Chapter 34: Fang Qingzhuo, wearing contact lenses, has a pair of eyes that can...
With nothing to do after class, Luo Shu took Gu Jiaqian to go shopping in an eyewear store.
After entering the store, a female clerk came to greet them. After listening to their needs, she enthusiastically introduced the sales to the two of them.
Everything was ready, except for the material. Luo Shu turned to Gu Jiaqian, who was also nearsighted. "They have hydrogel, silicone gel, and some kind of negative ion material. Which one do you think is better?"
The clerk smiled and corrected me, explaining, "It's non-ionic, suitable for sensitive eyes. Hydrogel is relatively affordable, and silicone gel has a high oxygen permeability, making it suitable for people with dry eyes."
"It really depends on the individual. My eyes are super sensitive, and Sisi's eyes are more affected by overuse." Gu Jiaqian rubbed her chin. "Why did you think of buying contact lenses? What's wrong? Are you nearsighted? I told you to play with your phone less at night."
"I bought this for Sisi." After choosing the material and telling the salesperson her prescription, Luo Shu leaned her elbows on the glass counter and browsed through other styles of glasses. "Her birthday is coming up soon, and I've noticed her glasses are getting loose and frayed lately, so I was thinking of picking out a pair of contact lenses for her.
She reminded him, "Oh, and don't let her know the secret in advance. I want to give her a surprise."
In fact, Luo Shu heard the whole story of why Hou Sisi was said to be crying that day and felt that she was wronged. If you put yourself in her shoes, her emotions are normal.
"Don't worry." Gu Jiaqian made a zippering motion towards her tightly closed lips, "I'm the most strict person I can be."
Mentioning Hou Sisi inevitably reminded me of another roommate. "Um...Is Xia Yimo okay?"
Luo Shu's tone was intriguing: "It should be okay."
"Then why hasn't she returned to school yet? Is she still blaming me?" Gu Jiaqian guessed.
When they separated that day, Xia Yimo took Luo Shu to a corner alone and said, "Everything that happens is beneficial to me," telling her not to pay attention to the extreme words on the Internet. And Gu Jiaqian was not impulsive and unhappy because of her sarcasm.
To help them break the ice, Luo Shu offered some advice while strolling around: "It's hard to say. If you're really curious, you can go ask her yourself."
Gu Jiaqian was speechless: "I, I won't ask her."
"What? Are you embarrassed?" Luo Shu said bluntly, "You're quite eloquent when you're fighting keyboard warriors and pushing them to the point of deregistering their accounts."
Speaking of her great achievements, Gu Jiaqian straightened her back immediately: "I told you before, I didn't chase this star in vain."
As if thinking of something, he said with regret, "It's a pity that there's one person who slipped through the net. That person who slandered Xia Yimo and bullied and ruined our dormitory's reputation. If she hadn't run away quickly, I would have dug her out and skinned her alive."
"Yes, yes, you have such a clever tongue. It would be their loss if you don't join our school's debate team." Luo Shu teased her.
"Good, Luo Shu, you've even learned to make fun of me, haven't you?" Gu Jiaqian raised the corner of her mouth cunningly. "By the way, how far have you and Fang Qingzhuo gotten?"
At this time, a few more customers came to the door of the store. The welcoming doorbell woke up the dormant memories. Fang Qingzhuo had an indescribable sense of strangeness in the car last night, as if something that had always existed in his bones but had been suppressed for a long time accidentally emerged as the tip of the iceberg, and that seemingly true expression of feelings was actually a serious hint and a hidden metaphor.
But it didn't make any sense. Never mind. Maybe I was just being overly suspicious. I picked up a pair of sunglasses from the shelf and asked, "What step?"
Gu Jiaqian smiled ambiguously: "That is, have you ever kissed on the lips?"
The customers nearby followed the sound one by one, as if they had super-ears. Luo Shu almost lost her grip on her sunglasses, and her ears immediately felt hot. What was the difference between discussing private matters in public and publicly executing someone? She wanted to muffle her loud voice with a rag: "Gu Jiaqian, could you please keep your voice down?"
Not getting the ideal answer, Gu Jiaqian pressed on: "It's human nature. Why are you speaking so quietly? Is there anything wrong? Tell me quickly."
"What's human nature? You, you think it's as simple as eating a bowl of noodles on the street?" Luo Shu was embarrassed and put her sunglasses back on, her hands and feet awkwardly moving. "Oh, stop asking."
From this vague evasion, Gu Jiaqian easily discerned the truth. She covered her mouth in shock, "Are you two elementary school students dating? No, you can be forgiven, but Fang Qingzhuo shouldn't be!"
Luo Shu didn't like to hear this. What did she mean by "her circumstances were excusable"?
Gu Jiaqian became more and more excited as she spoke: "Just try harder. Fang Qing is growing up and looks like he's really good at kissing people until their legs go weak."
Luo Shu took a deep breath, fanned her face with her palms, and muttered to herself, "Wow, it's so stuffy in here. I need to go back to the dormitory and take a shower."
Then he left Gu Jiaqian behind and ran to the cashier to pay. After scanning the code to pay, the voice ringtone rang.
"Tsk tsk, speak of the devil and he will appear." Gu Jiaqian, who was following behind him, immediately leaned over and said, "Let me hear it quickly."
Luo Shu pushed away the head that was hitting her and showed the screen with the note of Manager Sun from Fresh Goose Manor: "Oh, it's not him."
When the call was connected, the person on the other end called out "Xiao Luo, Xiao Luo" in a much more enthusiastic tone than the last time we met.
"It's me." Luo Shu cautiously probed, "You called me because there's something wrong with the design?"
The other end hesitated: "Well... I guess so. I can't explain the details over the phone. If you are free this afternoon, come to the store."
After much persuasion, Gu Jiaqian, the big Buddha who vowed to bring her happiness, was invited back to school. As agreed, Luo Shu took a taxi to Xiangezhuang on time.
Looking back at the time when the manuscript was submitted, the manager's eyes were full of satisfaction, and he immediately made the final decision with her after receiving a phone call. So what went wrong?
Luo Shu stepped into the lobby with a lot of questions in her mind. A waiter with a decent professional smile came up to her immediately. After confirming the purpose of her visit, as if she knew in advance that someone like her would come, she was immediately led to the private room on the second floor.
After getting permission from the owner, the waiter pushed open the door. Luo Shu then discovered that the person waiting for her was not Manager Sun, whom she had dealt with before, but another person, a young man with an elegant temperament.
Sitting down at the tea table, Luo Shu quickly glanced around the facilities in the room without leaving any trace. The atmosphere was elegant. There was a long screen behind her that separated the dining and resting areas. Then she fell into a brief period of staring at each other, or to be more precise, the man was staring at her one-sidedly.
But there was nothing wrong with the look, rather there was a bit of the tolerance of an elder towards a younger person.
Xing was aware of the impoliteness and the man took out a business card: "Manager Sun is under my command. Has he told you the details?"
Luo Shu took it with both hands. The three words "Song Shijin" were clearly printed in the center of the gold-plated business card.
He nodded politely, "Hello, Mr. Song. Manager Sun simply mentioned that there were some issues with the previous design, and asked me to come over to discuss the rest in detail. So, Mr. Song, what went wrong? I'll go back and fix it right away."
"It's not a design problem." Song Shijin picked up the teapot with his left hand and poured a bowl of tea. The wedding ring on his ring finger made him look like a married man. "Don't call me Mr. Song, Mr. Song. It's too formal."
He brought the tea to Luo Shu and said, "Call me uncle, it's more intimate."
Uncle, and he was even more specific. Across the elegant tea fragrance, Luo Shu looked back at this strange married man: "Don't be ridiculous, Manager Sun didn't tell me that he was here to recognize relatives."
The man was successfully amused by her seriousness. Seeing that she was so cautious, he took out a contract and took a closer look. It was a commission contract.
"Take a look at the content. If there are no problems, sign it. Of course, if there are any problems, we can discuss it again."
Unsure of the other party's intentions, Luo Shu quickly scanned the entire page and was slightly surprised when she saw the remuneration. Paid? And 100,000 at that?
She refused bluntly: "Mr. Song, I can't sign this."
"Hmm? You can add more if you think it's not enough."
"No, the buyout price you offered is far higher than the industry standard. I'm just a novice, and I don't deserve it. Besides, your willingness to use my design is a great recognition of me. Most importantly, we agreed in advance that it would be free of charge, so we must uphold the spirit of the contract."
With these sincere words, Song Shijin took a sip of hot tea and blinked. Today's tea seemed to be different from what he had imagined.
"To be honest, this Fresh Goose Restaurant was founded by my grandfather's generation. It's considered a century-old local brand. It was once a glorious place."
"I've seen your design. It retains traditional core values while also being innovative and modern. It's clear you put a lot of effort into it."
He changed into a comfortable sitting position and changed the subject, "Besides, how can I take your design for free? If it gets out, you can blame me for bullying the younger generation."
Then he pulled out a bag from somewhere and said, "I'll give you a copy of the finished product as a souvenir."
In the bag, when Luo Shu saw her first business project in her life, and the unique little designs appeared on the paper, she felt an unprecedented sense of fullness throughout her body.
Her mind raced back to those late nights, the grind of scratching her head. Her major, design, leaned towards dynamics, while graphic design was the opposite. Despite her limited knowledge, she channeled her sadness into strength, taking modeling classes during the day and studying design at night, banishing the bitterness of her frustrations at Fang Qingzhuo. Looking back now, it was truly a journey of sweet success after bitter experience.
During the signing break, Song Shijin subconsciously glanced at the screen: "By the way, I heard from Manager Sun that you came here for your boyfriend. How is your relationship with your boyfriend lately?"
Luo Shu stopped writing and said honestly, "Thank you, Mr. Song, for your concern. I'm fine."
In fact, I secretly thought that these two people were quite gossipy.
As she was about to finish her words, she heard a muffled cough from behind. Luo Shu then realized that there were other people in the room. She signed the contract, stood up, collected her bag, and left. "I didn't expect you to have guests. The contract has been signed. I'll take my leave now."
Being caught off guard, Song Shijin's expression was blank for a moment but he quickly returned to normal. He stood up and said, "Okay, I'll take you out."
He walked out of the room and headed towards the door of the private room across the street to call a waiter to see his guest off.
Luo Shu instinctively wanted to refuse, but when she saw who it was, she couldn't help but blurt out in surprise: "Ah, Sisi."
In an instant, the entire aisle was filled with her joyful echoes.
"Do you know each other?" Song Shijin asked with a smile.
Realizing that she had gotten carried away, Luo Shu lowered her voice and replied softly, "Well, we are classmates or roommates."
"What a coincidence." Song Shijin smiled secretly with her hands covering her lips. She tactfully made room for them to reminisce about the past and turned back to the private room.
After saying goodbye to Song Shijin, Luo Shu finally showed some relief at meeting someone she knew: "Sisi, why are you here?"
"I work part-time here." Compared to her excitement, Hou Sisi was as calm as the decorative painting hanging on the wall of the corridor.
"What about your part-time job at the tutoring class?"
"I quit."
"Quitted?"
"Well, after all, the hourly wage here is twice as high."
After living under the same roof for over a year, Luo Shu had a rough idea of Hou Sisi's family situation: inactive parents and a younger brother in his first year of high school, who was sometimes asked to contribute to the family income before even having the chance to warm his scholarships and bonuses. During a chance dorm chat, she'd learned that she was considering applying for an exchange student position in her junior year. As everyone knew, their program was a Sino-foreign joint venture, and to capitalize on this opportunity, she'd been spending most of her time working part-time to earn extra money.
Perhaps she didn't want to talk about meaningless topics, or perhaps it was due to work hours, but Hou Sisi forced a smile on her tired and dull face: "I'll take you down first."
"Sisi, how about I wait for you to get off work and we go back to school together?" In the elevator, Luo Shu took the initiative to take her arm and suggested.
"No need, Luo Shu." Hou Sisi pulled her arm out and pressed the elevator button. "I appreciate your kindness, but I'm working here until the evening, which is too late."
After sending them to the lobby, Luo Shu refused to let her send him off again no matter what. While they were pulling each other, she accidentally caught a glimpse of a figure standing on the road outside the door. She stopped talking abruptly, her pupils gradually dilated in disbelief, and her eyes immediately lit up. Following the trajectory of her gaze, Hou Sisi quickly understood the reason.
More than ten meters away, Fang Qingzhuo, dressed in black, was leaning against the door of a black car with one hand in his pocket, making a phone call. Although he was talking on the phone, his eyes were fixed on the busy entrance of the hotel. The wind was strong today, lifting his black hair to reveal his handsome face. Even though the wind was raging, he remained calm and focused. This remarkable expression management made the unsuspecting passers-by feel as if they were shooting some kind of commercial, as if nothing could move him.
But it was such a man who, the moment he saw the person he was waiting for appear, his facial features suddenly became lively. He ended the call without hesitation, smiled, tilted his head, and opened his heart to Luo Shu, a doting gesture to welcome her over.
On this side, Luo Shu opened her arms without thinking and ran towards him, shouting his name and throwing herself into his arms. After a moment, she seemed to remember that there was someone behind her, so she broke free from his arms and turned back to make a goodbye gesture to Hou Sisi, saying "I'm leaving first".
Hou Sisi smiled and waved back, watching her happily climb into the car. At this moment, a female colleague she didn't get along with passed by and sneered, "Same person, different fate!"
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