Chapter 46: Beijing

The winter in Beijing is colder than that in City A. Although it is December, Jiang Bai has already started wearing a down jacket. When it is the coldest in Beijing, it snows every day. Jiang Bai has seen snow twice, and now it is almost the third time. New Year's Day is coming soon. Jiang Bai's project is still in the difficult final online stage. He gets off work at 9 or 10 o'clock every day. It is cold and dark.

By the time Jiang Bai took the subway back to his rented house, it was already past ten o'clock.

Jiang Bai rented the largest master bedroom in the three-bedroom apartment without a living room, which had a separate bathroom and a small balcony. The kitchen outside was shared, so she used the kitchen in the common area.

Although the place is not big, Jiang Bai has tidied the room in perfect order. The room is bright and clean. There is a wardrobe and a bed on the right side of the door, and a bathroom on the left. Further in is the balcony. The balcony has large glass windows facing the street. There is a small desk on the balcony, where he usually eats or works overtime.

Jiang Bai took off his down jacket, threw himself on the bed, and collapsed from exhaustion.

Since she came to Beijing more than two years ago, this month is her third project. She worked on the first project for a year and a half, and then was seconded to another project for a few months. After finishing that project, she immediately started working on the current project. The good thing is that it is almost finished. As long as the project is finished, she can take a two-day break.

Then, at the end of the year, she can get some bonus.

The prices of goods and housing in Beijing are really expensive. The price of a single room is more than three times that of City A, not to mention the prices of goods.

Although it was tiring, Jiang Bai managed to make it through. It was easier than he had imagined.

After a few more days, the project was almost finished and the customer was preparing to pay. New Year's Day was approaching, and the project managers gave their employees a holiday to let them rest. Then they would keep an eye on the customers and try to collect the payment before the New Year.

Since it was a holiday, Jiang Bai thought about finding a place to celebrate the New Year. There were many places in Beijing holding events on New Year's Day. Since he wanted to go at the last minute, it would not be possible to go to places that required tickets, so he could only go to those free parks.

The closest place is Century Park. I heard that there are intangible cultural heritage exhibitions and cultural activities, as well as a night market. Many people are counting down to the New Year there. After all, you have to go to crowded places to celebrate the New Year.

When they finally arrived at the place, Jiang Bai realized that there were really a lot of people. She was wearing a white down jacket, had a ponytail, and was carrying a small brown shoulder bag as she followed the crowd.

It was past seven o'clock and it was completely dark. The tall trees on both sides of the road were hung with colorful lights of various colors. The street lights on both sides were also on, very bright and beautiful. Young people, old people and children were around, making a lot of noise and it was very lively.

Jiang Bai took a deep breath and walked a few hundred meters to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition Hall. Outside the hall, a sea of ​​lights meandered along the park road. There were vendors selling small accessories and handicrafts of various kinds.

Next to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition Hall is the Cultural Activity Hall. The two halls together can accommodate hundreds of people. It is very large and there are many people. I heard that there will be an event held in the Cultural Activity Hall together with Peking University.

Jiang Bai put his hands in his pockets and carried a small shoulder bag in front of him. He looked at the intangible cultural heritage exhibition hall one by one, including the cultural activity hall. He walked around for more than an hour before coming out of the hot exhibition hall.

The air was dry and cold, with a chill. Jiang Bai breathed a sigh of relief. Although there was a crowd of people around her, she inevitably felt a sense of loss in her heart, just like the chill of winter blowing in through the seams of her clothes, giving her goose bumps and aching flesh.

Jiang Bai walked forward slowly. The lights on the roadside were still very beautiful. The park was very large. Jiang Bai looked around for a while and when he looked up, he saw the bare trunk of the ginkgo tree without a single leaf.

Jiang Bai turned around and continued to walk forward slowly, with his hands in his pockets, like an old man.

"Shu Qing, here!"

She seemed to be hallucinating. Jiang Bai walked slowly along the grass by the roadside. She had only walked more than ten meters away from the cultural activity hall when she suddenly turned around.

People were coming in and out of the cultural activity hall. Jiang Bai saw a tall girl holding a mobile phone in her left hand and raising her right hand high, waving in her direction.

The dim lights on both sides of the road were like light and shadow. When Jiang Bai turned back, he felt as if he was hallucinating.

The girl's delicate profile passed through the crowd. Jiang Bai was nailed to the spot, and her eyes followed unconsciously. She saw the girl's slender back, a black windbreaker, long curly hair draped over her shoulders, and the outline of a khaki scarf vaguely revealed.

Her steps were steady, and just from her back one could tell that the girl was extremely pretty. Jiang Bai's hands were unconsciously clasping her pockets, and for a moment she seemed to have forgotten to breathe. When the person was about to turn around, Jiang Bai hurriedly turned around and walked forward, pretending to be a passerby.

This was the first time Jiang Bai saw Lan Shuqing in more than two years.

Feeling someone staring at her, Lan Shuqing turned around but only saw people coming and going. The girl next to her pulled her, "Shuqing, what's wrong?"

That feeling was inexplicably familiar, but he couldn't find the source. Lan Shu shook his head lightly, "It's okay, Xiaoqian, let's go in."

This cultural exhibition was jointly organized by Kyoto University and the government. Several humanities-related colleges such as the College of Literature and the College of Arts at Kyoto University participated. Lan Shuqing majored in English and French as a second major and was one of the leaders of the Foreign Affairs College. Several students from the English class served as English tour guides, but the organizer said that some French friends would be visiting and they needed someone who could speak French to be a tour guide, so they had to find someone to help out.

After searching everywhere, I found that only Lan Shuqing was still in school and could make the trip.

Fu Xiaoqian was the monitor of the English class. This time, she was the one who acted as a tour guide with her classmates. As she led Lan Shuqing inside, she said, "Shuqing, it's a good thing you're still here, otherwise it would be terrible..."

"The French class went to the city center for an event. The instructor said they could just arrange for English classes, but who knew a group of French people showed up, and they didn't even bring an interpreter..."

Fu Xiaoqian said a lot, but there was no response afterwards. She turned around and looked at Lan Shuqing.

Lan Shuqing was tying her loose hair into a ponytail with a rubber band, and then she said to Xiaoqian, "Do you have the speech script?"

It was so beautiful that Fu Xiaoqian was almost stunned. She said "Oh" and handed the printed manuscript to Lan Shuqing, "Yes, it is in Chinese and English..."

Lan Shuqing took it and started from the first sentence, skimming through the first page, then flipping through the rest. It took less than a minute in total, and she had a rough idea in her mind. "It's okay."

When they reached the entrance of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition Hall, a boy who was waiting there immediately handed the microphone to Lan Shuqing, "Mr. Lan."

Lan Shu hummed softly, took the microphone, put it on, and asked, "Shall we start right away?"

The male student nodded and pointed to the dozen or so foreign friends waiting by the entrance. "You can start when you're ready."

"good."

As he spoke, Lan Shu took a step forward with his long legs and walked towards the dozen or so French people. He greeted them with a smile in fluent French, and then slowly led them into the exhibition hall. He looked more professional than a trained tour guide.

Fu Xiaoqian and the boy stood together, and the former couldn't help but sigh: "It has to be Shu Qing..."

The boy nodded, "Yeah..."

Although they were pursuing a double degree, Lan Shuqing was the top student in both majors in their class. He received scholarships every year and was praised by teachers every year. Even the political teacher would praise Lan Shuqing for his good academic performance.

I have to say that Lan Shuqing's French skills are really solid. In just a short while, the French people all had smiles on their faces, and they were obviously very satisfied with Lan Shuqing's explanation.

Some people around couldn't help but look at Lan Shuqing, wondering where this tour guide came from. She was good-looking and even prettier when she smiled. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail, and she wore a white sweater and straight trousers under a black windbreaker, which fully showed off her height advantage, making her look capable and exquisite.

Fu Xiaoqian checked the time and called to the boy: "Let's go, let's go do our thing first. The organizer said there will be another group of people. After we finish, I will treat everyone to a midnight snack and celebrate the New Year together!"

The boy followed and gave a thumbs up, "The class monitor is so generous!"

Behind the crowd, Jiang Bai came back at some point. She stood aside, staring at the people over there.

More than two years have passed, and Lan Shuqing is completely different from before. She is more mature, more refined, and more beautiful. The little girl has grown up completely and seems to be a little taller. She is probably over 1.7 meters now...

Although I don’t understand French, judging from the reactions of the people around me, Lan Shuqing speaks it very well, which is great.

Jiang Bai put one hand in his pocket and held the strap of his shoulder bag with the other, staring at Lan Shuqing intently, as if he wanted to make up for the past two years.

The feeling of being watched came again, and Lan Shuqing raised his head and glanced around.

Before she could figure it out, her French friends asked a question. Lan Shuqing concentrated on explaining it to them, thinking it was just an illusion.

The tour guide served for more than an hour, speaking from the entrance to the exit. Then the organizer came out to greet the French friends, and Lan Shuqing acted as a translator. By the time the French friends left, it was already ten o'clock.

Lan Shuqing breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't expect it to take so long. She took out her mobile phone and checked the messages. About half an hour ago, Fu Xiaoqian pulled Lan Shuqing into the preparation group for this event. She first welcomed Lan Shuqing, and then tagged all the members to gather at the exit of the exhibition hall at around 10:30 to go for a barbecue supper together.

The following ones all said “Received”, and Lan Shuqing also wrote at the end: “Received”.

After replying to some other messages, Lan Shuqing had already walked back to the exhibition hall. The boy from before, Zhou Qi, ran over and handed her a bottle of mineral water. "Mr. Lan, are you done? Why don't you go to the lounge and rest?"

Lan Shuqing took the mineral water and Zhou Qi pointed in the direction ahead, "Squad leader, it will take a while."

Zhou Qi was in charge of the logistics for this event. When there were receptions, he would make preparations at the entrance. When there were no receptions, he would look around to see if anyone needed help. The exhibition hall had logistical supplies prepared by Peking University, including mineral water, some small breads and snacks, and the organizer also had a special lounge.

Lan Shu gently opened the bottle of mineral water and took a sip to moisten her throat. She shook her head and said, "It's okay. I'll just take a walk."

"Okay, then remember the time."

Lan Shu nodded slightly, "I'll be leaving first."