Chapter 58
Lin Guiying, who shared the same dormitory with Jiang Jiang, was a very hardworking girl. Her father was over 60 years old, her mother was a deaf-mute woman, and she had several older brothers who were all married and looking after their own families. Her family was not well off, and local educational resources were very limited. There were only two or three teachers in the middle school where she studied. She had to drop out of school several times due to family reasons, and was admitted to university entirely relying on her own talent and hard work.
After entering university, Lin Guiying did not dare to slack off at all. In addition to attending school, she also found a temporary job as a dishwasher. The financial support her family could give her was minimal, and most of the time she had to rely on herself to maintain the basic daily expenses of a college student. Every weekend, she could be seen rushing to the library and off-campus restaurants. Jiang Jiang admired her character and got closer to her than others.
Early in the morning that day, Lin Guiying was going to the library. Jiang Jiang had just finished washing up, so Lin Guiying waited for her for a while, and the two went to the library together.
The two went to the school cafeteria together, bought breakfast and ate while walking.
Jiang Jiang bought a sesame seed bun for only 10.2 cents. This kind of sesame seed bun was baked in a special oven and tasted very crispy and fragrant. Lin Guiying bought a steamed bun, which was two cents cheaper than the sesame seed bun. She didn't buy it to save the two cents, but she just happened to want to eat a steamed bun today.
Capital University covers a very large area, and many of the buildings inside show traces of history. From the girls' dormitory to the library, you will pass Mingxin Lake, which is a famous attraction of their school. The lakeside is lush with vegetation and the scenery is beautiful. The breeze blows and stirs up waves on the water.
In the afternoon, Lin Guiying went to work part-time at a restaurant outside the school, while Jiang Jiang went to the school cafe.
This is usually a staff canteen, and coffee is served after mealtime. There are many people in the cafe in the afternoon, most of whom are young men and women in fashionable clothes. Romantic French songs are playing on the gramophone, and the air is filled with the aroma of coffee. All of this makes people feel very comfortable.
Jiang Jiang bought a cup of coffee and sat in the corner. She was not interested in coffee. She preferred tea to coffee. She came here simply because she liked the environment and atmosphere here and came here to draw drafts.
Jiang Jiang drew neat and smooth lines on the notebook with a pencil. With just a few strokes, she outlined the general pattern of a piece of clothing. Jiang Jiang wanted to make a set of clothes for Zhong Xing and Xie Jinyan respectively to thank them for their care during this period of time.
Although it is not very expensive, it is a token of her love.
But there is no sewing machine here, and if she wants to do every stitch by hand it will be very slow.
After drawing a few strokes, Jiang Jiang stopped moving. She picked up the coffee and took a sip. The mellow and bitter taste spread on the tip of her tongue. Jiang Jiang was not interested in drinking coffee, but her mother He Guijuan was quite keen on it, so Jiang Jiang also drank coffee several times when she was at home.
"Hello, classmate. I'm Xiao Yurun, a sophomore in the Department of Architecture."
A white envelope appeared on the table. Jiang Jiang raised her head and looked at the bright and cheerful boy in front of her. Out of courtesy, she nodded and said, "Hello, my name is Lin Jiang Jiang."
The man's actions attracted the attention of many people around him.
"Next Friday night, there will be a friendly league between the Department of Architecture and the Department of Physics at the school basketball stadium. Classmate Lin Jiangjiang, are you free on Friday?"
"Sorry Senior, I don't have time on Friday night."
Xiao Yurun did not look discouraged by Jiang Jiang's straightforward rejection. He smiled and said, "It's okay. Think about it again. I really hope to see you on the basketball court."
After Xiao Yurun left, Jiang Jiang casually put the letter he stuffed into the book.
In fact, this was the third love letter she had received this month.
Hongyunlai Hotel is one of the most famous high-end restaurants in the capital. It is located in the city center, with a large flow of traffic and people. The area is prosperous and guests are flocking in. A meal here will probably cost an average family all the expenses in a year. The layout of the private room is very magnificent. From the words of the people present, it is not difficult to infer that a business dinner is being held here, with toasts and a very lively atmosphere.
"Boss Zhong, shall we have a drink?"
The person who was speaking was a female leader from the other company. She had curly hair, a waist-hugging blue shirt tucked into a black skirt, a pair of black leather shoes, and simple and elegant makeup. She spoke in a bold and generous manner and was a very neat and decisive person.
Zhong Xing picked up the wine glass, clinked it politely, and then drank it all in one gulp.
Under the yellow light, the man was wearing a black suit, with dark red wine swaying in the glass, reflecting his flickering expression, and his rolling Adam's apple added a touch of sexiness.
Be dignified and self-respecting, know when to advance and when to retreat, be indifferent but still well-educated, and be humble but still dignified.
The female leader smiled and said, "Mr. Zhong Xing, after the dinner is over, I wonder if I would be honored to invite you for a cup of coffee?"
He smiled at her apologetically, "Sorry, I don't have time. I have to go to Capital University to see my sister later."
"Mr. Zhong Xing, do you have a younger sister?" The female leader was a little surprised. She had checked Zhong Xing's information and found that he was an only child. She had never heard that he had a younger sister.
Zhong Xing looked at the wine in the glass that had been refilled and smiled faintly, "Yes, I have a sister."
At noon on Sunday, when Jiang Jiang returned to the dormitory after lunch in the cafeteria, his roommates were all getting ready for a nap. Jiang Jiang was just about to rest when he heard someone knocking on the door.
She opened the door and saw a girl from the dormitory next to them. "The dormitory manager said someone is looking for you downstairs. Go check it out."
After Jiang Jiang thanked her, she tied up her loose hair with a hairband and went downstairs. As she walked, she wondered in her mind who was looking for her.
It was not until she saw the adult man under the banyan tree that she could not help but smile and called out, "Brother Zhong Xing."
Zhong Xing looked at the little girl in front of him, "Do you have anything to do this afternoon?"
"No."
"Come on, I'll take you to dinner."
"I have one more thing I want to ask you for help with."
"You go ahead." Zhong Xing put his hands in his pockets.
"I want to buy some fabric, but I'm new here and I'm not familiar with the shopping malls in the capital. I don't know where I can buy the right fabric."
"Cloth? What kind of cloth do you want to buy?"
"I want to make a suit, and it would be best if I could buy wool fabric." Wool fabric is a common type of suit. Suits are made of wool as the raw material. They have good toughness, gloss, drape, are wear-resistant, and have strong recovery properties.
"Let's go then." Zhong Xing said to her.
The driver was driving. Only after Zhong Xing sat down next to her did Jiang Jiang smell a faint smell of alcohol on him.
"Brother, have you been drinking?"
"I drank a little. Does it smell like alcohol?"
Jiang Jiang shook his head. In fact, the smell was very light and not unpleasant. It felt like a mixture of sake and cold pine.
The driver stopped the car in front of the shopping mall. This is a very large trade market with a total of six floors. The exterior walls are made of brown plain bricks. The facade emphasizes vertical lines and the plane is I-shaped. The exterior of the building is simple in form and the overall style is plain and elegant.
The place was packed with people. As soon as I walked in, I heard the saleswoman's warm and cheerful greetings. There were people who brought their wives and children to buy clothes, people who were buying items for their homes, students who came to hang out on the weekends, and old men and women who were taking a walk.
Jiang Jiang followed Zhong Xing and found the fabric she wanted to buy at a middle-aged woman's stall.
She picked out a black and grey one.
Jiang Jiang raised her eyes to look at Zhong Xing next to her. He had a cool and noble temperament, and black really suited him.
Zhong Xing took out his wallet to pay her, but Jiang Jiang refused to let him, so he had no choice but to let her do what she wanted.
Jiang Jiang paid the money and walked out of the trade market carrying the cloth.
"What do you want to eat later?"
"I don't have any idea. You decide, brother."
Zhong Xing thought that she liked sweet things, so he took her to eat Huaiyang cuisine.
After dinner, because the restaurant was not far from the school, she suggested walking back.
The moonlight shone through the branches of the camphor tree, casting a shadow on the asphalt road. Zhong Xing nodded, agreed to her suggestion, and asked the driver to drive to the gate of Capital University to wait for him.
"Do you like the food just now?"
"Yeah." Jiang Jiang nodded, "I like it very much. Every dish is very delicate, and I can taste the sweetness of the food itself."
Jiang Jiang and Zhong Xing were walking side by side on the asphalt road. Jiang Jiang looked up at the man who was a head taller than her. She was obviously quite tall, but compared with Zhong Xing who was over 1.8 meters tall, she looked very petite.
There were stone slabs piled nearby, and she stepped on them, so that her height was the same as Zhong Xing.
Zhong Xing reminded him jokingly, "This stone slab is not flat, be careful not to fall down."
"Brother, I want to ask you a question."
"Um?"
"How do you feel when you see me again after so many years?"
Zhong Xing thought for a moment, "First impression?"
"Um."
"My first feeling was probably surprise. I didn't expect Jiang Jiang to be so beautiful now. Although you don't look much like you did when you were a child, I still recognized you at first sight. Also, you have become more lively and cheerful. It can be seen that Secretary Lin and his wife should treat you very well."
"Yes, my parents are really good to me. They have provided me with a good living condition. The complete love of their parents has given me the confidence to move forward."
"What about Jiang Jiang? How did you feel when you first met me?"
“It feels like a long-cherished wish has been fulfilled.”
Zhong Xing didn't expect that she would use such words to describe it, and was a little surprised.
"I haven't seen you since my brother left Qingjian County, but I have always been looking forward to seeing you again."
Although Zhong Xing was somewhat different from the young man in her memory when they met again, which made her feel a little strange at first, after spending some time together, she quickly got over the strangeness.
He has always been that brother Zhong Xing.
When Zhong Xing heard Jiang Jiang say this, he felt a little guilty.
Over the past ten years, he has been busy with various things. When he first started working and arrived in the provincial capital, he even went home very rarely. He thought about taking time to visit this little sister, but his plans were disrupted for various reasons.
As Jiang Jiang spoke, she couldn't help but secretly glance at his profile. Unexpectedly, she was distracted and missed a step on the stone slab. She almost fell down. Fortunately, Zhong Xing was quick to catch her.
"Be careful."
The man's strong arms supported her. Jiang Jiang raised her eyes and fell into a pair of deep and distant eyes.
She didn't know how to describe those eyes. They were like glass washed by clear water, reflecting the starlight in the pool, like a ray of morning light breaking through the darkness.
There was a cool breeze blowing past her ears, and Jiang Jiang felt like her heart skipped two or three beats.
After about ten seconds, Zhong Xing made sure that she was standing firmly before letting go.
"You didn't fall, did you?"
Jiang Jiang shook his head.
The two walked to the gate of Capital University.
"Brother, wait a moment." Jiang Jiang called him.
Jiang Jiang took out a ruler from his pocket and explained to the man's puzzled look, "I...I want to measure your size."
Although Zhong Xing didn't understand her intention, he still stretched out his arms and let her measure.
Jiang Jiang has measured the size of many people, but she has never been as nervous as this time. She held her breath, and even her fingers trembled slightly because of excessive nervousness.
After measuring, Jiang Jiang put away the measuring tape and secretly noted his size in his heart, "I'll be back now, Brother Zhong Xing, good night."
"Well, good night, Jiang Jiang."
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