Time Passed Us By - Chapter 11

They all had their own things to do, so they didn’t play for too long. Naturally, some female companions started flirting with the men in the bar. Song Jianan was not surprised at all, and she told Zeng Shuyi and the others that she had to go to work the next day and left early.

Fast forward to late autumn, the nights were getting colder, the French plane trees on the street were bare and cast shadows, and it was a bit deserted. However, this restaurant and entertainment street was full of neon lights, and there was no sense of desolation at all.

It was hard to get a taxi here at night, so she had to walk along the street to the intersection ahead. She hadn’t walked a few steps when she heard someone calling her name. She turned around and saw that it was Fang Yanyan, who was walking towards her from the Eight Banners Restaurant. She hurriedly greeted him, “Fang Yanyan, what a coincidence, are you having dinner here?”

He smiled obediently, “Yes, it’s a party at home. By the way, Sister Jianan, what’s your cell phone number? I was so busy today that I forgot to ask. I plan to apply for a graduate student position under a professor in the journalism department, so I want to ask for your experience.”

Song Jianan suddenly realized, “So that’s how it is. I’ll give you my phone number. We can chat online tonight if we have time. Are you taking the exam next year? How are your preparations going?”

“I’m not sure.” Fang Yanyan answered honestly, “Without the reference books for the postgraduate entrance examination, I have no idea at all.”

Song Jianan smiled and said, “That’s right. The journalism department of this school never provides reference books. It’s okay. I’ll go back and give you some of the titles of the books I read that year. I think I still have some of the materials, but I don’t know if I can find them.”

Fang Yanyan’s eyes suddenly lit up, “Sister Jianan, that’s great, thank you.”

She was about to be polite when Fang Yanyan’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen and said a little embarrassedly, “Sister Jianan, my cousin asked me to go back. He is waiting for me in the car.”

Song Jianan waved her hand, “It’s okay, you go first, we’ll talk when we get back.”

There was a car parked at the intersection on the other side of the road. Song Jianan could barely make out it was a BMW. A tall man was standing next to it. When he saw Fang Yanyan walking over, he opened the door of the driver’s seat and got in. He was probably the cousin he mentioned.

As expected, those who work in the media industry all need some background. I also had a good mentor and my father was the principal of the Second Affiliated High School, who happened to be in charge of the son of the president of the Metropolitan Evening News newspaper group. Otherwise, how could I have the opportunity to work in such a large evening newspaper and receive the director’s care at work?

She sighed as she walked, and when she reached the intersection, she took a taxi home. As soon as she entered the house, she received a message on her phone. When she opened it, it was from Fang Yanyan: “Sister Jianan, what’s your QQ or MSN number? I can add you.”

Song Jianan smiled, thinking that Fang Yanyan was indeed very efficient and not at all ambiguous, so she quickly replied to him, then turned on the computer and logged into MSN. She immediately saw a dialog box pop up with a big smiling face in front of her.

She also sent an emoji, then thought for a while and listed most of the reference books. Fang Yanyan replied while exclaiming, “Sister Jianan, you read so many books. Please pick out a few important ones for me. There are too many.”

She thought about it and deleted a lot more, then told him: “You can’t delete anymore, or you won’t be able to take the exam.”

There was no reply from the other end for a long time. Suddenly, Fang Yanyan sent a crying emoji, “Sister Jianan, I found that you speak exactly like my cousin, very serious. Do you know that what you said to me in the newspaper office today was almost word for word exactly what my cousin says? Are people of your generation all like this?”

She immediately joked, “How old is your cousin? Does he have a girlfriend? Introduce him to me.”

Fang Yanyan immediately replied, “He’s about the same age as you, maybe a little older than you, but he has a girlfriend. What a coincidence. But you still have hope, Sister Jianan. Do you want me to introduce you to someone?”

Song Jianan chuckled, “Forget it, forget it, I don’t want to be a mistress.”

They chatted about some other topics, nothing more than college life and alike. Fang Yanyan complained, “Sister Jianan, do you have QQ? I’d better use QQ to talk to you. I’m not used to using MSN.”

“You have to learn how to use MSN. The newspaper office forbids the use of QQ. I used to have a QQ number, but it was stolen and I have never used it since. I will apply for one someday.”

“I have an account here that I rarely use, so I’ll give it to you.” Fang Yanyan typed in a string of numbers and a password, “Go and try it, the password can be changed. By the way, I’m also a QQ VIP member, which has many privileges.”

Song Jianan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Membership was just a cover for making money, but she couldn’t refuse him, so she had to log in. The number was short and easy to remember, probably a good number. Sure enough, many paid services were opened, and Fang Yanyan’s avatar flashed on it: “Don’t worry about that paid service. It’s bound to my phone. There are a few friends on it, all of whom are my classmates and family members. Just delete them.”

After chatting for a while, Fang Yanyan went downstairs to read a book. Song Jianan deleted the friends on the QQ number he gave her one by one. When she deleted a person named “Qili Tianjian”, she saw his personal description: “walking lightly and far away, scattered deep in the woods, becoming thicker and thicker as it floats across the Qili Tianjian”. She thought it was very interesting, and then she looked at the other information and found it was blank. For some reason, she did not delete it for a while and kept it.

This online name reminded her of Su Li’s previous online name and her first silly QQ. Song Jianan felt that she was a little neurotic. Today was too exciting, with so many unexpected things happening at once. She quickly threw away her computer and went to take a shower and go to bed.

The next day, she went to work and explained the precautions for Fang Yanyan, who was answering the news hotline, to write and publish articles, and then ran to the entertainment page next door to familiarize herself with the situation. Several interns in the entertainment section were writing articles, and the others seemed to have gone out to interview. Sitting opposite her was Xiao Zhao, a reporter from the city’s legal frontline page. When he saw her, he greeted, “Song Jianan, when are you going to remarry? Have you given the dowry and betrothal gifts? Remember to give us wedding candy.”

Everyone else was amused. Song Jianan also joked, “Alas, second marriages are not welcomed these days. The director just kicked me out and sent me here. I have no status. I need all the brothers and sisters to take care of me.”

The interns helped her move things. She didn’t have much stuff, but she had a beautiful booklet that made them curious. Song Jianan didn’t keep them waiting and opened it to show them. It turned out to be a thick stack of articles that she had published in newspapers. She read as she looked, “Strange van stops and starts to steal batteries”, “Rampant overloaded trucks break through checkpoints and hit traffic police”, “Merchants play word games, invalid refunds are not fully refunded”, “Pawned mobile phones snatched back, committed crimes three times and was arrested”…

One intern cried out, “Oh my god, why are there so many weird things on the social section? Sister Jianan, your title is really too bold.”

She laughed, “You’ll get used to yellow journalism after writing it many times. If you read social news, you’ll find that many things are really weird and unbelievable.”

“Entertainment pages are full of gossip. Those glamorous appearances are just empty reputations. Last time I went with my boss to interview Jolin Tsai, my god, the contrast was so great. She was wearing thick makeup and her complexion was not good. She was completely different from the one on the poster.”

Song Jianan sighed, “Oh, I’m going to get tired of it. By the way, Sister Xin, what are you holding in your hand?”

“Oh, this magazine, Legal Report, one case per week, is a very good read, especially the case analysis written by the special lawyers, every word is brilliant, and the logic is clear. Speaking of this Xi Luoyu, I really love him so much.”

Song Jianan burst out laughing, then stretched out her hand, “Let me see if this person is worthy of my affection.”

“Look at the photos. They are so cute.” The married female editor in her thirties was very excited. “I’ve seen him in person. He is a hundred times more handsome than in the photos. How about him? Does he look good? Are you stunned? Do you want to hook up with him? Next time we interview him, you can come with us, carry the camera equipment, run errands, and get a lunchbox.”

When Song Jianan saw it, her face immediately stretched long, and she couldn’t stop praising, “So cute, so cute.” Then she turned her face away and whispered, “It’s a disaster.”

After cooperating with the people in the entertainment and legal sections to post the nympho, she returned to the social section. Fang Yanyan was there revising the manuscript. Song Jianan came over to read it and gave him some suggestions from time to time. After revising the manuscript, she sent it over through the editing system. Fang Yanyan saw the magazine in her hand and came over, “Hey, a handsome guy with glasses, sister Jianan, do you like this type?”

“No way, I don’t like this kind of stuff.” Song Jianan threw the magazine aside, “It’s annoying to read.”

Fang Yanyan took the magazine and took a look at it, “It’s okay, then what kind of person do you like, Sister Jianan?*

What flashed through my mind was the long-forgotten shadow. It seemed as if I had just seen him yesterday in front of the classroom corridor, looking cold and indifferent, with his head slightly tilted up.

Song Jianan laughed, “I prefer the type that makes people feel very unique, a little unsociable, cold on the outside but warm on the inside, it’s very strange, right?”

“Oh, a reserved man.” Fang Yanyan laughed, “I thought you would like a sunny and nice man.”

The afternoon sun slanted in through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the hall, filling every corner of the room like a layer of hazy yellow gauze. It was quiet and silent. Song Jianan sat at her desk, her thoughts suddenly drawn far away.

She thought of the sad sky of the past, but she didn’t know where it was now or what it had become. Just a few short years were enough to change a person.

At that time, I clearly had the opportunity to get close to him, but I ran back.

Song Jianan couldn’t help but chuckle. Suddenly, her phone rang with a message, “It turned out to be Miss Song Jianan from Metropolis Evening News. Seeing is believing. Miss Song really left a deep impression on me that night.”

She couldn’t keep up with the flow of thought, and after reading the message for a long time, she finally understood that it was Xi Luoyu who came to cause trouble. She knew that the circle of reporters was so small, and it was easy for Xi Luoyu to investigate a person, but suddenly her nostalgic and melancholy mood was disturbed by this inexplicable message, and she was too lazy to pay attention to it, so she threw the phone away.

It was not until she was off work that her cell phone rang. She took a look and it was indeed Xi Luoyu. She picked it up, and before she was mentally prepared, the other party spoke quietly, “I think Miss Song must have misunderstood what I meant, but did Miss Song forget? I seem to have made an appointment with Miss Song at Youxian Pavilion tonight. Did Miss Song forget?”

“What!” Song Jianan was very surprised. “No, I made a mistake. You called the wrong number. Go call 114.”

Xi Luoyu seemed surprised as well. After a brief silence, he said, “Since we have an appointment, Miss Song, please honor it with a meal. I’m downstairs at the newspaper office now, and Miss Song should be able to see me when she comes out.”

Song Jianan instinctively looked down from the window in the hall. It was the 46th floor and she couldn’t see anything clearly. She felt that she was really stupid and had been played by this world. It was so chaotic that she couldn’t cope with it.

Maybe it was just a joke from God. She thought of Zeng Shuyi’s catchphrase “Take it easy, baby” and laughed. Yeah, what’s the big deal? She, Song Jianan, had survived the most difficult years. What was there to be afraid of?

Thinking of this, she walked down the stairs step by step. An acquaintance who was passing by looked at her in surprise, “Song Jianan, the elevator is here.”

She waved her hands and smiled, “Exercise, life lies in exercise!”