On 30 September, Wu Dao called his family and said that he was going to Beijing on a business trip on National Day and would not return to Qicheng County. Wu Dao didn't go home, not only to attend Si Baifang's wedding, but he was also afraid to go home because he didn't dare to face his family.

When I went back during the summer vacation, the three elders asked Wu Dao if his girlfriend had graduated and when he planned to get married.

Wu Dao could only continue to lie, saying that his girlfriend had indeed graduated and that their relationship was very good.

However, he couldn't give satisfactory answers to the two questions that the family was most concerned about, "when to bring his girlfriend home to see" and "when he planned to get married".

Wu Dao knew that if he returned home during the National Day holiday, the three elders would continue to ask these two questions, and since he couldn't give an answer, it was better not to go home.

On October 1, Wu Dao took the afternoon train to Beijing. He called Jing Like in advance and told the other party that he was going to Beijing to attend Si Baifang's wedding, and said that he was very familiar with Beijing and did not need to pick him up.

It was inconvenient to talk on the phone, and Wu Dao did not say in detail about Si Baifang's marriage. Jing Like was too busy with work to ask for leave, so he listened to Wu Dao's words, and he told Wu Dao that after arriving in Beijing, he would take the subway to Peking University.

According to Jing Like, after arriving in Beijing, Wu Dao took the subway to Peking University. When I left the station, I saw Jing Like waiting for me there.

After more than five years of not seeing, Jing Like seems to be a little fatter than before, his face is ruddy, and he looks healthier. It was already evening, and the two of them went directly to the Peking University restaurant. Arriving at the door of the restaurant, a young girl came up and said:

"You're here."

Jing Like said to the girl: "This is my good friend Wu Dao that I often tell you", and said to Wu Dao, "This is my girlfriend Zhang Mengjie." ”

"Hello, Ricco often mentions you, saying that you are ten times more talented than him, and I finally met you today." Zhang Mengjie said to Wu Dao.

"I'm good friends with Ricco, but I'm not as good as he says, if you want to talk about talent, Rico is really a talented person. And my good friend Zhao Wu and Lico, who is also a very talented person. Wu Dao said.

"Speaking of Zhao Wu, after graduation, I have never seen him." Jing Like said.

"I haven't seen him either. Time flies, and more than seven years have passed. Wu Dao said.

"Let's go eat first. I still have a lot to say to you, so let's talk about it after dinner. Jing Like said.

"Okay." Wu Dao said.

The three of them walked into the restaurant and quickly finished their meal. Jing Like took Wu Dao to Weixiu Garden, and when he arrived at the small courtyard where he lived a few years ago, Zhang Mengjie went to another place.

Jing Like led Wu Dao into a small single room with a single bed and a small table. The two of them sat on the bed, and Jing Like said to Wu Dao:

"The last time you came, I was still living in a dormitory, and then I earned some money and wanted to change to a single room. Stayed for a long time, had a good relationship with the landlord, this room was vacant, he rented it to me, and the price was not high. You'll just have to stay here tonight. ”

"I live here, where do you live?" Wu Dao said.

"I don't live here anymore, Zhang Mengjie and I rent a building near here. This room hasn't expired yet, so it's okay to stay. Is Si Baifang's wedding tomorrow? ”

"Yes, I'm here for her wedding tomorrow. The other day, she texted me and told me about getting married. ”

"The two of you came to Beijing a few years ago as if it was just yesterday. I always wanted you to be together, but I didn't expect that things would turn out the way they are. ”

"I didn't expect her to get married so soon."

"After you left Beijing that year, I didn't have any contact with Si Baifang anymore. Neither of us left each other's mobile phone numbers, I don't know if she came to Beijing and is now married. How did Si Baifang and her current husband meet? ”

"Si Baifang went abroad to teach when she was a sophomore, and met her current husband there, and he also taught there. Her husband is a Beijinger and has a good family.

Si Baifang told me that she now works at the headquarters of a large bank, which was arranged by her mother-in-law, who is an executive of the bank.

When Si Baifang and I came to Beijing that time, Si Baifang said that she liked Beijing very much, and said that if she had the opportunity in the future, she would like to come to Beijing to work and live. Now, her wish has come true. ”

"It turns out that when a girl goes abroad, she is not familiar with the place of life, and it is easy to have feelings with people. In addition, Si Baifang was born in a very poor family, and the other party's family conditions are very superior, so it is easier to be attracted. It would be nice if Si Baifang hadn't gone abroad. ”

"It's useless to say anything now. Before, Si Baifang and I had a forty-year-old agreement, and she said that when she was forty years old, if neither of us were married, she would marry me. Now she is only twenty-eight years old. ”

"What are you going to do?"

"After attending her wedding tomorrow, I'll take the train back in the afternoon."

"I mean your plans for the future, Si Baifang is already married, do you plan to find a girlfriend, or live like this alone?"

"Say it, you may not believe it. I've always liked Si Baifang, but at the same time I've fallen in love with another woman. It was only on the day that Si Baifang told me that she was going to get married, and I finally understood this and had sex with that woman. ”

"What kind of woman is that?"

"This has to start from the beginning, her surname is Meng, her name is Yihong, she is a teacher at Fangzhou College, and she is also the younger sister of my graduate tutor, she should be my elder, and she is forty-six years old this year.

I went to work at Fangzhou College, and she helped me. In the year of graduation, I didn't have the opportunity to enter the university as a teacher, at that time, Fangzhou University was just about to recruit a teacher majoring in foreign literature, she called my tutor and asked him if he had taken graduate students to work in Fangzhou College, and my tutor recommended me, and then I came to Fangzhou College. ”

"She must be a very special woman for you to like her."

"Yes, she's very special. Her experience is very tortuous, when she graduated from graduate school, she went to Fangzhou to work for love, and soon after marriage, she was found to have infertility, which has not been cured, in order not to drag down the man, she took the initiative to file for divorce, and then she has been living in the school dormitory.

She and I are neighbors, and after work, she takes great care of me, both in work and in life. She is very kind, loving, and has almost no defects in her character, like a virgin.

At the beginning, I treated her as an elder, and after getting along for a long time, I began to call her sister and liked her. That day, we had a drink, and I didn't control myself and had sex with her. ”

"Do you really like her?"

"I really like it. Age is not an obstacle to love and marriage, I want to marry her, but she only wants to be Mrs. Warren. ”

"She's really a very special woman. You are really lucky to meet two special women, Si Baifang and Meng Yihong. ”

"Tell me about your girlfriend Zhang Mengjie, how did you meet and how long have you been together?"

"I've known each other for more than a year. Zhang Mengjie is not Si Baifang, nor is it Meng Yihong, and now I have some contradictions in my heart. ”

"Why the contradiction?"

"She and I met in the Peking University restaurant, and you can see that she is quite beautiful and treats people well, but after getting along for a long time, I found that we have no common language. She didn't go to college, she didn't read much, and she didn't know anything about the art of calligraphy. ”

"I haven't gone to college, I can study on my own, Si Baifang is a self-admitted undergraduate."

"The key is not academic qualifications. Most people's artistic talents are innate, and they can't be cultivated the day after tomorrow, just like Si Baifang, even if she didn't take a self-examination for an undergraduate, didn't go to graduate school, and only had a junior high school degree, she was still a very talented girl.

Moreover, we also know that many poets, writers, and artists have not gone to college, such as Shen Congwen, who only went to elementary school.

Zhang Mengjie is not like this, I think that even if she goes to college, or even graduate school, she still will not have artistic talent. That's the contradiction in my mind. ”

"Life is always faced with constant choices, and this is the source of contradictions. Since you can't make a choice right now, let it be. ”

"Yes, let it be. What about you, what are you going to do? ”

"I haven't thought about it yet, Meng Yihong can't marry me, and she's trying to push me out so that I can start a new relationship."

"She's doing the right thing, you should find a more suitable girlfriend."

"Look at providence. Let's not talk about this for a while, I suddenly remembered the dog you adopted, how is it now? ”

"You're talking about hope, do you remember it?"

"Always remember."

"It left this world last year, and the life span of a dog is only more than ten years, and it is also a kind of fate that we can spend a few years together."

"Yes. How is your current job? ”

"It's been smooth, and we've made a little bit of progress in the past few years. A few days ago, Zhao Wu called me and said that if I want to hold a calligraphy exhibition or publish a book, I can find him, he knows a lot of publishing houses and people in the cultural circles, and he can help. ”

"Zhao Wu still works in the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture?"

"Yes, it's still there, maybe it's already a section-level cadre."

"When Zhao Wu first went to work in the Cultural Department, I still had some differences, but now I understand that this is called Da Yin Yu Chao.

Didn't Lu Xun also serve in the Ministry of Education back then, an intellectual, if he wants to truly fulfill his responsibilities, working in the government is the best choice, and only when he reaches a certain position can he really do things.

French intellectuals emphasize intervening in politics, and what Zhao Wu is doing is actually intervening. ”

"That's right. However, there are still practical things we can do. For example, if you are a teacher in school, you can teach by word and deed, to enlighten students, and if a student can benefit, the society will have more motivation to move forward. Our education needs more thoughtful and moral teachers. ”

"Yes. When you do your artistic work, you are also enlightening the public. ”

"True calligraphy is to inherit the past and the future, and pass on the nutrients in traditional culture. I'm really happy to have talked so much with you today. What a blessing to have a confidant in life! ”

"I also feel very lucky to have two confidants and friends, you and Zhao Wu. Do you have any plans for the future, and do you want to stay in Beijing all the time? ”

"It's hard to say now, maybe I'll always be a North Drifter. You also know the housing prices in Beijing, not ordinary people can afford them, if you plan to get married and have children here, and live for a long time, you will inevitably have to buy a house. Let's see if we can afford to buy a house in the future, and then decide to stay.

Sometimes I envy you, in a small city, with a stable job, life is easy, and there will be no such great pressure in life. ”

"Small cities and big cities have their own advantages and disadvantages, and life in Fangzhou is indeed easy, but there is no cultural atmosphere like Beijing. Moreover, university is not a paradise, it is also a place of right and wrong. ”

"Relatively speaking, college is a better job for you."

"Yes, indeed. It's not easy to find a more suitable job than this. Unless you are a writer, but in this day and age, few people can support themselves and their families by writing. I also know that I can't become a writer with my ability.

But you, I know your artistic talent, and you are also very hard-working, you can become a calligrapher, now the Chinese calligraphy and painting market is very hot, you can rely on calligraphy to get a dignified life. ”

"Calligraphy and painting seem to be very popular now, but in fact, not many people really understand art and really care about art, they are all hype.

If you want to gain popularity, you can't do without commercial hype and all kinds of connections, which I disdain.

You shouldn't be presumptuous, in fact, your writing talent is still very high, and you should stick to writing. ”

"Don't talk about me, I think you should consider Zhao Wu's suggestion."

"Perhaps. It's not early, I have to go back. ”

"Are you going to Si Baifang's wedding tomorrow?"

"She didn't invite me, so I didn't go. If you and Si Baifang get married, it will be the end of the world, and I will also participate. Only now, alas, not to speak. ”

"It's better if you don't go. Will you come over tomorrow morning? ”

"I'm very busy at work during this time, and I'm going to work early tomorrow morning, so I won't come. After you lock the door, just put the key on the windowsill and I'll come back to get it after work. ”

"Good. I will attend Si Baifang's wedding tomorrow morning, and I will go back to Fangzhou directly after dinner. Let's get together again when we have time, and I hope that next time, Zhao Wu can also join us. ”

"Looking forward to this day soon."