After a rain, the temperature plummeted to seven or eight degrees Celsius, followed by another night of sleet and thin ice on the ground.
The road conditions were not good. Gu Zhuoyan asked the driver to pick him up for several days. Today, he was late for overtime, so he dropped off the secretary by the way. The secretary's name is Zhou Qiang. She is a handsome and beautiful woman. Gu Zhuoyan has not yet figured out what her parents think.
"General manager, I sent you the procedure on Sunday."
Gu Zhuoyan put a laptop on his lap, turned it on, and read it while waiting for the red light. He ordered: "Everyone who attended that day will send a copy, and then connect with the people in Wan Yue as soon as possible."
GSG and Wanyue Group are about to have a big cooperation, and the signing ceremony is scheduled for this Sunday morning. Gu Zhuoyan felt that there was something else going on on Sunday, but he couldn't remember it, so he asked, "What other arrangements are there for that day?"
Zhou Qiang replied: "There will be a celebration banquet at noon."
Gu Zhuoyan remembered the celebration banquet. It wasn't this one. The driver was an old man who had worked in the family for more than ten years. He said, "Your father came back from a business trip that day. You mentioned it on the phone a few days ago."
Gu Zhuoyan suddenly realized that the celebration banquet must be drinking. He said, "Then you will pick me up at the hotel on Sunday, and I will go home in the afternoon."
Roughly arranged, Gu Zhuoyan closed the computer and put it aside, leaning on the back of the seat and closing his eyes to rest. Halfway through, the secretary got home and got off the train, and the carriage became quieter with fewer people.
When passing through a shopping mall, wisps of red light came in, making people flash across the eyelids. Gu Zhuoyan narrowed his eyes and saw the huge Christmas sign at the entrance of the mall, which was dazzlingly red.
The driver said with emotion: "This year is really fast, it's Christmas."
A Christmas tree is wedged in the cold wind and rain, and there is no festive atmosphere at all, just like Gu Zhuoyan's mood at this moment after a busy day. Then the driver said again: "Hey, whose birthday is Christmas?"
Gu Zhuoyan looked away instantly, as if the scales in his heart were gently lifted, affecting his muscles and bones, he looked down at his knees: "What birthday, I don't know."
"That's the one," the driver tried to remember, "Jesus, isn't it?"
"..." Gu Zhuoyan rubbed his brows, trying to dispel the condensed irritability, but he didn't want to say anything. The driver looked at him like this, only when he was tired recently, and said: "This is a festival for your young people, go out to play and relax that day."
Gu Zhuoyan sneered: "I'll be thirty in a few years, and I'm still young?"
With a little self-deprecation, he had no sense of age at first, but the Christmas light was too dazzling, and the driver's words were too coincidental, which reminded him of the real youth and youth.
When I got home, it was quieter than the car that no one spoke.
Gu Zhuoyan was used to it, took a shower and went to bed, whistled to make some noise, lay down and was ready to sleep, and a few messages popped in from the phone with a lag. Every person in the workplace is sensitive, and he is no exception. He heard the prompt sound in the middle of the night, and it was as exciting as hearing Gu Shibo calling him "heart baby".
When I opened it, it was a four-person chat group. How many years have passed by, this broken group has always been indestructible, filled with the laughter and curses of the four people. Gu Zhuoyan opened it, and the first one was sent by Lian Yiming—Zhuang Fanxin has returned to China.
You can't expect these people to hold back some gossip.
Su Wang's voice: "Fuck me? Join the group chat as soon as I finish writing the plan."
"It's been a few days since I returned to China, and I live in Sophie." Lian Yiming said, "I thought he came back to run errands, but he seems to be working. Isn't he an immigrant?"
"Wait." Su Wang came, "Yan, can we talk about this? Will it irritate you?"
Gu Zhuoyan leaned against the head of the bed: "Yes."
Su Wang said: "Stimulate more to relax the tendons and activate the blood. Mingzi, come on, you can continue."
"Shut up, it's over." Lian Yiming said, "Zhuang Fanxin kicked Gu Zhuoyan with one foot, but he was still empathetic, why is he back now?"
Su Wang: "I didn't say that I came back for Gu Zhuoyan."
"Oh, that's right." Lian Yiming replied, "He's changed a lot. He was a beautiful boy at first, but he didn't have much aura. Now he's so radiant and pompous, that the waiters on the first floor look at him all day long."
Gu Zhuoyan watched the screen silently, and the two of them really thought he didn't exist, and chatted with great interest. After three rounds of bullshit, Lian Yiming said, "I observed him secretly after I found him. I feel like he is not single."
Su Wang said, "Why do you see it?"
Lian Yiming said: "He leaves on time every day, but comes back very late, and he has booked a taxi to pick him up at work, and at night he is sent back in a car. During this period, he and the owner had two meals in the hotel restaurant."
Su Wang said: "It is estimated that it is a date after get off work."
"Well, I think so too." Lian Yiming said, "It's early in the morning. I just got back, and it was delivered by that car. The point is... the walking posture is very awkward."
Su Wang: "Wow, I'm a straight man who doesn't quite understand what it means."
Lian Yiming: "Yan, is it exciting?"
Gu Zhuoyan held the phone and said calmly: "It's exciting." After a pause after this sentence, the editor sent, "It's already early in the morning, aren't the two women still sleeping?"
People's hearts are separated from the screen, Lian Yiming and Su Wang can't make guesses, they are afraid that it is the calm before the storm. Taking advantage of the situation to say "good night", Su Wang said more: "Lu Wen, if you don't come out, leave the group yourself, don't let me kick you."
Ansheng was born, Gu Zhuoyan lay down and slept.
That business card has been thrown out for a week, thrown into the sea, and there is no ripple. Gu Zhuoyan actually expected this result. As an adult, it is normal to ask for contact information as a part of communication, and it does not mean anything.
He rolled up the quilt and rolled over in annoyance.
When the sound of the water in the bathroom ended, Zhuang Fanxin limped out wrapped in a bathrobe, found the ointment cotton swab, and wiped the blisters on his feet.
He has walked too much these days. Every day after get off work, he follows the agent's agent to see the house. It is extremely troublesome.
Zhuang Fanxin slowly crawled into the bed and turned on the phone with the last bit of energy. The agent sent him more than a dozen pictures of the apartment, skipping it, staring at the chat list without moving. To be precise, he was staring at Gu Zhuoyan's head without moving.
He deleted Gu Zhuoyan before, but for many years, staring at the page in a daze has become a habit.
The screen would eventually turn black, and Zhuang Fanxin just fell asleep holding the phone.
On Sunday morning, the signing ceremony of GSG Group and Wanyue Group was held as scheduled. Gu Zhuoyan appeared at the scene in a well-dressed black suit, his hair had been groomed, and Yiyi's expression could not conceal his calmness.
Wen Dong from Wanyue Group came over in person, and Gu Zhuoyan accompanied him throughout the whole process, chatting and laughing, and cooperating with each other in the face of media cameras. You praised me for being young and promising.
Everything was carried out according to the process, and the contract was signed. The group of people who worked hard for this was finally comfortable, and they were full of enthusiasm in the follow-up. At noon, the two groups held a celebration banquet. Gu Zhuoyan accompanied Director Wen to the table, talked about the prospects of the project, tasted the fine wine in the cup, and basically never touched the chopsticks.
At the most lively part of the audience, Wen Dong patted Gu Zhuoyan's arm and asked, "My little Wen didn't cause you trouble, did he?"
Gu Zhuoyan smiled and said, "How come." In fact, they haven't met.
Dong Wen said: "You guys will let you go. It doesn't matter where you come from. But in my humble opinion, this is not the time for our two to start cooperation. You should bring Xiao Wen more."
"No problem." Gu Zhuoyan readily agreed and asked curiously, "But the design he's reading, will he not be interested in the company's affairs?"
Dong Wen said: "but you have to understand a little bit. My sister and I can't control it, so I asked you for help."
Gu Zhuoyan said: "Don't worry, I know."
A banquet did not end until the afternoon. Gu Zhuoyan drank a lot and was not drunk, but the wine smell was strong. After getting in the car, he opened the skylight all the way back to Gu's house.
Gu Shibo came back from a business trip, Gu Baoyan was at home on weekends, and the family was rarely neat.
The sobering soup was neither cold nor hot at the dinner table, Gu Zhuoyan heard it, but did not touch it, and asked his aunt to cook him a bowl of noodles to eat. After waiting for the meeting, he told Gu Shibo and Xue Manzi about the signing of the contract today. After speaking, Yu Guang shook Xue Manzi.
"What are you doing?" Xue Manzi said sharply, "What do you mean by those eyes?"
Gu Zhuoyan replied: "Respect." When the chicken noodles in clear soup were brought, he took a chopstick to cool his mouth, and added, as if commenting on this bowl of noodles, "Ginger is still old and spicy, and the noodles are still cooked deliciously by Auntie. "
Xue Manzi couldn't help laughing: "Are you drinking too much? Why am I so hot on you?"
Gu Zhuoyan also wanted to laugh: "You pushed me on a blind date before. Although it was absurd, I thought you really cared about my love life. It took Wan Yue to hand over the case for cooperation in two days before I realized that you are still my mother, nothing has changed."
Xue Manzi had a small gathering with Dong Wen and his wife. The main purpose was to talk about group cooperation, and to mention the situation of the child. As for arranging a meeting, since Dong Wen proposed, she agreed along the way.
But she knew her son Mo Ruomu and Xue Manzi understood Gu Zhuoyan. The objective condition is that he is too busy to touch the ground, and the subjective condition is that his eyes are above the top. So I put the piggyback meeting in front, and let Gu Zhuoyan not be so perfunctory.
"How is it?" Xue Manzi was quite interested. "Have you seen me? If it feels good, wouldn't it be the best of both worlds?"
Gu Zhuoyan said, "I'm sorry, I haven't seen you yet."
Xue Manzi said, "Why haven't we seen you yet? I promised others, and you promised me too. Can you stop always being positive and negative?"
After seeing the bottom of the bowl of noodles, Gu Zhuoyan wiped his mouth and said injustice: "I went obediently, and they let me dove."
"So what?" Xue Manzi asked, "Aren't you happy?"
Gu Zhuoyan said in his heart, so he didn't see Wen Lin, but he saw Zhuang Fanxin who had gone to the wrong room.
Accidentally, Zhuang Fanxin was kicked out by him, and he returned shamelessly, sat down without shame, ate with him, drank tea, and rubbed his car back to the hotel.
The next day, he turned down Wen Lin's invitation, but he didn't expect to meet Zhuang Fanxin again. Zhuang Fanxin had been unable to get off his fencing suit back then, and now he can compete with him.
Did you learn it yourself? How long have you been studying? What are you thinking about while studying
… even if he wants to get in touch.
Gu Zhuoyan knew in his heart that this relationship ended for many years, and it would be awkward to be an ordinary friend. He knew more about Zhuang Fanxin. He was always passive and timid. Even if he asked for a number, he would not take the initiative to contact him. Besides, he changed his mind back then, and it didn't matter after many years.
"Brother?" Gu Baoyan pushed him, "Your phone is vibrating."
Gu Zhuoyan came back to his senses, and his thoughts drifted away inadvertently. He had long forgotten what he was talking about with Xue Manzi. Picking up the phone, the number on the caller ID is unfamiliar.
"Hello?" he asked. "Which one?"
"I'm Zhuang Fanxin."
Why is it different from what I expected... Gu Zhuoyan was sluggish for a moment: "Is something wrong with me?"
Zhuang Fan asked, "Are you free tomorrow night? I want to invite you to dinner."
Gu Zhuoyan pushed away Gu Baoyan, who was listening to the sound, avoiding Gu Shibo and Xue Manzi's gaze, got up and went out, and replied, "I don't have time, I have an appointment with Xiaowen."