“The base over there hasn’t been distributed yet. The vacation village is waiting for the northern funds, and the north says our hands are not ready, dragging without agreement. I found the branch director, the branch director and I looked for the north, how could there be such a complete handover? If the procedures are not complete, what’s the point? The north says no funds, I know the factory only has 70 million. Looking for the north like this, don’t expect any results, it’s risky, this is like daydreaming. Anyone who goes up doesn’t want to turn over, but how can he cross the sea if he doesn’t go up? He would have flown over.”
Her sister said, “Flying over the sea is not possible.” He found a fine pen in the drawer, carefully giving Zhou Maochen a detailed road map. Zhou Maochen’s face turned white, but his hair quality was good, just slightly thin on top. Xiaomo pulled his hair towards the top of his head, Zhou Maochen endured.
“You’re truly a strong old flying moth. Dying without rest.” Xiaomo grabbed his hair and turned it, “Can’t you stop? Aren’t you tired? I’ll replace you.”
Zhou Mushi took his sister’s hand, organizing his thoughts: “You were born in good times. I have a lot to say about my past. In the 1950s, I was a research student at the prestigious Beijing Medical College, and I was one of the first echelon. I had just been assigned to a pharmaceutical factory in the northwest, and it was just over twenty years old. Twenty years later, you casually pointed out that I hadn’t even spent half the cost of two trips back, but that was the most glorious twenty years of my life – physically, mentally, and professionally. I was sent to that pharmaceutical factory that was struggling with culture and finding opportunities. At that time, we had a female colleague who had just graduated with a bachelor’s degree, and she gave me a chance. I didn’t even look at her, and we ended up together. The relationship was not good from the start. After having a child, we were together, and my daughter has been asking me to marry her since she was young. My daughter is now thirty, older than you, and still unmarried. Our parents left a shadow for her.”
She actually had very good conditions – beautiful, highly educated, with a stable job and good income, but she just didn’t want to get married. I truly felt sorry for her. How would she be when she gets older! Speaking of myself, even if my marriage failed, I didn’t receive much support either. At that time, when I wanted to eat meat, being able to eat fish was already exciting. My bicycle was so worn out that I couldn’t even replace it, and I had to patch it up and continue using it. Clothes for a year and four seasons were just a few pieces. When I wasn’t working, I’d go directly home, wash clothes – there was no place to wash, just basins, with a few hot water bottles on the side, adding water when it got cold. I’d watch movies from afar, and the best movie was “Little Forest”, which I watched dozens of times. Later, I was transferred back to Beijing from the northwest, working in the suburbs for over a decade, gradually gaining some human touch in the fourth ring. These years, my stomach wasn’t well, my body was sick, and all my joys seemed to have disappeared. Sometimes I’d go to a five-star hotel bar, watch movies, and even casual love wasn’t worth mentioning. Marriage was just normal, the second child wasn’t worth mentioning, and four old people sitting together would barely count as a gathering.
You might say, can I compare with you? You’re much younger, and you’ve taken our hard-earned achievements and just eaten them up, which is only natural. Would I have made any mistakes? No, we didn’t have today’s life. Even the first generation in the United States and Japan went through hardships.”
His sister said, “When you were young, didn’t you work hard for national drug research, staying up all night in the lab? At that time, you couldn’t even eat meat, and now we have meat, but it’s all lean meat. No one denies your contributions, but we didn’t have many opportunities either. We’re developing, people are developing too, and we’ve been moving forward but haven’t caught up. I hope my child can sympathize with me for not having good days, because we’ve always been moving forward.”
They stopped talking and just sat. Zhou Mushi’s phone rang, and he went outside the hospital room to answer the call.
Returning, he observed Su Se, who was sleeping, and they had talked so much, yet he hadn’t woken her.
Zhou Mushi tried to test her mood, generally keeping it balanced.
28 Little Ruo
Playing with someone else’s phone is a game with irresistible attraction. Getting the code is fascinating to those who love to sneak. This game also exists in relationships that aren’t entirely straightforward: between parents and children, up and down, competing with opponents, or even colleagues. This summer, playing with Su Se’s phone wasn’t because he wanted to sneak something, basically Su Se’s type of person’s phone was the least interesting. Even with Song Ruoruo’s text messages, he had already heard the voice guidance long ago.
He needed to study the tone Su Se used when texting Song Ruoruo to avoid accidentally revealing something during future meetings. This summer, he completely didn’t expect any unexpected discoveries.
Why is he so good to me, but never cares about me? (I am the narrator)
Unbelievable.
He likes Xiao Ruo.
Could it be me?
Because he does not know if he loves you.
He does not believe it himself.
What you want to know is that he will hesitate.
I don’t know.
Ruorou stared at the pillow on the bed, wondering how he could sleep so soundly. This summer, he deleted all the text messages, deleting all conversations and replies. He did not know why he did this; he just did not want to see these words. Guo Ruo’s text message came in again:
Where are you?
Ruorou had already thoroughly investigated the sender, and Suo’s response seemed to have no divine intention. So this summer wrote back:
In Luoying County. Returning in a few days.
Guo Ruo said:
Hey! Show me the scenery photo.
This message was naturally impeccable. This summer replied:
The leader stipulates no photos, it’s confidential.
Guo Ruo’s reply made this summer’s hair stand up:
Who are you exactly?
He quickly responded:
Old man.
When this message was sent, this summer felt a bit sentimental. Unfortunately, Guo Ruo was not the original Guo Ruo, her image was now that of a military special female officer with a short hair and sharp look.
You tell me the secret code. What can I do?
Ruorou took her own phone and dialed to Beibei. She asked Suo if he knew: Finding North thinking this summer was in a plot, casually saying: Guo, if, call little liver, call meat.
Ruorou hung up the phone.
Guo Ruo stopped sending messages.
This woman must have her own understanding.
On the bed, Suo moved. The digital screen showed four zeros, with a green separator flashing.
Noon.
Suo woke up.
Ruorou asked: “What did you say to Guo Ruo? What secret code?”
Suo seemed to have a headache, closing and then opening his eyes. He took the phone Ruorou handed over, and then forcefully spit out four words:
“Little Ruo Niang.”
Ruorou turned back. This time Guo Ruo could stop.
This summer poured half a cup of warm water for Suo, unable to help but ask: “What’s the secret code? What does it mean? You call her little, so you call her?”
Suo revealed a bit of a smile: “Yes, there’s another layer of meaning. She said the future child will be called Suo Xiao Ruo. She is Little Ruo Niang. She does not want to be Xiao Ruo’s mother, she wants her to be called old.”
Ruorou said: “You’d better call her.”
Suo shook his head.
Indeed, don’t call, this kind of voice, to Guo Ruo’s military special status, even the corner would know something was wrong.
