Twenty minutes after I sent the location to Jin Qiu, I finally saw a black Jeep Wrangler driving towards me along the road next to the mountain, and this speed may be her mood, she has not yet figured out what mood to use to face me at this moment.

I am the same, because I know that it is not easy to come to Lianyungang from Shanghai. The 500-kilometer journey is not so easy to navigate, maybe she has been on the road since the morning.

After another five minutes, Jin Qiu's car stopped beside me, and the moment she stepped out of the car, I realized that there was a familiar person in a strange city, but it was not so annoying.

I posed as a host and said to her, "There is a seafood restaurant behind us, please eat seafood and drink beer at night......

Jin Qiu looked back and replied, "It feels good...... Before I eat, though, I have something for you. ”

I looked at her suspiciously, and she opened the passenger door again, then took out a pot of tulips from inside, and said to me, "I found this pot of flowers when I helped you clean up in the room of the dream tree this morning...... It's not blooming yet, I don't know what kind of flower it is, and I don't know if it's important to you, but I decided to make a trip...... I was worried it was important to you, but you forgot about it! ”

I took the pot from Jin Qiu's hand, looked at it, and said to her, "It's a pot of purple tulips...... It doesn't bloom until March or April, so I forgot about it when I left......"

Jin Qiu interrupted me and replied, "You don't have to say thank you to me...... I'm afraid of embarrassment! ”

I finally looked at her and smiled, and asked, "What's embarrassing?" ”

"I'm afraid you don't think my reason for coming to you is enough."

"I can't believe it, I'm afraid this word will come out of your mouth......" I said as I led Jin Qiu towards the seafood restaurant called "Little Orange".

After finding a table and sitting down, I put the pot of tulips that had not yet bloomed on the table, and then looked down to see its growth, and estimated that it would bloom in less than half a month. And at that time, spring will be more like spring, definitely not the good name of spring as it is now, but you still have to put on a thick coat when you go out.

At this time, the girl who had been reasoning with me about how to be a person last night came to me and Jin Qiu with the menu, and she looked at me with a little surprise......

I was in a good mood, so I said in a joking tone: "Don't be afraid, I'm not here to find faults, don't poison the dishes, let's build a beautiful and harmonious society together." ”

The girl glanced at me, but did not say anything to me, but the silence did not seem to be an antipathy, but a result of thought. She just handed me the menu and told me that some of the seafood was at the current price, and if you wanted to eat it, you should go to the fish tank and pick the fish first.

I didn't rush to catch her, I glanced at her and asked, "What about your brother?" ”

Finally, she was a little unhappy and said to me, "Are you here to eat seafood or do a census?" ”

Jin Qiu, who had never spoken, glanced at her and replied for me: "You little girl is a little good at talking...... In the service industry, you must have the spirit of service, in the eyes of our tourists, you represent the city of Lianyungang, do not let us have prejudice against this place because of your personal mistakes...... And I don't think there's anything disrespectful in my friend's words. ”

Jin Qiu has an innate majesty in her body, so this girl, who doesn't seem to have much social experience, looks a little inferior in the momentum of a high-ranking person like her, and she doesn't know how to answer, what to do, so she just freezes there......

At this time, another middle-aged woman walked down from the second floor, and she said to the girl: "Shi Jing, you go to the second floor to clean up the table, and I will entertain the guests below." ”

Only then did I know that this clear-eyed girl was called Shi Jing, but she was as her name suggested. After she left, the middle-aged woman said to Jin Qiu and me with a smile on her face, "I'm sorry two of you...... This Nier has only been here for a few weeks, and she doesn't know the rules very well, don't mind, I will give you two bottles of Lianyungang specialty beer, which can be regarded as an apology for her. ”

……

A moment later, the proprietress personally brought us two seafood stir-fry and a plate of braised grouper, and I poured beer into the golden autumn cup at the same time.

I rubbed my hands and said with a look of eagerness: "I ate two meals of seafood when I came to Lianyungang yesterday, and I haven't gotten tired of eating it, I really envy those who can live by the sea all year round...... For those of us in the hinterland, it's a luxury to be able to face the sea like we are now, drink beer and eat seafood! ”

Jin Qiu stopped the chopsticks in his hand and looked at me, and after a moment he whispered to me, "It's been a long time since I've seen you smile so comfortably...... It seems that you really like this place. ”

Still smiling, I replied, "Maybe it has something to do with the environment in which I grew up, I've always liked quiet places, and when the tourist season comes, I may not think so." ”

"Since you are living so freely now, when the tourist season comes, you can still live in a different place...... Sometimes, I don't know if you are too unenterprising, or if you really understand the true meaning of life...... But I'm willing to be a person who understands you and appreciate your current lifestyle! ”

"I don't believe what you say, you've said more than once before that you look down on a man like me who can't struggle."

Jin Qiu smiled, she looked at the sea close at hand, but asked me, "Isn't the dream tree made by you?" …… Actually, I've always wanted to find a suitable opportunity to talk to you calmly...... Because what I said before was unjust to you. I shouldn't have erased your contribution to the Dream Tree in the name of reality, when you're really gone...... I found out that Dream Tree had become like a lonely child who had lost his beloved father...... This may sound a bit insensitive, but it is, because many repeat customers come to Dream Tree and are most concerned about where you have been...... But you can't go back. ”

Speaking of this, Jin Qiu was a little disappointed, she picked up the cup and took a sip of wine, and said with a relieved smile: "But this is not a bad thing!" …… I heard from other friends that you have invested in an apartment in a five-star hotel in Nanjing, and I made a special trip to inquire with a knowledgeable friend, saying that you have a good vision, and you have just started to appreciate in value as soon as you buy it. ”

"This is also a friend who introduced me to buy it, and I can't say that I have a good eye."

"Your connections are your gains and vision...... Why didn't he introduce such a great investment opportunity to other people but to you? Because he enjoys the trust you have in him and trusts you because of your trust. With this premise, they are willing to share the good opportunity with you...... I think that in this world where everyone is vying for fame and fortune, it is actually more difficult to gather so many people around you who can trust and give to each other unconditionally than to make money itself...... Jiangqiao, you are a good businessman and a good friend of everyone! ”

"Why do you say it like a tongue twister...... I understand what you mean. ”

Jin Qiu shrugged and smiled, then raised his glass to signal me to drink, and I didn't want to live up to such a good time, and as I drank the beer in my glass, I set my eyes on the reef where many seabirds lived.

When I was about to finish a bottle of beer, I picked up on the topic that I hadn't finished talking about: "Actually, I've seen some changes in you in the past two years...... You're not as cold as I thought you were. ”

"I'm certainly not as cold as you think...... It's just that I don't give back to others in the same way as you do. In the past few years since I returned to China, whether it is the employees around me or the partners I have worked with, I have tried my best to make them benefit from their careers, which seems indifferent to you, but not everyone thinks so......"

I looked at Jin Qiu, nodded and replied: "In this information age, everyone pursues simple and direct returns, maybe your way is more in line with the needs of the mainstream people......"

Jin Qiu and I looked at each other before saying after a moment, "So, don't you think we are a good complement to each other?" …… The way I give back will give the whole team more confidence, and your dedication will build a good image for the brand. I think that's the root cause of the success of the Dream Tree, not what I said before...... Those are really external causes now. ”

I shifted my gaze from Jin Qiu, it wasn't that I didn't want to respond to her words, but it seemed too late to say anything now.

……

This evening, Jin Qiu and I wasted all this time with nothing to do, and by the time we checked out and were ready to leave, it was already half past nine in the evening, and we not only ate some seafood, but also drank a dozen bottles of beer.

The mode of checkout at the small seafood restaurant is very primitive, and the proprietress said to me while calculating the cost of the wine and food with a calculator: "Little boss, I'll wipe the change for you later...... Don't worry about that Nier, if you have friends to Lianyungang in the future, you must introduce us to eat seafood, we will definitely not rip off customers. ”

I smiled and replied, "I really didn't care about it...... But boss, is this girl a relative of yours? I also saw a small boy yesterday who was also following her as a helper in your shop. ”

The proprietress looked up at Shi Jing, who was cleaning on the second floor, and then replied with a sigh: "You don't know, this Nier's background is quite pitiful, she was supposed to study in Shanghai at university, but last summer, the family suffered a catastrophe, and his father encountered a strong storm when he went to the sea to fish, and he couldn't come back; Her mother was not in good health, and she was stimulated like this, and she couldn't do it, so she ran to the hospital every once in a while, and finally failed to help the two children, but became a burden for them...... Therefore, Shi Jing's child gave up the opportunity to study in Shanghai and went back to Lianyungang to take care of her mother and younger brother...... Alas! The child is really a good child, but his life is not good...... Didn't I take her in as a temporary worker because she was pitiful! ”

After listening to this, I couldn't help but sigh in my heart, it turns out that this life is the best script, and it will connect some people with similar fates in various ways. At the same time, it was also the worst script, because I didn't meet such a pair of siblings until I was almost 30 years old. In fact, countless people die in shipwrecks every year, and countless more suffer in life!

I instinctively thought of Zhao Chu's parents, although they are not related to me, but they have always had the grace of nurturing in my heart, but they were forced by life and died in the Yangtze River.

It was then that I understood why the kid named Stone had to dump his garbage into the sea, because he didn't like the sea as much as we did, and no matter how beautiful things were, they would become awe-inspiring as long as they were linked to their livelihoods!

...