Chapter 38

◎ I wish us to be free and happy! ◎

In the past 22 years of life, there were many nodes, when to take exams, when to go to the studio, when to take graduation photos, when to get transcripts... Every 365 days was divided into small sections, one after another, so it was particularly neat and orderly to walk, and even if things didn't go smoothly, they could quickly get back to their place.

The days to come were not like this. These nodes disappeared in the next second after the graduation ceremony ended -

classmates withdrew from the campus one by one, and went their separate ways. Yesterday, they met on the road and greeted each other with laughter, and today I heard that they took the train to a distant place; the campus couple who were still affectionate and would not marry anyone just now changed their partners and entered the marriage hall in the blink of an eye.

Everyone was pushed forward by time and had to move forward.

Zhu Zhu had just joined the company, and his annual leave was limited, only five days a year, and all of them were handed over to Du Ningyang and Zhu Yao's graduation season. He bought a ticket for the next Sunday morning and had to rush to work the next day.

Du Ningyang also bought the same train.

Whenever she recalled this day, perhaps this day that played a significant role in their lives, she could only remember that it was a Sunday in June, and Du Minda and Fang Fang sent her to the waiting hall, but she had no idea what day it was, what time she left, and which car she was in. She was in a daze.

The night before departure, there was a sense of uneasiness in the air, as if life would change drastically tomorrow.

Fang Fang still filled two large bags for Du Ningyang. No one knew where she got so many snakeskin bags, and they kept coming like magic. She leaned against Du Ningyang's bedroom door and gave him instructions one by one.

"Mom," Du Ningyang's ears were callused, "I'm not going away and never coming back. The Chinese New Year is only half a year away, and I'll be back after the Chinese New Year."

"I know you think I'm nagging..." Fang Fang sighed, "A mother worries about her child even when he is thousands of miles away. Please understand me. How can I not worry about you, a little girl, going to such a faraway place with no place to live and no job?"

"I have friends over there, and I have a place to stay. I'll print out my resume when I get there. If it doesn't work, I'll send out one or two hundred copies. I don't believe I can't find a crappy job."

Du Ningyang sat up from the bed, "Really, don't worry, I'll call you every day, okay?"

Fang Fang asked, "Really? Which friend? Leave your contact information to mom, just in case."

Du Ningyang didn't say who this friend was, and recited the congratulatory mobile phone number like reciting a jingle. Fang Fang hesitated for a moment, then asked, "You can even recite your friend's mobile phone number? It's not easy. Is it a boy or a girl?"

"...girl," Du Ningyang made up a name at random, "a college classmate of mine, we have a good relationship, you just don't know her. Besides, with my memory, how difficult is it to memorize my classmates' phone numbers?"

Fang Fang remembered many things, such as the time when Jin Zhenqi came to her house for dinner and joked with Du Ningyang, saying that she didn't even remember her own mobile phone number, but could sing the number song of the shopping advertisement on TV.

At that time, they said that she had been a shopping maniac since she was a child.

Why can't she even memorize the phone number of Jin's son-in-law, but remember the phone number of a good friend?

Why were the two of them fine before leaving, but went their separate ways when they came back?

And why did she have to go to Shenzhen to make a living even though she had agreed to be a teacher and even passed the teacher's qualification certificate with great effort?

All the questions pointed to one answer, that is, the disappointing Du Ningyang fell in love with a boy in Shenzhen.

Fang Fang sat down beside Du Ningyang's bed and said earnestly, "Sometimes mom really doesn't know what you are thinking, and can't keep up with the thinking of young people, but mom hopes you can be happy and make the choices you want to make, but don't be willful, think twice before doing anything, and bring your new boyfriend home so that your parents can see him and check him for you." "

Why are you saying this..." Du Ningyang couldn't figure out Fang Fang's intention of saying these words to her. She vaguely felt that she was going to mention Jin Zhenqi to her again.

Fang Fang just touched her face gently, "Go to sleep, baby, a new journey will begin tomorrow."

She got up and left the room, turned off the lights for Du Ningyang, and closed the door.

Du Ningyang got into bed and couldn't fall asleep for a long time. He remembered the last meal he had with Zhu Yao and Xu Zhaolin during the day.

The venue was chosen to be a barbecue restaurant in the alley next to Du Ningyang's house. They heard that the skewers in the south were very small, and the corn was skewered one by one. They were afraid that she would have nothing to eat when she went there, so they quickly invited her to a banquet to see her off.

Zhu Yao was indignant that she finally chose to hang herself on Zhu He's tree, and her elbow was completely bent into outer space without any concealment.

She poked the baby cabbage with chopsticks in anger, "What will happen to you, you useless guy, when you go to Shenzhen?"

"What's wrong..." Du Ningyang knew that he was in the wrong, and his tone was weak, "He has become much more motivated now, okay? Didn't he tell you at home?"

"Hehe, you are the only one who believes in him, the power of love," Zhu Yao said, "God bless you."

"Zhu He broke up with Wu You? When did it happen? How come I didn't know?"

Xu Zhaolin asked casually, not caring at all that his friend was Zhu He's new partner, "Aren't they soul mates? Do soul mates break up these days?"

Du Ningyang and Zhu Yao fell silent.

After Du Ningyang came back from Shenzhen, Zhu Yao scolded her, saying that she was crazy to rush to Zhu He, and even scolded her for having a wrong world view and wanted to break up with her.

Du Ningyang had no choice but to tell her the whole story and beg her to keep it a secret and not let more people know Zhu He's true situation, as he was in such a miserable situation at that time.

Zhu Yao then agreed to continue being friends with her, and turned a blind eye to Du Ningyang and Zhu He being together.

Zhu Yao tried to smooth things over: "If they break up, then they break up. Isn't it normal to break up after a relationship?"

"That's right," Xu Zhaolin was quickly fooled, and even spoke for Du Ningyang and Zhu He, "Then let them be together well, maybe it will really work out, her dream will come true, and you two will be even closer, which is great. Besides, if she finds someone else, you will have to worry about conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, or between aunt and daughter-in-law. If she really comes to your house, won't she be able to walk sideways?" "

Yes, the two of us can do whatever we want."

"How are your job searches going?" Du Ningyang didn't want to talk about this topic anymore, so he quickly changed the subject.

As expected, Zhu Yao and Xu Zhaolin were led astray by her. One said, "I want to take a break for a while," and the other said, "I sent in my resume but didn't receive any response." This is in line with their usual style, and they will be casual to the end.

Locals have this advantage. They live at home, so even if they rely on their parents, it's just a matter of having an extra pair of chopsticks. If they don't want to rely on their parents, they don't have to bear the rent and utilities, and they have the advantage of choosing a leisurely job.

Thinking of this, Du Ningyang felt a lot of pressure. He opened the freezer, took out a can of ice-cold beer, and drank it one sip after another.

Suddenly, Zhu Yao seemed to have made a great decision, "Hey, I want to tell you something, please keep it secret."

"Go ahead." "Hurry up."

"My mother introduced me to a guy, a pilot," Zhu Yao lowered his voice, "I went to meet him last week and had a meal with him. I felt pretty good about him."

"Is this a blind date?"

"Of course."

Xu Zhaolin sneered at her, "You are really good. You have been holding it in until now. People who don't know would think you are hiding a treasure."

"Then I am afraid that you will laugh at me. I am going on a blind date at such a young age," Zhu Yao glared at Xu Zhaolin, "How do I know if the photo of him is of me? I have to check it first."

Du Ningyang asked again, "Are you going to get married soon?"

"Maybe, my brother got married early, and now the child can crawl on the ground, so cute," Zhu Yao took a bite of the crispy toast, "There is nothing wrong with getting married. Anyway, I don't want to go to work."

"Is he handsome? Look at the photo," Xu Zhaolin asked himself, "He should be pretty good, otherwise you wouldn't step into the grave of marriage just after stepping out of the quagmire of school."

"What grave of marriage? You haven't even started yet, right?"

Zhu Yao denied it, and looked alert. He took out his mobile phone and flipped through a selfie of the pilot to show them.

This pilot is different from the one in the TV series. He is not the 1.8-meter-tall, long-legged, handsome man with sunglasses as imagined. Not too tall, not too short, not too fat, not too thin, just an ordinary person with good temperament and good academic performance.

But he is quite decent and serious.

Xu Zhaolin understood Zhu Yao's shyness and said bluntly: "Don't worry, you and I are not on the same track." Both of his girlfriends have the shadow of Wei Ye, a handsome artist.

"Not bad," Du Ningyang's evaluation is fair, "much better than those boys in our school, at least he is masculine. Pilots should earn a lot, so they must have no worries about food and drink." "

It's very good, my mother is also very satisfied," the tone seems to be about to get married.

Zhu Yao said, "When Du Ningyang comes back next time, if I am really sure that I am with him, we will have dinner together, and call Zhu He as well, and have a family dinner."

Xu Zhaolin said shamelessly, "How can I attend then? Do you have any cousins ​​you can introduce to me?"

Zhu Yao's mouth twitched, "Okay, I'll keep an eye out for you."

"I think it's especially good now," Du Ningyang raised his glass, "Anyway, we have entered a new chapter, I wish us..."

"Wish us what?" She didn't even finish her words.

"Wish us... um," she stumbled for a moment, and tried hard to think of the most appropriate words for them, "Wish us to follow our heart but be happy."

"Yes! Wish us to follow our heart but be happy!"

"Not bad, I like this expression." "Me too!"

After drinking this can, Zhu Yao felt light and didn't feel anything at all. She opened another bottle of white wine, poured it into the plastic cup, filled it up, tilted her head back, and drank it all in one gulp.

The alcohol made her bolder. She said, "Du Ningyang, don't think that because Zhu He is my brother, you have to be responsible for him. If you don't like him, you can kick him. It doesn't matter. I won't be angry. I will support you. Don't wrong yourself in Shenzhen. Eat and drink when you should. If you can't make it, come back. If you can't make it, you can get the minimum living allowance. Do you understand?"

Kicked her own brother... Come back if you can't make it... If you can't make it, you can get the minimum living allowance... Is this what a friend should say before fulfilling his ambition?

Du Ningyang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but his eyes were sore, so he could only respond with "um... um..." "

How about we send you off tomorrow?" Xu Zhaolin was still sober and interrupted the two people's farewell, "Anyway, there is nothing to do tomorrow."

"No need," Du Ningyang clinked glasses with Zhu Yao, and tears fell into the glass. In fact, there was nothing much to do, just pretending to be crazy with alcohol to express unnecessary and useless emotions.

"Why?"

"The bus leaves at 7 o'clock and I have to leave at 5 o'clock. You can't get up."

"That's right. I won't see you off then."

"Fake friend."

"Tsk."

She always had a good sleep. She would sleep until noon when she didn't have classes. Although she would choose to get up at 8 o'clock in the two years when she was most motivated, she would never wake up before the alarm went off five or six times.

But the next day, when she heard the first alarm go off, she sat up immediately and said "Hi" to Fang Fang who was about to push the door open.

She grew up so suddenly, pretending to be an adult, and merged into the vast crowd.