Volume 3 Winter Solstice Chapter 24: Intern
"93, 94, okay, keep going, okay 98, 99, 100! Over!" Guan Nuo clapped his hands, and the children who were standing in two rows on the basketball court practicing passing and catching the ball instantly dispersed.
He said, “That’s all for today.”
The child ran towards the parents who were waiting in the rest area.
After Guan Nuo picked up the basketball that had rolled on the ground, he sat down on a lounge chair, picked up the bottle of purified water next to the chair leg, unscrewed the lid, and drank half of the bottle in one gulp.
This children's basketball club has some history in Tangjiang.
He was in poor health when he was a child, so Guan Qingtong sent him here for training. He often came here when he was free and occasionally helped to train some children.
More than ten minutes later, the parents took their children away, and the club's coach Duan Sheng came over from the rest area.
He was very tall, but his complexion was not very good.
He sat down next to Guan Nuo and patted him on the back. "Luckily you came today. I didn't feel well when I woke up this morning. I took some medicine and have been feeling groggy ever since."
Guan Nuo put the water bottle back on the ground.
Duan Sheng looked at his expression and asked, "What's wrong with you? Are you worried about something?"
"Nothing." Guan Nuo stood up. "It's getting late. Teacher Duan, you should go back early. Have a good sleep and your cold will be gone."
"Well, you should go home early too."
Guan Nuo walked into the lounge, changed his clothes, and walked out of the gate of Qingdou Children's Basketball Club with a backpack on one shoulder. He looked at his phone and saw Guan Qingtong asking him on WeChat if he would go back for dinner. He thought for a moment and replied: I'm going to a classmate's house and will be back later.
After sending the message, he looked up and saw a familiar-looking figure walking into the path diagonally in front of him.
Uncle Zhuang?
He subconsciously raised his legs and followed.
After passing through the small road, there is a stone arch bridge, and then there is Hexing Road, where there are many snack shops and a small theater...
Guan Nuo walked onto the stone arch bridge while thinking. He looked forward and did not see Zhuang Zekun. He turned around and saw that it had darkened without him noticing. The path they had come from was lost in the darkness.
The sound of water.
The river water under the bridge was roaring.
Guan Nuo glanced under the bridge. The black river water was rising and surging. He looked up and saw the street lights on both sides of Hexing Road were on. Guan Nuo took out his mobile phone and took a look at his unread messages on WeChat and QQ. He used these two numbers to make a hexagram. The current hexagram was Water Mountain Jian, and the changing hexagram was Earth Mountain Qian. The moving line was at Jiuwu.
He took a step forward.
Walked down the arch bridge.
He walked forward following the guidance of the street lights, past the theater, past the Tongxinglai noodle shop, past the fried chicken shop, and arrived in front of the 75 Cafe. He pushed open the door of the cafe and saw Zhuang Zekun sitting in the middle seat, his phoenix eyes looking at him quietly.
He hesitated for a moment, walked to Zhuang Zekun, pulled out a chair, sat down, and put his backpack beside the chair.
After he sat down, Zhuang Zekun asked him, "Have you seen Tang Butian?"
Guan Nuo hesitated for a moment.
"Do you want to join the Special Operations Department?"
"No, no, yes..." He clenched his hands nervously, "I think, I..." He took a deep breath. He did not answer Zhuang Zekun's words, but asked in return: "Do you know my biological father?"
"I know."
"Yeah……"
"Your mother used to be my subordinate."
Guan Nuo lowered his head and remained silent.
Zhuang Zekun didn't say anything else, he looked out the window.
Their figures were reflected in the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The shadows of the trees swayed.
"Can you let me join the Special Operations Department?"
"able."
"So, what do you want me to do?"
"A lot," Zhuang Zekun said, sitting a little more casually. "I am the first person in charge of the Special Operations Department of Tangjiang City. It can be said that the establishment and promotion of the Special Operations Department were all done by me, your father, and many other people. We built it up from scratch."
"How did my father die?"
"You can check it yourself after you enter the Special Operations Department."
Guan Nuo clenched his hands and then loosened them. He said, "I, okay, okay."
Tables, chairs, floor-to-ceiling windows, street lights… spread out like water waves.
Lights up.
He saw himself standing on an arch bridge with his backpack at his feet.
Vehicles were driving on the street at the bridgehead. When the green light came on, he saw Zhuang Zekun standing on Hexing Road.
——
Jiang You, Tang Butian and Sun Yu looked out of the office door at the same time.
Zhuang Zekun stood outside the door and Guan Nuo stood behind him.
Tang Butian stood up, she stretched out her hand, and the wooden sword on the desk flew back into her hand.
Zhuang Zekun walked in, his eyes sweeping over Tang Butian, Jiang You and Sun Yu.
Zhao Cai, who was coiled on top of the filing cabinet, turned around. After looking at Zhuang Zekun and Guan Nuo, he jumped down and walked to Tang Butian.
Tang Butian said, "Hello, Senior Zhuang."
Zhuang Zekun showed a smile on his face, "Xiao Tang, long time no see."
Tang Butian looked at him without saying anything.
"Are these all the people in Tangjiang City's Special Operations Department?" Zhuang Zekun pulled Guan Nuo in front of him and said, "This is Guan Nuo. His mother used to be an old employee of the Special Operations Department. It happened to be winter vacation, so he came to the Special Operations Department for an internship..."
"I refuse." Tang Butian said.
Zhuang Zekun was stunned for a moment.
"I am the current head of the Special Operations Department. He does not meet my requirements."
Zhuang Zekun glanced at Jiang You and Sun Yu awkwardly, then said to Tang Butian, "Let's go outside and talk."
"good."
Tang Butian walked out of the office with a wooden sword.
Zhuang Zekun and Guan Nuo said, "Wait here for a moment." Then he also walked out.
The door was closed.
Jiang You looked at Guan Nuo who was a little uneasy. He stood up and moved his previous chair to Guan Nuo's side. He said, "Sit down for a while. Do you want a Coke?"
Before Guan Nuo could react, a can of Coke was stuffed into his hands.
He said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Jiang You said as he picked up Zhaocai and sat back in the computer chair holding it.
"Are you all employees of the Special Operations Department?"
"Yeah," Jiang You raised his hand to recruit talents, "We are all, right, recruit talents."
"It too?"
"yes."
"Is it a civet cat?" Guan Nuo pulled his chair forward and looked at Zhaocai carefully.
"It's the orange cat."
Guan Nuo looked at Jiang You, "You all, are either practicing Taoism or have supernatural powers..."
"I seem to have a half-disabled clairvoyance," Jiang You pushed his glasses, "High myopia is quite troublesome. I've been feeling dry eyes and blurry vision lately. I think I should go to the hospital to check if my retina is detached. If it is, I need to use laser to treat it..."
Guan Nuo listened to Jiang You's nagging, he looked at Sun Yu, "Then what can you do?"
"Me?" Sun Yu thought for a moment and said, "I am an ordinary person. When I was on duty in the Special Operations Department, Section Chief Tang thought I was good and kept me."