Chapter 170 I will never set foot on Liugong Island again in this lifetime

Director Li, who was about to board the ship, froze.

One foot hovered over the gangplank, his smile stiffening slightly.

He thought he had been a poor host somewhere.

Or perhaps this young secretary found the ship too shabby, so he quickly turned around.

"Lin... Secretary Lin?"

Director Li rubbed his hands together and explained somewhat awkwardly,

"Are you feeling unwell?"

"The scenery on the island is very beautiful."

"And it's only a twenty-minute boat ride; it won't be bumpy."

In this era that emphasized collective action,

such an abrupt refusal seemed very uncooperative.

It was even a bit of a snub to the local leadership.

Director Sun turned his head and took a deep look at Lin Xi.

Although they hadn't worked together for long, he knew this young man's temperament all too well.

Lin Xi usually looked easygoing.

But on certain issues, he was as stubborn as a mule.

Since Lin Xi said he wouldn't go, there must be a reason for it.

"Oh, Director Li."

Director Sun reacted extremely quickly, immediately laughing and smoothing things over.

"Little Lin is just a bit delicate."

"A landlubber from the north, he can't handle the waves; he gets seasick as soon as he steps on a boat."

"Let him stay here and watch the car; let's not spoil everyone's fun."

"This..."

Director Li looked at the calm sea, then at the rosy-faced Lin Xi.

Although full of doubt, he had no choice but to take the out offered to him,

"Alright, alright."

"Then I'll trouble Comrade Lin to rest at the pier; we'll be back quickly."

The group boarded the ship one after another.

Chen Guangwei had originally been following at the back of the group.

He glanced at Lin Xi, who was standing motionless in the cold wind.

After hesitating for a moment, he also stayed behind.

"Director Li, um... I'll stay behind too."

Chen Guangwei smiled honestly,

"I'm a local."

"Comrade Lin is here all by himself and unfamiliar with the place."

"I'll keep him company and look after him."

Director Li was in a hurry to accompany Director Sun and didn't think much of it, waving his hand:

"Fine, then you take good care of Comrade Lin."

"We'll meet at the state-run restaurant at noon."

With a long blast of the ship's whistle, the transport boat cut through the sea and headed toward the nearby island.

The bustling pier instantly quieted down.

Only the sound of waves hitting the embankment and the cries of seagulls in the distance remained.

Lin Xi walked to a stone bollard on the pier and fished a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.

But he found that the lighter wouldn't light because of the wind.

"Click—"

A flame flared up in front of him.

Chen Guangwei cupped a match with both hands, shielding it from the sea breeze for Lin Xi.

"Thanks."

Lin Xi leaned over to light his cigarette and took a deep drag.

The acrid smoke swirled in his lungs, dispelling a bit of the cold.

Chen Guangwei lit one for himself as well.

It was a pack of cheap, low-quality cigarettes, and the taste was very harsh.

The two of them just sat there on the breakwater, watching the white boat as it drifted further and further away.

"Manager Lin."

Chen Guangwei took a puff of his cigarette.

His gaze was somewhat evasive, as if he were weighing his words,

"Actually... the boat is very stable. You aren't seasick, are you?"

He was in the industrial sector and had a sharp eye.

The way Lin Xi had been standing just now.

With his feet planted like nails on the ground, how could there be any sign of seasickness?

That was clearly a form of resistance, a visceral, physiological disgust.

Lin Xi didn't answer directly.

He raised the hand holding his cigarette and pointed toward the Liugong Island pier not far away.

At that moment, a tourist boat was docking.

A large group of tourists got off the boat.

Dressed in uniform dark coats, holding cameras in their hands.

Carried by the sea breeze, one could vaguely hear bursts of chattering laughter and conversation in Japanese.

They were taking pictures of the iron anchors on the pier.

Posing with "V" signs in front of the ruins of the Beiyang Fleet from back in the day.

Pointing and gesticulating excitedly, as if touring an interesting exhibition hall of war trophies.

Chen Guangwei looked in the direction Lin Xi was pointing, and his face instantly darkened.

The humble smile that had been hanging on his face for social purposes vanished without a trace.

Replacing it was a gravity and oppression characteristic of men from Jiaodong.

"That's a tourist group from Japan."

Chen Guangwei's voice was muffled,

"Since things opened up these past few years, a lot of people have been coming."

Lin Xi watched the crowd laughing and playing on the site of national humiliation and flicked the ash from his cigarette.

"That is the site of humiliation from the First Sino-Japanese War."

"It's the place where our entire nation had its spine broken by others."

Lin Xi's voice was very soft, but it landed on the concrete like a heavy hammer, without a single echo.

"Watching the descendants of the former aggressors."

"Stepping on that land where our ancestors' bones are buried."

"Treating that bloody history as scenery to gawk at, as a joke to tell."

Lin Xi turned his head to look at Chen Guangwei.

His eyes revealed a sorrow and anger that made one's heart palpitate.

"Factory Director Chen, I'm not being delicate."

"It's just that I feel congested in my heart."

"My legs are weak; I can't go up."

The sea breeze howled.

Chen Guangwei's fingers holding the cigarette trembled violently.

He had originally thought.

This young cadre from the capital.

Was just an intellectual with a bit of arrogance.

But this phrase "my legs are weak" was like a red-hot knife, stabbing fiercely into his heart.

And at this moment.

Chen Guangwei suddenly felt.

That this young man in front of him, who was nearly 20 years his junior.

Was no longer a high-and-mighty leader.

But a comrade-in-arms to whom he could entrust his back.

"Comrade Lin."

Chen Guangwei threw the cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it fiercely with the sole of his shoe.

He raised his head, and those eyes, which had originally been somewhat murky, were now frighteningly bright.

"Well said!"

Chen Guangwei's voice was a bit hoarse,

"Actually... I don't like going up there either."

He looked at Liugong Island, which was close at hand, and said.

"I'm a native of Haiwei, raised in this sea since I was a child."

"One year the city held a swimming competition, and the finish line was on Liugong Island."

Chen Guangwei smiled self-deprecatingly,

"I was the champion; I swam the fastest."

"But when I was about to reach the shore, looking at the foreign-style houses up there, looking at that monument."

"I didn't go up to accept the award."

"I turned around and swam all the way back."

The livestream chat exploded instantly:

[Holy crap! This part is true! I've read Old Chen's biography; he really did that!]

[Swam back? That's the open sea! That takes some serious guts!]

[I'm emotionally compromised, brothers. This is the backbone of a man from Shandong Province! He'd rather give up the championship than step on that place of sorrow!]

[Tearing up, brothers.]

[Lin Xi understands him! Lin Xi really understands him!]

[At this moment, the backs of these two men are so damn cool!]

Lin Xi looked at the man in front of him.

In his previous life, until this old man passed away.

For his entire life, he never set foot on the island once.

Even though the factory was built right by the sea, with windows facing Liugong Island.

He was using this almost paranoid way to guard the dignity in the bottom of his heart.

Lin Xi lit another cigarette and handed it to Chen Guangwei.

The sea breeze messed up their hair, and the smoke was torn apart in the wind.

They watched the Liugong Island pier in the distance quietly, watching that group of laughing tourists, neither of them speaking again.

But in the silence, something had already quietly taken root and sprouted.

Smoking, watching the Liugong Island pier in the distance quietly, not knowing what they were thinking.

(Note: Liugong Island only opened as a tourist attraction in 1985; it was opened earlier here for plot requirements.)