After smoking a cigarette and venting his feelings, Yan Liqiang walked towards the old city area in the distance, thinking about his plans for the future as he walked.
He didn't want to stay in this city anymore.
He quit his job at that company yesterday. It wasn't entirely because of Lu Jiaying, but he had had this idea for a long time. Now that the conditions were ripe, he could quit the company and work for himself.
His department manager in the company suppressed him severely and oppressed him in every way. Even when Yan Liqiang made a wonderful PPT to be put on the company's OA system, the manager crossed out Yan Liqiang's name from the author, for fear that the boss would know that the PPT was made by Yan Liqiang.
But even though he was being suppressed by others, Yan Liqiang still thrived in the company thanks to his outstanding abilities.
Especially this year, Yan Liqiang has been ranked first in the company in terms of business for four consecutive quarters. He has received high praise from customers, and one customer even wrote a thank-you letter to the company headquarters. Even several bigwigs in the headquarters know his name. He has completely stood out, and that person can no longer be suppressed. Yan Liqiang's salary increase and promotion are a foregone conclusion.
But Yan Liqiang still chose to leave, because a boss he knew admired his abilities and character very much. The boss was going to invest in a large mobile phone store in another city and wanted to let Yan Liqiang manage it. He also gave him a lot of shares, which would allow him to jump from an employee to a shareholder and partner.
Yan Liqiang was reluctant to go before and was a little hesitant because his future in this company was bright and his income and benefits would increase several times in a blink of an eye. But in order to keep Yan Liqiang and show his sincerity, the boss even changed the name of the mobile phone store he wanted to invest in to Liqiang Communications.
Others have done this, what else can Yan Liqiang say
Everything starts anew. Yan Liqiang is confident that he can achieve some results. What he is pretending to be today may have a slight chance of becoming a reality in the future. Even if he cannot become a rich second-generation, he may still be the father of a rich second-generation. For that slight possibility, Yan Liqiang will try his best.
If a person does not struggle, then he is no different from a salted fish - this is the second motto in Yan Liqiang's life.
Yan Liqiang is actually no longer in pain these days. The most painful and sad time was when he found out that Lu Jiaying was cheating on him. Such a blow almost made Yan Liqiang unable to recover, and even some extreme thoughts popped up in his mind. But after getting through those days, he found that there was really no need for him to hurt more people for such a woman who easily betrayed and was vain. It was really not worth it, and it was over.
If Lu Jiaying hadn't been so ruthless and the two of them really weren't meant to be together, Yan Liqiang wouldn't have done this today. What he did today was to teach that vain woman a lesson.
Thinking about how he had acted today and the woman's current remorseful mood, Yan Liqiang couldn't help laughing again. The sense of satisfaction after the prank was successful gradually diluted the depression in his heart.
Yan Liqiang felt that he had been pretending to be cool for so many years, but what he did today was definitely the pinnacle of his pretentious career.
He took out the turned-off mobile phone, took out the old SIM card and threw it directly into the stinky ditch on the side of the road. Yan Liqiang put another SIM card in it, turned on the phone and dialed a number.
"Hello, Li Qiang, how are things going at your company?" An enthusiastic voice of a middle-aged man with full energy came from the other end of the phone.
"Boss Zhao, it's been handled. I'll be at Yang Airport City at 4 o'clock tomorrow afternoon!"
"Don't call me Mr. Zhao anymore, just call me Brother Huan!" The middle-aged man on the phone said in a serious and generous tone, "I'll send a car to pick you up at the airport tomorrow afternoon, and find a place to welcome you in the evening. I'll also introduce you to a few friends. Those friends are very powerful in Guangzhou. They've heard me talk about you, and they said that there are very few people as loyal as you in this era, and they all want to meet you..."
"Okay, thank you Brother Huan!"
"What are you thanking me for? Don't be so polite to me in the future. If it weren't for your enthusiastic help last time, I would have been cheated of more than 100 million yuan by those Korean guys. It's okay to lose this little money, just a few houses, but I can't lose face. It was you, Li Qiang, who saved my face. I just admire people like you who have good character, ability and loyalty. You don't have to worry about anything when you come to Yangcheng tomorrow. I have found a place for you to live and a car for you. You don't have to worry about anything when you come. Just concentrate on your work. I will leave all the matters of the shopping mall to you. I will only arrange a financial manager, and you have the final say on everything else. The shopping mall is just a small business, which I invested in myself. When you run the shopping mall well, make some achievements and have some qualifications, I can transfer you to the group company to help me, and the other shareholders of the company will not have any objections!"
After ending the call, Yan Liqiang let out a long breath, and the depression in his heart disappeared a lot. He felt that life was like a seesaw game. Although he failed in love, his career, because of his many friends and hard work in the past few years, has quietly stepped onto a higher and new platform at this time.
Even if he didn't pretend to be so arrogant today, Lu Jiaying would definitely regret his choice if he knew Yan Liqiang's current real situation. But Yan Liqiang still chose to pretend to be so arrogant, not for anything else, but for one word - cool!
He is not the kind of man who cannot live without a woman. Yan Liqiang can accept Lu Jiaying's departure, but he cannot forgive her betrayal. Naturally, there is no need to be sincere to the betrayer.
…
"Selling radios, insoles, needlework..."
After making the call to Brother Huan, Yan Liqiang had unknowingly arrived at a street in the old city. A hawking voice under the street lamp next to him immediately attracted Yan Liqiang's attention.
They were an old couple with gray hair who were still setting up a stall at this time. The couple were dressed neatly and cleanly, and a somewhat shabby tricycle was parked next to them. The old man was shouting in front of the stall, and the old woman was sitting on the tricycle cutting insoles with some rags. Their stall was set up under a street lamp, and the light from the street lamp was just enough to illuminate the things on the stall clearly at night.
Seeing the things the two old men put on the stall, Yan Liqiang couldn't help feeling a little sour.
Many young people living in big cities may have never seen such stalls in their lives, and they could never imagine that such things could be used to set up stalls.
On the green plastic sheet, the old man who was setting up the stall put a few things that looked like they were not first-hand goods - a few old radios with peeling paint, a few old tungsten light bulbs, a pair of gray old gloves, a box of old screws, a few pairs of insoles, two half-new nail clippers, a box with needles and thread, rubber bands and buttons, a few old mobile phone batteries of unknown models, two power strips, a pile of old books and some other sundries...
For many people, even if these things were thrown into the trash, no one would pick them up, let alone sell them for money. This is simply ridiculous.
But Yan Liqiang knew that the two old men were not joking. For many elderly people who were old, unemployed, and living in the old city but had no source of income, they were really setting up stalls and hoping to make some money from these things.
It was not the first time that Yan Liqiang had seen such elderly people. During the day, the urban management officers were strict in their inspections, so these elderly people did not dare to go out. Only at night would they come out to set up stalls. Many times, Yan Liqiang saw the old men and women setting up stalls. The things they sold were just half a bottle of soy sauce, half a handful of noodles, a few beer bottles, half the remaining cold medicine, a worn-out chess set, etc. For these elderly people, this was the only way they could think of to make money that was more dignified than begging.
Yan Liqiang didn't think he was noble, but every time he saw these helpless old people setting up stalls at night, Yan Liqiang would buy something from them, even if he didn't need it himself.
Yan Liqiang came to the old man's stall, squatted in front of it, and looked at the things on the stall.
The old man looked at Yan Liqiang with a hint of expectation and trepidation, "Young man, take a look at what you need. These things are cheaper than in the store and can still be used..."
Yan Liqiang didn’t know what he could buy, but every time at this time, Yan Liqiang’s talent for showing off would burst out again.
Yan Liqiang flipped through those old books and saw an interesting one among them - "Illustrated Explanation of the Internal Power of Yi Jin Xi Sui". This is an old book, published by Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House twenty years ago, and the original price was only twenty-six yuan.
Yan Liqiang was stunned when he saw the book. He didn't expect that there really was a secret book like the Yi Jin Jing. He used to think that it was just a fiction in novels and movies, but he didn't expect it to really exist in reality. Under the light on the roadside, he picked up the book and flipped through it slowly. He found that except for a few prefaces and a small amount of text, the rest of the book were pictures of exercises.
Looking at this book placed among the pile of used books, Yan Liqiang could not think of any other emotion except that he was impressed by the profoundness of Chinese culture and that one could find a manual on cultivation at any used bookstall.
Never mind. Just treat it as fun. When you are old and have nothing to do, you can go to the park every morning to practice according to what is in this book. Just treat it as radio gymnastics. You can also show off in front of others. Others may be dancing in the square, but I am practicing Yi Jin Jing. It will be a different level when you say it to others.
With this thought in mind, Yan Liqiang shouted in an exaggerated voice, "Ah, I finally found it. I didn't expect to see something like this here..." Yan Liqiang showed a look of joy on his face. He raised the old book in his hand to the old man selling things and said, "Uncle, how much is this book?"
“This… this book is ten yuan…” After all, it was a used book, and the old man seemed to feel that he had raised the price too high for such a used book, and was a little embarrassed.
"Ten yuan, so cheap?" Yan Liqiang was shocked. He felt around and took out five red bills from his pocket and handed them over. "Uncle, I want this book. 500 yuan..."
“Ah, so much…” The old man was startled and quickly shook his head at Yan Liqiang, saying that he had never borrowed money before. “I don’t want so much, I don’t want so much…”
A lot of money has been spent today to show off, so at this time, Yan Liqiang doesn't mind spending an extra 500 yuan. To put it in a pretentious way, this kind of money is spent comfortably. For some people, this amount of money is not enough for a major health care, but for these elderly people, this amount of money may be their living expenses for a month.
"Uncle, you don't know that this book of yours is not an ordinary book, it is very precious..."
“Well, this… I checked online, and it’s also for sale online. A complete set of new books only costs fifty or sixty yuan. I found this book at a scrap collection station, so it won’t cost that much…” The old man selling things was not the kind of person who was greedy for money.
"Uncle, you don't know that this book is like wine, stamps, and other things. It depends on the year and version. This book was published a long time ago and is very rare. It has special collection value. In a few years, this book may be even more valuable..."
"Really?" The old man was also deceived by Yan Liqiang and was skeptical.
"I won't take advantage of you, grandpa. Just 500!" Yan Liqiang said seriously, and his tone made him almost believe it. After he finished speaking, he stuffed five red bills into the old man's hand, and without waiting for the old man to say anything, he took the book and left.
The old man who was selling things on the street watched Yan Liqiang leave with a grateful and complicated look. After a while, he looked at the five red coins in his hand, sighed, turned his head and looked at his wife, "My dear, there are still many good people in this world. We met a good person today..."
…
There were few pedestrians on the street, but the street lights were quite bright. More than ten minutes after leaving the old man's stall, Yan Liqiang, who was walking and casually flipping through the book in his hand, heard someone shouting excitedly in the distance.
"Ah, there is a meteor, flying towards here..."
Yan Liqiang stopped walking on the sidewalk and looked up at the sky in surprise. As soon as he raised his head, he felt that the streets around him suddenly became brighter, and everything was shrouded in a circle of scorching white light. Before he could react, a roar sounded beside him, and Yan Liqiang lost all consciousness in an instant...
…
Yan Liqiang disappeared, leaving a hole several meters in diameter on the sidewalk where he was standing. A few minutes later, the city's fire trucks, police cars and police cars rushed in and set up a cordon at the scene. Reporters from TV stations also came...
…
A week later, another missing person was added to the Municipal Public Security Bureau’s archives—Yan Liqiang, male, Han nationality. Born on a certain date in a certain year, reported missing in this city on a certain date in a certain year…
…
ps: New book uploaded, everyone is welcome to collect it!
(End of this chapter)