Chapter 39
"You're something else!" Jack said, swirling his drink in his glass. "You managed to run away without anyone noticing. You've got some serious skills!"
There wasn't any urgent work to do today, so during lunch, Chengshi and Jack found a quiet little restaurant where they could drink and chat. As they talked, Chengshi accidentally revealed his entire Dali trip plan to Jack. Upon hearing this, Chengshi was so remorseful he wanted to slap himself.
Narumi knew perfectly well that Jack was a drunkard, so aside from joking around, there was no point in having any serious discussions with him. But then again, wasn't a guy like that perfect for sharing such a "secret"? So it wasn't entirely accidental that Narumi revealed the plan to Jack. In fact, Narumi found it increasingly difficult to keep this "secret" over the past few weeks, and he was eager to share the news with someone else to make himself feel at ease.
This morning, Cheng Shi listened attentively in the meeting room to his mentor's presentation on "the tasks that must be completed before National Day and the goals to be achieved next year." After receiving a work assignment from his department that theoretically would take several months to complete, he actually started making a work plan...
But wait! I wouldn't be around by then! Why would I be making work plans for no reason? As Cheng Shi typed on the computer, this question suddenly came to mind.
When Chengshi first realized this problem, he found it quite interesting, but as that "interesting" feeling disappeared, he became increasingly agitated. It was already the end of June, and there were only two months left until the beginning of September... But Chengshi thought that by then he would be in Dali, where it was spring all year round, and he could put the entire Central Support Department and all this mess of work behind him.
However, the plan to go to Dali seemed very unrealistic in the context of Hauske's Law, where everything is a monolithic entity.
Chengshi truly felt that the plan to go to Dali seemed incredibly real at home, because it was the only thing his family talked about every day. During his commute, Chengshi knew with absolute certainty that the plan would soon be put into action. But only in Haosikai did the plan become ethereal, as unreal as a dream. Chengshi found that everything on the 15th floor seemed to be conspiring to sabotage his plan: the numb, weary, or slightly mocking looks from his colleagues, the rows of workstations in front of him, and the internal phone ringing, signaling his boss's impending summons… all of this seemed to indicate the end of his fate: he could only spend the rest of his life in this place.
"I'll definitely leave whenever I want!" Cheng Shi would shout this in his heart a dozen or twenty times a day. "You bunch of bastards, just you wait and see!"
But this silent resistance was getting weaker and weaker. Because this bright, dry, lifeless Hoskay Building had enveloped him for too long, it had become so worn that it had developed a patina! So Narumi's silent shouts threatening to escape could not shake it. It continued to run on its own track without making a sound, and it always glanced at Narumi, as if it were really "waiting to see"!
All of this was unbearable for Narumi, so he felt that the only way to end this oppressive feeling was to tell the story of the plan. Jack was his best friend on the 15th floor and even in the entire House City, so he was the best person to share the plan with.
Therefore, at lunchtime today, Chengshi and Jack deliberately ditched Will, Eddie, Simon, and a few other lunch buddies. The two of them found a small restaurant a little further from the company but not crowded, where they could have a few drinks. Then Chengshi told Jack the whole plan.
“But there’s one more small question I don’t quite understand,” Jack asked, sipping his drink with relish. “Just a casual question, I mean, what are you planning to do next? Honestly, bro, I can’t imagine this: you sitting in a pub, brooding and bored, drinking away your days, while your beautiful wife—whom I’d definitely hide away—is out there livestreaming on her phone day and night? So you get the picture? I just want to know, are you planning to completely retire, or are you planning to do something? Write a book? Paint? Take photos? Practice qigong? Or maybe you want to become a botanist or zoologist?”
"What the hell are you talking about? And why does everyone want me to write books or draw?" Cheng Shi retorted, then realized he seemed to be quoting Huang Ruoyu's point of view to Jack. "Brother, does only writers and artists have the right to live the life they want? You see, the only reason I'm still doing this damn job is... well, actually there are quite a few reasons, but the important thing is, if I were to list them all now, I'm sure there's one reason that absolutely won't appear, and that's 'I like this job,' because I don't like this damn job at all. Brother, you know what? I have a point of view that might sound a little ridiculous, which is that people are only happy when they do work they like."
"Come on, nobody truly loves any job. It's the same no matter what you do. If you work because you love it, you'll only ruin that love in the end. Don't give me that nonsense." Jack interrupted Chengshi impatiently. "I'll say it again. But even if you're right, what kind of job do you actually like?"
"If I had known, I wouldn't have had to travel all the way to Dali to look for it." Cheng Shi said, then downed the beer in his glass in one gulp.
Seeing Cheng Shi's response, Jack slightly tilted his handsome face, raised his eyebrows, and curled his lip in a dismissive manner, making him look not only more like a pretty boy but also more like a cunning schemer. Jack paused for a moment, then continued, "Uh… don't you think, if, really, like you say, there's an ideal job waiting for you somewhere, don't you think you could find it in Haoskai? You know what I mean?"
“No, I don’t understand, and I don’t think it’s possible. Brother, to be honest, I don’t think anyone can find anything meaningful in Hosc, especially on the 15th floor, including you.”
“Hmm, you’re right, that makes sense.” Jack downed the last sip of beer in his glass, then leaned back in his chair and asked Cheng Shi with a nonchalant air, “When did you say you were planning to start implementing your grand plan?”
For a moment, Chengshi really wanted to throw the whole table up and smash it at Jack across from him, just like Brother Crow did. He wanted to see Jack fall backward to the ground along with the table and chairs, with shards of dishes clattering all over his face. At that moment, Jack's face would show a weak, pitiful, and helpless expression—"The Great Plan"—what a mockery that is not brotherly at all!
However, Cheng Shi answered truthfully: "We plan to leave before the start of school in September, and at the latest in October, so that the children will not miss too many classes."
Jack nodded five or six times, glancing at the leftovers on his plate as he did so. He no longer seemed cynical; instead, he looked much older, as if he had suffered a great blow and was consumed by jealousy.
Looking at Jack's appearance, Narumi's earlier disgust for him turned into pity. "That poor old bastard," Narumi thought—"I ruined his lunch, and I ruined his whole day"—so Narumi wanted to tell Jack, "Brother, I was just kidding, there's no such thing."
However, Chengshi did not say that in the end, but instead pretended to be happy to cover up her embarrassment.
"Hey Jack, how about another bottle to commemorate our good old days?"
"No, no, that's fine," Jack said. "I still have work to do this afternoon."
But when the waiter placed the beer bottle with the cap removed on the table, Jack was still as happy as a little puppy. Finally, when Jack finished another bottle of beer, they paid the bill and left the small restaurant, stepping into the sunlight outside, and all that was left on this guy's face was a silly, innocent smile.
"Don't worry, I'll keep my mouth shut," Jack said cheerfully as they walked. "I know you don't want the whole company to talk about this, not even the 15th floor. But when are you planning to tell the boss?"
"Let's wait another two or three weeks. I haven't figured out how to tell him yet."
"Frankie!" Will's voice came from behind Narumi. "Want to go for a walk? You two have been drinking secretly, haven't you? Walk around a few more times to clear your head."
Cheng Shi readily agreed, because this was the last time he would "go for a walk" with this group of people, the last time he would join this army of white-collar workers for a leisurely stroll in the sunshine, the last time his shiny leather shoes would startle the doves pecking at the roadside, and watch these little creatures hurriedly jump into the bushes, then fly high and high, over the towering buildings, and soar higher and higher in the vast sky.
After having someone tell him the "secret," he really felt much better. Narumi felt the situation had changed. Now he could look around at the men talking to him and felt truly detached from them. The old drunkard Jack, the boastful Will, the perpetually abusive Eddie, and the radical leftist Simon—Narumi knew he would soon be parting ways with them, and a year from now he might not even remember their names. At the same time, the best part was that he would no longer have to hate them. They weren't actually that bad people; conflicts and disagreements were inevitable in the workplace. Now, Narumi allowed himself to blend into the group, laughing heartily with them at Jack's lame jokes. As they turned the last corner, Narumi happily joined them in a line, shoulder to shoulder, heading towards the Haoskai Building.
Goodbye, goodbye. Narumi silently repeated these words as she passed each person. Goodbye to the little assistant who came out of 7-Eleven carrying bags while talking on the phone; goodbye to those kids puffing away in the smoking area downstairs. Goodbye, you adorable, pathetic creatures. I'm leaving here!
Cheng Shi was intoxicated by this irrepressible sense of freedom until he returned to his workstation and heard the annoying ringing of the internal phone—the sound telling him that his boss was going to call him in for another meeting about some lousy job.
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