Chapter 74
A letter of introduction from the bureau chief easily solved her interview dilemma. Tong Yufei deeply understood the importance of "a veteran's presence is worth two." Previously, she only knew that being a journalist required a sharp pen and a brilliant pen. Now, she realized that connections are just as important as writing, and that she also needed to be able to navigate interpersonal situations. Compared to those experienced journalists, her social skills weren't even entry-level. From then on, she began to cultivate connections and expand her network. She carried several handmade bracelets with her, which the girls loved. Even if she didn't smoke, she would still have a box of them, handing out two to everyone she met and chatting them up.
Three days after the manuscript was sent out, newspapers, radio stations and other media in and outside the province started discussing it. Reform is certainly not a one-day job, but it is an honor to be able to use my pen as a medium to stimulate heated debate on ideas. Watching this topic continue to ferment, she felt both insignificant and great. She said it was insignificant because the report was only more than 2,000 words, but it was great because every word was of great weight, like a mighty army.
Since she left the stage, she has been in great need of such recognition of values.
Putting aside the burden of selecting a major topic, she took on a few literary pieces for minor adjustments: one was a gossip report on a local TV station's Spring Festival Gala, another was a feature on Chen Jueyao's modern musical "She Can Pick the Stars," and the third analyzed the social phenomena and causes of the popular drama "Desire," which had drawn crowds. Literature and art were her specialty, and writing about them was easy. The day she submitted her manuscript happened to be the day she received her year-end bonus, and on her way home from work, everything seemed to be shone with a joyful filter. Even the pebbles in the dry ditch seemed incredibly cute. She picked up a few and put them in her bag.
When she returned to the gate of the staff dormitory, she saw Mo Daoyan standing there carrying large and small bags of food.
The last time he sent her food, she gave half to her neighbors and cooked the rest in various ways: pork rib soup today, lamb stew tomorrow, beef noodles the day after tomorrow... This gluttonous diet continued for a week, leaving her nauseous and feeling guilty. Mo Daoyan, claiming he couldn't cook due to a stomach injury, wanted to come over for dinner, but she refused to let him in, lest there be more trouble. So every evening, he would cross the city, consistently coming to see her, bringing either canned food or ham. If he couldn't get in, he would leave his food at her door and return home with an empty stomach.
The neighbor saw this and sneered, "This kid comes here every day just to show off that junky car?"
Sister Jiang beside him laughed at the elder brother for not knowing the value of the car: "A broken car? It's worth hundreds of thousands."
Tong Yufei went to find the old man who was guarding the gate and claimed that Mo Daoyan was not a resident of the area and asked not to let him in. It was indeed quiet for the first three days and she thought the problem was solved. But on the fourth day, he showed up again. She ran to ask the old man the reason. The old man looked embarrassed and said that Mo Daoyan showed his marriage certificate to prove that he and her were husband and wife, and it was not inconvenient for them to interfere in the couple's affairs.
No one else can interfere, she can only do it herself.
Today she still didn't want to let him in, and she didn't want to take his things. But he not only bought things, but also took Ye Yimo out to play for half a day. She worked overtime today and came back two hours later than usual. The wood carving studio had classes in the evening. Normally, when this happened, Ye Yimo would continue to attend the evening classes and wait for her to get off work before going home together.
Mo Daoyan went to the experimental base for class, which ended at three o'clock in the afternoon. The company originally had a quarterly report meeting, and he was afraid of not being able to make it, so he finished the report and sent it to Chen Huaili last night. As a result, he had half a day free, and he was thinking about taking Ye Yimo ice fishing. For this purpose, he went to the fishing tackle store and bought an "Ice Fishing Guide". After the winter solstice, the ice on the river was frozen solid, and the winter anglers began to become active, and Qiao Zhuocheng was the most excited among them.
When they arrived at the wood carving studio, Boss Sun refused to let them go. It turned out that Boss Sun saw that Ye Yimo was not nice to anyone and thought that Ye Yimo was difficult to get along with. He didn't know how Ye Yimo would be treated in the future, so he refused to let them go. He even compared Ye Yimo with Tong Zhaoyang to mock his fake concern for Ye Yimo.
Mo Daoyan was unequivocal, claiming that Boss Sun treated Ye Yimo like a prisoner, not even giving him time to breathe, forcing the fool to carve rotten wood non-stop for a few extra bucks. The proceeds from the carvings were enough to hire two caregivers for Ye Yimo. Tong Yufei had entrusted his brother to the studio, willing to transfer his labor, but not to condone exploitation. Even a trip out for fun would be subject to a three-pronged trial. If Boss Sun insisted on making things so awkward, he would persuade Tong Yufei to find another place for his brother to work, or to open a separate studio.
He said bluntly, "Tong Yufei is so busy that he doesn't have time to calculate these accounts. Our company has professional accountants who can give Boss Sun a free finance class. The loss at that time will not be a small matter of Ye Yimo missing a few classes."
Boss Sun has a sense of responsibility to protect Ye Yi Mo, but he also has the selfish desire to use Ye Yi Mo as a laborer. He has both of these desires, and Mo Daoyan saw through his thoughts. He stammered and could not say a coherent word, so he had to nod and agree to let him take Ye Yi Mo away, but said he would tell Tong Yufei and Tong Zhaoyang.
"You can talk to me, Tong Yufei, but Mr. Tong doesn't need to know about my family affairs."
He took Ye Yimo fishing in the Liudao River, south of Niangniang Mountain. The water was seven or eight meters deep and teemed with old manfish and yellow croaker. On either side of the riverbanks were endless reed marshes, with the withered yellow stalks swaying in the wind, a breathtaking sight in the depths of winter. Spending time in the wilderness and surrounding mountains and rivers inevitably leads to wild and unconventional ideas. Take Qiao Zhuocheng, for example. With his eldest brother, Qiao Zhuoyuan, and Ji Xilin about to get married, Old Man Qiao doted on his daughter-in-law, who hadn't even married yet, like his second daughter, Qiao Zhuoqun. Even his child, who hadn't even been born yet, was allowed to share the family fortune equally with his uncles and aunts.
Qiao Zhuocheng sighed to the heavens, "If there's Yu, why not Liang?" He swung his ice pick and chiseled a two-foot-square hole in the ice. He cast his hook and baited it, "Luckily, we're fighting for money. If we were fighting for the throne, I'd definitely be branded a treacherous uncle." Then he added, "Brother, I want to start a family."
Mo Daoyan thought that Qiao Zhuocheng was jealous of his future nephew or niece who would get a share of the family property, but Qiao Zhuocheng grinned and said that he had fallen in love with a waitress in the store. The girl was pretty and her eyes were almost glued to him except for work, just like he had held Chen Jueyao in his heart back then, and now he was being held in high esteem by another girl.
"So this is what it feels like to be cherished by others. It feels so damn good."
But he was still hesitant about whether he should marry her. From a snobbish perspective, he thought a wife like her wouldn't be of any use to him. Worse still, her parents were both middle school teachers. They lectured him all day with poker faces and looked down on businessmen like him. They'd heard that, despite attending Jiaotong University, he hadn't even earned a diploma, and had gone into business, only to be dumped by a university professor's daughter. They didn't want her to be with him anymore, or else she'd be laughed out loud. Was a middle school teacher's daughter considered inferior?
"In my previous life, I must have been blind and illiterate, so in this life, I've been looking for a partner under a teacher."
Mo Daoyan glanced at him and said, "Chen Jueyao and Cao Cong broke up, have you ever thought about getting back together?"
Qiao Zhuocheng took off a small silver carp he had caught and threw it back into the river. "I'm not her dish, and she's not a fish in my river. Let's not cause each other trouble." He then looked at Ye Yimo who was beside Mo Daoyan. "How are you and Tong Yufei doing?"
Mo Daoyan stared at the float and said, "Just like that."
It looked like the situation was not going to end well. Qiao Zhuocheng had guessed it long ago. If Mo Daoyan hadn't been unhappy, he wouldn't have come here to ice fish. He had no such hobby at all. His obsession with ice fishing was fake, and he really wanted to make Ye Yimo happy and to curry favor with Tong Yufei. Every time he caught a fish, he would show it in front of the big fool's eyes, and Ye Yimo would grin. Mo Daoyan cursed, "Stop laughing, you've scared the fish away," but there was a smile in his eyes. The next time he caught a fish, he would still hand it to Ye Yimo for review.
How could Mo Daoyan, who was once described by Chen Jueyao as having a "heart of wood and stone", have such a warm and friendly side?
Qiao Zhuocheng pulled up his fishing rod and caught an old man fish: "Tong Zhaoyang still not giving up?"
"He's not that important."
When the problem turns into an internal conflict, external factors are indeed unimportant.
"You and Tong Yufei are destined to be husband and wife. Don't you notice that her brother's eyes look a lot like yours? If you're not from the same family, you'll end up being brothers sooner or later."
Mo Daoyan glanced at him and said, "Don't compare me to a fool."
Qiao Zhuocheng smiled and replied, "Silly as he is, he's really handsome."
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Mo Daoyan carried a small plastic bucket full of fish and waved it in front of Tong Yufei.
"More than a dozen, I'll make soup with them tomorrow. Your brother seemed quite happy to see me fishing. I took a few photos of him and will print them and give them to you later. He likes carving, but he can't do it all the time. He'll try something new occasionally. You'd better keep an eye on Boss Sun. He's not as selfless as you think. He's obsessed with money. The better your brother's carving, the more he'll tempt some people."
As he said that, he was about to go upstairs with her, but when he reached the second floor, he found that she was still standing there.
"Take it home and stew it yourself, and don't take him fishing anymore."
"Qiao Zhuocheng is an old hand, he's been around this place before, so it's very safe."
"Not because of the danger."
If it wasn't because of the danger, it was because of him. Mo Daoyan said calmly, "You can leave if you want me to, but your brother got me wet playing with the fish. It's so cold, at least let me dry my clothes. Otherwise, if I get sick, I'll need you to take care of me. If you don't believe me, just feel it." He turned around and showed her the wet fabric on his waist. There was indeed a large water stain on the hem of his cotton jacket, which was obvious without touching it. "I didn't lie to you, did I?"
She took out her key and went upstairs to open the door: "This won't happen again."
He placed the fish bucket and the things he had bought on the stovetop, walked around the kitchen twice, and tried to move the cabinets to the side next to the sink. "Let's install a refrigerator. One hundred and sixty will fit. I'm in this business, and if you don't use it, people will think our company's products are not good. The refrigerator won't show its quality in winter, but what about summer? Don't you love making things yourself? You can make popsicles."
She wasn't so extravagant as to buy a refrigerator just to make popsicles, so she simply kept silent, hoping that he would quickly dry his clothes and leave: "Give me the clothes."
Mo Daoyan took off his cotton jacket and cashmere sweater, exposing his muscular upper body to the cold air. Seeing Tong Yufei immediately turn her back, he whispered, "I've seen her without it, but now you don't dare to look at it. Are you hiding something?" When she threw Ye Yimo's hoodie to him to keep warm, he grabbed the collar with two fingers in disgust and asked, "Have you ever worn it?"
Tong Yufei said angrily, "You can wear it if you want."
He returned the clothes seriously and said, "Let me lend you my quilt to keep you warm."
A man who had just returned from ice fishing, still reeking of river fish, was about to touch her freshly changed bedding? She had initially ignored him, but seeing he was about to force his way through, she finally relented. "You bought him so many clothes, how could he possibly wear them all? This one I've only washed once, and he hasn't even touched it." He then put on his coat and followed her to the bedroom. The clothes needed to be blow-dried and then ironed. Her room was the only room in the house with an extra socket. However, when they reached the door, she noticed him and placed her arm across the doorframe, her forearm tensed to form an uncrossable dividing line. "Wait outside."
"The temperature of the iron should be adjusted according to the material of the clothes. I know my clothes well."
"You ironed it."
"Your brother got it wet, so it's more appropriate for you to do it."
He bent down and passed under her arms.
"Sister pays brother's debt."
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