Excerpts from the text |
I had a feeling of infinite bright future in my heart, mixing with a character like Ruan Zong, I believe that he can not only help me and promote me, but also I must learn a lot from him. I couldn't help but think of the letter of recommendation I had written to him, and Roland asked me twice who had written it, and I was looking at him from side to side.
Amphibious
□ Chen Hongwei
- 1 -
I just graduated from school, returned to my hometown of Zhaihe Town, and did not take the dormitory cover that accompanied me for four years, along with a stainless steel insulated lunch box, all left to my brother. I remember that the student promised to bring me back, but since then, the student has been missing since then. Roland had too much luggage, two large suitcases, and a 486 Pentium computer, and the main computer, monitor, and keyboard were scattered around the bedroom, and I was carrying all her home. The future is confused, I don't know where to go, and I am constantly worried that Roland will get pregnant, and I am deeply anxious about it. Even if you sleep with your head covered, it is like a false sleep. My father lifted my quilt and said with a cold face, Eighteen is considered an adult, and I will raise you to twenty-one. I opened my eyes and looked around, thankful that Roland wasn't around. I'm worthy of you, it's time for me to roll! Chen Ping thus issued an eviction order.
I took Roland on the road as if eloping. The first stop is the Huaihe Hotel in X City, and if it doesn't work, I plan to go south to Guangdong. I had a letter of recommendation in my diploma addressed to Ruan Dazhen, the general manager of the Huaihe Hotel. I'm not sure if it works. Sometimes when I get off the train from X City at three or four o'clock in the morning during school, I will jump on the sofa in the lobby of the Huaihe Hotel and sit down to wait for dawn. Its sign calligraphy comes from the hands of famous artists in the Provincial Academy of Calligraphy and Painting, and the neon flashes and becomes a striking landmark, for me it is a refuge without money to open a house, and there may be a stack of banknotes in the pocket, but each of them has its own uses, and I am not allowed to splurge.
At ten o'clock in the morning, we sat on the bus and shook for three hours before we arrived in X City and found the general manager's office of the Huaihe Hotel. This is a 1970s old green brick building, which was named Building 1. The east half is the cheapest room in the Huaihe Hotel, which costs only sixty yuan to stay for one night, and the west side serves as the office area of the hotel. Although it is only four stories, the building is particularly long, and you can't see your head when walking in the stairway. The wooden floor seems to be made of discarded rail sleepers, brushed with vermilion old paint, and through the wooden cracks of the teeth and mouths, you can see the darkness hanging in the air below, as if there is a bottomless hole, and Roland's high heels are stepping on it and banging, with a rhythmic echo like a drum. Mr. Ruan had just gotten up, and a petite waitress was brewing him a cup of golden cereal, and there was a tooth jar on the coffee table, and toothpaste had been squeezed on the toothbrush at the mouth of the cup. I think Mr. Ruan is very dedicated, he probably made the hotel his home, and last night he spent the night in the suite in the office. However, this kind of behavior is called night without return in the words of our university teachers, and the meaning behind it is actually very difficult to hear. Mr. Ruan read the letter of recommendation, during which his eyes lifted, not looking at me, but from time to time skimming over the face of Roland, who was sitting next to me. I did lack a secretary, the former chief of staff wrote me a year-end summary, sparsely pulled dozens of lines, listing the hotel's annual income and expenditure figures, waiting for me, the general manager, to fill in the blanks for him. Mr. Ruan played the letter of recommendation, took a sip of cereal, smiled and said, in addition to writing text materials, can you write big characters? I thought to myself, Mr. Nguyen, you forgot to brush your teeth first. I practiced when I was a kid... I actually stuttered, and I didn't know what Ruan Zong said about writing large characters for. When I was in elementary school, I used a bucket pen to write big characters for a few days, but because it was too ugly, Chen Ping concluded that the decaying wood could not be carved, and ended with two slaps from him, and since then I have not swept the brush. Ruan Zong waved his hand, it is an art word, the old Song style, written in the newspaper, and then lined with white paper cut off as a monogram, before the old office director wrote, now he is retired, you come to work in the hotel, you must put this job next. I seemed to understand it, but I was still confused, thinking that this thing street computer shop can obviously print, why do you have to do it. After a moment's hesitation, I nodded my head and braced that this could be learned. Mr. Ruan said that people are the spirit of all things, what to learn, young people, as long as they are willing to learn, they can definitely do it. He had a big back, about a short time after being brushed in water, his hair was shiny black, and the long strands of hair around his ears always fell to his forehead, and he occasionally touched his ears like a woman, but his movements looked very dashing. The hair fell down, like a downcast hooligan, plucked up, and instantly became a personable boss.
Ruan Zong suddenly got up and left. He wore a dark green Dream Delicate Silk T-shirt with a hem tucked into his black trousers, and his figure was well-proportioned and he was walking like a fly. Roland touched my leg and whispered, Who wrote the letter of recommendation? I glanced at the waitress who was wiping the table for Mr. Ruan, she looked really well-behaved, like a junior high school student in the industry, and when she didn't say a word, the bangs dangled in front of the door of her head, as if she looked at us as nothing. I looked out the door and gave Roland a look, meaning that now I asked if this was not a rip-off? Sure enough, only two or three minutes later, Ruan Zong hurried back, followed by a white-faced elder, wearing gold wire glasses. I hurriedly stood up, pretending to be a little overwhelmed. Mr. Ruan waved his hand and said, Xiao Chen, Xiao Luo, to introduce you, this is the secretary of the hotel, the leader of the municipal party committee, if you write materials, you have to study well with Secretary Gao. I said, Secretary Gao is good. Roland was half a beat slower than me, and repeated hesitantly, Secretary Gao is good. Secretary Gao smiled slightly, sat down on Ruan Zong's sofa, and asked, Do you have a dispatch card? I said, yes, we are the last assigned students, and the students who graduate next year will only issue a registration card. Secretary Gao gently tapped the dark brown glass coffee table in front of him with his fingers, and shook his neck again, as if in order to alleviate cervical spondylosis, this action was the same as Chen Ping. Secretary Gao said lightly, write an article, I will give you a title, "The development of the city's hotel industry I see", after writing it, I will look at it and then say. I almost spat out a dirty word, day.
After Secretary Gao left, the waitress leaning against the suite door laughed a little. She was silent, and it turned out that she could hear clearly what each of us said. Mr. Ruan laughed and said, Silly girl, what are you laughing at? The waitress said, why can't you laugh? Spitting out his tongue again, writing articles, so difficult! Mr. Ruan has a positive look, Xiao Chen, I will arrange a room for you in Building One first, you will live for a few days, if you are sure that you can receive you, then think about renting a house outside. Eating is easy to solve, the restaurant has a working meal, this is ok, right? I hurriedly said, OK. Ruan Zong sighed for a while, Secretary Gao said the article, you have to write well, there are a total of eight large-scale star hotels in the city, namely the old Huaihe Hotel, Xinhua Hotel, Dongfeng Hotel three, the newly rising Bihai, Longfeng, Dikun, Qinyuan Chun and Binhu Holiday Five, known as the eight major hotels, our eight bosses will hold a round table every year, you can focus on these eight hotels.
- 2 -
Roland flattened the skirts in her suitcase one by one and hung them carefully on the hangers as if this were her home. The room facilities in Building One were old and simple, with two single beds in front of the window, a high-footed desk sandwiched in the middle, and a pair of sofas on the wall, which exploded in the corners of the line, revealing a yellow-brown sponge, but the sheets and quilt cover were still white and clean, like a hospital ward. I lay down on the bed, the bed board made a "click" sound, not a "click", they have a difference, the latter is broken, the former is broken, but still I dare not move. The sheets are sprayed with two Song characters "city move", I am a little unclear, so I read the "Guest Guide", only to know that the Huaihe Hotel is the X municipal government guest house, a public institution for enterprise management, and "city move" should be its abbreviation. Its Song script reminded me of writing large characters, and the clouds of sorrow suddenly enveloped my heart. Roland said that you and Mr. Ruan only discussed letting you work in the office, and did not mention where to put me. I said, if you have me to eat, it won't make you hungry. Roland added that Nguyen always did not think that we were married and only arranged a room. I said, there is a room to satisfy, you still want to open a luxury suite for you in the third VIP building? Roland said, I don't mean that. I said, what does that mean? Roland said with a bitter face, people are still girls, so they live with you inexplicably. I said, just pretend.
Roland suspected that the buffet plate in the staff restaurant was not clean, and returned with a lunch box. Cowpea stir-fried meat, braised eggplant and sautéed red amaranth, I just pulled two bites, Roland asked, by the way, who wrote your letter of recommendation? It works. I choked a little, and the red amaranth dyed the white rice underneath bright red, and I suddenly felt that the color was strange and vicious. Ruan Zhuzhi's twisted face dangled in front of my eyes, and my chest was hot, almost spitting out everything I had eaten. Throwing down the dishes, I said while looking for my coat that it makes sense to eat with a buffet plate, and these things can't be mixed together. Finished speaking and walked out of the room.
I decided to go to the Dongfeng Hotel next to the train station to investigate, not so much to investigate, but to step on the spot, my behavior is indeed like a thief. Dongfeng Hotel belongs to the Municipal Party Committee and is almost a twin brother to the Huaihe Hotel. The difference is that the Huaihe Hotel began about the 1970s, every ten years to build a building, called the first, second and third buildings, the first building is the oldest, the third building is the latest, and the Dongfeng Hotel is a 12-story high-rise building, standing opposite the railway station, like a huge tombstone. I asked the waitress at the front desk, how much does your standard room cost? As soon as the words came out, I regretted it, because the wall behind the main desk was clearly marked with today's house prices. The waitress smiled and said, "Hello, sir!" I asked again, how much does your hotel earn per year? The waitress was thin and fair. Our neighbors in Zhaihe Town believe that white fat people are easy, white thin people are rare, this is born white, not adulterated white. She understood my words, but as if she didn't understand what I meant, the smile on her face slowly disappeared, and she frowned and looked at an older waitress counting money next to her, a little overwhelmed. The waitress put the money in her hand in the drawer and asked in a loud voice, sir, do you have anything to do?" I said, how many rooms do you have in your hotel? What is the monthly occupancy rate? What is the gross profit? She asked, what do you do? I said, it's okay, just ask. There is nothing to say about this, and we do not know it. After she finished speaking, she gave me a blank look, and then took out the money again to count, and after a while, she whispered to the thin waitress with her face, ignore him, he is sick! I felt my face stiffen, pretend I didn't hear it, and go away in mourning.
When I inspected the second hotel, I changed my mind, because Ruan Zong said clearly that Huaihe, Xinhua and Dongfeng are the three old hotels in the city, and Zhang San li four kings Mazi should be similar virtues. I took a personal tricycle and searched all the way along the downtown central avenue to find the Di kun Hotel. Dry for heaven, Kun for the ground, I think the name of this hotel translates to the Imperial Hotel, really stupid. Perhaps in order to highlight the color of the emperor, the hotel lobby is golden and "yellow", and the yellow everywhere is dizzying. The waiters in the main desk are a man and a woman, who can be called handsome men and beautiful women. I took out my wallet and put it on the countertop, pulled out two hundred yuan, pulled out half of it to stop, pressed my hand on the wallet, and asked the waitress, how much do you Di Kun earn in an annual year? Sigh, make a lot of money, right? The woman's smile, no matter how much money is earned, it is the boss's. I asked again, what is the occupancy rate of your rooms? It feels like it's full every day. The woman was still laughing, sir, and our standard room deposit was three hundred. I drew another hundred-dollar bill from my wallet, still halfway through, and asked, "Are you going to have a year-end summary meeting?" What is the annual profit that the boss says? The woman did not answer, the man was alert, like finding me misbehaving, and asked sharply, what do you want to do? I shook the three bills in my hand and smiled, wondering how much your hotel earns in a year, and I can also give your hotel publicity. The man said, you can't live? I said, I want to live, afraid of not being safe. The man said in a rough voice, our hotel owner in Hong Kong has a stake, why is it not safe? I pretended to be relaxed and said, it is not that meaning, that is, to ask the hotel what the benefits are, the benefits are good and surely safe. The man said with disdain, does this have anything to do with you? Salty eat radish light worry. I suddenly became angry, knowing that I couldn't ask anything, patted the table and said, how do you talk, can you speak human? Seeing that my voice was louder, the man whispered, "Do you want to count the skins for you?" Saying that he was going to go out from the inside of the service desk, he shouted outside the door, Security! security guard! I pointed my finger at his face, meaning you waited for me, grabbed my wallet and left.
The weather in September, it was still a bit hot, I really shouldn't have come out in a suit, well dressed, and my back was soaking wet. On the way back, I scolded the goods that made me write the article over and over again, and I didn't know his full name. This is a completely bad idea, who does not believe it to try, how can a stranger find out the operation of the city's hotels? I'm afraid we can only rely on estimation and about touching. Of course, this bad idea also has a favorable side for me, and I provide a reason for us to hire the Huaihe Hotel. Passing by the entrance of the X municipal government, I found that there were eight big characters written on both sides of the door: second entrepreneurship, rich people and strong city. The huge old Song style art characters are about one person tall, which is probably the font used in the conference slogans that Ruan Zong said. Horizontal and vertical thick skimming like a knife, points like melon seeds like sweeping. I pondered the calligraphy method of those eight characters over and over again, and I can't say that I was intoxicated, I really lingered. Looking at the writing marks on the edges of the handwriting, it turned out that the pencil was first marked with a grid, and then brushed with red paint. I think the worst way out is to learn from it, and I can also put a grid on the newspaper first, and evolve the hard work of writing Song characters into a game of grid crosswords.
It was dark before I returned to the Huaihe Hotel, and at the door of the room I heard the laughter of the girl inside. As soon as I pushed open the door, the laughter stopped abruptly. Lying on the bed was a beautiful woman, wearing a white shirt from the Huaihe Hotel with a short red skirt, with a slender figure, a flat lower abdomen, a sexy collarbone protruding, and she sat up from the bed with her neck up. Roland said that this is Jiang Siya, she is the foreman of the restaurant, and the two of us are less than five miles away from each other. I smiled slightly, and I knew a fellow so quickly. Brother Chen, Jiang Siya's voice shouted sweetly, there is a Huai River separated by the two of us in our homes. I asked, are you laughing so happily, discussing the Huai River? Roland picked up a few pieces of paper on the table and said, We are discussing the eight major hotels you need, Jiang Siya told me all about their respective situations, which have been recorded on the paper, which can be regarded as a great help to you. I was pleasantly surprised, yes, thank you for the success of the snow. Jiang Siya said, Brother Chen, I don't know much, about eighty percent, there is a need to understand what you ask me again. After saying that she got up and left, walked to the door, she turned back and smiled and said that now the whole hotel knows that a new college student couple has arrived. Her high heels stomped on the wooden floor of the corridor like chicken pecking rice, crisp and beautiful. I asked Roland, how did you meet? Roland said the waitress was inside, and she came back from the dining room, forgot to bring the keys, and came over to sit for a while. I said, oh. Roland added that she was the foreman, had worked at the Huaihe Hotel for five or six years, and knew a lot of things. I picked up the information materials of the eight hotels she had written down on the paper, and immediately my spirits were doubled, and I completely forgot that I had not yet eaten dinner. Roland said that now everything depends on you. I said, yes. Roland added, Didn't you ever want to be a poet? You want to reinvigorate the glory of Aquarius. I said, I'll try my best. I couldn't hear what she said later, and the more I looked at the numbers, the more I was shocked, and I felt that the Huaihe Hotel was like a huge, old and inefficient machine, and maybe one day it would stop.
Roland took a shower, wrapped herself in a sheet like an actress in an American movie, and walked over to me.
- 3 -
The waitress who called out to her stupid lady came to me and stood at the door of the room waving at me. I said, hello. She said, you come. After saying that, turn around and go. I followed her until I reached the door of the general manager's office, and then she whispered, "Mr. Nguyen let you go." I thought to myself, no wonder Nguyen always called you a fool, I told me earlier, I also changed my shoes, and the slippers on my feet were the slippers in the room. Just about to go back, Ruan Zong came out of the room, stroked his long hair hanging down to his forehead, and said, Xiao Chen, give you a task, there is a train ticket sales point at the entrance of the hotel, you go to buy a ticket, send a little guy to Xi'an, and then leave later. At this time, the mobile phone ringing in his pocket rang, he pulled out the phone cover, pulled out the thin antenna, and waved at me as he answered. I was confused and didn't dare to ask more. His phone is the latest Motorola Pocket Treasure 338C analog, which I've been looking forward to for a long time.
Said it was the little guy, it turned out to be a big guy, a head taller than me, pulling a suitcase, saw me and said, uncle, my mother said you sent me, thank you uncle. I said, don't call me uncle, I'm not much older than you. The young man smiled and was handsome. It takes about seven hours to get from X City to Xi'an by green-skinned train. The lad was clever, squeezed into the train, and put his luggage away very sharply, without any need for my help. We sat facing each other, and he turned the car window half up, letting the cool wind blow in outside, and the cornfield on the pale green field was one after another, brushing from the eye to retreating, staring for a long time, dizzying. I asked the lad, what's your name? He said, Wang Binbin, polite bin. I asked again, which university did you go to? He said that Xi'an Jiaotong University. I was in awe, this is a prestigious school that I can't get into with my old life. I said, you're awesome! He smiled, I like Xi'an Jiaotong University, and my mother also said that this school is good. I think he talks a bit of a woman, I will say how my mother is, never say how my mother is, maybe this is the natural difference between a city student and someone from a rural background like me. How many points did you get on the test? I asked. He was a little embarrassed, scratched the back of his head, and said, my score is not high, it is uncle Nguyen to give me the indicator. I was shocked, Ruan Zong of huaihe hotel? He said, yes. On Sunday, I simply admired Ruan Dazhen so much that I made an enrollment index for Xi'an Jiaotong University, and if I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I would definitely think that it was a fantasy. Are tuition fees expensive? I asked doubtfully. He said in a flat tone, it's okay, eighteen thousand a year. I thought that my college tuition was six thousand a year, and he was three times mine, but the family was Xi'an Jiaotong University, which was not the same. I said, it's worth it.
I had a feeling of infinite bright future in my heart, mixing with a character like Ruan Zong, I believe that he can not only help me and promote me, but also I must learn a lot from him. I couldn't help but think of the letter of recommendation I had written to him, and Roland asked me twice who had written it, and I was looking at him from side to side. One night near graduation, I went to the office of the Youth League Committee and forgot what was the reason. In our school, as the propaganda director of the Youth League Committee, I have always felt that the Youth League Committee is more bullish than the Student Union, because the Youth League Committee has an office that can be used as a place for our activities and can even be used to review the examination and research. The student union does not have this treatment, and the meeting can not find a place. I pushed open the door, and I didn't expect that Nguyen Chuk-chi, a member of the Propaganda Committee, was inside, and she was lying on a wooden chair with a very pale face. I said, Bamboo Branch, why are you here? She smiled slightly, struggled to sit up, her neck stiffened, leaned back on the chair, patted the glass on the arm of the wooden chair, and said, "You pour me a glass of water, right?" I poured the water on her, and suddenly a thought came to my mind, and I wanted to borrow money from her. At that time, at the end of the period, my living expenses had been overdrawn, and I was really worried that I would not be able to go home. Everyone in our Youth League Committee knows that Ruan Zhuzhi's family is relatively rich, and she pays for the classmates' gatherings. Once her living expenses for a semester were stolen from her dormitory, I wanted to mobilize her classmates to raise donations for her, she categorically refused, and then giggled and said, I am sad to lose the money, but it is not sad to think that my father is a cash cow, I hold his tree and shake it hard, I can shake the money, it is not sad. I like her heartless and lungless personality, she has a tiger tooth on her upper jaw, and I often clamor to pull it out, but I think it is cute. Do you have money? I rubbed my fingers at her. There were many beads of sweat on her forehead, her brows furrowed, and an earthworm-like green tendon even burst out behind the corner of her eye. She sighed softly and asked, how much do you use? I thought about it and said, five hundred, if I can't get you before graduation, I'll mail it to you when I get home. Her hand covered her stomach, I just wanted to ask her if she had a stomachache, she suddenly grabbed my hand, the whole face was twisted, screamed a word, Beiyang, save me! I looked down at her, and suddenly my eyes were full of Venus, and my legs were weak. Under the wooden chair, there was a pool of blood, and her lower body was almost stained with blood, and there was blood dripping down. I shouted, Bamboo Branch, what are you doing? She smiled weakly, I took my medicine... I was trembling with fear, picked her up and said, what to do? She laughed bitterly and said, I don't want anyone to know... I carried her to the school hospital, almost in a panic, but I couldn't finish it. Tell me, what medicine are you taking? I asked as I ran. She cried, Beiyang, I am pregnant. I said, call your family. She said, don't fight, don't fight, if you call, I'd rather die.
I saved Nguyen Chuk's life. On the eve of leaving school, she stopped me in the hallway, wearing white shorts, leaning against the wall, like a shy little girl, tilting her head and saying, Beiyang, I heard that you want to stay in school, right? She gave me the feeling of being reborn through a disaster, but she was also more endearing. I said that the school might have had this idea, but Roland couldn't stay, so I decided to go back to my hometown with her. I wanted to ask her what was going on with the bastard who had caused her to take the abortion pill alone, and when the words came to her lips, she held back, and she must not want to repeat the old things. She took out a cowhide envelope and handed it to me, saying, the teacher wrote you a letter of recommendation, you can go to Ruan Zong of the Huaihe Hotel in X City, believe you don't want to see... She lowered me for a year, was eccentric in her daily life, and could always do something I couldn't think of. If chen ping hadn't blown me out of the house and was cornered, I would have forgotten the letter.
At nine o'clock in the night, the train arrived in Xi'an. I was vaguely excited in my heart, I had never been to the ancient city of Xi'an, let alone a higher education institution like Xi'an Jiaotong University. I didn't take any luggage, I threw my hands empty, pulled his suitcase, just walked to the exit gate, Wang Binbin said, someone came to pick up. I saw a dozen colleges and universities in front of me holding up signs, which was a little dazzling. He went straight to a sign, spoke briefly with a few young men, and immediately a student came over to help him with his luggage. I was almost stupid there, because the sign said "Xi'an Jiaotong Vocational University", and we are obviously talking about Xi'an Jiaotong University, "occupation" is not much, but Wang Binbin seems to be very familiar with those young people, and I am not good at making a mistake. There was a business van parked in the square, and six or seven of us crowded in. The car sped toward the school, and I could only see two rows of street lights on the side of the road, and I couldn't see anything else, but I felt that the car was driving towards the outskirts of the city. I whispered to Wang Binbin, are you studying at Xi'an Jiaotong Vocational University? He nodded and said, Well, yes, Xi'an Jiaotong University. I said that this is different from Xi'an Jiaotong University. The young man sitting on the co-pilot turned back and said, We are not studying at Xi'an Jiaotong University, but we are receiving a graduation certificate from Xi'an Jiaotong University. I asked incredulously, how is that possible? Wang Binbin said that he would take the self-study exam. I instantly understood that it was just the equivalent of a self-examination training class. I really want to say that since you are taking the self-study exam and can also learn at home, why bother to come to Xi'an to study? Another young man who picked up the station said that half of the graduates of our school got the self-examination diploma of Xi'an Jiaotong University, and some chose Northwest University. I said, there should be no certificate. The young people looked at me and said, some, are very few, really can't pass the exam, you can change to a good major, or postpone graduation, as long as you are willing to learn, you can still graduate. I fell into speechlessness, didn't bother to ask anything, and my trip didn't seem to be necessary at all, the pick-up service here was in place, and it was really superfluous for me to send Wang Binbin.
Paying fees, registering, and sleeping separately, every step did not require my intervention, and the person who picked up the station led Wang Binbin back to the dormitory. I approached the housekeeper and said it was the student's family and needed accommodation for one night. He gave me a key, a military coat, and let me spend a night in an empty boys' dormitory for ten dollars. There was only a hard cotton mattress on each bed, but there was no quilt at all, and I wrapped the army coat at night. The weather in September is really a little cold late at night. In a trance, I felt that sending Wang Binbin to school was like an exam that Ruan Zong had for me. Secretary Gao arranged an article, he arranged this mission, who said it was not? There is a bad magazine on the ground, I picked it up and turned it over, it is a publication run by Xi'an Jiaotong Vocational University, the first page is a majestic article, which makes me feel like a treasure, the title is "Xi'an Private Colleges and Universities Development I See", I think that replacing "Xi'an Private Universities" with "X City Hotel Industry" is simply the article I want to write.
I woke up before dawn and walked around the campus. The school may not be newly built, and the other half of the excavators are digging the earth, which is completely a construction site. There is a tall rockery in the middle of the campus with four large lacquered gold characters inscribed on it: Puyu Hun Jin. I can't help but laugh dumbly, Mencius said that a gentleman has three pleasures, his parents exist, his brothers have no reason, they are worthy of the sky, they are not ashamed of others, and then they are bred by the world's talents. The ancients still knew that to run a school, you must get the world's talents, here is it written Pu Yu Hun Jin, is not it humiliating? I don't know what fun it is to run such a school. In other words, the purpose of people is not to have fun at all, but to make money, but it also makes sense. Breakfast I shouted Wang Binbin to go to the restaurant to eat, really good, two rows of long porch sheds, on both sides are snacks from all over the country gathered, want to eat what to eat. I tried to buy a few of them, but none of them tasted as good as I thought. After a few hasty bites, I was ready to head back. Wang Binbin said, Uncle, the school is too big, I will not send you to the school gate, so don't go through it. I said, OKAY. After thinking about it, he asked again, uncle, is the self-examination graduation certificate of Xi'an Jiaotong University high in gold? I said, yes, three nines of a thousand golden feet, you have to study hard. When we talked, there were constantly student couples walking arm in arm, and I knew young people like them, one by one, with acne-faced faces and strong sexual desire.
Xi'an can't come in vain. The return trip was a train at more than two o'clock in the afternoon, and in the morning I went to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. I know that the Big Wild Goose Pagoda is not because Xuanzang kept the scrolls brought back to Chang'an from Tianzhu there, but because of the poet Han Dong. He wrote a poem "About the Big Wild Goose Pagoda", which was widely circulated in our school, and the waste wood classmates hated elegance, hated the sublime, hated being awakened, hated being kidnapped and educated. Only Han Dong's poems are bland, like ordinary people, but they are like venting something, it is difficult to say clearly. I happen to be one of his many fans. The ticket to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda is forty yuan, I glanced at it, the doorman is very strict, there is no room to drill. There was a tour group lining up to enter, I wanted to blend in, just close to their long snake array, there was a female tour guide waving at me and shouting, don't insert yourself in me! Don't stick it in me! I said, just plug it in. She shook her head fiercely and said, No!
Fortunately, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda is not big, and when you turn a few steps and walk to its back door, there is only a person standing in the form of a security guard. I took out twenty dollars, pointed my food at him and "booed" him, and stuffed it into his pants pocket. His hands were open like penguins, his body was stiff, and his mouth was shouting, What do you do? What do you do? I ignored him and went straight in. Climbing to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, I feel very special, there are many people around us, we are mixed together, overlooking Xi'an, imagining the grand scene of the Tang Dynasty, but it may be only me because of a modern poem, it was written in 1983, now in 1998, fifteen years later, I still clearly remember Han Dong's verses: Those who are not happy / Those who are blessed / All climb up / Be heroes / Then come down / Walk into this street / Disappear in the blink of an eye / There are also kinds of jumping down / Opening a red flower on the steps. My heart beat suddenly, and I even thought of Ruan Zhuzhi again, and her miserable white face flashed in front of my eyes, which was simply a conditioned reflex, I couldn't see red, I couldn't think of blood.
- 4 -
I was excited and excited to write a book, wrote the article "The Development of the City's Hotel Industry I See", read the school magazine brought back from Xi'an, it was not like writing an article, but like swimming and flying, that wonderful feeling, really indescribable.
I handed the article to Mr. Ruan, who hurriedly glanced twice and asked the fool to take it to Secretary Gao. Ask me, how much did you spend when you went to Xi'an? I thought about it and said, ninety dollars. He was stunned and asked, how much? I said, ninety, eighty round-trip train tickets, ten dollars for accommodation. He smiled, brushed it from his pocket, took out two hundred-dollar bills and handed them to me, saying, this is a tip, and the ninety yuan you go to the financial reimbursement. I hurriedly resigned. He smiled evilly and said, I asked you to send the little guy to school, left his mother in the restaurant to play cards with us, and one day and one night, she lost thirty-eight thousand. I was taken aback and had to continue awkwardly. He pulled out his cigarette and tried to hand it to him, and I waved my hand, pretending not to smoke it. He lit a deep breath, spat out a long mouthful, as if to say to himself, you are in the office to do it, your little friend Roland, arrange for her to go to the housekeeping department, starting from the foreman. I admire Ruan Zong's action of taking out money, he should have a stack of money in his pants pocket, when he takes out the money, he does not take out the whole stack of money, but reaches out in his pocket, he can accurately pull out the number of cards he wants, whether it is three or five, brush it, like a cash machine.
On the third day, I met Secretary Gao in the courtyard of the Huaihe Hotel, and his eyes were a little glowing, and Lao Yuan shouted at me, Xiao Chen, you come here. I ran over to him and said, Secretary Gao. He said, welcome to the city recruitment, do a good job, do a good job here, it is also possible to transfer to the municipal government office. I laughed and said, "Huh?" He raised an eyebrow, and many people from our Huaihe Hotel were transferred to the city. I said, hmm. He said again, Xiao Chen, you are a talent. I thought to myself, you're right, but unfortunately it doesn't work.
I told Roland the news, but she didn't like it, saying that she felt that the Huaihe Hotel was going downhill and the building would fall. I said that this is a department-level public institution under the municipal government, and it has a staff. She thought about it and said that she heard that many waitresses were always good with Ruan, so that they could turn right. She was always well-informed, but that didn't surprise me. I could see it earlier, the waitress dormitory was in the innermost part of the corridor, and every waitress who returned to the dormitory at night had to pass in front of the ruan general office who did not return at night, often walking by the river, and it was possible to occasionally wet her shoes. I laughed and said, don't believe the rumors. Roland blinked his eyes and said, it is not a rumor, it is all the fact that the waitress involved said it herself, and it is best for all the people in the hotel to know it. I was shocked and asked, why? Roland said quietly that this would form a consensus up and down the hotel, and she would turn right and use public opinion to force the leader's decision-making. My head was buzzing, and for the first time I found that Roland was really not to be underestimated, and she had her own cleverness. Roland said, my beautiful fellow Jiang Siya, she is about to turn right. I was silent for a moment and said, let's do it for half a year. Roland shook his head and sighed, many things you like to use half a year as an excuse, remember that I did not want to associate with you at that time, you also said to communicate for half a year first.
—END—
Yangtze River Literature and Art, No. 3, 2022
Responsible Editor | Ding East Asia
▲Chen Hongwei |
Chen Hongwei, born in 1978, a native of Guangshan, Henan, graduated from Chinese University. He began writing in 2000 and has published more than one million words of long, medium and short stories so far, which have been selected for various anthologies and annual anthologies. He has published a collection of novels such as "Shadow Follows" and a novel "Land Boat". He has won the 7th Wansongpu Literary Newcomer Award and the 2nd Henan Du Fu Literature Award. He is now a professional writer at Henan Provincial College of Literature.