Small Times 3.0 Golden Age

Chapter 5 CHAPTER 04
As long as Shanghai enters summer, it loves rain very much.From the end of spring to the beginning of summer, to the beginning of autumn, the whole summer, God seems to have forgotten to turn on the faucet in his back garden.

Walking out of the gate of the restaurant, I looked at the pattering rain curtain in front of me, looked through the bag at hand, and found that I didn't bring an umbrella.If it wasn't for an important meeting I was about to attend, I would have rushed into the rain indifferently.In my student days, I always showed up every rainy day like this.Later, after being with Jian Xi, he never got wet in the rain again.Because every morning, when he brushes his teeth, he will habitually listen to the weather forecast for the day.Every rainy day, he would naturally take out a plain black umbrella from his bag. I never told him that when we were standing on the side of the road, he gently opened the umbrella on top of my head. That movement is so charming - in many dreams, I still see his hand holding the umbrella handle in front of my eyes, with long and slender joints and fair skin, and the expression on his face is naturally calm and pampered , the smell from his body, the scent of hay mixed with the scent of roses, wrapped the air in the small area under the umbrella dry and comfortable.

But now he is gone.

Let's face it.All I have to do now, I tell myself, is step into the rain with my head held high, and squat under the hand dryer in the company bathroom for 10 minutes to dry my hair.

At this time, a black umbrella opened above my head.

I turned my head, and Nan Xiang looked at me with wet dark eyes: "I'll take you there." Her voice was full of distress, and with the relationship and tacit understanding between me and her for so many years, she must understand that I couldn't control myself just now The ground was shrouded by Jian Xi's memories.

Tang Wanru still stayed in the restaurant. She didn't have to go to work and didn't have an interview, so she could drink afternoon tea while waiting for the rain to stop.She waved goodbye to us through the glass window.

Looking at Tang Wanru's fresh and plump face through the bead-like rain curtain under the eaves, I realized for the first time that when all of us irresistibly walked into a society as large and humid as the rain and fog in front of us , only she still stays in our student days, no need to go to work, no need to get up early, no need to wear high heels to rampage in the narrow aisles of the company, no need to break her head and blood on another road called life.

When we were drenched by the heavy rain and embarrassed, she still smiled at us through the glass, and the dry and comfortable air stayed around her. She breathed and looked back, raised her hands and raised her feet. It was still the era of fluttering white clothes, youth without regrets.

I envy her very much.

I know Nanxiang is the same, because I heard a soft sigh behind me.

Water droplets blown into thin lines by the wind streaked across the glass windows.

I went downstairs to the company, and Nan Xiang was about to say goodbye to me. I suddenly remembered, so I said to her: "Either you go up with me now, and Gu Li is here, so you can decide on your application for an assistant." You also know that she has a face with a knife mouth and a bean curd heart with steel teeth, now go and shout "Long live Gu Li" so as not to watch her roll her eyes for an hour when I go home at night."

"Is this convenient?" Nan Xiang asked me while closing her umbrella, "If you open the back door in front of the whole company, won't others say anything?"

"What can I say, it's just a temporary assistant, who cares." After I said this, I realized that I had accidentally stabbed Nan Xiang, "That's not what I meant." I looked at Nan Xiang really a little Embarrassed face, apology.

I was actually very uncomfortable.Because behind this blurted out sentence, there is actually hidden contempt in my subconscious—but, what qualifications do I have to be contemptuous?I'm also just an assistant.The only difference between me and Nan Xiang is that the word "temporary" is missing in front of the assistant.

I pulled across Nanxiang and pushed open the heavy glass door of the office building.

I once again realized the beauty of Nanxiang.

From the lobby of the office building, to the elevator, the corridor, the front desk...all the passers-by cast their gazes on Nanxiang, half of the gazes were from men, which was desire; half of the gazes were from women, which was hostility.I couldn't help looking at her from the side. Her hair was drenched in the rain, and it looked even darker. A lot of it was thick and dense, and it was naturally and slightly curled on the shoulders. There was no makeup on the whole face. The eyelashes are soft and long, like the thin feathers on the tip of a black swan's wings. Her lips are like pink petals soaked in dew in the morning, plump and charming. The soft light will always make her look like she has just stepped out of a light-ink painting of a lady. Her eyes are pitch black and her teeth are white, full of a kind of beauty after being bathed by moonlight.

There was still half an hour before Gong Ming asked for a meeting.

I took Nan Xiang to Gu Li's office, pushed open the glass door, Lan Jue looked up at me from behind the computer, he had already changed clothes quickly, at the moment he was wearing a dark brown shirt , two black silk satin borders on the neckline, it looks like a high-end product at first glance, as for the classic plaid interlaced tie, I have never eaten BURBERRY or seen BURBERRY running.I sighed, the same assistants, one seemed to live in the castle, and the other seemed to live in Xinqiao Town, Songjiang.

"Is Gu Li there?" I looked at Lan Jue's magazine face and asked him.

"In the room." Lan Jue smiled, his white teeth looked particularly sexy against his dark brown shirt, and he looked like a tempting piece of chocolate.Lan Jue's voice is always so deep, like a rusty acoustic guitar, it sounds particularly seductive.

Nan Xiang and I looked at each other, smiled understandingly, then turned our heads and said to Lan Jue in unison, "Neil asked us to say hello to you on his behalf."

So the acoustic guitar in front of him flushed all over his face.He picked up the cup at hand and drank water awkwardly.

Satisfied, I turned around and walked towards the door of Gu Li's room. I just took two steps when I was stopped by Lan Jue: "Did you see the red mark on the doorknob? It means that they locked the door inside. Generally, it means locked. Tell you not to disturb them..."

"Who?" My temples twitched, "You said that Gu Li is not alone? Isn't it Gong Ming? This is in broad daylight..."

Before I finished speaking, I was interrupted by Nan Xiang behind me: "Don't make trouble with Lin Xiao, even if you have watched too many novels and movies, you should understand that even in movies, under normal circumstances, the protagonist only They will get together with tall and handsome bodyguards, weak and beautiful maids, or elegant and charming chefs, have you ever heard of getting together with your own accountant and cashier?"

I turned around and looked at Nan Xiang: "You make a lot of sense." Then I turned my head and asked Lan Jue, "Who's in there?"

"It's Gu Yuan... As you know, a man and a woman who have just started to fall in love," he paused, and made a gesture with a clear meaning, "so you'd better not knock on the door."

"Come on, the two of them are just starting to fall in love, and they are almost burning out."

I know Gu Li so well, even a kiss in public is a challenge for her.It's not that she is conservative, but that she has too high demands on sex.If she wants to make out with Gu Yuan, then the surrounding light must be measured two days in advance, the candles beside her must be lit, the rose petals on the bed must be fresh and fragrant, bathe and change clothes, brush teeth and burn incense, the battle looks almost the same Yu turned himself into a tribute, and put it on the chopping board with a shiny brush.

It's difficult for you to let her have sex with Gu Yuan in public under the bright and clear sky at noon.What's more, she has said to me countless times: "I'm sure there are cameras installed by Gong Ming in my office." Although she has almost turned over the foam cushions under the carpet to check, when the Japanese devils entered The village search for landmines is not as careful as she is.

I raised my hand and knocked on the door. There was silence in the room.

I turned my head to Lan Jue and raised my eyebrows questioningly.

Lan Jue spread his hands at me.

I knocked again, still no answer.

never mind.I turned around and left, and when I passed by Lan Jue, I said to his beautiful eyes: "Call me when Gu Li comes out later, and you tell her, I have something to ask her and ask her to wait for me, I will Come here and go to the meeting with her."

Lan Jue nodded, I was just about to leave when my eyes fell on the file bag on his desk.

"Is this just sent by the planning department?" I pointed to the bag of materials.

"Yes, I applied for the temporary assistant of the art exhibition this morning." Lan Jue picked up the file bag and handed it to me, "You just send it to the editor-in-chief Gong Ming."

"The candidate has been chosen?" I asked Lan Jue, turned my head and smiled at Nan Xiang, blinked her eyes, Nan Xiang's face was filled with a happy smile, I could see that she was from the bottom of her heart The joy of this is very important to her.

At least she can order a glass of honey water in the restaurant without worry.It suddenly occurred to me that the scene just now made me unable to face the scene that I could only avoid silently.Looking at Nan Xiang's glowing face, I couldn't help smiling, as if infected, my heart was filled with the warm and sweet happiness like the honey water in the afternoon sun.

After opening the portfolio, the joy is gone.The cup of warm honey water turned into a cup of sour grass juice with icy slag, and it overturned in my heart.

I saw a huge cross drawn in black and blue ink on Nan Xiang's page.The strokes are very hard, penetrating and scratching the beautiful face in Nanxiang's photo.

"Gu Li gave this to you?" I looked at Lan Jue's face, he obviously didn't want to face me, after nodding, he turned his gaze away.

I can't imagine what kind of expression is on my face at this moment, but I think it must be ugly.I can't even imagine the expression on Nan Xiang's face at this moment, I don't even have the courage to turn my head to look at her, she stood behind me, didn't speak, even the sound of her breathing was so soft that it was hard to catch.

How can she be so calm?I just feel like a leaf-like silence stands behind me.Like a huge forest after the heavy snow has just stopped, all the sound and temperature are taken away by the heavy snow, and the dazzling white light is left everywhere, which is about to blind people's eyes.

My thoughts were finally brought back by Nan Xiang's hand.That slender and delicate hand gently tugged on the corner of my clothes, as if pulling on my heart.What came from her cold hands was the exhaustion after giving up and the calmness after loss. "Let's go." Her voice was as light as carefully blowing off the dust on the porcelain, but it softly opened my heart.

I think it was the sound of me banging on the door that frightened both Nan Xiang and Lan Jue.At any time before this, I was like a little mermaid walking on the tip of a knife in the company, swallowing my breath and being cautious, living under Gu Li's domineering wings, like a chick protected by a mother chicken.

Lan Jue stood beside me, trying to stop me, but was frightened by my aura, a little at a loss, could only stand aside, blushing, and kept rubbing his hands.

I pounded on the door of Gu Li's office intensively and continuously, and the sound of thumping sounded enough to send a 500-word telegram.After knocking for a minute, the door opened gently.

Behind the door was Gu Yuan's face, calm and pale, he looked at me, under his frowning brows, his eyes were flickering with irritability and impatience: "Gu Li is not free right now, we can talk about it later when we come out."

Before I could speak, Gu Yuan raised his hand and slammed the door in front of me—I stood dumbfounded at the door, as if Gu Yuan didn't slam the door, but my face.I was drained of all my strength by this invisible slap.

Nan Xiang and Lan Jue stood around me, neither of them spoke, in the silent air, something flammable was rapidly expanding, colorless, odorless and intensely penetrating, the whole room seemed to be continuously heated by transparent microwaves , could explode at any time.

I bowed my head in silence for half a minute, then raised my foot and kicked towards the door like a rainstorm.

Until a long time later, I recalled this early summer afternoon as if heated by a microwave oven, the sweltering thunderstorm outside the window, the familiar smell from Nan Xiang’s hair, the flickering eyes of Lan Jue, the cold incandescent light on the ceiling of the room, The humming noise when the air conditioner was running, everything was so clear that I often wondered where my anger came from that afternoon, maybe it came from Gu Yuan’s irritable eyes, or Nan Xiang’s disappointed eyes, but the fact I knew in my heart that my anger came from the way Gu Lila looked at me when she opened the door at the end, and what she said to me.

Later I finally understood, that is, from that time on, the insurmountable natural moat between the few of us finally drew a formal depth in this way, one knife, one knife, one knife.Every word Gu Li uttered was like a huge iron ax when Pangu created the world, and it was chopping the ground under our feet with a weight of more than a thousand weights.Flying sand and rocks, thunder and thunder, mourning everywhere, but everything is still.

And the continuous heavy rain irrigated the brand-new canyon, and also cut off our last retreat and hope.

There, there it is.

A new and great, weeping river.

Later, I also forgot what kind of mood I sent Nanxiang downstairs.Walk through the company's narrow cubicle corridors, through the luxurious corridors paved with cold marble, into the elevator, out of the elevator, into the lobby, out of the lobby.Along the way, Nanxiang and I held hands, like a pair of sisters sharing weal and woe.In fact, I am not qualified to say that, she is the one who is suffering, and I am just watching from the sidelines.But it made me even sadder.

At that time, I felt like a final farewell. It was not the barrier between life and death, but also the barrier between one world and another. I felt that fearful and sour premonition in my heart: at this moment, I am sending She sent to another world that we can no longer reach, a world that has nothing to do with death, but a world with survival.

Nan Xiang stood on the side of the road, her petite and slender figure, shrouded in a black umbrella, maybe it was the heavy rain or the tears in my eyes swallowed her clear outline, leaving only her furry edges in sight, the bus chugs It rang, pulled over and stopped, and the crowded compartment like sardine cans was full of people with numb expressions.Nan Xiang turned her head and smiled at me. Her wet outline in the heavy rain resembled the light and shadow ink painted by her favorite impressionist oil painter. Although I couldn't see her face clearly, her eyes were so beautiful. Clearly and brightly, it shone.

When the bus door closed, her figure disappeared behind the door.I opened my mouth suddenly, tears and rainwater flowed into my mouth together, as if there was a hand in the esophagus, desperately strangling my throat.I kept recalling our college days in my mind, frame by frame, like fragments, inserted into my brain, each picture was like a sharp slice of glass, which contained samples of our youth, Carrying our beautiful and invincible years.Countless glass specimens came into my sight, just like looking through a magnifying glass. What I saw in my pupils were only three handwritings blurred by the rain:
Goodbye.

I walked back to the elevator alone and looked at myself in the mirror on the wall. My hair was wet from the rain and stuck to my bald forehead. My eyes looked like they had been soaked in the disinfectant water of a swimming pool in summer. Wet with tears, like feathers stuck together.I know that this is what Gu Li saw in me just now—a look she will never have.

She is never sad or embarrassed, her eyelashes are always distinct, long and curly, her hair is always soft and fluffy, and her skin is always blown and flawless.

That's why she said to me with that tone and with such a face: "Isn't it just a temporary assistant? What a big deal. Lin Xiao, you are very capable, don't you love to help?" , then help me!"

——Then you help!Then the door was in front of me again, and it was slammed down hard.With that loud bang, something shattered.

I shut myself in the pantry, making coffee for the meeting.The coffee machine was running gurglingly, and the rich aroma of blue mountains permeated the small room.

I sat on the armchair with my elbows on my knees and my face buried in my palms.

I heard the sound of the door opening, and then the sound of steady footsteps. Just as I was about to raise my head, a warm palm was gently placed on the top of my head, as if a gate was suddenly released. He called out vaguely: "Jian Xi?"

The palm on top of his head went cold for an instant.

I looked up and Sogo was standing in front of me.There was a gravel-like silence rolling in his deep brows.He squatted down in front of me, his movements were very slow, extremely gentle, and he looked cautious as if he was afraid of disturbing something. The sunlight outside the window hit the back of his white shirt, causing a burst of shiny dust to rise.

He stared at me intently, as if watching a sad pantomime.

"Why are you here?" I moved my throat and said unnaturally.I'm sure he heard me subconsciously shout Jian Xi's name just now, but I don't want to face it.

"I have a photo shoot today." His golden-brown eyebrows have been put on makeup, and the golden-brown eyebrow powder has modified the outline of his eyebrows sharply and clearly, just a few centimeters away from me, feeling like watching a movie, "Just now After the filming, I want to come up to see you."

"How do you know I'm here?" I wiped my eyes, took a deep breath, and calmed down my emotions.

"They said that you make coffee here." Sogo pulled a chair in the corner and sat down next to me. He habitually stretched out his hand through my hair, wrapped it around my shoulders from the back of my neck, and put I drew closer to him, and I could smell the smell coming from the collar of his open shirt, the unique smell on the skin of young boys, like a blue sea with a little salty taste.

I nodded and didn't speak again.My heartbeat and thoughts are all calmed down and slowed down in his breath.It seemed that the whole room smelled of him, even the smell of coffee was gone.

"Do you have any plans after get off work?" He tilted his head to look at me, as if he was talking about something very serious.

"Not for the time being, what's the matter?" I looked at him, his eyes became narrower and longer, compared with the thick eyebrows and big eyes of the typical handsome guy before, his current facial features made him look more complicated and mysterious.With a highly concealed sense of aggression, it has become more sinister and evil from the previous gentleness and softness.But the light in his eyes is still gentle.

"I'll take you to the movies, after work." He looked at me with a serious expression, as if swearing, "We haven't gone out together for a long time."

"Okay, what are you watching? Twilight?" I laughed at his expression.

"Shouldn't be shown. Besides, what's so interesting about vampires?" He twitched his lips.

"Of course you don't think it looks good, because you're almost vampire-like now, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and fairer skin than mine."

"Yeah, and I died once too, didn't I?" He turned his head away from me.I could see a trace of depression on his face, a little distressed, his chest was like a pool of water that had been unplugged, and it was getting more and more empty.

"Maybe you should get out in the sun more, so you won't be so white." I said apologetically, trying to make a joke.

He waved his hand at me, as if to drive away something annoying: "It's...not convenient for me to go out now." As he spoke, he stood up, picked up the boiled coffee, and reached for the side shelf He poured out a cup of black coffee from the white ceramic cup on the table and drank it without milk or sugar.On this point, he and Gong Ming are really far behind.

"I'm not angry." He looked at me, his high eyebrows cast long and narrow shadows in the eye sockets, looking very charming, he pointed to his face, "I'm just... after the operation, the expression has always been unnatural , when the facial features make expressions, they will look too heavy and not relaxed enough. But this kind of expression looks more gloomy in the photos. They like it."

I looked at his serious face, and my heart was beating softly like a piece of paper that had been crumpled up.

"You still can't tell me why you... change your facial features and become a completely different person?" I looked at him and couldn't help bringing up the topic that we had been avoiding.

"I don't know what to say." He replied softly, and then didn't continue.I know, he dismissed the subject lightly.

"I'll wait for you downstairs after get off work, and I'll drive." He looked at me for a long while, and finally smiled. It can be seen that his smile is very strong, it is a very serious smile, and it is also a kind of smile that makes people look at me. A distressed smile.

In the sunlight coming in from the window, he smiled hard at me, even looking so hard that he seemed to be hiding something.I quietly reached out, touched his hand, and clenched it tightly.

The light in front of me was suddenly blocked by half, and in the darkness that fell suddenly, Sogo's fiery breath rushed towards me. I didn't have time to close my mouth that was opened out of surprise, Sogo's neat and white teeth gently bit my mouth The lower lip, as if a burst of electricity came from his lips, spread instantly and destroyed all the sense of touch in my body.His thoughts were instantly shattered into powder, spreading in his slightly salty blue sea.Only the clear touch on the lips remained, and he bit gently and aggressively.His palm was hesitant but firmly placed on the back of my head.

"Don't hide..." His deep and magnetic voice, along with his thick breathing, was delivered to my mouth with a whisper-like volume, commanding and domineering.

Like all crappy TV shows, the phone rang at the critical moment—and I suddenly realized that those TV shows weren't that bad, they really reproduced our absurd lives.

Facing the mirror on the coffee machine, I straightened my hair, which seemed to have been bombed by thunder, and then took a deep breath to let the flush on my face, like the little sister of the grassland hero, fade away as soon as possible. You can also see the uncontrollable smirk on his face.

I quickly left him and ran to the meeting. When I walked out of the room, his mellow coffee-like voice stuck to me behind me: "I'll wait for you downstairs after get off work, don't forget."

I walked into the meeting room with a pot full of coffee.

Most of the people sat down, but Gong Ming hadn't come yet, Gu Li and Gu Yuan sat silently at the opposite end of the conference table.Both of them lowered their heads and took a pen to record something in their notebooks, and they seemed to be in a tacit understanding.Both of them ignored me, and of course, I wouldn't talk to them either.I still carry the two doors they slammed shut on my face.

I poured coffee into everyone's cups, sat in my seat, and waited for the meeting to begin.

I looked at the conference table, it was bare and without any conference materials, which was somewhat unusual.I raised my head and cast a questioning look at Kitty. She shrugged her shoulders and seemed to be ignorant.

I looked up at Gu Li, her makeup was still exquisite, her eyeliner and eyelashes were not smudged, as if it was exactly the same as the moment I left the house in the morning, I looked at her, and felt an unprecedented strangeness—perhaps, she has always been It's like this, but I never realized that she is different from us.Such thoughts kept churning in my mind, just like dry ice meeting water, countless chilly white vapors were churning up, and I felt like a freezer placed on the edge of the conference table.

At this moment, the door of the conference room opened, and Gong Ming walked in.

Like every meeting, he is still frowning, with his eyes narrowed, still wearing a wrinkle-free shirt that seems to have just been picked up from the dry cleaners, the sleeves are gently rolled up on the forearm, showing in the gym Beautifully developed muscles, the tie is tightly tied around the neck, and a shiny brooch pin holds it in place.

However, when Gong Ming sat down slowly and expressionlessly, the air in the entire conference room seemed to be emptied in an instant.Everyone's breathing stopped at that moment.All eyes were on Gong Ming, pupils trembling slightly.

He sat down gently, did nothing, said nothing, but carefully placed a bomb on the conference table that could not be seen when it would explode.

It was as if a pangolin had been stuffed into my stomach, and it was desperately trying to scratch my chest.

Gong Ming sat on the side seat at the end of the conference table—not sitting on the chair, he looked at the empty chair, then at a group of people in the room who were as motionless as wax statues, and began to say slowly: "Today's meeting The main content is the next work handover, here I also officially announce to you that I am no longer the editor-in-chief of "ME". From this month, I will handle the work as the art director of "ME", and the position of editor-in-chief , will be replaced by a new candidate."

At this time, the door of the conference room was gently pushed open.

A pair of high-heeled shoes stepped on the marble floor, like a series of telegrams: The new editor-in-chief is here.

I saw Gu's ashen expression, her pupils were flickering with fright, and when she looked at Gu Yuan, this light instantly turned into anger. Obviously, Gu Yuan's expression told her that he had long since Got it.

At that moment, I suddenly had a strong desire for revenge, oh no, not enough, the picture of Nanxiang disappearing behind the bus door alone flashed in my mind repeatedly, her wet eyes, she was caught by the heavy rain The wet hair, her petty desire to be trampled and humiliated all rushed into my mind.

Gu Li, I know how to make you experience all of this. Isn't this the best chance God has given me?
You wait.

(End of this chapter)