Drive from the Chlumberg-Haysen Castle to the Free Lorraine Canal Industrial Zone, the journey is more than 20 miles, although the sandy road in the mountains does not have the conditions for the car, when the weather is good, there is half an hour is enough, but the spring rain continues, there are a lot of puddles on the road, the car is not smooth, the children sit in this "swing car", all the way giggle is very happy, the adults who attend the dinner in formal clothes can not help but worry about the muddy water splashing up and staining the clothes. Fortunately, the journey was short, and before it was completely dark, they arrived at the brightly lit canal industrial area. The roads have been hardened, the roads are lined with modern street lights, the plant is powered by the Wallens' coal-fired power plant, and the Lorraine Industrialists Union has financed a backup power plant using coal-fired boilers to ensure year-round operation.

The welcome dinner was held in the United Trade Union Auditorium in the Canal Industrial Zone, a white rotunda with a main hall that can accommodate up to 3,000 people (with its own small benches), as well as a number of small conference halls, activity rooms and trade union offices.

As the driver and the only adult gentleman in the car, after parking, Weiss quickly opened the door for the ladies. Nikolai and Professor Xiao Yang obviously prepared their outfits with their hearts today: the former combed his handsome back and wore a slim dress, in the eyes of Yan Kong, this is a handsome little student who is so sweet, and in the eyes of sharp-eyed and knowledgeable people, this is simply a moving mountain of gold - coats, scarves, boots, pocket watches, either luxury goods, or high-end private customization, coupled with that kind of arrogance from the inside out, it is too dazzling to stay in a small place like Lorraine. The latter wore an elegant long dress, although it was not an exaggerated gown, but the color, style and accessories perfectly set off all her strengths. She is like a red cherry, beautiful and delicious from a distance, never greasy when you look at it closely, it is the best delicacy that the little fresh pie can't ask for, and what is even more commendable is that she prepared a dress of the same color for the little candy, and carefully dressed her up, the mother and daughter walked into the auditorium hand in hand, and there was a feeling of walking on the red carpet......

The main hall of the huge auditorium is arranged according to the banquet pattern, although the hardware level is not as good as the banquet of the wealthy giants, but it shows the enthusiasm and sincere feelings of the people of Lorraine, and various details can also be seen that Pamela and his partners are indeed very carefully prepared.

As the number one host, the first thing Weiss did when he came to the banquet was to follow Professor Xiao Yang to get to know the teachers and students who came to Lorraine for internship and research. Among the young faces, the most eye-catching is the leading man, his age looks like he is in his twenties, his youth has faded, he is calm and beginning, he looks quite handsome, he gives people the feeling of dignified appearance, it seems that there is no lack of exercise, his body is well-proportioned, his arms are thick and round, and his smile has a special affinity, which should be very heterosexual on a college campus.

Professor Xiao Yang introduced to Weiss that Mr. Dunz is a first-level teaching assistant in the School of Geography and Geology, and he is the youngest first-level teaching assistant in the past ten years.

The young and handsome teaching assistant shook Weiss's hand with a smile, but it could be seen that his attention was not on Weiss at all, but looked at Professor Xiao Yang as he spoke: "It's a pity that I don't have the opportunity to become the youngest professor anymore." ”

Weiss said curiously to Professor Xiao Yang: "I thought you were the youngest first-level teaching assistant in the School of Geography and Geology in the past century!" ”

"I became an associate professor and then a professor." Professor Xiao Yang smiled slightly, "I have never been a first-level teaching assistant. ”

In Weiss's impression, the one who can break the rules is either a capable cow or a background cow, and he is generally not an ordinary person anyway. During the war, although he also "made an exception" once, he was appointed by the military as a guerrilla colonel, and suddenly stepped from a lieutenant to a senior colonel, but this kind of temporary appointment was quite common in wartime, and there was nothing to be proud of.

In the federal higher education system, a first-level teaching assistant is the highest level of teaching assistant, and may be only a little short of teaching time away from an associate professor, or a thesis may be slightly lacking. Objectively speaking, this Dunz is quite good, if not the top academic.

"Marboulder, Assistant Coach II." Professor Xiao Yang continued.

The latter one is much inferior in terms of appearance conditions, and the clothes on his body are a bit rustic. Although his eyes also followed Professor Xiao Yang's figure, this kind of role was obviously not threatening.

The two teaching assistants were followed by 24 students, 19 males and 5 females, half of whom were senior research students and half of them were general research students. Most of these high-achieving students have good basic conditions. The boys wear formal clothes, although they are childish, they are also polite, humble and gentlemanly, and several of them can be regarded as little fresh meat with good appearance and temperament; Although there are no outstanding beauties among the girls, they are also pure and lovely, fresh and moving, which makes people nostalgic for the long time on campus.

After some politeness, everyone went their own way. Outside of work, with Xiao Candy, Professor Xiao Yang shows her gentle and careful side, every expression, every action exudes the brilliance of motherhood, but not too much spoiling the child, every time Little Candy has an inappropriate behavior, she always patiently explains, carefully teaches, can't help but make people sigh, this is a true good wife and mother!

The children were well fed and drunk, gathered together to play, and the big ones took care of the small ones, so they basically didn't have to worry about it. Professor Xiao Yang served some food and found a seat on the side to savor it slowly. By this time, the band had already played three soothing pieces, and the tempo of the tune began to change, and people could continue to eat and chat, or they could find their own dance partners. According to the arrangement of the music, the dance hall usually begins with a double group dance, after dancing the slow dance, fast dance, and free dance, the queue group dance is carried out, which is the first climax of the banquet, and then the best pairs of dance partners in the first two stages take turns to dance as a duet, and through the applause and cheers of the audience, the best pair or two pairs are naturally selected for the final performance, which is the second climax of the banquet. In between the dances, banquet organizers or invited heavyweights can give speeches or organize events on specific topics such as fundraisers and marriage proposals.

For most banquets, attendees bring their own dance partners, and at a welcome banquet like today, there are more men and fewer women than teachers and students from afar, which requires the organizer to make corresponding arrangements. In the vast Free Lorraine Canal Industrial Zone, there are more than 20 factories in operation, many of which are more or mainly female workers, such as quilt factories, chemical factories, and mold factories. In addition to the men who brought their own female companions, the union also invited 50 unmarried men and women, including engineers, technicians, teachers and medical staff from the city of Somsonas, etc., so that the ratio of men and women to the banquet was generally balanced, and it also provided an opportunity for these young men and women to meet and intersect.

After greeting his old comrades-in-arms and new friends, Weiss found Professor Xiao Yang who was still eating in the crowd, and walked over with a wine glass. Out of the most basic etiquette, Weiss couldn't "rob" Professor Xiao Yang when she was eating, and a girl next to her took the initiative to invite her to dance.

During the war, Weiss suffered major injuries and was on the verge of death several times, and this intense stimulation not only forced out his potential, but also allowed him to "recover" a lot of memories. The gorgeous girl in front of her, in the depths of her memory, can find the corresponding fragment, her name is Camelia Onar, she is known by the Somsonas Youth Choir, and there seems to have been a hazy ambiguity in her youth - to be precise, it was the man who pursued the woman, and the woman took the test, but the man did not pass, and then it was gone.

Since they wanted to get acquainted, and the woman took the initiative to invite the dance, Weiss couldn't refuse, and besides, Professor Xiao Yang would be difficult to "get out" for a while, maybe he was also polite, and would dance a song with Dunz, so he entered the dance team with him. This slow-paced pas de deux dance was just the beginning of the warm-up, and the atmosphere was not enthusiastic, and everyone maintained a polite dance posture.

The girl smiled and said to Weiss in a sweet voice: "I have been away from home for many years to study at the Estheda Academy of Fine Arts in Liberty City, and I have only recently returned to Somsonas to teach art at a public secondary school. ”

"Oh! Isn't Liberty City good? How did you come up with the idea of coming back to this small city in the middle of nowhere? Weiss said casually.

"Homesick!" The girl replied, "Anyway, when I was studying abroad, I didn't meet anyone who was destined for me, because I was worried about my parents and sisters at home, and I wanted to come back as soon as the war was over." What about you? I heard that you are not married yet? You are a great hero in the wartime, and the conditions are very good in all aspects, is it that your vision has become higher, and ordinary people can't look down on it at all? ”

Come up and say hello and ask these questions, as a young unmarried woman is already active enough, but unfortunately Weiss is no longer the dragon Clumber Hazen of the year, he smiled politely: "Fate is such a thing, you can't find it!" ”

Miss Onal smiled at him, "Isn't it too nostalgic?" ”

"Some people, some things, miss it, don't regret it, don't be annoyed, take the road well, cherish the people around you......" When this big reason came to his mouth, Weiss suddenly froze, he turned his head to look, originally to see how Professor Xiao Yang was doing, but he caught a glimpse of Nikolai dancing with a long-haired girl who looked a little familiar. The girl was wearing an eye-catching fiery red dress, blonde hair and blue eyes, heavy makeup, waist squeezing, very hot.

Lolita Welf, Weiss's "ex-girlfriend", an overly unrestrained and philanthropic woman. She is considered a courtesan in Somsonas and even in the central and eastern regions of Lorraine, so it is not surprising whose female companion she joined this banquet, and it is strange that she actually caught up with Nikolai! Oh, by the way, she was there on the day of Bella's coming-of-age ceremony, and she had a relationship with Nikolai. It is said that she should not know Nikolai's true identity, so she is extremely charming...... Gee!

Miss Onar, thinking that Weiss was looking at Lolita, said indignantly, "It is a good thing that time can make a man see his true face." Some people, anyone who comes can put it on, it's really shameless! ”

The story about Lolita should be more than enough to publish a romance, especially during the war, she also had an inexplicable relationship with the Norman officers, but after all, she was just an ordinary person, neither used the power given by the Normans to oppress and harm her compatriots, nor did she sell intelligence secrets or anything, and after the war, she was interrogated and investigated by the intelligence and security services, and she was not sanctioned and punished, but she disappeared for a while, and it didn't take long for her to become active again, going in and out of various occasions, Hang out with all kinds of men...... Weiss no longer had any dealings with her, and although he hated her chaotic lifestyle, he would not judge her in front of others, let alone speak ill of her, out of the most basic principles of being a human being.

Seeing that Weiss did not answer, Miss Ornal probably thought that what she had just said was indeed to the point, and could not help but feel disappointed in Weiss. After a dance, Weiss didn't take the initiative to invite her to dance again, and she didn't have a good face, turned her head and walked away.

Weiss turned to look for Professor Xiao Yang, who was still sitting with the "youngest first-class teaching assistant in the academy", who seemed to want to wait for her to dance, but at this time a female student walked over and invited him to dance "out of time", although this guy was very reluctant, out of courtesy, he still agreed. After Dunz left, another tall, thin male student approached, apparently wanting to invite Professor Xiao Yang to dance, but she smiled and pointed to the plate in front of her, probably saying that she was still eating, and she would talk about it later. The boy walked away stupidly, and seeing this opportunity, Weiss quickly walked through the crowd and grabbed the "hot" position next to Professor Xiao Yang.

Seeing Weiss in such a hurry, Professor Xiao Yang pursed his lips and smiled, and then asked, "Who was the lady who danced with you just now?" ”

"Partners of the Somsonas Junior Choir." Weiss quickly replied, "We were only in our teens then, and we hadn't seen each other in years. ”

"She's dancing well, and you're looking a little absent-minded, which is rude." Professor Yang pointed out Weiss's shortcomings, and the latter was undoubtedly overjoyed to receive such criticism, because it meant that she had just consciously paid attention to her own movements. "The youngest first-level teaching assistant of the college" is sitting here, which is just a decoration at all!

Weiss cleared his throat: "Actually, I was just thinking, who has the honor to dance her first dance with the brightest lady in the audience today, if it weren't for me, it would be the most regrettable thing today." ”

"Miss Leibold will feel very disappointed when you say that, right?" Professor Xiao Yang laughed.

"She? Look at! She is also the brightest man in the audience today - the brightest! Weiss laughed and said, "Compared to her, I am destined to be bleak." ”

"Alright! Mr. Bleak, will you dance with me for a while? Professor Xiao Yang took the initiative to send out an invitation.

"Glad to do it!" Weiss happily replied, "Perhaps, we can compete for the king and queen tonight?" ”

The two have danced a few times before, don't look at Professor Xiao Yang's usual inconspicuousness, and he doesn't have to pick when he dances. Although Weiss did not have a foundation in this area, in those difficult years of the guerrilla war in Lorraine, he often used dancing as a pleasant activity in his spare time, and during the preparation of the special forces for operation, he was guided and trained by Octavier, and he was technically passable, and with the popularity here, he still had a chance to win the best pas de deux at the banquet.

Professor Yang did not take up the challenge casually, but observed the dancing crowd and said for a while, "I haven't danced in a while, so I might as well give it a try!" ”

In other words, the two are regular partners tonight, in addition to their dancing skills and tacit understanding, the more tunes they dance, the more opportunities they have to attract everyone's attention and be recognized by them. Of course, having experienced the supreme glory of a national hero and the trough of life in embarrassment, how could Weiss care about this kind of false name? Life must be happy, don't make the gold bottle empty to the moon, that's all.