First Sight
In early 1968, Taiwan's China Times published a cartoon:
Popeye the Sailor and his son Swee'Pea were stranded on a deserted island, they decided to build their own country with Popeye as president. But Swee'Pea refused, crying and saying "I want to be president too!" Popeye got angry and slapped his son: "You little brat, your old man isn't dead yet!"
This work was "naturally" understood as a veiled satire of the Chiang family, and soon afterwards, the famous writer Bo Yang, who had translated this cartoon, was arrested by the authorities on charges of espionage and attacking the leadership core, and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
This is true.
In fact, in the eyes of most Chinese people who believe in "the son repays the debt of his father", it is not surprising that the children who have been influenced by their elders and have taken over the "revolutionary fire" from the older generation are not surprising, as long as they do not become like the high-ranking cadres' sons who are unlearned and cruel to the people; for example, the beloved grandson of Wang Lan, the current vice president of the National Language Research Institute, Xu Chenliu, who has just been admitted to the graduate school with honors, has a lot of expectations.
Despite this, Wang, who grew up watching Ruan Lingyu's movie posters as a child, still deeply understood the power of public opinion. So, just as Qianliu was about to start school, she took on the "glorious task" of going to Hong Kong to prepare for the establishment of the Language Research Institute's branch, in order to distance herself from gossip. It must be known that Qianliu is the "third generation single heir" brought up by Wang himself, but unexpectedly, just as he was about to enjoy his later years, he had to "yield without a fight". Look, this is the sad part of institutional deficiencies. If it were in a European and American country with a "law-abiding" society, there would be no need for unnecessary "avoidance"; while in our society where people lack basic trust in each other, even a true gentleman with a clear conscience cannot help but "follow local customs".
In fact, compared to his grandmother who was worried about walking up the gangway, Xu Zhongliu himself was even more anxious. This lazy and timid little fatty was obviously not suitable for collective life in the dormitory, but he didn't dare to be alone at home either. His parents, who had been abroad since he was a child, were naturally unreliable... There was no way out, so Vice President Wang could only entrust his old subordinate - Wu Hong, a professor with high prestige (actually, it should be called researcher, but this title is often misread as a synonym for graduate student, so to be serious, here it refers to a senior title equivalent to the county party committee member and organization department minister) - to take care of him. Now, the depressed boy was rummaging through his boxes, packing his things, preparing to "live under someone else's roof".
That hateful "GRE Vocabulary" also can't get along with itself, the bulky book that often makes people feel the pain of going abroad has cleverly slipped to the back of the desk drawer.
"Go die, die, die!", the anxious student shouted as he rummaged through the old-fashioned drawers filled with thick books, finally grabbing that stubborn "brick" from the bottom layer.
Wait, it seems there's an unexpected gain. He found that under this one, there was actually a "buy one get one free" deal, and in his hand, he had an extra little booklet that was unknown to him whether it was day or night, truly the heavens do not disappoint those with determination. No wonder Mr. Fu Ssu-nien encouraged historians to "search high and low, move hands and feet to find things". It seems that the thrill of gaining something in archaeological excavations is probably similar to picking up a wallet, except that the former is just a legitimate group effort.
In front of me, this wooden desk is in an awkward position where it's being abandoned by both fashion and tradition. It's like those women who have lost their innocence but don't have the means to fall further. However, being old has less baggage than being new. The difference between 15 hands and 27 hands is much smaller compared to the difference between original and 70% new. Take this desk for example, or take a woman for that matter. A Taiwanese celebrity who rose to fame through restricted performances said she can't replicate her expression at 16 under that lilac tree no matter what. It seems like the soul indeed has better preservation than the flesh.
But things always have their two-sidedness, and in fact, this has become the core argument for scholars to convincingly and endlessly swindle research funds from the country that can never be converted into productive forces. One of the significant advantages of objects over humans is that they can make the weight brought by circulation transcend depreciation through wear and tear. However, when humans become objects, they also take this "attribute" with them. How many men who have almost forgotten their own experiences are being called out by women who claim to understand mature beauty? I truly hope that natural scientists can soon explain in a language that "intelligent beauties" who have obtained all their academic qualifications through transactions since high school can understand, the difference between fruits that ripen on the tree and those that are picked while still green and then crushed.
It seems that Xu Zhongliu is not very good at understanding women, and the unexpected little booklet has already made him somewhat bewildered. This appears to be an old diary, with inconsistent handwriting and language that is quite Da Vinci-like in its crypticness, making it impossible to decipher. However, one thing can be confirmed: all the characters that entered his eyes at first glance belonged to Zhongliu's father, Xu Shi, the fifth-generation inheritor of the "Liu Ti" calligraphy style in the Xu family's history, who is also said to be the pinnacle so far. This is why Zhongliu decided to bring this "archaeological discovery" with him and decipher it slowly.
Actually, this wasn't his first time being a guest in someone else's home. After graduating from high school, the young man had already experienced studying abroad and seeing people's different attitudes towards him. It was those years of ups and downs that made him more willing to retreat into his own little world. Originally, he thought he had already "known when to return" like a bird tired of flying, but unexpectedly, on his own turf, he would once again be among brothers from all over the world. Fortunately, this future host - Wu Grandfather - couldn't be considered an outsider, especially in Beijing's self-introverted subculture. In recent years, people have been complaining about how Beijing is exclusionary, but in fact, it's much more tolerant than their villages. From a theoretical perspective, any group's internal cohesion and external repulsion are just different angles of the same problem. At least there aren't any "outsiders not allowed" organizations or activities in Beijing, unlike some alumni associations that are strictly forbidden but still common in the Graduate School of Language Studies. As the saying goes: if you see demons everywhere, then everyone is a demon. I offer these words to those "outsiders" who receive suspicious glances from locals.
Since that's the case, there's no need for Zhentao to make a big deal about this "change of residence" as if it were a serious matter. Moreover, the family he's going to live with has not only a research student department just a stone's throw away from his new school, but also a "deeply hidden advantage" that can only be secretly enjoyed in bed - Wu Professor's only daughter, Wu Yu, who teaches Chinese at the attached middle school of the institute.
It's said that this young Wu (this "young" label is quite ominous, once you're labeled with it, you'll often spend the rest of your life in the darkest moment before dawn, not a joke, haven't you seen those few cases in history where father and son are both walls, and rarely does the younger one surpass the older one? Of course, Comrade Xiaoping is an exception) teacher is about 10 years older than Wu Xiang. When the boy was in high school, he was already under her leadership, but not directly. However, Wu Yu is indeed Mrs. Wu's "high foot", a genuine language research institute master's student, with a red root and a orthodox origin. In short, the radish grows on his back, and one call of "Auntie" settles the case.
Freud believed that the unconscious childhood determines our lifelong sexual orientation, but in fact, it is at most a semi-finished product. Otherwise, the theory of heredity would be even more overwhelming. "From cradle to grave" is an unrelenting struggle, and the "severe crackdown" on one's worldview must last until the end of adolescence. However, in today's China, where small streams converge to form a mighty river, it is no easy task for parents to lead their children, who have been spoiled by Coca-Cola, out of the "carnival of gods". It is not uncommon for some unscrupulous individuals to take advantage of the situation and corrupt the young minds. For example, during Xu Zhen's middle school years, it was the era when "The Legend of the Condor Hero" was popular, and the tragic love story in the novel had a profound impact on an entire generation, teaching them about unrequited love and sibling romance. Traditional culture can also be used to teach people bad things, which is a notion that would have left Jin Yong, the master of martial arts novels, speechless. The terms "auntie" and "Master" in the mouths of post-80s generation have undergone significant semantic shifts, but this has not yet attracted enough attention from linguists. Perhaps scholars are waiting for these corrupt words and the flexible word order in the hands of post-80s writers to fall into the dustbin of history before they take action. In short, Xu Zhen is very willing to affectionately call Wu Yu "Teacher Wu", but poor Wu cannot explain the underlying mystery. People often realize that the initial smile was the culprit only after it's too late, and perhaps by then, it may be too late.
We often like to divide people into two categories: the lucky and the unlucky. For example, Wu Yu, who recently got married to a "new star" deputy director in the graduate school department, belongs to the former category. However, it's said that the most unbearable content needs the smoothest exterior to cover it up, which is called natural selection. But again, just because a theorem exists doesn't mean its converse exists. For instance, this tall and elegant teacher Wu Yu indeed has no despicable intentions worth judging.
She benefited from the scholarly family background, and Professor Wu's "boudoir" was not easy to fall. In order to cultivate a new generation of scholars with both virtues and talents, Zhenliu was specially arranged to stay in Wu Yuwei's "Embroidered Building" before her marriage (actually just a small room of about 15 square meters, saying so is at least more reliable than those "talented youths" in the graduate school who dare to recite poetry after eating fried noodles). When the boy learned of this "bad news", he almost couldn't help but reveal his true self on the spot. He barely managed to hold on until bedtime before carefully examining the "revolutionary site" in front of him. Fortunately, it seemed that the "evening report" would not start for a while, or perhaps it was to make tomorrow's opening ceremony even more intense. In short, Grandfather Wu did not say much about "disciple rules" and "saintly teachings" after dinner.
Rousseau in his "Confessions" vividly described how he kissed every footprint left by the noblewoman he admired after she left, and although he didn't dare to be too presumptuous, he hadn't yet evolved to that level of intimacy. However, before lying down, he had indeed carefully examined this future potential battleground: the wardrobe was divided into two parts, with the right side belonging to Rousseau, while the other side hung with clothes and drawers stacked with items that clearly revealed the mistress's unwavering trust in him since his childhood essay tutoring days. The boy did not "betray" this rare privilege, taking the opportunity to thoroughly "study" everything inside and out before sleep.
Good and evil will be rewarded, sooner or later; giving roses to others leaves fragrance in one's own hands. Xu Zhenliu, who "slipped away without being eliminated" just a few minutes before the ceremony started yesterday, indeed had some regrets that he should have left some "essence" for further analysis today. Professor Wu and his wife were obviously early risers, and even left a note on the dining table before leaving - telling the boy not to get up late, unfortunately this neat regular script font did not have an alarm clock function.
It's okay, the excitement of meeting classmates quickly dissipated the embarrassment of being a wolf in sheep's clothing. When people first get to know their new companions without knowing each other's bottom line, they often have a kind of "enemy in plain sight, I'm in secret" joy. You can continue to boast about all your advantages while drawing on past lessons to cover up "flaws", and you don't even need to be like changing boyfriends with awkwardness about being "pure". Of course, today's increasingly developed medicine and thick skin have already greatly "humanized" the latter's embarrassment.
Like a fugitive who has changed his environment and is "reborn", Zhentao didn't have to worry about being seen through, he took the initiative to attack, and at a glance, he recognized Lu Yuanhang, whom he had met during the re-examination and registration. This girl was as her name suggested, not a very "orthodox" beauty. She and Wu Yu were both in the language teaching major, although they had different tutors, but at least they should be considered "sisters". Zhentao couldn't help but think of the bed from last night again, so he cleared his throat and approached her from behind.
"Are you thinking of someone in your boudoir?" The relationship between the two is obviously still not enough to blindfold your eyes.
"Ah?" Lu Yuanhang was startled, which frightened Meng Liu into a jump.
"What's wrong with you?" The girl in front of her seemed to have not woken up yet, "Your 'beautiful eyes' seem a bit puffy," Zhen Liang hurried over to "examine" her and took the opportunity to pretend to be elegant: "Is it 'cloudy hair half leaning on new sleep' or 'pear blossom one branch spring rain'?"
"You're here again", the long journey of not understanding the world seems to have been somewhat calculated, and a word "again" should not be used between people who have only met two or three times: "It's okay, I'm just not used to the new dorm."
"This reason is not enough," Qianliu pressed on with a winning streak: "There must be some unspeakable secret."
"Alright," the girl's performance seemed a bit lacking, as if she was eager to wrap things up quickly. Fortunately, heaven doesn't starve the blind, and Lu Yuanhang found a savior in the crowded throng: "Su Yunwen, over here..." Apparently, another Hubei girl from the same department had also been dragged out. This cloud-dreaming beauty from Yunmeng Ze was indeed a "bombshell" that shook Yueyang City, with a figure that was somewhat sensually imposing, as if she was born to be a stunning beauty ("beauty" is written with the character for "sheep" above and "big" below). It seems our ancestors were truly insightful. Yunwen's major was something even she had never heard of before - "Social Linguistics". In short, Xu Zhenliu and his cohorts were all involved in cutting-edge fields that nobody had ever heard of.
"Look at others traveling far", the uninvited guest was surging with "waves" while picking out the logic: "You can't see me with all eight eyes inside and outside."
"It was just a daze at the time," The only male student in the department naturally wouldn't give up easily: "As soon as I see you, I want to forget my words and get lost."
"Big hypocrisy", this is a catchphrase that will appear repeatedly later, with the fresh rural accent just walked down from Jingjiu Line: "You're staring at the distant voyage with your eyes..."
"How would you know if I'm staring at someone else if you're not staring at me? If you were really staring at me, how would you notice that I'm staring at someone else?" Zhen Liu continued to resist stubbornly.
"Alright, I know you're studying philosophy of language," Yunwen also said "one strike and two pauses, just a hint": "Others have already 'got the best flowers' in their overseas adventures." After finishing speaking, she exaggeratedly winked at her female companion beside her.
Zhenliu was still preparing to counterattack the mainland, but Lu Gongzhu seemed somewhat inexplicably tense: "Ah? No... nothing..."
"I won't speak nonsense without solid evidence," During this period, it was roughly contracted to Yunwen. In short, Zhang Jing had no right to speak: "The night before last, when I just arrived, I went to Hualian to buy laundry detergent and saw you walking with 'him' towards the train station." A person's smile when they are pleased is the most genuine, it seems that this classmate Yunwen is still quite transparent. Zhang Jing often thought so afterwards.
The killer's trump card was played, and Farhang's face turned somewhat pale: "At that time, no one called me either," the tone was obviously insufficient, "Who did you see?" This sentence was quite ambiguous, as if there was more than one person who could or might be seen.
"What's wrong with that? I haven't had enough yet," Yunwen said, her face showing some vibrant acne, as if it was a sign of hunger: "I didn't see him clearly that day, let's call him over another day." The girl glanced at Xu Zhifeng with an unforgettable look of old grievances: "Next time, we won't bring this dead fatso along." Knowledge is indeed power, even Xu Zhifeng himself can't remember where the topic started from, it seems that years of academic training haven't all gone down the drain with the face wash. At the end of the paper, he always forgets to "thank" someone.
Perhaps it was the slight comfort brought by the "bottom line", or perhaps it was due to the teacher's greeting, but in any case, when everyone entered the crowded "Academic Report Hall" in an orderly manner, Lu Yuanhang's emotions seemed to relax a bit. As someone who didn't like too much commotion, seeing the chaotic scene before him, he squeezed his eyes at Yunwen beside him: "Do you know why the 'Seven True Disciples' of Wang Chongyang, the number one martial artist, are all second-rate characters?"
The girl's big eyes with lake blue "invisible fish scales" flickered, and the pillow flow immediately forgot the technique of shaking the package, and directly brought out: "This is the evil result of his blind expansion!"
Not having had time to be pleased, a new PhD student who was obviously "mass-produced" stared at this ignorant junior with one eye, Xu Zhongliu really regretted that he shouldn't have taken the exam for a school that only has graduate students, and unexpectedly mixed into the master's degree but still at the bottom of the food chain.
The most important purpose of the opening ceremony is to let everyone see that the leaders who can't be found during daily work are so specific and vividly existing. The resume of Zheng, the vice president in charge of teaching affairs, claims that he is a part-time professor at 47 universities at home and abroad. Looking at the old man's humble smile when hearing this number, Zhen began to understand why even the trash was cleaned up by students themselves.
Next, the freshman representative spoke. Yunwen and the other two were at a loss, never expecting that after all their hard work in graduate school, they would be replaced by an unfamiliar person as soon as classes started. But after listening to a few sentences, everyone understood what was going on. It turned out that this suit-clad "stinky bag" was a doctoral student who had just been admitted to the same university, studying language planning. No wonder he sounded like an official. He was expressing his gratitude to the teachers for their "re-creation", and maybe because he was nervous during the formal speech, his right hand, which was originally planned to be waved, was tangled in the microphone cord, so he had to temporarily switch to his left hand, looking a bit awkward. Wittgenstein believed that an ideal language should be one that makes it impossible for users to do evil, in other words, if you speak insincerely, the grammar itself will automatically produce errors and expose the speaker's dishonesty. Unfortunately, this "gentleman's Mandarin" has not been found yet.
Then the content became even more absurd, and it was actually the presentation of various teacher awards for the previous year. I really don't know if this is considered hitchhiking or making up numbers. If I hadn't heard Wu Hong's name on the list, Zhentao would have thought about doing something meaningful earlier. He looked at Lu Yuanhang beside him with a wandering soul and remembered their conversation about the mysterious man: "Hey," Xiaopang moved his arm: "How do you feel like there's something strange about you and 'him'?" Zhentao knew that the more direct he spoke, the more it would seem like he was getting close to the truth.
"This time, Yuhan seemed much calmer: 'No, Yunwen's mouth is really fast,' she glanced at the boy on her other side to make sure no one else heard, 'I'll talk to you later.' Unintentionally, Xiao Su, who was originally the one setting off firecrackers, became a human cannonball and unexpectedly turned into a yellow sparrow."
The pillow seemed a bit complacent: "This thing of yours... isn't going well!" He pretended to be mysterious, but the other person just didn't take the bait, so he had to cover himself up: "Do you know why it's not going well?" In fact, it was all blind people telling fortunes and blocking both ends.
"Why?" Farhang looked at the back of the chair in front of him, as if he was joking, yet also very serious.
"This name is not good," Zhuo Liu waited for the girl to ask voluntarily, at least she should have responded, unfortunately, he had to continue "monologuing": "Lu - Yuan - Hang, how can you sail far on land? This...". He forced himself to add a bit of suspense: "Seeking fish from a tree."
Silence.
"Seeking fish by climbing a tree..." Zhen Liu seemed to vaguely hear the slender girl beside her muttering to herself...
Happy families are all alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way; yet meetings are just the opposite, with worthless ones being similar and valuable ones possibly having their own characteristics. Today's "ceremony" was probably an abbreviation of "typical academic meeting etiquette", like many banquets nowadays, where those sitting down to eat were more tired than those standing by serving. When the melody of "Song of the Motherland" started playing, the leaders exchanged pleasantries about being "hardworking", and retreated amidst pre-recorded applause that seemed to be part of the song, only then did they realize that this precious half-day in the ancient capital's autumn had been offered up like Yu Dafu said, "especially clear, especially quiet, especially desolate". In the afternoon, there were class reunions; it seems that nowadays bureaucracy has become more self-aware, and even the leaders know to compress and package useless things into one day, so as to squeeze out enough leisure time to indulge in "romantic affairs".
"What are you planning to do at noon?" Having arrived at the gate, Zi Liang glanced at the other two, and his seemingly casual question had a different implication.
"We'll do what you do," Yuen Hong said with a toss of his head, clearly still simmering from the earlier rumor encounter. At least that's what he said without consulting the other party involved, and then proceeded to "group send" it.
"Is there a larger shopping mall around here?" Although Zhen Liu was somewhat familiar with Professor Wu's home, he hadn't done much in-depth research on the daily necessities of the newly developed residential area: "You mentioned earlier that you bought laundry detergent at Hualian two nights ago, right?" He looked at Yunwen, who still had a radiant face, and soon regretted whether this would become a misfire against Yuanhang.
"Yes, from the dormitory entrance turn right," Fortunately, Su Yunwen was not a media linguist and did not continue to report on the "boyfriend door incident" by taking advantage of the conversation. She waved her hand in the air, as if telling passersby that their school was so wealthy that it could set up another "branch" outside the campus, and I don't know if the dormitory of Quanzhen Sect was enough when Wang Chongyang expanded enrollment, anyway, most of the first-year master's students who were arranged to live two stations away from the school felt a kind of hidden pain like becoming a "second wife".
"What do you want to buy? Give me a gift for meeting?" This time, even the word "us" was included. It seems that having a boyfriend to hold hands with makes one different. Lu Yuanhang apparently quickly realized that going to the mall (or a big one) and the level of lunch may not have a direct connection.
"This..." He smiled with some profound meaning: "Let's talk about it later", the emphasis is naturally on the word "also". Looking towards the legendary source of washing powder in the distance, another girl's outline appeared before his eyes.
She is Yi Xin, possibly the closest to Xu Zhenliu's traditional girlfriend extension "that flower". Speaking of which, the two have some connections because Xiao Yi's father Lao Yi was once the deputy editor-in-chief of the hospital newspaper. She and Zhenliu had been entangled in various historical periods from "Lang riding bamboo horses" to "dogs riding rabbits". Although they were in the same elementary school class when Yi became the chief editor and "half-retired" to a large state-owned enterprise, this unintentional insertion into the mixture of ink and paper created by the tide seems to have a tendency to break out of its cocoon and become a butterfly.
Actually, they are more like being gently taken care of. In fact, from elementary school onwards, Yi Xin's various indicators were all better than Zhentiao Hong, not to mention that when this chubby boy who was afraid to jump down two levels of stairs was still worried about not being allowed to move the ladder for physical education class, she had already participated in the district sports meeting dressed in a short skirt. Even in cultural classes, which he could be proud of, he always lived under the shadow of this talented girl. However, Yi Xin's mother, who later became the deputy editor-in-chief of the institute newspaper and co-built the socialist ownership with Chinese characteristics with Lao Gong, happened to look favorably upon this timid boy who didn't dare to fight; of course, it is also possible that after looking up and seeing nothing but empty space, she took him as a "next best thing" to make up for the numbers. After all, for the sake of the royal family's future, the queen must get married too.
Actually, the emergence of this phenomenon is not accidental: the feminist movement over several centuries has made the differences in ability and temperament between men and women smaller and smaller, but the so-called "masculine and feminine" standards for choosing a partner have not changed; as a result, the increasingly incompetent old men can only retreat to second-best options: the head of the department looks for the head of the section, the county magistrate looks for the township head... The outcome of this "Tian Ji racing horse" is predictable. The strongest female heroes and the weakest "scholars meeting soldiers" are not matched, and "Hua Mulan" can only marry "Wu Dalang". This point was long ago observed by the imperialist powers, otherwise they would not have scolded only the "Sick Man of East Asia", but also did not follow up with a "wife", it can be seen that their logic is not just for decoration.
This is a disaster for Xu Zhongliu, although he has grown to 1.8 meters and can still hang out with Yi Nian, but it wasn't until middle school graduation that he could barely sit at the same table as Yi Nian, who was all-around developed. This made him dream of their "good things" even now, still basically looking up at her, tiptoeing, and straining to reach. Whether or not it's an act, other girls can generally be like Lu Yuanhang, making a show of dependence, but when Yi Xin first blushed and held onto Xu Zhongliu's sleeve, she looked like she was walking a dog. Nothing more to say, tears streaming down. As of the time this article was written, Xu Zhongliu, who is still half a year away from his birthday, seems to have no hope of turning things around.
Thinking of this, the boy sighed: "Does Hua Lian have Chow Tai Fook?" He still subconsciously looked up at the two girls in front of him, just like he used to look up to Yi Xin, but found that it was already a century later: "It's that gold shop", he smiled self-deprecatingly, supplementing unnecessarily in his conversation with the two women across centuries.
"What are you going to buy? An engagement ring?" Su Yunwen finally realized that this had nothing to do with a meeting gift.
He suddenly thought of Zhang Ailing's "The Golden Cangue", he shook his head, as if to shake off some idea, because the rhetorical question in the poem obviously didn't need an answer: "Buy a small gift for your classmate."
"What's with you, dude? Must be going to Chow Tai Fook!" Su Yunwen's expression from earlier when he was exposing the "Peach Incident" had returned, a kind of exaggerated, pseudo-dramatic tone that actually made him seem more familiar; but Lu Yuanhang was still staring at this suddenly somewhat unnatural big boy in front of him under the scorching midday sun.
"It's just a phone strap", he originally wanted to say some conventional reason like "it's almost the birthday of an old friend" but couldn't find any decent pretext, just like last week when Yi Xin hinted that many of her companions already had this unique selling point without needing any good excuse.
After several rounds, Zhēn Liú felt a sense of familiarity and tacit understanding with Lù Yuǎn Háng, such as when she remained silent for a long time before taking the initiative to pull Wén Wén to eat stone pot bibimbap at a Korean restaurant, or when the little fatty's face turned bright red after "upgrading" the laundry detergent to gold and silver.
This feeling was once again pushed to the forefront in that old jewelry store, a salesperson who probably also made women and precious metals' relationship complicated said out loud what Zhen Liu's classmates were thinking: "Using gold for phone chains? That'll just make people steal your phone! Better buy something else that's more practical."
I don't mourn the loss of song, but for the rarity of those who understand; I never thought a small peach could kill three warriors, and that a tiny phone chain could be exchanged for two kindred spirits in the red dust is already a rare occurrence. Oh well, oh well, why must we have met before: "I... helped someone else buy it," this was his usual excuse when he was being taken advantage of, but he never sounded convincing. As he gazed at the tiny thing measured in kilograms, he began to understand why scientists were infatuated with nanotechnology - it was to make love more precise.
When the boy returned to the campus, which still had a lingering smell, and looked up at the marble gate of the graduate school with a string of yellow snakes hanging from the tree, he always felt that something was not quite right. Zhen Liu had once firmly believed that passersby would cast admiring glances at him, this "prodigal son" who had crossed the solitary bridge of postgraduate entrance exams, but after "achieving his goal", Little Xu began to doubt the significance of the whole thing itself. In fact, compared to Zhen Liu himself, Yi Xin was more qualified to pursue a graduate degree, and he often thought this way lately. After all, she was a top student from Peking University, who had been considered a future female doctor since childhood, but when she chose to work instead of pursuing further education, it seemed reasonable: after all, a decent income and the many things that came with it were far more rational than dedicating her youth to this small campus where everyone knew each other's names.
"Are you Xu Zhongliu?" A gentle and unfamiliar voice sounded from behind him while he was lost in thought.
"Ah?" The boy turned his head back: It was a smile with the face of a mature woman, although the "youthful type" is easy to be washed away by time, but it's not hard to judge without going through the "carbon 12" age test. The melon seed face in front of him, which has a lot of temperament, is at least over forty years old; She didn't, like those women of the same age in Korean dramas, even sleep with her lips painted as if she had just eaten a dead child, but let her plain face shine naturally and vividly under the autumn sun.
Zhen Liu didn't know how to start the conversation, but the woman in a long dress, either his sister or aunt, spoke up first: "My name is Yuan Feng, I'm your class teacher," her left hand naturally placed on Xu's right arm, gently guiding him towards the path leading to the teaching building. This school also has its own unique charm, such as the old building that may have witnessed the Sino-Soviet friendship, yet it has a thick wisteria that refuses to leave, its flavor far surpassing today's trendy fashion.
"You're quite impressive," she said with a smile, her tone always so calm and gentle, yet with a hint of something more. Zhen Liu knew she was referring to his over 400 points in the postgraduate entrance exam, and he just smiled too.
As soon as they arrived at the classroom door, Teacher Yuan stopped and looked around to see that Su Yunwen and her friends were sitting in the back row by the window. Su Yunwen was still pursing her lips and looking around with her big "Q-version" head. While others' knowledge grew internally, Su Yunwen's learning seemed to expand externally - the more she knew, the bigger her head became.
Zhen Liu smiled and nodded at the bright eyes behind Principal Jin's glasses, then walked towards two girls from the same department. He had thought that after warming up, he would have a chance to exchange glances with "Xiao Bie", but instead found Lu's face suddenly filled with surprise, and she stood up and walked over in his direction. Having been trained by Yi Xin for many years, Zhen Liu was not foolish enough to stretch out his hands or open his arms, because the girl's target was clearly not him, but rather Yuan Fei, who was leaning against the railing alone.
Zhen Liu sat down next to the window of the distant aviation, looked back at the lamp post and saw a pair of teachers and students talking, suddenly felt that these two people were quite similar. Lu Niang showed a few moments of awkwardness, while Yuan Laoshi was still leaning against the door, his eyes calm and steady, as if there was something unpredictable about him.
"Ah?" Yunwen tapped the table in front of her lightly.
"What?"
"What's up? I'm talking about that cell phone strap of yours?" The tone of joking actually concealed the discontent.
Zhuo Liuli suddenly realized that he hadn't heard the girl's previous question, because Yunwen's hand seemed to be stretched out in this direction all along. So he said "oh" and took out a small thing from his backpack that was obviously not in harmony with the atmosphere here, and pressed it into the girl's palm. Zhuo Liuli suddenly found that when Yi Xin received something from him, she never had the action of "stretching out her hand", but always waited for him to put the thing on the table before taking it over naturally, just like the rule in antique shops where they never "hand over" things.
"It's quite substantial," Yunwen said, not opening the package after realizing it was complicated, and instead weighed it exaggeratedly before handing it back to Zhennan: "Rich people!" This sentence really couldn't convey any ulterior motives.
"Alright, it's half a month's worth of food." This common complaint isn't a lie here, it's just that Xu Zhenliu's expenditure on food doesn't account for a large proportion due to his high Engel coefficient. However, he still feels somewhat reluctant about this gift. People often say "women wear gold and men wear jade", but it turns out that the old guys are just assigning cultural connotations to a few pieces of worthless stone to console themselves after spending all their money on chains that aren't even cheaper than mobile phones.
"Do you also know Mr. Yuan?" Apparently, Yuan had already sat back down, but she didn't make the boy retell Zhou Dafu's embarrassing story again.
Zhen Liu shook his head, as if denying it, and also as if to wake up the mind that had wandered off more than once today: "Don't know him, just bumped into him at the school gate earlier."
The boy realized that there was a "also" in the question, and just as he was about to speak up, the other person explained himself: "She's from the school office, I saw her a few times when they introduced me to take the exam here." Her voice was very low, and her head seemed to be unintentionally tilted towards Zhen Liu, apparently not avoiding him. In fact, everyone understood the situation, it's just that Lu Yuanhang's scores in the two national unified exams were indeed not lower than his own, so Zhen Liu was willing to believe that it was just "seen a few times".
Today, this gathering is more about letting everyone know that they are members of the 06 Master's class, so as not to get lost on the way to class in the future. The head teacher seems to be someone from various functional departments of the school (many of whom are incompetent), and I don't know who whispered that this was like a "constitutional monarchy" system where the nominal king is just a figurehead, and Teacher Yuan's faint smile throughout the nearly hour-long meeting became like Elizabeth I, whose only job in life was to flirt with the entire British court. Since everything is waiting to be revived and the "royal family is weak", it naturally has to rely on the "government of the great masters", and the two class leaders, one male and one female, are indispensable. It wasn't until after a series of ups and downs in the future that I realized that this title was far from just "serving everyone, sending out letters, collecting homework", but rather it was more like a childish game of pretend politics during university elections.
The pillow flow has already been confused by the self-introductions of his classmates, which were either hesitant to speak or recited fluently. He only remembered that he was from all over the country and had a grand tour of schools. When it was his turn, he could only honestly say that he was from Beijing, studied in Australia for a few days, not at a famous school (there are no famous schools there, don't believe the ads), so you don't need to remember or know the name of the school. Later, he returned to China and mixed around for a while, and then ended up here.
Finally, a pair of "self-recommended" class leaders seemed to be called Shi Li and Cheng Xiao Feng. Politicians are more used to behind-the-scenes activities, except for Khrushchev, who else have you seen directly running to the United Nations General Assembly to show off? So when you really let him stand out and self-recommend, there is indeed a good show to watch, looking at those needlework-like embarrassed expressions, almost didn't replace them to say what's in their hearts. The swift and nimble ones got it, and when someone really beat the drum to open the way for the royal army, those who hated themselves for not having thick enough skin at critical moments were beyond words to describe.
A gentleman is like water, a petty person is like oil. Is it because those who are close to vermilion become red and those who are close to ink become black, or is it because things gather with their own kind and parties have different opinions? As for this beginner, it's naturally difficult to understand thoroughly at once. However, it's clear that Far Navigation is not a person caught in the whirlpool of power struggles. When the cow ghosts and snake gods took turns performing, Su Yunwen also watched as they rose and fell one after another. But Lu Niang didn't stop taking out her phone and pressing something, her expression not quite matching, without the expected disgust, but rather seeming somewhat uneasy, like her eyes kept involuntarily glancing towards the door and outside the window, even though there was nothing more to see except for an occasional fleeting glimpse. Perhaps Zhang Li felt that their relationship hadn't yet reached the point of discussing everything openly, or maybe he didn't plan on devouring the feast before him in one bite; in any case, he didn't ask about the mystery of "having faith" in the text message, only occasionally meeting Far Navigation's slightly anxious gaze with a nod of understanding, even though he himself couldn't quite grasp what it meant.
The longest day also has its end, and when Xu Zhongliu finally walked out of the classroom, he could no longer hear the commentary article by Yunwen. The content was probably about his first impression of the new classmates, and he somewhat prejudicially felt that this little girl two years younger than him was indeed a bit too thin, not like her peer Yuanneng who had more depth and reserve.
According to the usual cliché, since lunch was missed until late afternoon, it should be "ended with a flourish". However, Zhu Liuxu felt that he was a bit like the sun in autumn, which was gradually becoming lazy, and planned to set early. When the three of them came to the street side and had to make a decision, the reason for "good rain knows the season" also arrived on time. Yuan Hang's mother was waiting there, perhaps this was the empty hole that Lu Gongzhu mentioned earlier. Although everyone knew that the title of "aunt" was more ambiguous, and despite the fact that this middle-aged woman, who seemed to have given up resisting the passage of time, looked and felt older than his parents by several years, the force of habit was still stronger. Zhu Liuxu called out "Auntie".
Yuanhang's slender build was obviously not inherited from his mother, and his seemingly gentle personality seemed to be the same. On the day of reporting for duty, when he met Lu Mama for the first time, she told Xiao Xu in a straightforward manner that they were both from Xi'an suburbs, from an institute with a military background, specializing in space technology; Yuanhang's father was a technical backbone, while she did some administrative work. Obviously, they were all young and vigorous in that era of no consequences, leaving their hometown to go to the third line. If Comrade Xiaoping hadn't proposed the theme of peace and development for the times, Zhen would have doubted whether this slightly chubby person's early retirement was related to the unit's confidentiality reward and punishment system, and at the same time felt that China's pyramid scheme industry had eyes but no pearls.
It's customary for people to make small talk about food when they meet, and if the other party doesn't take the initiative to ask you out, it usually means they're hinting that you should leave quickly. Just like in official settings where serving tea is a way of sending someone off, etiquette is all about not losing face. Indeed, Mrs. Lu didn't show enough enthusiasm, and she kept her lips tightly closed while staring at her daughter for several seconds. Zhen Liu and Yun Wen felt like tea leaves floating in half-boiled water, unable to go up or down, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
Just as she was hesitating, another long-distance call came to her rescue: "I have something with my mom, I'll text you guys later tonight." She said it very briefly, but the more direct it is, the more it means there's a world outside, and the girl's gaze at the flowing water looked more like she was persuading him not to abandon her, her tone also helplessly pitiful.
The opportunity for Xu Zhongliu to bid farewell had not yet arrived when Mrs. Lu added, "Let's meet again later." If it weren't for the familiar hometown accent from Tianjin that hadn't changed, this sentence would have been somewhat awkward, and even at the time of departure, they forgot to ask politely where the two were headed. Although Xu Zhongliu was still chatting with Yunwen on the surface, his gaze naturally followed the mother-daughter duo across the street, his head slightly lowered as he walked, seemingly slower than his shorter mother by a beat, perhaps because they both knew they were heading towards the reception room not far away; in short, there was no sign of conversation.
The poem seems to understand that the remaining two will not be alone, especially when Zhēn Liú said he was not going to experience life in the cafeteria. So also "text contact", put the slightly advanced age bag on his shoulder, and walked back into the school gate with a straight head.
From what I can recall, every time Zhen Liu sees others with their mothers or daughters together, he always has a strange feeling. In fact, compared to his peers, Xu's mother is absolutely capable of making every classmate's mother pale in comparison. This isn't an exaggeration or joke, and it's not just about her "high-fidelity" beauty. Just looking at the present, when most women of the same age are already arranged by macroeconomic policies to build harmonious families, or at most, have a career that's nothing special, Zhen Liu's mother is firmly occupying a position in Australia's largest telecommunications company that's enough to make all Chinese people envy her. For example, today, Zhen Liu's dissatisfaction with the flashy phone chain has nothing to do with money, and it's largely thanks to his mother's efforts.
But this doesn't mean that Zhěn Liú has ever been, is or will be proud of his unclear and arrogant self, because he didn't really understand the depth of relationships between parents and children since he grew up with his grandmother after "graduating" from nursery school. So this comparison to Guan Gong vs Qin Qiong became an unsolvable riddle, but he never worried about it anyway, as sometimes the answer to fate is already smiling mysteriously at the corner.
Although there was more than one thought in his mind, our classmate Xu Zhongliu didn't linger on the street and returned to his residence. Because Wu Grandfather's house, which is also the dormitory building of the Language Research Institute, is just next to the Graduate School Department, and he doesn't plan to let unrelated classmates see the subtlety, especially after experiencing the pushing and shoving today.
