It's summer in the imperial capital. The locust trees are fragrant on the streets, the summer cicadas sing low in the quiet alleys, the long and short shouts echo in the long air, and occasionally the laughter and playfulness of young children and the cheating and reprimand of old people. Enough of the trouble, the children walked into the convenience stores in the streets and alleys, took the ice cream out and sat on the steps to suck, and did not forget to giggle to compare who had the sweeter and more fragrant in their hands, and then go home together when their parents passed by after work.

It was already evening, and the sunset in the sky was gorgeous, but the sun in the west was still golden and bright, so that Yin Jie couldn't open his eyes. It was only a short five or six minute walk from the subway entrance of Heping Gate to the lobby of Quanjude, but as soon as Yin Jie stepped out of the subway station, he was wrapped in the rolling heat. She only felt a layer of hot sweat "whew" rushing out of her pores, and her bare arms in the heat wave suddenly hurt a little.

She walked briskly into the marble-decorated lobby of Quanjude. The cold air came to his face, and his whole body suddenly felt refreshed.

Quanjude, founded in Tongzhi three years, is a well-known Chinese time-honored brand. Among them, the Heping store is the most famous, and many people think that this is the head office of Quanjude, but it is not. But this store is the most special of all the Quanjude stores, it is one of the important places for national leaders to entertain domestic and foreign dignitaries. From the point of view of decoration alone, this store has a different elegant atmosphere from other stores, using a large number of traditional Chinese elements, with the strongest color layering of red travertine stone gold travertine as the main material, from the wall to the ground to form a simple and luxurious, natural and elegant artistic effect. In addition, the most unique feature of this store is the "celebrity gathering shop". Its "Celebrity Garden" is based on the theme of praising three generations of Chinese leaders, describing the artistic conception of the dragon and phoenix and the virtuous people. The "Wall of Fame" composed of photos left by many heads of state when they dined here and the "Signature Wall" composed of signatures and messages from ambassadors from more than 100 countries revealed the unique official reception status of Quanjude.

Yin Jie also heard that the fourth floor of this store is known as the "Golden Hall", which is particularly splendid, but she has never been to it once. She has been to Quanjude many times, but without exception it is business entertainment. If it's about business, there's no time to really relax. Besides, she is so quiet, she rarely goes to noisy places when she has a choice.

Just now, she experienced another painful resignation meeting, and the object of conversation was Lin Qiwei, who had worked together.

On behalf of Xu Wenli, she came forward to dismiss these old people who came from Mingtai in the north, which made her feel very painful. Although intellectually, she clearly knew that since leaving was a foregone conclusion, it was better to have a long pain than a short pain for these old colleagues, and it was better to tell her in advance to find her next home as soon as possible because she barely followed her all the way. But in the face of the pain of these colleagues, she still can't help but empathize. Xu Wenli once comforted her and said that it would be good to go through it a few more times. But she felt that no matter how many times she went through it, she should not be able to ignore these pains and be at peace with herself.

After the end of the meeting, it was not early, fortunately, the public transportation system of the imperial capital is extremely developed, only two bus stops between the company and Hepingmen, and then the subway can be reached, which greatly reduces the inconvenience caused by road traffic jams. From the moment she left the two-story building, she tried to organize her thoughts, try to put the negative emotions behind her, and at the same time sped up and almost trotted all the way to the subway station... Finally arrived at the destination on time.

Yin Jie exhaled softly, followed the guide lady upstairs into an antique private room, looked around for a while, and instructed the waiter to remove the extra tableware and chairs, and then ordered a pot of chrysanthemum drinks for himself. Then he sat down on the sofa in the reception area and sent a message to Cao Kun, "I have arrived at Quanjude, Hongyan Hall on the third floor." whether to order first".

The chrysanthemum drink is made of Hubei Enshi Gong chrysanthemum, and the small chrysanthemum slowly rotates and stretches the petals in the warm tea until each chrysanthemum "grows" to the size of a small teacup. A few more translucent rock sugars were sprinkled, and the tea rippled with ripples that were barely visible to the naked eye, and the soup slowly transformed into a light green like sprouts.

Yin Jie took a sip slowly, the cool floral fragrance slipped from the mouth into the stomach, and then diffused all over the body, all the pores were very comfortable, and the hot breath slowly escaped and blended into the ancient air.

Yin Jie was a little curious about the cool taste, she held up the teapot and observed it carefully for a while, and found that in addition to chrysanthemums, there were a few small buds of emerald green mint in the transparent glass pot.

A moment later, Cao Kun's text message came, "Order specialties and bring wine." ”

Yin Jie glanced at the small Swatch on his wrist, considered the habits of Cao Kun and Guan Ming, as well as the requirements of the legendary senior brother who was about to meet for the first time, and recruited the waiter to order high-quality roast duck, squirrel mandarin fish, roasted duck heart, mustard duck paw, bad three white, lotus pond stir-fry, garlic andrographis. After thinking about it, I ordered another set of classic Beijing snacks, and asked the waiter to prepare a bunch of corn juice. watched the waiter go out before calling Liu Ningning.

"Sister Yin, how come you have time to call me today, a busy man, when are you coming to see my sister?"

"Sister Ning~~" Yin Jie said deliberately angrily, "I've come to see you, now Hongyan Hall on the third floor."

"Oops, oops, it's really rare. Unfortunately, my sister is busy now, so I'll go down and see you in a while. What do you need to arrange today?"

"Actually, it's nothing, I'm having dinner with a few alumni here, and they brought wine over, please say hello to the waiter, sister?"

"It's nothing, no problem. See you in a moment. ”

Yin Jie and Liu Ning's acquaintance was actually very accidental. Just like two stars in the vast space that should pass by, they are attracted to each other because of a magnetic storm, and when they get close to a certain distance, they form a constant gravitational structure. There is no relationship between the two, nor any medium, but it just so happens that in a moment of one hundred thousandth of a second, as if fate, the two met, and at the same time read "the same kind" from each other's eyes, and then, this is the result of the marriage in the world... Ah no, this is the fate of sisters for a lifetime.

At 7:10, Cao Kun and Guan Ming walked in together, accompanied by a middle-aged man who was white and chubby and very elegant. Yin Jie stepped forward and respectfully called out, "Hello senior brothers." Cao Kun smiled and introduced her to the middle-aged man, "This is our little junior sister, the 04th class of the physics department, who is studying nuclear physics, amazing!"

"This is Senior Brother Wang Xiao, from the Department of Philosophy, and now working as a doctoral supervisor in Cambridge, England. ”

"Wow, the senior is so amazing!"

That is, in front of this group of alumni who are also brothers and friends, Yin Jie can comfortably be a little sister, can be coquettish, can be naïve, and can be defenseless.

Cao Kun is thin and lean, with a fair complexion and a pair of golden eyes. When he looks at people seriously, his eyes are very sincere. Looking at Yin Jie's eyes, he was very kind, Guan Ming and Zheng Rong often teased him that this was the "old father" look.

Guan Ming and Yin Jie are both alumni of Wuhan University and fellow villagers. His family is very good, his father is the deputy secretary of the Provincial Political and Legal Committee, and his mother is the director of the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular department of the local Provincial First Hospital. Their acquaintance is a little indirectly romantic:

In order to help the younger students adapt to university life as soon as possible, the Association assigns senior students to help guide the young students who have just entered the school every year. Guan Ming is from the School of Economics, and Fang Jiayun from the Radio Department, as well as Yin Jie and Yang Lin, who are two years lower, also live in Meiyuan. At that time, Fang Jiayun was assigned to teach Yin Jie, while Guan Ming was assigned to Yang Lin. What everyone didn't expect was that three months later, Yang Lin became Guan Ming's girlfriend, and a few days after graduation, she naturally became Mrs. Guan.

Today, Guan Ming works in the three training centers of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), where he is responsible for overseas training for SOE leaders. Yang Lin is an editor at the Children's Education Press.

Guan Ming's face was a little depressed today, and Yin Jie was very sensible after greeting him, so he didn't go out of his way to talk to him.

The dishes came up one after another, and Cao Kun pointed to each dish to introduce allusions to Wang Xiao. His eloquence is excellent, his voice is clear, and most of the stories he tells Yin Jie have never heard, but she quietly wrote them down with a smile for future use by entertaining customers.

Wine to three rounds, dishes over five flavors. Wang Xiao got up and went to the bathroom, Cao Kun turned around and asked Yin Jie,

"What's your plan on that case?"

As soon as he heard this, Yin Jie knew that Cao Kun had an understanding of the current situation of Northern Mingtai. She asked:

"Senior brother, when do you have to start the project there?

"What do you mean?"

"If you're not in a hurry, maybe it's better to wait another half a year or so. At that time, the new company plans to recruit people in place, the team integration should be completed, the development strength level of the new team can be seen, and the project risk is smaller. Otherwise...... I don't want you to be gossiped about in the unit because of this project. ”

"Gossip? I'm not in a hurry here, I can leave it for a while. I'll work on the other projects first. ”

"Hey, hey, okay. Yin Jie laughed dryly. Isn't he just thinking too much? Master Cao, is anyone? With his cultivation, how could he fall into passivity because of such a project? He undoubtedly has accurate judgment and absolute control over the project, how could he fall into passivity because of such a project?

Yin Jie really realized how self-conscious he was with what he just said.

Cao Kun took a puff of his cigarette and asked:

"Do you have any plans for the future?"

"Thank you, brother. I'll try it myself, and if I can't, I'll ask you for help. ”

Cao Kun nodded and did not speak again. Both of them shifted their attention to Guan Ming.

Guan Ming, who loves to talk and laugh on weekdays, is abnormal today and has been eating vegetables with his head down. Yin Jie saw that he was still gloomy now, and asked:

"Senior brother, how is Yang Lin doing? I haven't seen her for a long time. ”

Guan Ming threw his chopsticks on the table.

"Okay! Of course it's good! What can she do badly? The days are so smooth, and they are all starting to have a good life. ”

"If you have something to say, what are you like?" Cao Kun said unhappily.

Guan Ming picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of duck paw and swallowed it in his mouth, and choked on the mustard after chewing it a few times. I finally swallowed it, and then put down the chopsticks to explain things clearly.

Recently, Guan Ming got closer to a staff member of the Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Country G for work reasons, and was bumped into by Yang Lin when they went out to eat together. Since then, Yang Lin has become suspicious, sneering and sneering every time he knocks on the side, and often asks to check his mobile phone. What makes Guan Ming speechless the most is that now that he is eating with customers outside, Yang Lin sometimes even follows...

"It's not like her, could it be mistaken?"

In Yin Jie's impression, Yang Lin is a sweet and lovely beautiful girl, who looks very much like the actress who played the king of the daughter country in "Journey to the West", and she acted very neatly and generously.

"But no? I never dreamed that she would be like this! If it weren't for my brother's phone call today, believe it or not, she would be able to squat outside the door right now!"

"Is there any misunderstanding between the two of you? Don't crack at every turn. Cao Kun said majestically.

"I agree with Senior Brother Cao. Yin Jie comforted Guan Ming and said, "Senior brother, Yang Lin used to be so generous and alone." Isn't it because she cares about you that she's so nervous? Be patient and explain clearly, and let her relax after a while. ”

"Can you explain it clearly? She is suspicious and nervous all day long!" Guan Ming said in a trance, "She is so caring, she doesn't need to explain anything, as long as I say it, she can understand." ”

Yin Jie said with a grin:

"So we usually say that it was Yang Lin who spoiled you, senior brother! Both of them are independent individuals, come from different families, and their growth environments are also different. She used to work hard to understand you and be considerate of you, but now it's time for you to understand her and be considerate of her, which is fair. ”

Cao Kun patted him on the shoulder with deep sympathy. Guan Ming was silent, and unconsciously turned the chopsticks in his hand with his fingers.

... ...

"I just walked over to take a look, and there are no windows in the private rooms here?" Wang Xiao came back.

"This has something to do with the positioning of the Heping store. Cao Kun replied casually, "This store was built under the instructions of Premier Zhou. At that time, it had just experienced the Tangshan earthquake in 1976, and considering that the positioning of this store was to receive foreign affairs and receive foreign heads of state in the future, the standard of safety and security was set very high. I can't imagine that this building can withstand an earthquake of magnitude 8. The layout of the halls and safe passages here are all designed according to the safety standards of the Great Hall of the People. Also for security reasons, all private rooms are placed in the center of the floor, and of course there are no windows. The large glass windows facing the street are covered with white curtains, so if there are unscrupulous elements peeping from the outside, they cannot see the situation inside the building, but the security personnel can observe through the curtains. ”

"I said Lao Cao, how do you know so much about Quanjude? You won't be a relative of the boss of Quanjude, right? Hahaha~~"

... ...

Guests are delighted. In the middle, Liu Xuning came over once, toasted Cao Kun and exchanged business cards. Her bold temperament is very much in line with Wang Xiao's eyes. He toasted Liu Qianning several times in a row, and kept promising to ask Cao Kun and Guan Ming, as well as other classmates in the imperial capital, to put all the banquet agreements here in the Heping Gate.

Yin Jie pursed his lips and smiled on the side. Liu Ningning is bright and hearty, and her eyebrows and eyes are full of vitality. It is estimated that Wang Xiao rarely has the opportunity to deal with such a woman abroad. It is not easy for overseas Chinese to live abroad, and all the beauty is superficial, but in fact, it has always been quite difficult for overseas Chinese to integrate into the local society.

Liu Ninging originally planned to leave after a round of toasting for Yin Jie's alumni, but she didn't expect Wang Xiao, who seemed to be polite, so enthusiastic. When she finally left, Wang Xiao had already agreed to take her to visit friends from the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce.