In the restaurant, Ruan Xi and Ling Yao sat facing each other at the table.
Ruan Qiuyue sat on Ruan Xi's left, and Ruan Hongjun and Ruan Hongbing sat on his right.
Four people against one person.
Ruan Hongjun pursed his lips to smile, cleared his throat and said: "Baby...baby?"
Ling Yao: "..."
Ruan Qiuyue pursed her lips to prevent herself from laughing.
After saying that, Ruan Hongjun turned to look at Ruan Xi, "Big sister, who is this? Do you have such a powerful friend?"
Ruan Xi looked at Ling Yao and smiled, still a little unfamiliar, "How about you introduce yourself?"
Ling Yao then cleared his throat twice and said, "We have met before. You and Xixi went to the countryside at that time. You were still relatively young."
After saying this, Ruan Qiuyue suddenly remembered, her eyes lit up and said, "Oh, then I remember, you are the boy who lives in the stilt house, Your mother has checked my feet, right?"
Ling Yao nodded at her, "Yes."
It was quite unexpected and happy to meet again. Ruan Xi looked at him and said, "You have changed so much, I didn't recognize you. When you were a child, you were like that... like that... Now you are... like this..."
If he didn't call her, she would definitely not take the initiative to recognize him.
Ling Yao replied, "You have grown up, and you have indeed changed a lot. You have also changed a lot."
Ruan Xi looked at him and blinked, and couldn't help laughing and asked, "Then you dared to call me? And it was in the loudspeaker in the auditorium..."
Everyone heard it. At that time, all the students were really looking at him, and some of them covered their mouths and laughed while looking at him. Who would have thought that the teacher who was concentrating and calmly teaching the previous second would suddenly call himself "baby" the next second.
It was simply a large-scale social death scene.
It was actually quite embarrassing. Ling Yao cleared his throat and said, "I didn't think so much at the time. I just thought, what if it was you? I finally met you here. If I missed it, I might never see you again in the future."
After he said that, Ruan Xi suddenly felt a little sad.
But reunion is a good thing. She smiled and said, "No, Xiao Jie works in the Education Bureau. Maybe one day she will find your name on the invitation list, and then I will know it's you."
Ling Yao looked at her, "If you knew it was me, would you look for me?"
Ruan Xi thought for a while, smiled and said, "I might... be embarrassed to look for you."
After all, he is doing so well now, and they have been separated for so many years without any contact. How could she suddenly go to his house to find him, as if she was deliberately trying to establish a relationship with him because he has made a difference? Just thinking about it made her scalp numb with embarrassment.
She smiled and said, "But I will be very happy for you. When I go out to brag, I must brag about you. Look at my childhood friends. They are so powerful now. They are scientists and work in the most powerful research institute in the country. Especially Gao Haiyang and his gang. I must go back and slap them in the face. When I was a child, I always said that you were a little fool."
Ling Yao laughed, "There is nothing to brag about. It's just an ordinary job."
Ruan Xi saw him smile and was slightly stunned. Only then did she see a sense of familiarity in him and connected him with the thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy in her memory.
When he smiled, he was the same as when he was a child.
The smile of the person in front of her and the smile of the boy in her memory slowly overlapped, and Ruan Xi was sure in her heart that he was really Ling Yao, the boy she called "Zi Zi" after living with her in the countryside for two years.
After a few words, the dishes came up, so the five of them chatted while eating. As they became more familiar with each other, they naturally talked about more topics, and talked a lot about their lives in recent years.
Ling Yao's life was actually very simple. After returning home, he went to school. After vaguely hearing the rumor that the college entrance examination would be restored, he concentrated on reviewing for three months and then successfully entered the university.
He was trained as a special talent in the university and had a tutor very early, so his academic progress was not synchronized with others. In school, he participated in various scientific research projects, and because of his outstanding performance, he naturally entered the highest research institute.
Because of his many research results, his status in the research institute is not low now.
Of course, he did not say these things that were different from ordinary people. He said it very simply, as if he was no different from others. He just studied and went to the research institute, and worked on projects every day.
Ruan Xi put it simply, saying that she and Ruan Jie went to the city to study and make up for the opportunity to go to school that they had missed for more than ten years. They were admitted to university and came here, and stayed here after graduation.
Ling Yao asked her, "Which unit are you in now?"
Ruan Xi smiled and said, "I don't have a unit. I'm just working as an individual now."
Ling Yao was a little surprised, "Didn't you take the job assigned by the school?"
Ruan Xi said, "I went there for half a year, experienced it, and then I quit because I didn't think it was suitable."
Ling Yao nodded, and didn't continue to ask about work. He asked, "Where do you live now?"
Ruan Xi: "I live in the countryside now, living with my third aunt and the others. They are here too. But I just saw yesterday. A house in the city. If everything goes well, I will buy it, clean it up, and maybe move to the city to live."
Ling Yao looked at her, "Has everyone in your family come here?"
Ruan Xi nodded, "There is no way out in the mountains, come and do it with me."
Ling Yao nodded, and didn't continue, and asked again: "Where in the countryside? And where is the house in the city you want to buy?"
Ruan Xi said: "It's in an alley near the front gate."
After thinking about it, she told him the detailed addresses of the two places.
Because Ruan Xi and Ling Yao were reminiscing, Ruan Hongjun, Ruan Hongbing and Ruan Qiuyue had no common experience of living in the countryside with them, so they couldn't say anything, so they didn't say anything.
After dinner, Ling Yao took out a piece of white paper from his pocket, unfolded it and handed it to Ruan Xi, saying to her: "This is my office phone number. If you have any questions, you can call me."
Ruan Xi looked at him and smiled. Although she felt that she would not need to find a researcher like him, she still smiled and said: "Okay, I'll call you when I'm free."
Seeing her say this, Ling Yao also smiled.
Ruan Xi still liked to see him smile. Only when he smiled did she feel friendly.
His appearance and temperament were very different from when he was a child. When he didn't smile when he was a child, he looked dull and boring, but now when he doesn't smile, he gives people a feeling of being rejected and difficult to approach.
Including her, they all felt the same.
After dinner, it was not a good idea to sit in the restaurant for too long, so the five of them got up and walked out of the restaurant.
It was already completely dark outside, and it was almost time for everyone to go home. Ruan Xi led Ruan Hongjun and the other two to stand in front of Ling Yao, looked at him and said, "Since you treated us this time, I'll treat you next time when I'm free."
Ling Yao nodded at her, "Okay."
That was about it, and they went their separate ways.
Ling Yao stood there and watched Ruan Xi riding a bicycle with Ruan Qiuyue walking away. When they were about ten meters away, Ruan Xi suddenly held the handlebars with one hand, turned around and waved at him while riding.
He couldn't help but smile, and the curves of his eyes and mouth became bigger and bigger.
Because it was getting late, Ruan Xi did not take Ruan Hongjun and the others back to the countryside at night, but went to Ruan Jie's house again. The four of them went upstairs and knocked on the door. After the door opened, Ruan Xi looked at Ruan Jie and said, "We have to stay one more night." It
was no problem to stay here all the time. Ruan Jie said, "Come in quickly."
Chen Weidong was not on duty tonight and was at home. He stood next to Ruan Jie and greeted Ruan Xi and the others.
Ruan Hongjun, Ruan Hongbing and Ruan Qiuyue also greeted him politely, calling him brother-in-law.
Ruan Xi entered the house. Ruan Jie took her arm and asked, "How was your chat with Ling Yao?"
Ruan Xi was not polite when she came to her house. She went straight to the kitchen to pour some water. "Nothing special. We just met again after a long time. We simply talked about the past and exchanged our current information. I told him the address and he gave me his office phone number."
Ruan Jie thought about what happened in the afternoon, leaned on the stove and said with a smile, "He called you with a loudspeaker in the auditorium in the afternoon. It has spread in our unit. You don't know, many female colleagues are jealous of you."
Outside, Chen Weidong was arranging a bath for Ruan Hongjun and others, and turned on the TV programs for them to watch.
Ruan Xi took two sips of water from the cup and looked at Ruan Jie: "Envy?"
Ruan Jie nodded, "Well, your name instantly became the focus at that time. When you saw him lecturing on the stage, could you have imagined what he would do later? I really admire him to death."
Ruan Xi couldn't help laughing, "Zi Zi is the focus, right?"
Thinking of Ling Yao saying that he was a Zi Zi, Ruan Jie couldn't help but lower his head and laugh.
It's really that the contrast between him before and after is too big, which makes people feel embarrassed, distressed and funny.
When he was a child, he really fit the name of "Zi Zi", but now it really doesn't fit the name at all.
Ruan Xi drank all the water in the cup, paused for a moment and said: "We have been separated for so many years, and there is no contact at all. I didn't expect that he still misses me so much. This child is really good. It was not in vain that I was good to him."
Ruan Jie thought for a while, "Maybe those two years in the countryside are very different in his heart."
After all, Ruan Xi appeared in his life when he needed it most
. In those two years, she protected him, accompanied him, and gave him warmth and smiles. It is easier to remember a timely help than to add icing on the cake. Ruan Xi took a breath, "It's good to get out. Look how powerful he is now."
Ruan Jie nodded, "He is no longer the little fool who is bullied by others."
Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie chatted about the things that happened in the countryside in the past in the kitchen. When Ruan Hongjun and the other two had finished their showers, Ruan Xi went out to take another shower. It was getting late, so after washing up, everyone went back to their rooms to sleep.
Chen Weidong was there tonight, so Ruan Xi and Ruan Qiuyue slept in the same room.
Ruan Qiuyue lay beside Ruan Xi and talked to her: "I feel more and more that the relationship between you two in the countryside is deeper and better. Look at Ling Yao, I haven't seen you for so many years, and I see that you are still so reckless."
Ruan Xi lay down and said: "Because life in the countryside is hard, so a little bit of sweetness will feel particularly sweet, and it will naturally be engraved in the memory. When life gets better in the future, no matter what kind of meat you eat, you will feel that it is not as delicious as the meat you ate when you were poor before. This is a truth."
Especially at that time, Ling Yao was still young, and the friendship of children was more pure and without impurities, which made it more precious in memory.
Ruan Qiuyue muttered, "I don't have a friend like this, I'm jealous."
Ruan Xi laughed, "Don't you have me?"
Ruan Qiuyue stood up and hugged Ruan Xi's arm, "I'll come to see you in two years."
The sun was rising, shining on the eaves.
Ling Yao finished breakfast and sat down in the office. Before his buttocks could warm up the bench, a colleague walked to his desk and stood there, leaning on his desk, holding a cup of water in his hand and staring at him while drinking.
Ling Yao: "What's the matter?"
A colleague cleared his throat: "Zi Zi?"
Ling Yao: "..."
The colleague suddenly grinned again, "Zi Zi, do you want some water? I'll pour you a glass."
Ling Yao: "..."
The colleague looked at the expression on Ling Yao's face, came over with a smile and put him in his arms, and continued to ask as he looked at him: "Zi Zi, who is Xixi? Why don't you let us know."
Ling Yao raised his hand to cover his forehead: "Get out!"
The colleague still shamelessly hugged him and started acting: "I won't get out, you haven't told me yet, who is Xixi? I always thought you only had the laboratory in your heart, who knew you actually had a woman in your heart!"
"..."
Ling Yao covered his eyes and let him shake his shoulders.
Just when he was embarrassed, Academician Chu suddenly appeared at the door of the office and added insult to injury by calling him, "Zi Zi, come with me to the lab."
Pfft...
Other people in the office laughed at the same time.
The colleague who was holding Ling Yao laughed so hard that he started shaking. He loosened his arms and let go of Ling Yao.
Ling Yao stood up and left the office, followed Academician Chu and said, "Teacher Chu, you should still call me Ling Yao."
Academician Chu smiled and said, "Zi Zi, isn't that nice? You are so kind."
Ling Yao: "..."
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