On Thursday, September 25, 1997, the weather was cloudy and clear.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, a tall and thin young man with a delicate face wearing a half-new white shirt sat on the curb stone on the right side of the gate of the Ningcheng Pressure Vessel Factory in Donghai Province with a look of anticipation, and looked anxiously at the factory from time to time.

This young man's name is Geng Zhiyuan, who graduated from Donghai University of Technology in July this year with a major in chemical engineering, and is now a trainee engineer in the process room of Donghai Provincial Chemical Design Institute.

Geng Zhiyuan's girlfriend is Xu Rong, a college classmate. Both of them are students of the Department of Chemical Engineering, but they are not in the same class, Xu Rong majored in chemical materials, and after graduation, she applied for the design office of the pressure vessel factory.

The two of them have been in love since their junior year, and now they have been in a stable relationship with each other for more than two years, and they are ready to use the National Day holiday to meet their parents and discuss marriage.

At the beginning of September, the Provincial Chemical Design Institute arranged for the newly admitted students to go to the construction site of the Haixi Fertilizer Plant 813 Project (Note 1) for on-site practice. This afternoon, Geng Zhiyuan, who had finished his internship, had just returned to Ningcheng, so he hurried to the pressure vessel factory without taking a break, eager to meet his long-awaited sweetheart.

As soon as five o'clock passed, workers walked out of the factory one after another. They walked or cycled, and some rode rare Mulan mopeds.

Seeing someone coming out, Geng Zhiyuan hurriedly stood up and patted the dust on his buttocks. The thought of meeting the lover he had been thinking about day and night made the young man's heart pound with excitement and nervousness.

Suddenly, a petite and delicate familiar figure flashed out of the door. Geng Zhiyuan was overjoyed in his heart and stepped forward to greet him. But as soon as he took two steps, he stopped and looked ahead with stunned eyes.

His girlfriend Xu Rong and a medium-sized boy held hands, talking and laughing out of the door and walked towards him. This boy he knew, it was Xu Rong's college classmate Zhang Youwei.

While the two were talking and laughing, Xu Rong suddenly smiled and stretched out her hand to pat Zhang Youwei, Zhang Youwei pretended to dodge, and played with her with a smile on his face.

"Rong'er!" Geng Zhiyuan shouted out at an inopportune time, Xu Rong saw that it was him when he heard the voice, and was immediately stunned, and quickly withdrew his hand from Zhang Youwei.

Zhang Youwei was also taken aback, but quickly reacted. He greeted with a smile: "Geng Zhiyuan." ”

Geng Zhiyuan is sensitive by nature and senses that there is something wrong with their relationship, but he doesn't believe that his beloved girlfriend, who once swore by the mountains and seas, would betray him and fall in love with someone else.

He walked quickly to Xu Rong, stared affectionately at his girlfriend who he missed day and night, and smiled happily: "Rong'er! ”

As he spoke, he habitually stretched out his hand, wanting to hug his girlfriend who had been reunited for a long time into his arms and hug him well. Xu Rong subconsciously dodged, and leaned against Zhang Youwei in a panic, and her two hands also firmly grasped his arm.

Geng Zhiyuan's heart froze, and he frowned: "Rong'er, ...... are you?"

"Ahem......" Zhang Youwei reluctantly squeezed out a smile and said, "Geng Zhiyuan, haven't you eaten yet?"

From the abnormal behavior of the two, Geng Zhiyuan guessed a reality that he couldn't face: during the more than 20 days of separation, Rong'er betrayed him and secretly got along with Zhang Youwei next to him.

"No, I'll just eat alone with Rong'er. Geng Zhiyuan still had a hint of luck, reached out and grabbed Xu Rong's arm and said tenderly: "Let's go, Rong'er." ”

Xu Rong broke free of his hand in annoyance, looked up at Zhang Youwei and anxiously urged: "Youwei, you tell him." ”

Zhang Youwei said with a sad face: "This ...... Geng Zhiyuan, Xu Rong is my girlfriend now, don't pester her anymore. ”

"What!?" Geng Zhiyuan frowned, smiled angrily: "Xu Rong and I are two people, and we are about to get married." Our classmates know about this, you don't know, do you?"

"This ......" Zhang Youwei knew that he was ashamed of Geng Zhiyuan, and robbed his old classmate's girlfriend, once it spread, he was afraid that he would not be able to raise his head in front of his classmates in the future.

"Do you know that you still seduce my girlfriend? Do you want me to ask your classmates to evaluate the theory?" Geng Zhiyuan was extremely angry, but he was calm. Judging from Xu Rong's indifferent and refusal towards him, this once sweet relationship may have existed in name only, and all he can do is to endure the pain and cut his love.

"It's none of his business!" Xu Rong saw that her boyfriend was squeezed by Geng Zhiyuan and had nothing to say, so she stepped forward and shouted angrily: "I took the initiative to find him." I don't love you now, you let me go!"

The once close lover suddenly became so ruthless, Geng Zhiyuan remembered the previous vows and sweet words, and then looked at Xu Rong in front of him, but it was very unfamiliar.

"Rong'er, have you forgotten what you said before?" Geng Zhiyuan held back the sadness in his heart and tried to make the final redemption: "In order to make your life comfortable, I gave you all the salary cards, and I didn't have more than ten yuan on me." It's only been more than 20 days, and you're ...... You're ......"

"You volunteered, and I didn't ask you. Thinking of the past, Xu Rong felt ashamed, but now there is no turning back, she can only defend herself.

The girlfriend's determination to break up is so resolute that the lost love is irretrievable. Geng Zhiyuan's heart was twisted, and he sighed and said, "Okay, since that's the case, I wish you both happiness." However, please give me back my payroll card. The card has two months' salary on it, more than 600 yuan. ”

Geng Zhiyuan was finally willing to let go, Xu Rong's heart was relieved, and she turned her head to Zhang Youwei and ordered, "Return that salary card to him." ”

Zhang Youwei said with some reluctance: "That card...... I haven't used it yet. ”

Geng Zhiyuan, who was full of sadness, was also amused by his words, this Zhang Youwei really lived up to the nickname of "Lao Li", and he didn't know what ecstasy soup he poured into Xu Rong, and he actually made Rong'er fall in love with such a classmate who has always been known for being selfish and stingy, greedy and cheap.

"Give it to him!" Zhang Youwei embarrassed her in front of her ex-boyfriend, Xu Rong said angrily: "Take it out and give it to him!"

"Okay! Okay!" Zhang Youwei pretended to take a look at his body, and spread his hands and said, "I didn't bring it, I put it in the dormitory." ”

Zhang Youwei is obviously acting, it seems that nine times out of ten he still wants to be greedy for the money on the ink card, Geng Zhiyuan smiled faintly and said: "Then let's go, I'll go to the dormitory with you to get it." ”

Zhang Youwei scratched his head: "This ...... Okay. ”

Xu Rong also saw that her boyfriend had other ideas, so she hurriedly leaned into his ear and whispered, "What do you want to do?"

Zhang Youwei rolled his eyes a few times and whispered: "Are you stupid? Geng Zhiyuan is from the city, and I heard that his family is very rich, why don't you use the money he gave you? Wait for me to take out the money and then return the card to him." ”

Xu Rong is a girl after all, and her skin is relatively thin-skinned, and when she heard that her boyfriend was so greedy, she suddenly became a little anxious: "Are you crazy?

"Hehe, I just said I couldn't find it, just find it and give it to him. Zhang Youwei said proudly.

"You ......" Xu Rong was so angry by her boyfriend's greed that she had nothing to say for a while.

Geng Zhiyuan forced a smile and watched the two of them get together intimately and muttered quietly, but his heart felt like falling into an ice cellar, freezing and tingling

Xu Rong is from a rural area, has younger brothers and sisters at home, and her hometown is located in a well-known poor area in the province, so life is naturally quite difficult. After entering college, in order to save money, she was extremely cruel to herself, usually only eating the cheapest five-dimes a piece of greens, and sometimes she was even reluctant to buy greens, so she directly took pickles for dinner.

She sent all the food subsidies (Note 2) and hardship allowances back to her family, and she relied on tutors and odd jobs to maintain the basics.

Finally one day, on the way to become a tutor, she fainted in front of her eyes after long-term malnutrition. Geng Zhiyuan happened to pass by her, and when he saw this situation, he quickly helped her up and sent her to the hospital, and took care of her all day. Since then, the two have gradually come together from acquaintance to love.

After Geng Zhiyuan fell in love with her, he took the initiative to afford all his girlfriend's living expenses and didn't let her spend a penny. Under the careful care of her boyfriend, Xu Rong's body gradually grew, and her face turned from yellow to ruddy. When she graduated, her classmates were surprised to find that she had become a beautiful fair lady from the original ugly duckling.

Although Geng Zhiyuan is a thrifty person, he is heartbroken that his girlfriend has suffered so much, so he is very willing to spend money on her. The floral shirt and sky blue jeans that Xu Rong wore today were also specially purchased by Geng Zhiyuan for her before going out for an internship this month.

finally survived until graduation, and was about to talk about marriage, but his girlfriend empathized and said goodbye. Although Geng Zhiyuan, who is emotionally single-minded, is heartbroken, he still knows that he can't keep this once innocent feeling.

"Okay, have you discussed it?" Geng Zhiyuan asked them with a sneer.

"Alright! Alright!" Zhang Youwei greeted with a smile on his face: "Let's go, let's go!"

Note 1: 813 project: 80,000 tons of synthetic ammonia supporting 130,000 tons of urea project abbreviation

Note 2: In the early 90s, the price subsidy for grain, oil and non-staple food for regular full-time undergraduate students was about 20 yuan per month.