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墨書 Inktalez
"Haha! This is what life is all about!"
Two people chatted and laughed for nearly three hours, finally picking all the cotton from an acre of land. Looking at the two large pockets full of cotton balls, Zhong Qing felt that the afternoon's sweat was worth it. Perhaps it was the sense of achievement after labor, as Zhong Qing gulped down a big mouthful of homemade chilled bayberry wine, feeling as if it was a gift from heaven.
"Sister, you can hold your liquor pretty well, huh?"
"I dare not, I have never been drunk in my life."
"Is this plum wine tasty?"
"The taste is quite good. It's just past the peak season for bayberries now, so this wine should have been brewed last year. Hey, it would be even better if we had stir-fried water spinach and stir-fried sweet potato vines. It's so delicious it's to die for!"
"Wait."
Tunan rushed out in a flash, and Zhong Qing followed him without a word. Since her grandmother passed away in her first year of high school and her grandfather moved to the city to live with her, she hadn't experienced the leisurely atmosphere of the countryside for a very long time. As soon as she arrived, she busied herself picking cotton, and only then did she quietly take in the surrounding environment.
In front of me is a clear canal over a meter wide. I heard from the landlady of the inn that this water is drawn from a deep well on the mountain. Upon hearing this, my first thought was: "Shanghai still has mountains?" However, it should be true that it's well water, because just sitting by the canal, I can feel the coolness climbing up my body, penetrating my relaxed pores, and rapidly cooling my sun-warmed blood vessels.
Looking up, a luxuriant poplar tree provides a rare sense of security in the summer. The relentless sunlight struggles to penetrate its barrier, only allowing enough daylight to filter through the cracks between the leaves.
Zhong Qing It was only two years ago that I learned the name of the maple tree. When I was a child, I always followed the slightly older children and called it the "fly tree." This is because the maple tree produces clusters of seeds that look like gathered emerald green flies.
There is not just one homestay here. Along the route of the water channel, there are several homestays on both sides at intervals, each with a large piece of land enclosed by a fence. The crops grown in the fields of each homestay are different, and they change with the seasons to satisfy the urban dwellers' fantasies of rural life. The trendy term now is "aspiring lifestyle."
"Sister!"
"Where did you go? Oh! Stir-fried water spinach! Stir-fried sweet potato leaves! Where did you find these!"
"How is it? My boyfriend is pretty good, right?"
"Well, your little boyfriend is indeed not bad."
"Boyfriend is boyfriend, why do you have to add the word 'little'?"
"Aren't you young?"
"Not young! I'm not young anywhere. Hmph."
"You little brat, don't mess with your sister. If I get aggressive, you won't be able to handle it!"
"Sister, come on in. Accepting the hooliganism of a girlfriend is also the responsibility and obligation of a boyfriend that cannot be shirked!"
"You wish! Hurry up and eat, I'm starving!"
Tunan was just talking nonsense. Even if he has the heart of a thief, he doesn't have the guts. He happily served Zhong Qing a lot of dishes before starting to eat from his own bowl. The first principle of being considerate to a boyfriend is always to satisfy the needs of the girlfriend first.
Enjoying a light breeze, sipping on some wine, nibbling on some snacks, with jazz music playing in the room, and accompanied by a young man, although he's a bit younger, at least he's handsome. Chongqing I thought, spending 23,000 yuan wasn't in vain, at least I feel like I've earned back half of it.
"Sister, are you a fashion editor?"
"Ah."
"Is the job of a fashion editor interesting? Do you get bossed around by the chief editor every day?"
"I'm not starring in 'The Devil Wears Prada.' Not every fashion editor is a female tyrant. Well, whether it's interesting or not depends on the topics. It's interesting when you get to work on topics that interest you, but most of the time, us workers are just executing the interests of our leaders and bosses."
"Isn't it boring to pursue someone else's interests?"
"If you don't have the luck of being born into wealth, then just proudly carry the banner of being a working person. Besides, once you look at your bank balance, you won't care about whether it's boring or not."
"So, does the sister like this job?"
"I like it. Even though nine out of ten topics are likely to be rejected, at least there's still one result that others can see. Even if sometimes there's no result at all, it's okay. The normal state of life is to shatter expectations, then reshape, and repeat. I will see my own shortcomings in this process, because seeing my own shortcomings will make me find a way to improve, and the ultimate result will be..."
"Becoming a better version of yourself?"
"A raise! Don't let the inspirational talk confuse you. When it comes to work, it's all about the money, don't fall for the pie in the sky."
"Sister, turns out you're a little money lover, huh~"
"Yeah, thank you for adding the word 'little' to it, showing some awareness. Being a money lover is great, having money brings happiness, allows for self-improvement, and relieves the pressure of marriage and the gossip of others. It also means not having to compromise oneself for survival."
"Is money really that important?"
"Why bother taking on a part-time job if it's not important to you?"
"Well... that makes sense."
"People say money is important because it can protect your dignity from being trampled on, and they also say money isn't important because it's compared to other more important things, like love."
"Right now, you definitely feel that money is not important."
"Why?"
"Because you have me! Love!"
Tunan said this sentence with a smile, even the floating strands of hair carried a hint of amusement. Although it was a joke, it successfully struck a chord in Zhong Qing's heart. However, the thirty years of cultivation by the elder sister were not in vain.
"You little brat, do you understand what love is? Strictly speaking, our relationship should be 'mutually beneficial business'."
"Sister, saying that hurts my feelings."
"You talking about feelings hurts my wallet! You owe me 23,000."
"Sister, don't you want to be in a relationship? The last time you were in a relationship was six years ago, wasn't it?"
"Cough... How did you know!?"
"Um... It's written in the user information!"
"Yu Wan'er this woman, I'll tell her husband about her sneaking out to drink!"
"Sister, don't you plan to get a boyfriend? Maybe the next one will be better, more handsome, and richer?"
"Is this something I can just decide to do?"
"Well... maybe."
"Actually, dating is a logical process, similar to work. You can have expectations, but it's very likely to end in disappointment. Compared to love, the good thing about work is that at least you can see tangible numbers, and the accumulation of those numbers will give you a basic sense of security. But love? You will expend patience, courage, and even wear away your most precious passion in the process of continuous disappointment."
"Don't be so pessimistic."
"It's not that I'm pessimistic, this is just reality. I still look forward to love, but I've passed the age of eagerly seeking it. The person I am destined to meet will always appear in the form they are supposed to."
"What are you waiting for? I think you still need to actively pursue love."
"Actively pursuing is not wrong, but the premise is that love has already come to you. I'm telling you, you're still young, you haven't even graduated from college, you haven't experienced the harsh realities of society, so naturally you won't feel tired. I've been working for four or five years, not that long, but I've been working my butt off. I don't have the energy to go looking for love. I'll just wait for love to come find me."
"So, that's why I came to find my big sister!"
"Please stop acting, I am your customer, I am God!"
"To be honest, sister, how do you feel about me being your boyfriend?"
"Not great, you're nine years younger, might have generation gap, not financially independent, would you just add chaos to my life? I need someone to add to my happiness, not make things worse."
"What if I become rich?"
"Well, then I might consider it."
"...Hmph, women."
"Tsk, men."
The two of them ate this meal with a mix of seriousness and humor. Although there was no definite conclusion about love, work, and life, isn't this what life is all about? If life had a definite conclusion, there wouldn't be so many heartbroken people.
Just as she was finishing up the dishes, Tunan added a sentence out of the blue:
"If a stranger comes knocking at the door of your heart, I hope sister won't refuse, because that could very well be love."
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