Chapter 80
Zhong Miao didn't understand. What didn't he understand? He took her to eat delicious food, accompanied her through spring, summer, autumn and winter, went out to earn money to support a family for her, and even experienced the maternal love that she lacked from her mother-in-law. Isn't this considered understanding?
"Wife, don't you artists all like art? Don't you all think that your ideas are difficult for ordinary people to understand?"
"Who told you that? Even artists can argue over different ideas. To put it bluntly, the market is limited. People in the same field are both friends and rivals. You can treat painting as a job. For me, it's just a job."
In this era, the market is not yet developed and the cake is not big, so of course the competition is fierce. But in the future when the time comes for a hundred flowers to bloom, it will no longer be like this. At that time, the rise of self-media will expand the market and its application will be wider, enough to support many people.
Zhong Miao looked at him like he was a fool. "But work and life need to be separate. The joy in life can't be found in work. Don't you feel uncomfortable when you're working together? All you talk about is work. When you see this person, you think of work. How can you relax?"
"Is that what you think?" Pei Ze was speechless. Zhong Miao was really a weirdo. His thinking was different from that of normal people. People could never see through him.
Nowadays, factory workers look for workers, farmers mostly look for farmers, and college students try to look for college students. Everyone looks for people in the same industry as their partner, so that the marriage will be more stable and it will be easier to have common language.
But Zhong Miao was a weirdo in this era, even though it wasn't obvious on the surface.
"Yeah, so I think your idea is weird. Teacher Li is not only my friend, but also my boss. I really don't know why you're jealous. Who wants to have to look at their boss's face every time they go to work and come home? There's no way we can get along well."
"Hahaha, you." Pei Ze was amused by her and picked her up and spun around. Zhong Miao covered her face and couldn't bear to watch. You exposed your potential to turn evil last night, how can you be so happy today?
Also, spinning in circles is not romantic at all, it's all old-fashioned. If anyone dares to spin in circles on TV, she will immediately change the channel. But she never thought that she would experience it herself today.
"Alright, alright, why are you so crazy?" Zhong Miao stretched out her little fist and hit him twice.
Zhong Miao was almost embarrassed. "Hmph, if you want me to promise something, I can't. After all, who knows what will happen in the future?"
"I know."
"What do you know now?"
"My husband loves you so much, and that will never change." Pei Ze held her face and helped her tidy up the hair on her forehead. His pair of black eyes looked at her seriously, as if he would see into her soul in the next moment.
"Are you cheesy?"
"I'm with my wife, it's not numb."
"Let's go, your skin is getting thicker and thicker."
"So do you like it or not? Do you dare to say you don't like it?"
Pei Ze looked nonchalant but also a little threatening.
Zhong Miao was speechless. With a red face, she walked towards the parking lot against the whistling north wind. Snowflakes were blown everywhere by the wind, and some even hit her face, but she didn't care.
Pei Ze was tall and had long legs. He walked over to stop her and pulled her scarf up until it covered half of her face. He was satisfied and said, "Let's go home."
-
The next evening, Zhong Miao felt dizzy after a day of classes. The day's classes were too full and she was really tired.
When Pei Ze came to pick her up, she was leaning against the drawing board in a daze, not knowing what she was thinking.
"What are you thinking about?" Pei Ze felt the temperature in the room. It was okay, just a little bit cool.
"nothing."
"It's cold, let's go and have something hot."
Pei Ze took the scarf hanging at the door and wrapped it around her.
As the sky gradually darkened, there were fewer and fewer people on the streets. Even those who had just got off work were rushing home. It was so cold that it got dark at four or five in the evening, and no one wanted to stay outside.
Zhong Miao sat in the passenger seat, looking out the window at the people hurrying by. Winter was different; the pace of life in the city was much faster.
"When it's not cold, everyone is leisurely. But when it gets cold, everyone rushes to do things, just hoping to get home early."
"Yeah, it's freezing cold outside, how uncomfortable it is. When I get home, I have my wife and kids and a warm bed to sleep on. Who wouldn't want to go home?"
Pei Ze answered while looking at the road.
"Pei Ze, after thinking about it, I realized that it's hard for me to satisfy you. If I say I can spend my whole life with you, I'm just fooling you. I don't know what the future holds, and I have no confidence in it."
She has even traveled through a book. Who can guarantee that she won't suddenly travel back? Who can know which will come first, tomorrow or an accident? She can't tell fortunes and can't predict her own future.
Pei Ze held her hand. Her white, tender and delicate hands were a little dry and cold. He warmed her with his own temperature.
"Don't think too much. You don't have to pay attention to me. I will adjust myself."
“How do you adjust?”
"Watching you, accompanying you, loving you, repeating every day, until I die."
"Oh, I feel so stressed. Don't you want to do something for yourself?"
"Yes, I do it. What I do every day is for myself. This is what I want. I have a home, a mother, you and the children, and our father. How wonderful it is."
Zhong Miao finally understood why Pei Ze turned evil in the book she was in. He was too pure, too persistent, and too sentimental.
When he lost the one he loved, life lost hope. Just like he said, this is what he wanted, and if what he wanted is gone, everything loses its meaning.
He is not the kind of person who doesn't take himself seriously. He knows exactly what he wants and is persistent about it.
Zhong Miao is not as persistent as him. She follows her inner feelings.
She had experienced more than 20 years of rapid development in her previous life, and had also experienced the pain of death. Afterwards, once she was sent back to the 1980s, she was ready to usher in rapid development again.
With the advent of development and change, life will undergo tremendous changes with economic development, and people's hearts will also change accordingly, constantly adapting to the high-speed and fast-paced operation.
The only thing that remains unchanged for her is to follow her heart.
Amidst the changes, Pei Ze's strategy is to attack and defend. When he feels safe, he will hold on to what he has. When he feels uneasy, his aggressiveness will take over, and he will get what he has first and then hold on to it.
Just like when he returned home before, in order to support An An and his elderly mother, he chose to work in a furniture factory. When he met her, he felt a sense of crisis and felt that everything in front of him was not enough. He wanted to live a better life with her, so he expanded the scale of production and has not stopped until now.
When Zhong Miao responded to him, he got what he wanted, but it was not enough. He felt a sense of crisis, so his aggressiveness was exposed. He wanted a more affirmative response from Zhong Miao. In return, he would get all the love and wealth in his life.
But she has a compliant mindset. After seeing things for decades, she also understands the direction of development. Her idea is to take advantage of the situation and go with the flow. The same goes for her feelings. Just let nature take its course. Pei Ze puts everything on her, so of course she will feel pressured.
Whether in career or love, although both of them are working hard for what they want, there are significant differences in their thinking. Although they cannot reach a consensus for the time being, the result may very well be the same.
Zhong Miao thought clearly, but she didn't stick to it. Conflicts are everywhere, but conflict does not mean opposition. She also didn't want to go against Pei Ze. That would be meaningless and would hurt both herself and others.
What's more, Pei Ze is very good to her and can give her everything he has. She is not an ungrateful person.
Pei Ze didn't interrupt her thoughts, and before he knew it, he had arrived at the barbecue restaurant.
As soon as he entered the store, Zhong Miao smelled a familiar smell, the aroma of charcoal grilled meat. The store was brightly lit, forming a sharp contrast with the darkness outside. This store was simply fragrant, warm and cozy.
The boss is a warm-hearted person, and when he sees handsome men and beautiful women, he tries his best to please them. There are large kangs on both sides of the store, which are divided into small spaces. Each space has a kang table with a round hole on it, which is used to place the charcoal stove. There is a flue above each table, which is a familiar feeling to Zhong Miao.
When she saw the menu, she was almost moved to tears. The familiar names of the dishes, the familiar taste, it was so wonderful.
"Boss, I want two plates of lean beef, one plate of cooked tendons, one plate of mixed cauliflower, and a bowl of cold noodles."
"Okay, it's cold now, and the cold noodles are hot. Do you want the cold hot one?"
"It's cold and sweet and sour."
"Okay, what else do you want?"
"Pei Ze, do you want to eat staple food? There are also bibimbap, fried rice and soybean paste soup."
"Forget the soup, let's have some bibimbap."
"Okay, there's some charcoal burning outside. I'll serve you two some tea and some snacks. Please wait a moment."
"Um."
The boss brought hot tea and side dishes. There were four kinds of side dishes: shredded kelp, fermented soybeans, mixed bean sprouts and platycodon. They were placed on exquisite small plates and looked good.
Zhong Miao thought divergently. No wonder when he was watching videos in his previous life, he often saw the saying that people in a neighboring country ate pickles. Indeed, their main dishes were just free gifts on the table in the north, and not everyone liked them.
Pei Ze poured her some tea and said, "Ah, it's winter, and you insist on eating cold noodles. Aren't you afraid of getting a stomachache?"
"Don't worry, cold noodles are only delicious when they are sweet and sour and icy cold. Paired with barbecue, it's simply amazing."
Zhong Miao was excited.
"You're quite knowledgeable. When did you sneak in to eat cold noodles? There aren't many cold noodles restaurants in the city right now, and this is the only authentic barbecue restaurant."
"While driving around." In fact, she had never eaten cold noodles since she entered the book.
"You really dare to eat anything. It seems you can get used to it."
Pei Ze was worried that she couldn't eat cold noodles. They were hard to bite and much harder than noodles. They tasted sweet and sour, so people usually couldn't get used to them the first time they ate them.
"Of course, I like anything that tastes good."
The charcoal stove had not arrived yet, but the dishes were served first. The beef and cooked tendons were wrapped in oil and had bright colors. A piece of lettuce was placed underneath. The meat soaked in oil would be more tender. Zhong Miao was looking forward to it.
Zhong Miao took a bite of the mixed cauliflower and it tasted exactly like this: cucumber, carrot, bean curd and fried peanuts. It was sweet and sour with a hint of spiciness. It was the best companion to barbecue, refreshing and less greasy.
She was tired of eating these things before, but she hadn't seen them for more than a year and missed them very much.
The charcoal fire was lit, Pei Ze was responsible for grilling the meat, and Zhong Miao and others ate.
"Look at how greedy you are. Stay away from the stove, or you will get burned."
"Uh-huh."
At this time, the boss brought the sauce, cold noodles and bibimbap.
The sauce is sesame paste, soy sauce, vinegar, chili, sugar, chopped green onion and coriander. It is also sweet and sour. She used to like to eat this, but it can only be eaten in Qingzhou. Outside Qingzhou, barbecue rarely uses sweet and sour sesame paste as a dipping sauce. They are all dry sauces and other sauces, none of which are as good as this.
The cold noodles are freshly pressed, not too hard, and not too alkaline. They are sweet and sour, and paired with the savory and fragrant barbecue, they are especially refreshing.
This was a familiar taste to Zhong Miao, and she ate it with great relish.
Pei Ze used chopsticks to poke the soft-boiled egg on the bibimbap. The yolk flowed out and mixed with the sauce, vegetables and rice. He took a bite and it was not bad. "Would you like to eat bibimbap?"
Zhong Miao's eyes were fixed on his hands that were mixing the rice. It was hard to tell whether she was greedy for the rice or his hands. Pei Ze felt a little embarrassed for once.
"Eat, give me some, just a little."
Pei Ze was very conscious of serving Ju'er, so she asked the boss to bring a small bowl, give her some of the bibimbap, and also give her some of the roasted meat.
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