Chapter 1 Are you married on a rainy night?
The plane landed at night, and Ji Changshan dragged her 20-inch suitcase straight to the parking lot. She wore a pair of flat shoes, the soles of which swished across the ground, and the phone in her hand didn't stop for a moment.
In the afternoon, there was a group meeting between the sales department and the marketing department. Ji Changshan was out of town to settle the storm of cross-selling goods, but she didn't catch up. She flipped through the minutes of the meeting on the plane. The marketing department was making a grand blueprint as always. Ji Changshan commented blankly: "The sky is full of big cakes." The company issued a notice earlier that the cup test of the boutique series has come to an end
. The marketing department must propose a promotion plan. Ji Changshan has been working in Yuanfang for eight years, and now he is the provincial sales director. In this sales pilot, Jiangxi and Baicheng are listed in the jurisdiction. She had been in charge of the instant coffee business before. The company has seen specialty coffee encroach on the market in the past two years, and finally decided to join in for a share of the pie.
Ji Changshan doesn't care about how capitalists make decisions. There are risks and opportunities in the launch of new products. She takes people's money to relieve people's worries, and takes advantage of the situation to get promoted to an official position. Why not do it.
There is a constant flow of people at Jiangcheng Airport, queuing up for a taxi is a waste of life. What a waste. Ji Changshan got into the special car that he had arranged in advance, and just now he confirmed the investment list of new products with his subordinates. Now he touched the screen with his fingertips, and was about to call the director of the marketing department, hoping that the other party would explain "wasting time to produce waste".
The director of the marketing department is named Du Kai. He has just been transferred for half a year. He hung up the phone three times in a row, Ji Changshan turned to the WeChat interface, sent a few financial details, and received a call back from the director within five seconds.
"Aurelie, isn't this too much?"
Yuanfang is an American company that often has to deal with foreigners, and the middle and senior leadership teams all have English names. Du Kai is partial to the Western style. Whether he is on or off work, he keeps his mouth shut on Jennifer and Benjamin, and his tone is full of enthusiasm, as if calling his parents to clean up the mess for him.
Ji Changshan has no intention of raising his son, "Du Kai, I'll give you one night to organize a meeting at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. If you can't hand over the plan, you'll have a private account with public funds, and I'll report it to you." Without waiting for the other party to negotiate more
, Ji Changshan put down the phone, and only sang "Break Up With Kindness" in his ear - Du Kai sang heartbreakingly, even tragically. She looked down on the director of the marketing department very much. She was dumped in love as an adult, and would rather hang out in KTV and make noise than go home and work hard. There are so many sad love songs, which one is better than a promotion and salary increase?
Glancing at the rain outside the window, Ji Changshan took the suit at hand and draped it over his shoulders. She was originally wearing a black satin shirt and a pair of white wide-leg trousers hanging empty on her legs. The temperature difference between day and night in Jiangcheng in early May was ten degrees. She was not afraid of the cold, but just to avoid unnecessary colds.
The driver of the special car looked back from the rearview mirror. The two windows in the front seat were ajar, and the cool breeze was blowing. His fingers hooked the left lift button, and the sound of the wind stopped abruptly.
The yellow light came on and the car braked slowly.
Ji Changshan lowered his eyes to polish the sales summary report of last month, the keyboard clicked lightly, and the rhythm was tight. The person in the front seat twisted the brown rope on his wrist, and a fish-shaped silver pendant clamped the string from head to tail, and slowly swam into the gap between his fingers.
In front of the windshield came a crowd of all shapes and sizes, bustling silently.
Ji Changshan's thoughts froze, and he inadvertently glanced at the rearview mirror for a moment.
The driver wears a pair of silver-rimmed glasses, the lenses refract a few gleams of light, and he has a pair of peach blossom eyes, which are dark and silent, like a day for three years. Ji Changshan knew that the other party's surname was Peng. When she moved into Xiwatai three years ago, Mr. Peng lived next door.
They seldom spoke, and sometimes they just nodded at each other when they met in the corridor.
Mr. Peng should be the driver of a special car. If she has social gatherings at night, she will always arrange a special car in advance to avoid entanglement with customers after the end. She places an order ten times and Mr. Peng picks it up three or five times.
Ji Changshan was satisfied with his service. It is rare for a Jiangcheng driver to know how to drive smoothly, and it is even rarer to keep silent about the political and economic situation at home and abroad. She needed this tranquility, and Mr. Peng was so silent that he didn't even introduce his name, which was really good.
She went to revise the report again, and met with Chen Yueshu later, one was to report on her work, and the other was to talk about when she would go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get a certificate.
Chen Yueshu is Ji Changshan's fiancé, five years older than her, and was transferred from Quebec to Jiangcheng three years ago as the sales director of the North China Region. Ji Changshan has always been his direct subordinate. When we first met, apart from reporting in the office, he also held several business banquets with him.
Most of the dealers they invite are big local dealers, and the dealers have different preferences. There are always one or two who especially love the wine culture. Ji Changshan has always opposed gender differentiation in the workplace. If business ability is judged by the amount of alcohol, how much a man can drink at the wine table, she is by no means inferior.
Her boss probably also trusts her subordinates' abilities, and rarely blocks drinks for her, but once in a while, it's because the dealer's face is full of oil, and he proposes to have a drink with Ji Changshan.
Chen Yueshu is from the south, and he speaks clean and clear Mandarin, which is different from the dealer's 40-50-year-old Jiangcheng Youhua.
After the banquet was over, Chen Yueshu drove Ji Changshan home. He also offered to give her a ride before. Ji Changshan always said that he could just take a taxi.
The car drove to the entrance of the community, and Chen Yueshu got out of the car to see her off. It was still winter, and it was very cold. Ji Changshan hid his cold hands in his sleeves and thanked his boss. Chen Yueshu asked her not to be polite, and finally smiled, with a misty breath around her mouth: "Go back, I'll watch you enter here."
Ji Changshan nodded, turned around and entered the community.
If Chen Yueshu asked to go upstairs and sit down, she might not refuse. Enter the door and invite him to drink a cup of hot tea. From now on, Ji Changshan will only treat him as his boss. However, Chen Yueshu waved at her with a gentle manner, which convinced Ji Changshan that he was a good person.
The night rain suddenly stopped outside the window, Ji Changshan got out of the car with his bag, took the 20-inch suitcase from Mr. Peng, and said goodbye to him.
She and Chen Yueshu made an appointment to have dinner at Nuan Pavilion and reserved a private room.
This restaurant specializes in seafood hotpot. Ji Changshan grew up by the sea, and Chen Yueshu acquiesced that she likes seafood, so she chose Nuan Pavilion for her first date two years ago.
Walking through the off-white corridor, the lights are bright, and the snow scene Ukiyo-e is hung on the wall as always. Although he has been here many times, Ji Changshan never paid attention to the style of the painting, he just walked into a room in a hurry.
Chen Yueshu arrived earlier than her.
Ji Changshan put the suitcase against the wall, and her fiancé had already got up to help her pull out the chair. She didn't really need help from others, but Chen Yueshu was used to being a gentleman and polite, so she had no choice but to thank her in return, otherwise it seemed like she didn't know how to reciprocate.
The two sat down, and Chen Yueshu asked about the smuggling of goods in the area. She briefly explained a few words, and the other party said that today's geoduck was very fresh.
Ji Changshan took a rough look at the ingredients on the table. They were the ones he was used to, especially sliced geoduck, which Chen Yueshu ordered every time he came. She glanced at the wide-mouthed bowl, the sliced geoduck was spread on the ice surface, the color was warm and white, as thin as a cicada's wing. The geoduck they ordered weighed two ounces a catty and was originally from Canada. The price was determined by the quality, and there was not much meat.
When Ji Changshan was struggling in the past, seeing that the other party spent thousands of yuan to taste such a plate, he would only convert in his heart how many bowls of Lanzhou ramen he could buy with the same amount of money. When Chen Yueshu asked if the hot pot was delicious, she also said bluntly: "It's too expensive, try something else next time."
For restaurants with four or five figures at every turn, no matter the invitation or AA, they are quite heavy. Ji Changshan didn't like to owe anyone, that was the case at that time, but now that he has a lot of money, he wants to settle accounts with Chen Yueshu.
She stretched out her chopsticks to pick up a thin slice of geoduck, dipped it into the chicken feet pork bone soup and soaked it for about 20 seconds without dipping it in the sauce, chewed it for two mouthfuls and said, "It's pretty good." It costs money to eat
. Not worth the time. Ji Changshan has long been indifferent to the taste of food, even if he has a slight preference, he prefers to be irritating, such as old garlic hearts that make tears and sour plums. She was sipping warm hot pot, thinking about how much work she would be able to handle in the time for this meal.
Her fiancé enjoys high-end ingredients and invited Ji Changshan to eat a piece of geoduck raw to taste the original umami. She put an end to raw food, but he will never remember this.
"I'm not used to it." She explained again.
Chen Yueshu smiled apologetically, "I forgot again."
Ji Changshan didn't care about the negligence of the other party, and output work reports as planned. He nodded occasionally, dipped in a little sauce and vinegar most of the time, and ate raw geoduck slices.
The milky white soup is tumbling alone, and the mist is steaming. Ji Changshan finished last month's sales summary in one go, and began to talk about the launch of new products. Chen Yueshu listened to the market share and oligopoly, and poured Ji Changshan half a glass of Margaux Baiting, asking her to moisten her throat.
She took a sip of wine and continued to talk about the analysis of competing products. Chen Yueshu clinked glasses with her, and the glass jingled.
Ji Changshan looked into the opposite pair of eyes, and he asked with a smile: "Aside from work, can't you talk about anything else?" There was
a pause of two seconds, and Ji Changshan asked the other party what he wanted to talk about. Chen Yueshu didn't answer, but just rubbed Ji Changshan's face with his eyes separated by a layer of water vapor.
She was born with a sharp jaw line, a tall and thin nose bridge, two dark and deep eyes, and heroic eyebrows.
Chen Yueshu often looked at her without saying a word, Ji Changshan was not used to being so affectionate, he lowered his eyes and touched the purse from behind, took out a small crimson red book and pushed it between the two of them.
"Let's get married." She wore a ring on her left ring finger. The ring was narrow and set with a full circle of small round diamonds.
Chen Yueshu looked at the diamond ring for a while, with the household registration book under her hand, judging by her firm attitude, it would be best to get the certificate tomorrow.
He looked at her as usual, Ji Changshan looked at her for a moment, and Ji Changshan's eyes were calm, not like a happy event, but like eating a homely meal, neither salty nor bland.
Chen Yueshu went to get the wine bottle by herself, and added some dry white wine to the glass. Margaux Blanche belongs to Sauvignon Blanc, its color is as pale as withered wheat stalks, it smells floral and fruity, and it seems to have slept in the green grass all night. The wine is smooth on the tongue and delicate to the touch, but the sour taste is so strong that it plunders every taste bud, making people fall into silence involuntarily for aftertaste.
Ji Changshan repeated: "Get married."
Chen Yueshu put down his wine glass and smiled calmly, "You may not know, but I'm already married." The
flavor of grapes and minerals in his mouth mixed with a long aftertaste. Ji Changshan raised his left eyebrow lightly, as if he didn't understand what the other party said.
"I have a wife in Quebec. We met when we were in college and we have been married for eleven years."
Ji Changshan found the wine glass, picked up the thin handle, and licked the rim of the glass, unable to drink the wine for a long time. There was no unnecessary expression on her face, those who didn't know thought they were old friends for many years, Chen Yueshu was telling the past, and Ji Changshan was in charge of listening.
"We have a son who will be six years old in July this year. He looks a lot like my wife. He is quite naughty. He jumped up and down on the sofa two days ago, fell off and scratched his forehead. My wife sent a photo , there is a gauze on his head, and he is still making faces."
Having said that, Chen Yueshu smiled.
Ji Changshan rolled his eyes and stared at the face of the person in front of him. His eyes were downcast and long, as if recalling the most lingering years in his life. Ji Changshan almost believed that Chen Yueshu loved his family, if this person hadn't proposed to her, if he hadn't asked: "Changshan, should we talk about love?" The corners of his mouth were raised, a little mocking
.
She put away the household registration book, raised her eyes to catch the wine glass, and made a splash, splashing Chen Yueshu's body with the smell of alcohol.
Putting down the cup and standing in front of the table, her eyes couldn't be called angry.
Chen Yueshu rubbed the tissue on his chest slightly, the two were silent, the sound of the hot pot boiling infinitely amplified. Ji Changshan stripped off the diamond ring on his hand and threw it at the opponent's feet, methodically picked up the bag and dragged the box, and strode away.
It was pouring rain outside, and a black car was parked on the side of the street. The window was open, the driver wore silver-rimmed glasses, and held a cigarette between his fingers. In the dark night, the fire was on and off, and the smoke diffused from his lips. With the sound of rain piercing his ears, he looked at the door of the Nuan Pavilion for a while, his eyes half-closed.
The mobile phone reported a new order, he snuffed out half of the cigarette, turned around and drove to the restaurant across the street.
Ji Changshan got into the car, and the umbrella was spread wet under the seat.
The windows were raised and closed tightly, casting a glass cover over the sound of the rain.
Amidst the chaotic muffled sound, the black car started smoothly, with a green light all the way, and the tires crossed the asphalt road, splashing a small amount of water. They drove into the complex and turned off the fire under the apartment building. There was a couple quarreling outside the window, the man yelled and the woman screamed. This was the regular night program of Siwatai.
Ji Changshan glanced at the window with his face turned, the water was dripping, and the buildings were vague but familiar.
Xiwatai stipulates that non-owner cars are prohibited from entering. She turned her head and looked up, meeting a pair of dark peach blossom eyes in the rearview mirror.
Mr. Peng asked, "Are you married?"
The couple's quarrel intensified, like a fierce night rain whipping against the window.
The black umbrella beside the legs was silently dripping water, and suddenly the insteps felt cold, and the cold rain slid along the skin and into the seams of the shoes.
Ji Changshan carried the umbrella two centimeters away.
According to his accent, the eight generations of ancestors should have Jiangcheng household registration.