On July 21, the sky in Shanhai City was clear. In the gilded particles of morning light, when you go out and take a breath, the cool air seems to penetrate your lungs.
Cheng Ran and Yu Xiao met in the middle of the courtyard. After leaving the courtyard gate and walking two blocks, they saw Liu Ying and Yao Beibei waving at them early in the morning outside the famous Shanhai clay pot rice noodle restaurant. In the gap between the two waving their arms, Jiang Hongshao appeared behind them, sitting there with a group of people flipping through the menu.
Behind him, the street was filled with the sound of bicycle bells and the hustle and bustle of traffic. But at this moment, Yu Xiao's ears heard the sound of the 12th team of machine gunners in StarCraft firing fiercely, the siege tanks setting up 120mm plasma cannons and firing at the same time, and the ghost atomic bomb soldiers locking and releasing "nulearlaunhdeteted!" However, the final boss Lao Jiang in the glass window stood still. She was wearing a thin sports jacket with slightly wide sleeves. The hair on both sides of her sharp jawline was tied into a strand at the back of her head, with a red and black bow tied in between. Her black hair naturally fell to her shoulders. When she looked at them, it seemed that the world could return to zero and everything was silent.
The clay pot rice noodle shop is very famous. It is a renovated old house with a large space inside and a trendy floor-to-ceiling glass outside, through which you can see what is going on inside.
There were more people in the morning, but they still occupied an entire long table. Jiang Hongshao had four friends around her, who should be her friends who came with her from Chengdu. At this time, they almost blocked all the free space around her and sat facing Yao Beibei and Liu Ying. Two seats were reserved next to the two women, which were prepared for them.
When Cheng Ran and Yu Xiao walked into the store, Lao Jiang also looked up at the two of them. When his eyes met Cheng Ran's, his eyes flickered and he looked him up and down, with the same look as Cheng Ran's. However, Lao Jiang still said calmly, "What do you want to eat? I'll order for you."
Yu Xiao's heart was in turmoil. Although he had seen her photos in the window, they were nothing compared to the real person. After not seeing her for a year, Lao Jiang now seemed to have been reborn. It was hard to say which aspect, temperament, figure, or appearance... He couldn't help but think of the time before junior high school graduation when Cheng Ran politely but inquiringly discussed with her whether she had a butt or breasts...
Cheng Ran ordered "braised beef rice noodles" and sat down on the stool. Just as he was about to stand up and pay the bill, Jiang Hongshao took the initiative and added two people's bill to the boss. Then he took out a black wallet from his pocket to pay the bill, turned around and said to Cheng Ran, "It's my treat today."
Cheng Ran's intention to pay the bill startled a short-haired boy in a hoodie next to Jiang Hongshao, as if Cheng Ran's action had stolen their attention. He immediately said, "It's not your turn to buy... I was planning to buy before, but she pushed me down. Come on, don't take the initiative today... Hongshao has said that she won't let us pay a penny..." As he said this, he joked to liven up the atmosphere, "But I'm relieved. She has plenty of activity funds." He seemed to show that he had a very good relationship with Jiang Hongshao.
The situation in Fulong Courtyard was a little awkward. Jiang Hongshao smiled and brushed it off. Then she introduced the four people to Yu Xiaocheng. The short-haired boy was called Luo Wei, who was quite outgoing. The boy next to him was wearing gold-rimmed glasses and had narrow eyes. He was called Shu Jiexi. Compared with Luo Wei, he was introverted and low-key. The two girls on the left were Su Hongdou, who was thin but had a very good appearance. She looked graceful and elegant. The other girl had two braids and was slightly fat, but had a nice voice and looked very generous. She was called Ma Ke.
But in fact, during the whole process, Cheng Ran didn't really listen to who the four people were, and there was a feeling that her voice was unreal.
As Jiang Hongshao introduced the later part, she obviously noticed the image of Cheng Ran and her voice became a little softer.
But no one felt the strange atmosphere between the two of them.
Liu Ying and Yao Beibei remained calm, obviously having known about the four of them before. The girl named Marco said with her braids swinging, "Originally we had one person, but she also had friends in Shanhai, so she didn't want to act with us. She's separated from the crowd!"
Then this group of men and women focused on criticizing that person, and a group of people responded by talking and laughing. Invisibly, the relationship among their ten circles was clearly revealed, and this relationship was cohesive with Lao Jiang as the core.
This seems to be a result that can be known without any guessing.
After placing the order, it was time to wait. This long table could seat six people on one side. Jiang Hongshao sat in the middle, and the other four sat on her left and right. There was an empty seat on the far right.
Liu Ying and Yao Beibei sat facing her on the right. When Cheng Ran came in, he hesitated when looking at her, so Yu Xiao took the lead and sat on the left facing her. Naturally, Cheng Ran had to sit one seat away, diagonally across from her.
Actually, Jiang Hongshao and her group arrived last night. After arriving, they settled down. These people actually came here to play with their parents and to interact with Li Jingping and his wife. It was probably an activity among adults, so they made an appointment to be led by Jiang Hongshao to come out to play.
When Jiang Hongshao arrived yesterday, she called him and made an appointment for dinner at this famous clay pot rice noodle restaurant the next morning. Because she had a lot of things to deal with, the call was rather rushed.
But Cheng Ran actually did not sleep very well that night. It was a very unique feeling. Even if he lived two lives, he might not be able to suppress the emotion of seeing each other again after a year. So he fell into a deep sleep in the second half of the night. When he woke up and heard Yu Xiao knocking on the door, he realized that the agreed time was approaching. He was afraid that Liu Ying, Yao Beibei and Jiang Hongshao would have met up long ago.
When looking in the mirror, Cheng Ran still had dark circles around his eyes.
At this moment, on the diagonal side of Jiang Hongshao, one can see that even though her face is as clear as a lotus, the color under her eye sockets is somewhat dark.
Well, don’t think that Lao Jiang is handling it calmly now, both of them were the same last night.
There was a moment of silence during the waiting period. There was a lot of noise around, but all the noise was put aside. There seemed to be no formal dialogue between the two.
When Cheng Ran was about to start his conversation by saying "Long time no see", Luo Wei opened his mouth to ask Jiang Hongshao if there were any other good places to eat in Shanhai. Jiang Hongshao's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she finally moved away from him and started to explain to Luo Wei beside her.
Luo Wei then brought the bowl of rice noodles and started eating. Jiang Hongshao had a little free time and moved her eyes to him. Marco next to her started talking to her about No. 10 Middle School. Jiang Hongshao, who had been hesitant to talk to Cheng Ran, responded to Marco again.
Then it seemed like there was no chance anymore. Everyone’s bowls were served, the atmosphere was lively, and someone said, “This Shaozi rice noodle shop is really good! It smells so good!”
Jiang Hongshao smiled and said, "Yeah, when I was studying at Shanhai, I would come here occasionally. I really liked their Shaozi with pork ribs rice noodles..."
A group of people were full of praise. On the long table, hot soup was rising. The morning light shone through the glass windows. Jiang Hongshao stretched out her hand to tuck her hair while leaning over to eat. She chatted with others from time to time, taking care of everyone present, like a breeze.
However, through the steam from the rice noodle shop, Cheng Ran felt that it was true... Although he had imagined many times in his mind how the two might meet, no matter how bloody or bizarre it was in a TV series, it didn't follow the script...
In the end, she still didn't expect that the real meeting would be like this. It was just an ordinary rice noodle shop, where she and her friends invited them to gather together, eat delicious food, and there were 80,000 light bulbs between them.
However, they seemed to penetrate the noise and look at each other quietly.
After not seeing each other for a year, Lao Jiang's otherworldly temperament became more and more attractive. Since high school, Cheng Ran found that he had grown taller and was now half a head taller than Yu Xiaochao, who was the same height as him before.
However, it seemed that no matter how hard he rushed, Jiang Hongshao seemed to be catching up... This moment made Cheng Ran have a lot of thoughts. Was he eating too well? Was he exercising to be more symmetrical... Was he growing as he should...
It was obvious that the two of them talked about almost everything during their phone calls and letters, and they were as familiar as could be.
However, with such a close distance between us, it seemed like we were meeting for the first time.
When their eyes meet, they will look away. When they talk about a topic and smile at each other, they will subconsciously lower their heads.
This was despite the fact that they had discussed the importance of innovation over the phone a week before.
Cheng Ran gave some examples to illustrate how to find a breakthrough point in a battlefield where an established pattern has already been formed through innovation. He used the example of Fulong and the example of Japanese cars entering the US market by inventing cup holders. He also told a short story about finding a breakthrough point, saying, "When a man and a woman fall in love, if she is young, take her to see all the prosperity in the world; if she is old, take her to ride a carousel. On the other hand, if a woman is in love with a man, you take off your clothes; if he has seen many people, you stay by the stove..."
When Jiang Hongshao said this at the time, she commented calmly, "It's a rough statement but true... But why do I want to throw you over the shoulder so badly?"
However, now, these two people who could chat about blushing topics without changing their faces or hearts over the phone and letters, after looking forward to meeting each other across mountains and seas, how could they be smiling awkwardly and indifferently with their intentions flickering in front of the crowd