The ground was muddy and it was raining heavily.
Lightning crackled overhead. Guan Xi threw his bag on the seat, stood at the door of the noodle shop, and pulled out another cigarette.
She rubbed the cigarette between her fingertips and stared at the heavy rain in front of her.
There is a high probability that there is something wrong with the health of the old president Li Zhuoxiu. How long has this problem been going on? is it serious? Who else knows about this?
How much love is left between Shi Yuan and Li Zhuoxiu for many years now? Should she tell Shi Yuan? Should she tell Shi Yuan?
Does Shi Yuan know?
The smell of wet earth and grass is everywhere.
"lighter?"
Guan Xi turned around. Chen Jiaxian handed her a plastic lighter.
"Thank you." Guan Xi lowered his head and lit it.
Chen Jiaxian stretched out her hand. Guan Xi pulled out a cigarette and put it in her hand. Then he twisted his fingertips and the lighter made a crisp sound, and a small flame jumped in the rain.
Chen Jiaxian held the cigarette with her thumb and forefinger, stretched out her hand, and handed the cigarette to the flame. His posture seemed to be burning mosquito coils.
She doesn't smoke at all.
Guan Xi looked at Chen Jiaxian's face. Very young, too young. At this age, he is still a child in Guan Xi's eyes. There are many happy girls who are still in school at this age. But obviously Chen Jiaxian is not.
Chen Jiaxian's hand shook when her wrist was lightly tapped. The cigarette fell to the ground, rolled a few times, and became wet. She looked at Guan Xi.
Guan Xi took back his hand as if nothing had happened.
So Chen Jiaxian asked: "Why do you smoke?"
Guan Xi looked at Chen Jiaxian. Chen Jiaxian's eyes were bright and curious.
"To refresh myself." Guan Xi said, "It's not useful if you drink too much coffee."
"Not for love?" Chen Jiaxian asked.
That's how it's done on TV. I was hurt by love, so I learned to smoke while crying...
Guan Xi simply denied: "Of course not."
Guan Xi knew that he was always anxious and tense. And for people who are anxious and tense, it is difficult to tell whether they are in love with someone or grasping a driftwood in the water. So she simply stopped thinking about love.
Chen Jiaxian, at the moment, was looking at Guan Xi with twinkling eyes.
As expected of Guan Xi. Chen Jiaxian thought. She is the kind of heroine of the new era, right? She's so cool!
The two looked at Yuwu.
Chen Jiaxian felt a secret, small joy in her heart. She took the initiative to speak: "Last time you said resistance and rejection are very simple. I have thought about it for a long time."
Guan Xi said nothing.
She told more than just Chen Jiaxian. In fact, she was also telling herself.
The phone rang again, and Guan Xi knew it was her mother. She reached out and pressed mute without looking.
Chen Jiaxian doesn't want to be thought of as a weak person by the "cool" Guan Xi. She explained: "On that day, I was informed that I would be laid off. I would feel that my whole being was denied."
Guan Xi said: "Layoffs are a problem in the company's operations, not your fault."
Chen Jiaxian paused for a while and then took the initiative to speak: "My last job was as a project secretary in the Changlefang project of Zhuoxiu Group."
Guan Xi couldn't hide his surprise and said "oh".
"So." Chen Jiaxian mustered up her courage and said, "What should I do to be recalled by Zhuoxiu Group?"
She fought against her own shame and fear of rejection.
Guan Xi shook his head: "It's unlikely. With the current wave of layoffs, there are no redundant positions, and the next round of layoffs will be completed before the Spring Festival." She suggested, "You might as well look at other opportunities."
Chen Jiaxian mustered up her courage and asked again: "Then do you need an assistant?"
Guan Xi thought for a while: "You don't meet the relevant needs. It doesn't mean that you are not capable enough. It's just that the position I can provide does not match your personal characteristics."
Chen Jiaxian fought for herself: "I will learn."
Guan Xi explained: "Public relations, finance, consulting... In some industries, the academic qualifications and resumes must look glamorous, and the practitioners must also look glamorous. Only in this way, buyers will be willing to listen to us, and we will have the opportunity to sell and solve the problem." Plan. The essence of what we sell is the public's fantasy of elites, and the desire for 'better' represented behind the elite personas. This is business. You don't have such characteristics yet."
Chen Jiaxian said "hmm".
The rain is still falling. Pan Qiaomu doesn't need her, and Guan Xi doesn't need her either.
Guan Xi said: "You have to think clearly, what do you have that others don't have - who are you?"
…
who I am?
Chen Jiaxian couldn't figure it out, and Guan Xi couldn't figure it out either.
Guan Xi ordered the noodles to be served.
She asked Chen Jiaxian: "Did I order potato noodles?"
Chen Jiaxian checked the menu: "Yes. You scanned the code on the mini program to place the order."
Guan Xi frowned and checked the mini program, and found that his hand slipped when ordering.
She hates potatoes.
In 1997, the wave of layoffs began, and factories began to stop paying wages.
Guan Mu often makes eggplant mixed with potatoes.
Steam the eggplant and potatoes, crush them with a spoon, and mix them with miso.
At first, they could stir-fry soybean paste with eggs and minced meat. But in 1999, when they were laid off, they had to mix ordinary soybean paste.
Money for laid-off subsidies and seniority buyouts has been delayed.
Eggplants are expensive and potatoes are cheap. Guan Mu is putting more and more potatoes, but there is not much oil or water.
More than twenty years later, Guan Xi still felt sour in his stomach when facing potatoes.
Likewise, Guan Xi also hates cold noodles and hard-boiled eggs.
In the workers' village, there were many laid-off Koreans selling cold noodles from push carts for one yuan a bowl and half a hard-boiled egg. Guan's mother thought it was a good deal.
When Guan's mother was busy looking for a job and had no time to cook, she and Guan Xi would share a bowl of cold noodles. Because Korean cold noodles are made of buckwheat, they are difficult to chew. Guan Xi eats slowly and is full easily.
Half an egg was left for Guan Xi to supplement his nutrition.
It wasn't until 2004 that Guan Xi's parents' layoff certificates were issued.
With their laid-off certificates, they received unemployment benefits for two years. From April 2004 to March 2006, Guan's father and Guan's mother each received 223 yuan a month, and they received a total of 10,704 yuan.
They were also given a sum of money to buy out their seniority, and the two of them received about 20,000 yuan in total.
Counting it this way, from 1997, when we were laid off, to 2007, when we received unemployment benefits, the entire 10 years of turmoil and struggle is worth about 30,000 yuan.
Guan Xi couldn't help but feel sour in his stomach when facing the potatoes in front of him, and couldn't even swallow a bite.
The wave of layoffs made her anxious and tense. Emotional scars will show up in the torso. And how should she get along with such a self?
She got up and left.
