CH 5.2

At this time, at the gate of a high school located three kilometers away, Jiang Shenghe has parked his car by the side of the road— he has been waiting for more than an hour now.

Ten minutes later, a man in a white shirt came out of the school. There were two spots of chalk dust on his dark pants.

Jiang Shenghe lowered the car window and mocked the person walking by. “Even if you paint your body with chalk dust, it can’t prove how good your teaching is.” 

Lu Baisheng got on the co-pilot seat and pulled the seat belt on, “Both you and Qin Moling have such bad mouths—how did you not get beaten to death by your homeroom teacher back then.”

Jiang Sheng smiled, “As a teacher, how can you talk like this?” He started the car. 

As soon as he merged into the traffic flow, the car was blocked and they couldn’t move.

Jiang Shenghe leaned on the car window with his left hand, holding the steering wheel with the other, and turned his head to look at Lu Baisheng, “Isn’t it self-study period during the evenings? Why are you still in class? Taking up the students’ self-study time to test English? Don’t the students want to scold you?” 

Lu Baisheng gave him a look. “…. If you come to Suzhou again in the future, don’t look for me, I want to live a few more years.”

Jiang Shenghe laughed out loud.

Lu Baisheng took out a wet tissue, bent down and wiped the chalk dust off his trouser legs, “Why did you come to Suzhou suddenly?”

Jiang Shenghe looked out the window with his forehead propped up, turned around, and said, “To sign a contract for my aunt.”

“How is your aunt?”

“She’s okay, but she can’t be tired anymore.”

Lu Baisheng threw the wet tissue into the trash bin of the car, and when he turned around, he saw Jiang Shenghe’s glasses on the bridge of his nose. He felt something was wrong just now, “What kind of glasses are you wearing?”

“I can’t see clearly when I drive at night without wearing glasses.” Jiang Shenghe asked Lu Baisheng if he was free the night after tomorrow, “I will sign a contract with He Wancheng Corporation the day after tomorrow, and we’ll have dinner to celebrate that evening. You can join me.” 

“And what am I supposed to do there?” 

“Luo Qi will be there too.”

The car suddenly fell silent.

Lu Baisheng looked at Jiang Shenghe, unable to talk about it.

Jiang Shenghe broke the silence, “I will introduce you to each other then. Luo Qi will go to Shanghai next year, but she will definitely return to Suzhou in a few years. The Pei family is difficult to deal with, so she may not be able to handle it by herself.” 

There was another few seconds of silence between them .

“It is impossible for me not to be married for the rest of my life. After I get married, I will have someone to take care of, and thinking about her is not suitable. You and sister-in-law should be able to get along with her. Then she will have two more sincere friends in Suzhou.” 

“My friend….”

Lu Baisheng was older than Jiang Shenghe and has settled in Suzhou for many years now, only taking his son back to Beijing for a few days during winter and summer vacations. Lu Baisheng’s wife was a native of Suzhou. At the beginning of their relationship, he gave up a lot for his wife. His company was turned over to be managed by a professional team, and he came to Suzhou to become a high school English teacher.

Lu Baisheng readily agreed, “Okay, I’ll go.”

Now that Luo Qi has been mentioned, he asked in passing, “Have you paid off the money owed by Luo Qi’s family?”

“No.”

Upon learning that Luo Qi was getting married this year, he no longer paid attention to her and her family’s affairs.

Too much meddling on his part was not good for her.

Lu Baisheng offered, “If Luo Qi’s parents still need my help in private, just tell me.”

“No need. From now on, her family’s affairs are Pei Shixiao’s concern. I just want to introduce you to Luo Qi. You don’t need to tell me how you get along in the future.”

Jiang Shenghe changed the topic. “Where do we eat?”

“I invite you to a barbecue. The stall set up by my student is at the night market.”

“How old is your student coming out to set up a stall?”

“The first batch of students I ever taught have already graduated from university. The barbecue stall in the night market was set up by him and his classmates in college while they were still in school. Yes, business is booming, and now it’s no longer a side job. I often go to his barbecue stand.”

Jiang Shenghe nodded and said, “Being a teacher is not bad.”

“It’s not bad.” Lu Baisheng joked, “How about you come to Suzhou, too, to become a teacher. You’re pretty good in math—teach mathematics in the third-year intensive class.” 

“You moved to Suzhou because your wife is here.”

There was a pause for a few seconds.

Jiang Shenghe looked at the windshield of the car, half-smiling. “What will I do in Suzhou? See her full of children and grandchildren?”

Lu Baisheng was choked and speechless.

Jiang Shenghe smiled lightly, and asked, “How do I get there?”

Lu Baisheng pointed to the front, “Turn left, and turn in when you see the parking lot. It’s not easy to park at the night market, so we have to walk over.”  

After parking the car, the two headed over on foot.

Today was Saturday; there were many cars and people. The night market was so crowded that it was difficult to move.

The barbecue stand of Lu Baisheng’s student was famous far and wide, and there was a long queue in front of the stand.

The student’s sharp eyes saw him in the crowd, and he shouted enthusiastically from afar, “Teacher Lu! Is your order still the same?”

Lu Baisheng didn’t answer immediately, and asked Jiang Shenghe what he wanted to eat.

“The guest follows the host.”

“The usual, double servings!”

There was still a while in the queue, so Lu Baisheng asked for cigarettes and a lighter from the student, and went to the smoking area, bringing Jiang Shenghe with him.

Jiang Shenghe didn’t have a lighter when he wanted to smoke last time, so he finally did it today.

Lu Baisheng just accompanied Jiang Shenghe to smoke, took a few symbolic puffs, and went to a nearby store to buy beer. Remembering that Jiang Shenghe was going to drive, he replaced Jiang Shenghe’s beer with a few cans of carbonated drinks.

When they returned to the barbecue booth, there were already available tables.

The student turned his face and said, “Teacher Lu, I’ll grill it for you right away.”

“No rush.” ​​Lu Baisheng cleared the table.

……

Luo Qi and Secretary Ju were also queuing up to wait for their barbecue. Suddenly, Secretary Ju nudged her elbow and with a low voice said, “Chief Jiang is here too. He’s also eating barbecue! I don’t know if he saw us.” 

Luo Qi didn’t dare to look around. “Which direction?”

“Front right, the second table.”

“It’s so close, he should have seen us.”

The boss was just a few meters away, so they couldn’t pretend not to see him. Secretary Ju had no choice but to look over openly. Jiang Shenghe had indeed seen them, but only just now.

She left Luo Qi in line and hurried over by herself, “Chief Jiang, what a coincidence.” 

Jiang Shenghe nodded, “Shopping with Assistant Luo?”

“Well, we’ve been wandering here and there, and heard that this barbecue stall is delicious. We came to give it a try.”

“Let’s eat together then,” he said to Secretary Ju.

Luo Qi has ordered their barbecue and now came to say ‘hello’ to Jiang Shenghe.

Just now Jiang Shenghe almost didn’t dare to recognize Luo Qi. He usually saw her at work. She was either wearing work clothes or professional attire. It was the first time he saw her wearing a dress like tonight’s.

He introduced Secretary Ju and Luo Qi to Lu Baisheng.

Finally, introduced Lu Baisheng to the two of them, “My friend from childhood, Lu Baisheng. He works as a teacher in Suzhou No. 1 Middle School, teaching English.”

Not only Luo Qi, but even Secretary Ju was flattered that the boss actually introduced his friend to them so formally.

After exchanging greetings, they all sat down.

Luo Qi and Jiang Shenghe ended up sitting opposite each other, both speechless.

In contrast, Secretary Ju and Lu Baisheng were having a good chat. They both have kids, and the topic of children instantly brought them closer.

Jiang Shenghe opened a can of drink and pushed it to Secretary Ju.

“Thank you, Mr. Jiang.” Secretary Ju was focused on chatting with Lu Baisheng just now, and didn’t think things through—bothering the boss to open the drink for her. 

He, on the other hand, was completely indifferent.

There were still a few cans left unopened in front of the boss, so she quickly stretched out her hand, “Chief Jiang, I’ll do it.”

Luo Qi also stretched out her hand, intending to help.

Jiang Shenghe didn’t let them. “You don’t have to be so cautious when you talk. I don’t have many rules when I’m off work.” As he said that, he opened a second can and put it in front of Luo Qi.