After breakfast, Gu Yaozhi packed up and went out. According to the house information collected last night, she went to see two nearby houses.
The results were not suitable. The price of the one with a better environment was too expensive, and the security of the one with a suitable price was not very good.
But there was still plenty of time, so she could look for it slowly.
At noon, on the way back, she passed by a small pancake shop. The fragrance drifted into her nose and instantly aroused her taste buds.
Gu Yaozhi hadn't eaten this kind of snack for a long time. Just as the last customer left, she went over to ask for one.
"Add more spicy, thank you."
While waiting, someone suddenly called her from behind, "Yaozhi?"
She turned around, and a middle-aged man came over after seeing her face clearly.
Gu Yaozhi said calmly: "Uncle Wang."
"Are you back from studying abroad?" the man asked.
She hummed.
Man: "Did your mother come back with you?"
"No." Gu Yaozhi shook her head and looked away.
The man nodded, and then said: "The last time I visited your father, he mentioned you to me, saying that you didn't go to see him in the past few years."
"It's okay that your mother divorced him, but as a child, since you have returned to China, remember to go and see him," the man sighed, "Your father suffered a lot in there, and he has lost weight."
Uncle Wang is a colleague of Gu Yaozhi's father at work. They used to visit each other frequently and visited his home several times.
When Gu Yaozhi was in high school, he gave her a set of painting supplies. She still regarded him as an elder, but she couldn't accept his words.
The pancakes were just ready over there. Gu Yaozhi took the bag and looked at the man: "Uncle Wang, I have something to do, so I'm leaving first."
Not far away, she heard the person behind her sneer.
"Unfilial!"
...
When she walked all the way to the gate of the community, Gu Yaozhi remembered that she hadn't eaten the pancakes.
She picked it up, opened the bag and took a bite.
It was already cold. Gu Yaozhi tied her bag and went into the community. As soon as she went upstairs and entered the house, the phone in her pocket rang. It was her mother who was abroad.
She answered the call.
Jiang Qingyun said gently: "Zhizhi, it's noon over there, right? Have you had lunch?"
"I'm about to eat." While speaking, she glanced at the wall clock in the living room and quickly asked: "Why did you get up so early today? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
"No." Jiang Qingyun said gently: "I just had a dream and couldn't fall asleep after waking up."
Hearing this, Gu Yaozhi felt relieved, put on slippers and walked into the kitchen, chuckled and asked: "What did you dream about?"
"Mom dreamed about the night she went abroad," Jiang Qingyun was silent for a few seconds on the phone, and then whispered: "Zhizhi, I still feel very sorry for you all these years, and..."
"That boy."
Hearing this, Gu Yaozhi paused in pouring water.
This is not the first time her mother has said this. Perhaps her return to China made Jiang Qingyun dream about the past again.
Jiang Qingyun sounded guilty: "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have broken up."
"It has nothing to do with you." Gu Yaozhi gently comforted: "Don't worry about these things anymore, it's not good for your health."
Fearing that Jiang Qingyun would continue to think too much, she smiled and said in a tone that didn't seem to care, "Besides, it's been so long, I'm doing well now, don't think too much."
Jiang Qingyun also knew her physical condition. Once she thought too much, her mental state would become very bad. She sighed: "Well, Mom knows, you have to take care of yourself over there, and remember to call if you have anything."
Gu Yaozhi: "Okay."
After hanging up the phone, she lowered her eyes and was stunned for a while.
The phone in her hand rang again. Gu Yaozhi picked it up and took a look. It was a local unfamiliar number.
After the call was connected, a pleasant female voice came from the phone: "Excuse me, is this Miss Gu Yaozhi?"
"It's me."
"Hello, this is the Municipal Art Association. I'm calling you to invite you to hold a personal exhibition in the near future. Do you think you have this intention?"
"Invite me to hold a personal exhibition?" Gu Yaozhi was a little surprised. She had just returned to China and her fame in China was not enough to hold an exhibition.
She asked hesitantly: "But, I have only graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts for two years. Why would you invite me?"
"We are entrusted by someone. You can discuss the specific situation in detail when you meet the organizer next week."
Gu Yaozhi felt that this news was not real.
But she still agreed.
Then she confirmed the phone number just now. It was indeed the Art Association. Only then did she react to this sudden surprise belatedly.
It was like a drop from the sky hitting her.
At seven o'clock in the evening, Tang Nan returned home. During the meal, Gu Yaozhi told her the news. Tang Nan ran to the kitchen and opened a bottle of red wine.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Let's go out and celebrate."
Gu Yaozhi took a sip of the red wine, "I have to meet the organizer next week. It's not too late to celebrate after it's settled."
Hearing this, Tang Nan suddenly asked, "By the way, Gu Gu, you said that it was the organizer who invited us. Who is the organizer? Who has such a good vision?"
Gu Yaozhi blinked, "I forgot to ask."
"..."
She said truthfully, "I didn't believe it at first. I thought it was a new scam."
"Oh, you'll know when you go there next week." Tang Nan smiled and raised his glass while speaking, "I wish you a smooth meeting next week!"
Gu Yaozhi clinked glasses with her and smiled, "The meeting went well."
-
It was a sunny Tuesday the following week.
The sun was soft, the locust trees and willows on both sides of the road were green, and the air was filled with a comfortable atmosphere unique to spring.
Gu Yaozhi arrived at the place ahead of schedule as agreed.
She looked up and glanced at the door of a building.
She thought the meeting place would be at the Art Association, but the building in front of her looked like an office building.
After entering the door, Gu Yaozhi explained the situation to the front desk, opened the access control, and entered the elevator room.
She looked around the displayed floors and pressed the button for an elevator parked on the first floor below ground.
A few seconds later, the elevator door opened.
There was a man standing inside. The moment Gu Yaozhi looked at him, she was stunned.
Pei Chi seemed less surprised than she was. His face was indifferent. His eyes stayed on her face for a moment, and then his eyes moved.
He glanced at her lightly, "Don't you want to go in?"
She reacted and stepped in.
He stood in the middle of the elevator, with no intention of giving way. Gu Yaozhi leaned sideways and brushed past him to get into the elevator.
The elevator door closed.
She stood at the side and pressed the floor.
The small space was extremely quiet. She glanced at the man beside her.
He was wearing a black T-shirt with a loose jacket of the same color on the outside. His shoulders were broad and straight. Unlike the business elite he looked that day, he looked like an idle young master.
Gu Yaozhi had never thought of meeting him again. After thinking about it, he felt that it would not be so awkward to get along with him as old classmates who had not seen each other for a long time.
She pursed her lips, "What a coincidence, you are also here to do business?"
The man said slowly: "I came to see someone."
She said "oh" softly.
She pressed the top floor. Gu Yaozhi found that Pei Chi did not press the elevator, so he kindly reminded him: "Which floor are you going to?"
Pei Chi glanced at him and raised his chin.
He indicated that he was on the same floor as her, but did not want to talk to her. He still acted very distant and his attitude was extremely perfunctory, making Gu Yaozhi feel that she was trying to get close to him.
She simply gave up struggling and stayed quietly.
After a while. The man next to her suddenly approached her, leaned down, and said in a cold voice: "What are you holding?"
Gu Yaozhi raised her head unexpectedly.
He was a little close, but at a polite distance. The action of bending down seemed to be holding her in a corner of the elevator because of his tall figure, which inexplicably gave rise to a hint of ambiguity.
The clean and cold breath of the man floated in the air, and Gu Yaozhi was stunned for a moment, "Collection of works."
After the voice fell, the booklet in his hand was suddenly taken away by him.
Pei Chi straightened up, lowered his eyes, and flipped a few pages with his slender fingers casually, and then said lightly with a perfunctory tone: "It's quite thin."
Gu Yaozhi: "..."
At this time, the elevator arrived, the door opened, Pei Chi stuffed the booklet back into her arms, and walked out of the elevator.
Gu Yaozhi was speechless for a moment by his inexplicable behavior.
A few seconds later, he followed him out. There was a staff member waiting for her at the entrance of the exhibition company. When Gu Yaozhi approached, she heard the staff member call Pei Chi "Boss."
She paused.
The staff member saw her and hurried over, "Are you Painter Gu?"
"Yes, I am." She answered, looking at the office the man had just walked into, her face stunned, "The man just now... is the boss of your company?"
Author has something to say:
Pei Chi: Who do you think I came to see?