Cheng Ran didn't know who the other person was, but the name of the man revealed by Jiang Hongshao still caught his attention. This name was actually not unfamiliar. The world was big, and Cheng Ran had never met the other person in his previous life, but he had seen him in some reports. If the name mentioned by Lao Jiang was the same person, then Cheng Ran would roughly know the level of existence that person was.
Hearing is false, investigation is true. Cheng Ran went out the next day and bought a lot of newspapers and magazines. When he came back, he called Xie Houming and asked about some secrets of the state-owned enterprises. Xie Houming did not ask him why he asked these questions, but told him everything he knew.
He compiled all the information on the Internet and at hand, sorted out some clues that could be found, and organized them into pages with densely written words in the picture book in Cheng Ran's hand.
Cheng Ran then figured out the context behind these materials and compared them with later generations, and he roughly got the answer.
There were reports on the project, names of people, arrows pointing to the direction of the transfer, and finally the "general manager". There were also some words, such as future important personnel, core energy department, graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, special talent introduction and promotion, deputy county level in his twenties...
Finally... it happened.
The fathers who were in charge of state-owned enterprises had an even more glorious trajectory in later generations. Both generations of this family, father and son, have risen on this stage. It is not an exaggeration to call them a wealthy family.
In this way, it is understandable why Jiang Hongshao's cousin Liu Gao has such an attitude towards herself and is not afraid of offending Jiang Hongshao at all.
If Lao Jiang's family and that person's family both hold the attitude of pushing forward this kind of thing, Cheng Ran can almost intuitively infer what kind of turbulent scene it will be.
Every family has its own problems. Ordinary families have to pay attention to matching the family background, and large families cannot get rid of this concept. Even if the parties involved do not think so, they cannot resist the promotion and connection of many external parties and stakeholders. For the parties involved, it may just be a matter of life, but for others it may be a matter of business and personal interests.
After quietly watching the waves behind these materials, Cheng Ran stood up and walked to the edge of the window, looking at the buildings and the world outside, and said softly, "Let the breeze blow over the hills."
…
Jiang Hongshao returned to Chengdu on the weekend and called Cheng Ran in the evening. Cheng Ran asked, "Why don't you take a few more days off?"
There are ordinary students in No. 10 Middle School who attend one class every day from beginning to end, but there are also international students who pursue arts and sports and want to go abroad, and students who participate in performing competitions. They are outside the three realms and can take a few days off without the teachers worrying about their grades. Jiang Hongshao is one of them. Ordinary students should not even think about such treatment.
Jiang Hongshao shook her head on the other end of the phone and said, "There's no need. Grandpa would rather I don't miss the course... So, Cheng Ran, see you tomorrow."
Cheng Ran smiled. When Lao Jiang said this cheerful and light-hearted "See you tomorrow", his expression must have been very gentle and pleasant.
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Hongshao seemed to be thinking about something. In fact, she was also testing the waters. When they were in Mount Emei, Lu Wei was almost always by her grandfather's side, playing chess, cards, and fishing. So she told her grandfather to go back to Chengdu first.
Lu Wei, in the manner of an older brother, urged her to stay for a few more days, but her grandfather agreed to let her go back to class first, as if nothing was more important than her studies.
This undoubtedly made Jiang Hongshao feel a little relieved, but when she saw her grandfather and Lu Wei chatting and laughing before leaving, she felt a little worried again.
Of course, there was no need to tell Cheng Ran about these things, and she didn't want Cheng Ran to think that getting along with a girl like her who had a grandfather was a pressure and burden. Although they clapped and encouraged each other to fight against those unreasonable oppression and difficulties, there was no need to put pressure on each other for some things that they could share.
The future is not arranged by others, but is always achieved through one's own efforts. This is what her parents once told her. It is so simple, and Jiang Hongshao has always believed it.
…
Time passes quietly and deep autumn comes.
In late autumn, withered yellow ginkgo leaves can be seen everywhere on the streets of Chengdu. The city is not yet troubled by the smog of later generations, and most people can see the golden sunset between the buildings and pavilions.
The scene at the Hongzhushan Hotel in Baoguo Temple seemed like an unexpected episode in the lives of the two people.
This episode caused a collision in the lives of the two for the first time. It was the docking of a huge ship of a family like Jiang Hongshao's, a top figure, which caused turbulent ripples in a small boat like Cheng Ran's.
Sometimes at school, Cheng Ran would see Jiang Hongshao as cheerful, confident, and calm, completely different from the heavy look she had in front of the Hongzhushan Hotel above the Baoguo Temple.
Sometimes Cheng Ran can’t tell which one is her life, or is it both
How did Jiang Hongshao live in her previous life? Was she really tied to Lu Wei because of the relationship between the two families? How will this life develop? Will there be any different variables
Everything is still unknown.
But Cheng Ran knew that the girl's smile and graceful figure on the playground, among the big-leaf banyan trees, at the corner of the stairs, and in front of the cultural wall under the glazed tile eaves behind the isolation board were the most beautiful images of her life.
He hoped to wait.
There doesn’t necessarily need to be a result.
The result of the length of life and years has always been a false proposition. TV dramas and all the beautiful fairy tales that humans hope for will describe it as "they lived happily ever after", but the road ahead is long and difficult, and countless unexpected encounters often end in failure. There are also too many people who support each other but end up forgotten in the world.
At least while they can still walk together, being able to run hand in hand through the most brilliant and splendid journey of their lives is enough to make the most of this life.
…
…
Tianxingdaoguan is about to open for business. The infrastructure construction was completed ten days ago. The facade has a new look. The four large neon tube characters of "Tianxingdaoguan" are particularly eye-catching. Before it opened, many people had already pointed fingers at it and stopped to watch.
Because no one can tell what this place is just from the name, and what it is doing? Many people speculate that it is a martial arts school, a boxing gym, or a gym. There are old men and women who exercise nearby every evening and have made a solemn bet on it.
Advertisements were already being sent to consumer magazines in Chengdu. Cheng Ran knew better than anyone the importance of publicity in this era. He was not afraid of not having anything, but of not being able to advertise. Jiang Zhou had already recruited twelve salesmen. In fact, more people signed up one after another, but only these twelve people were accepted. They focused on building the first floor, and the layout was already decided. Cheng Ran personally took charge of it, and many of the design concepts were ahead of their time. At least the decoration team he hired said that no one had done this before and had proposed these concepts.
In fact, Cheng Ran just painted the ceiling black, and the air conditioning pipes and vents were directly exposed, revealing a metallic feel, very industrial style. The custom-made wooden tables and chairs and various display racks for board games were also very exquisite, with some fantasy-style things, metal swords, shields, and some models. Cheng Ran even contributed the Macross SDF fortress ship that Yang Xia gave him, and placed it in the window at the door.
There are beverage making and coffee machines in the back of the kitchen, which cost more than 100,000 yuan. Three pastry chefs and professional baristas were hired to train a group of apprentices.
The lobby is furnished with five long work tables that can normally seat eight people, and more than 40 tables and chairs for four people. The entire wall is made into a display shelf, on which are placed board games, books, models, old telephones and other things.
In this way, Tianxingdaoguan opened as scheduled.
When the lights came on at night, Chengdu's mainstream newspapers such as "Tianfu Daily", "West China Metropolis Daily", "Business Daily", and Chengdu's local magazines such as "Life Express", "Intelligence Agency", and "Science Fiction World" all published news about the opening of Tianxingdao Hall. The press release was provided by Cheng Ran. It is the first professional-grade board game-themed coffee and entertainment hall in China.
At this time, any slogan with eye-catching titles such as "the first in the country", "continuously rated as the best", "groundbreaking", etc., is simply an eye-catching weapon in this era when people have almost no resistance to the impact of new things.
Opening day.
There is almost no psychological gap.
People lined up to wait for the store to open at 8 a.m. Some people from the east and north of the city saw the advertisement in newspapers and drove more than ten kilometers to come here.
There is a saying that goes, in Chengdu, the leisure capital, you will never worry about not seeing people sitting there drinking tea and chatting as long as there is a stall on the roadside. For outsiders, it is simply unimaginable how so many people have nothing to do all day long and have so much free time to play.
There were crowds of people outside the Tianxing Dojo, with countless people queuing up to experience what is "the first board game entertainment cafe in China", forcing many seats to set time periods for consumption.
But even so, on the opening day, there were not only people queuing, but also more than a hundred small benches set up at the door waiting for the people in front to leave, and none of them were empty for a moment.
The store became a huge hit as soon as it opened.