Chapter 173: Dreaming of Wu Xiezi

After I finished speaking, I started crying again.

Shi Jinhe beside me hurriedly advised, "Brother, you've had too much to drink. The Da Heng Group is still in our hands; no one can take it away."

I shook my head and said, "Jinghe, my good brother, I haven't drunk too much."

What I mean is, if someday the Da Heng Group changes hands,

you must stay at the construction site,

keep working, guarding our Da Heng Group's last post.

Jinghe, you're an honest person; I entrust Xiao Shitou to you,

take good care of him. Let him build a solid foundation at the construction site.

The future of the Da Heng Group rests entirely on you two. Xiao Shitou, pour the wine.

"Dad, don't drink anymore, rest assured—I will definitely follow Uncle Jinhe and work hard." Xiao Shitou said from the side.

"Pour the wine, hear me? Your dad's words don't work anymore, right? Hurry up and pour the wine." I shouted.

Having no choice, Xiao Shitou had to pour me another cup of wine,

I raised the wine cup and shouted loudly, "Today I'm happy, my Xiao Shitou has grown up. He's matured; I hope you remember your father's words—you bear the surname Zhao, and the Da Heng Group also bears the surname Zhao. Forever belonging to us."

After saying that, I drained the cup and then threw the cup to the ground.

The cup shattered into tiny pieces.

I had already drunk too much, I felt dizzy, I tried to stand up but lost my balance and fell sideways beside the table.

Shi Jinhe and Xiao Shitou hurried over to support me.

I still said, "Xiao Shitou pours the wine, I haven't drunk too much."

"Xiao Shitou, son, you pour the wine. I'm extremely happy today."

"You've grown up."

"Zhou Wei, do you know? Your son has grown up—can you hear that?"

Shi Jinhe said, "Brother, don't leave today; Xiao Shitou will take your father to my dorm to rest."

The two of them supported my arms, staggering out of the shed, then back into the dormitory,

Shi Jinhe helped me onto the bed, and Xiao Shitou poured me some water,

so I could drink it down. I couldn't hear what the two of them were saying.

At that moment I felt as if I had walked out of the dormitory,

the wind from the ridge blew straight into my face,

where is this? Have I returned to Niushiling again?

With my drunken, blurred vision I looked at the lights on the construction site, as if I had truly returned to the Niushiling worksite.

I let the endless mountain wind blow on me, letting the work chants surround me.

I looked into the darkness, where countless people were laboring at the construction site.

Suddenly someone patted my shoulder,

I turned my head and saw it was Wu Xiezi, wearing glasses,

holding a cigarette that glowed faintly then brightened,

"Wu Brother, you've come—look at the house I've built here, how is it?" I said to Wu Xiezi.

Wu Xiezi merely smiled, saying nothing,

he took off his glasses and wiped them with his hand,

then said, "Wang Xinsheng, you're finished; your Da Heng Group is finished."

I hurriedly shouted, "Wu Brother, tell me what I should do, how can I save the Da Heng Group? Wu Brother, speak!"

Wu Xiezi again breathed on his glasses,

then glared at me fiercely,

"You owe me my son, you owe me my son."

My hand was tightly gripped by Wu Xiezi,

I struggled to break free,

I wanted to run away quickly, to escape this place.

But my body had no strength left.

I wanted to cry out, but my throat was blocked by something,

I held it in for a long time, finally letting out an "ah" sound.

Then I rolled over and vomited with a "wah."

After vomiting, I felt much better,

I slowly opened my eyes and found my hand tightly gripped by Xiao Shitou,

his other hand was patting my back.

"Dad, how are you? Should we go to the hospital?"

I shook my head,

"Xiao Shitou, Dad drank too much, let's laugh it off. But I'm truly happy today."

I kept repeating those words,

"Dad, take a sip of water and rinse your mouth." Xiao Shitou held a water cup and let me drink water.

I took a sip of water and rinsed my mouth,

I then Xiao Shitou asked, "How about Uncle Jinhe?"

I asked Xiao Shitou again: "Where is your Uncle Jinhe?"

Xiao Shitou answered: "He went to check the building; has the big job been finished?"

I nodded,

Then I said: "Go call him; I have something to tell him."

Xiao Shitou said: "Dad, are you really okay?"

I said: "Don't worry, this bit of liquor won't kill me; clean up a bit, then go call your Uncle Jinhe."

Xiao Shitou nodded, began cleaning the filth I vomited.

After Xiao Shitou finished cleaning the room, he went out to call Shi Jinhe.

As Shi Jinhe came in from outside,

Looking at me lying supine on the bed,

"Brother, how are you now? You drank too fast. Drink more water."

I laughed: "Mainly I just wanted to drink a lot, really, just wanted to get drunk once to relax; I've been exhausted these days."

"Yeah, just the loan matters keep you busy, plus handling internal affairs of the Group Company—just thinking about it gives me a headache. It's you; if it were me, I'd have quit long ago."

I gave a wry smile: "I'm just hanging on too. No choice—I can't fall; if I fell, the whole Group would collapse. How's Building Two?"

"About three days; the doors and windows aren't in place yet—installing them will pretty much finish it." Shi Jinhe said.

"If Building One sells well, we'll keep selling Building Two. By the way, I drank too much earlier and dreamed of Wu Xiezi—do you still remember him?" I said to Shi Jinhe.

"Of course I remember—it's been over twenty years; his eyes are always askew, he constantly has a cigarette between his fingers, stained yellow, loves telling dirty jokes. How would you dream of him?"

"I don't know either why I'd dream of him; just now you guys carried me outside, a breeze blew, and I thought I'd arrived at the Niushiling construction site.

We were working together again. Back then we were really happy.

Just that Wu Xiezi was demanding a son from me,

"Sigh, this matter makes me feel terribly sorry to Wu Xiezi." I sighed.

"Enough, Wu Ping's matter isn't related to you anyway—after all, it was a car accident, nobody wants that. You were injured too, your sister-in-law became a vegetative person. You've just been exhausted lately; when your body weakens, you're prone to dream about all sorts of random junk.

"If worse comes to worst, I'll find you a shaman to do a spirit dance." Shi Jinhe comforted.

Upon hearing that, I shook my head,

"What's the point of jumping that? Actually, I just like dreaming of them, catching up with old friends I haven't seen in years—I even dreamed of Xia Yuan the other day.

"They won't give me a hard time."

Shi Jinhe took out a cigarette and handed it to me,

"If Accountant Xia were alive, who knows how this company would have developed. I feel Sister Xia lived with clarity, knew how to be a person, how to enjoy life—just died too young. Forget it, let's not talk about these people; it's late at night, kind of scary. Also I don't know how our houses are selling—why don't you call Shi Yong?"

I took the cigarette from Shi Jinhe's hand,

"I don't want to ask; asking would be pointless. I no longer have that drive.

"Actually, I still want to dream of someone—just can't."

"Who?" Shi Jin took out a lighter and lit it for me.

"Song Erguang." I said.

"He's dead too. Forget it, why dream of him? This guy died of a venereal disease—brought it on himself. I don't like him; I heard the eldest, Li Jiayou, is also seriously ill." Shi Jinhe said.

"Yeah, I heard from Shi Yong it's a nasty disease; I'm not in great shape either, never went to see him, just had him send some money—when I get a chance I really want to visit him." I said.