pertwk Chapter 253 A Feast for the Senses
Chapter 253 A Feast for the Senses
They had almost finished eating and had drunk quite a bit of wine. Zhao Weiguo was clearly drunk; his voice grew louder and louder, and he would occasionally slam his hand on the table. Sun Peng's face was as red as Guan Yu's, and he was rambling incoherently with his arm around Li Mo's shoulder.
Li Mo was still relatively sober, but his glasses were fogged up. Chen Lingling hadn't drunk much, focusing on taking care of Zhao Weiguo. An Shiyu had drunk two glasses of red wine, her cheeks slightly flushed. Ling Yun had also drunk quite a bit and was quickly drinking some hot tea to sober up.
"It's almost time, shall we all head back?" Ling Yun glanced at his watch; it was already past nine, almost ten o'clock.
"No, please!" Zhao Weiguo waved his hand. "Let's chat a little longer! It's been so long since we've all gotten together like this! It's rare to have everyone here and having so much fun. Let's chat a bit more."
"Exactly," Sun Peng chimed in. "Who knows when we'll get together again. Li Mo's going to live in the lab, I'm going to Shanghai for a project, Zhao Weiguo's opening internet cafes all over the world, and Yun-ge, needless to say, you're always flying around."
Li Mo nodded: "The wireless project is in a critical phase, and I definitely won't be available for a while."
"Then we should sit a little longer!" Zhao Weiguo called to the waiter, "Another pot of tea! Stronger, please!"
The waiter responded and left.
Chen Lingling poured Zhao Weiguo a cup of hot tea: "Have some tea to sober up."
Zhao Weiguo took the glass, gulped down more than half of it, then leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling: "Time flies... In the blink of an eye, it's been a year and a half since graduation. It feels like just yesterday we were playing cards in the dorm, the losers were sticking notes on our faces."
"You always put on the most stickers," Sun Peng said.
"Bullshit, you always do the most!" Zhao Weiguo immediately retorted.
"You have the most! Everyone knows that perfectly well."
The two started arguing like children.
Li Mo pushed up his glasses: "I remember once we were playing cards until midnight and got caught by the dorm manager, who made us clean the toilets as punishment."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Zhao Weiguo exclaimed enthusiastically. "Lingyun said the toilet was too dirty, so he paid for cleaning agents so we could clean it properly. In the end, we bought a lot of disinfectant, making the toilet look like a hospital. Even the dorm manager was shocked."
"And then?" Chen Lingling asked.
"Later, the dorm manager said we had a good attitude and didn't issue a reprimand," Sun Peng laughed. "Actually, Ling Yun secretly slipped the dorm manager two packs of cigarettes. I saw it, but I didn't tell you guys."
"Another time," Li Mo recalled, "before the final exam, we were reviewing in the classroom when Zhao Weiguo fell asleep and started snoring. The teacher on patrol caught him and said he would lose points. Ling Yun stood up and said that Zhao Weiguo had a cold and was sleepy after taking medicine, but he insisted on coming to the classroom to study despite his illness so as not to fall behind. The teacher saw that Brother Donkey looked very serious and believed him, so he didn't lose points."
"I remember this!" Zhao Weiguo sat up straight. "Brother Donkey, your brain works really well! Otherwise, I would have definitely lost those points."
Ling Yun waved his hand: "That's old news."
"How can it be old news?" Zhao Weiguo became serious. "I remember all of these things. The four of us, although we have different personalities, get along well. After graduation, we can still work together and drink together. That's fate."
He raised his teacup: "Come, let's toast this缘分 (fate/destiny) with tea instead of wine."
Everyone raised their glasses.
"Respect fate."
After having tea, we chatted for a while. We talked about our recent situations, industry gossip, and future plans.
Sun Peng said he wanted to transform his family business into green building, but his father disagreed, thinking it was too advanced. Li Mo said chip design had hit a bottleneck, with photoresist materials being a major obstacle. Zhao Weiguo said the internet cafes were expanding too quickly, causing management headaches. Chen Lingling listened quietly, occasionally adding a few words.
An Shiyu rarely interrupted, she just listened, and occasionally poured water for Lingyun.
Ling Yun didn't talk much, but he listened attentively to everyone who spoke.
The clock on the wall points to ten o'clock.
"I really have to go." Ling Yun stood up. "I have things to do tomorrow."
Zhao Weiguo knew he couldn't stay any longer, so he stood up unsteadily: "Alright, let's call it a day. Waiter, the bill!"
"I'll do it." Ling Yun took out his wallet.
"It's a deal, it's on me!" Zhao Weiguo pressed his hand down.
"You can treat me next time." Ling Yun pulled out a few hundred-yuan bills and handed them to the waiter who came in. "Keep the change."
The waiter accepted it, saying, "Thank you, Boss Ling!"
The group went downstairs. The lobby was half empty, but still noisy.
Stepping outside, a gust of cold wind sobered me up a bit.
Zhao Weiguo's car was parked on the side of the road; it was a Santana. Chen Lingling was helping him.
"Shall I take you?" Ling Yun asked.
"No need, I have a family, I don't need you." Zhao Weiguo took out his phone—a Nokia, "Just bought it, as long as it can make calls, that's fine."
Sun Peng also has a car, a Passat. "I have a driver."
Li Mo hailed a taxi: "I'm going back to the hotel."
"Be careful, everyone," Ling Yun said. "Send a message when you arrive."
"I know, I know." Zhao Weiguo waved his hand, then suddenly remembered something, turned around, looked at Ling Yun and An Shiyu, "President Ling, Teacher An, you two... take good care of yourselves. When you get married, be sure to invite me, I'll give you a big red envelope."
"I can't do without you," Ling Yun said.
"Let's go!" Zhao Weiguo was helped into the car by Chen Lingling.
Sun Peng and Li Mo also got into their respective cars and hailed taxis.
As the taillights disappeared around the street corner, Ling Yun exhaled a puff of white breath.
"Are you cold?" he asked An Shiyu.
"I'm not cold." An Shiyu wrapped her scarf tighter. "They're really interesting."
"A bunch of clowns." Ling Yun took her hand. "Let's go, I'll take you home."
The two walked slowly along the street, their shadows stretched long by the streetlights.
"Some of the things Zhao Weiguo mentioned, I didn't even know," An Shiyu said.
"There's not much to say," Ling Yun said. "Back in college, I was just laughing like an idiot all the time."
An Shiyu stopped and looked at him. "I think it's great. It's a real person, with friends and memories."
Ling Yun smiled and squeezed her hand: "We have it now too."
"Um."
When we arrived at An Shiyu's building, an old-style residential building, all the lights were off.
"Want to come up and sit down?" An Shiyu asked.
"It's too late, your parents should rest," Lingyun said. "I'll come again tomorrow."
"Okay." An Shiyu tiptoed and kissed him on the cheek. "Be careful on the road."
"Um."
As An Shiyu went upstairs, the hallway lights turned on one by one and then went out.
Ling Yun stood downstairs, lit a cigarette, took a few puffs, and then put it out.
Since transmigrating, Ling Yun has been spinning like a top every day, busy with work and planning. It's been a long time since he's relaxed like this.
A few close friends, a roadside shop, a few drinks, a casual chat – such blissful, unambitious times.