Li sent the boxes to the warehouse, stacked them neatly, then wiped the sweat off his face, subconsciously tidied up his clothes, came back to explain to the supervisor, and immediately rushed to the general manager's office.

"Report!" He shouted as he used to do when he entered the teacher's office at school.

"Come in." Mr. Zhang smiled slightly and said, "We don't shout 'report' here, you just need to knock on the door and I'll know." ”

She looked at Li Kuiwei's figure, upright facial features, and fair skin, nodded, and pointed to the sofa next to her: "Sit down." ”

It's a large, spacious office with a sophisticated décor. Mr. Zhang's desk is wide and long, and the light is recognizable, larger than the bed he sleeps in at home; On the desk, lights, telephones, computers, and office utensils are all available. The chair she sat in could rise and fall, and it could turn in all directions. There are two rows of cream-faced leather sofas on either side of the desk, and various information cabinets are neatly arranged on the four walls.

He seemed to have come to the Emperor's Jinluan Hall all at once, and the golden wall in front of him was brilliant and radiant, and he felt that it was fresh and peculiar, but he did not dare to look at it, because the "Emperor" was sitting on it, and was staring at him with blazing eyes. He had no choice but to sit down on the sofa on the left in an orderly manner.

Zhang Qian saw his restraint and said with a smile: "Don't be restrained, I invited you to chat today as a fellow countryman, not as a general manager." If you have anything in your heart, say it, and do not be anxious. ”

Li smiled stubbornly, stood up and said, "When and where, you are the general manager, and I am a part-time worker." I also don't know what you need to know, what you like, what you don't like; What should I say and what should I not say. So, I would like to ask questions. As long as I know it, I promise to know everything and answer truthfully. ”

Mr. Zhang nodded with a smile. He rubbed his hands again and introduced himself: "As for me, not long ago, I was still a student, except for teachers and classmates, I rarely had contact with society; The family has been living in a ravine, farming and hunting, and the outside world is rarely understood. The biggest city I've ever been to is Liangshan County, our hometown. It was my first time in Shenzhen, and I had never seen the big world, and I had little knowledge in society. Today, if there is something wrong, please forgive Mr. Zhang. ”

"You're a good talker! Sit down, sit down. As I said, today I invite you to chat as a fellow countryman, and there is neither a topic nor a scope. Say whatever you know, say whatever you want in your heart, speak freely, unrestrained, and it doesn't matter if you're right or wrong. ”

Lee listened and relaxed a little. He sat down again, looking at Zhang Qian with unblinking eyes, and wisps of fragrance kept coming from his face. He was stunned by her magnificence. I thought, or Hong Kong women will groom themselves, you see, how beautifully these eyebrows, eyes, and corners of the lips are groomed! After watching it for a while, I felt that this was not good: Is it too rude to keep staring at other people's faces? After all, Mr. Zhang is still a young woman, so I will be embarrassed to look at people like this, and I will think that I have a bad heart; So he turned his gaze to something else.

"What's your name, young man?" Mr. Zhang really started to ask questions.

"Lee."

"What's the last name?"

"Lee."

"Your name is Li Li?"

"Yes. Just a Li character, which is both a name and a surname. ”

"It's strange, it's the first time I've heard of it."

"It's not unusual, many people before the Spring and Autumn Period were called like this, and we mountain people also like to call it that."

"Yes, the names of people before the Spring and Autumn Period were called this way."

Zhang Qian was a little surprised by Li's erudition. She looked at Li carefully, and although he looked a little nervous, he was not panicked. So she asked:

"It seems that you have read books, what level of education?"

"High school graduation."

"Why don't you drop out of college when you don't go to college? Is it because the family is in difficulty and cannot afford to provide for it? ”

"Not really. Now the land and forests in my hometown are contracted to the households, and the family can still support a college student. I didn't get it myself. ”

"So, your homework foundation is poor?" She stared at Li as if she had caught him by the handle of dropping out of school.

"Not really. I was always in the top of my class, but I ...... later."

Lee didn't know what to say: he didn't want to admit that he didn't do well in his schoolwork, because it would be a disgrace to the reader; But he was reluctant to tell the truth, because it was equally dishonorable and shameful for a student to do that kind of thing. He had no choice but to stop half-talking, bowing his head and saying nothing.

"What happened next? Something is wrong with your family and you can't continue to study? ”

In Zhang Qian's mind, mainland students drop out of school because their families are in financial difficulties and cannot afford to provide for them.

Lee was a little embarrassed. It's terrible! This Mr. Zhang wants to break the casserole and ask in the end. Actually, what is the reason for this, and what does it have to do with you? I'm going to go to university, I go to school in the morning, and in the future, the state will assign a job, and I will come to you to work? But he didn't dare to say that, because his work arrangement, future and fate were all in her hands. Well, since you want to ask, I'll tell you about it, and even then, it's better than saying homework. Anyway, you said that I can speak freely today, and it doesn't matter what I say.

"That's the case, in the second semester of the third year of high school, my wife was sick, and I had to take leave to take care of her, and I had to do work in the mountains and fields, which delayed my studies, so I didn't have ......."

"Ahh You got married in your junior year of high school? Doesn't the mainland advocate late marriage and late childbearing? ”

"We are not married. Actually, at that time, you couldn't call your wife, you could only call your girlfriend. Li Bujue blushed a little. However, he still feels fortunate that he has hidden the story of Momo's pregnancy and the warm hostel.

"What's wrong with your girlfriend? Is it okay now? ”

"Stomach problems. It's been around for a long time. She was sick for more than a month, and she didn't get well until the eve of the college entrance examination, so we didn't get into college. ”

"What? Is your girlfriend and you classmates? ”

"Yes. From elementary school, junior high school, to high school graduation, we are all classmates; Because we are fellow villagers, from the same village, and born in the same year, we play together since we can walk, whether in life or study, we care for each other, help each other, take care of each other, and have a deep affection. ”

"I understand, you are childhood sweethearts, and you have no guesses."

"I guess so." Lee nodded.

"Now you're married?"

"Not only are I married, but I also have children."

"And a child? Being a dad at such a young age? How old are you this year? ”

"Twenty-three."

"It's not too early to be a father at twenty-three, right?"

"In our mountains, it's not too early. Some boys don't study, they get married at the age of seventeen or eighteen, and they become fathers before they are twenty. ”

Zhang Qian shook her head when she heard this, felt incomprehensible, and said:

"He got married at the age of seventeen or eighteen, he is young and has no education, what does he rely on to support his wife and children?"

"Relying on farming, hunting, digging medicinal herbs, and the help of my parents, I took care of them."

Zhang Qian listened and said:

"It's not good, it's not good. Boys should start a business first, then get married, start a family, and have children, so that they can take care of their wives and children, and they don't have to drag down their parents. If you are upside down, you don't have the ability to live yet, so you get married and have children first, and you can't support your parents, and you have to rely on your parents to help you support your wife and children, so isn't it too hard for your parents? Would they like to? ”

"Naturally, there is no parent who is unwilling. This is the living habit of the mountain people, which has been like this for thousands of years, passed down from generation to generation. Not only did the parents not feel hard, but they also actively urged their son to get married early, so that they could hold their grandson early. If the son can't find a partner, can't get married early and have children early, the parents will be so worried that they can't eat, can't sleep well, do everything possible to favor people, pull relationships, help their son find a partner, and even spend money to buy a woman outside the mountain to be a daughter-in-law for their son, give birth to children, and pass on the ancestry. This has been taken for granted in the Daliang Mountain area, and no one thinks it should be. Li talked about the marriage customs and customs in his hometown, like a number of family treasures, and talked endlessly.

Zhang Qian laughed and leaned back and forth, so much so that she burst into tears. She said:

"What's the point of your marriage? It's all about passing on the lineage. I can't imagine that after decades of life, how can a marriage like this without love be maintained? She shook her head and waved her hands, and her flowing hair shook with her.

From Zhang Qian's laughter, movements and words, Li could hear her contempt and incomprehension for the people in the mountains, and her heart felt like she was hurt and felt a faint pain. He said:

"Don't laugh at you. Although we mountain people have low education, are closed and backward, and get married and have children at a young age, we are serious about marriage, and it is by no means child's play. Since they are married, they must stay together for the rest of their lives, grow old together, and both men and women have a heavy sense of responsibility for marriage. This sense of responsibility, in addition to the responsibility that oneself should bear, also comes from parents, from family, family, relatives, and friends. Everyone tells you together: if you hold the hand of the son, you should grow old with the son; Divorce halfway and abandon one's wife is an immoral and shameful act, which violates the moral norms in the eyes of the family, clan, relatives, friends, and even the entire social group, and also seriously hurts the reputation of parents, families, and clans. Therefore, not only your parents, brothers and sisters, but even the whole family, the whole society will look down on you, saying that you do not follow the right path, do not follow the ancestral teachings, and do not abide by the family rules. In the future, even if you want to get married again, no girl is willing to marry you, and no one is even willing to be a matchmaker for you. Because, they all think that you are an irresponsible, unethical person, therefore, you cannot be trusted, you cannot be trusted. ”

"It turns out that you regard the significance of marriage so much, it is a responsibility, a commitment, and a moral norm that must be observed to your parents, to the family, to the family, and even to the whole society, rather than just seeing it as the crystallization of two people's own love. Although this kind of thinking is conservative, it is very worthy of respect and admiration. ”

"The crystallization of two people's own love? That's just what you people in the city say. Before we got married, most of us in the mountains were agreed by matchmakers and agreed by our parents, and before we got married, we didn't meet a few times, but we only knew that there was a woman in the mountain, and soon it would be my wife, and there was a man in the mountain, and soon it would be my husband; As for feelings, they are slowly cultivated after marriage; Before getting married, they didn't know each other, and they didn't have any feelings. ”

"Hee-hee," Mr. Zhang smiled again, "Your marriage is so interesting!" It's really like one of your old movies said: we fall in love first and then get married; You get married first, then fall in love. ”

"Yes, yes." Lee replied casually.

In fact, this is a line of the actor Xiwang in an old movie "Li Shuangshuang" in the Great Leap Forward era. Li lives in Daliang Mountain and has not seen this movie, and he mistakenly sees the "we" that Zhang Qian said as people from the city, like Zhang Qian. Their marriage is based on love, and it is completely consensual, happy and self-decided. The "you" Zhang Qian said are regarded as mountain people, rural people, marriage is all on the orders of parents, matchmakers, men and women do not know each other or get married at the first acquaintance, the purpose is to pass on the family lineage and live in a gang. Although there is no foundation for love, the vast majority of marriages are stable and strong, just like their parents. There are also a very small number of women who are abandoned due to infertility or cheating, and their fate is miserable. This reminded him of the marital status of many mountain people in his village and neighboring villages, especially the misfortune of women. So he said:

"We are not in the same economic and cultural situation as yours, so our marital status is naturally not comparable. We mountain people are feudal and conservative, not as civilized and open as your city people. You are both in love first and then get married, or live together first and then get married, or even just fall in love, only live together and not get married. This is not allowed in our mountains. Before a girl gets married, she is not allowed to lose her body, and if she doesn't see red on the wedding night, the husband's family will have a reason to resign the bride back, and the woman's family will only feel ashamed, and there is no reason not to accept it. In the same way, if a man takes possession of a woman's virginity, he will be responsible for her for the rest of his life, if it is not that she cannot have children, cannot carry on the family line for her husband, or Hongxing goes out of the wall and does things that are immoral, then the husband has no reason to divorce and abandon her. If a woman is divorced and abandoned by her husband, it must be that she has physical shortcomings, or has done something immoral, and the society will look down on her, and people will point fingers and make irresponsible remarks when they see her, and regard her as a bad woman who does not abide by women's morals, or a woman who is abnormal, unsound, and unable to pass on the lineage. Therefore, a divorced woman will have a more difficult life, or marry far away and never return to her parents' home; or just swallow your anger for the rest of your life, live under the noses of your fellow villagers and even your mother's family, and can only work, not speak; Some brothers and sisters-in-law couldn't tolerate it and were expelled from the house, so they had to live alone, lonely, and ...... all their lives."

"Okay, okay, there's no need to say anything more!"

I don't want Li to talk about the divorced woman later, which reminds Zhang Qian of her unhappy marriage, evokes many painful memories, and makes her feel aggrieved, humiliated and unbearable. She couldn't listen to it anymore, and suddenly her face changed drastically, and she waved her hand again and again to interrupt him:

"That's the end of today's conversation. You can go back. ”

However, Li didn't know Zhang Qian's marital status, and thought that with such superior family conditions, personal conditions, reputation and status as hers, she must have a happy marriage and family. In the midst of pampering, learn about the loveless marriage of the mountain people, which shows her sweetness of love and happiness in marriage; Unexpectedly, it backfired. He was about to continue talking, when he suddenly saw that Mr. Zhang's mood changed greatly and he drove him back, which made him feel stunned and puzzled. In a hurry, he thought that Mr. Zhang was suddenly unwell, so he asked him to end the conversation. So he asked tentatively:

"Mr. Zhang, are you not feeling well? Do you want me to accompany you to the doctor's appointment? ”

"Don't. I don't have anything in my body, I just want to be quiet, I don't want to listen to you anymore. You can go back. ”

Li saw that Mr. Zhang's face suddenly became gloomy and terrifying, and his speech took a 180-degree turn, and he thought that he had said the wrong thing, which made her unhappy; But thinking of Zhang Qian's promise to let him speak freely and freely, he couldn't help but feel aggrieved, and quickly explained:

"Mr. Zhang, are you angry? It's all to blame that I can't speak, which makes you angry. I am just introducing to you the marital life of our mountain people, and I am not criticizing you city people for their poor marital freedom. Our mountain people have low culture, feudal backwardness, ignorance, and cannot be compared with the civilization and openness of your city people. If we don't get divorced, it's not necessarily a good thing. Your high divorce rate may be a sign of a high degree of civilization. We don't understand the situation, and we can't blame it......"

"What is the manifestation of a highly civilized development? What's wrong with that? If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense and comment in vain. Go back, don't you hear? With that, he turned his chair to the other side, avoiding Lee's gaze.

This made Li even more confused, leaving, staying, and uncertain for a while. He said apprehensively:

"You're still angry, blame me for not being good."

"I'm angry with you? Do you deserve it too? Don't be sentimental, go back. Do you want me to say it a third time? ”

"Okay, I'll go back."

Zhang Qian waved her hand again to urge, and Li had to agree to go back. However, he felt aggrieved and unwilling: What are you doing? Took the initiative to come to me to chat, spoke beautifully, and asked me to speak freely and freely. I haven't dared to say anything on my own, I'll say whatever you ask. What on earth did I say wrong and provoke you? If you don't say anything, you just drive me back and play with me?

Li Gang was leaving, thinking of his job transfer, this is his long-thinking appeal: now is the only opportunity, if you lose it, you will never see Mr. Zhang again, and there is no chance to say it! So he stopped, turned, and plucked up courage to say:

"Mr. Zhang, I want to learn technology, and it will be useful when I return to my hometown in the future. Look, can I adjust my work? ”

"Adjust what? Return to the packing workshop. ”

"Ahh Return to the packing room? People can do technical work as junior high school graduates, but I'm a high school student, why can't I? I still recognize my fellows! ”

Lee felt aggrieved and even angry. He felt that the woman with a noble temperament in front of him was so arrogant, domineering and capricious, which was incomprehensible. Anyway, it had already annoyed her, so she simply vomited. He stood still, as if he still had expectations: the townsman saw the countryman, and his eyes were full of tears. Since you recognize me as a fellow countryman, you won't be so ruthless, right?

"You go back for now. If there is anything to say, I will talk about it later. ”

Zhang Qian also seemed to feel that her attitude was not good and she was not doing things properly, and after listening to Li's appeal, she calmed down a little and said this. This made Li feel some comfort, and even a glimmer of hope: "Later", that is, there will be opportunities and hope in the future. He calmed down a little and regained his senses, so he said, "Thank you, general manager." He even bowed to Mr. Zhang.