Chapter 6 Chapter Six

Shijun's mother asked him to write a letter as soon as he arrived in Shanghai, so he wrote a short letter that night. He didn't have any stamps at hand, and planned to give it to Shuhui to post in the office.The next morning he specially sent him to Shuhui's office so that he could see Manzhen again. Manzhen hasn't come yet.Shijun took the letter out of his pocket, put it in front of Shuhui and said, "Here, I forgot to hand it to you just now." Then he leaned on the writing desk and chatted. Manzhen came and said, "Morning." She was wearing a light pink cheongsam with a very narrow black and white braided lace on the cuffs.Shi Jun didn't seem to have seen her dress before.She had a half-smile on her face, and she didn't look at him very much, as if he wasn't in the room.Yet her joy cannot be concealed.The overflowing joy of life has transformed into all kinds of amorous feelings in her body.When Shuhui saw her, he was startled, and said, "Why is Manzhen so beautiful today?" He said something carelessly, but Manzhen didn't know why, but she stopped and couldn't answer, and blushed.Shijun beside him also became nervous.Fortunately, Manzhen only paused, then smiled and said: "From your tone, it seems that I am always ugly." Shuhui said with a smile: "Don't distort my meaning." Manzhen smiled and said: "You Obviously that's what it means."

The matter between the two of them was not something to hide from others, let alone Shuhui, but Shijun never told him.He didn't have the desire to talk about Manzhen with anyone, because he felt that people always said things that were too scratchy.But his psychology is so contradictory, and he hopes that others will know.Shuhui was with them all day long, yet he was so confused and didn't feel it at all.If love is blind, it seems that the person next to you is even more blind. In their factory, the personnel aspect is quite complicated.It was the Mr. Ye who held his birthday last time. He has always planted the party for personal gain, and many traces have fallen into the eyes of everyone.Relying on the fact that he is the factory manager's personal person, he is getting bolder and bolder, and those who refuse to join forces with him will naturally be squeezed out by him.Shijun works downstairs, so he is not very affected, unlike Shuhui who works upstairs, and has a relatively high position and heavy responsibilities.So Shuhui always wanted to leave.By chance, a friend introduced him to work in another factory, where he immediately resigned.When he was about to leave, Shijun saw him off, and there was also Manzhen.The period when the three of them eat together every day is about to come to an end.

When the three of them are together, there is a special atmosphere. Shijun likes to sit on the sidelines and listen to what Shuhui and Manzhen say to each other, and what they say is just superficial words, but Shijun is listening beside him. But deeply happy.That kind of happiness can only be compared with the mood of childhood.In fact, Shijun's childhood was not very happy, so when people think back to his childhood, he can only think back to the time when he and Uncle Hui Manzhen were together. Shijun's farewell party for Shuhui was at a well-known old Zhengxing restaurant. Later, I heard other colleagues say: "You don't know how to order food, and you haven't eaten the two most outstanding dishes." Shuhui wanted to go there again After a while, Manzhen said: "Then you treat me this time." Shuhui said: "Why do you want me to invite you? This time it's your turn to farewell for me!"When it was time to pay the bill, Shuhui said that he didn't bring any money, Manzhen said, "Then I'll make a cushion for you. I'll pay it back later." Shuhui still refused to let go of this sentence.After eating and walking out, Shuhui bowed to Manzhen and said with a smile: "Thank you! Thank you!" Manzhen also bowed to him and smiled: "Thank you! Thank you!" Shijun couldn't help laughing beside him.

Shu Hui changed his job to another place, the factory was in Yangshupu, so he lived in the dormitory and only came home every weekend.One day, the Xu family received a letter addressed to Shu Hui, and he was not at home, so Mrs. Xu put the letter on his desk.Shijun saw it, but didn't pay attention to it. He happened to see the postmark of Nanjing on the envelope, but he was a little surprised, because when Shuhui went to Nanjing last time, he once said that he had no acquaintances in Nanjing, and he had a girlfriend. He was asked to bring something to a Mrs. Ling, who was also completely stranger to him.There was no signature on the envelope of this letter, only "Inside Details", of course Shijun would never guess that it was from Cuizhi.Although he and Cuizhi have known each other since childhood, they don't know her handwriting.His mother once tried to ask him to communicate with Cuizhi, but the result was unsuccessful.

When Shuhui came back on Saturday, Shijun had already forgotten about it, and didn't think to ask him.Shu Hui read the letter, the content of the letter was very simple, but said that she wanted to go to Shanghai to take the university entrance examination, and asked him to ask for two regulations for her.Shuhui thought in her heart that if Shijun asked, she would just say that it was written by Cuizhi, and it didn't matter. She wanted to ask someone to get the charter. Because it was inconvenient to ask Shijun to avoid suspicion, she asked him. It's also a natural thing.But Shijun didn't ask about it, and of course he didn't mention it.After a few days, I took the time to go to the two universities she designated to ask for two articles of association, and sent them to her with a letter attached.Her reply came quickly, but this time Shuhui took a long time to reply. The time interval was very long, and the letter was very short. Cuizhi did not write any more letters.In fact, since Shu Hui came back from Nanjing, he often thought of her.Thinking of her affection for him, he could only feel melancholy.

In the first month of the second year, Cuizhi sent another letter. This letter was left unopened on Shuhui’s desk. It had been almost a week. Shijun saw it every time he walked in and out. Postmark, I thought to myself, I didn't know that Shu Hui had such a friend in Nanjing.Or maybe it's a friend from Shanghai who just went to Nanjing recently.Ask him when he comes back.But after all, it has nothing to do with me, and I forgot again as soon as I turned my back.On Saturday, when Shijun was in the factory in the morning, someone called him. It turned out to be Yipeng, who had come to Shanghai.Ask him out to dinner.It happened that Shijun and Manzhen had already made an appointment to meet in a restaurant, so he said to Yipeng: "I have already invited a friend out for dinner, if you are happy, come together." Yipeng said: " Boyfriend or girlfriend?" Shijun said: "It's a female colleague, not a girlfriend. Don't talk nonsense later, it will offend people." Yipeng said: "Oh, female colleague. It's you The female staff there? No wonder you stay in Shanghai and refuse to go back. I said, what are you busy with in Shanghai—you are busy eating restaurants with Hua Vase? Hey, look, I won’t tell you when I go back!” Shijun said At that time, I was already very regretful, and I shouldn't have invited him to go with that extra word, so I could only say: "Don't talk nonsense! This Miss Gu is not that kind of person, you will know it when you see her." Yipeng said with a smile: "Hey , Shijun, why don't you just ask this Miss Gu to bring another girlfriend, otherwise I won't be lonely by myself?" Shijun frowned and said, "Why are you always talking nonsense, what do you take her for?" Yipeng He smiled and said, "Okay, stop talking, don't be serious."

Although Yipeng was soft-spoken behind his back, and when he met Manzhen, he was still a gentleman and polite, but his attitude towards such self-reliant women was somewhat different from his attitude towards rich ladies.Manzhen didn't know, she thought this man was always so slippery.Shijun could see the sense of proportion and felt very angry. Yipeng drank two more glasses of wine, got a little drunk, and suddenly said with a smile: "I don't know why Amy remembered it, she will be our matchmaker!" Shijun smiled and said, "Who will be the matchmaker?" Yipeng said with a smile: "Me and Cuizhi." Shijun said with a smile, "Oh, that's great! It couldn't be better!" Yipeng hurriedly said, "Uh, don't shout, I don't know if it will work!" Sighing slightly with a smile, he said, "It's both Yiming and Amy—actually, I really don't want to get married! You lose your freedom when you get married, don't you think so?" Shijun smiled and said, "Forget it." Well, you should be taken care of by someone!" As he said, he patted him on the shoulder.Yipeng seemed to be very proud, and Shijun also felt very happy—it was not out of selfishness, thinking that it would be best for Cuizhi to marry, so that his mother and sister-in-law would die.He didn't think of this layer.He has always been very happy, it seems that the whole world has changed, even Cuizhi, he thinks she is a very cute girl, Yipeng must be very happy to marry her.

Seeing that they were talking about these private matters, Manzhen didn't intervene, just smiled from the sidelines.After dinner, because his sister-in-law entrusted him to buy a piece of clothing, Shijun wanted to take this opportunity to give it to Yipeng to take back, so he asked Yipeng to go home with him to get it.Manzhen went back alone.Here, Shijun brought Yipeng to Xu's house. Because it was Saturday, Shuhui also came back in the afternoon, and he only arrived home not long ago. Seeing Yipeng coming was unexpected.Shuhui looked down on Yipeng the most, and thought he was very boring. Although he talked to him a few words, he was just lazy.Fortunately, Yipeng has no inferiority complex, so he never feels that others look down on him.

At that moment, Shijun took out the cloth material and handed it to him. Yipeng opened it and saw that it was a piece of tile-gray glittering flower silk, with small plum piles flashing out.When Yipeng saw it, he couldn't help but gasped, and said with a smile, "It's the same as Miss Gu's dress! I was just thinking about it. She is dressed in plain clothes, like a little widow. So you gave it to her!" Shi Jun was a little embarrassed, and said with a smile, "Stop talking nonsense!" Yipeng said with a smile, "Then there is such a coincidence!" Shijun said, "What's so strange about it? Knowing this, I asked Ms. Gu to buy it with me that day, and she bought one at the same time." Yipeng said with a smile: "Then what do you want? I have already seen that your friendship is good. When will you get married?" Shi Jun said with a smile: "Probably your mind has always been full of marriage, so you always talk about marriage. If you make trouble again, I will announce it to you!" Yipeng hurriedly said: "No, no!" Uncle Hui said with a smile: "Why, Yipeng is getting married?" Yipeng said: "Listen to his nonsense!"Shijun and Shuhui sent him out, but they saw snowflakes floating outside the door, and they didn't know when it started.

The two of them went back upstairs together. Because of Yipeng's teasing of him just now, saying that he and Manzhen are good friends, Shijun heard about it. He must be thinking about how they are such close friends, why they kept hiding it from him. Now it's blunt. , I feel very embarrassed.Shijun originally made an appointment with Manzhen today, and later he will go to her house to go to the movies together, but because Shuhui rarely comes back, it is not easy to leave as soon as they meet, so he can't help but sit down and prepare to talk for a while.When he had nothing to say, he told him that Yipeng might marry Cuizhi.In fact, this news is not an unexpected blow to Shuhui, because Shuhui saw Cuizhi's letter when she came home today, and the letter said that she has been feeling very depressed recently, and I am afraid that she has no hope of coming to Shanghai to study. got engaged.But she didn't say who the object was. Shuhui always thought it was someone he didn't know, but he didn't think it was Yipeng.

She wrote to him, as if hoping that he would show something, but what could he do?He wasn't lacking in courage, but he felt the problem wasn't entirely on her family's side.He couldn't help thinking about her, she was used to enjoyment, she never knew what hardships and hardships were, if she was acting emotionally now, she would definitely regret it in the future.Maybe he was overthinking, but he lacked confidence in her, or maybe it was because he didn't love her enough? And now she is going to marry Yipeng.It would be fine if he married a better person, he wouldn't be so sad.He lay on the bed, turned his hands and put his hands under his head, and looked out the window silently, and there was heavy snow outside the window.Shijun smiled and said, "Let's go to the movies together?" Shuhui said, "It's snowing so hard, what are you going out for?" As he spoke, he simply shrank his feet, attached his leather shoes, and fell asleep on the bed, dragging them along. Get a quilt and put it on your body.Mrs. Xu came into the room and washed the teacups that the guests had just used. Seeing Shu Hui lying on the bed in broad daylight, she asked, "Why are you lying there? Are you uncomfortable?" Shu Hui replied angrily, "No. "To say he was not feeling well was like saying he was lovesick, and he was very angry. Mrs. Xu looked at his face, and then came over to touch his head, because she said: "You don't look like this, don't catch cold, drink a glass of wine to relieve the cold, I'll bring it for you .” Shuhui didn’t say a word.Mrs. Xu fetched a bottle of wine from her own home made with mandarin oranges.Shuhui said impatiently: "I tell you there is nothing! Just let me sleep for a while." Mrs. Xu said: "Okay, I'll leave it here, drink it as you like!" He walked to the door and said again: "Take off your shoes if you want to sleep, and sleep for a while." Shuhui didn't answer either. After she left, he just sat up and took off his shoes. He was untying his shoes when he looked up. Seeing the wine on the table, he poured a glass and drank it to relieve boredom.But "the wine is in the stomach, the matter is in the heart", there always seems to be a layer in between, no matter how much wine you drink, you can't drown your heart.The thing in my heart wanted to be soaked and scalded with shochu, but I couldn't. Unknowingly, he drank one cup after another. Shijun went downstairs to make a phone call. He called Manzhen and asked her if she still wanted to go to the movies because of the snow.In the end, I gave up watching the movie, but I still had to go to her home to see her.Once they made a phone call, they could never end it in a few words. When he hung up the phone and came back upstairs, as soon as he entered the door, he could smell the smell of alcohol in the room. Have you finished the bottle of wine?" Mrs. Xu was passing by the door, and she yelled at Shu Hui, "What's wrong with you today? I asked you to drink a glass to avoid the cold, why are you so stupid? You always drink wine every year. I can't keep it, and I finished drinking it in a few months!" Shuhui ignored it, and fell on the bed with a flushed face, and saw Shijun put on his coat and looked like he was going out, and said: "You still Want to go out?" Shijun laughed and said, "I agreed to go to Manzhen's place." Seeing that he seemed a little shy, Shuhui remembered what Yipeng said to make fun of him and Manzhen, it must be true.Seeing him happily go out through the snow, Shu Hui suddenly felt a sense of desolation, turned over, covered his head and fell asleep. Shijun arrived at Manzhen's house, and the two chatted around the fire.The stove is a very small fire oil stove, which was originally used for cooking, but now it is moved into the room, where it is used to stew water and keep warm.Manzhen rubbed a match, and lit them one by one, just like lighting a small circle of small candles on a birthday cake. Since it was Saturday afternoon, her younger siblings were at home.Shijun is quite familiar with them now.Shijun never liked children. He used to live in his own home. Even though he had only one nephew, he often found it annoying. Manzhen's younger brothers and sisters were like this, but he had a good impression of them. The children ran like horses, running upstairs to downstairs.He rushed over, opened a sheet at the door of the room, and fled again.Later they went to the alley to build a snowman, and the house suddenly fell silent.The kerosene stove has been burning for a long time, and the flame gradually turns into a beautiful blue. The blue fire is as blue as water. Shijun said: "Manzhen, when are we going to get married? - Last time I went back, my mother also said that she wanted me to get married early." Manzhen said: "But I think it's better not to rely on family help." Shijun originally thought so too.In the past, he clashed with his father for the freedom of career choice, and went outside to do things. After a fight, he still asked his father to pay for him to beg his wife, which was a bit discouraged.Shijun said: "But if we continue like this, how long will we have to wait?" Manzhen said: "Let's wait and see. Now my family also needs me." Shijun frowned and said, "Your family is really tired. It's too heavy, I can't stand it. For example, after getting married, two people are better than one." Manzhen laughed and said, "That's exactly what I'm afraid of. I don't want to push you in." Jun said: "Why?" Manzhen said: "Your career is just beginning, supporting one family is already troublesome enough, but if you support two families, it will destroy your future." Shijun looked She smiled and said, "I know you're doing this for my own good, but——I don't know why, but I hate you a little bit." She didn't say anything at that time, but when he kissed her, she asked in a very small voice: "Do you still hate me?" A pot of water on the stove was already boiling, and they didn't know it at all.It was Mrs. Gu in the next room who heard the lid of the kettle beeping against the hot air, and she couldn't help shouting outside: "Manzhen, is the water boiling? It's ready to make tea." Manzhen agreed , stood up hurriedly, brushed her hair in front of the mirror, then ran out to get tea, and made a cup of tea for her mother. Mrs. Gu was standing at the door of the room with her tea in her hands, sipping one mouthful at a time, and said with a smile: "The tea sticks are standing, there must be a visitor!" Manzhen pouted at Shijun with a smile, and said, "Hey, isn't it already here? Mrs. Gu laughed and said, "Mr. Shen doesn't count, he's not a guest." She seemed to be speaking too bluntly, and Shijun felt a little embarrassed.Mrs. Gu took the boiling water to flush the thermos, and Manzhen said, "I'll go wash it. Mom sits here and talks." Mrs. Gu said, "No, I can't stand up once I sit down. I have to cook again later." She strikes up a conversation and walks away. It was getting dark.Every evening, there is always a seller of dried mushrooms and tofu, who comes to this alley to sell.Must come every day.Now I heard the old voice again: "Dou-dry! Five-spice mushroom beans-dried!" Shijun said with a smile: "This man really comes in all weathers." Manzhen said: "Hey, there is never a day when he doesn't come .But his dried tofu is not very tasty. We ate it once." They listened in silence to the old voice fading away.The hour of the day passed away with that cry.This dried tofu seller is simply an old man of time.