Tenant's Secret Love

Chapter 129: Fishing rod

I looked at Renee, who was getting closer and closer, a little dazed. Next to me, Smile let out a surprised exclamation: "Wow, big brother, the referee is here!"

"I'm not blind, so behave yourself and don't shout!"

Smile stuck out her tongue at me. As expected of a child. Renee had already arrived in front of us. At the moment, she was still wearing business attire, as if she hadn't had time to change into warmer clothes. So on this winter evening, she looked even thinner in the cold wind.

It had completely darkened, and I reckoned that the plaza management would not be showing up again, so I pulled a cigarette out of my pocket and lit it, taking a drag. I asked Renee, "Aren't you supposed to stay in Shanghai with Abner?"

"I think you have something important to tell me,"

Renee's answer took me by surprise, and I asked, "What's your basis for that?"

"Because you rarely contact me on your own initiative, and then you didn't reply when I sent you a message. You must have been upset and disappointed, and you're quite petty!"

I immediately took my phone out of my pocket and sure enough, there was a WeChat message from Renee asking if I was okay. But I had been playing car racing and singing in the noisy square, so I hadn't heard the WeChat notification tone at all.

I held the phone in front of Renee and said, "You see, I haven't even opened the message you sent, so it's not that I'm petty as you say, it's that I simply didn't hear it."

As soon as I finished speaking, I felt a strange feeling in my heart. Last time, when I was in Xuzhou, I couldn't get in touch with Renee and almost rushed back from Xuzhou to Suzhou overnight to look for her. This time, Renee thought I was disappointed and rushed back from Shanghai to Suzhou. Although the distance from Shanghai to Suzhou is much shorter than the distance from Xuzhou to Suzhou, it is enough to show that she cares about me.

"Lucas, wake up, don't flatter yourself!" I hurriedly reminded myself with a lingering fear.

"Then I misunderstood you!" Renee added after a slight pause, "I told you yesterday to take me to find Smile, I thought you were talking about this today, otherwise I wouldn't have come back."

Renee's words really made me glad that I had reminded myself not to flatter myself. She only rushed back from Shanghai because she shared the same pain as Smile, otherwise she wouldn't have found this square where Smile might appear.

Before I could say anything, Smile looked at Renee with confusion and asked, "Why are you looking for me, referee sister?"

Renee petted Smile's head and said, 'Because I want to help you."

Smile beamed with joy and said, 'Then buy the basket my grandfather made. Lucas also said it's very beautiful!"

At this time, I didn't argue with Smile about his habit of calling me Lucas. I took away Renee's hand from petting his head, and then petted him myself with a meaningful look and said, "Silly child, you have to set your sights higher. This silly person in front of you has a lot of money. She can buy you a KFC for free!"

Smile opened his mouth wide and looked at Renee, but Renee glared at me and said, "Am I really silly?"

"Not to mention smart." I insulted Renee without any boundaries, and if she was stupid too, there would be no smart women in the world.

But I didn't expect that as soon as I finished speaking, an elderly woman who managed the square appeared out of nowhere and shouted at me, 'That young man who was smoking, put out your cigarette!' After saying that, she walked quickly towards me, in such a manner that it seemed as if she would not be satisfied until she had fined me a hundred yuan.

I threw the cigarette on the ground, and said to Renee and Smile, "KFC, we'll meet at KFC later..." and then I was already gone, carrying my guitar.

...

A moment later, the three of them met at KFC, and I said with a hint of smugness, "What do you think? Was my speed okay?"

Renee gave me a disdainful look and said, "It was obviously an escape after being inconsiderate, so why can you still sound smug? What a strange person!"

I was so embarrassed by Renee's words that I angrily said, "Then did you just inhale my second-hand smoke? If you did, you're my accomplice...not any more noble than I am!"

"What a rare and strange person, and even stranger logic!" Renee said, looking at me with a speechless expression.

Smile, standing between the two of us, also chimed in, "Brother, you might as well not have run just now, that woman and the referee are going to fine you."

I asked Renee, "Did you pay?"

"What if I didn't? I don't have your amazing speed!"

I ignored Renee's sarcasm and said with a half smile, "So you're my accomplice, right? Otherwise why would you pay the fine for me? My logic is completely fine! And I wasn't wrong when I said you're stupid and rich, right? I smoke to contribute to the country's tobacco tax, so why should I be fined as a good citizen!"

"Aren't you tired after running so fast just now? ... And now you can still say so much nonsense!" Renee choked me.

But I smiled carelessly and said, "You're right, it is quite tiring after what you just said. Hurry up and go in and eat something... You treat."

...

After the three of them had eaten something at KFC, Renee drove the car and I took Smile home together.

Smile and his grandfather live in a shantytown, which is a rare sight in this city. The living conditions are not good, and the car can't even go in, so we had to walk into the shantytown.

On the way, Smile told us that they used to have a house, but they sold it to pay for his father's medical treatment. Even so, they couldn't save him in the end. After hearing Smile's account, Renee's expression became even more solemn.

Finally, we arrived at Smile's current residence. He led Smile and I around the obstacles to get into the low-ceilinged house. Then we saw the old man weaving bamboo baskets under the dim light. He was Smile's grandfather. A cane was placed next to him, and one of his legs was curled up weakly. His weathered face was full of wrinkles, as if the hardships of life had been engraved into the bones of this old man.

After Smile explained the reason for our visit, the elderly man, who had difficulty walking, struggled to help me and Renee pour water. Renee and I repeatedly stopped him. At that moment, I believed Renee was feeling as heavy as I was, so she took out a wad of money from her handbag and gave it to the elderly man as soon as possible, and said that if there was any difficulty, they could just talk to her.

The elderly man kept thanking us, but relying on charity to live was ultimately not a long-term solution, and Smile was still too young to do anything for the family.

...

Renee and I chatted with Smile's grandfather for a while before leaving. On the way out of the shantytown, none of us spoke because of the heavy burden. It wasn't until I was sitting in her car that I said to her, "You can't support them for the rest of their lives. I think that instead of giving them fish, you should give them a fishing rod so that they can catch their own fish."

Renee nodded thoughtfully and asked me, "Do you have any ideas?"

"It depends on whether you're willing to do it."

"I'm definitely willing to help if it can help them," Renee said to me with a serious look.

After a moment's consideration, I said to Renee, "Smile's grandfather can weave by hand, which is also a skill. I think we can package the things he weaves into products and sell them at your Jumei store. Wouldn't that solve their livelihood problem at root?"