Chapter 2 Past events

In the afternoon, Lin Zhi went through the onboarding procedures with Jiahai's HR. When he got home, it was almost evening.

She lives in the suburbs east of the capital, and it takes about an hour to get back from Jiahai.

She and her college classmate Xia Xiyue rented a house together. Although it was a bit far from the city, it was the best choice where they could afford the rent and the environment was acceptable.

Xia Xiyue was naturally not at home at this time. She majored in computer science at university, and her job after graduation was also related to computers. She basically didn't get home until around ten o'clock every night.

Lin Zhi put down the things in her hands and rummaged around in the refrigerator again. Finding that there was really nothing to eat, she picked noodles and vegetables, planning to make a simple bowl of noodle soup.

The noodles were a bit bland, but fortunately the soup tasted pretty good. Lin Zhi took a spoon to ladle the noodle soup and sipped it, her thoughts returned to the interview in the morning.

After the short-term joy, what is left is deep loneliness. He didn't remember her, he had no memory of her at all.

And he seems to be different from before, more mature, but also more indifferent.

The last time Lin Zhi saw him was thirteen years ago. The youthful and carefree young man had a smile on his face and his fine black hair lay casually on his forehead.

That summer, Lin Zhi's only impression was of the pool of clear water that he had disturbed, and the harsh and hot summer wind that brushed against the girl's cheek.

 She was still an ignorant student at that time...

The summer in Xiangcheng is not as dry and hot as in Beijing. Instead, the hot summer air is mixed with a bit of moisture. As soon as people go out, it is like entering a steamer. When the heat hits the head, the whole body will be soaked in an instant.

At 1:30 in the afternoon, the students had just woken up from their nap. They were all bleary-eyed and listless, and the classroom was groggy and a bit depressing.

Although the old-fashioned fan above the head is still spinning tirelessly, it doesn't seem to have much effect. The shirts on the backs of the students were still soaked in large areas, and the sweat on their foreheads couldn't stop dripping down.

Lin Zhi was no exception. She tried her best to open her eyelids that were about to droop, hoping to take in all the knowledge that the math teacher on the podium was talking about.

The calm atmosphere was disrupted by the class teacher who suddenly appeared at the door of the classroom. The originally uninterested students instantly gathered their energy. But the head teacher was not here to arrest anyone this time. She came in through the back door of the classroom, walked around several rows of students, and came to Lin Zhi's seat.

Lin Zhi was a little confused. She didn't recover until she was called out by the head teacher and told her that her parents had an accident.

She didn't understand what the teacher meant. Her parents were working on a construction site near her home, so why did something unexpected happen suddenly?

It wasn't until she was led numbly to the school gate by her class teacher and saw her aunt across the fence that she realized the seriousness of the matter.

She and her aunt are not actually close, and they can be counted on one hand the number of times they have seen each other since childhood. But when I see my loved ones at that time, I still instinctively shed tears.

Lin Zhi was taken to the hospital by the adults and attended her parents' funeral as dull as a puppet. She remembered that at that time there were people all around her, saying she was pitiful and that she had become an orphan at a young age.

Lin Zhi was still too young at the time, and she didn't really understand the meaning of being an orphan. She only knew that she wanted to see her parents but could never see them again.

In the dead of night, she wanted to cry many times, but found that she could no longer shed tears. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out of my throat.

Later, she was fostered in her aunt's home, but her aunt was not close to her in the first place. How could she have taken her in if it wasn't for the sake of her parents' meager compensation. Not to mention, my aunt also has a domineering younger sister.

That period was particularly difficult for Lin Zhi. Not only did she lose her parents, but she also had to be looked down upon by others everywhere in her life. Even in school, she was unwilling to speak, often behaved unsociable, and was gradually isolated by her classmates.

 Her timid and sensitive character was developed from that time on.

Later, not long after, only a month or two, news came from the school that there were kind-hearted people in the capital who thought they were pitiful children who had lost their parents and planned to sponsor them and wanted to meet them.

Lin Zhi, along with two other little girls, were taken to the reception desk of the school, where she met Gu Qingbei for the first time.

However, she didn't know that his name was Gu Qingbei at that time. She only remembered the characters "Jiahai Group".

She and him looked at each other across the table. He had a dignified temperament, gentle eyebrows, and nodded slightly towards her.

She heard him call the lady next to her "Mom" and realized that he was the son of his sponsor.

It was an indescribable feeling. At that time, Lin Zhi only felt that his heart seemed to be pulled hard by something, beating violently in a small amplitude, with a disordered rhythm and no structure.

It wasn't until the teacher touched her arm that she came back to her senses and mechanically said the words of gratitude that she had memorized countless times in her mind.

After the sponsor and the sponsored person meet, they need to take a photo together. Under the only evergreen tree in the school, the photographer pressed the shutter, freezing everything at that moment.

The school attached great importance to the funding and even published a special issue of the school magazine to promote it.

One night, when the person in charge was planning to remove the issue of the school magazine about donations and replace it with a new one, Lin Zhi finally mustered up the courage to speak: "Excuse me, can you leave this newspaper to me?"

She cut out Gu Qingbei's photo from the newspaper and kept it there for thirteen years.

 As her beacon, it guided her in the dark nights.

When Xia Xiyue came back from get off work that night, Lin Zhi was in the bedroom preparing things needed for work tomorrow. Hearing the movement in the living room, he immediately stopped what he was doing and ran out of the bedroom.

Xia Xiyue was holding a cup of milk tea in her hand. Seeing her appear in the living room, she reached out and handed it to her: "The afternoon tea invited by my colleague tasted good, so I brought another one back for you."

When Lin Zhi heard this, the corners of her lips curved up, and the pear dimples loomed: "Thank you Yueyue, I know you are the best to me. I happen to have something delicious to give you."

With that said, Lin Zhi turned around and went into the kitchen. When she came back, she was holding a cake in her hand. She bought it from a cake shop at the subway entrance when she came back in the afternoon. It was Xia Xiyue's favorite strawberry flavor.

"Zhizhi, did you pass today's interview?" Xia Xiyue knew that she was going to Jiahai for an interview today, and saw her buying a cake, which confirmed her thoughts.

 Lin Zhi nodded: "After passing it, you can go to work tomorrow."

"Damn it, Zhizhi, you are so awesome," Xia Xiyue said with the quintessence of Chinese culture, and she was even more excited than Lin Zhi, "That's Jiahai, the benchmark in Beijing's real estate industry. I really admire you. "

Lin Zhi was a little embarrassed: "No, there must be luck involved. You don't know that all the people participating in the interview today are beautiful women. When I just passed by, I felt a little scared standing next to them."

"Are you scared?" Xia Xiyue obviously didn't believe it. "What about beautiful women? Can they be as beautiful as you? Don't forget, you are the school beauty elected by tens of thousands of people in our school."

Lin Zhi smiled lightly and didn't seem to care: "It all happened a long time ago. I forgot about it. Come over and eat cake."

"You forgot, but I didn't." Xia Xiyue said, putting down the things in her hands and sitting down on the sofa next to Lin Zhi. "At that time, I was afraid of appearing with you. No matter where I go, I will always I met some people who started chatting and asked for WeChat messages."

"It seemed like it was quite troublesome for you at that time." Lin Zhi's voice was soft, and as he spoke, he handed a piece of cake that had been cut to Xia Xiyue.

 Xia Xiyue scooped a spoonful and put it into her mouth, her feet raised in delight.

"Zhizhi, actually I have always wanted to ask you, there were so many boys chasing you at that time, did you not like any of them?"

"No." Lin Zhi also took a bite of the cake and shook his head with a calm voice.

 "Because of him? The man you met when you were a child?"

"That's right," Lin Zhi pursed her lips and threw a thunderous surprise at Xia Xiyue, "Yueyue, I saw him today."

 "oh--"

"What did you say? Who did you see?" After Xia Xiyue reacted, she was so shocked that even her voice trembled. The movements of her hands also stopped, and the spoonful of cake was stopped in mid-air. middle.

 "I met Gu Qingbei in Jiahai, and he even gave me an interview."

"Is this the one you've always liked? The one who has been collecting photos for more than ten years and is reluctant to throw them away?"

"Yeah," recalling Gu Qingbei's cold eyes during the interview, Lin Zhi felt like a deflated ball. She sniffed and said in a muffled voice, "But he doesn't remember me."

"Who is he?" Xia Xiyue muttered a little indignantly, "I have seen such a beautiful girl like you and you still have no impression?"

"Yueyue, what do you think I should do?" Lin Zhi said, her voice gradually lowered, and her shoulders leaning against the sofa slumped a little.

Xia Xiyue felt helpless seeing her like this. Lin Zhi is good at everything, but she is too stubborn. Even eight cows can't pull back what she believes in.

Xia Xiyue had seen Gu Qingbei's photo in her wallet before. It was very old and was cut out from a newspaper. To be honest, the facial features could not be clearly seen. But even if you can't see clearly, you can still feel the dignity and excellence of the other party.

 However, her Gardenia is not bad either.

"Zhizhi," Xia Xiyue suddenly tugged on Lin Zhi's arm and pulled her slumped body up from the sofa, "If you think about it this way, look at whether you have entered Jiahai now. His assistant, at least, won't worry about not seeing him anymore, right? Besides, relationships are cultivated slowly. The two of you have been in contact for a long time, and you are so beautiful, are you afraid of not having a chance? "

Lin Zhi was soft-tempered and thin-skinned. When she said it directly, her ears and cheeks suddenly turned red: "I didn't think much about it. I'm very satisfied to be able to work beside him."

"Yes, yes, that's because I was overthinking it." Xia Xiyue smiled, "I just think that you are so good and work so hard, as long as you want it, you can definitely do it."