Small Times 3.0 Golden Age

Chapter 14 CHAPTER 13
After entering autumn, the mornings in Shanghai are often foggy.The misty world always looks very sad in the blue-gray sky.Shanghai's economy seems to have cooled down with the temperature. Although the brakes have not been stepped on, the energy of wanting to step on the accelerator before has finally been relieved.

When the sky falls, Yao Ming will carry it; when the economy collapses, real estate will carry it first.Except for those top real estates in the inner ring that still have the face of "the emperor's daughter will not worry about marrying" are still strong, from the central ring to the outer ring, then to the suburbs, and around Shanghai, all the real estate are like leaves beaten by frost. , withered.Countless once-proud real estate agency salesmen silently took off their 18K gold watches, took off their crocodile leather shoes, put on NIKE or PUMA air-cushioned sneakers, and rushed to the highway one after another. With a face full of death-defying, desperate expressions, he was short of tying a white towel around his head and a laparotomy in his waist. ——The only thing they haven't changed is their eternal gray suit. Whenever they appear in people's sights, they will always be a suit that is obviously oversized and a wide and stupid silk tie. To live with their thick necks, maybe when they play football, take a bath, swim, or take a sauna, they should be like this, ready to hand you their business card from the inside pocket of their suit at any time.Just like the old saying, you never know when you're going to meet your soul mate, so, in the same way, you never know when you're going to meet your potential client.I once saw a real estate agent desperately stuffing a business card to a red scarf who was tying shoelaces on the side of the road-of course, he finally added a sentence "Remember to give the business card to your father", otherwise I would really doubt the world up.

At this moment, under the sun of autumn tigers, these intermediaries are sweating and intercepting all kinds of high-end cars under the viaduct, holding up billboards made of brushes and cardboard, which read something like "jumping high-priced real estate, only one set", "The price of cabbage in a single-family villa, the price of cabbage is even higher now", "The owner of the house was arrested, the family immigrated and sold the property at a low price", "The mistress was caught in bed, the wife sold the luxury house for a low price", "Sell the house to adopt a daughter", etc. Unbelievable slogans, sometimes I really feel that what they are holding in their hands is the story outline of TVB's eight o'clock series.They looked no different from the beggars on the street. They all smiled humbly at the people driving inside, and then tapped the windows cautiously.But sometimes, people who drive high-end cars are often just drivers.They always shut the windows tightly, kick the gas pedal and walk away.

The introduction of national regulation is like a spell of Maoshan Taoist priests, immediately revealing the original shape of countless intermediary companies set up according to the standards of the grass-roots team.They can no longer sit in the office with peace of mind. They only need to make a few phone calls and send a few text messages, and the banknotes flap their wings like a drugged hen and drill into their bank accounts.

A few months ago, the real estate agency shops all over the streets were like mushrooms after the rain, rapidly growing in all the crevices of Shanghai, large and small.And a gust of autumn wind swept through, and the countless facades were full of people yesterday, but the building was empty the next day. Behind the glass curtain wall with the rolling shutter door pulled down, you can see the waste paper and overturned trash cans inside.

Not just the real estate industry, but all industries are in turmoil.Retail supermarkets, chain bookstores, electronic products, department stores, vegetable grains and oils, stock markets... The only exception is the luxury industry. There is always a long queue at the entrance of LV, whether it is the wife of the owner of a coal mine in Shanxi, or a local white-collar who is saving money and is going to spend three months' salary to buy a bag and take it home to worship with an incense burner, the expressions on their faces all the same.All luxury brands are eagerly announcing their financial statements to the outside world, how much they grew in the first quarter, and they made more profits in the third quarter. Countless huge snowballs rolled down from the top of the mountain, and they got bigger and bigger and crushed. Shattered the dreams of countless people.

In this autumn, Shanghai's economic ecology seems to be continuously experiencing endless weak earthquakes, and the sky will not be torn apart, and the flesh and blood will fly everywhere, but everyone is living in panic amidst the faint roar.The soles of people's feet can't grip the ground, and the feeling of tight scalp makes them worry that they will be thrown into the sky at any moment.

The same goes for our company.

"ME" saw a 27% drop in total advertising and an 18% drop in sales, a state of affairs unprecedented in history.Of course, you can’t expect people to spend their precious time leisurely reading literary magazines while drinking coffee while worrying about whether they can still get their salary tomorrow or whether tomatoes in the supermarket the day after tomorrow will become more expensive than pork. —The exhibition at the Rockbund Art Museum is none of my business. It is none of my business which European writer wrote a travelogue to China hundreds of years ago. It is none of my business that a certain traditional folk craft is about to be lost. Which sculptor is in the Louvre? It's none of my business that the exhibition opened here, it's none of my business that a designer cheated immediately after coming out of the closet.

People are so busy with their lives that they don't have a lot of fun.

Occasionally, I passed by a newsstand on the side of the street, and found not only our magazines, but also piles of unsalable fashion magazines piled up on the ground in various colors. PS The fake face, which was flawlessly modified like an egg shell, was disgraced and almost embarrassing.

Gong Ming's face couldn't look anywhere either.His face was getting paler every day, his face was always taut, and he was longer than Voldemort.If it weren't for his bushy black eyebrows and straight and handsome nose, which seemed a little far from Voldemort's look, I really doubt that he could pull out a wand from his suit at any time and say "Ah!" to the dozing employees. Vada Kedavra" came.

He no longer has so much free time to study whether the latest porcelain from Spain is worth collecting, and he no longer has the mind to constantly instruct Kitty and me to search all kinds of coffee for him in Shanghai.He has endless meetings, endless phone calls, and endless documents every day.As long as his mobile phone is empty, it is connected to the charger. Otherwise, in the state of high power consumption of his phone for an average of 45 minutes, let alone an iPhone, even if it is replaced with a powerful battery, it is almost like using a nuclear battery. I believe that the domestically produced counterfeit phones will also collapse.

And to make matters worse, the company is fully preparing to launch a new art magazine next year.When I was planning the product line, it was the period of rapid growth of "ME". At that time, the steady stream of customer resources and readership made the company have enough confidence in the new publication. At the internal investment reception held for advertisers before Today, the heads of the marketing departments of countless brands are overwhelmed and want to use the new publications under "ME" as their new advertising and marketing platforms.However, in just two or three months, the whole world seemed to have changed its color, and the previous sunrise red was instantly painted cucumber green.Back then, all the brand manufacturers who were rich and powerful and wished to hit our faces with bundles of pink cash weighing several kilograms, seemed to be like tires with their eyes pierced, and stopped jumping around.The most frequent conversation in their mouths has also changed from "no problem, how much money, we will vote" to "not necessarily, it will be cheaper, and we will see."

Therefore, when the whole of Shanghai is in turmoil and all companies are cutting expenses and tightening their front lines, we are busier than anyone else.Even instead of laying off employees, the company has formed a new team for the upcoming brand new publication.Others are envious of us, but we know ourselves well.Whether this is a doomsday-like drinking poison to quench thirst, or a last-ditch fight, no one can tell.Everyone was like a clown caught on a wire rope suddenly, walking forward tremblingly, no one dared to act rashly, lest the whole army be wiped out.There is no end in a full nest, although the company still maintains its operations and does not cut expenses from our salaries, but in this era where the CPI index is like a thermometer under the armpit of a fat man with a fever, Not getting a raise is tantamount to deducting money.

Even Kitty hasn't been on a high-heel shopping spree lately.You know, she used to envy spiders the most. She once wanted to get a tattoo of a spider on her shoulder. Faced with my confusion, she said: "Because it has eight legs! It can wear four pairs of different ones every day." High heels!" I satirized her: "Then go envy the centipede!" She seriously rejected my proposal: "No, then I will go bankrupt." Some people in the company even started to bring packed lunches to work - you know, in the past , There are only two types of people in "ME", one is people who don't eat, such as the group of dead skinny people headed by Kitty, and the other is people who can issue invoices for reimbursement as long as they eat, such as the group headed by Gu Yuan and Gu Li dead director.Since you can't be a starving ghost wearing gold and silver, then at least don't become a skinny pauper-eat more, at least your complexion will look rosy, and your face will not look particularly bad.

However, not everyone is having a hard time.There are always some people who are God's favorite.I used to stick this label on Gong Ming, Sogo, or Gu Yuan and Gu Li.I never thought that one day, I would put this word on Nan Xiang's head.She could be "The Fateless Beauty", "Sad Cinderella", "Who Knows the Orchid in the Empty Valley", or "Qingyue outside the Empty Mountain Pass", but she can't and shouldn't be " God's favorite".But I was wrong.Nan Xiang's understanding of the art market and her strong reserves of art knowledge made her feel like a fish in water during the preparation of the new magazine.After completing several coordinating tasks almost perfectly, she has been promoted from art assistant to art supervisor, and then a few days ago, I just heard that she became the operation director of the new magazine.She is the salted fish that turned over, she is the expensive paper in Luoyang, she is the carp that leaped over the dragon gate, and swam from Pudong to Puxi swaggeringly—not to mention that behind her is a person who holds a large number of shares in the company. Boyfriend as a strong backing.

I have been in "ME" for more than three years, and now my administrative level is even lower than that of Nanxiang.Although Kitty and I are special cases, we have a lot of invisibility authority. After all, we are all people around the emperor.But on the table, Nan Xiang is above us—at least Ye Chuanping has a chair for her in the weekly meeting held by Ye Chuanping, and I am only eligible to push it away when Gong Ming needs coffee. That closed door.

Every week, with a cup of coffee in my hand, I walked into that meeting room under the eyes of everyone ignoring my existence, and received the shame specially customized for me.I never dared to raise my eyes to look at Nanxiang, because I don't know what kind of emotion will be in the oncoming eyes.I didn't dare to look at Gu Li, because I knew she would have sympathetic eyes.

I don't even want to look at Gu Yuan, no matter what emotion he has in his eyes towards me, I don't want to look at him.I hate him to death.

Life goes on like this day after day, without too many surprises or too many sorrows.Because as long as the few of us are not together, it seems that God has no desire to watch a play. Our life seems to have changed from a turbulent state like the tide of the Qiantang River to a calm state like the Dead Sea.Me, Nan Xiang, Gu Li, and Gu Yuan, the four of us maintain a life of not seeing each other when we look up or down every day, even though we spend almost eight hours a day in the same space surrounded by walls, sometimes separated from each other. They were so close that they could smell each other's perfume.

During these days, the cable TV station started to broadcast "Friends" again. We were all die-hard fans of "Friends" back then.However, the United States has already played the sixth season, and Shanghai has just begun to introduce the first season. At that time, there were not so many online resources, and there were no endless subtitle groups, and there was no 10M or 20M fiber optic bandwidth available now and then. People download 720p or even 1080p high-definition videos that cost three or four gigabytes.Our understanding of American dramas is still limited to the familiar voices of the voice actors on TV stations.I still remember that when the Shanghai Cable Pay TV station aired the last episode of the tenth season of "Friends" in 2006, the four of us bought several large bottles of Coke, and three large barrels of KFC's family bucket takeaway, and we hugged a huge quilt We huddled together on Gu Li’s bed and enjoyed the grand finale that everyone was looking forward to. After a few years passed, we realized that when we enjoyed the final curtain with snot and tears, this moment was actually two years late. In 2004, on the other side of the ocean, "Friends" ushered in its final curtain call as early as [-].

But time marches to 2010, and people seem to be nostalgic again.The colorful planar robots in my childhood memories have become 3D "Transformers", they swept the box office all over the world with explosives and lasers; the first "Harry?"Potter", finally ushered in the climax of the last movie version, the little bastards who stuffed books in the desks and read eagerly while dreaming that they could also wave magic wands, now There were also discussions on Weibo that Ron was disabled, Snape was on, and Harry?Potter's son looks like Malfoy; "Sex and the City", which female college students who just learned what fashion and sex are crazy about, also started to make movies, and the combined age of several heroines in it exceeds two A hundred years old, but this does not stop them from using people's nostalgia for the years to make money crazily. The progress of the film is not only that it can use CG to transform Avatar or Smurfs, but also that it can turn the 50-year-old Sarah?Jessica?Parker still looks like the 39-year-old Kylie we remember, and of course, Botox helped a lot.

At this moment, even "Friends" has been dug up and played again.But fortunately, it still stays the same as it was before, and there is no latest season or movie version.

I wandered around the Internet by accident that day, and saw that the current situation of the leading actors at the time seemed not very optimistic. Although everyone is still making TV movies, people are no longer willing to hold the remote control in their hands for them.

I stared at the web screen in a daze, how much like us.

When the four of us got together, we seemed to be able to overthrow Shanghai Beach and bring down Nanjing Road, but now that we are separated, we have been beaten back to our original shape and become ordinary passers-by.It's like every singing group that used to be all-powerful, after disbanding solo, it was quickly forgotten by people.

I even gradually got used to the life of only me and Gu Li in the huge villa.Without Tang Wanru and Nan Xiang, the chats between Gu Li and I have gradually decreased, and recently she has also become mysterious, and she often sees the beginning but does not see the end.Not only is she often not seen in the villa, but sometimes she is also not seen in the company.

But often when I send documents or coffee to Gong Ming, I can see her sitting on the chair opposite Gong Ming's desk and communicating with him in a low voice.Most of the time, it seems that it is a normal work communication. Gu Li holds a thick stack in his hand and chatters to Gong Ming about various financial projects. There is no difference between female anchors with bitter faces and deep hatred, but Gong Ming is only responsible for two things: shaking his head, or nodding.

Only once, I saw Gu Li and Gong Ming quarreling. When I opened the door, I saw Gu Li slapping the table and standing up. Half of it was on Gong Ming's white carpet. At that time, I felt that Gong Ming's eyeballs had turned white. He opened the drawer without saying a word. It felt like he was going to take a gun or a magic wand at me." Vada Kedavra", but he quickly threw an absorbent towel over, stretched out his slender fingers to point to the stain on the ground, trembling his lips, as if he was about to pass out of shock.

I lay down on the ground and wiped the carpet vigorously, but my curiosity and gossip ears were catching all kinds of clues in the whole range.But Gu Li didn't say anything, turned around and went out with a serious face.

We get along very peacefully when we are not working.Whenever we're both free at night, we'll huddle on the living room couch and watch reruns of "Friends."Gu Li dragged out the huge snow-white fur blanket from her bedroom and wrapped it around the two of us—the blanket was the second day after she became the financial director of "ME", she rushed to a bedding shop on the fifth floor of Hang Lung I bought it in a supply store. When she came home and spread out this huge fur blanket that seemed to be able to wrap ten Tang Wanru, I accidentally saw the price on the label that I hadn't had time to tear off, "I rely on It’s just a quilt! Twelve thousand! You’re going to die, you!” I screamed and called Tang Wanru and Nan Xiang over to criticize Gu Li’s capitalist corruption.Gu Li rolled her eyes at me, and wrapped the snow-white blanket around her body: "You missed a zero." As soon as her words fell, Tang Wanru and Nan Xiang, two beasts, got into the blanket with great agility. There they were, all three of them wrapped in shaggy fur, looking like two fairies and an orc in the forest.

But now more than half of the huge blanket fell on the carpet under the sofa, and Gu Li and I only need half the size, which is enough for us to be covered in wind and snow.

Occasionally, scary things happen in a peaceful life.Just like a calm pond, occasionally a grasshopper will jump into the river from the grass and commit suicide.

One night when I got home from work and opened the door, a slender figure with waist-long hair stood facing me in the corridor. The key in my hand slipped and fell to the ground with a crisp sound, "Nanxiang?" I asked Calling out subconsciously, a burst of sour gastric juice surged up in his throat.

However, the long-haired woman turned her head, and it was Mouse Jing Guli, who stroked a wig she had just put on, and said to me winkingly: "Lin Xiao, seeing my mother like this, do you feel that I am Should I bury flowers or embroider or something?" I suppressed my frantic heartbeat just now and said, "You should go to a Taoist priest to take a surprise."

While changing my slippers, I said, "You made such a shocking scene, are you going to play Nie Xiaoqian at the premiere of the new version of "A Chinese Ghost Story"? Let me tell you, I heard that she is very fashionable in the movie." Yes, even in the wilderness, she drags her dresses and long skirts and runs around every day. And she eats sugar all day long, so she is not afraid of getting fat, let alone wrinkles caused by excess sugar caused by muscle saccharification. Don't be mad at her. "

Gu Li grabbed the hair on the back of his waist and shook it vigorously towards the right shoulder, looking like a minority in Yunnan who kept shaking their heads around a torch: "No, I'm going to a dinner party invited by a shampoo brand, I'm going to take them down, and with my black and beautiful hair, they will have to buy the advertising space for the first half of the year!" After speaking, he flicked his hair to the left again, and a vase jumped out of the shelf in horror. fell down and broke.

I:"……"

Gu Li: "..."

When he was about to go out, Gu Li still ran into the bathroom, took off the scary wig, and after ten minutes of tossing around, he returned to the appearance of Mrs. Victoria Beckham. She also admitted that she ran into such a person on the street unexpectedly. A woman with long hair like a cloud does gasp (so that I don't beat her up so easily).While arranging her makeup in front of the mirror, she said inadvertently: "It would be great if Nan Xiang was here, and she should be able to fool the other party into buying half of the magazine by flicking her soul-calling flag casually." Bar."

I looked at Gu Li's back, not knowing what to pick up.My silence also made Gu Li realize the nostalgia for Nan Xiang in her tone just now, she hardly mentioned Nan Xiang.But she obviously wasn't going to chat with me on this topic any longer.

But I thought, I said: "Gu Li, after so long, do you feel sorry for her?"

Gu Li found my face in the mirror, she looked into my eyes and said, "Which him/her? Who are you referring to?"

I suddenly didn't know how to answer the call.Because a lot of him, her, her, him suddenly broke into my mind.

Who is worthy of who?

In fact, I know how sad Gu Li is.With such a large group of people, they would break up as soon as they said they would, and no one else would be able to handle it.No one took the initiative to contact anyone. It seemed that everyone was trying their best to prove that in their lives, they could live without anyone.

So everyone lives like this, day by day, and it looks like that.

It's just that sometimes when I get up at night and go to the bathroom with a blanket on, I can still hear the sound of sighing from Gu Li's room.I stood at the door of her bedroom, stayed quietly for two or three minutes, and then went back to my bed with cold hands and feet.

Shanghai in autumn, at night, is wet and cold everywhere, like grabbing a handful of sand from the refrigerator and throwing it into the cracks in people's bones.

During these days, the only happy thing is that I spend more time with Sogo.On the one hand, Gong Ming spends all his time dealing with work matters. As I, who is mainly in charge of his private life, I am no longer so busy. He spends far more time on Kitty than on It takes my time, even he spends more time with Nan Xiang than me.On the other hand, because my private life relationship has been simplified from a pile of spider web-like structures to a line segment in an instant, with me at one end and Gu Li at the other end, we are like ants tied to a thread. Grasshopper, bouncing around repeatedly every day.

So I free up a lot of time.I can finally do things one by one that I didn't have the chance to do with him before.

I went to Century Park with him to ride a tandem bicycle, watched the performance of the largest fountain on the lake with many people and tourists, and then stood on the bridge and sprinkled bread crumbs towards the koi in the lake, and then admired the magnificent The beast-like red, black and black carps were swarming densely, and Chongguang smiled wickedly, clapping his hands while saying, "Oh, I should take a picture and send it to Gong Ming, so that he can immediately jump on the desk and grab the tips of his ears." called, 'Come here!'"

I imagined the scene following his description, and couldn't help laughing so much that I almost fell into the water.I was just about to praise him for his precise and accurate descriptions, but I suddenly remembered that he used to be the most popular and best-selling author in the country.At that moment, I felt extremely awkward. I suddenly felt that the person standing in front of me was actually another person. I loved his handsome and tall appearance, his blond and blue-eyed European face, and my love for him wearing all kinds of top-level ready-to-wear and walking on the flyover. The enchanting shadow captured by the flashlight.However, what I was deeply infatuated with once, his gentle soul exuding the fragrance of grass and trees, has sunk deeper and deeper in this brand new skin, and I can hardly catch him in the past.

One day, the two of us were watching a love story in the cinema, and the hero and heroine on the screen finally walked together after the noisy separation and reunion.The girl packed her luggage with happiness on her face, because she was going to move to live with the hero the next day.The picture on the screen suddenly hit me. In my memory, the shadow of Nan Xiang suddenly flashed into my mind. On that day, she was also like this, her whole body was shining lightly, and her eyes were shining with joy , flashing longing.The way she couldn't wait to start a new life, the way she had no attachment to the past, the way she turned a blind eye to our rife mess hurt me deeply.

A pair of warm palms were placed on the back of my hand, I took a deep breath, no one in the dark movie theater could see my bloodshot eyes.

Chongguang leaned over, he was next to my ear, and said to me in his low and charming voice: "Lin Xiao, you move to my house and live with me. Try it, okay?" The hormones in his breath Fragrance, like a pair of sharp scissors, cut all my sanity into pieces.

However, when those fragments were blowing romantic snowflakes in my mind one after another, I suddenly subconsciously said a word, that sentence seemed to be my only remaining reason, or seemed to come from my instinct, Chong Guang After listening, he suddenly froze, and he involuntarily let go of my hand.In fact, I understand his surprise. What I said is really unbelievable. If it were me, I would be as ignorant as he was when I heard such an inexplicable answer from the other party.

What I blurted out at the time was: "Then what about Gu Li?"

"What do you want me to do?" Gu Li just put on one of those pointed high-heeled boots, she couldn't wait to straighten up and take the other boot in her hand, and she pressed the pointed toe of the boot to my throat She looks like a female assassin in Tsui Hark's martial arts movie, but she looks like a cripple in Jia Zhangke's rural movie, "Lin Xiao, I warn you, I don't engage in homosexuality! You are dead to me." Take this heart!"

After finishing speaking, she quickly put on the other boot, and she was 12cm taller than me immediately. Just when she lowered her thick and black eyelashes, she wanted to stand on a higher level and continue to reprimand me , I hugged her.

That was the longest time I cried this year.My snot ruined one of Gu Li's fine cashmere short-fur coats.

I moved to the hotel apartment by the Suzhou Creek where I lived before Sogo.

I walked into the familiar lobby, the familiar corridor, pressed the familiar elevator button on the [-]th floor, and walked into the familiar door.

I kept flashing back to the time when I was wearing a cheap sports hoodie, carrying a shoulder bag, stepping on clover sneakers and sitting in the corridor waiting for Sogo to deliver the manuscript.So many years have passed, the residents in this hotel apartment have come and gone, gone and returned, and countless travelers have stopped and set off for a new life.

And I'm back here again.

The furnishing of the room looks completely unchanged. The branded mattress dedicated to the Spanish royal family is still casually placed on the floor by him. The bed is still white sheets and quilt pillows that he likes to clean. Magazines and picture books can still prove that he still retains his original aesthetics and reading interests, and has not been completely reduced to a muscular, empty-headed sexy model.The only difference is that there are a few green plants on the balcony, one of which carefully blooms an off-white flower towards the setting sun.

In the chaotic light and shadow of the setting sun, I seemed to see Sogo once in a trance. He had black hair, was wearing a clean white T-shirt, and was sitting on the floor playing "Halo". He heard my footsteps, so he turned his head in the hazy air, and smiled at me. His dark eyebrows and eyes were like the black ink in Chinese paintings, and he was as bright and handsome as his outline. His neat teeth and soft lips The lips were still the same as in memory, and his tousled black hair seemed to have a shaggy vibrancy.He opened his arms towards me and beckoned me over: "Little assistant, are you here to press the draft again? You have to play a game with me first."

I turned around and buried my face in the chest of the now blond and muscular Lu Shao.

The oncoming scene of the old days crushed me into a mess.

His hands patted my back lightly, as if in harmony with some inaudible melody in the air.

That feeling, that feeling of being immersed in an old dream and unable to wake up, came again.

On the weekend, Sogo went to Beijing to shoot a print advertisement.I make coffee at home.The whole room is filled with the warm aroma of coffee. This smell of charcoal drives away the chill of autumn. Through the glass window, I look at the sparkling Suzhou River under my feet in the night.

Two years ago, this side of the Suzhou Creek was the World Trade Center and Raffles City, almost the busiest city center in Shanghai except for the Bund and the Oriental Pearl Tower. Countless skyscrapers gathered here, and countless subway lines competed with each other underground. It is as if insects forge complex nests.But on the other side of the river, there is only a low and dilapidated shanty town. After every heavy rain, the walls will crack or the roofs will collapse in several places. People who used to live here have moved out one after another. Some old people who could not leave were waiting alone in this quiet river bend.

However, after the government planned this area, this beautiful river bend has a new name: Suhe Bay.So, a few months after the plan was released, three land kings were born in this area.In the ensuing time, countless plans that shocked the world were released one after another, and this area will officially become a high-end business planning area in the center of Shanghai in the next five years.Those old dilapidated warehouses will all be turned into top galleries or artist studios, high-end hotels under planning, top riverside mansions, luxury centers... Countless paper blueprints of lavish luxury, and the top of the Bund source that has been formed on the other side The location echoes each other from afar.

The young people who had left have returned here one after another, and they have moved their household registrations into the household registration books of the left-behind elderly, waiting for a huge astronomical amount of compensation during the demolition.

On the other side of the river, Joy City is about to open, and the huge business volume will soon turn this barren land into a hot spot.The nearby plots that have been demolished and cleaned up for construction exude a compelling aura. In the near future, skyscrapers will rise here.

The years are like this, changing the appearance of Shanghai year by year. The big hands of the gods, holding various makeup brushes, give Shanghai a dazzling and attractive appearance.

I looked at the dozen or so bridges on the Suzhou Creek that were illuminated by the dazzling exterior decoration lights. A few years ago, they still looked dilapidated and old, as if they would break into several pieces at any time and fall into the river. Few people dare to pass by them, and they are bathed alone in the wind and snow year after year.But now, they have been reinforced and reconstructed, and they have been repaired as before. They carry the breath of noble orphans who have revived their glory, making this once turbid and now cool river full of classical style.

We all want to stay in the garden of youth, but the world is taking huge steps forward, and it will not stop for anyone.

It started to rain outside the window. At the beginning, it was just cold embroidery needles. Shanghai, shrouded in neon halo, suddenly became misty. There seemed to be large groups of fine white fluff flying in the sky, but gradually , the rain began to surge, not like autumn rain at all, but like the strong precipitation brought by typhoons in summer.The glass of the window was crackled by the raindrops.

I was awakened by the sound of rain, but found that I was not in a hotel apartment by the Suzhou River, but lying on the bed in my former room in a villa on West Nanjing Road.The heater was on in the room, and the air smelled strongly of coffee.Is anyone making coffee?when did i come hereHow long have I been here?
I turned over in doubt and got up, and walked downstairs to the living room.Passing by Gu Li's bedroom, the door was open, I looked inside, no one was there, the quilt was laid flat on the bed, it looked like no one had used it.I raised my hand and looked at the time. It was past twelve o'clock in the evening, and Gu Li hasn't come back yet?

When I walked into the living room, I saw Gu Li. She was sitting on the sofa with her back to me, arranging something on the coffee table. It looked like she was handling documents or writing something.I called her softly, but she ignored me.

I just realized that the windows in the living room were all open, and the sound of the loud rain drowned out my voice.The moisture outside the window and the chill of the night poured into the living room one after another.Gu Li was only wearing a thin silk pajamas, I called her a little louder: "Gu Li, are you cold, let me get you a blanket?"

She still ignored me.But she stood up, looking as if the task at hand was done.She turned her head and scanned the living room, her eyes stayed on my face for a few seconds, and then moved away indifferently.She looked at the big house inch by inch with cautious and nostalgic eyes as if inspecting a relic, and then she walked towards the gate. box.

"Where are you going?" I panicked, my voice sounded trembling, "Gu Li, what's wrong with you?"

She turned around and pointed to the coffee table. I followed her gestures and looked over. The coffee table was full of photos of the four of us from childhood to adulthood, black and white, color, one-inch, and large format. Yes, it covered the entire coffee table.The biggest one is a photo of the four of us in graduation uniforms. In the photo, Gu Li is wearing a bachelor’s hat and holding someone else’s hat in her hand——she wants to tell the world “My old lady” with such a high-profile nouveau riche look It's a double degree."

When I turned around again, Gu Li had disappeared.

That's when I struggled to wake up from the dream.My chest was heaving violently, and my mind was filled with chaotic pain.The surrounding area is still decorated in a simple white tone, and most of the lights outside the windows have been extinguished. The Suzhou Creek has lost its sparkle, and it seems to have become a bottomless dark canyon.

But outside the window is the dry autumn wind without any rain.

I touched the phone, and on the lit screen, the displayed time was 12:22.

I just realized that the dream just now made me sweat all over my back.I changed into clean clothes from the closet, and then called Gu Li. I was a little scared by the extremely twisted and weird atmosphere in the dream.

I called the landline of the villa on Nanjing West Road, but the phone rang for a long time and no one answered.

I started calling Gu Li's cell phone again, and the phone kept ringing, and I gradually became restless and anxious amidst the waiting tones.I quickly put on my clothes and pants, grabbed my wallet and ran downstairs.

In the early hours of the morning, Nanjing West Road is still full of traffic.The buildings on both sides are still surrounded by cityscape lights, which look much more beautiful than during the day.The exterior wall facade decorated with ancient patterns reveals a breathtaking beauty of time in the light.However, I had no intention of watching. I was sitting in the back seat of a taxi, urging the driver to step on the gas pedal all the way, and sped away to the villa on Nanjing West Road. I had already made several phone calls non-stop.But no one answered.

When I rushed into the community quickly and walked to the door of the familiar old house, a black shadow of fear in my heart suddenly expanded and turned into a wet basilisk, swallowing me instantly.

The door of the villa was open, and there was no light or movement inside.

I rushed into the house and turned on all the lights.I shouted: "Gu Li, Gu Li!"

My voice was hoarse and trembling.

I searched all the way down from the third floor, every room, every corner, and even every cabinet was opened.

nobody.

I went back to the living room, and my eyes fell on the big ebony coffee table in the living room.There are countless files piled up on it, which has a weird similarity to the scene in a dream.

I managed to calm myself down and poured myself a glass of water, then sat down on the sofa.

I am waiting for Gu Li.

Time passed silently, and I began to tremble uncontrollably in the silent waiting.

(End of this chapter)