On the evening of June 30, CCTV broadcast the handover ceremony of Mingzhu City live. Wen Liang opened a private room in the Great World and ordered supper and fruit. Xu Yaoning, Xiao Ning, Ji Su, Liu Zhi, Meng Ke, Ren Yi, Tan Yu, Yang Yang and others gathered together, eating melon seeds and drinking beverages while watching the handover ceremony. At 8 o'clock, the first batch of vanguard troops stationed in Hong Kong slowly drove out of the Huanggang Port. Xu Yao stared at the TV screen without blinking, as if trying to find a familiar figure in the crowd. Wen Liang sat next to her and smiled: "In an occasion with thousands of people, except for a few senior leaders, it is probably difficult for others to have close-up shots..."
Xu Yao sighed and said quietly, "Ever since he went to the garrison, he didn't even come back for the New Year. It's hard to get through to him on the phone in the army. I wonder if he's still mad at me."
Wen Liang peeled an orange and handed it to her, comforting her: "Although I don't have a biological sister, I think every brother would not really be angry with his sister. Besides, he was promoted to the commander of the armored infantry battalion. He is busy with training tasks every day. How can he have time to come back? How about this, when the summer vacation comes soon, I will take you to Mingzhu City to play and meet your brother by the way."
Xu Yao's eyes lit up with excitement at first, but then dimmed again, and she said, "I'd rather not..."
Wen Liang smiled and said, "Don't worry, we won't fight again this time. We will live in harmony. I promise!"
Xu Yao turned her head, her bright eyes flickered across Wen Liang's face, then she nodded happily, broke off a slice of orange and personally handed it to Wen Liang's mouth. Wen Liang smiled and ate the orange with her delicate fingers. Liu Zhihe's big head suddenly popped out from between the two of them and shouted, "Okay, you're going to pretend we don't exist, right?"
Ren Yi sat on the other side, leaning his body and sticking his head out, saying jokingly: "That's right, can you give us bachelors a little dignity? Is there any need to be so affectionate and irritating?"
Ji Su was discussing the passing military vehicles on TV with Yang Yang. He didn't know what was going on. When he heard the sound, he turned around, touched Ning Xiaoning's arm, and said, "What's wrong?"
"It's okay, someone is just using sweet words to deceive girls again..."
Wen Liang almost spit out the orange in his mouth and said, "Coach, you didn't even move, how did you hear us talking?"
Ning Xiaoning rolled her eyes at him and didn't bother to answer the question. Wen Liang couldn't do anything with her, so he put one hand on Liu Zhihe's forehead and pushed him over, saying, "Let's talk about business, don't mess with me."
Xu Yao was not so good-tempered. She glared and said, "Liu Zhihe, do you think it's difficult for me to be rough with you since Yangyang is here?"
Yang Yang burst out laughing and raised his hand and said, "Yaoyao, you don't have to give me face. Just treat him as you should. Just think of it as helping me to enforce the family rules."
Liu Zhihe did have this idea in mind, knowing that with Yang Yang around, Xu Yao would definitely give him some face, so he mustered up the courage to tease the two of them. Otherwise, when he saw Xu Yao on a normal day, he would be like a mouse seeing a cat, and would not even have time to hide, so he would not risk being beaten to show off his verbal skills.
But looking at the current situation, Xu Yao was obviously angry and ashamed. Not only did his wife not help, but she also gloated over the misfortune and added insult to injury. Liu Zhihe's legs went limp, and he bent down like a servile man, smiling apologetically: "Sister Xu, who are you? Gentle and gentle, what's that, what's that?"
He was so anxious that the fat on his face was trembling. He quickly winked at Ren Yi. At the critical moment, Ren Wenqing was still reliable. He said, "Beautiful and intelligent!"
"Yes, yes, she is beautiful and intelligent, how could she be so narrow-minded as to compare herself to me..."
Xu Yao was amused by him, but it was just a joke, so she waved her hand and said, "Okay, I'll let you go for Yang Yang's sake."
Liu Zhihe wiped his sweat, then ran to Yang Yang's back, pinched her shoulders, and said, "My dear, you are so proud, hey."
Yang Yang, however, was not as shameless as him. He did these intimate actions in public. He stepped hard on his shoes and asked angrily, "Who is your wife?"
Liu Zhihe screamed and limped back to Ren Yi. The two idiots hugged each other. Ren Yi sighed and said, "Look at what happened to you, Boss Liu. I think being single is actually pretty good..."
By the time the live broadcast ceremony was over, it was already early morning. Many people were sleeping crookedly in the private room, and only Wen Liang and Ning Xiaoning were still awake. Wen Liang asked Luo Qi to call the waiter to arrange Xu Yao, Ji Su and other girls in the suite inside the private room, while Liu Zhi and Ren Yi took them to the guest room upstairs. After finishing all this, Ning Xiaoning said to Wen Liang, "I'm not sleepy!"
Wen Liang checked the time and said with a smile, "If you're not sleepy, go to the balcony and get some fresh air."
They stood side by side on the balcony, looking at the night in Qingzhou. Half of the city was dark, and half was bright. The silence and the noise, the ordinary and the dreamy, were all presented so simply and clearly through the contrast between light and dark.
"Are you really going to take Yaoyao to Mingzhu?"
"Well," Wen Liang nodded and said, "Xu Ting and I have some misunderstandings, and Yaoyao has been very unhappy because of this misunderstanding. I have been very busy this year and have no time to resolve this misunderstanding, but now is the time."
Ning Xiaoning lay on the railing without saying anything for a long time. Wen Liang stood beside her and his eyes suddenly swept over the girl's body. Her enviable pair of long legs seemed to become straighter and rounder. The immaturity of the past was gradually disappearing. Instead, because of the forward leaning posture, her hips wrapped in jeans outlined a beautiful arc, which made people unable to help but be dazzled.
Wen Liang looked away and also leaned on the railing, thinking secretly in his heart:
It turns out that, unknowingly, the girls have all grown up!
The ringing of the phone broke the rare silence between the two. Ning Xiaoning made a gesture to go to bed and left first. Wen Liang pressed the answer button and heard Ning Xi's slightly excited voice: "Are you asleep?"
"No, I'm watching Mingzhu's return with my friends. But why are you still awake so late? Are you checking on me?" Wen Liang joked with a smile.
"I guess you're just watching TV. Who would have the time to check on you? If someone really wanted to check on you, I'd be on a plane right now." Ning Xi said coquettishly.
Wen Liang laughed and said, "Is there something wrong?"
"Yes," Ning Xi lowered her voice.
Wen Liang's spirits perked up. Calculating the time, Chen Longqi should also go to Ning Xi to question her. As expected, he was a very powerful person. He was very patient. He asked, "What did you say?"
"Chen Longqi wants to see me!"
Wen Liang tightened his grip on the phone, then relaxed his whole body and asked, "Did he say anything?"
Wen Liang also smiled and said, "Have you thought about how to reply?"
"If there is one thing, say it one thing, but if there is another thing, don't say another thing."
After hanging up the phone, Wen Liang concentrated and thought for a while, and a faint smile gradually appeared on his face. He was able to be born in such a great era, and not be just a bystander like in his previous life, but become a participant. The sense of accomplishment and satisfaction he felt could not be compared with how much money he made.
1998 was destined to be a year that attracted much attention. On July 1, Mingzhu City officially returned to the embrace of the motherland. The great concept of "one country, two systems" finally became a reality after two generations of efforts. But before people could come to their senses from the celebration, on July 2, Thailand announced that it would abandon the fixed exchange rate system and implement a floating exchange rate system. A financial storm that swept across Southeast Asia and affected East Asian countries came roaring in with the force of a mountain, and in almost an instant, the wealth accumulated by emerging economies over decades of development was wiped out.
However, for the students of Qingyi Middle School, the financial storm and the political crisis are too far away. What they are concerned about is the final exams that have ended and the upcoming two-month summer vacation.
Wen Liang did not cheat in the final exam this time, so his result was not very ideal. Liu Qing had to talk to Wen Liang about this. However, his girlfriend had been transferred to Qingtou after Wen Liang's recommendation. He was grateful for his girlfriend's kindness and naturally lacked the confidence to scold her:
"Wen Liang, Principal Zhang called me to his office yesterday and gave me a good scolding. He said that you are the only good student in Class 6 who could get into Tsinghua or Peking University. If I can't lead the class well, I'll let someone else lead. Tell me, if my class teacher is really removed, it's fine. But if someone else is in charge of Class 6, it will be difficult for you to ask for leave..."
Wen Liang was both amused and annoyed, and said, "Teacher Liu, people make mistakes and horses stumble. Just because you do poorly on an exam once doesn't mean you will never do poorly on the exams in the future. Don't worry, relax. I'll make a promise to you. Starting from the third year of high school, I will definitely come to school on time and attend classes well. I won't say that I will get first place in every exam, but I will at least be in the top ten in the grade. I will never embarrass you. As for Principal Zhang, I'll ask you to say a few good words to him!"
Wen Liang didn't have many ways to deal with Zhang Yihan, the old fox. In the spirit of "a friend dies rather than a poor Taoist", it would be better to push Liu Qing to the front line. Liu Qing was overjoyed to hear Wen Liang's statement. He didn't care about other trivial matters and said happily: "Okay, since you said that, Principal Zhang, I will take the blame for you."
After school, Xu Yao and Ji Su went shopping together. They left their textbooks and homework in the car sent by Ning Xiaoning's family. Wen Liang walked out of the campus alone. When he was thinking about whether to take a taxi or the bus, he saw a girl in a white dress standing across the road.
Long black hair like a waterfall, but it is a thank you for not seeing you for a year! (To be continued)