Chapter 59: Cosmic Latte (11) In Shenzhen, progress is too slow...
After the team building, Lin Xia's team entered their busiest period of the year. For nearly two months, they toiled tirelessly, holding endless brainstorming sessions, all in a desperate effort to launch the holiday product before Christmas. In addition to their basic tasks, they also collaborated with the technical department on functional development, worked with operations on promotional materials, monitored backend data constantly, reviewed conversion rates and subscriptions, and made timely adjustments. They also had to keep an eye on competitors' every move, so if they launched a hit product, they would have to devise a countermeasure overnight.
Although MT entered the market early and has a deep-rooted reputation in the field, the market is constantly changing, and in the internet sector, new trends appear every few days. Everything is moving towards rapid development, and those who are slow to move will be completely left behind. In recent years, their company has been plagued by a competitor. Although it is a latecomer, it has gained the upper hand. Backed by the parent company's popular social media presence, its marketing momentum is strong, and it has quickly captured the market. It frequently launches hit products, catching them off guard.
During this Christmas period, the other party happened to launch a new holiday product and hired many self-media bloggers to promote it. Almost overnight, it became a hot search on the platform. Regardless of whether it is easy to use or good-looking, the most important thing is that it is trendy. Everyone from celebrities to internet celebrities is using it, so users also follow suit to avoid missing out on the hot spot.
MT held an emergency meeting early in the morning to discuss countermeasures, analyze competitor data, and require the technical and design departments to cooperate to launch similar counterfeit products as soon as possible.
Lin Xia felt bored, really bored.
After being busy for dozens of days, I have no idea what the meaning of my output is.
Until that evening, all the work at hand finally came to a temporary end. After get off work, Lin Xia walked out of the company building with a dizzy head and an empty stomach. She had sat in front of the computer for more than ten hours in a row. Now, everything she saw was full of stars.
While thinking about dinner options and walking towards the subway, she suddenly saw a familiar car parked on the side of the road and stopped.
White Cayenne, it’s He Chuan again.
Lin Xia originally wanted to pass by without leaving a trace, but at the same time the people in the car also saw her. The car slowly slid forward in front of her, and the passenger door window lowered, revealing He Chuan's face.
"Xia Xia."
Lin Xia had no choice but to greet him: "What a coincidence, you just got off work?"
"No," He Chuan said slowly, "I'm waiting for you."
Lin Xia was stunned for a moment. Indeed, they had not added any contact information so far. If he wanted to find her, he could probably only use such a primitive method and wait downstairs.
"What do you want from me?" she asked softly.
He Chuan didn't answer, but just said: "Get in the car first, I'll take you home."
Lin Xia looked at the open car door in front of her, hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to sit in. She really didn't have the strength to walk to the subway station. Anyway, he wouldn't sell her out.
It was already past the evening rush hour and traffic was smooth, but unfortunately they were unlucky and several traffic lights were red in a row, forcing them to stop again and again.
In the quiet carriage, He Chuan was the first to break the silence with a simple greeting:
"Are you busy lately?"
"Well, it's the end of the year, you guys too, right?"
"Yes, I went to Finland on a business trip two weeks ago and just got back."
He seemed to be answering, but also seemed to be telling her where he was going.
"Finland? Northern Europe. It must be very cold there right now." Lin Xia sighed. "Unlike Shenzhen, where it's always summer."
It had been a little cooler for a few days recently, and everyone thought winter was coming. However, since yesterday, the temperature has soared back to over 30 degrees, and it's been scorching hot again.
"Actually, Northern Europe and Northeast China are similar, whether it's the climate, environment, or eating habits." He Chuan smiled, "But it's really... too hot here in Shenzhen."
The two of them had a tacit understanding about this. It was the helplessness of northerners towards the southern climate, and there was no need to explain more.
"I received the chocolate you gave me on Halloween, thank you——"
Lin Xia was about to thank him when she suddenly remembered that he didn't allow her to be so polite last time. The words were stuck on the tip of her tongue.
"It's okay," He Chuan said softly, "as long as you like it."
After a pause, he asked again:
"Before...Did Ji Min come to you?"
Lin Xia's heart skipped a beat, but she remained calm and said, "It wasn't really a search. We just happened to meet and chatted for a few minutes."
"What did she say to you?"
"Nothing much. Oh, she said her son is very cute."
Hearing the perfunctory tone in Lin Xia's voice, He Chuan couldn't help but tighten his grip on the steering wheel.
Not long ago, he had been meeting with Ji Min for work, and she had let something slip. She had confidently claimed she was being kind and trying to help them, but he was still furious. Because of his personality, he rarely made close friends, but he was also polite and considerate, never making enemies. This time, he had a rare falling out with Ji Min.
Ji Min had always been a hot-tempered and self-centered person. He was afraid that Lin Xia would be bullied, and he was also afraid that Ji Min would say nonsense in front of her. There were many things, bad things, that he didn't want her to know. The past was the past, and many things were fundamentally unsolvable. He should just face it himself and not add to her troubles.
The distance from the company to Lin Xia’s apartment is not far, so even if they encounter a red light, they will reach their destination quickly.
After parking the car, Lin Xia was just unbuckling her seat belt when she heard He Chuan say to her:
"Xia Xia, are you free this Sunday? I want to meet you that day."
Lin Xia was stunned: "Why?"
"Nothing," He Chuan smiled faintly, "I will come here to wait for you when the time comes. Any time is fine. I will wait forever."
Faced with his unprecedented and irresistible strength, Lin Xia was at a loss for a moment, leaving only an ambiguous answer:
"We'll see when the time comes. I'm very busy recently and may not have time."
.
Lin Xia returned home still pondering the matter. Why did He Chuan suddenly want to ask her out, and why on Sunday? Was Sunday a special day?
She pulled out her phone and checked the calendar. Sunday was the 22nd, which wasn't the anniversary of the end of 2012, but it was still a few days before Christmas, so it was a bit of a no-no. Or was she overthinking it, and was it just because it was the weekend and he was free?
So should she meet him or not?
Struggling with this, she ate a quick meal, took a shower, and then tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. She couldn't help but get up and look for the newly bought melatonin.
The melatonin was in the medicine box, which was in the cabinet under the desk. She bent down to take the medicine box out and suddenly saw the calendar on the desk. As if possessed, she put the medicine box down and reached for the calendar to look at it.
The calendar is a very popular cultural and creative product of a certain museum. Each page contains a collection of cultural relics and related poems. She bought it casually at the beginning of the year and put it on the table at home, but she completely forgot to tear it off every day. Now it is the end of the year, and the date on the calendar is still April.
She flipped through the pages for a long time until she finally came to December 22nd, where it read:
The weather and human affairs are urging each other, and spring is coming with the winter solstice.
It turned out that day was the winter solstice.
Being in this city with long summer and no winter, you will really forget the change of seasons.
Lin Xia suddenly remembered a proverb she'd mentioned to He Chuan long ago: "Rainy Mid-Autumn, sunny Winter Solstice." That was the summer in Xiaolin Farm, when cosmos flowers were in full bloom. She was sixteen, he was nineteen, and they'd agreed to test the truth of this proverb together. It had indeed rained that Mid-Autumn Festival, but in all those years, they'd never had the chance to spend a winter solstice together. It felt like a curse.
Lin Xia had a vague premonition that He Chuan must have something important to say to her that day, about their relationship and their future.
That is the deadline for judgment, and the final outcome of life and death will be revealed.
In an instant, Lin Xia felt panic. She was not ready yet, and there were many things she had not figured out. The last confrontation in the Northeastern restaurant had drained all her courage, and she did not have the energy to review the past with him again.
It was like the final exam was imminent and she hadn't even reviewed or memorized the material yet, so the disastrous result was a foregone conclusion. It felt terrible.
Should she reject him? What excuse should she use to refuse him? How should she tell him? Should she just cancel the appointment to get back at him? She suddenly regretted not adding his contact information. She had thought it would be a good thing for both of them, but now it seemed like a mistake. In modern society, doing so wouldn't even make sense.
Lin Xia spent the whole week in fear and anxiety, but unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better on Friday.
During lunch break, Lin Xia received a message from Song Ci:
[I'm planning to take my annual leave. Are you free? I'd like to visit you in Shenzhen this weekend.]
Lin Xia happily replied:
[Yes, yes, yes, come on over! We're not busy lately, and I still have two days of annual leave, so it's perfect for us to take some time off together. I'll go wherever you want!]
[...Why are you so excited? ]
【I miss you. 】
Lin Xia felt a little embarrassed, but it was true. She had not been back to Wangchun since she came to Shenzhen, and they had not seen each other for more than three years.
After discussing the travel plan with Song Ci, and settling the matter, Lin Xia breathed a sigh of relief.
This doesn't mean she wants to desert him or stand him up. It happened suddenly, so of course she has to prioritize spending time with her friends!
After much deliberation, Lin Xia wrote a note and put it in an envelope. When she got off work, she went to the 19th floor and handed it to the receptionist at the law firm, asking her to pass it on to He Chuan. The note simply said that she was going out with a friend and asked him not to wait for her.
There is no signature and no mention of rescheduling.
Then she walked away under the receptionist's puzzled gaze.
She suddenly felt that this retro way of communication through text was also very good. At least everything had a trace and would not rely on illusory data. Once the software was closed and the data was cleared, all the past would disappear.
.......
Song Ci's flight arrived in Shenzhen at 8 pm on Saturday. Bao'an Airport is not far from Nanshan District. Following Lin Xia's instructions, Song Ci took the airport line and then transferred to another train. She arrived smoothly near Lin Xia's home. She will stay directly at Lin Xia's home for the next few days.
After Lin Xia received the message from Song Ci, she went downstairs to pick her up. When she arrived at the subway station, Song Ci was already waiting there.
She was wearing a very ordinary T-shirt and jeans, carrying a large black schoolbag, had short hair, and wore frameless glasses. She was looking down at her mobile phone. Her back was thin and frail, carrying a trace of the chill from the far north that had not yet dissipated.
The moment she saw Song Ci, Lin Xia felt a sense of trance, as if this was not Shenzhen, but Wangchun ten years ago, on a scorching summer day, when she was waiting for her at the school gate after school, and they were going home together to do their homework.
Although this scene never actually happened, it seemed to exist deeply in her memory for many years.
Lin Xia's nose felt sore, and she couldn't help but rush over and hug her tightly:
"I miss you so much!"
I miss you, my home, the Northeast, the old times, our youth that will never return, and the ideals and love of that innocent age.
After not seeing each other for three years, Song Ci was filled with emotion, but she still calmly patted Lin Xia's shoulder and signaled her to let go first:
"If you want to hold me, I can hold you later. Let's go eat first. I'm starving. There's no in-flight meal on this flight."
.
They had clay pot rice for dinner. They didn’t care whether it tasted good or not. Lin Xia and Song Ci kept chatting and had so much to say.
Lin Xia discovered that Song Ci had indeed changed very little, whether in her personality, hobbies, temper, or anything else. She bore no traces of time, her edges unworn by the mundane world, nor was she tainted by the mundane worldly affairs of life. She even continued to write poetry, just as she had at eighteen or nineteen, clinging to this hobby that the world didn't understand, one that had nothing to do with money or personal gain.
After all, online chatting and phone calls are separated by electronic screens, which are different from face-to-face contact. She was afraid that her emotional reliance on Song Ci was just wishful thinking. Fortunately, in this rapidly changing society, Song Ci was one of the few things that remained unchanged.
"Are you really praising me?" Song Ci was reserved. "It's just because the provincial capital's development has stagnated for several years, and my job is a leisurely one, suitable for retirement. It's nothing like Shenzhen, where things are changing so fast."
"Yeah, everything in Shenzhen happens too fast."
Lin Xia once saw a slogan posted at a subway station: In Shenzhen, slow progress is a form of regression.
There is some sarcasm in this, but it is also the truth.
"It's good to be like you, always calm and composed, unperturbed by changes, independent and sober."
"If you keep praising me, I'll become an immortal. Actually, I'm not that clear-headed and calm either."
When they said this, they had already returned to Lin Xia's house. Song Ci was squatting in front of the open suitcase on the floor of the living room with a very serious expression.
Lin Xia leaned against the door frame and saw that she had suddenly stopped packing her luggage. She couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"
Song Ci took a deep breath and looked up at her:
"I left in a hurry and forgot to bring my toiletry bag."
When she was in school, Song Ci was always calm in big matters but made many small mistakes. Perhaps it was because she was immersed in poetry. In her own world, she would often make trivial and ridiculous mistakes at critical moments, such as filling in the answer sheet incorrectly, forgetting to be on duty, which made the teacher love her deeply and criticize her harshly.
Even in such carelessness, she is exactly the same as before.
Lin Xia couldn't help laughing: "It's okay, I have a new one here, I'll give it to you."
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