She followed her gaze and saw a few young people sitting in the corner of the bar. They were young and energetic, and indeed quite good-looking. No wonder these women used such a clumsy excuse; it turned out that a certain amount of reserve was still necessary.
Song Jianan was caught in the first round. She chose the truth question, which was both sarcastic and explicit. She laughed triumphantly, "I've never had a boyfriend, so I can forget about these kinds of questions."
Zeng Shuyi leaned over to take a look and shook her head, "It would be more practical for you to ask her to talk about who she has had a crush on before."
Song Jianan quickly waved her hand, "I'll change, I'll change to Truth or Dare, okay?" But when she drew the question, the answer was, "Find a man to chat up, and then make everyone notice you." She was dumbfounded.
She had no choice but to go, so Zeng Shuyi offered her a candidate: "I just took a look, and I think the man over there is quite good-looking, with a gentle and virtuous appearance. You can give it a try; you shouldn't be looked down upon too badly."
The bar lights weren't bright, and you could vaguely make out the man's high nose, thin lips, slender shoulders, and glasses. His eyes behind the glasses were clear and bright. He seemed to be waiting for someone, but he didn't seem to be in a hurry, listening to the music.
He exuded a very peaceful aura. Song Jianan thought that if she had been so rude, he probably wouldn't have stood up and beaten her up before leaving.
She walked over casually to the man, who seemed to notice her as well, looking up at her with truly beautiful, gentle, and inquisitive eyes. Song Jianan felt a little guilty, but her voice remained steady, "Sir, hello, can you do me a favor?"
The man smiled politely, probably mistaking her for a woman trying to strike up a conversation, and asked, "What do you need?"
Song Jianan gritted her teeth and blurted out, "I'm sorry." The man was stunned for a moment, not yet reacting, when Song Jianan's voice suddenly rose more than twice as high, "What! You only gave me two hundred yuan for the whole night! That's too cheap for you!"
Instantly, the entire venue fell into a deathly silence; the effect had been successfully achieved.
She watched as the man's face went from stiff to twitching, then he turned and left with an extremely dashing air. The group of troublemaking women were also stunned. Zeng Shuyi shook her head, "Song Jianan, you really are a force to be reckoned with when you finally speak!"
Most people's eyes were on her, but she remained expressionless. It took a while for those probing gazes to shift away. Zeng Shuyi nudged her foot and said, "Song Jianan, a handsome guy is looking this way at you. Do you want to leave first?"
Feeling guilty, she said, "Forget it, I'm actually safer with you guys. Do you think I might get involved with some gangsters? I am, after all, a reporter for the largest circulation evening newspaper in the province, so I still have some status."
Zeng Shuyi also felt that the joke had gone too far. "You should go and explain to them later. We thought you would run over, slam the table, and shout, 'I want to break up with you!' How can your mind be so impure?"
She suddenly realized her mistake and immediately screamed, "I was wrong, ah—"
The bar returned to its usual bustling atmosphere. The man seemed unaffected, still leisurely sitting at the table. Song Jianan returned from the restroom and slowly moved to the table at a snail's pace, her voice barely audible, "Sir, I'm sorry, we were playing Truth or Dare. I didn't mean to, it was just a last resort."
The man adjusted his glasses and smiled, "Miss, what's your surname? Which TV station do you work for?"
"Huh?" Song Jianan's head immediately got stuck in a knot. Was she really going to retaliate? She decided to play dumb. "Actually, what my surname is doesn't matter. What matters is that we understand and tolerate each other."
"Li Xinyi from the provincial TV station's Legal Online program, is that right?" The man smiled and gestured to the women at their table.
Song Jianan watched him warily. The man rested his hands on the table, his smile unchanged. Before he could speak, the phone on the table rang. He glanced at it, then said to Song Jianan, "Goodbye then, Miss," and turned to leave.
She gave a soft hum, and the flickering light reflected on the glass window, the man's silhouette vanishing in an instant.
Song Jianan returned to her seat, letting out a sigh of relief. The game continued, but suddenly someone exclaimed, "Good heavens, it was Xi Luoyu! How could I be so blind? Song Jianan, the man you were flirting with just now was Xi Luoyu!"
"A gangster boss?" she asked irritably.
"no!"
"That's fine then." Song Jianan didn't care who he was. Anyway, he wouldn't die or be retaliated against. It was best to avoid such a petty man. He was more annoying than a woman.
"But he's the star of Ningxin Law Firm, one of the city's top ten outstanding young people last year, and most importantly, he's unmarried! I wanted to interview him before, but that damn little bitch stole the spot."
Everyone immediately turned to this topic. Song Jianan thought to herself, "Luckily, I didn't ask to go to the legal section. It seems that choosing the entertainment section was a very wise decision. Otherwise, if we run into enemies in the future, it would be terrible if they gave me a hard time."
But she didn't expect to have the chance to meet him even outside of work. At that time, her reaction was that the world was really big, but "our" world only consisted of two people. The space for two people was really "crowded" and "narrow".
Author's Note: This is not a romance between an older woman and a younger man. Fang Yanyan is the one who introduces Su Li.
Tears, Su Li, you've kept them hidden for too long, they're too hard to unearth.
I haven't decided on the ending yet, and I don't know who Song Jianan will end up with.
Chapter 11
Because everyone had their own things to do, they didn't stay out for too long. Naturally, some of the female companions were flirting with the men in the bar. Song Jianan wasn't surprised at all. She and Zeng Shuyi laughed and joked that they had to hand over their shifts tomorrow and left early.
As autumn deepens, the nights grow colder. The bare plane trees along the street cast dappled, desolate shadows, yet this street lined with restaurants and entertainment venues is filled with neon lights, giving it no sense of bleakness.
It was difficult to get a taxi here at night, so she had to walk along the street to the intersection ahead. She hadn't walked two steps when she heard someone call her name. She turned around and saw that it was Fang Yanyan, who was standing at the Baqi Restaurant and walking towards her. She quickly greeted him, "Fang Yanyan, what a coincidence, you're eating here?"
He smiled sweetly, "Yes, it's a family gathering. By the way, Sister Jia Nan, what's your phone number? I was so busy today that I forgot to ask. I'm planning to take the entrance exam for Professor Huang Hanzhong's graduate program. The director said you were one of his students, so I wanted to ask you for some advice."
Song Jianan suddenly realized, "Oh, I see. Here's my phone number. We can chat online sometimes tonight. Are you taking the exam next year? How's your preparation going?"
"I'm not very confident," Fang Yanyan answered honestly. "Without a list of reference books for the postgraduate entrance exam, I have no idea what to expect."
Song Jianan laughed and said, "That's true. The journalism department at this school never provides a reading list. It's okay, I'll go back and give you the titles of some books I read that year. I think I also have some other materials, but I don't know if I can find them."
Fang Yanyan's eyes lit up immediately. "Sister Jianan, that's great, thank you."
Just as she was about to make a polite remark, Fang Yanyan's phone rang. He glanced at the screen, somewhat embarrassed, "Sister Jia Nan, my cousin told me to go back. He's waiting for me in the car."
Song Jianan waved her hand, "It's okay, you go first, we'll talk about it when we get back."
On the other side of the road, at the intersection, there was a car parked. Song Jianan could barely make out that it was a BMW. There was also a tall person standing next to it. When Fang Yanyan walked over, he opened the driver's side door and got in. He was probably the cousin he had mentioned.
Sure enough, most people who get into the media industry need some kind of backing. I myself only got in because I had a good mentor and because my father was the principal of the Second Affiliated High School, who happened to be in charge of the son of the CEO of the Metropolitan Evening News Group. Otherwise, how would I have had the opportunity to get into such a large evening newspaper and receive so much care from the director?
She walked along, sighing to herself. When she reached the intersection, she hailed a taxi and went home. As soon as she entered the house, her phone received a message. She opened it and saw that it was indeed from Fang Yanyan: "Sister Jia Nan, what is your QQ or MSN number? I want to add you."
Song Jianan smiled, thinking that Fang Yanyan was indeed efficient and decisive. She quickly replied to him, then turned on her computer, logged into MSN, and immediately saw a dialog box pop up with a big smiley face in front of her.
She sent an emoji, then thought for a while and listed most of the reference books. Fang Yanyan exclaimed in surprise, "Sister Jia Nan, you read so many books! Pick 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 any more, or you won't be able to take the exam."
There was no reply for a long time, then Fang Yanyan suddenly sent a crying emoji, "Sister Jianan, I've noticed that you talk exactly like my cousin, so serious. You know, what you said to me at the newspaper today was almost exactly the same as what my cousin said. Are people of your generation 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 the same age as you, but probably a little older. However, he has a girlfriend. What a coincidence. But Sister Jia Nan, you still have a chance. Do you want me to introduce you?"
Song Jianan giggled, "Forget it, forget it then, I don't want to be a mistress."
They chatted about other topics, mostly about university life. Fang Yanyan complained to her, "Jianan, do you have QQ? I'd rather talk to you on QQ. I'm not used to MSN at all."
"You need to learn how to use MSN. QQ is forbidden in the newspaper. I used to have a QQ account, but it was hacked and I haven't used it since. I'll apply for a new one another day, okay?"
“I have an account here, I don’t really need it, you can have it.” Fang Yanyan typed in a string of numbers and a password. “Try it, you can change the password. By the way, this is a QQ member, so it has a lot of privileges.”
Song Jianan was both amused and exasperated. The membership was just a pretext to make money, but she couldn't refuse him, so she logged in. The number was short and easy to remember, probably some kind of premium number. Sure enough, she had activated a lot of paid services. Fang Yanyan's avatar was flashing on it. "Ignore that paid service. It's already linked to my phone. There are a few friends on it, all my classmates and family. I can just delete them."
She opened the magic emoticons available to members, picked one and sent it over. Fang Yanyan quickly replied with another one, which was quite funny. She remembered what the director had told her, and then told Fang Yanyan, "By the way, you're going to publish your own article tomorrow. Keep an eye on the hotline. Teacher Fu will give you useful leads. You can do phone interviews; you don't need to go to the scene. Write well and try to get it published."
Fang Yanyan was very happy, adding several exclamation marks before exclaiming, "Sister Jianan, this is too efficient! You took me to the scene on the first day and published the article on the second day. Does training a reporter really need to be so fast?"
She thought about it and then brushed it off, saying, "You should seize any opportunity you have. Also, let me tell you, Teacher Zhou Yu is very strict. If you don't achieve anything when he comes back, he might keep you on duty every day."
Fang Yan said helplessly, "Then I'll prepare myself mentally and write well tomorrow to try to get it published, so as to live up to the expectations of my mentors, Director Song, Director Hu, General Manager Zhang, the respectable Party, and the dear people."
After chatting for a while, Fang Yan went downstairs to read. Song Jianan deleted the friends on the QQ number he gave her one by one. When she deleted someone named "Seven Miles of Fields", she saw his personal description, "Walking lightly and far away, scattered deep in the forest, the more you see, the stronger it becomes, drifting through the seven miles of fields", and she thought it was very interesting. Looking at the other information, they were all blank. For some reason, she didn't delete it and left it.
This online name reminded her of Su Li's old online name. Song Jianan felt that she was being a bit neurotic. Today had been too exciting, with so many unexpected things happening all at once. She quickly put down her computer, washed up, and went to bed.
The next day at work, after explaining the writing and publishing guidelines to Fang Yanyan, who was answering the news hotline, she went to the entertainment section next door to familiarize herself with the situation. Several interns in the entertainment section were writing articles, while the others seemed to have gone out to do interviews. Sitting opposite her was Xiao Zhao, a reporter from the city's legal affairs section. Upon seeing her, Xiao Zhao greeted her, "Song Jianan, when are you planning to remarry? Have you given your dowry and betrothal gifts yet? Remember to give us some wedding candy."
This amused everyone else, and Song Jianan joked, "Sigh, these days second marriages aren't well-received. The director just casually assigned me here. I have no status, so I'll have to ask you all for help."
The interns helped her move her things. She didn't have much, but she did have a very pretty little booklet that piqued their curiosity. Song Jianan didn't keep them in suspense and opened it to show them. It turned out to be a thick stack of her published articles. As she read, she read aloud, "Strange vans stop and start stealing batteries, reckless overloaded trucks crashing into traffic police, merchants playing word games, offering partial refunds for ineffective products, pawning phones and then stealing them back, being caught after three offenses..."
An intern exclaimed, "Wow, there are so many strange things in the social section! Sister Jia Nan, your title is really too bold!"
She laughed, "You get used to writing yellow news after a while. If you go to social news, you'll find that there are actually a lot of really weird and unbelievable things."
"The entertainment section is full of gossip. Those glamorous appearances are nothing but empty names. Last time I went with my boss to interview Jolin Tsai, my God, the contrast was huge. She had thick makeup on and her complexion was not good. She was completely different from the poster."
Song Jianan sighed, "Oh dear, won't we get tired of seeing the same things? By the way, Sister Xin, what are you holding in your hand?"
"Oh, this magazine, legal reports, one case a week, it's really good, especially the featured lawyers, their case analyses are brilliant, every word is precious, and the logic is clear. Speaking of this Xi Luoyu, I really love him."
Song Jianan burst out laughing, then stretched out her hand, "Let me see, let me see if this person is worth me falling for."
"Look at the photos, he's even cuter in the photos!" The married female editor in her thirties was unusually excited. "I've seen him in person, he's a hundred times more handsome than in the photos. What do you think? Pretty good-looking, right? You're stunned, aren't you? You want to flirt with him, right? Next time we interview him, you can come with us, carry the photography equipment, run errands, and get him a boxed lunch."
Upon seeing this, Song Jianan's face immediately fell, and she kept exclaiming, "So cute, so cute!" Then she turned her face away and muttered to herself, "I've been caught off guard."
After cooperating with the entertainment and legal sections in gushing over their crushes, she returned to the social section. Fang Yanyan was revising a manuscript there, and Song Jianan leaned over to take a look, occasionally giving him feedback. After finishing the revision, she sent it over using the editorial system. Fang Yanyan saw the magazine in her hand and came over, "Oh, handsome guy with glasses! Sister Jianan, do you like this type?"
"No way, I don't like this type at all." Song Jianan tossed the magazine aside. "It's annoying to look at."
Fang Yanyan picked up the magazine, glanced at it, and said, "It's alright. So, Sister Jia Nan, what kind of person do you like?"
The image that flashed through my mind was one that should have been buried for a long time. It seemed like I had just seen him in the hallway of the classroom yesterday. He was aloof and indifferent, with his head slightly tilted back.
Song Jianan laughed, "I prefer the kind of person who seems very unconventional, a bit unsociable, and cold on the outside but warm on the inside. It's strange, isn't it?"
"Oh, the repressed type of man." Fang Yanyan laughed. "I originally thought you would like the sunny, good-natured type of man."
The afternoon sun slanted in through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the lobby, filling every corner of the office like a layer of hazy, pale yellow gauze, serene and poetic. Song Jianan sat at her desk, her thoughts suddenly drifting far away.
She thought of that sorrowful sun from the past, but she didn't know where it was now or what it had become. A few short years are enough to change a person.
She clearly had a chance to get close to him back then, but she ran away instead.
Song Jianan couldn't help but chuckle. Suddenly, her phone rang with a message: "It's Ms. Song Jianan from the City Evening News. Seeing is believing. Ms. Song really left a deep impression on me that night."
Her mind was a little fuzzy, and it took her a while to understand the message. It turned out that Xi Luoyu was trying to cause trouble. She knew that the circle of reporters was only so big, and it would be very easy for Xi Luoyu to investigate someone. However, her nostalgic and melancholy mood was suddenly disturbed by this inexplicable message, so she was too lazy to pay attention to it and just threw her phone away.