According to online encyclopedias, people with the surname Ha are mainly distributed in the broader Central Plains region and parts of Central and Northwest China.
The same dialogue and scenario occurred eight years ago. After a unique English debate among freshmen at Jizhou University, Xue Jing noticed that the most eloquent speaker on the main debate team had a surname that was not very common in Jizhou: Ha.
At first glance, Xue Jing naturally assumed that the name Ha Yue probably originated from the Mongolian or Hui ethnic group. As for the Mongolian or Hui, they naturally mostly lived in autonomous regions that were a little far from the economic center.
However, in subsequent interactions, Ha Yue refuted Xue Jing's conjecture. During a casual conversation he deliberately arranged, Ha Yue told him that her home was also in Jicheng, but her father was engaged in the rosewood business at home and abroad for many years, and she had traveled all over the country with him since she was a child, so she did not have a distinct Jicheng accent.
With a large population in China and many origins of the surname Ha, Xue Jing had never had any reason to question where Ha Yue's hometown was. According to his common sense, this was something that there was absolutely no need to hide from the outside world.
But at this moment, when he heard the surname "Ha" again, he felt a sudden surge of psychic insight.
He suspected that Lou Zhiyun was in love with this local female college student, who was his ex-girlfriend who was a habitual liar.
The reason he ran into his ex-girlfriend here wasn't due to some coincidental, dramatic incident; he was forced into it, while Ha Yue's situation was inevitable.
This is the hometown where she was born and raised.
Half an hour later, Lou Zhiyun stormed out of the tower again, still furious. This time, the two maintenance workers, who had eaten and drunk their fill, didn't waste any more words with him. They simply dusted themselves off, got up, and went back into the fuselage to prepare for the maintenance.
Lou Zhiyun walked over to Xue Jing and muttered a few curses at the two of them. Seeing that Xue Jing's expression was indifferent and he didn't look at him, Lou Zhiyun realized it was pointless, so he shut his mouth, took out his phone, and fiddled with it on his lap.
Xue Jing's lips were pale, and he was experiencing some heart palpitations. He got up and walked around the base of the tower twice, but he still couldn't shake off the feelings that were growing wildly in his heart. So, when he reached the third lap, he silently turned back halfway.
He sat back down on the rock he had been using as a stool, took several deep breaths to prepare himself, and then pretended to be harmless as he struck up a conversation with Lou Zhiyun.
“It’s really rare for a young talent to be willing to work in the mountains. Didn’t you say this morning that your family didn’t agree with you working in another city? I guess it’s because you can’t solve your personal problems, right? The phenomenon of late marriage and late childbirth is quite serious now. Even the most outstanding people may end up single.”
"This is a social problem, definitely not a personal one."
Throughout the day, Xue Jing didn't initiate any conversation with Lou Zhiyun about his personal life. Upon hearing this, Lou Zhiyun was taken aback, and before he could feel offended, he questioned him with some certainty: "What did those two say to you just now? Did they say I can't find a partner? That my personal life is a huge problem?"
Xue Jing's lips parted slightly, his eyes darting around. He paused deliberately for a moment before shaking his head at him with a faint smile.
But those few seconds of his feigned pause gave Lou Zhiyun plenty of room to imagine. He quickly retorted loudly, "I knew it! They must have told you I couldn't add that girl on WeChat, right? Don't listen to them. That girl is busy with her business and doesn't have time to play on her phone. We started chatting the night before last, and I'm asking her out to the movies tonight."
"Why is she, a country girl who raises pigs at home, being so picky about me? Even if she graduated from Jida University, her education level is still lower than mine in terms of years of study! She'd be thrilled if we got together. My job is a secure one; I'll be back at the group company after three years of job rotation. You're from a first-tier city, you know how expensive housing is in Jiangcheng, right? It's a place where every inch of land is precious. I'll get a welfare apartment there!"
"Who didn't get a huge bargain from me?"
"If you hadn't come today, and I was busy showing you around the factory, we probably would have already been kissing by now."
"They have no idea what our business is about."
Lou Zhiyun spent the entire morning trying to impress Xue Jing, preoccupied with saving face. He didn't even know Xue Jing's full name, so he was completely unaware of Xue Jing's intentions in suddenly bringing up marriage and relationships. Feeling ashamed and indignant, he blurted out all his less-than-refined thoughts.
Xue Jing's reasonable guess in the morning was correct; Lou Zhiyun's astigmatism was indeed quite severe.
The moment Xue Jing mentioned "that woman," his kind expression turned sour. Not to mention that he then brought up the pig farm and the two deadly spots at Ji University. Before he even finished talking about kissing, Xue Jing's face was already as white as the snow on the summit of Mount Everest.
At this moment, a bit of gloomy light shone on the top of the snow-capped mountain, and Xue Jing's mental state began to show a miraculous effect of a final burst of energy before death.
In a short time, there were too many elements of his ex-girlfriend being exposed, and Xue Jing's CPU couldn't process them all.
The evidence is conclusive; the local woman Lou Zhiyun was pursuing was Ha Yue.
But the Ha Yue described by outsiders is not the Ha Yue he remembers. Or is there another possibility that he has never really known Ha Yue before?
More than just being deceived emotionally, Xue Jing never imagined that his former first love's deception had a chain reaction; the impact of being hit by a meteorite was nothing compared to this.
But amidst the chaos, priorities were still clear. What pierced Xue Jing's nerves the most was the impending "thing between us."
It's ridiculous. Until yesterday, he still thought that Ha Yue wanted to become one of the "two" tied together by the same rope.
With his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth, Xue Jing revealed a textbook-perfect smile, his gaze soft and approachable, even the smile lines at the corners of his lips were so delicate.
But appearances matter, and he didn't let that interfere with his work. He took out his phone with his right hand, swiped the screen, and opened WeChat, all the while using a soft, insincere tone to deceive his enemy: "Oh, really? With your excellent qualities, you must be in the bag. You mentioned the movie this afternoon, right? Which one? Will my interviewing you here interfere with your upcoming date?"
"It's my fault, I was oblivious."
Sure enough, Xue Jing was sent by the Cultural Bureau to conduct an exclusive interview with him. Lou Zhiyun squinted his eyes, as if he could already see on Xue Jing's face the scene of receiving flowers and love from all the villagers after his article was published.
For a moment, he even felt that Ha Yue might not be worthy of being sung about in the newspaper.
"It's alright, the anemometer is probably just stuck. They'll be down in an hour at most, then we'll go down the mountain together and let them figure it out themselves. You took a taxi here, right? There aren't any taxis going back, I'll give you a ride on my motorcycle!"
Lou Zhiyun was so happy that he forgot himself and soon began to proudly instruct Xue Jing on his "work".
"By the way, when will you finish writing that report? Can I take a look at it before it's published? It's not to hinder your writing, but mainly to check if what you wrote is true. Sometimes, you laymen can easily make mistakes when writing. I'll check it for you. Just make sure it doesn't turn into complete nonsense."
Words like "utter nonsense" and "amateur" failed to anger Xue Jing, because he was passionately rantting on the screen and didn't listen to Lou Zhiyun at all.
Xue Jing swore to God that he really didn't want to have dinner with Ha Yue, and then he took the opportunity to get back together with her.
If he wanted to, he could have readily agreed when Ha Yue sent him a WeChat message as early as Tuesday morning.
If he really wanted to win her over, he could easily pretend he couldn't refuse when Ha Yue asked him to lunch again on Tuesday afternoon.
He told the other party that his original intention in not changing his WeChat was simply to watch Ha Yue's response.
It's like a child passing by a still lake, picking up a small pebble and throwing it into the still water with all their might.
It's not a search for the spirit, just a natural reaction.
Mischievous children would never love a lake, yet the lake remains deathly still, defying the principles of mechanics.
Ha Yue unblocked him on WeChat, and the first thing she said to him the next morning was still as warm and familiar as a conscientious salesperson.
Are you free tonight? The barbecue restaurant opens at 6:30.
Even after being rejected, she casually asked him the next day, "Are you free at noon today? If you don't want barbecue, we can go to that congee hot pot place across from your hotel. It's very close. It won't take long."
Ha Yue might feel regret, embarrassment, or even anger at his rejection, letting her emotions run wild and causing her to do something crazy, and Xue Jing would magnanimously accept it all.
He believes that all the terrible reactions that humans can have are far better than the natural familiarity that Ha Yue has.
This at least proves that their past relationship also holds some weight in her heart.
But Ha Yue was like an emotionless meal-hunting machine, which made Xue Jing feel uncomfortable all over.
So last night, when Ha Yue asked him again if he was free the next day, he was nauseous, in extremely poor mental condition, and even had a migraine. He simply turned off his phone and pretended to be dead, without even replying to the message.
But he didn't have time to figure out whether he wanted to have dinner with Ha Yue. He desperately needed to erase the image of Ha Yue and Lou Zhiyun kissing from his mind, right now, immediately.
All professional ethics were thrown to the wind. Anyway, Ha Yue couldn't watch movies with Lou Zhiyun, and she absolutely couldn't date him, because the two of them were really not a good match.
That's right, that's how it is!
His promise to have dinner with Ha Yue was a good deed; he wanted to prevent yet another tragic love story from unfolding in this mortal world.
My fingers reacted faster than my brain, sending three messages in a minute.
"Sorry, I was in a meeting yesterday and was quite busy, so I didn't check my phone."
It's true that there was a meeting, but it's a lie that I didn't pay attention.
"I'm free tonight. Barbecue, hot pot, or anything else is fine with me. Whatever's convenient for you."
It's true that I suddenly had free time, but it's a lie to say I wanted to help others.
As for the last sentence, every word comes from the heart, even including the two question marks within it.
"Or do you have time right now? Would you like to find a place to sit down and have a coffee? It's on me, okay?"
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