Chapter 44

◎ Old Friends ◎

Du Ningyang resigned and changed careers, Zhu He lost his house, and Xiao Taoer was born. These three things happened in the same year.

Two years after joining the company, it was finally time for the long-awaited travel group building. Before she left, she was very excited and said to Zhu He, "When I come back, let's go to the mall together to pick out some gifts for Zhu Yao and send them back. We also need to leave some time for express delivery and logistics."

Zhu He has always been casual about spending money since he was a child, and he doesn't care much. He must give the best to his baby sister. Mo Ming asked, "How much do these things cost?"

The popularity last summer was just a flash in the pan, and the business situation has been tepid since then, barely able to maintain life; however, unexpectedly, the number of players this summer suddenly shrank, and the number of people online on all servers dropped sharply.

The entire Dreamwalking Universe was extremely depressed, and Zhu He's transaction volume fell off a cliff, and he had not received any money for more than ten consecutive days.

Du Ningyang was very excited about going on a trip recently, and he didn't want to ruin her interest, so he kept it a secret and relied on savings to support major expenses such as rent and utilities.

Without income, they will soon be short of money again. He didn't want to go through the predicament of last spring again.

"At least three thousand, to buy two sets of children's clothes, some supplements, and two new Chanel lipsticks for her," Du Ningyang counted on his fingers, "Oh, yes, and a red envelope,... about five thousand?"

"Yeah, got it," Zhu He waved at her, "Have fun, and pick it when you come back."

This week was very tormenting for both of them. They each brought bad news to each other.

During the trip, Du Ningyang fought with the parachuted male boss who tried to sexually harass him, and kicked the other's vitals with all his strength. Amid the other's screams, he threw a resignation letter written on a tissue in the face of his former leader who favored him.

Zhu He was eager for success this week, misjudged the scarcity of a batch of newly released equipment, mortgaged the wedding house in Huaicheng, and hoarded a pile of scrap metal in his hands.

She returned home exhausted and in a mess, and saw him huddled in a corner, also in a state of collapse.

He cried, "I'm sorry, honey. I'll think of a way. I was so obsessed at that time that I thought this wave of equipment upgrades was an opportunity to make a lot of money... I'm really sorry."

She had never counted on his house far away in Huaicheng. She had never seen the house once, so she had no feelings for it. It was just that I heard that the housing prices in Huaicheng had risen a bit, and the house could be worth 700,000 yuan, which was quite uncomfortable when converted into money.

With their level of earning, it would take them many years to earn.

But that was Zhu He's parents' money. Their money was wasted, and it had nothing to do with her.

She said, "It's okay, Zhu He, let's start over." There was nothing else to do, so they had to start over.

As planned, they went to the mall to pick out a gift for Zhu Yao, and did not cut back on spending. On the surface, everything was normal, and the people in Huaicheng did not know that they were experiencing the pain of a collapse.

Zhu Yao was lying on the delivery bed, babbling on the phone to Du Ningyang, "It's a girl, a little girl weighing 5.6 jins. She didn't suffer too much."

"You're pretending again," Du Ningyang suppressed his trembling tears, "but I heard your mother and your brother say that on the phone. Why are you pretending to me? Don't I know how much you are afraid of pain?" "

Du Ningyang," Zhu Yao couldn't help it, "When will you come back to see Xiao Taoer? She's wearing the new clothes you gave her today."

"Winter, I'll be back in winter," she said, "I have to earn money for Xiao Taoer's milk powder."

"Bah, you don't have to earn money, her own father earns more than you do," Zhu Yao didn't know that Zhu He lost his house, but knew that she lost her job, "Don't worry too much, you will definitely find a good job."

Zhu Yao is still the same Zhu Yao. When it comes to friends, he thinks about everything and loves to give instructions like a parent. Du Ningyang nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, "hmmmm" non-stop.

Before hanging up, Zhu Yao said, "The newspaper said that Huaicheng will have a cold winter this year. Remember to wear a down jacket when you come back. Long ones that reach the ankles are very popular now. Wear UGGs underneath. I heard that you won't feel cold even when walking on snow." "

I know, you're just nagging. It's getting late. Go to bed."

That year, before the Chinese New Year, clothing stores were selling off their stock, but she couldn't bear to buy a down jacket that reached the ankles, let alone UGGs that cost thousands of yuan.

She and Zhu He spent a shabby New Year in Shenzhen, lying to her family, Zhu Yao, and Xu Zhaolin that they went on a trip to Thailand.

In the ticket hall, she returned the tickets worth nearly 700 yuan, and suddenly the stone in her chest fell.

"It was a last-minute decision to go, so I treated it as a honeymoon," Du Ningyang explained desperately to Zhu Yao on the phone, "I'm sorry, I broke my promise."

Zhu Yao groaned, "Okay, it's a legitimate reason. I forgive you, sister-in-law."

If you can't make it, come back. Don't be stubborn. In the end, she still couldn't say it.

"When I get back in shape, I'll come to visit you with my family," she said, "and treat you well at that time."

Zhu Yao mailed some salty and fragrant sausages and cauliflower to Du Ningyang. These two are specialties of Huaicheng, and you can't taste them anywhere else.

At the New Year's Eve dinner that year, Du Ningyang, who was unemployed, and Zhu He, who dreamed of turning over a new leaf in the sleepwalking universe, steamed a pot of rice, and ate up all the food on the table with the fragrant sausages and fried cauliflower, and two glasses of the cheapest small bottles of white wine.

After all, it was the New Year's Eve dinner, and they originally wanted to buy some fresh meat and vegetables to make it more sumptuous, but they had never spent the New Year alone, and they had never thought that they had to stock up on meat and vegetables for the New Year in advance, and they couldn't buy them now.

So let's just make the best of it, and find joy in hardship. How bad can life be?

They sat opposite each other with the background music of the Spring Festival Gala, their eyes still filled with expectations for the new year, and it was not that there was no chance for them to make a comeback.

She threw out an idea that she had been thinking about for a long time, but it was a bit crazy.

"I want to learn tattooing. I know a friend who opened a tattoo shop and is looking for a partner. I majored in oil painting, so I have an advantage over those who only studied halfway through," she frowned and drank the spicy white wine in one gulp. "It's a skill that becomes more popular as you get older, and it's also quite meaningful."

Zhu He stared at the letters on her hand in a trance, the "WY" that penetrated deep into her skin.

"Wife, you can make any decision you want, you don't need to ask for my opinion," he drank a glass, "I will also go out to find a job after the New Year. I promise you, I will work hard and will not stand still."

Zhu He put down his glass, his face flushed with wine, and his words were not clear, "By the way, wife, have you counted?"

"What to count?"

He spread his hands on the table and counted one finger at a time, "How many years have we known each other?"

"We will have known each other for ten years in August," she didn't need to count like him, she blurted it out without thinking.

He was drunk, and his tone was full of joy and pride, "It's been so long, ten years, more than three thousand days. I still remember the first time I saw you, you were still a fat kid who loved to cry, and now you are my wife - what have I done to have such a beautiful and hardworking wife?"

The spicy wine choked her throat, making her eyes red. Looking at him, she always had a premonition that their story would not end well.

How could this be? They were obviously completely together and belonged to each other completely.

She argued, "I only cried once...how can I be called a 'crybaby'?"

"You should have only cried to me, right?"

She tried her best to hold back her tears, and her nose was sore. Zhu He reached out and scratched Du Ningyang's upturned little nose, saying that she was a "little snowman with a red nose", and then pulled her into his arms, wanting to drink wine with her again.

The hour and minute hands were about to overlap, and the building suddenly lost power, and the surroundings suddenly became dark. In this brief moment of withdrawal, she heard her heartbeat in sync with Zhu He's, and then fireworks burst out from the window, illuminating each other's eyes.

At that time, they had each other in their eyes, and when they looked at each other, their eyes would shine, and the bitterness was also sweet.

The building resumed power supply, and the dim lights in the house lit up again, and then, a brand new year arrived.

-The

taxi stopped in front of an old commercial building, and even the exhaust smelled damp and stale. Du Ningyang got out of the car first, and Wen Xu followed behind, taking out her small box from the trunk.

Even on weekend mornings, people in Shenzhen have woken up and are busy. Men and women are coming and going in front of the small glass door, and all the buns in the convenience store have been sold out.

Du Ningyang walked in on the marble floor with ease, passed the elevator hall, pushed open the security door and turned into the dim stairwell. She went upstairs with the clatter of her high heels, not considering that there was a coolie following behind her.

"Follow me," she stood in the stairwell on the second floor and waved at him, "It's complicated in here, don't get lost."

Wen Xu sighed and quickened his pace. This woman has changed. She either sleeps all day until dark, or rushes to meet friends immediately after taking the night train.

She was very angry. She took off her coat in the car at night and stuffed it into his arms. He didn't mean to pry into her privacy, but the unfolded email fell out of his pocket.

He learned about Wu You in a daze - he couldn't understand why she was so obsessed with Wu You and had to meet with Zhu He's ex.

It was like a long journey.

He had to come with her, not because he was really curious about her "old friend", but because he was afraid that she would fight with someone, and everyone around her would help her, or if she was so angry that she cried, someone had to pass her a tissue and lend her a shoulder to lean on.

He followed her so self-indulgently, and even took a vacation with Wei Ye on the high-speed train.

He couldn't count how many floors he followed her up, how many corners he turned, and how many small apartments and small nail art clothing stores he passed by, until her footsteps stopped in front of an old wooden door with a small colorful sign.

There were two words written on it - "Memorial".

She took out the key from her bag, turned the key skillfully and forcefully, pressed the handle down, pushed the door open, and turned on the light on the right.

"Who is it?" A lazy female voice came from inside, with an uncertain tone, "Aning?"

"It's me, I'm back," she shouted to the inside, as naturally as going home, "Why are you sleeping here, where's Lian Jia?"

"He sent Xiaobei to cram school, I'm waiting for you here," Dai Xi got up from the camp bed, looking listless, but when she saw Du Ningyang, her eyes were bright, "I know you won't break your promise." "

Bah, you can't do anything to me if you break your promise," Du Ningyang threw his handbag on the workbench, took out a bottle of water from somewhere, unscrewed the cap and drank.

Daixi then noticed a tall and handsome man standing at the door. She raised her eyebrows at Du Ningyang, "Who is this? Your new sweetheart?"

"Yeah," Wen Xu answered before Du Ningyang could come to his senses, "Hello, my name is Wen Xu."

"Hello, I'm Daixi, her best friend," Daixi stood up, put on flip-flops with bright red nail polish, walked towards Wen Xu, and took the initiative to extend her hand to shake hands with him.

Du Ningyang winked at Daixi as if protecting his child, "Don't take advantage of her."

"It's just a handshake, okay?" Daixi pulled her hand back and shook her head at Wen Xu, "She's quite possessive, isn't she? You have to get used to it."

"Stop talking nonsense," Du Ningyang finally got to the point, "Go and disinfect the tattoo bed, then go up there yourself and show me where you have hyperplasia. You guys messed around when I wasn't here."

- It made her worried and she rushed over overnight.

"You still feel sorry for me," Dai Xi flattened her lips and did as she was told, "but it really hurts, I'm not lying to you."

"Got it, stop nagging."

Du Ningyang was not idle either, he quickly packed up the camp bed, took off a plastic film of the right size and spread it, and sent Wen Xu to catch up on his sleep.