu Dong and the others.
Wang Zengqi smiled and waved his hands: "It's a joke, it's a joke, don't take it seriously. But I remember one thing. Last time Xu Yudong asked you to write a preface to your new book, but he didn't do it at the time. Will I be used in the new book this time?
"
Yu Dong said quickly: "If it is possible, it would be a great honor."
"Since we are going to write a preface, we naturally want to see the manuscript before publication, right?" Wang Zengqi said with a smile.
Yu Dong nodded: "Of course, if you want to see it, I'll have it sent over in a moment."
Shen Kong has an office in Yanjing and there are quite a few people there, so it is not difficult to ask them to send a manuscript over.
After everyone chatted for a while, Yu Dong and others were about to get up and leave, but were left by the Wang family for lunch.
Knowing that Yu Dong and the others were coming today, the meal was very sumptuous, and a dish of Gaoyou Drunken Crab was also served. During the meal, Mr. Wang kept saying that if it were not for the good times, he would not be able to eat this delicacy at all.
During the meal, Teacher Shi told Mr. Wang to only have one drink.
The cup was very small, and the full cup cost only sixty-seven yuan of wine. Of course, it couldn't satisfy Mr. Wang's alcohol addiction, so while his wife was filling the dumplings, he secretly added a small cup for himself. Yu Dong and the others
Can't stop it.
And his expression when he secretly added wine was like a child doing a small bad thing behind an adult's back, full of secret joy.
Teacher Shi heard the voices of Yu Dong and others admonishing her, and turned around to catch Wang Zengqi. She was walking quickly with dumplings in her hands. Mr. Wang had already picked up the wine glass and took two sips. There was only half a glass left in the small glass.
.
There was nothing he could do, so Teacher Shi raised his hand, finally patted Mr. Wang on the shoulder, and complained helplessly.
Yu Dong and the others found it interesting, but also sad. Teacher Shi didn't know that Mr. Wang liked to drink. Without alcohol, there would be no point in living a long life, but if he was allowed to indulge in drinking, he would definitely feel uncomfortable.
…
When leaving Wang's house, Yu Dong and others were all dizzy without exception.
When the car took them to the hotel, Yu Dong endured his drunkenness and sleepiness, and first called his colleagues in Deep Space and asked them to send the "Old Book" manuscript to Mr. Wang and send some gifts along the way.
After the instructions, Yu Dong lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep. He had been flying back and forth in the past few days, and even though he was often jet-lagged, he was also very tired. Plus, with the drink at noon, he couldn't bear it at all.
After sleeping until night, they went to Hu Yueming's house and had another drink.
In the afternoon of the next day, Yu Dong and the others started to rush to Jinling. Before leaving, they received a call from Mr. Wang.
On the phone, Mr. Wang praised Yu Dong's new book sincerely, saying that the style of his work this time is very different from before, the writing style is smart and elegant, and the love in it is even more touching.
The love between Chang Huaiying and his wife also reminded him of his own experience with Shi Songqing, which was similar in many ways.
Mr. Wang also said that he would write the preface to this novel tonight.
Yu Dong was naturally happy to receive Mr. Wang's praise. He also did not forget to care for the old man's health and asked him not to expend too much energy and not to be too hasty in writing the preface. Mr. Wang agreed with a smile.
But Yu Dong never expected that this would be the last conversation between him and Wang Zengqi.
At around ten o'clock that night, Yu Dong and others were still on the train back to Jinling. Mo Yan and the others were playing cards in the lower bunk. Yu Dong, who was reading in the upper bunk, suddenly received a call from Wang Lang.
After the call was connected, Wang Lang was silent for a while before speaking: "The old man is gone."
Yu Dong clutched his cell phone and was completely confused.
The sound of Mo Yan and the others playing cards also stopped, and they all looked up towards the upper bunk with questioning eyes.
After a long while, Yu Dongcai replied in a hoarse voice: "I understand, you must be very busy at the moment, don't worry about us, we will make arrangements ourselves."
After hanging up the phone, Yu Hua frowned and asked, "What's going on?"
"Mr. Wang is gone."
In fact, Mo Yan and the others were aware of this possibility just now when they saw Yu Dong's state of answering the phone, but now they couldn't help but feel a sore nose after hearing what Yu Dong said to them.
Yesterday they were drinking and eating together, talking about life, but today they were gone.
"What to do now?" Bi Feiyu asked.
Yu Dong sighed: "Let's turn back and see the old gentleman off. We'll get off at the next stop, Quancheng, and I'll arrange the car back to Yanjing."
Afterwards, Yu Dong was busy calling people to arrange a ride back to Yanjing, while the others sat speechless for a while. When Yu Dong came back after finishing the arrangements, Yu Hua sighed: "Everything in the world is unpredictable."
Bi Feiyu nodded: "Although I saw that his condition was not as good as before yesterday, but..."
Bi Feiyu didn't say the next words, but everyone understood.
But I didn't expect it to go so fast.
He even had a phone call with Yu Dong in the afternoon. On the phone, he spent ten minutes just talking about the romantic past between him and Teacher Shi, and he was in surprisingly good spirits.
"What's the specific situation?" Mo Yan asked.
Yu Dong shook his head, "Wang Lang is also busy and didn't go into details. Let's talk about it later when we meet."
Then there was another long silence. No one knew what to say, and they didn't dare to look at each other, for fear that the other party would see their red eyes, and for fear that if they said a few more words, they would feel even more uncomfortable.
Later, when they arrived at Quancheng Station, several people got off the bus early and got into the car arranged by Yu Dong and hurried towards Yanjing.
When we arrived in Yanjing, it was late at night, and Mr. Wang had already put on makeup and sent him into the ice coffin. Yu Dong and the others took a look through the glass of the ice coffin.
Chapter completed!