Chapter 59
Liu Si's father: "A handshake is the highest form of etiquette, and it's not limited to men or women. Besides, I wiped my hands before shaking hands."
Liu Si's father, who had never met the people at the firm, could name them all after listening to Liu Si talk about them every day. He thought about it for a long time at home and decided to use the greetings he had learned while working on construction sites to give everyone a warm welcome. He had carefully studied every detail.
Liu Si stamped her foot: "I'm not talking about Sister Yoda, I'm saying you seem to have forgotten someone, isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
Liu Si's father: "Oh, you mean the corn stalk?"
Liu Si was puzzled for a moment, then, thinking of Wang Mian's height, she realized what he meant and said with a laugh, "Dad, why did you give him such a weird nickname the first time you met him?"
Liu Si's father clicked his tongue, wanting to say something, but then held back. Judging from their expressions, the unspoken understanding hadn't been established yet, and saying too much now might just be helping them out. He simply replied with a perfunctory, "Oh."
After saying that, he went to Liu Si's office, looked at the environment in front of him, and said with a satisfied smile, "Your current job is really good."
Liu Si asked curiously, "Didn't you say before that you didn't want me to do this job?" Because her father always felt that it was too hard for girls to do this job, Liu Si didn't talk much about her work at home after she switched to design.
If the firm hadn't happened to need a reliable construction team, Liu Si wouldn't have recommended her father.
Liu Si's father sat in the office chair and tried it out. Not bad, it can even rotate.
Seeing Liu Si's bewildered look, he said, "The situation is different now. In the past, if the men worked for a few years and could build walls, they could become master craftsmen, while the women could only be laborers. They worked from morning till night, but only received half the wages."
"I raised you with this, how could I bear to let you suffer like this?"
He then jumped up and down on the spot. Hey, this chair is pretty sturdy, not bad.
"Now it's great, you can work as a designer and get paid the same for both men and women. You should cherish this opportunity and learn and work hard."
Liu Si nodded: "I know. But your first project at the firm is Wang Mian's, so you should treat him better out of respect."
"Hiss." Liu Si's father watched as his daughter talked a lot with him, then circled back to someone she didn't want to talk about. He frowned and gritted his teeth as he replied, "I know."
Although Liu Si's father had never met Wang Mian before, he knew about him long before he knew Shi Xing and You Da. The person his daughter talked about every day was right in front of him; he was an experienced man, so how could he not understand what was going on?
Sigh, daughters grow up and leave home.
I leaned back weakly, and hey, it just happened to support my neck.
Zhou Ying is leaving.
Yoda was shocked when he heard the news. Just yesterday, Zhou Liu had told him that he wanted to increase the renovation budget again. With the hard furnishings finished, the soft furnishings were constantly being upgraded with each additional budget. The cabinet door materials went from OSB to Egger board, and now they've been upgraded to solid wood.
If it weren't for Zhou Ying's graduation date approaching, Yoda estimated that Zhou Liu could have continued saving money to upgrade. After all, there are many types of solid wood planks: red cherry, black walnut, ash, and teak.
Yoda is now quite adept at handling clients like him who constantly change their demands. As long as the client is willing to increase the budget, Yoda guarantees to provide the best design within that budget range.
Yoda also joked with Zhou Liu, saying that he had really gone all out and was risking everything. If Zhou Ying continued to pursue her doctorate, the house she ended up decorating might even have to be gilded.
Originally, I was thinking that after Zhou Liu and Zhou Ying talked things out, they would naturally fall in love and get married. But when graduation time came, Zhou Ying actually decided to go back to her hometown.
This decision came too suddenly. Yoda hadn't expected it at all. After all, with Zhou Ying's grades, finding a good job here wouldn't have been a problem at all. Zhou Ying had clearly said that she had worked so hard to get into university, why would she want to go back to that small county town?
Zhou Ying was leaving, and in the end, she only made an appointment with Lin Xiu and Youda.
Lin Xiu looked at Zhou Ying, who was silent with her head down, and was equally puzzled. She said to Zhou Ying, "Why do you suddenly want to leave? If you feel pressured by the competition in big cities and want to go back, then I still advise you to stay. After all, with your education and grades, you will definitely have a better chance of developing your career in a big city. Greater competition means that you can learn more and grow faster, whether you are forced to or not."
Afraid of offending anyone, she carefully said, "If you feel pressured at the beginning, I can help you. It would be a shame to go back now that you've finally gotten through this."
Zhou Ying took a deep breath and said with determination, "Actually, I've been thinking about this for a long time."
She looked up at Lin Xiu and Youda, and seeing their equally concerned faces, Zhou Ying was deeply moved by their genuine worry for her future. But she had her own path to walk, even if it seemed to run counter to the optimal solution.
Zhou Ying said to Lin Xiu, "Sister Lin Xiu, I still remember that the first cup of coffee I had here was with you."
Zhou Ying smiled as she thought of that time. At first glance, looking at the price list, she thought it was the price for a whole pot, and even told Lin Xiu that one pot would be enough for the two of them. But when the coffee arrived, Zhou Ying realized it was only a small cup. She could only console herself that the cost of living in a big city was high, so it was okay if the coffee was a little more expensive.
But after drinking it, Zhou Ying almost couldn't help but spit it out. She had drunk coffee in high school, but it tasted completely different. Considering the price of this small cup, Zhou Ying finally swallowed it back down.
Just treat it like taking medicine.
Later, Zhou Ying learned that the authentic coffee was the bitter kind, and what she had been drinking before was just the cheapest instant coffee.
As Lin Xiu listened to Zhou Ying's recollections, she only remembered Zhou Ying's innocent and straightforward manner at the time, never imagining that she had so many thoughts in her heart.
Zhou Ying smiled, then fell silent. After a few seconds of silence, she continued, "Although it seems to others that it's not easy to leave a backward mountain village and come to a big city to study, I've always felt very happy. Because I've always encountered kindness from others. It's just that even though I've been in this city for so long, I still can't just stay here."
The aroma of coffee wafted to her nose, and Zhou Ying continued, "Even though I'm in the same city as you, drinking the same coffee, every time I encounter something new, I subconsciously compare it to my hometown."
"The air in the city doesn't have the fragrance of wheat seedlings, and the high-end shopping malls aren't as lively and bustling as the market days in the town. When I first arrived, I tried my best to keep up with everyone's pace, and I thought I was gradually adapting to the more developed city and the more outstanding people around me."
Zhou Ying felt a little embarrassed as she spoke. She used to feel ashamed because she came from the countryside and didn't understand many things. But as the years went by and she matured, she realized more and more clearly that she missed everything about her hometown.
“Staying here might lead to a better future. But going back makes me feel more at ease. What I’ve learned and experienced here, even if it has only a tiny chance to make my hometown better, would make me feel that I haven’t let down everyone who has shown me kindness along the way.”
Yoda and Lin Xiu exchanged a glance, neither of them having considered that the reason.
Lin Xiu wasn't a local either, although she had been working and settling in the city, but she could understand Zhou Ying's situation. "Since you have your own ideas, we all wish you well."
Yoda opened her mouth, wanting to ask: "What about Zhou Liu? He prepared so much for you, do you know that?"
However, seeing Zhou Ying glance at him and then turn away, Yoda instantly understood that Zhou Ying knew.
Lin Xiu needed more rest due to her pregnancy, so she went home first. On the way home, Yoda couldn't help but ask Zhou Ying, "Does Zhou Liu know you're leaving?"
Yoda wondered how Zhou Liu, full of hope for the future, would react upon hearing the news. He still thought, "What if... what if Zhou Liu could get Zhou Ying to stay?"
Zhou Ying looked out the car window at the bustling traffic and flashing neon lights. Every day she spent studying here, she never truly felt like she belonged to this city. But now that she had made the decision to leave, she was able to experience the city's developed beauty as a tourist.
Hearing Yoda's words, Zhou Ying did not reply, but changed the subject: "Sister Yoda, you grew up in this city. This is the city you have lived in since you were a child. Your friends and family are all in this city. It is only natural that you study and work here."
"But for me, leaving my hometown to study elsewhere meant learning to integrate into a new place little by little with every step I took. When I first arrived, I dragged my suitcase, spoke broken Mandarin, and learned how to take the subway. For me, this was a place where I had to relearn even the most basic rules of life."
"Do you remember when you went to teach in a rural area? Every year, different teachers would come to our school, which was what I looked forward to the most. For me at that time, being able to get news about the outside world from different teachers was enough to make up for the regret of living in a closed world."
Yoda couldn't remember what she did while teaching in the rural area; that period felt like a very short part of her life. The unexpected events that followed were what truly impacted her life.
Looking back now, did that short period of teaching in rural areas really help them?
Zhou Ying didn't need to answer now. She continued, "It's not just you. My teacher who has been privately supporting me, and so many other people I've met, have all done their best to help me when they learned that the place I came from is poor and underdeveloped."
The kind person I met on the subway, even though he was in a hurry to get to work himself, saw Zhou Ying dragging her big bags and looking helpless, and patiently helped her buy a ticket to school, even though she was not very fluent in Mandarin. He kept reminding her to transfer at her next stop.
The boss Zhou Ying met during her first part-time job in college not only provided her with lunch, which wasn't normally included, but also always found various reasons to give her extra pay.
There are so many more, even those who helped thought it was just a small act and didn't think much of it. But Zhou Ying can still remember the face of every single one of them.
Zhou Ying said, "Because of my impoverished background, I was able to receive this help. Even now that I am able to do without it, I can't take the kindness I received for granted. So, I want to go back, so that I can help those who need me in the same way that others helped me in the past."
Yoda suddenly realized that his previous idea of wanting Zhou Ying to give up and leave because of Zhou Liu had been too self-centered. He had merely been an observer hoping for a happy ending without truly understanding Zhou Ying's inner thoughts.
"sorry."
Actually, I...
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