Chapter 16 Uncontrollable Changes
Ning Yanzhao was still unsure if Jing Yiran was available this time. After dialing several times and hearing only a few beeps, she thought Jing Yiran hadn't returned yet and was about to give up. However, this time Jing Yiran finally answered the phone.
"Yan Zhao."
"Yiran, you finally have time to answer my call. Have you returned to M City?"
"Yeah, I just got back this morning. I've been so busy lately."
"Do you have time tomorrow night?"
"What's wrong?"
"Haven't we not seen each other for a long time? I'd like to have a meal with you and talk, and I have something very important to tell you in person."
"Okay, where shall we meet?"
"How about the shopping mall near my house? Didn't you say you wanted to check out the newly opened album store?"
"Okay, see you at the mall this afternoon."
Ning Yanzhao was referring to a new album store that recently opened in the mall near her rented apartment. As mentioned before, Jing Yiran is particularly interested in cooking. In addition, another thing Jing Yiran is interested in is music. She has been interested in music since she was a child and often collects various physical albums.
As mentioned before, Jing Yi is still Ning Yanzhao's good friend of many years. Although the two did not go to university in the same city after graduating from high school, they reunited in their hometown after graduating from university. Therefore, their relationship remains the same as it was back then, and has not been diluted by time at all.
"Still, I'm here!"
"Yan Zhao, it's been a long time."
After getting off work at 6 PM today, Ning Yanzhao and Jing Yiran met at the entrance of a shopping mall as agreed.
"How have you been lately? I heard you've been to many countries again. It's not easy to get in touch with you. How was your company-funded travel experience? By the way, one of my colleagues is always envious of your job."
"Don't even mention it. Your colleagues are only envious of me because they don't know me well. The mindset of traveling abroad for work is completely different from traveling alone. You have no idea. As for life, it's just so-so. To be honest, I feel a bit dazed every day."
"You've worked hard, so it's my treat today. I'll buy you any album you want, and I guarantee you'll get the photocard you want."
"Really? Then I'm going to have to empty your wallet."
"Of course it's true."
"Haha, just kidding. Physical stores are generally much more expensive. I only buy certain collector's editions that I can't find on online platforms, which would cost me a fortune. Most of the time, I just follow the crowd online to save on shipping costs. You don't need to spend money on me."
"I see. I had no idea there were so many intricacies involved in buying albums."
"It's okay, it's okay. If you don't know how, I'll teach you. Of course, I swear, I definitely don't mean to lead you astray. Let's not talk about this now. Let's go eat first. I'm starving after working all day."
"good."
The mall has a large area. In addition to the first, second and third floors which sell clothing, home furnishings and daily necessities, the basement and the upper floors are all food areas. Therefore, there are all kinds of restaurants in the mall, including many kinds of Chinese cuisine, not to mention other national cuisines. Both of them are people who usually have difficulty making choices.
After much deliberation, the two decided to eat Hunan cuisine, their hometown food. When the dishes they ordered arrived, Ning Yanzhao noticed that Jing Yiran's eyes were shining.
"You have no idea how long it's been since I've had Hunan cuisine. The food from my hometown is still the best. There seem to be many unfamiliar foods abroad, but there are still many that I can't get used to." After all the dishes were served, Jing Yiran picked up her chopsticks and started eating.
"Then eat more. It's a pity you weren't here yesterday, and I didn't know you would be able to meet me today."
"What's wrong?"
"My mom brought some kebabs to the city yesterday for a full-body checkup. If she knew you were coming back today, she would definitely agree to stay here for another day and then personally challenge you to a cooking contest. We'll go to the apartment I'm renting now. I bought a lot of kitchen utensils, but since you're all not here, I'm usually too lazy to take them out."
"Haha, kitchen utensils still get dusty very easily here."
"You don't understand me. I'm too lazy to cook for myself."
“It’s okay, there will be other opportunities in the future. I’ll take my annual leave next month. When you take your leave, we can go to the countryside to visit your uncle and aunt together.”
“Okay, my mom will be very happy to welcome you.”
"..."
The two chatted and ate their meal happily.
"Oh, it's raining." After finishing her meal, Ning Yanzhao heard the sound of rain and looked out the window to find that it was raining.
"Oh no, is it raining? Oh no, I didn't bring an umbrella."
"It's okay, don't worry, I will make sure you get home safely and I won't let a single drop of rain fall on you."
"Hahaha, what kind of domineering CEO statement is this? I'm so stupid, I've laughed so many times today."
The two hadn't seen each other for months. During the meal, they talked about how annoying their boss was, what new dishes a restaurant had launched, and what the latest TV series starring celebrities were. Their topics not only kept drifting off into all sorts of random things, but it also seemed like they could talk forever. One topic would immediately lead to the next, and they could react to each other at any time.
That's what good friends are like. They can pick up on any topic you want to discuss, and they even have their own "language" to encrypt the conversation. No matter how long it goes on, they always have something to talk about.
"By the way, what did you want to talk to me about all those times before? That's probably the main reason you asked me to come out today, right? Sigh, I've been really busy before, and by the time I had time, you were busy too. It was hard for us to have a proper chat." Based on Jing Yiran's understanding of Ning Yanzhao, if she could keep doing something so persistently, then it must be something extraordinary.
"Yiran, do you believe in the possibility of people going back to the past?" The two were sitting on the third floor of the mall by the window, with a clear view of the outside world. Ning Yanzhao watched the rain hitting the window and winding down the glass until it disappeared, and asked this question.
"Going back in time? Is there really such a good thing?"
"If you could go back in time, would you?"
"If I could, I certainly would."
"If you could go back in time, what would be the one thing you would most like to change?"
When we were in school, we all thought that we would be free once we graduated. But what we didn't know was that for some people, graduation might be the last time we see each other in our lives.
Because Ning Yanzhao understands this principle, she has always cherished all the relationships around her. She cherishes family and friends. Her only regret is that she didn't have the courage to confess to An Nianyu back then, burying that unrequited love in her heart. But recently she has been regretting it, feeling sorry that she didn't do anything.
Even before Ning Yanzhao could actually accomplish anything in that dream, it was already over.
"If I could go back in time, what else would I do? Of course, I would memorize the lottery numbers before I go back. I can't stand this lousy job for even a day."
Jing Yiran majored in English in college, and after graduation, she worked in a small to medium-sized company as a foreign trade salesperson, which was a good fit for her major.
At first glance, Jing Yiran's job seemed to involve simply sitting in front of a computer, typing, sending emails to foreigners in English, and handling foreign trade matters.
Although the company actually assigned Jing Yiran to do all the work, including HR, operations, reception, and cleaning, this is a common practice in many companies in the current economic climate, and she seems to have no choice but to endure it. After all, she feels that changing jobs is too troublesome, and she can manage to do it even if she has to.
Besides, the only reason Jing has persisted in living this way all these years is that he can at least be guaranteed to receive his salary on time and have weekends off. He is also "the tallest among the short," because in M City, apart from public employees, 90% of the jobs only have one day off per week.
In recent months, Jing Yiran's boss has started to expand into more overseas business, so Jing Yiran, who has been moving around wherever needed, has started to be sent on various overseas business trips again. She feels that she is about to reach her limit. One day she will have to think of a way, preferably to win the lottery without pain, and then slap her resignation letter in her boss's face.
"Yes, that's indeed a good suggestion." Ning Yanzhao took a sip of lemonade, feeling that it was feasible.
"Then let me ask you this in return: if you could go back to the past, when would you go back to, and what would you want to change?"
"If it were me, I would want to go back to high school."
"Why? High school is so tough for three years. If it were me, I wouldn't want to go back."
Aside from her mother having noticed a slight hint that Ning Yanzhao had a crush on An Nianyu, Jing Yiran was actually unaware of it, as she had kept it well hidden. It seemed pointless to bring it up now, since everything was already set in stone.
"Yes, high school is really tough."
"Who understands the kind of salvation that comes from being in class or taking exams all day long, and then not understanding one exam paper before the next one arrives? Those topographic maps were also completely incomprehensible to me. I remember once I was so sleepy that I fell asleep, but the exam papers kept being passed from the desk in front of me without my knowledge. When I woke up, my whole head was covered in exam papers. My deskmate was also sleeping at the time, and she was even worse off, with circuit diagrams imprinted on her face."
"I know, you told me about it, I think it was the year of the academic test."
Before 2020, the province where M City is located still used the old college entrance examination model. Most schools started to specialize in science or humanities in the second semester of the first year of high school. Usually, physics, chemistry and biology or politics, history and geography were taught symbolically for one class per week.
Then, in the second semester of the second year of high school, there will be a province-wide unified academic test. As long as you pass this academic test smoothly, you can say goodbye to the materialistic life of politics and history during high school.
In the months of preparing for the academic tests, it seemed like we were studying nine subjects at the same time, just like in the first year of high school, which should have been manageable. However, because we had accumulated a lot of knowledge, it was not easy for most students. It was from that time that the state of being bombarded with test papers began and continued until the end of the college entrance examination.
By the way, do you remember a classmate named Xu Yongqing from our high school days?
"Of course I remember. Didn't you participate in the essay competition with her? I'm not as familiar with her as you are, and I haven't said more than a few words to her. The only thing that impressed me about her was her terrible father. Even the Chinese teacher was shocked at the time."
"Alas, it's a pity that she later..." Ning Yanzhao didn't know what Xu Yongqing's current state would be if she had really traveled back in time, so she said it with feigned regret.
"What's there to sigh about? Even though she had a terrible father, she turned out alright, didn't she? After the incident became public, her biological mother found her biological father, who was very rich."
"Really? So, did she have a car accident one weekend?"
"What car accident did she have? Weren't you the one in the car accident? You broke your leg and missed several months of school. You've forgotten something so serious?"
"What?"
Everything seemed to have undergone an uncontrollable change without Ning Yanzhao's knowledge.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
