Xia Chen and Zhang Shiyan's usual meeting point is a Japanese-style tavern. The second floor of the building has a cubicle on the first floor and a private room with a bedroom on the second floor. The boss is a middle-aged man with the Mediterranean Sea on his head, everyone calls him Tang Jiancheng, and he has a unique oily feeling of a businessman, but the guests who are familiar with him know little about his life, because Tang Jiancheng never mentions personal matters.

Zhang Shiyan only inquired with an old waiter once before he learned that Tang Jiancheng had a wife before, but later disappeared, some people said he died, and some people said he ran away with someone. But no one knows the exact news, and Tang Jiancheng also runs the store alone. But he doesn't look as lonely and lonely as he imagined, but like a businessman with a rich life and a happy family.

"You're funny enough that you didn't tell me about her increasing the difficulty of the assessment. Zhang Shiyan said, and after nodding his head to Tang Jiancheng to thank him, Tang Jiancheng said a few more words and went out.

The two of them sat down in a box on the second floor, Xia Chen just looked at the menu, and waited for Tang Jiancheng to go out before he spoke: "At that time, the exchange office will also make a public announcement, not to mention that there is still more than half a year, and I can't guarantee that she will not retract this decision for any reason." How do you know?"

"I didn't inquire, but when I reported the data to her in the afternoon, I accidentally saw the logo on the assessment list. Zhang Shiyan snatched the menu, ordered a few foods that have not changed in Xia Chen for thousands of years on the screen, and ordered a few dishes for himself that he had not tried, and then touched the order button. "Are you afraid that I will be jealous when I know it, and I will be prepared to compete with you for the position of Uncle Tang's supervisor in the end?" Zhang Shiyan said bluntly without embellishment.

Xia Chen stared at his eyes, was silent for a long time, and suddenly smiled. "You're no worse than me. The nuances of the assessment value are limited to the initial stage of the assessment, and the state of mind at the time of the assessment does not mean that the gap will always exist. In many ways, I even feel that you are calmer and more rational than me. ”

"Well, how to say it. She said that the year-end assessment in the third year was the most cruel. Now that you have been raised in difficulty, it is possible that it will not be my turn to compete with you, and it should be someone else who has been increased in difficulty. But if in the past three years, my level in the eyes of the supervisor has caught up with you, and there is a good chance that we will be divided into a group and choose one of the two. Besides, the cruelty she said could only be known on the day of the official start of the assessment. I just think that we are almost together, we have worked together for so long, and we are brothers, it is very rare, don't hide anything from me. While Zhang Shiyan spoke, the wine and food were brought in by the waiter one after another.

During their conversation, when someone came in, the two of them tried not to say words that were unfamiliar to the human world, and even if a few words floated in the waiter's ears, they couldn't be sure what they were doing. Regarding this, Tang Jiancheng did a good job, never inquired about their work, and every time they met, it was just a simple greeting and greeting.

"I have a hunch that the cruelty that Uncle Tang's supervisor said may be unacceptable to us. But I can say to you that if I had to face a competition for the position of call center supervisor with us, I would give in. This wasn't my ideal, and the position of the first human supervisor of the call center wasn't that easy to sit in. I don't have that confidence in myself yet. Xia Chen's half-truths and half-truths did not get Zhang Shiyan's more brotherly reaction.

Zhang Shiyan just snorted, "Don't talk about this, drink, drink." They drank a small glass of wine, and Zhang Shiyan seemed to feel that the taste was not suitable, so he took out a box similar to a power ring from his pocket, took out a gargle the size of a watermelon seed, threw it into the wine jug and shook it, and when he poured it for the two of them, the glass was a green liquid.

"Unconsciously, I think the Baster people's food is much better than ours. Do you remember the first time we got into a fight when we first became scanners? In the middle of the night, we drank like this, and it tasted so good. As he spoke, Zhang Shiyan poured himself two more cups and began to move his chopsticks. "If I have the chance, I really want to see the world of the Buster people and see their lives. ”

Xia Chen ate a few bites, and seemed to have no appetite today, so he lay down and looked at the picture of the kimono lady on the sliding door of the bedroom next to him. "Either way, we are alien to them, just as they are alien to the Mohi Shrous. I don't know what will happen in the future. But at least in the past three years, I have been able to live in peace, and I am very satisfied. Although the belief of the exchange has become my current belief, I believe that through the balance of consciousness, the society composed of people of different races can gradually become better...... But sometimes......" he shook his head and said no more.

"Sometimes you think it's fair and fair, but it's actually weird. That's what it means, right?" Zhang Shiyan said while eating and drinking, saying this sentence that must not be made at the exchange office.

Xia Chen subconsciously looked outside the door, "You person, don't talk about anything." We know in our hearts that it's okay. He sighed, "You know, maybe at the beginning, like me, you believed in the belief in the exchange house, which is all the motivation for my work and life, but the more beautiful things seem, the less approachable. I don't quite believe that there are near-perfect things in this world, even if they come from another dimension. ”

"Do you know something?" Zhang Shiyan suddenly realized that there was another meaning hidden in Xia Chen's words.

Xia Chen shook his head, his expression was sincere. "No, it's just a gut ......" At this time, the waiter knocked on the door and came in, bringing two bowls of ramen and a few steamed vegetables and skewers, saying that the boss invited them to eat. After the two asked the waiter to thank them, Zhang Shiyan ate noodles. "It was enough, but when I saw his private dishes, I was hungry again. Tang Jiancheng is really interesting, eat. ”

"I don't have an appetite today, just drink some wine. Xia Chen just glanced at it and still lay down. "If Tang Jiancheng has a child, it will be about our age. He has such an analysis and explanation of Tang Jiancheng's care for them every time.

"Maybe it's not bad if the two of us are sons, recognize a godfather, eat and drink together. Zhang Shiyan was obviously aroused by the food in front of him again, "That Deng Fei'er, what do you think, tell me." ”

In the past two days, Zhang Shiyan will talk about Deng Feier from time to time in his spare time. According to common sense, he felt that Xia Chen should have something interesting for that woman, but looking at Deng Fei'er's appearance, he really didn't have any advantage that could arouse reverie or lust. Moreover, Uncle Tang's supervisor clearly said that even if Deng Feier finally became an official customer, this case violated the system, and even Zhang Shiyan would not have any profit to take. But Xia Chen's tireless dedication to her made Zhang Shiyan particularly puzzled.

"Frankly, it's not yet. I just had a gut feeling that she would be our client. In this matter, I am the one who is dragging you down. But I know that that little conscious profit is nothing to you. I don't want to presuppose too much until it's done. Xia Chen's words made Zhang Shiyan even more confused, but he knew Xia Chen, and this sentence "It's not time yet" was already the biggest information he could reveal to himself based on their brotherly relationship.

"Anyway, I know what you're trying to do, no matter what, I'll support you. Seeing that Xia Chen didn't eat, he brought his bowl over and started eating. According to data analysis, Dunfeier's influence on the Internet will be maximized this weekend. What will she do after that, you say?"

"After that, do you mean to sign a contract with OLO?"

"No, I mean her own life. I think this person is quite complicated. But sometimes I feel a little brainless. In Zhang Shiyan's consciousness, a woman of this age is still chasing stars or something, and she pays the price for such a very illusory thing, which seems to be an idiot.

Xia Chen got up and drank two glasses of wine in a row, lying on her side, "My feeling, she is a person who has no confidence in life, she has lost her true self in the Internet, and lives on her fictional self." You know, this kind of person, if we uphold the belief of the exchange house and make her re-examine herself and face her true self through consciousness trading, it is very likely to change the direction of her life and make her start a down-to-earth life again. ”

"I guess, after this incident, she will be even more crazy, sign a contract with the headquarters, and finally become the kind of Internet celebrity she is pursuing, heh, quite speechless, I don't know what these people are thinking now. Zhang Shiyan ate half of the second bowl of noodles and left there, touching his stomach with satisfaction.

"I don't think so. Let's make a bet that she'll give up her current life, I guess. In the end, it was not a project contract signed with the headquarters, but an onboarding agreement. Xia Chen said a little more with the help of wine, and he realized that it was too late, so he immediately stopped.

Zhang Shiyan was stunned for a moment, and said with a smile: "It turns out that you want to pull her to the exchange house." He looked at Xia Chen with a smug expression after seeing through others, "You just say it, it's such a big bend." But it's not something we do, and we all know what it means to come to redeem what it means. I think it's enough. Tell me what the stakes are. ”

"If I'm right, you'll go somewhere with me. If you guess it right, you can set the conditions. Xia Chen smiled weirdly.

"I ...... I can't think of it for a while, but where are you talking about?"

"You'll know when the time comes. Rest assured, there will be no danger. Don't you dare. ”

Zhang Shiyan couldn't be excited, but when he heard it, he became energetic, agreed to him, and talked about some trivial things. Due to the particularity of their status, all the human staff of the Hormes Exchange House will no longer have a deep intersection with human society, no matter what position they hold, and can only interact with their colleagues in the Exchange House.

This tavern has become the only meeting point for Xia Chen and Zhang Shiyan, who will come here most of the rest time, and occasionally go to other places. They usually come here for a drink, because they can't bring helmets and boots during non-working hours, and they stay here for the night before returning to their farther accommodation the next day. They still lived in the ensuite bedroom this night, Zhang Shiyan recalled some things when he was a child, said to Xia Chen, and fell asleep after chatting.

In the past few days after the trial agreement came into effect, Dunfeier's biggest problem came from sleep. She had never had such frequent and intensive strange dreams in a period of time. She knows it herself, and it's because of conscious trading. In just a few days, she felt that there were four or five versions of herself, in different dreams, interpreting different treacherous fragments to her.

Every time I wake up, I have to judge between reality and illusion for a long time before I can be completely clear and clear. She was sure that those four or five different selves were all "gray". This gray color brings a strong pressure to her life, and it is a kind of oppression and restraint that hits her heart from all sides. She wanted to escape, but she couldn't. She even overlapped the fragments of her dreams with everything in front of her in reality, wondering if there was something wrong with her retina, so much so that the world she saw when she opened her eyes was black and white.

At the summary meeting on Friday morning, Deng Fei'er glanced at the bedroom in Mr. Chen's office as usual. The door is always open and darkened by a blackout curtain. When Deng Feier first joined the company, she always suspected that there were women hidden in the bedroom, and maybe whenever everyone got off work, that room became a secret private room in a nightclub.

But after a long period of observation, there seems to be nothing abnormal. Mr. Chen is also a very eccentric person. Most of the time I don't go home and live in the office. This also caused a kind of pressure on everyone, no one could arrive earlier than Mr. Chen, and no one would leave work later than him. Every noon, when everyone is eating, the cleaner and chef aunt will bring a large bowl of noodles to Mr. Chen's office.

Mr. Chen rarely comes out. Deng Fei'er always felt that every time she saw the picture of her aunt going to deliver food, she always felt the chill and gloom of going to the grave at midnight. During the one-hour summary meeting, except for a few minutes when she spoke by herself, she was completely distracted at the rest of the time. The director noticed her state and observed her with a look of incomprehension and disdain.

Yoyo is only two years older than Deng Fei'er, and she is also a female X-silk in the eyes of others. But even if it is a female X-silk, there are differences in mentality and appearance. Deng Fei'er belongs to the people who still care about other people's evaluations, and Youyou has already given up the control of appetite and flesh, and uses an attitude of not caring to show the strength of his inner fat man. So the personality seems to be cheerful, but it is very easy to hold grudges, and is good at shirking responsibility and blaming others for mistakes.

This is a point that has caused public outrage among colleagues behind the scenes. Once, because of the conflict between her and the author of a book over the revision of details, the relationship between the author and Mr. Chen deteriorated, and Deng Feier became the most suitable scapegoat for this mistake. It was also the only time that Deng Feier felt kindness and some kind of "empathy" from other colleagues around her.

But the relationship between women is much more delicate than that of men. The relationship between Dunfield and Yoyo is in a different state on the surface, perhaps because they both belong to the category of female X, with comparable work ability and disadvantages that cannot be flaunted, perhaps based on a common love of food and desserts. At some point, Yoyo would share desserts with Dunfeier while spitting out bitterness, and always hinting to Dunfeier that we are one type and we are all the way.