My sorrow came out of place on this night, making me silently bear the impermanence of the four seasons and the weight of time like the rows of eaves in the alley, so that the little expectation in my heart was also worn out more and more by this unchangeable life.

I put away the thousands of emotions in my heart and returned to the small courtyard where I lived with the same steps as usual, while Zhao Mu was holding a cup, squatting under an osmanthus tree and brushing his teeth, and said to me vaguely: "Brother Qiao, why did you come back so soon?" ”

"I didn't talk much, I just talked about some work things." As I spoke, I also went to the bathroom to get a toothbrush and a cup, and then squatted next to Zhao Mu.

"Why don't you talk a little longer?"

While brushing my teeth, I replied vaguely: "I have met her twice for three days, how can I talk so much." ”

"Also, I really envy you all for staying in Nanjing, and you can get together when you have time."

"Are you ready to stay in Beijing after you finish graduate school?"

"Well, it's a city that evokes a lot more urgency, and I love the pace of life there."

I looked at him, and I felt more clearly the strength he had been holding back over the years, and he had a kind of resilience that ordinary people did not have, and people like me, when they heard the word "North Drift", their hearts would unconsciously tighten, because the cost of living and pressure there were not at all that ordinary people could bear, but Zhao Mu was different, and he was able to be admitted to Tsinghua University and get a master's degree, which has proved that he is much stronger than ordinary people. I've seen it once: on the hottest summer days, he doesn't need any cooling measures, and he writes a thick stack of exam papers with terrifying patience. From then on, I believed that sooner or later he would become something different.

I smiled and asked, "Are any companies or scientific research institutions starting to contact you now?" ”

"There are some, especially large private companies, they are very sincere, and the commitment and treatment they give are generally very high."

"You're going to the private sector?"

Zhao Mu spit out the mouthwash, and also smiled and replied: "Actually, there is nothing wrong with going to a private company." Brother Qiao, think about it, those bosses can make their enterprises so big in the complex city of Beijing, then they must have a legendary entrepreneurial experience behind them, they can become my teachers after entering the society, although state-owned enterprises and some scientific research institutions are relatively comfortable, but it is really difficult to arouse people's spirit of struggle, if I really covet comfort, then I continue to finish my doctorate, and choose to stay in school to teach is not more comfortable and stable? ”

"Well, it is precisely because you have laid a solid foundation in front of you that you will have so many opportunities to choose now, and my brother will support any of your decisions, because in my brother's eyes, you are a man with a lot of ideas and independent consciousness."

Zhao Mu smiled and replied, "Brother Qiao, don't praise me, in my eyes, you are also a very capable man." ”

"I'm so capable, I can't even go to high school."

Zhao Mu's voice was a little low: "I know you are ...... for me to go to college."

I stopped him from continuing, and said with a smile: "Stop, I chose to drop out because I was tired of school, but I don't think it's a bad choice, there are many people who work after graduating from college, and his income is not necessarily as high as mine, and I have been working for several years, and I have accumulated more experience than them, right?" ”

Zhao Mu nodded, but didn't say anything more, I understood that he still had a heavy sense of guilt for me in his heart, in order to divert his attention, I finally put my arm on his shoulder and asked, "What do you think of Xiao Ai's girl?" ”

"Brother Qiao, why are you asking that?"

I looked at him meaningfully, smiled, and replied, "I think this girl probably had some crush from your high school days." Do you know? I didn't know her at all, so she came to me recklessly, and now seeing that she is so enthusiastic about you, I have figured it out, she wants to pass me and then get close to you. The girl is a little reserved, so I think this method is very clever, and this girl is also a little clever! ”

Zhao Mu looked at me incredulously, and said after a while: "I don't believe it, I think she is a very straightforward girl, you think of her too complicated!" ”

"I really don't want to overcomplicate her, but this girl is really a god's chatter, and I haven't figured out what she's coming from until now!"

……

Late at night, Zhao Mu lived in the room next to me, and I was half-lying on the bed smoking a cigarette, and then regardless of the tiredness of **, I habitually remembered the scene when I just met Chen Yi in the alley.

I don't like to fantasize about so many illusions of happiness when I am with her, because it will keep me awake in the middle of the night, as if I see all the fantasies of the day become untouchable loss at this moment, and I have no ability to penetrate this thick night, and then ask for a relief, and finally can only bring this loss to sleep, night after night, never lost!

……

The next day, I ushered in the busiest day after the May holiday, I first cooperated with the executive staff to do a wedding in the morning, and in the afternoon I urgently met with two pairs of customers who were about to hold a wedding during the National Day, and confirmed the list of materials for the wedding with them, until dusk, I was not able to be idle.

I went to Nanyi again, and I was going to take Xiao Ai to the resort hotel where the wedding will be held tomorrow to familiarize myself with the venue, which we had agreed on a few days ago, and until now, I am still worried that this girl full of uncertainties will cause me big trouble, if she can't attend on time tomorrow, the rhythm of the whole wedding will be disrupted, and the customer will definitely have to find the company accountable, because I have already confirmed with them about the piano performance.

I was still waiting for her under the dormitory building where Xiao Ai lived, she happened to be carrying a box of food from the school supermarket, I hurriedly walked towards her, and asked eagerly, "Do you remember what we made a reservation a few days ago?" ”

"What's the matter?"

I felt that the tip of my nose broke out in a cold sweat because of this person's unreliability, but I knew her wayward temper, for fear that the words would stimulate her, and it would be difficult for her to end, so I said patiently: "We said that we would go to the hotel where the wedding was held this afternoon to familiarize ourselves with the venue, how can you forget this?" ”

"Actually, I really haven't forgotten this, but I just misremembered the time and thought it was tomorrow."

"You're not much better than forgetting, anyway, in the end, I'll carry the black pot for you!"

……

After leaving Nanyi, Xiao Ai and I went to the resort where the wedding was held. At this time, the executive staff of our company has built the stage to be used tomorrow, I pointed to a west position on the stage and said to Xiao Ai next to me: "Tomorrow the piano will be placed in this position, opposite is a fountain, you are tired of playing, you can watch the fountain to relax, this is the position I specially arranged for you." Do you know, in the original scene layout, you are facing two light stands, and after a wedding, your eyes will definitely not be able to bear it. ”

Xiao Ai replied without appreciating it at all: "I just like to face the lampstand." ”

I was a little speechless, she looked around and asked, "Is this a wedding in the open air?" ”

"Yes."

"Is it fun to have an indoor wedding, or is it fun to have an open-air wedding?"

"I don't know, I just know that doing open-air weddings, we staff are more tired."

"Why?"

"Open-air wedding sets are more complex than indoor ones, and the participants are not easy to control, so the possibility of accidents on the scene, such as weather ......"

Just as I was talking, Xiao Gao of the company's engineering department came to me with a wooden ladder and said to me as if he saw a savior: "Jiangqiao, hurry up and help, our progress is too fast, after this side is done, we have to go to the Junya Hotel to get the next one, it is estimated that today will stay up until the early hours of the morning." ”

Although this is not my job, I can't bear to see Xiao Gao's tired appearance due to overwork, and when I answered, Xiao Gao handed me a cigarette to express my gratitude, and then hurriedly ran to build the background wall of the stage, and I needed to help him install all the spotlights on the stage, which was also a big project.

I erected a wooden ladder, leaned it against an extremely thin iron pipe of the scaffolding, and then said to Xiao Ai beside me: "You help me hold the ladder, I will go up and install the spotlights, tomorrow may be cloudy, and the stage needs to be filled with light." ”

Xiao Ai looked at me incredulously and said, "This is too dangerous, don't you have that kind of electric lifting ladder?" ”

"No, you can just help me get it right."

"I can't hold it, it's too dangerous!"

I turned to look at her, and in a tone even more incredible than hers, I questioned, "I see that you are not afraid of danger when you climb over the wall of my yard?" ”

"How stable the courtyard wall is, you don't have a focus point at all, and it's much higher than the courtyard wall, okay?"

"You hurry up and hold on, even if you fall, it's still a drop on me, not a drop on you, you have to grind again, I can't finish loading it in an hour." I said that my body had climbed up the wooden ladder, and at the same time I was carrying a very heavy spotlight in my hand, most people are not used to this kind of work, most of them will be Xiao Ai's reaction, but I have long since stopped this height without any security as a fear in my heart, because after getting used to it, it is just a very ordinary thing.

"Jiang Qiao, slow down, the ladder is shaking so badly, I can't hold it anymore."

"The ladder isn't shaking, it's your heart shaking." As I answered, I had already stepped on the second grid at the top of the ladder, and then carefully fixed the spotlight on the lampstand, and then I opened my hand to connect the power cord, and finally adjusted the angle, and the first spotlight was installed.

I finally got down the ladder, looked at Xiao Ai, who was a little pale, and said with a smile: "I'm not afraid of people who risk their lives, what are you afraid of?" ”

Xiao Ai looked at the piece of my arm that had been rubbed off by the iron pipe, and said to me in a rare soft tone: "I'm not all afraid, I just feel sad for you, if Zhao Mu knows that over the years, you have relied on doing this for him to go to school, I'm afraid he will also feel very uncomfortable, right?" ”