Chapter 63: Get rid of the class smell with one click
Leaving a draining and difficult job is like returning to the summer after your senior year of high school. The past, no matter how painful, is now behind you. The future is just around the corner, and everything is worth looking forward to. Everything has the potential to change.
Jiang Ranxu suggested that Meng Weishen savor his freedom. He had food to eat when hungry and a home to return to when it rained, so there was no need to rush to find a job. Meng Weishen also planned to free up half a month to complete the things he hadn't had time to do while working.
Jiang Ranxu thought he was going to get drunk in the bar streets of Shichahai or burn through the dusty 3D masterpieces in his game library. Instead, Meng Weishen quickly joined a group of hiking enthusiasts, bought a backpack, a jacket, hiking shoes, and other equipment, and went on three consecutive hikes within a week, his IP hopping back and forth between Beijing and Hebei.
Thus, Meng Weishen became his traveling frog. Whenever he ventured into the mountains, his connection would be cut off, and all his phone calls and text messages would be rendered useless. Once he found a signal again, he would report back to him with a mountain of photos.
During a break in his work, Jiang Ranxu clicked on each other's photos one by one. It was late autumn, the leaves were at their peak crimson, and a vast flame burned from the mountains into his eyes. However, this flame was cool and clear, bringing the uniquely fresh air of the mountains and forests beyond the screen.
He couldn't help but sigh: Meng Lirong and her dead husband were able to give birth to such a good child, their ancestors were so lucky.
On Saturday, Meng Weishen made another appointment with his friends to hike through the Baihua Mountain meadow area, and he set out early in the morning, fully armed. That night, when Jiang Ranxu returned home from the seminar, he found a dead traveling frog on the sofa.
Jiang Ranxu opened a bottle of vitamin drink for Meng Weishen. After he finished showering, he was still lying there, letting the dust from the ceiling fall into his eyes.
Jiang Ranxu had only a bath towel casually draped over his upper body. He wrapped his arms around Meng Weishen's legs and waist, squeezing onto the sofa, which was only as wide as a single bed. Water droplets dripped from the ends of his hair onto the tip of Meng Weishen's nose.
Meng Weishen wrinkled his nose, proving that he hadn't completely turned off the phone.
He used his fingertips to wipe away the water droplets on Meng Weishen's nose, but a few new water droplets fell on his cheek. He stroked Meng Weishen's ears and cheeks, which were burning. "Good boy, good boy, do you want me to take you to the bath?"
"No, I'll be there in a minute." Meng Weishen rubbed his palm, then rubbed his chest, "But I don't want to go downstairs, can you help me walk the dog?"
Jiang Ranxu was immediately frightened. "That's still not possible. ... What I mean is, Qin Shi Huang can play in the small courtyard, and the amount of exercise is enough."
Fortunately, their relationship was sublimated in the anti-fraud war. Meng Weishen is now attached to him, and the friction between the two some time ago has naturally disappeared - there is no need for quarrels.
Meng Weishen's mind was obviously in a vortex of chaos, and he didn't ask him any more questions.
Meng Weishen drank half a bottle of vitamin drink and finally came back to life. Jiang Ranxu then lured him to take a shower. After washing himself clean, Meng Weishen smelled delicious and was easy to hold. Jiang Ranxu even felt an itch in his throat and wanted to try a bite.
The prey, completely oblivious to the danger, allowed him to cling to her, catching up on last year's films in his embrace. The film's pace was incredibly slow, with long stretches of dialogue acting as a long, lingering lullaby.
"I remember climbing Mount Tai with my roommates to watch the sunrise in college. We'd spend the night wrapped in sleeping bags at the top, and still be full of energy the next day." Meng Weishen's eyes were blank. "My life seems to have been ruined by my previous job. I didn't achieve anything, and my energy was declining rapidly."
Jiang Ranxu stroked the man's damp hair. "You haven't lost any limbs, and you don't have a criminal record, so how can you say you're ruined? You still have a long life ahead of you. How can 30 be the same as 20? Although your energy has declined, you've become more mature."
"That's true. At least my former company had a good reputation, so it's prestigious. My mom can brag about it everywhere. Of course, it's still a far cry from being a civil servant."
"You don't live just for your mother."
"It's not all because of my mom. I feel the same way about myself. For a long time, I felt that if I lost the reputation of my previous company, my life would be a complete failure. After all, my life was already very monotonous. Apart from work and study, I hadn't experienced anything else."
"What are you talking about? Who would be so stubborn about your diploma and your work ID card?" Jiang Ranxu turned Meng Weishen's shoulders, looked into his eyes, and said seriously.
Meng Weishen said awkwardly: "Isn't this a bit too crude..."
Jiang Ranxu said, "You also rescued a lab dog, helped your mother defeat your unlucky uncle, and developed the most useful academic tools for me. I can come up with so many examples just by thinking about them. It shows that your life can be very beautiful even without work."
Meng Weishen stared at him blankly. This man was easy to comfort. He smiled, put his arms around his neck, and kissed the corner of his mouth: "Thank you. I don't want to think about this anymore. It's too complicated."
——
On sunny days, Meng Weishen rarely stays in bed.
While the other party was asleep, Jiang Ranxu wrapped himself in a mask and gloves, took the tools he had used to commit the crime, and sneaked into the courtyard on the first floor. After a difficult ideological struggle, he reached out and grabbed the defenseless Qin Shi Huang.
Qin Shi Huang was already familiar with his scent, and thought he had a different walking partner today, so he happily lifted his hand (gloved). Then he pressed his head down and received a baptism of pure water wipes, wiping his back and paws. His fur was shiny like a three-flowered otter.
The sponge bath was finally over. Jiang Ranxu took a few steps back, still breathing cautiously, wishing his nasal cavity could grow a filtration system to prevent dog hair and bacteria from entering his chest. Damn it! Back then, the psychiatric department had asked him to hold a trash can for exposure therapy, but he'd escaped. But he couldn't escape it. Today, it was his turn to beagle exposure therapy.
Jiang Ranxu took off his mask and gloves layer by layer and threw them into the trash can outside the unit door, then walked back to the corridor lightly.
Meng Weishen was already awake, washing up in the bathroom. Jiang Ranxu was thankful that Meng Weishen was the only place left in the world where he could find peace, a temporary escape from his tangled obsessive-compulsive symptoms. He hugged him from behind around the waist.
"If you don't have any other plans today, we can go walk the dog together." Jiang Ranxu buried his chin in the other's neck.
But Meng Weishen froze, his expression in the mirror as if he had seen a ghost. After a while, he hesitated and said, "I'm fully recovered, but my legs are a little sore. Actually, I can go for a walk alone."
It was clear that Meng Weishen had already noticed his strange behavior. Jiang Ranxu felt a little scared, but fortunately he didn't take him for a fool and started the dog exposure therapy in time.
Jiang Ranxu tried his best to cover it up and said, "I already promised you that we'd walk the dog together. I can't keep standing you up, so let's go together today."
Meng Weishen was still skeptical, but he could not resist his cordial invitation, so he specially took the Hermès strap he bought and went downstairs with him.
Perhaps because he'd prepared himself so thoroughly, the actual dog walk didn't feel as daunting as carrying a trash can. Firstly, he'd bathed Qin Shi Huang beforehand, so he was a clean little dog. Secondly, Qin Shi Huang was incredibly energetic, and he walked far ahead, exploring the path and maintaining a relatively safe distance from them.
Master Meng is a skilled dog walker, able to answer chat messages with one hand while walking the dog with the other. He may seem like he's being dragged around by the wind and rain, but in reality, he's as steady as a rock.
After Meng Weishen left, Ke Mi created a three-person group for him and Kuang Jia, named "Zeus Sisters." Two of the members had already left, and Ke Mi, the only one left, live-streamed the Zeus case's progress in the group daily.
According to reports from the fan page, Zeus heard his wife's voice in the reporting recording and almost smashed the projector in the conference room. He demanded that his wife be called to the company for a face-to-face confrontation.
Zeus probably thought his wife would consider their relationship and defend him by claiming the recording was fake. Instead, she frankly admitted to the emotional infidelity. A huge row ensued in the conference room, with the man calling her shameless and the woman accusing him of taking medication that made him lose consciousness in seconds. The whole company was buzzing with rumors that his friend had been cuckolded by Yang Wei.
Two days ago, the Compliance Department issued a new disciplinary notice, Lin Zhesi was dismissed from his post and transferred to the Economic Investigation Department for criminal investigation.
As for Mr. Zhuge, I heard that the chairman personally spoke out, trying to show some mercy to his old friend and save some face for the company. Old Zhuge knew when to step aside, took the blame and resigned, quickly fleeing across the ocean with his tail between his legs.
Meng Weishen lacked experience in relationships, and the drama of this incident was far beyond his comprehension. "Even with a child, they can still argue like this. The child is the most pitiful. Jesscia has only had coffee with you a few times privately. She wouldn't divorce you for me, would she?"
"She's long been fed up with the current state of her marriage. It doesn't matter whether I'm around or not. That's what marriage is like. After a while, you start to treat your partner like an enemy." Jiang Ranxu added, "Except you and me. Even if you ever treat me like an enemy, I'll still think of you until I die."
Playing the victim always worked. Meng Weishen forbade him to raise a hypothesis with zero probability, and leaned in to kiss him again. Jiang Ranxu had just pecked the other's lips, forgetting to secure his neck. Qin Shihuang took the initiative and nearly dragged the distracted Meng Weishen into the artificial stream.
Meng Weishen shouted anxiously: "Oh, by the way, I'm not submitting my resume anymore. I plan to join Mr. Kuang's company. Qin Shi Huang, stop right there!"
——
On the last weekend of every month, Meng Weishen would make a video call to Meng Lirong as usual.
Seeing that the other party had been anxious about this for half a week, Jiang Ranxu specially moved a chair outside the camera and accompanied him on the phone.
The background is a teacher's office, where Meng Lirong is marking a student's essay with a red pen. The fate of high school students' handwriting mirrors their own, confined to small squares.
Meng Weishen repeatedly adjusted the camera angle, looking for an opportunity to speak amidst the casual chatter:
"Mom, I quit my job this month."
Meng Lirong raised her head slightly from her composition book, and a few strands of her hair, which were covered with silver threads, fell down.
She took a sip of tea. "Your company is really too busy. You'll be thirty in two years. If you stay here for too long, I'm afraid you'll die suddenly. What about your next job? Do you have any ideas? Or should we go traveling?"
Meng Weishen was prepared for a fight, but he didn't expect things to be so calm. He still felt a little awkward: "Maybe I'll continue working with my former boss. She and her friend opened a software company."
"That's fine, it's up to you. Your dog isn't sick, is it? Why haven't I seen you posting any pictures on WeChat Moments?"
"It's not sick, it's just too noisy. The pictures I took would be ugly, so I won't post them on WeChat Moments. I'll send them to you privately later."
"How about you and Xiao Jiang? Are you getting along well?"
"...That's good. I won't post this on WeChat Moments anymore, lest my acquaintances back home see it and start complaining."
"There's no point in showing off your happiness to others. Just live your own life well."
Meng Lirong spread out her new composition book and drew a red wave of encouragement under the opening paragraph.
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