Friendship
Obviously, Daju prefers the small Western-style building. As soon as she parked the car, Daju jumped out by himself, crawled in through the gap in the fence, and waited in front of the main door for Chen Jin to open it.
"Wait a minute, why are you in such a hurry?" After getting out of the car, Chen Jin went around to the trunk to get something, which contained some fruits she bought, as well as some meat and vegetables. I usually eat at school, and go out to eat at restaurants near the school on weekends. I haven’t cooked at home for a while, so I have to improve my mediocre cooking skills.
Her aunt asked her to find an aunt to help with cleaning and cooking at home so that she could eat better. It sounds a bit tempting, but only a little bit. She feels uncomfortable when she thinks of having outsiders coming to her house often. She would rather take the trouble to cook for herself.
She bought a lot of fruits, after all, she has a "fruit stomach". I couldn't keep quiet at home and kept eating, so I brought some to the office and shared some with my colleagues, so the fruit was consumed quickly. The owner of the fruit shop on Wutong Road knew her very well and knew that she was an important customer. Every time she went there, she would help her pick good fruits. Therefore, she never suffered any losses when buying fruits and was happy to buy from them often.
He carried a large bag of fruit in, opened the door, then turned around to pick up the vegetables and clothes he brought back from Hanlin Garden from the trunk. Slam the trunk shut. As soon as he entered the yard, he hooked the door with his foot, then kicked it back and the door closed.
"Xiao Jin! Ouch! Long time no see!" Professor Song heard the voice and came out. She saw that it was indeed her little neighbor Chen Jin!
Chen Jin was also very happy and wanted to wave, but he had things in both hands, so he had to give up. "You're finally back." They were gone for half a year. The two of them went on a trip to Hainan with old friends, but Aunt He didn't go with them and hasn't been here during this period. The house has been vacant for half a year, so it definitely needs a thorough cleaning.
"We came back on Wednesday and didn't see you. I wanted to tell you in person that □□ and I are going to have a dinner party at home tomorrow, and you should come along. It just so happens that I have borrowed Baichuan's house, so you young people can go over there and talk."
"Okay, okay." Chen Jin nodded in response. In fact, when she got home last night, Professor Song also called her to tell her about the dinner invitation, and specifically mentioned to her that Li Xingyi and Bai Ling would most likely come as guests with their mentors, and said that if she minded, it was okay if they didn't come.
Of course Chen Jin would not not go. Why should she avoid them? If they don't like it, they can just leave. She won't leave anyway.
It was one thing that she and Professor Song had a good neighborly relationship, but she also noticed that Professor Song admired the professional learning abilities of Li Xingyi and Bai Ling. Otherwise, even if she said bad things about them in front of Professor Song, Professor Song would still invite them to his home later.
In this world, there is no such thing as you cannot have a good relationship with others just because we have a good relationship. She will not cut off contact with Professor Song's family because of this incident.
Professor Song is an interesting old lady, and Chen Jin quite likes watching TV with her.
Humph! She was living a good life and couldn't let these two people ruin her good mood.
Chen Jin wanted to say a few more words, but the big orange cat came out and meowed at her. She didn't know what he was trying to do. She has only raised it for a short time. It’s such a small thing, but it dares to quarrel with her. What a bad-tempered cat! I pretended to be a good kid and got away with it so that she could bring me back, but I wasn't a good kid at all!
Professor Song bent down, looked over through the fence, and said with interest: "Wow! Xiao Jin, you have a cat? Oh, this little thing is so cute."
Professor Song then said, "I won't talk to you anymore. I have some things to do at home. I'll bring some cakes made by Xiao He to you later. I haven't eaten them for half a year. I miss them."
Chen Jin watched Professor Song excitedly turn around and go back to work, met the eyes of the big cat in front of the gate, and smiled: "Bringing me cakes is an excuse, he must want to come and see you."
These days, cats are doing better than humans.
If it were the weekend, the group of idiots in the neighborhood would definitely come to her house and wait there.
Although the elders in the family have told them not to disturb Teacher Chen often, they no longer come to the house to disturb him. They wait outside the door with their eyes wide open. Can Chen Jin just watch and not let them come in to play?
It was also thanks to the good teaching of these nagging elders that he was not an annoying child, otherwise he would have been kicked out by her.
After she entered the house, Daju went to scratch the door leading to the backyard.
Well, the backyard is now Daju’s playground. I feel anxious if I don’t go there for a day. Chen Jin opened the door and let it go out to play. Anyway, now I know how to recognize my home, and I can find it myself after going out to play.
I turned on the TV so that there was sound in the house, and then I took the meat, vegetables and fruits to the dining room and put everything in place, putting what needed to be put in the refrigerator. She went to the market and bought half an old hen. It was already eleven o'clock, so she could start making chicken soup.
The method of making chicken soup was taught by my third aunt. They went to Shenzhen to work and learned it from their co-workers. People in the neighboring province are very good at making soup. Among so many soups, Chen Jin feels that this one is the simplest, and the taste can barely be called excellent.
There was a crisp sound of bowls, chopsticks and spoons colliding in the kitchen. Chen Jin put the bowls and chopsticks aside to drain and looked at the set of tableware. The more he looked at it, the more he liked it. She bought this set specifically from a kitchenware store. It was the only set left at the time and it looks really nice.
Shen Baichuan’s set was originally given as a birthday gift, but it had already been given away, so it couldn’t be considered a birthday gift. Fortunately, she hesitated for a few seconds and finally kept the best-looking one for herself. Her decision was right!
Taking advantage of the free time now, Chen Jin cleaned all the cups on the cup rack. There were small pieces of paper with names written on them stuck under the cups.
She has a lot of cups at home, so she can provide them to her friends who come over to claim a special cup.
Then put the dolls in the house in order and use transparent tape to remove the cat hair. The dolls at home can only be tidied up for half a day at most, because Daju will put them down at any time. I don't know what the problem is.
Just as I was preparing the dishes for lunch, the landline phone at home rang.
"I'm at home. You want to come over for dinner? Sure. How many people? Oh, goodbye. Just the three of you can come. Let's go out for dinner another day and call Feng Zhen along." Lin Xinran specifically mentioned that Mei Wang was also there, and Chen Jin decisively refused. No matter what he thinks now, she doesn't have any idea at all, and she doesn't want anyone to come to her house as a guest. We're not that familiar with each other yet, so there's no need.
As soon as Lin Xinran hung up the phone, Chen Jin took out some more meat and vegetables from the refrigerator. She didn't eat much by herself, but with three more people, she could make two more dishes.
But the first person to ring her doorbell was Professor Song, who came over with a plate of pastries and smiled, inviting Chen Jin to come over and eat, "Xiao He has learned some new pastries recently, you should try them."
Then he looked left and right, "Where's your cat?"
Chen Jin smiled helplessly and pointed to the backyard. Thinking that Daju and Professor Song were not familiar with each other yet, Chen Jin went over to act as an "introducer" so that Professor Song could get acquainted with Daju first.
"If you see it a few more times, it will get to know people and maybe even come to your backyard to play."
Chen Jin and Da Ju looked at each other across the fence, because this guy was now lying on the table under the pavilion in Shen Baichuan's house. It doesn't want to stay in its own gazebo, but insists on staying in someone else's gazebo. She doesn't even bother to say anything to it.
Thanks to Shen Baichuan for not caring, otherwise it would have been locked up in the house by her.
Daju refused to come over, so Professor Song gave up after watching for a while and could only take it slow and wait until they got familiar with each other.
"You cooked so many dishes by yourself? I came here just to ask you to come to my house for lunch..." But I didn't expect Chen Jin to be so quick and had already started cooking the soup. Not to mention, the smell is pretty good.
"A few friends will be coming over for dinner later, I'll cook some more." Chen Jin said as he went to wash the rice and prepare to cook. "They were all my classmates in college, and now they are all studying for their master's degrees. Oh, and the tutoring institution across the street from our community was opened by the three of them. There are several professors' children in our community taking classes there."
"Your classmates are great. They are busy with their studies, but they can also come out to start a business. Nowadays, the outside world is developing rapidly. Take advantage of the current good times and give it a try. It will make the most of your youth."
"My family used to be in business. I thought I would go home and take over the family business after I finished school, but I didn't expect that I would end up studying physics, which has nothing to do with business. Now, no one in my family is in business..."
As Professor Song spoke, he talked more and more, and somehow he thought of some old stories. Just when I was about to say that I was being too long-winded, I looked up and saw Chen Jin listening attentively. There was no trace of perfunctoriness on her face, and I was actually deeply moved for a moment.
She thought that the reason why she enjoyed chatting with her friend Chen Jin so much was that they were close despite the age difference of more than 40 years. What she appreciated was Chen Jin's sincerity.
This young girl has the playfulness and liveliness of young people, which makes those over 50 feel her vigorous vitality, yet she can live calmly and steadily. Every time they talk to her, no matter whether it is trivial matters or reminiscing about the past, they can always get feedback, all they need is a focused and serious look...
Having come through the old era and witnessed the development of this country, today's young people are becoming more and more impetuous, and it's rare for someone to stop and listen.
"You and Baichuan are both good kids."
Chen Jin laughed, "Why do you suddenly feel so emotional? I am a good kid, indeed." As for Teacher Shen...it's hard to say.
Professor Song also smiled, with a deep meaning in his words, "Baichuan is indeed good, with good character and knowledge. You are all good children."
Some things don't need to be made too clear; the parties involved need to figure them out themselves.
Chen Jin smiled and calmly avoided the topic.
"By the way, have you prepared the food for tomorrow's dinner? I have nothing to do in the afternoon, so I can help."
"No, no, I borrowed someone from Professor Kong to help. You don't need to prepare anything. I've been away for too long, and my old friends said they wanted to come over and get together. It just so happens that I'm going back to school to teach a course next semester, and I want to chat with my old friends."
Professor Song also followed into the kitchen, wanting to help, but Chen Jin wouldn't let her get involved, saying everything was ready, so she could only stand aside and talk.
Chen Jin was just about to put the vegetables in the pot when the doorbell outside rang.
"The doorbell rang. It must be your friend. Don't move. I'm going to open the door. I have to go home by the way. If you are home alone next time, you can come to my place for dinner. It's not easy to cook by yourself. Xiao He learned a lot of new dishes some time ago. You should go and try them."
After saying that, Professor Song walked out with a smile. Chen Jin could hear the noise outside in the kitchen. It was not very clear, but Lin Xinran's crisp "Hello, teacher" was still very clear.
"It's the first time I see you cooking. It's so rare." Lin Xinran came over and looked around the kitchen, and found that there was nothing she could do.
"It's normal if you haven't seen it." They always went out to eat before. They didn't come to her house very often, and they always came when she didn't want to go out. She was too lazy to go out, let alone cook.
Yang Qian and Chen Lu also came over. They brought some fruits with them. They found fruit plates and went into the kitchen to prepare the fruits. Each one looked more like a member of this family than the other.
Chen Jin asked while cooking: "Why is there such a strong wind today that suddenly blew you guys over here?"
"I haven't seen you for a while. If I don't come to see you, I'll forget what you look like." Lin Xinran picked up a washed big green date and ate it, wondering, "You've been working this semester, right? We've only seen you twice in the college."
"Oh, I often went to see them in class this semester, and kept an eye on them. Professor Jiang was going to be driven crazy by these freshmen. They skipped classes to go out and socialize and date. Professor Jiang told them in their office every day that each class was worse than the previous one." It was the same not only in the Chinese Department, but also in other majors. When Chen Jin had nothing to do, he would go to the teaching building according to the students' class schedule to see how the classes were going.
The class cadres are not so trustworthy anymore. Some of them even help to cover up. Not all of them can be "impartial and impartial". After all, we see classmates every day, and no one wants to be labeled as a "snitch"... It's really a headache.
"We went to your office yesterday, and Teacher Chang said you were going to take a few days off because something happened at home. It just so happens that we are both free today, and luckily you are at home."
There was indeed something going on at home. Going to burn incense to the ancestors and watching the fun were both big things.
The food was quickly prepared and placed on the table. Amid the puzzled gazes of the other three, Chen Jin went to the backyard, stood at the back door with his hands on his hips, and called Daju to come home for dinner.
Then Daju caused another round of exclamations, and the three of them focused their attention on Daju, and they didn't even remember that they had just said they came to chat with her.
The big orange cat ran away after dinner. It was not familiar with the three of them and didn't want to stay in the house and have its paws pinched.
Yang Qian said enviously: "It would be nice to have a kitten, but my family can't afford it. Zhuo Jiyu is afraid of cats and dogs." As she said that, she couldn't help but curl her lips in disdain: Such a big man is actually afraid of cats and dogs.
Chen Jin let out a long “ah”, this shock was no different from his reaction when he first heard that Shen Baichuan manually scratched the car to ask for compensation. These people are usually quite good at pretending.
Today’s chicken soup was delicious, so she drank an extra bowl. Her stomach felt a little bloated, so she walked back and forth in the living room to help digest the food. By the way, I listened to the three of them talking about recent affairs of the organization, actually it was mainly Lin Xinran who talked.
Lin Xinran is now the de facto spokesperson.
"A tutoring institution has opened across from our institution. Our sign says 'famous school' and theirs says 'famous teachers'. They also hand out flyers in schools and offer free trial classes. Their discounts are bigger than ours, and they are now competing with us."
Lin Xinran sighed and said, "Why should they do that? We are fully booked here, and we have no place to teach if we want to recruit more people. If they do it well, they can recruit people without any big discounts. The market is so big, and we only occupy a small part of it. Further ahead, there is No. 17 Middle School, and there are enough students to open an institution there. With what they have done, the pricing of our subsequent courses will be affected. It's really... hurting the enemy a thousand times and destroying ourselves eight hundred times."
Chen Lu said: "No. 17 Middle School and Nanda Affiliated Middle School are different. The quality of students is too different. They want to grab high-quality students so that they can achieve good results. If it's not them, it will be another institution. We just need to do a good job in teaching and build a good reputation."
"I know the truth, but it's not easy to recruit students nowadays." Lin Xinran fell back depressedly.
As Chen Jin listened, he felt that the two seemed to have a disagreement. One is in charge of market development and enrollment, the other is in charge of teaching. How could there be any conflict between them? Chen Lu was too calm, Lin Xinran was too anxious, these two...
Oh, and there is also Yang Qian who remains unmoved no matter what they say.
Forget it, she doesn’t understand their internal management model, so she’d better not speak easily.
"I just happened to have something to ask you. I want to learn some knowledge about business management recently. Should I go to school for free or go to night school?"
Chen Lu and Lin Xinran said in unison: "Night school!"
Then, they both said that night school courses are more suitable for those who already have a job, and are more practical, and if they encounter specific problems, they can ask the teacher for help. In the beginning of the school, more emphasis is placed on basic theories, with relatively little involvement in practical operations.
Chen Jin felt that their analysis made sense, so he casually asked, "Are you planning to enroll in night school too?"
Then the two of them shook their heads and said, "No, we are both taking night school classes now."
Chen Jin was at a loss, "No, how did you do it?" Going to school, dealing with institutional affairs, and going to night school...
Okay, okay, she’s the only one who’s free, right?
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