'Till Death Do Us Apart 長相守(bxb)

Chapter 23

XXIII

When the water showed no signs of leaving, the local government did not act and neither did the Japanese. Soon, the Tientsin Chamber of Commerce received appeals from major figures such as Ts'ao Ju-lin and Wu P'ei-fu recommending the creation of a self-rescue organization.

Six days after the disaster, the Chamber finally established the Tientsin Flood Relief Commission. There were some who participated out of genuine kindness, and of course there were those superficial ones who donated enough in order to buy themselves a good name.

That day on the boat, Ch'in Ching had been speechless after Shen Liangsheng's question. He stayed in silence with the other man, watching the vulnerability leave his face. Eventually, the man he was familiar with returned and began to plan.

"You can't stay at your house anymore, so come with me for now. I'm going to the factory later in the afternoon, but I'll get someone to go to Hsiao -Liu's with you. If their house is no good either, then get them to move to the house in Petite de Ceinture."

After faltering, he continued,

"And if you don't want to stay with me, feel free to move in with them."

Still kneeling in the same spot as Shen Liangsheng spoke, Ch'in Ching watched as the man sat up and began rowing. The boat shot forward, and Ch'in Ching swayed along appearing a bit disoriented.

"Ch'in Ching." Shen Liangsheng glanced at the man while rowing and added in a tone not quite cold but definitely stern, "Think nothing more of this than a friend helping another friend. If I have anything else to ask of you, I'll tell you directly. But if I don't, don't fret about it."

In the end, Ch'in Ching did not move in with Hsiao -Liu. First of all, the second-floor apartment did not get flooded but was a place so small it was a bit cramped with just the Lius there. The sisters had not married yet, so it would not do for Ch'in Ching to stay with them no matter how close they were. Second of all...Ch'in Ching wasn't sure what the second thing was. He said he couldn't leave with the man, but at the same time he felt that he owed Shen Liangsheng too much to ever repay him and felt extremely guilty.

The truth was that Ch'in Ching had no idea whether Shen Liangsheng was fine with him being around or would rather not see him so that he might have some peace of mind. In the end, he couldn't figure it out and decided to ask the man himself.

Ch'in Ching asked quite vaguely, but Shen Liangsheng understood his true question and replied casually, "I'd worry if you stayed anywhere else, so just make do here with me in the meantime."

It should have sounded a bit suggestive, but because of the man's seemingly careless attitude, it truly seemed like a friend caring for another friend.

Thus, Ch'in Ching settled down in a guest room in the Shen manor. Shen Liangsheng got his hands on two more boats through connections, one for the servants to shop and one especially for Ch'in Ching. He even asked the secretary from the south, who happened to be a good swimmer, to supervise Ch'in Ching for a few days and make sure the man could work the boat before letting the man go out on his own.

Ch'in Ching helped move the Lius to the new place while also helping the school with transporting equipment and supplies out of the affected areas. As these two projects were wrapping up, he heard about the newly formed Flood Relief Commission. He had planned to help out at the Student Union, but before he could report it to Shen Liangsheng, the man came to him.

"If you have time, could I get you to come help out at the office?"

It was not an unreasonable request, and Ch'in Ching readily agreed. But only when he arrived at the office did he find that the job consisted of managing some paperwork for the Commission.