QQ Lost - Chapter 6
"If you say no, then no! Stop wasting your breath."
"Please be lenient. If you had a constant 'thumping' sound above your head all day, could you stand it?"
"Is there anything I can call?"
What's the number?
"Keep the first four digits the same, and change the last three digits to 507."
What are the first four digits?
"4324!"
"Oh, thanks." Xu Haibing took out his phone, dialed 4324507 as he went downstairs, and held it to his ear, waiting for the other party to answer.
"Hey, Section Chief Xu, I was just looking for you." At the top of the fourth-floor stairwell, the thin director waved to Xu Haibing.
Xu Haibing pretended not to hear and continued listening to her phone as she walked past him.
The thin director reached out and grabbed him: "Section Chief Xu, I'm calling you!"
"Calling me? I'm the section chief? You asked me to?" Xu Haibing stopped and turned off the phone, which no one answered.
"Hey, aren't you a section-level cadre in the Qingzhou Municipal Government?"
"I've solemnly declared to you countless times, I'm a deputy section chief secretary, not a section chief!"
"That's equivalent to..."
"But it doesn't mean that."
"Alright, alright, Section Chief Xu, Deputy Section Chief Secretary Xu, it wasn't me who wanted to talk to you..."
"Was it me who approached you to talk?" Xu Haibing deliberately steered the conversation in the wrong direction.
"Oh no, it wasn't you who wanted to talk to me, it was Da Yu who asked us to talk."
"Big fish? Small shrimp, my foot. Why should we listen to him? Today is Sunday, a legal day off, a day the members of the Paris Commune fought for with their blood and lives in 1871. Do you have the right to take that away?" Xu Haibing said, turning to leave again.
The thin director suddenly slammed his hand on the stair railing and adopted a serious tone: "Comrade Xu Haibing! I solemnly remind you that you came to school with a letter of introduction for the transfer of your organizational affiliation. I am now speaking to you in my capacity as the primary person in charge of the school's temporary Party Committee. Please take this seriously!"
Xu Haibing was in a really difficult position after he made such a big deal of it.
The thin director approached him, his tone returning to normal: "I know you're a little scared because someone just died in your dorm, but we're all Party members who've raised our fists before, and we're all atheists. How can we be so paranoid?" He lowered his voice, "What exactly were you doing in the dark last night? How exactly did that light break? Your roommate's sudden death, did it cause you any psychological trauma? You…"
Xu Haibing stared at the thin director with a strange look, and the thin director was too frightened to speculate any further.
"Ah! Help! Help me!..." The fat security guard's shrill cry suddenly came from upstairs.
"Oh no!" The thin director abandoned Xu Haibing and ran upstairs, with Xu Haibing inexplicably following after him.
The two followed the sound and climbed to the fifth and a half floor. The so-called fifth and a half floor staircase is a half-staircase between the fifth floor and the roof, which is placed on a floor slab about half the width of a room. It seems that the original plan was to use this space to build a house. As for why it wasn't built, we don't have time to talk about that now. The important thing is that the fat security guard's huge body is stuck in the skylight on the roof, with only his two legs sticking out and dangling. The chair he used to stand on is tilted on the ground.
Xu Haibing and the thin director quickly worked together to rescue the fat security guard. Seeing the numerous brightly colored clothes he was wearing and carrying, some of which were even women's embroidered underwear, Xu Haibing curled his lip at the thin director: "You should ask him if he's suffered any mental trauma!"
The thin director suppressed a laugh: "Yes, yes, I just asked him to go up there. This afternoon, Director Ma from the Provincial Department of Education is coming to inspect, and I saw that the students were hanging clothes and colorful flags haphazardly on the roof, which was unsightly, so I asked him to clean it up quickly."
What was said casually was taken seriously. Xu Haibing looked up at the skylight, and an idea came to him...
Under Xiao You's supervision, all of Shen Daxing's belongings in room 407 were checked and sorted out, and then taken away by two security guards who categorized and packed them up.
QQ Lost 7(3)
"...Was there really an uninvited guest who beat Xu Haibing to it last night? If so, was he prepared, or was it just a petty thief who happened to break in?..." Da Yu stared at the bare ceiling light fixture on the ceiling, frowning as he muttered to himself.
Xiao You sat in front of the computer with her legs crossed, humming a little tune, but didn't respond.
The chubby security guard came in, silently searching the room with his head down.
What are you looking for?
Da Yu couldn't help but ask.
"Where did that bundle of rope I used earlier go?" the chubby security guard said, crawling on the ground to search.
"I thought you'd lost your wallet. It's just a bundle of old rope, no big deal."
"Oh, that's something my great-grandfather hid in the cupboard! I secretly took it before he woke up. If he finds out, he'll definitely beat me with his cane."
"You're thick-skinned; a couple of slaps will be like dusting you off. Go find the cleaning staff who just left; they probably swept it up with the broken glass as trash."
"Oh no! That's terrible!" The chubby security guard scrambled to his feet and chased after them.
Seeing that Xiao You had been sitting in front of the computer without saying a word for a while, Da Yu went over and asked him, "Hey, have you seen the bundle of rope that Fatty brought this morning?"
QQ Lost 8
At noon, the intense sunlight shone directly on the roof of the D-building student dormitory.
"Thud!" First, the bundle of rope that the fat security guard was looking for was thrown up through the skylight, and then Xu Haibing used it as a support to pop half of his body out from below.
This graduate of the Physical Education Department of the Provincial Normal University, who was not too clumsy, climbed to the roof, picked up the rope, and hunched over as he quickly walked towards the northwest corner of the roof.
He spent a long time looking around the corner room, finally settling on the latch on the small iron gate. He threaded one end of the rope through it, creating two loops, and then, drawing on his rock-climbing skills honed in college, he bravely pulled himself up the rope and rappelled down the back wall. It seemed his deliberate dawdling earlier, unwilling to leave with Da Yu and the others, was a prelude to a thrilling game.
He slowly approached the back window of room 507, but unfortunately, the window was completely covered by a curtain, making it impossible to peek in. Just as he was about to reach out and pry open the window frame, he suddenly heard faint laughter coming from inside. Just as he was about to listen carefully, the cell phone in the old man's shirt pocket suddenly rang loudly, and the laughter inside stopped abruptly!
Although Xu Haibing was bold, he was still quite nervous. In his panic, he only managed to grab onto one rope, and as he slid down rapidly, the other end of the rope completely slipped off the doorframe before he even reached the ground. He had no choice but to land hard on his backside, wincing in pain but afraid to cry out. Fearing he would be seen from upstairs, he quickly scrambled a few steps to the west wall, hastily gathered the rope, and then got up to answer his phone while making his escape. But as he rounded a corner, he bumped right into someone—
It's Xiao You, who just left but for some reason came back!
"Huh? You..." Before Xiao You could ask, Xu Haibing slung the rope over his shoulder, waved it at him with his free hand, and then quickly left while saying "Ah" into his phone.
Xiao You watched Xu Haibing limp away, his mud-splattered buttocks swaying as he disappeared into the distance, a knowing smile playing on her lips…
QQ Lost 9
The person calling Xu Haibing's cell phone was his anxious mother.
"...Oh dear, why haven't you come back to change your clothes yet! Aunt Zhang is already waiting for you at the KFC in Xinjiekou with that girl... Don't mess things up this time, I'm telling you, if you offend Aunt Zhang, I won't let you off the hook. Have you forgotten? You missed the postgraduate entrance exam by two points, and it was only thanks to her putting in a good word for you with her eldest son-in-law, who's the secretary to the provincial deputy secretary... Hey, I heard that the girl they introduced today has a cousin-in-law who works in the Youth Cadre Department of the Provincial Party Committee's Organization Department. He's a deputy section chief or something, not a high-ranking official, but his word still carries weight. A local official is more powerful than a distant one; he's the one who issues the letters of introduction. After you finish your postgraduate studies, are you going to go back to that tiny city of Qingzhou, where even a dog could walk three times to get there? With this connection, staying in the provincial capital would be... Okay, okay, I won't say anymore. Remember, the McDonald's under the Xinjiekou overpass, oh no, the KFC..."
Xinjiekou, the most bustling and vibrant central street in Lianjiang City, is lined with towering skyscrapers, teeming with people, making it feel like a chaotic mess.
Xu Haibing, carrying the bundle of rope, dejectedly descended the overpass and disappeared into the bustling KFC restaurant.
"Hey! Bingzi, over here!" Aunt Zhang, clearly a kind-hearted person, stood up from her seat to greet Xu Haibing as she pushed the door open, and scolded her in a low voice, "Why are you dawdling like this? Hurry up and apologize to them."
Xu Haibing mechanically nodded to a woman in a business suit sitting opposite him: "Oh, sorry."
Aunt Zhang enthusiastically introduced them: "This is Qin Yu from the Finance and Accounting Department of the Provincial Telecom Company, and this is Xu Haibing, whom I just mentioned. He works in the Qingzhou Municipal Government Office. He's even involved with that WTO... I'm not sure about that foreign term, but it's related to the WTO. You two can talk slowly; I need to hurry and pick up my grandson!"
Xu Haibing and Qin Yu symbolically saw Aunt Zhang off and then sat down facing each other.
Qin Yu, with her not-so-young face heavily made up, coldly scrutinized Xu Haibing with an air of maturity.
Feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, Xu Haibing rubbed his eyes, finally managing to ask, "Are you hungry?"
"Um?"
"Oh, what would you like to order?"
"casual."
"You're welcome."
"A glass of orange juice, please."
Xu Haibing got up, feeling that it was inappropriate to still be holding the rope in his hand. He also felt that it was inappropriate to put it on the booth, so he simply carried it to the counter.
Qin Yu looked Xu Haibing up and down: his hair was messy, his clothes were disheveled and covered in mud, and he was carrying a dirty rope that looked like it had been picked up from a garbage dump. He showed a straightforward disdain.
Xu Haibing went to the counter to queue, but when he reached into his back pocket, he found he had no money. He shook his empty right hand helplessly, then turned back, making up an excuse: "There are too many people in line now, I'll have to wait a while."
Qin Yu remained coldly indifferent: "It's nothing."
Xu Haibing sat sideways, whether to avoid the other person's gaze or to run into an acquaintance to borrow money, it was unclear.
"You came here because of pressure from your mother, right?" Qin Yu broke the silence and asked.
Xu Haibing gave an unexpected, dry laugh.
Is this your first blind date?
"Xiang..." Xu Haibing's words sounded harsh, but he could only nod reluctantly in the face of the facts.
Qin Yu told him seriously, "Some friends have shared their experiences with me, saying that if the first blind date is generally acceptable, it's best to just let it go. Because later on, you'll often find yourself getting pickier and pickier, and each one will be worse than the last."
"oh?"
Looking at the bustling traffic outside the shop window, Qin Yu sighed, "Sigh, I only realize today that I should have listened to their advice sooner..."
Xu Haibing stared wide-eyed, not quite understanding what was happening.
Qin Yu forced a smile and changed the subject: "Do you have a QQ number?"
Xu Haibing casually answered "Yes," then suddenly asked, "Huh? What's a QQ number?"
"Never mind if not, contact Aunt Zhang if needed. I need to finish the end-of-month accounting and have to work overtime at noon, so I'm leaving now." Qin Yu got up, slung her handbag over her shoulder, lowered her eyelids, and strode away.
Xu Haibing was left there, not moving for a long time...
QQ Lost 10(1)
Colorful flags fluttered along the main road of the new campus of Dalian University, and large red banners were hung above the road, such as "Warmly welcome Director Ma to visit our school for guidance" and "Pay tribute to leaders at all levels who care about and support the construction of our school".
The refined-looking Director Ma of the Provincial Department of Education strolled over, accompanied by a large group of people. He suddenly interrupted President Lian, who was giving a lengthy presentation, pointed upwards, and asked, "How much does it cost to make this banner?"
The principal was speechless, then turned to the thin director, who quickly replied, "Oh...it won't cost much."
Director Ma said gently, "Really? I heard that it costs 10 yuan to cut out a single character. This one must cost at least 100 yuan. I counted along the way, there are six banners in total, that's over 600 yuan. How many books could you buy with that 600 yuan? How many saplings could you plant? Your principal was mentored by Hua Luogeng, surely he can do this math?"
The principal had no choice but to go along with it: "If the books cost 20 yuan each, we can buy more than 30; if the saplings cost 5 yuan each, we can plant more than 120."
Director Ma remained as amiable as ever: "Is that all? If I were to ask you how many students 30 books can educate, or how much ecological environment 120 trees can improve, could you calculate it?"
The principal was speechless.
Director Ma chuckled: "It seems your report about the new school's financial difficulties was a lie."
The principal gave an awkward, apologetic smile, then glared at the thin director.
The thin director nervously wiped away cold sweat, never expecting that his flattery had backfired. Before he could even relax, he heard a commotion ahead. Seeing the principal winking at him, he dared not delay and ran off to investigate.
At the intersection, the chubby security guard and several other guards were trying their best to stop a group of students from rushing forward, exchanging heated words with each other.
Seeing this, the thin director hurriedly lowered his voice and said, "Quiet, quiet, please make way. The director is coming soon. If you have anything to say, come to my office tonight."
The chubby security guard, with a mournful face, cried out, "My dear director, you don't understand! They insist on seeing the department head to complain!"