between clouds and mud

Chapter 22

A year later (2005), China BJ, Winter.

Zhou Song received a postcard from Switzerland. This exquisite card is embossed with the scenery of majestic snow-capped mountains and alpine meadows.

The address is different each time, sometimes it is Finland, Denmark, or the aurora in Iceland.

Jiang Lele lived a chic life, and did not forget to travel to Europe while studying abroad.

"Guess what I sent you this time?"

Jiang Lele spoke in a very happy tone, and breathed out when speaking.

"You have been to Northern Europe, will it be Portugal or Spain this time?"

"Guess again."

"Greece is also pretty good, a relic of ancient civilization."

"Oh, you're better at reading." Jiang Lele sighed regretfully.

Zhou Song didn't pretend anymore: "You have become a living person, you have returned to China."

"how do you know?"

"Be smart next time, the call is not an international call."

"Zhou Song, are you allergic to romance?" Jiang Lele yelled into the phone, "Come out, we're at the front door of your school."

Zhou Song put on his down jacket and mask and went downstairs. The smog in BJ was very heavy and the air was not good.

Jiang Lele was shivering in the cold wind. Seeing Zhou Song strolling over unhurriedly, the originally brewed mood of hugging and crying turned into a roll of eyes.

"My aunt, can you hurry up?"

"Don't blame me, the campus is too big." Zhou Song looked at the boy standing beside Jiang Lele. He was so tall that he couldn't see his face clearly: "Is this your boyfriend?"

"No, this is my friend Chi Ye." Jiang Lele couldn't bear the cold weather, so he stopped the car and went to the hotel.

Entering the hotel, a gust of heat came blowing over my face, and there were two classmates in the room, both of whom were friends of Jiang Lele.

Several people sat around playing cards, and after playing a few rounds, their luck was one-sided.

At first everyone suspected that Zhou Song was cheating, but after confirming that she hadn't cheated, they ruthlessly drove her off the poker table.

Several people joked: "Famous college students are different."

Zhou Song, who was watching the game from the sidelines, didn't speak, but he couldn't take it anymore. Jiang Lele played a good hand of cards to pieces.

So I changed my position and continued to watch the battle.

Jiang Lele cast her a glance: "What are you doing?"

Zhou Song looked at Chi Ye beside him, and then at Jiang Lele. It seemed interesting, and he continued to move his seat neatly.

After playing cards, Zhou Song couldn't help asking, "Why are you here at BJ?"

"We're here to play with you." Jiang Lele said, "I heard that the snow in the Forbidden City is particularly delicious. The tour guide will show us around."

"Big sisters and big brothers, you must have at least a five-figure air ticket together, come to see the snow?" Zhou Song touched her head: "I'm not sick, is any of you sick?"

Jiang Lele opened her up with a pillow in his hand: "Is it okay with you, someone treats you."

Several people got together to discuss travel plans for the next few days.

Zhou Song sat on the sidelines silently, and came to travel in the winter, these young men and ladies probably didn’t absorb enough PM2.5.

"Then you have fun, I still have class tomorrow." Zhou Song saw that they had almost discussed, patted their buttocks and prepared to leave.

"Come on, let's go together." It was Chi Ye who said this, sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, looking like a standard playboy.

Zhou Song wrapped up his scarf, put on a mask, and was fully armed: "Professional courses, I will hang up at the end of the term."

Jiang Lele glanced at the cold wind outside, it was too cold outside and decided not to go out.

Chi Ye went out with a cigarette in his hand, and dropped by Zhou Song.

Zhou Song vaguely felt that he had seen him somewhere, but he was embarrassed to say, in case people misunderstood that she had nothing to say.

A car was stopped on the side of the road, and she was about to say thank you.

Chi Ye followed her into the car, facing the girl's surprised eyes, he explained: "Girls are not safe at night, I will take you to school."

Zhou Song nodded, put on the earphones and did not speak again.

Looking at the reflection in the mirror, could it be that the longer she grows, the more beautiful she is, and it is possible to make people fall in love at first sight?

When getting off the car, Zhou Song said first: "You don't have to take me back to the dormitory."

That should be obvious enough.

Chi Ye looked at her, and said slowly: "I think it's pretty."

Watching the car driving away, Zhou Song couldn't help being stunned for a while, and then went back to the dormitory.

Towards the end of the term, Zhou Song had a lot of homework.

She enjoys the process of being busy, and can forget some things and people when she is busy.

After receiving Jiang Lele's series of fatal calls, she realized that she had also ignored this ancestor.

To be precise, it was subconsciously intentional. She didn't want to mix things between herself and her friends that might cause qualitative changes.

There happened to be a heavy snowfall on Saturday, and the group made an appointment to go to the Forbidden City.

Because BJ's bus is too congested, Zhou Song is the last to arrive.

Zhou Song introduced the sunny and clean-looking boy beside him to Jiang Lele: "Let me introduce, this is my boyfriend Ye Ting."

Jiang Lele enthusiastically went up to say hello, and said with great face: "You are the first boyfriend introduced by Zhou Song."

Not only was he the first to introduce, but also Zhou Song chased after him.

Zhou Song has a little knowledge of ancient architecture and cultural relics history. She walks in front to introduce the palace and cultural history to everyone. Her speech is not fast, but sonorous and powerful.

Ye Ting walked beside her, and the two walked side by side holding hands.

Jiang Lele shook her head, and whispered to Chi Ye, "Oh, Wan Wan Leiqing."

Don't meet too amazing people when you are young, it is easy to miss your life.

Zhou Song had three boyfriends in one year, and Ye Ting was the third.

Without exception, everyone has the shadow of Zhang Chengnian, and Ye Ting's temperament is like him, very clean.

But Zhang Chengnian is more handsome, gentle and moist as jade.

There is another point that Jiang Lele doesn't know.

Ye Ting is from the Physical Education Academy, and his hands have a thick layer of calluses from playing games all the year round.

His hands are also like Zhang Chengnian, so Zhou Song likes to hold them.

A group of people were almost done shopping, and they were discussing what to have for dinner. Chi Ye took a taxi back to the hotel by himself, and his back was a bit frustrated.

Jiang Lele and the two friends around him were a little strange: "Didn't he suggest that he want to go back to China to see the snow scene in the Forbidden City?"

Otherwise, whoever flew all the way from the UK, Jiang Lele sensed that he was in a bad mood, and followed him back to the hotel.

The remaining four looked at each other in blank dismay, so they simply separated.

Zhou Song and Ye Ting went to the library to study together after dinner. This was their daily date.

Sometimes the two would go for a walk on the playground together.

Under the dimly lit street lights, Ye Ting stopped to look at her, bowed her head and kissed her like other couples, Zhou Song avoided subconsciously.

Zhou Song and Jiang Lele used to be inseparable, but now they are just a guy who forgets friends when he sees sex.

I was around men all day long, and even my friends didn't know where they were. It wasn't until the day I was leaving that I called Zhou Song to tell him.

When Zhou Song rushed to the airport, they were about to board the plane. They hadn't seen each other for a year and were about to separate before they had time to say a few words. They hugged for a long time at the airport before reluctantly saying goodbye.

Zhou Song could tell that Jiang Lele liked Chi Ye very much.

But she could also see that Chi Ye didn't care about Jiang Lele.

Come on, Jiang Lele has to cry.

This year, she received letters from relatives and friends in Hunan, from Chen Fan in the United States, and from Jiang Lele in the United Kingdom, but there was not a single letter from Shenzhen.

That person seemed to have disappeared, never to be seen again.

At that time, mobile phones were already very common, and everyone used smart phones.

It's very convenient to want to contact, unless you don't want to contact.

Every time she answers the phone number, Zhou Song will take a closer look. If she can receive a call from Shenzhen, China, it is basically a scam call, but Zhou Song is also willing to chat with the person on the phone.

Because this call came from his city.

During the winter vacation, Zhou Song went back to Changsha to accompany Zhou Li.

But I still go back to Dengxiqiao for the New Year. When the New Year comes, Dengxiqiao Township is as lively as it was when I was a child.

The wanderers who have worked abroad for a year are all on their way back home.

Zhang Zhijun came back early, and on the third day of the Lunar New Year, Zhang Hong also went home to visit his relatives.

Zhang Fang stayed in Changsha, Brother Daxiang was unable to return after serving as a soldier, and the person she most wanted to see did not come back for the New Year.
I heard that autumn has come back, but I haven't encountered it this year.

Hong Nier gave birth to a daughter and is now pregnant with her second child.

I went to the hospital to ask for a relationship check, and according to the B-ultrasound, it was a boy, so Hong Nier's husband's family valued this child very much.

Zhou Song looked at the two-year-old daughter of Hongnier's family, who was thin and small, with a very introverted personality.

Zhang Zhijun was working in Dongguan, and when he heard him talking about Zhang Chengnian, Zhou Song was very quiet beside him.

Dongguan is very close to Shenzhen, and Zhang Zhijun and Zhang Chengnian have occasional contacts.

I heard that Zhang Chengnian resigned from the design institute this year and joined a private enterprise after the next year.

Talking about this soldier, he joked with a smile: "What's the use of going to college, the salary is not half of our assembly line."

Zhou Song held the water glass in his hand, his heart twitched suddenly.

Zhang Chengnian, did he have a hard time?
2005, Shenzhen, China, New Year.

Shenzhen during the Spring Festival is basically equivalent to an empty city. The people here are all foreigners from all corners of the country.

Zhang Chengnian was busy in the kitchen, cooking two small dishes and stewing a pot of soup in the simple rental house.

He is usually busy with work, and he often deals with it casually, but the New Year is different.

Although living alone, Chinese people have a sense of ritual engraved in their bones for the New Year.

After eating, clean up the dishes.

The dining table became a desk, and he began to read study materials.

Recently, Zhang Chengnian is preparing for the certificate examination of Yijian, taking advantage of the abundant study time in the new year.

From home to work, plus the traffic jam in the morning rush hour, it takes almost an hour.

If he is lucky enough to get a vacant seat, Zhang Chengnian will read the information for a while.

Old Gu from the engineering department lay down in front of the computer to make a list of materials, and tapped the computer from time to time.

The colleague Zheng Gong next to him asked curiously: "Can't the computer do the math by itself?"

Holding the mouse, Lao Gu replied solemnly: "No, a computer is just a machine, and you still have to use a calculator for calculations."

Zheng Gong nodded, and also brought a calculator.

The two of them worked hard to calculate together, and they didn't finish the calculation until they got off work.

Seeing the situation, Old Gu sighed: "No way, let's work overtime today."

Zhang Chengnian, who was passing by, paused for a moment and looked at it for a while.

After all, I couldn't hold back and entered a formula on the keyboard, and then dragged down the mouse, and the entire list of materials was listed.

Zheng Gong froze with his hand pointing at the calculator, and the two of them looked suspiciously at Zhang Chengnian, this is the new guy from the design department today.

The surname is Zhang, I don’t know what Zhang is.

Lao Gu put down the computer, then gave him a cigarette with a smile on his face, and chatted with him for a while with a familiar face.

After talking a lot of nonsense, Lao Gu still didn't forget to ask: "Xiao Zhang, which keys did you lose just now?"

Zhang Chengnian demonstrated it again on the keyboard, and said happy new year before leaving.

Zhang Chengnian has grown from a designer assistant to a designer in one year, and he has grown at the speed of light in the industry.

But he knew that his ability was far from enough, and he was short of fire.

In the design department, he is the most junior.

Generally, they are designers with ten years of experience in the industry. Generally, he is not available for large projects, and the resources for small projects will not favor him.

So his job is mainly as a helper and an assistant.

Basically, what other people don't want to do is thrown to him. The work content is extremely boring, like a mindless robot.

Until a hotel project, because it was too far away from the company and spanned two districts, the designer was too lazy to go, so he used it as a design docking site.

People who do design have a problem, they like to find fault.

For example, the finished effect may look good to ordinary people at first glance, but the designer only pays attention to the details.

Zhang Chengnian is a typical example. He wrote down a lot of opinions in his work file, such as gaps in the corners of begonias, cracks in the edges of decorative aluminum panels, and gaps in seam beautifiers.
He took photos one by one and sent them back to the work group.

After this pass, the project manager on the construction site was offended, and they had already started secretly discussing how to put a sack on him and beat him up.

Fortunately, Lao Gu is a righteous man, he remembers love when someone helps him once.

So he came forward to smooth things over. Lao Gu is the project manager of the general contractor, and he can be regarded as a supervisor. He manages the group of project managers under him, and his words can be regarded as a bit of weight.

He saw Zhang Chengnian approaching, walked over with a smile, and asked him to find a fire escape to smoke together.

Zhang Chengnian also learned to smoke after working. He has no addiction to cigarettes. He usually smokes two cigarettes when he is under too much pressure or when he can't calm down.

Zhang Chengnian is a very rational person, everything has a limit for him.

So after smoking one, I don't continue to smoke.

Old Gu looked at the young man, and said earnestly, "Xiao Zhang, you are still young and have just stepped into the society. Sometimes you are too straightforward. You need to be flexible in your behavior."

"Let's avoid the detours that we can avoid. After all, there are many friends and many paths."

Old Gu didn't stop talking, but he personally demonstrated the ways of the world.

Taking Zhang Chengnian around the construction site, Lao Gu explained some techniques and processes to him from time to time. He explained in detail. In addition to the on-site practices, he also talked about other techniques by analogy, and analyzed the advantages and disadvantages.

This made Zhang Chengnian finally not like a headless chicken, he could only figure it out by himself.

Because most designers are unwilling to bring newcomers, basically they can only rely on their own understanding.

Everyone knows the reason why the apprentice of the church starved to death of the master.

Turning to the decorative aluminum plate area in front of the hotel showroom, Lao Gu greeted the project manager in charge.

Light a cigarette first, and then start to scold the design, scold Party A, and scold the boss.

All in all, if you don't do well, blame others.

After the two of them scolded together physically and mentally, they formed an alliance of friendship with the same hatred and hatred.

Old Gu said in embarrassment: "There is no way, our construction is the bottom link, and we will always be the ones who take the blame. If you don't rectify the cracks on the edge, it will affect the project funds at that time, and everyone will not be able to get it." It’s money. Brother, it’s hard for me too, or you brother can work harder to deal with this problem.”

The project manager knew that the old fox was waiting here, and he was not stupid.

He said that he couldn't help it, but he would definitely try his best to remedy it, but he had to wait.

"Hey, brother, do you think my brother can make you suffer? After work tonight, let's arrange a show and relax. That's how we will be motivated."

"Brother, you have already talked about this point, brother, I will be embarrassed if I don't hurry up."

So the two called brothers finally reached a consensus.

Zhang Chengnian watched the two old fried dough sticks fight, so language is an art.

The project manager apparently promised to deal with it, but did not say that it would be handled well.

Lao Gu needs an attitude, you can cooperate with my work, just listen to the arrangement.

Turning around the scene, Zhang Chengnian planned to return to the company with his schoolbag on his shoulders.

Lao Gu followed him: "Why are you leaving in such a hurry? I didn't hear there was any activity at night."

"I won't go." Zhang Chengnian was not interested in this kind of activities, and even disgusted.

What's the difference between a man and a beast if he can't control the things in his crotch?

"You have to be there to entertain at night, otherwise you won't give your brother and me face." Lao Gu directly suppressed him from the moral level.

Zhang Chengnian stopped in his tracks.

Sure enough, there is no free lunch in the world, and there is no free favor.

In the Haitianqing Club, two middle-aged men with fat beer bellies walked in together with a handsome man with outstanding temperament.

If they were not standing together, it would be difficult to think that they knew each other.

Looking at the menu, Lao Gu ordered a Thai massage for each of them, and then went into the private room.

Zhang Chengnian shared a box with Lao Gu, and the project manager had a separate box.

The sound insulation of the room is not good, you can vaguely hear ambiguous calls.

Zhang Chengnian looked at Lao Gu who was enjoying himself on the massage table.

I can't see that he is still a gentleman with some principles.

Old Gu sighed, knowing Zhang Chengnian's thoughts: "It's expensive, I can't bear it."

Lao Gu was lying on the massage table, and his eyeballs began to look at Zhang Chengnian.

Zhang Chengnian refused to have a massage, and was sitting on the sofa soaking his feet.

"Have you played with many women?"

With this skin, I am afraid that many women are rushing to post it, and it is normal to look down on these low-level interests.

Zhang Chengnian closed his eyes and took a rest. He didn't want to answer this kind of messy question, but because of his affection, he said, "No."

"How many girlfriends have you had?" Old Gu continued to ask.

Zhang Chengnian finally couldn't bear it this time and didn't answer.

Old Gu knew it at a glance: "It can't be a baby."

Lao Gu is a very vulgar person, either he doesn't speak, or he just runs the train with his mouth full.

Zhang Chengnian wanted to pay when he was waiting for the bill.

But he was stopped by Lao Gu and rushed to pay the money.

Zhang Chengnian glanced at the bill, this activity is indeed not cheap, no wonder Lao Gu was reluctant.

(End of this chapter)