During the same period
Shen Zhou opened the car door and stepped out of the strangely atmospheric car interior first, while Zhou Jingxing was a step behind and followed him out of the car.
Shen Zhou took a deep breath to clear his mind of those unusual emotions and asked Zhou Jingxing, "Are you going to work overtime this afternoon? I still have some work to do at the exhibition hall. Let's make an appointment later."
Zhou Jingxing walked around the front of the car and stood in front of him. "I don't have to work overtime this afternoon, so I'll go help you out. You can tell me about your exhibition of restored cultural relics."
Very well, Shen Zhou's refusal was immediately shut down, so he had no choice but to take him to the exhibition hall.
The exhibition hall is now very different from when Zhou Jingxing brought Zhang Jin here. The exquisite exhibits have been carefully stored and secured in boxes, and the display stands are scattered and almost all of them have been removed.
Shen Zhou didn't actually have much specific work to do today. He was the project manager, and his job was to supervise and manage the project and handle any emergencies that might occur.
Zhou Jingxing followed him into the office and listened to his explanation of his job before he suddenly realized, "Oh, it's just like the supervisors who are on duty during holidays, sitting in the office as a mascot."
The mascot, Chen Zhou, laughed uncontrollably upon hearing this description. He wasn't going to waste the afternoon; he poured himself and Zhou Jingxing coffee, and then the two sat on the sofa together, looking at information about the restored artifacts exhibition on their laptops.
The exhibition, themed "Tracing Back," features 108 restored artifacts, some based on original fragments and others fully restored according to historical records. Zhou Jingxing's main task was to restore a set of 12 Ding ware porcelain fragments.
After quickly browsing through the exhibition information, Zhou Jingxing couldn't help but ask Chen Zhou, "Why did you choose this theme? With your company's capabilities, exhibiting 108 complete cultural relics should be a piece of cake."
After thinking for a moment, Shen Zhou said, "Well-preserved cultural relics naturally have their value and artistic beauty, but when I was planning this, it suddenly occurred to me, do those broken and incomplete cultural relics have no value? No, every artifact bears the marks of time, especially the fragments. The process of restoring them is like having a dialogue with those years. The value of exhibiting these cultural relics lies in this, like providing visitors with a time tunnel, where you can feel the accumulated time and power."
Wow, that's so high-class!
Zhou Jingxing was bewildered. Although he was engaged in cultural relic restoration, it was true that he grew tired of his job. When restoring fragments, he could not feel the "precipitation of time and power," but only the strong resentment of laborers.
After saying this, Shen Zhou was a little embarrassed. "You are the expert in this field. I was just showing off my limited knowledge. I think Jing Xing, you should have a deeper understanding than I do."
Zhou Jingxing's expression changed repeatedly as he hesitated between making a big move or playing it safe and letting things slide.
Finally, he honestly told Shenzhou, "Actually, I didn't think that much about it. I chose this major because my college entrance exam score just happened to meet the cutoff, so I applied. Later, I followed my teachers' advice when I went to graduate school and got a job."
Shen Zhou paused for a moment, then laughed again. "Jingxing, I've told you before, what I admire most about you is that you don't pretend to be someone else just to please others."
Zhou Jingxing was a little embarrassed. He turned to the side and said, "Ah, actually I would like to explain things in detail like you did just now, but unfortunately I really can't."
Shen Zhou laughed and said, "If you were like me, who used to write almost 800 pieces of copy in a year, you could do it too." He then asked Zhou Jingxing, "But you probably don't dislike your current job, right? With your personality, if you disliked this industry, you would have changed your major in school, let alone quit your job."
Zhou Jingxing nodded. "Yeah, I feel very calm when I'm fixing things. You know, sometimes when the machine is running and making a lot of noise, my mind actually calms down. Every time I finish fixing something, I feel a sense of satisfaction, like, 'Ah, so this is what the complete version of this fragment looks like.'"
Shen Zhou looked at him intently, with an appreciation he himself didn't realize, "That's it then, you and your work are mutually reinforcing."
Zhou Jingxing immediately said, "No, no, no, only payday can be considered a two-way trip; the rest of the time I'm the one who has to pay out of pocket."
Shen Zhou burst into laughter. The two chatted and laughed, and time seemed to fly by. Soon it was five o'clock in the afternoon. As they packed up their things to leave, an uninvited guest arrived at the office.
The man approached the sunken ship with a smile on his face and said warmly, "Victor, you haven't left yet?"
"Kyle, I was just about to leave with my friends. What about you? What brings you here today?" Although Shen Zhou had a smile on his face, Zhou Jingxing keenly sensed that the smile was superficial. Although the two of them seemed to know each other well, Shen Zhou didn't seem to like this person very much.
The young man named Kyle didn't answer Chen Zhou's question. He seemed to only then notice Zhou Jingxing, exclaiming exaggeratedly, "Sorry! I didn't see you had any friends here. Did I disturb you?" He looked at Zhou Jingxing and asked, "May I ask who this gentleman is?"
A hint of impatience flashed in Chen Zhou's eyes. "My friend, Zhou Jingxing. Jingxing, this is my colleague Kyle."
Kyle smiled knowingly and said, "Oh, it's Professor Zhou. I've heard so much about you. You've become quite famous in our company lately—Victor's timely help expert." He extended his hand to Zhou Jingxing, "Professor Zhou, it's a pleasure to meet you."
This was the second time Zhou Jingxing had heard someone say this to him today, and he found both of them rather annoying.
Zhao Xin, that scumbag rival, goes without saying. Kyle is such a show-off, and Shen Zhou is clearly annoyed by him too. Zhou Jingxing's stance was firm: whoever Shen Zhou disliked was whoever he disliked. He glanced at Kyle's outstretched hand but didn't budge.
"Sorry, I have OCD."
Upon hearing this, Kyle froze for a moment, then withdrew his hand with an awkward smile.
Shen Zhou winked quickly at Zhou Jingxing, trying to smooth things over, "Jingxing often repairs cultural relics, and his hands often come into contact with medicine and such. Actually, he was afraid that shaking hands would be bad for the other person. Kyle, don't mind him."
Kyle's expression softened a bit, and he smiled, saying, "I understand, I was presumptuous."
Zhou Jingxing silently replied: "It is quite presumptuous."
Shen Zhou chatted with Kyle about work for a few minutes before Kyle left.
Watching Kyle's figure disappear at the end of the corridor, Chen Zhou asked Zhou Jingxing, "Why did you reject him so bluntly just now? He's a petty person, and he holds grudges."
Zhou Jingxing replied confidently, "I don't like him. Besides, you two don't get along, so as your 'good friend,' wouldn't it be a slap in your face if I were to be enthusiastic towards him?"
Ignoring the strange-sounding "good friend," Shen Zhou asked him, "How do you know we don't get along?"
"I can tell. Something seems off about how you two are interacting. And that person is so rude; he doesn't seem like a good person at all."
Chen Zhou's heart skipped a beat. "You can read a person's state? Is it that mysterious?"
Zhou Jingxing looked at him seriously and said, "When you smile genuinely," he pointed to the left corner of his mouth and continued, "you'll have a small dimple here, but not when you're faking a smile. I didn't see a dimple when you smiled at him just now."
!!
Really? For the first time, Shen Zhou realized that even after living for 31 years, he still didn't really understand his own body.
Zhou Jingxing continued, "When you were with me this afternoon, you had dimples when you smiled."
That feeling returned; the pull tab was pulled again, and bubbles rushed out in a frenzy. Chen Zhou could hear his heart pounding, as if it wanted to leap out with the surging bubbles.
He quickly turned away from Zhou Jingxing's focused gaze, grabbed his car keys and phone haphazardly, and said, "Let's go, let's go eat."
Zhou Jingxing couldn't help but laugh at his somewhat flustered appearance. "Okay, let's go."
It wasn't until they reached the parking lot that Chen Zhou felt he had returned to normal. That evening, they went to a Japanese restaurant. The private room was small but the ambiance was nice, and it wasn't crowded, so it was relatively quiet.
Zhou Jingxing overstepped his bounds and asked Shen Zhou about Kyle. Shen Zhou hesitated for a moment before telling him about the past conflict between them.
It turns out that Kyle was Shenzhou's colleague at the beginning of their careers. The two got along very well when they first started working, but since they joined the company at the same time, competition was inevitable, and comparisons were bound to happen. Unfortunately, Shenzhou was better than Kyle in every way, so the gap between them gradually widened in terms of their positions, and as friends, Kyle drifted further and further away from Shenzhou.
Until a year ago, Kyle hooked up with the company's vice president and willingly became his extramarital lover. In return, Kyle's promotion speed was like a rocket, and he is now almost on par with Shen Zhou in terms of position.
Although Shen Zhou disagreed with his choice, he didn't treat him coldly out of consideration for their time together. However, Kyle, feeling capable and well-connected, insisted on competing with Shen Zhou, repeatedly interfering in Shen Zhou's projects and deliberately sabotaging him time and again.
The friendship between Chen Zhou and his fellow students was quickly worn away, and the two were already at odds with each other.
After listening, Zhou Jingxing commented sharply: "Life is so boring, and you're just trying to scam people. In terms of ability, character, looks, and temperament, how can that Kyle compare to you? Trying to compete with you is just pure scamming." He shook his head and concluded, "He's just asking for trouble."
Chen Zhou laughed, his dimples clearly visible. "You're exaggerating. I'm not that good."
"You are the best in my heart, no matter where you are."
Such a direct approach was too much for Chen Zhou to handle. He lowered his head to drink water, pretending that he hadn't heard anything.
Zhou Jingxing knew when to stop. The manual said that you shouldn't use the straight shot too often in the early stages. He secretly counted on his fingers under the table. He thought that today's number of times shouldn't be too many.
The two ate and chatted, and before they knew it, it was past ten o'clock at night. Chen Zhou glanced at his phone and said to Zhou Jingxing, "Let's go, it's getting late."
Zhou Jingxing couldn't wait to stay with him. He reluctantly got up and answered "okay" with a heavy heart.
After paying the bill, Shen Zhou went to the restroom to wash his hands, while Zhou Jingxing waited in the corner next to the front desk. He took out his phone to ask Sun Qian how to invite Shen Zhou to the movies, when he caught a glimpse of a somewhat familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.
It's Zhao Xin.
Damn it! That scumbag is with another girl again!
etc!
The chance to expose this scumbag has arrived!
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