You Shulang bought back the old house at a price even lower than when he sold it.
All the furniture in the house has been left intact. It is said that the new owner did not live here just for the sake of school district qualification. Now that the whole family has immigrated overseas, he is eager to sell the house.
You Shulang moved in a hurry and only took some important items with him. Now he uses the old key to open the old lock, and everything he sees is the old times.
The umbrella standing by the wall, the couple slippers in the shoe cabinet, the half-pack of rouge on the table, the cat claw backrest that Fan Xiao likes on the sofa, You Shulang seems like a traveler returning home from a long journey, or like a social animal who has worked a very long shift and just wants to take a hot bath to wash away his fatigue when he gets home.
It took two days of cleaning and tidying up, and then the New Year arrived.
You Shulang took Tiantian to pay homage to Wu Yuping, and then went to sweep his mother's grave.
The snow on the mountain path had been cleared away, the sky was clear, with light clouds and high clouds, and it had the clarity unique to the northern winter.
When he reached the tomb, You Shulang paused slightly. It was obvious that someone had cleaned his mother's tombstone, and there was a bunch of "frozen" flowers placed in front of the tomb.
You Shulang placed the flowers in his arms next to the bouquet, the delicate pink next to the fiery red. He whispered to the woman in the photo, "Mom, I'm here to see you. Look who I brought with me? Tiantian, my little nephew..."
The mountain wind was cold and Tiantian was still young, so You Shulang did not stay long. Before going down the mountain, he looked back at the red cinnabar. The warm color seemed to cast a layer of rosy glow on the woman's face.
On New Year's Eve, after making dumplings and watching the Spring Festival Gala, Tiantian, who had been excited all day, finally felt too sleepy to bear it any longer.
"Asleep?" You Shulang was smoking on the balcony when he heard footsteps behind him.
"He fell asleep as soon as I put him on the bed. He was really tired from playing." Lu Bowen walked to You Shulang's side and rubbed his shoulder lightly.
You Shulang held up the cigarette box: "Want one?"
Yu Lvwen smiled and shook his head, pointing to his throat: "It's a little inflamed."
You Shulang casually threw the cigarette box aside, with a slight smile on his face: "Did you get teased?"
Lu Bowen put his hand on his shoulder, tightened his embrace, and smiled helplessly: "Yes."
Suddenly, fireworks exploded in the sky, grand and dazzling. Before the outward-extending threads of light ended, a sound of breaking wind arose again, and another bunch of fireworks bloomed in the sky.
The continuous fireworks became denser and thicker, with red, orange, yellow and green colors changing in countless ways, one bunch after another, almost filling up that corner of the sky.
You Shulang exhaled a puff of smoke and commented in the swirling white mist: "It looks good."
Feeling the hand on his shoulder gradually gaining strength, You Shulang heard Lu Bowen's hoarse voice: "Let's kiss each other, as a New Year's gift."
You Shulang tilted his head to look at him, admired the fireworks in his pupils for a while, then pinched out his cigarette and said, "Okay."
When the grandest fireworks burst into life, they illuminated two people hugging each other behind the fourth-floor window...
On the last day of the holiday, You Shulang received a video request from Huang Qimin.
He thought it was a multi-person conference call, but when he opened it, he found that he was the only one in the dialog box.
"Double pay for overtime work during holidays." You Shulang said slowly.
"I'll give you three times the price, just don't scold me later." Huang Qimin hugged his cat with an evasive look in his eyes.
"I have always respected teachers and valued education." You Shulang paused and said, "But it depends on the situation."
Huang Qimin was ready to die: "After the New Year, I will step down as the chairman of Changling Pharmaceutical, and you will take over."
You Shulang took a sip of the hot tea and said casually, "Teacher, drink more tea and less alcohol during the New Year. Is your wife here?"
"I'm telling the truth."
You Shulang slowly frowned.
"You know my health is getting worse and worse. Obesity has been with me all my life and has affected all my organs." Huang Qimin sighed. "Now I can only hold conference calls with you at home. You know this has seriously affected my work efficiency and progress."
"I'll help you keep an eye on it." You Shulang put away his casualness and comforted him, "You make the big decisions, and leave the small matters to me."
Huang Qimin shook his head, the loose fat on his face trembling, "I have struggled all my life, fought hard all my life, and have been busy for half my life without any achievements. Your master's wife fell ill a few days ago." Seeing You Shulang nervous, he hurriedly comforted him, "It was diagnosed, it's benign, but it was hard to bear at the time. I figured it out all of a sudden. The rest of my life and your master's wife's life is in danger. We are both sick, how many days can we enjoy life? I have invested all my energy and energy in Changling all my life, and I have never been with your master's wife properly, so we have decided to enjoy the rest of our lives from now on."
He placed the cat in front of the screen and said, "I will start to lose weight systematically, and your wife will sing, dance, write and paint. When I succeed in losing weight, we will go out for a walk and enjoy the beautiful scenery." He waved his hands helplessly at the camera, "In recent years, I have been going to other places for seminars and project promotions. I have never taken a good look at the scenery around me. It's a pity to think about it."
"So, I have decided to step down from the position of chairman this year and let you lead the future development of Changling. As for me, I will just be an idle shareholder and enjoy the dividends."
You Shulang thought for a moment and said slowly, "Since you have decided to retire, I support you. But it is not appropriate for me to take over. I don't have any qualifications and I am still a graduate student. You can choose a better candidate."
Huang Qimin pressed down the old cat's head, revealing only his eyes on the screen: "You have no qualifications, but you are capable and you have feelings for Changling. The chairman of a company does not necessarily have to have professional skills in related fields. What is most important is to have a clear direction, reasonable measures, and integration of talents and resources."
"Another thing..." He pushed the old cat forward again, covering his face a little more, "Another thing is that you are now the second largest shareholder of Changling. If you don't take this position, who will take it?"
You Shulang stretched out his hand to push the cat away, but reluctantly retracted his hand: "Teacher, I don't understand what you mean."
"You remember the bet you made with Fan Xiao, that you had to optimize the process of making honeysuckle drink within three months, otherwise he would sue me and Changling Pharmaceutical."
"Remember."
"That is...we worked together to deceive you."
"Lie...to me?"
"Fan Xiao felt that you were not in the right state at that time, and wanted to inspire your belief in living." Huang Qimin scratched his sparse hair, "I won't excuse myself. I was definitely worried about you at the beginning, but I also wanted to take this opportunity to let him invest more."
Huang Qimin looked at You Shulang's increasingly gloomy face and said cautiously, "Who would have thought that he would invest so much all at once, and that all of it would be converted into shares and registered in your name. Now all of your dividends are in the company's account, and you can use them at any time."
"I haven't told you yet because Fan Xiao wanted me to tell you in three years. He said that by then you might..." The fat old man blushed, "you might have forgotten him and would accept this compensation."
You Shulang didn't say anything until the old cat ran away impatiently. The teacher and the student looked at each other without any obstacles. You Shulang said in a deep voice: "Teacher, if it were you, do you think this kind of compensation would be useful? It would be useful, right? Because you always put interests above friendship."
You Shulang tapped his phone and hung up.
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