Chapter 26 A hot and stress-relieving date
Overtime, continuous overtime, overtime with day and night reversed.
Code, a mountain of code shit, a mountain of code shit inherited from my ancestors since 2014.
Meng Weishen was once a well-known problem-solving expert in a middle school. He had an active mind and his writing would skip simple steps as his brain allowed, thus saving a lot of time on writing basic formulas.
But in order to avoid unfair deductions of points in the exam room, he must write down the steps honestly, so he prefers the self-study time when he can practice questions freely, so that his thoughts and ink are synchronized and flow smoothly on the paper.
Unfortunately, writing code is not the same as solving the problem. There are too many tedious steps that cannot be skipped, and it also consumes additional communication costs.
The most terrifying thing was that at this massive internet company, the mountain of code left behind by predecessors dated back to the year he took his high school entrance exam. He was literally correcting the cumulative error books of countless poor students. Even if he became the King of Shit Catchers, he couldn't handle all that shit, so he had to avoid it whenever possible.
Meng Weishen wrote and paused, consuming countless cups of coffee, and endured long days and nights. Finally, three days before Lin Zhesi's ultimatum, he managed to produce a code that seemed to work.
He tilted his neck slightly, and the sounds of bones rubbing against each other and his heart beating came at the same time - the human body is such a sensitive instrument, it is one step faster than the pressure alarm of an electronic watch.
He wondered for no reason if he died at his workstation, would he also rot quietly like the dead rat, until his body gave off a foul stench and was cleared out.
This thought made his stomach contract and he almost vomited. So he made up his mind:
Let's test the bug tomorrow. Today he has to leave his workstation and give his brain and body a break.
If you stay in the office for too long, you will lose track of time.
It turns out it’s already March.
The wind still blew in my face, as dry as winter, but it was clearly showing signs of warming. Spring in the capital wasn't exactly a good time. Mornings required a thick coat, and even in the afternoon, even with only a single layer of clothing, it was still sweltering. Masks had to be welded to my face, otherwise the smog, dust, and pollen would overwhelm every alveolus.
Meng Weishen walked towards the outdoor smoking area.
Work pressure forced him to start craving nicotine again. However, Kuang Jia had already left the company, and he finished his first cigarette alone, his irritable thoughts still lingering on him.
Perhaps his smoking addiction was not severe enough. What really relaxed him was chatting with friends, not the cigarettes themselves.
In the intoxicating evening breeze, he unconsciously groped for the ring on his ring finger.
For no reason, Jiang Ranxu quietly penetrated into his mind.
He lit up a second cigarette, the smoke filling his nostrils, lungs, and brain before slowly disappearing with the evening breeze. But he couldn't shake the thought of this man.
Wisdom tooth extraction... blind date... one-night stand... marriage... so much has changed in the past quarter of this year. Yet, it seems nothing has changed. His life is still trapped between the company and his rented apartment, working overtime alone, eating garbage alone, walking the dog alone, and sleeping alone.
Could he only be trapped? Did he have to be trapped?
Meng Weishen didn't like meaningless entanglements. He took out his phone and started typing a message:
Hello, Dr. Jiang, are you still in the hospital? I'm off work now. Can I come see you?
Jiang Ranxu did not reply immediately, and Meng Weishen was unwilling to exit the chat box, so he looked through their chat history.
In the first two years, their conversations were mainly about treatment consultation, with very little small talk. During that time, he asked for the contact information for adopting experimental dogs, and Jiang Ranxu also chatted with him about pet raising issues.
The frequency of their chats increased significantly between the end of last year and the beginning of this year, consisting entirely of meaningless chatter and complaints about work. He couldn't pinpoint the exact day the chats started becoming more frequent.
But ever since he'd told her he was postponing the wedding due to overtime, Jiang Ranxu had stopped contacting him and wasn't very prompt with his messages. He probably didn't want to disturb him at work, which was quite considerate.
Meng Weishen waited a long time for a reply, and felt an itch in his heart, which was more unbearable than the addiction to cigarettes.
The lawyer's advice was wrong. He should pay his wife a monthly fee. At least the payment gave him the courage to send such nonsense:
I don't need to see the dentist, I just want to see you.
Jiang Ranxu replied promptly this time: "Where are you now? I'll come find you."
Meng Weishen sent a location to the other party: Come on, accompany me to relieve stress tonight.
Could it be that he was too bored? Meng Weishen always felt that the waiting time tonight was particularly long. When he couldn't help but want to call, Jiang Ranxu finally came.
Jiang Ranxu explained to him: "Sorry for the long wait. I just rushed over from home and there was a traffic jam on the way."
From a distance, Jiang Ranxu appeared to be dressed in only black. Only when they were close enough did Meng Weishen realize he was wearing quite elaborate attire, three layers of clothing, even adorned with a fine necklace. The metallic sheen shone in the night like snake scales.
"Why are you dressed like you're going on a blind date? Aren't you hot?"
Meng Weishen extended his curious tentacles and plucked at the man's coat. A hallucinatory aroma filled his nose, and he immediately felt dizzy. His instinct to avoid danger triggered, and he quickly retreated half a step.
But Jiang Ranxu grabbed him in time, and the cold temperature pierced the skin on his wrist, and he could no longer retreat.
"It's not hot, thank you for your concern." Jiang Ranxu's face was gloomy, and his gratitude did not seem to be sincere.
Meng Weishen blurted out: "But it might be very hot later, you have to keep taking off your clothes."
Jiang Ranxu finally smiled and said calmly, "Then take it off."
The aroma of hallucinogens lingered around him. Meng Weishen nodded uncontrollably: "Let's go, let's go to my house first."
——
Jiang Ranxu had originally wanted to praise Meng Weishen for his hygiene, and for knowing how to choose his own home. He took this opportunity to correct some straight men's misconceptions about sex positions.
But Meng Weishen asked him to wait downstairs and went upstairs alone. He vaguely realized that something was wrong.
Ten minutes later, a series of joyful dog barks pierced his eardrums. Then, a tricolor dog flew out from the corridor. It was indeed the famous Devil Beagle.
Jiang Ranxu was covered in hair and subconsciously wanted to hide, keeping at least five meters away from the dog.
He really can't stand dogs. They love picking up feces, rolling in the mud, and swiping their tongues at people. They're so dirty. Of course, he can't stand other furry animals (including primates). Most of them smell bad and excrete everywhere, except for cats, who are always licking their fur to clean themselves.
Messi Meng Weishen insisted on inviting him: "I'm going to walk the dog in school, do you want to come with me?"
"...Is this your way of relieving stress?"
"Yeah, exercising is very stress-relieving. That's why I told you not to wear too much, or you'll be too hot."
Jiang Ranxu really wanted to fabricate his own gender and put Meng Weishen in the little sweet potato emotional zone:
My blind date asked me out late at night. I dressed very elegantly and formally, but he wanted to take me to the playground to run 3,000 meters. Should I break up with him?
I guess Meng Weishen will suffer another round of online violence.
Forget it, there's nothing to argue with a straight guy. Jiang Ranxu said against his will: "Go, of course. I like animals very much. When I was a child, my family had many cats and dogs."
"Do you like dogs, too?"
"I like it very much. Dogs are man's best friend..."
Meng Weishen was very generous and immediately handed over the dog leash: "Then I'll lend you Qin Shi Huang to play with for a while."
Seeing that Qin Shi Huang was about to drool over his trouser legs, Jiang Ranxu almost lost his soul: "Then there's no need, just hold the hand."
"You can touch it, too. It loves being touched."
"No! ... I mean, it's late, let's go."
"Go to Tsinghua University. The northwest gate is very close to my home. Remember to give me your ID number and report to the guard in advance."
Jiang Ranxu nodded modestly. Just as he was about to make up a reason to trick people into holding hands, Meng Weishen disappeared in a flash.
Qin Shi Huang was attracted by a graceful electric pole and insisted on urinating on it to mark it, dragging Meng Weishen, who was holding the rope, half a mile away.
A flame of fire flickered in Jiang Ranxu's heart.
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