Heavy rain washed away the glass curtain wall, and streams of water meandered down.
It was getting dark and it was already past six o'clock.
At this moment, the conference room on the seventh floor of Fengcheng City Construction Bank is still brightly lit, and the bank's second quarter credit business meeting is still in progress.
Listening to the patter of rain outside the window, Li Ji lowered his head and secretly looked at his watch from time to time, with a worried look on his face.
Li Ji is the deputy general manager of the credit department of the municipal bank and graduated from the Provincial University of Finance and Economics with an accounting major. He has been in the industry for five years and is only twenty-seven years old. He was promoted as an exception a year and a half ago.
Tao Ping, the vice president in charge of credit business of the municipal bank, was reading out the list of commendations.
The first one on the list is Li Ji.
It wasn't until applause rang out from around him and a colleague sitting next to him quietly pushed him that Li Ji realized he was distracted.
"The bank's credit business has grown rapidly in the second quarter, and Comrade Li Ji from the credit department has performed particularly well. He hereby offers written praise and a quarterly performance bonus of 3,000 yuan..." President Tao's rich baritone echoed in the room, and everyone All eyes turned to Li Ji.
You know, three thousand yuan is almost two months' salary for an ordinary employee. This is a real thing.
"Mr. Li is going to treat us!" I don't know who shouted first.
"A treat! A treat!"
"You have to kill Mr. Li properly!"
….
Li Ji woke up suddenly, feeling his face heat up, and sat up straight in a hurry.
He looked at the rostrum, then looked both sides, and said with a smile: "No problem, Shanxi Ramen Restaurant across the street, tell me my name, and eat whatever you want!"
"Too stingy!"
"Stingy!"
“It doesn’t count, I’ll have to set up a few tables at the Marriott Hotel in the end!”
"Mr. Li, I ate that ramen every day for lunch and I vomited!"
"Hahaha!"
…
President Tao is very easy-going, and most of the attendees are old colleagues from the credit department who have been working in the same pot all year round. Invisibly, everyone talks a lot more casually.
"Okay, okay, everyone, be quiet!" President Tao smiled and pressed his hands down, and the conference room became quiet again.
"You can discuss the dinner treat after the meeting. Just don't forget my share then."
The audience burst into laughter again.
"Next, allocate business assessment indicators for the third quarter..."
The sound of rain in my ears seemed to be louder.
Li Ji couldn't help but look at his watch again: It was past six-thirty, and Liao Ying must have been impatient to wait.
Li Ji couldn't sit still.
Today is the birthday of his girlfriend Liao Ying.
The two made an agreement a few days ago to celebrate together tonight. The two plan to get married next year. This may be Liao Ying's last birthday before she becomes a wife.
For this reason, Li Ji went to Holiland to order a big birthday cake, but it was already this time. He usually went home early from get off work, and the meeting was not over yet.
Li Ji's cell phone kept buzzing and vibrating in his bag, and he didn't dare to answer it.
On the stage, Mr. Tao's mouth moved like a small fish spitting bubbles, but Li Ji hardly heard a word of what he said next.
Someone covered his mouth and yawned. Li Ji squinted his eyes and looked back anxiously, wishing he could open the door of the conference room immediately and slip out.
"Okay, let's break up the meeting!"
After an unknown amount of time, Li Ji finally heard the word "dismissed".
Manager Tao picked up his notebook, held a water glass, and walked down the podium. As soon as he stepped out of the front door, Li Ji stood up, pulled out his chair, and ran out as if running away.
Someone from behind laughed and shouted: "Oh, you ran away because you were afraid of the treat!"
“It’s a disgrace to the city leaders!”
"Bring Mr. Li back, hahaha!"
"Shameful, haha!"
…
Li Ji didn't care anymore at this time, opened the back door and ran out.
Outside, the rain is still falling. The rain hit my face, making it cool.
Li Ji rushed to the bicycle shed, pushed out his bicycle, walked a few steps, and then turned back.
Looking at the rain and fog in the sky, Li Ji parked the bicycle and put it back where it was. He opened his umbrella, shrunk his neck, and walked out of the yard quickly.
The night is getting darker, and cars and people are coming and going on the road, all in a hurry. The phone rang again. Li Ji quickly picked up the phone and it was Liao Ying.
"Honey, I'm sorry! Are you in a hurry?" Li Ji giggled.
The two were college classmates and had been in love for four years. After graduation, Liao Ying did not return to her hometown in the south. Instead, she followed Li Ji to Fengcheng and became a teacher at the city's finance and economics school.
"Hey, I've been meeting all day," Li Ji stood at the intersection, stretched, and waved for a taxi as he spoke, "It just ended now, and I'm still waiting for the taxi..."
"Don't worry, be careful on the road."
Liao Ying spoke softly on the phone, with the gentleness and thoughtfulness of a Jiangnan woman.
"Yes, I understand." Li Ji responded, put on the phone, and took a few steps forward.
On rainy days, it was difficult for cars to hail, so several cars passed by, all carrying passengers. Li Ji waited impatiently, until he almost lost his patience, and finally an empty truck came.
Li Ji got in the car, asked the driver to change directions, went to the store to pick up the cake, and then hurried towards the east of the city.
After getting out of the car, Li Ji carried the cake and hurriedly ran to the finance school.
When the guard saw it was Li Ji, he laughed, nodded, and said loudly: "Young man, hold on tight, Teacher Liao has come out to see us several times!"
Li Ji smiled and quickly entered the school gate without talking.
At some point, the rain stopped.
The evening wind blew slowly, and water dropped from the trees on the roadside from time to time, making a soft "plop" sound.
Li Ji was sweating profusely and ran to the staff dormitory at the back of the school.
It was a two-story building with more than twenty rooms above and below, where some young teachers lived.
The outer wall of the small building has peeled off a lot and is mottled. In the dim night, it looks even more dated.
As soon as Li Ji arrived downstairs, he looked up and saw a slender figure looking there in the corridor on the second floor.
"Yingying..." Li Ji was holding the cake in one hand and holding his knees with the other, breathing heavily.
Liao Ying screamed, ran downstairs quickly, stepped forward to take the cake, raised her hand to gently wipe the sweat from Li Ji's forehead, and said angrily: "Look at how you run..."
A faint fragrance overflowed into the nose. "Isn't this because I miss you?"
Li Ji was distracted, grabbed Liao Ying's hand, straightened up, and kissed her hard on the cheek.
"Oh, you, don't let anyone see you." Liao Ying's face turned red and she lightly poked Li Ji on the forehead.
"It's all nonsense, who would notice!" Li Ji smiled, put his arm around Liao Ying's waist, and the two of them carried her upstairs.
In the small single dormitory, a small round table was filled with dishes. The food had lost its heat long ago, but the aroma still spread throughout the room.
Li Ji suddenly felt hungry, and his stomach growled twice.
He sat down on the stool, reached out, grabbed a small piece of braised pork, and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Greedy, wash your hands!" Liao Ying slapped the back of Li Ji's hand, her eyes filled with tenderness. Li Ji swallowed the braised pork and made a face.
When Li Ji came back, Liao Ying had placed the cake in the middle of the table. Li Ji inserted the candles and lit them one by one.
The small candlelight swayed gently, illuminating the faces of the two people.
"Sit down, let's make a wish first." Li Ji pressed Liao Ying's shoulders and asked her to sit down on the stool.
Liao Ying clasped her hands on her chest, with a smile on her face.
She slowly closed her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling slightly.
"Wait, I'm going to turn off the lights!" Li Ji shouted, stood up and turned off the lights.
The room darkened. A dozen small candles danced gently, like a dozen small lanterns, emitting a red and yellow halo, which was indescribably warm and peaceful.
"Okay, make a wish." Li Ji sat down opposite, crossed his hands on his chin, and looked at Liao Ying silently, with a lot of tenderness in his heart.
"Um."
Liao Ying smiled lightly, and the happy luster slowly spread over her face, like a pious saint.
"I made a wish..." Liao Ying lowered her eyelashes and moved her lips slightly.
"Dingle bell! Dingle bell!"
Li Ji's cell phone rang at an inappropriate time.
"Who is it? What a disappointment!" Li Ji couldn't help but frowned, but sat still, thinking that it was the ignorant person who called at this time.
"Yingying, make a wish." Li Ji turned his smile and urged softly.
"Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling!"
The bell was still ringing stubbornly, over and over again, seeming to be getting more and more urgent, like a soul-inducing bell.
"Hurry up and answer the phone," Liao Ying opened her eyes and pursed her lips, "Don't come to see you if there is something important in the industry."
"What's important at this time?" Li Ji muttered, stood up reluctantly, and took out his mobile phone from the briefcase on the bed.
The screen kept flashing. Li Ji glanced at it casually, and the look on his face immediately became tense.
The caller was Li Ji's immediate boss, Cui Hao, general manager of the credit department of the municipal bank.
In my impression, Cui Hao rarely called himself after get off work; the few times he did, they were all for urgent matters.
What's the big deal this time?
Li Ji thought as he reached out and pressed the answer button.
"Mr. Li, come to the office right away!" As soon as the call was connected, Cui Hao's anxious voice came over before Li Ji could speak.
"Now?!" Li Ji was stunned and blurted out.
"Yes, now, right away!"
Li Ji was full of doubts and was about to ask another question when he heard the other end of the phone say, "Come directly to President Tao's office!"
"Mr. Cui, what happened?"
There was silence in the receiver, leaving only the sound of "hissing" breathing.
It took a long time before Cui Hao's deep voice was heard again--
"Wan Cheng committed suicide..."
