Chapter 158 (Two in One)
Not long after chatting, Hang Jiabai called Lin Shuyue and told her that he had already arrived at school.
After hanging up the phone, Lin Shuyue, accompanied by Feng Qinqin and He Wanqing, went to the organizer to register her information. On the way back, He Wanqing heard that Lin Shuyue was going to attend the sculpture exhibition with them tomorrow. Very happy.
"A Net of Pollack, his real name is Liu Chongsen, he graduated from Huabai Academy of Fine Arts. The poetry collection he wrote is very romantic, I fell in love with it at the first sight." He Wanqing said this with a blush on her face.
Her gentle temperament was also tinged with a hint of madness.
She was still introducing Lin Shuyue: "My favorite of his poetry collections is Birds and Fishes. Especially the line: 'Birds are circling in the sky, and they can't see me looking up in the water. Just like you are moving forward without stopping, and you can't see me staring at your tearful eyes.' It really touched my heart."
Lin Shuyue stopped this poem, and only wanted to say the following six points:······
She looked at Feng Qinqin, who also had a speechless expression on her face. She whispered, "Do you understand what this poem means?"
Feng Qinqin: "I never understood it!"
Lin Shuyue felt that she might be the legendary straight woman. When I read this poem called Birds and Fishes, I didn’t feel any romance, but just got goosebumps.
The same is true for Feng Qinqin. He Wanqing turned around and looked at the two of them like that, rolling her eyes: "Okay, okay, I won't tell you that I don't understand."
Feng Qinqin walked up to her and took her arm: "We really can't understand that romance, so don't even think about preaching to us. If you have the time, you might as well think about what we're going to eat tonight."
"Then let's have mutton hotpot. The mutton hotpot in the capital is the best!" said He Wanqing.
Lin Shuyue had also heard of the reputation of shabu-shabu in the north, and after hearing what He Wanqing said, she immediately agreed.
"Okay, okay, okay."
The matter was happily decided. Back in the room, Lin Shuyue lay on the bed to catch up on her sleep, while He Wanqing and Feng Qinqin took out books from the suitcases to read, neither of them making much noise.
When Lin Shuyue woke up, they were still asleep.
Lin Shuyue went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. When she came out, Feng Qinqin and He Wanqing had also gotten up. Lin Shuyue was looking at her phone on the bed. The two of them took turns to wash up. Then the three of them got fully armed and walked outside together.
The temperature at night was colder than in the morning. Lin Shuyue shivered when she came into contact with the cold air.
Feng Qinqin looked at her and smiled: "Is it very warm in the south? Look at your clothes, they are too thin. When you pass by the mall later, you must buy a pair of big cotton pants and a big cotton coat, otherwise you will get sick at night!"
Although Lin Shuyue took some body-strengthening pills, they couldn't keep her warm. After taking a few steps outside, she felt like she was going to have a runny nose.
"You must buy, buy, buy." Lin Shuyue nodded rapidly.
A gust of wind blew and Lin Shuyue could hardly stand. Feng Qinqin said: "In the north, when winter comes, there are strong winds. How cold the weather is depends on how strong the wind is."
Feng Qinqin and He Wanqing have become accustomed to this kind of weather. He Wanqing said: "It's still relatively good now. The wind doesn't blow. Before, when the wind blew, I would vomit everywhere. If you talk with a big mouth, you would get a mouthful of it."
The two men held Lin Shuyue's arms, one on each side, and the three of them walked towards the nearest mutton hotpot restaurant together.
"Is that a sandstorm?" As a southerner who was born and raised in two different worlds, this was the first time in Lin Shuyue's two lifetimes that she came to the north.
Everything she saw seemed new to her, be it the bare trees with only branches left, the narrow shop doors on either side of the road, or the small shops with words like "ice cream", "tobacco" and "alcohol" pasted on the windows.
She also took out her camera and took several pictures of the street scene.
Feng Qinqin and He Wanqing were both about twenty-four or twenty-five years old. They had a deep interest in taking pictures and took out their cameras to have Lin Shuyue take pictures of them.
After the filming was finished, the two of them saw it and screamed, followed by endless praises. The smile on Lin Shuyue's face never faded.
After chatting and laughing, we arrived at the mutton hotpot restaurant.
As soon as I lifted the thick curtain and walked in, the aroma of mutton wafted into my nose. Feng Qinqin took a deep breath and said, "This is the smell. I miss it so much."
The two were brought to a table by the waiter. Lin Shuyue had never eaten shabu-shabu before, so she gave the right to order food to Feng Qinqin and the other person.
The heating in the store is sufficient, so you won't feel cold even if you take off your coat and hat and put on a sweater.
While waiting for the food to be served, the topic among the three people gradually turned to their respective professions.
"I specialize in people's livelihood. I usually follow up on matters related to people's livelihood." Feng Qinqin said: "I was able to participate in the selection of the top ten young journalists this time because I wrote a report about food safety before."
Feng Qinqin has been in the industry for four or five years, and the reports she wrote have received mediocre responses. However, as soon as this report on food safety appeared, it attracted a lot of attention in their local area. Coincidentally, this time there was a selection meeting for the top ten young journalists, so their newspaper submitted her report. I got a reply soon after.
Although she knew that her chances of passing the evaluation were slim, Feng Qinqin was very happy to be able to travel to the capital at public expense and meet the youngest group of outstanding talents in their industry.
He Wanqing said: "I work in the political field, and usually report on the country's various policies that benefit the people. Last year, I wrote an article about left-behind children and volunteer teachers, and the response was good."
Lin Shuyue glanced at them and said, "Our newspaper doesn't have such strict requirements for coverage, but I usually report more legal cases. Occasionally, I also report entertainment news."
When Lin Shuyue said this, He Wanqing and Feng Qinqin were extremely envious: "Really? You can apply for any job opening in your newspaper? What about the salary? How is it?"
The newspaper where Feng Qinqin and He Wanqing worked had strict rules: they had to work in the area they were in, and reporting on other areas was considered digging up work. You will be scolded.
"Interns in our newspaper also receive a salary, but they have to give 10% to their supervisors. But after the internship period, when they become full-time employees, they don't have to share any more. As for reporting, they only need to write one article a week, and they can report whatever they want."
When Lin Shuyue said this, Feng Qinqin and He Wanqing were extremely envious.
He Wanqing said: "When Qinqin and I were doing internships, we didn't get paid, and we had to write our master's name on the reports we wrote, otherwise we couldn't get them published."
"Whether we can be converted to a regular employee depends on the master. In order to get converted, Wanqing and I gave the two people who led us a gift of 500 yuan. And they were the last batch to allow us to be converted." Talking about what happened back then, He Wanqing and Feng Qinqin were almost in tears.
"We are relatively lucky. We had a classmate who was kept blocked from completing her internship. In the end, she slept with the person who supervised her and was able to pass. Because of this, she developed depression and has now left the newspaper, recuperating at home. We went to see her once last year, and she was so thin that she was unrecognizable." Feng Qinqin sighed, and He Wanqing also sighed deeply.
As for what happened to that classmate, while they felt sad and angry for her, they also began to be thankful that their teacher only wanted money and nothing else.
Lin Shuyue had heard a lot about sexual harassment in the workplace. She sighed, "What about her master?"
Feng Qinqin and He Wanqing looked at each other and said with a wry smile, "He is still in the industry and has become a benchmark in the industry. My classmate is not the first and will not be the last. Many people in the industry know what kind of person he is. But there is nothing we can do about it. He has connections and background."
Relationships and background can overwhelm many, many things.
The mutton soup came up, and He Wanqing asked Lin Shuyue: "Can you drink?"
"meeting."
He Wanqing said, "Then bring some. I'll go get the wine. Qinqin, you take Shuyue to prepare the condiments."
"Okay. Let's go."
The condiment table was a few steps away from the bar. Feng Qinqin said to Lin Shuyue, "Wanqing and that girl used to have a good relationship."
She and He Wanqing became good friends only after graduation.
After Feng Qinqin said this, Lin Shuyue knew why He Wanqing wanted to drink after talking about this matter.
"I see."
Feng Qinqin patted Lin Shuyue's hand, and the two of them mixed the seasonings on the condiment table. There are only two kinds of shabu-shabu mutton, one is chive sauce, the other is Erba sauce.
"This is Laodudu Shabu-shabu. They only have these two kinds of sauces. The 28 sauce is 20% sesame paste and 80% peanut butter."
As Feng Qinqin spoke, she put a spoonful of Erba sauce and some chive sauce into the bowl. Lin Shuyue followed her example and made a bowl of sauce. When she came back, He Wanqing was already seated. There was a glass cup in front of everyone's bowl.
Looking at Lin Shuyue and Feng Qinqin from a distance, she started pouring wine.
Feng Qinqin held Lin Shuyue's hand and said, "You must tell me that you can't drink later. Don't be so stubborn."
"Okay." Lin Shuyue took a deep breath.
The two sat down and watched. Feng Qinqin placed the bowl of sauce that belonged to He Wanqing in front of her. Before she even put her hand back, He Wanqing raised her cup.
"Come on, Shu Yue, let's go for our acquaintance."
He Wanqing drank the full glass of white wine straight away.
Lin Shuyue: She is good at drinking beer, but she can’t drink white wine.
Feng Qinqin quickly grabbed a glass of wine to accompany her, and said to Lin Shuyue, "You don't have to drink. Drink as much as you can."
Lin Shuyue took a big sip with difficulty, put the cup down and looked at it, it was less than a third full.
Feng Qinqin had already finished her glass and picked up the chopsticks to put the meat into the copper pot.
"Qinqin, come, let's drink a toast to our friendship."
"Cheers, cheers, cheers." Feng Qinqin held the chopsticks in one hand and the cup in the other, clinked the cup with He Wanqing's, tilted her head back, and another glass of wine was finished.
Lin Shuyue:...
Lin Shuyue had heard that northerners, both men and women, were good at drinking, but she never expected that they could drink so much! At this moment, he had not even eaten a piece of meat but had already finished two glasses of wine.
A cup weighs two taels, and they drank four taels in just a short while.
Lin Shuyue really admires him.
The meat was ready in the copper pot, and she put some in everyone's bowl. The fresh lamb dipped in chive sauce and Erba sauce is fresh, fragrant and tender. Lin Shuyue couldn't help but eat a few more bites.
Before she even put down the mutton in her mouth, He Wanqing started toasting again. Lin Shuyue could only drink along. The three of them drank three kilograms of white wine in the end. Before the halfway point, Lin Shuyue, who drank so much white wine for the first time, fell down.
In the end, she didn't know how she got back to the hotel. She only knew that when she woke up, her head hurt a lot and she reeked of alcohol. He Wanqing and Feng Qinqin in the bed next to her were still sleeping soundly.
Lin Shuyue took out her cell phone and saw that it was only six o'clock.
She went to the bathroom to take a shower, took out a mint candy and put it in her mouth. Her head, which had been aching due to the hangover, finally felt a little clearer.
There were several missed calls on her mobile phone, all from Hang Jiabai. She already knew Hang Jiabai's schedule in advance, so she sent him a message. A short while later, the phone rang again, and Lin Shuyue hid in the bathroom to answer it.
Hang Jiabai had already run five kilometers and was changing his clothes: "Does your head still hurt? If so, take a nap. We can go out again in the afternoon."
"I took a shower and I have nothing to do now. I made an appointment with my roommates in the afternoon to go to a sculpture exhibition." Lin Shuyue said in a low voice, afraid to wake up Feng Qinqin and He Wanqing.
Most of the three pounds of wine last night went into their stomachs.
"Then I'll be there in a minute. It's cold in the morning, so you should wear more clothes."
"Okay." After hanging up the phone, Lin Shuyue dried her hair, put on her clothes and went downstairs.
Just as I got off the elevator, Hang Jiabai also arrived, holding a cup of hot soy milk in his hand: "I bought it on the way here, have a drink, it will warm your stomach."
The soy milk is warm when you drink it, just the right temperature for your mouth. The warmth flows from your mouth to your stomach, as if it has swept away all the fatigue after a hangover.
It was just past seven o'clock and the sky was already bright. There was no wind today and the sun was shining down from the sky, making everything golden.
Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai were waiting for the car in the sunshine, but the bright sunshine did not provide her with any warmth: "I finally understand why there is winter sunshine, which is like the light in the refrigerator, and only provides lighting and distinguishes day from night."
It was the first time that Hang Jiabai heard such a metaphor, and he thought it was very vivid: "Yes, there is not a single bit of warmth."
Hang Jiabai's words made Lin Shuyue look at him more. Hang Jiabai was puzzled: "Why are you looking at me?"
Lin Shuyue smiled and said, "I didn't expect that you would change your accent just after arriving in the capital."
Hang Jiabai laughed: "There are four people in our dormitory. Apart from me, the other three are from Northeast China. After hanging out with them for a night, plus I studied in the capital for four years, I might have caught their accent all of a sudden."
"There's a saying that goes, 'When there's a person from Northeast China in the dormitory, a month later, the whole dormitory will be full of people from Northeast China. '" Hang Jiabai went to college for four years, and when he returned home his accent was no longer pure.
At this point, Hang Jiabai recalled an interesting incident from college: "There was a guy named Ma Quan in our dormitory. He was from Guangxi. Two months after school started, his accent had completely changed. He called home to ask for living expenses, but his mother said he was a liar and refused to answer his calls."
"Hahahaha." Lin Shuyue laughed out loud, her voice as clear and sweet as a silver bell. Hang Jiabai also smiled, and his eyes fell on Lin Shuyue's lips again.
A gust of wind blew, and a dry leaf that had dried up at some unknown time was blown onto Lin Shuyue's head.
"Don't move. There are leaves above your head." Hang Jiabai's voice became low.
"Ah?" Lin Shuyue reached out to take it, but Hang Jiabai got there before her.
He was bent over, and his face suddenly appeared enlarged in front of Lin Shuyue. Being so close, their breathing began to intertwine, and the faint scent of grass on Hang Jiabai's body was in their noses.
Lin Shuyue was a little nervous and didn't dare to move.
"Okay." Being so close, Hang Jiabai's voice was even more magnetic, like a feather, tickling Lin Shuyue's heart.
A dead leaf was in Hang Jiabai's hand with distinct knuckles. He let go of his hand and the dead leaf was blown by the wind, not knowing where it would fly to.
Lin Shuyue wanted to speak, but a taxi stopped in front of them. Hang Jiabai opened the door and took Lin Shuyue to the back seat of the car: "Master, let's go to Lianggezhuang Market."
"Okay, you're ready." As the driver responded, the car sped towards Lianggezhuang Market.
Lianggezhuang Market is not far from the Haiyue Hotel where Lin Shuyue lives, and it only takes half an hour to get there by car.
Before getting off the bus, Lin Shuyue thought that the Lianggezhuang Market was a place like the vegetable market in Guangdong Province. But when she got off the bus and stood at the iron gate with the words "Lianggezhuang Market" written on it and looked inside, she realized how shallow she was.
Lianggezhuang Market covers a large area, with three rows in total. Each of the three rows has five huge warehouses, each 100 meters long and 40 meters wide. Each warehouse has a different name written on it.
For example, the one in the front is the fresh meat warehouse.
Hang Jiabai paid the fare and pulled Lin Shuyue inside.
"Lianggezhuang Market is the largest wholesale market besides Dongdan. Thirty percent of the goods sold in stores throughout the capital come from here."
“It’s really big.”
Hang Jiabai took Lin Shuyue through the fresh meat warehouse, passed the vegetable warehouse and the hardware warehouse, and finally arrived at the clothing warehouse in the third row.
"Yes, it is very big. We used to love buying clothes here. It is much cheaper than outside, the quality is also good, and they can be worn for a long time."
The two men pushed open the warehouse door and went in. Then they lifted the huge door curtain that every household in the north had to hang for insulation, and finally got inside. At first glance, all the shops are selling clothes.
There are many people selling clothes inside, and quite a few people buying clothes. There was a lot of noise inside, and if you listened carefully, you could hear the merchants bargaining with customers.
Lin Shuyue squeezed in the crowd. Half an hour later, she came out with her hair loose. The hairband on her head was squeezed off at some point.
Hang Jiabai protected him and had several marks on his feet.
The two of them stood at the less crowded place at the door. Lin Shuyue couldn't help laughing: "It's much harder to squeeze in here than the clothing market in Yangcheng."
"Yeah. There's a changing room over there, go and change into your thick clothes."
"Okay." Lin Shuyue went to the changing room. Before changing her clothes, she first used the infrared detector she bought from the system mall to scan the room. After confirming that there were no cameras here, she began to take off her clothes.
She changed into big cotton pants, fleece-lined thermal underwear, windproof and warm clothes and a pair of cotton boots, and she felt warm all over. She tied a scarf and a hat and came out again, feeling even hotter.
Hang Jiabai was holding two huge bags in his hands. There was also a set of Lin Shuyue's clothes in there.
"Let's go."
The two walked out together. This time, standing in the cold wind, Lin Shuyue didn't feel that cold anymore.
As usual, the two took a taxi back. Hang Jiabai asked Lin Shuyue about the sculpture exhibition she was going to see in the afternoon.
"It is said that it is run by a company called One Net Pollack. He Wanqing said that he is a student at Huabai Academy of Fine Arts. He majored in sculpture."
Hang Jiabai nodded thoughtfully: "I'll ask my senior brother to see if he will go."
Hang Jiabai did what he said and called his senior brother on his cell phone. After hearing the two of them end their conversation by agreeing on where to eat, Lin Shuyue asked, "Is this senior the one who took you to eat all over the capital?"
"Yes, that's him. His name is Zuo Xiangfeng. After graduating from school, he did not join the public security system. Instead, he became a novelist. He has published several suspense and mystery novels. The sales are good, and now a suspense film adapted from his novel is about to be released."
"Oh? So powerful?" Lin Shuyue said in surprise.
"He is really good. He was very good when he was in school. He didn't join the public security system. Instead, he became a novelist at home. Our teacher even went to his house to scold him." Hang Jiabai said: "If he joined the public security system, maybe China would have another detective."
Hang Jiabai's face was full of regret. Lin Shuyue was full of curiosity: "Did he encounter something that prevented him from going to the public security system?"
"Yes. He had a childhood sweetheart, but during their junior year, his girlfriend broke up with him, saying that he was cold and that all she could do with him was listen to him talk about what he had learned and what typical cases he had. It wasn't romantic at all."
"Not long after they broke up, his girlfriend disappeared. He tried every way to track her down and investigate. He found out that before breaking up with him, his girlfriend met a romantic writer online. The two of them often sent messages and called each other."
"Before his girlfriend disappeared, her best friend only knew that she had gone to meet the writer."
For some reason, Lin Shuyue felt a pang in her heart after hearing about the romantic writer. In an instant, she recalled the net of pollack that He Wanqing was so fascinated with.
"So he hasn't found a partner yet?"
"No." Hang Jiabai sighed: "I asked him why he didn't go to the Public Security Bureau, so that it would be easier to track down her whereabouts. He said that there are too many restrictions in the system, it is better to investigate freely outside. And if he investigates outside by himself, he can investigate as long as he wants."
Lin Shuyue nodded, and Hang Jiabai said, "My senior brother and I will go to see the sculpture exhibition this afternoon. See you at the sculpture exhibition then?"
"Okay." Lin Shuyue agreed. The car stopped at the entrance of Haiyue Hotel. Lin Shuyue opened the door and got out carrying her clothes. Hang Jiabai watched her enter the hotel before telling the driver to leave. ╩
When Lin Shuyue returned to the dormitory, Feng Qinqin and He Wanqing were both awake.
As soon as Lin Shuyue entered the room, Feng Qinqin thanked Lin Shuyue: "The wine we drank last night was a little fake. I felt like my head was about to explode when I woke up this morning. I ate a piece of the candy you left, and now I feel much better."
"Yes." He Wanqing echoed.
"I'm glad you're back. Let's go to the sculpture exhibition. The sooner we go, the sooner we can be back." Feng Qinqin couldn't wait to go out.
"Let's go." Lin Shuyue threw her things on the bed and followed them out without even entering the door.
They took the bus to the sculpture exhibition. It took them thirty minutes from getting on the bus to getting off, and another twenty minutes on foot before they reached their destination.
The sculpture exhibition hall was very grand and brightly lit. There were many people coming and going, most of them young people, and a few reporters.
As soon as she entered the door, Lin Shuyue was pulled by He Wanqing towards a sculpture placed at the innermost part.
It was a sculpture about 1.7 meters tall, with soft facial lines and a gentle expression. Its eyes were looking downward, as if there was complete gentleness contained in them. With long hair draped over her shoulders, her feminine figure is graceful, and she is dressed like an ancient Greek deity.
He Wanqing looked obsessed: "It's so beautiful! Shuyue, let me tell you, this is a famous work of Yi Net Pollack, and its name is Goddess in Dreams."
"She is so beautiful. Not only does she have a perfect figure, but her facial expressions are so vivid! After this sculpture, all the sculptures of A Net of Pollack are inferior."
"It was not until three years after this sculpture was completed that another sculpture appeared. That one is called Son of the Sun God. It is lifelike! Lifelike!"
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