Approach her

"Ah—sneez!"

Zuo Xiao stepped into the company gate and sneezed loudly.

Who is it that misses me so much this early in the morning? As I thought about it, I walked to the front desk: "Hello, I'm here for an interview. My name is Zuo Xiao, Zuo as in left and right, Xiao as in dawn."

Ten minutes later, she sat down in a small conference room.

At first, the two sides chatted happily until the other party asked, "Can you accept working overtime?"

Zuo Xiao knew very well that in the current employment environment, unless a company worked overtime until dawn, it would not deliberately ask such an invalid question in the first interview, which would obviously be given a "high EQ answer".

Her enthusiasm for the job instantly dropped by half, and she said indifferently, "It depends on the extent of the overtime."

The other person's eyelids twitched slightly, and after a pause, he said, "You need to devote yourself to your work."

"I can't accept that." Without hesitation, she stood up under the other person's surprised gaze. "Thank you for saving both of us time. Goodbye."

As soon as he left the office building, Zuo Xiao put on his mask. Looking at the willow catkins fluttering around like snowflakes, he once again felt a tinge of regret for his decision to come all the way from Shanghai to Beijing.

As I was walking, I suddenly saw a small ball of white fluff in front of me. It was pushed by the wind and bounced towards my feet.

As a playful and active child, her first instinct was to lift her foot, wanting to scatter the white mass. But then, seeing its softness and lightness, she changed her mind and took two steps to the side, making way for the small object. She turned, her eyes following the little white ball as it swayed and rolled forward until it collided with the wheels of a shared bicycle and merged into the sea of ​​white below, unable to escape.

She interviewed at another company that afternoon, and she wasn't impressed the moment she walked into the office. Everyone there, without exception, had blank expressions on their faces and no light in their eyes, as if their souls had been drained away by work.

At dinner that night, Chen Liqing listened to her talk about her interview experience today and started to scold her:

"Sister, you came to Beijing to find a job, not to experience life!"

"Before your next interview, please check your bank card balance!"

"Are there any companies that don't require overtime these days? They'll be dead soon!"

"It's not that I can't accept overtime, it's just that I can't accept excessive overtime!" Zuo Xiao put down his chopsticks and explained to his childhood friend, "Work is a means to life, not an end, and it certainly can't replace life."

"Oh, you're just like me." Chen Liqing smiled, but his tone became increasingly harsh. "You haven't even found a job yet, and you dare to come to Beijing to rent a house for 4,000 yuan? You don't even have a house or a household registration yet, and you dare to say that work is a means to life... Big! What a big idea! Bigger than a brain!"

Zuo Xiao was irritated by him. This damn Chen Liqing, who had so graciously invited her to Beijing not long ago and even boasted that he was her backer, now dared to treat her like a grandson and scold her! She patiently explained to him, and he still dared to take advantage of her?

Her face darkened, she took out her phone to scan the QR code to pay, then grabbed her bag and left, not wanting to stay with him even for a second.

The tall and burly Chen Liqing quickly caught up. "Why are you rushing to pay?" He pulled out his phone and said, "I'll transfer the money to you. Besides this one, I'll pay for dinner for the rest of the week, okay? Look at you, you don't even have a job, so don't take the balance lightly! If you can't even pay the rent later, I won't lend it to you..."

"Chen Liqing, shut up!" Zuo Xiao turned around and scolded him, "Do you know your mouth stinks? It stinks worse than your shoes and socks when you were a gym student! It stinks worse than the shit you pooped in your pants/crotch when you were in third grade!"

"Looks like you've smelled it a lot?" The person being scolded chuckled. "Do you like it? I should have let you smell it more."

Zuo Xiao was so angry that he kicked him in the calf. Not satisfied yet, he swung his shoulder bag and hit him on the back. Unexpectedly, the blow broke the chain on one side of the bag.

She had never been one for material things, and most of the bags she used were cheap, sometimes quirky, items. She only had one or two bags suitable for formal occasions like job interviews. She looked at the bag drooping at the side of her hand and suddenly felt extremely boring.

Seeing her distressed look, Chen Liqing felt sympathy and said the first human words of the day: "Come on, I'll go buy you a bag. Just choose, I'll pay - after all, it was me who broke it."

Zuo Xiao was still angry with him and was about to refuse, but when he thought about the balance in his bank card and how many things this kid had broken since he was a child, he made up his mind and said, "Let's go!"

Zuo Xiao's father and Chen Liqing's parents were teachers at the same middle school in Nanjing. The two children lived in the same building and grew up together. Chen Liqing was not very good at studying back then, and was the worst among their group of teachers' children. Unexpectedly, he is now doing very well.

In college, he and a classmate started a project selling healthy weight-loss products and courses. A few years later, they sold it to a large company, earning tens of millions of yuan, which they split 50/50. Later, they started trading in cryptocurrencies, and reportedly made quite a bit of money there, too. Back then, he even tried to persuade her to buy some, but she labeled him a "leek." Today, Chen Liqing runs a cultural tourism project for retirees, capitalizing on the so-called "silver economy."

Alas, sometimes people really have to believe in fate. Chen Liqing is destined to be richer than her! As for her, it seems that she is destined to be an insulator of wealth in this life. But fortunately, she is not without anything. At least she is more talented, tasteful, conscientious, loving, and... than Chen Liqing.

Zuo Xiao picked out a medium-sized tote bag at a nearby mall. It was a refreshing apricot color, perfect for spring and summer, and cost just over two thousand yuan. Chen Liqing paid promptly and, unusually, didn't nag again.

He drove her to the gate of the residential complex. When she was about to get out of the car, Chen Liqing suddenly said, "Xiaoxiao, if you really can't find a suitable job, why not come to me?"

"Work for you?" Zuo Xiao didn't hesitate for a second, "Bah!"

"It's work for everyone," Chen Liqing said, his shameless self resuming. "At least I'm kind and won't suck your blood or pull your tendons. And considering our long-standing friendship, I can promise you weekends off and no overtime. Isn't that good enough?"

Zuo Xiao raised his lips and smiled: "So you want to be my boss so much? Sure, be it! You can be anything you want in your dreams!" After that, he opened the car door and left in a dashing manner.

Over the next week, Zuo Xiao conducted six interviews. While the overall market wasn't favorable, with fewer job openings than in the previous two years, at 25, she had some experience, was still young, had a solid resume and portfolio, and was attractive, giving her a surprisingly high chance of landing an interview. However, the graphic designer profession is inherently prone to overwork, and in Beijing, reasonable work intensity is scarce. Furthermore, her picky nature made it even more difficult to find a job that satisfied her. A week passed, and she still hadn't received an offer. Instead, she received a lot of sarcastic comments from Chen Liqing, so she simply blocked him.

On the evening of May Day, she was lying in bed applying a facial mask when she suddenly received a WeChat message from her senior sister, Li Rong, who was also in the capital. After a couple of rounds of pleasantries, the other person suddenly asked:

"Zuo Xiao, do you still play guitar?"

Zuo Xiao was stunned for a moment, then typed in the dialog box: "Play."

Soon, Li Rong's voice chat came over.

"Here's the thing, a friend of a friend of mine is looking for a guitar teacher. She's a girl, and she wants a female instructor, too. She's got good looks and a nice voice. I thought, 'You're the one who can play and sing well, right? Oh wow, you played and sang that song at the welcome party... yeah, 'Dust in the Wind,' so good! That video went viral in the group chat, I still remember it!"

"Uh..." Zuo Xiao was confused. "But I can play and sing, so I don't know if I can teach her! Maybe she should find a training class?"

"Hey, just know how to play! This girl is incredibly rich, she says she can make a thousand an hour! And the hours are pretty flexible, so you can just go and give her lessons whenever you're free. Think about it, a thousand an hour, if you take an average of an hour a day, wouldn't that be 30,000 a month?"

Hearing that her senior sister's tone didn't sound like she was teasing her, Zuo Xiao sat up from the bed, tore off the mask, and walked towards the bathroom attached to the master bedroom while smiling, "Is it such a good thing? Senior sister, am I hallucinating?"

The senior sister on the other end of the phone chuckled: "This is indeed a rare opportunity! To be honest, if I had the skills, I would do it myself! Don't worry, we all know each other well, I won't cheat you."

After hanging up the phone, Zuo Xiao couldn't help laughing while applying essence on his face.

One-on-one tutoring at 1,000 yuan an hour isn't outrageous in the art training world. It's just a little strange that students with sufficient financial resources would still want to find a teacher they've never met.

Something must be wrong when things are out of the ordinary. But who is she? Zuo Xiao, the fearless one! Even if this is a misunderstanding, a trap, she wants to get to the bottom of it. She must meet this unconventional rich lady and find out what door has caught her head.

The next day, for her appointment, she wore a light purple printed silk dress, a light beige trench coat, and her long, straight black hair cascading naturally over her shoulders. She looked gentle, graceful, and energetic, a very approachable senior. I heard the man was only a year or two younger than her, and since she was supposed to be his teacher, it was natural for her to dress in a mature and gentle manner. But in reality, she dressed like this no more than five days out of 365.

At 3:00 p.m. sharp, we arrived at the agreed-upon cafe.

This is a riverside cafe, with several tables of people sitting outside under umbrellas. At this moment, the spring breeze is gentle, the spring sun is bright, and only a few willow catkins are flying in the air. The city finally looks a little lovely.

"Zuo Xiao!" It was her senior sister's voice. Following the sound, she walked towards the door. Senior sister Li Rong came forward, took her arm, and said affectionately, "Come on, let's go inside."

Zuo Xiao didn't expect her to be so enthusiastic. He didn't say anything for a while and seemed a little dull.

"I haven't seen you for two years, and your skin is still so white and smooth!" Li Rong stared at her face as they walked. "That's why they say Shanghai's climate and soil are so good for you! Hey, unlike me, who has been in Beijing for so long that I can even grow vegetables in my pores!"

Zuo Xiao had come to her senses by now. She wasn't a bad talker, and she knew she should compliment someone back at a time like this. But she never liked to say anything against her will, and she certainly didn't like flattery. So she smiled faintly, "Senior Sister, have you been here long?"

"No, I just got here too!" As she spoke, the senior sister led her to sit by the window. "Your apprentice and my friend are on their way. They said they'll be here soon. Wait a moment! What would you like to drink?"

Zuo Xiao took a sip of iced American coffee and thought that the matter could be solved by creating a WeChat group, but the senior sister and her friend wanted to arrange a four-person party. Even a blind date was not so grand. It seemed that they attached great importance to the beautiful student.

Just as I was pondering this, my senior sister suddenly stood up and waved, "Ruirui!"

Zuo Xiao turned and saw two beauties walking side by side. One bore a passing resemblance to him, while the other had striking red curly hair that nearly reached her waist. Upon closer inspection, her fair, tender, heart-shaped face, framed by a pair of large, twinkling eyes, resembled a Barbie doll.

Zuo Xiao stood up and just raised her right hand to say hello, when suddenly the red-haired beauty took two steps forward and grabbed her hand.

And she used both hands, her soft and delicate palms wrapped around her hand, as solemn as a revolutionary comrade meeting an old comrade.

Hey, why is the little beauty looking at her eagerly but not saying anything? Zuo Xiao was puzzled, and then she thought that the other person might be her financial sponsor, so she smiled and said, "Hello, I'm Zuo Xiao."

"Hello! I'm Jinghao...Zhuang Jinghao!" The beautiful girl said with a blushing face, shy but not without excitement. During this time, her hands were still tightly wrapped around Zuo Xiao's, and she seemed unaware that she seemed to be too enthusiastic.

Yes, she was simply too enthusiastic.

It was only after Liang Sirui pulled her away that Zhuang Jinghao realized she had been overly enthusiastic. She had thought she'd be angry and aggrieved, perhaps even blaming and questioning the younger author, but the moment she actually saw him, she was so excited she almost forgot her own last name.

She had seen Zuo Xiao's photos and videos a long time ago, and she had never imagined that the young author she had raised for two years was not only talented, but also a beauty! The thought that such a beautiful person could be so casual and irresponsible made her even more angry.

However, the feeling of seeing the real person was completely different from when she saw the photo. She felt that the person in front of her was emitting a soft holy light, which enveloped her in a strange atmosphere. Suddenly, she felt like a fan meeting her idol. Her brain froze on the spot, as if she had lost her soul.

Li Rong, who had been startled earlier, reacted now and asked everyone to sit down. He then started selling Zuo Xiao in a hurry:

"Zuo Xiao was a big name in our school back then! She played guitar well, sang even better, and could write songs! We all thought she was going to debut as a singer..."

Zuo Xiao wasn't happy to be praised like that; she knew her own limitations. Her limited musical talent might be enough to make a splash in an amateur band, but a career in music was unrealistic. In the words of Chen Liqing, "Throw a brick at a music conservatory and you'd kill a hundred Zuo Xiaos."

Liang Sirui obviously had a basic ability to recognize language inflation, and just perfunctorily responded with a "So impressive." However, Zhuang Jinghao's face flushed, his eyes sparkled, and he sighed from the bottom of his heart:

“That’s really amazing…”

Zuo Xiao felt uncomfortable being stared at, so he took a sip of iced Americano and asked:

"Jinghao, why do you want to learn to play the guitar and sing?"

The red-haired beauty in front of me blinked, as if she had just remembered the purpose of this trip. After a moment of hesitation, she said:

"I like folk music, so I wondered if I could try to sing it..."

"Really?" Zuo Xiao became interested. "Who are your favorite folk singers?"

"Uh..." Zhuang Jinghao racked his brains and searched hard in his memory, "Old Wolf... Gourd Tree..."

"Pu Shu!" Liang Sirui corrected softly.

"Oh yeah! Pu Shu! I just slipped up!"

Zuo Xiao laughed: "It doesn't matter. Anything else?"

"And? And... Mao Buyi? Stefanie Sun?"

“…Stefanie Sun is not considered a folk singer.”

"No... then it doesn't count! But she also has songs she sings and plays on guitar, like 'Same Kind' and 'Same Summer'..."

"Okay..." Zuo Xiao's eyes unconsciously turned doting as he smiled, "It sounds like you prefer Stefanie Sun? That surprises me. I thought you'd prefer the new generation of singers born after 1995 and 2000."

"I was surprised too!" Zhuang Jinghao, clearly having recovered from her awkwardness, beamed with joy. "At first, it was because so many people were saying AI Stefanie Sun was nice and had a charming voice... I was hooked the moment I heard it! Later, I discovered all her songs are amazing!"

"That's good. It doesn't matter what type of music it is, as long as you like music. As long as you are willing to learn, you will definitely be able to learn it." Zuo Xiao encouraged.

Half an hour later, the four girls walked out of the cafe.

Zhuang Jinghao only had eyes for Zuo Xiao. She tugged at her sleeve and asked, "Teacher Zuo, can you take me to buy a guitar?"

Facing such innocent eyes, who could say no? Zuo Xiao said readily, "Sure! But can you promise me not to call me Teacher Zuo? I'm not used to it. Just call me Zuo Xiao."

"No, no, I can't say that!" Zhuang Jing's face turned red. "Can I just call you Teacher Zuo? Please..."

“…Alright.”

After saying goodbye to Li Rong and Liang Sirui, Zuo Xiao followed Zhuang Jinghao to the parking lot. As they walked, he said, "How about going to the Drum Tower? There's a music store over there owned by an acquaintance. It's quite reliable."

"Okay, okay!" Zhuang Jinghao said with a smile, "Then let's start counting down today's study time from now on!"

Zuo Xiao was startled and quickly shook his head: "No, no! This hasn't even started yet, let's talk about it next time."

"Yes, I will!" Zhuang Jinghao said seriously, "It took time and effort for you to help me choose study tools! It can't be in vain, right?"

Zuo Xiao had been so beguiled by her enthusiasm and innocence that she had completely forgotten to consider the illogical aspects of the whole situation. But now, her excessive hospitality and generosity had made her wary. She stopped and cast a probing glance at Zhuang Jinghao.

The other party stopped and turned around, with a look of confusion written all over his little face.

Zuo Xiao looked at her steadily and said:

"Jinghao, did you know me before?"