Chapter 2 The Unexpected in Expectation

  Since many hackers turned over a new leaf in the past few years, the term "soho" has become popular in society. This industry quickly became the target profession for those who are lazy but yearn for a decent income. I also unknowingly became one of them; during my sophomore year, I suddenly felt extremely disappointed with university education and didn't want to waste my youth like most people do in internet cafes. So, I decided to make money. Looking at all the agents floating around campus, they seemed like pimps, making it hard for me to join them. Not wanting to be a tutor who misleads students, I was at a loss when this idea first came up until one day I saw the term "soho" in the newspaper.

  After a long search and with the help of fate, I finally found a few like-minded people to form a studio together. Our main business was making websites, FLASH ads, small software and mobile ringtones for others. At that time, it felt like we were a group of bandits gathering in the mountains, rebelling against the system. We called ourselves a studio, but in reality, all we had was a second-hand laptop that was only slightly faster than 486, and over 900 yuan in cash. Every time we held a meeting, it was like a guerrilla warfare, finding empty classrooms to hold our meetings, pretending to be student union meetings. I always thought that the student union could occupy the self-study rooms and hold meaningless meetings without any restrictions, so our wealth-creating meetings should be even more justified. Since my major was financial management, which is closest to management among all members' majors, and I had some research on computer technology, everyone elected me as the first chairman.

  The rise of an industry must be accompanied by market demand, where there is a seller, there will be a buyer. Enterprises like Wang Ling's small and medium-sized private enterprises have become our main customers, after all, they are not state-owned enterprises, every penny is their own, doing a website, software or FSH advertisement here is much cheaper than regular businesses.

  In these two years, I fully experienced the difficulty of making money and the cruelty of society. Many things I designed at first did not meet the client's taste, and sometimes after designing something, it was put on hold by unscrupulous businessmen. Due to a long time without earning any money, my team fell apart, leaving only three people around me, with only 10 yuan in my pocket. The most foolish thing was that I had told my family not to send me living expenses from then on, which led to me having instant noodles for every meal during that period. As Marco would say, it was a case of "dying for face and suffering for life". Later, thanks to the rapid development of Cai Ling market, our situation improved, slowly getting back on track, and new members gradually joined in, but it left me with a psychological trauma - from then on, I would feel nauseous whenever I saw instant noodles.

  "How much are they paying?" Although Marco and I had a clear division of labor, with me in charge of production and him in charge of getting clients, as the main creator, I still have the right to know the price. After all, I need to decide on the quality of work based on the price, and sometimes money can indeed inspire me a bit.

  "After haggling, she finally gave 5000. I still have a lingering fear of Marco's haggling skills. One time we went shopping together and saw a pair of sports shoes priced at 270. He managed to haggle the price down to 50 in just half an hour. As we were leaving, he added, 'It's not easy for anyone to make a living, so add another 10 yuan.' The shoe seller was completely defeated and insisted that we each take an extra wristband. Sometimes I feel like Marco is my agent. Actually, Marco is also a technical talent, at least in the areas I understand, he's no worse than me. Many times we work together to complete our tasks, but when it comes to enthusiasm for work, he falls far short, or you could say I'm a workaholic."

  "If you had come earlier, who knows, it might have been even higher?"

  "Why?"

  "Didn't you notice she has a thing for you? I understand women better than you." In this bright morning, I saw Marco's sly smile again.

  "Haven't you heard the saying 'those who think they understand women are often hurt by them very badly'?"

  "I really wish there was someone who could make me feel heartbroken, just to enrich my life a bit." Marco said with a wry expression.

  "'A multitude of injustices will eventually lead to one's own downfall.' One day, a heroic woman will stand up and seek justice for the many women who have been wronged by you."

  Just as I was racking my brain to find a suitable profanity from the 20 years' accumulation to describe Marco's behavior at that moment, the phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number. Whatever, it's a one-way card, so answering it didn't matter anyway.

  "Hello, who is this?"

  "Hello, is this Kang Jian?" came a sweet but slightly angry voice from the other end.

  "It's me, who are you?" For this kind of voice, it's better to be polite.

  "You're the administrator of the school forum, right?" The somewhat aggressive tone and questioning manner made me feel that the politeness from earlier was a bit unnecessary. Looks like this person has ill intentions.

  "Yes, what can I do for you?" I intentionally raised my tone to hint at my attitude.

  Just as I was answering the phone, something happened that would change my life forever. I once read a book with a sentence that said, "When you're in a hurry to find something, it's often nowhere to be found, as if it's hiding from you on purpose. But when you've almost forgotten about it or don't need it anymore, it suddenly appears before your eyes, as if playing a joke on you. It's the same with people." Just then, I heard a voice on the other end of the phone say, "Tomorrow at 3 pm, meet me in classroom 5421 of building 5. If you don't show up, you'll regret it." As I looked across the street, I saw my ex-girlfriend standing there - or rather, a girl who looked exactly like her. Without proof, that's all I could assume. But my intuition told me it was really her - the girl who would let me comfort her when she was sad, and accompany her when she was happy; the girl whose feet I would warm for her on cold days; the girl who would ask me to peel oranges for her to eat; the girl who left me with just a short message before disappearing without a word... Tong Chen. As for why she left without saying goodbye, I still haven't figured out the reason to this day. So, even in my dreams, I've always hoped for the chance to talk things through with her face-to-face, even if she never loved me or had feelings for me...

  The first time I met Tong Chen was at a birthday party for a middle school and high school classmate during our freshman year, that girl Zhao Lijia who said I looked like Tony Leung. A phrase I often say to her is "Because of your one sentence, this world has added a person who understands themselves more comprehensively, both inside and out", and also because of that sentence, we later became buddies. After graduating from high school, I was admitted to Harbin Institute, while she was admitted as a flight attendant and assigned to Harbin Airport, and Tong Chen is her colleague and roommate - they rented a house together.

  From our conversation later when I was with Tong Chen, I concluded that Tong Chen and I were also a case of love at first sight. In her words, I am the only boy who can make her feel good in 2 seconds and develop this feeling into love.

  When I first saw her, my brain was like being hit by a hammer, first stunned and then briefly hypoxic. Tong Chen's appearance belongs to the classical beauty type, giving people a particularly quiet feeling, like a lady, but later facts proved that I was blinded by superficial phenomena. Her personality is completely opposite to her appearance...

  Since that meeting, I often find Zhao Lijia through various interfaces. Although we also frequently go out to eat, jump and play before, but never as frequent as after I liked Tong Chen, so frequent that she thought I might like her... But every time we meet or go out to play, I will remind her to bring Tong Chen with various excuses.

  After several contacts, I gradually became familiar with Tong Chen, and we began to often skip Zhao Lijia and meet alone. However, this also caused me not to look for Zhao Lijia for a long time, which made her feel uncomfortable. She called me to ask what was wrong with me and why I didn't want to play with her. I could only use the excuse that young people should focus on their studies and shouldn't waste their youth on eating, drinking, and having fun.

  One day, when we were walking out of a movie theater after watching a film together, I suddenly took Tong Chen's hand without any warning or signs beforehand. It was as if we had been a couple for a long time, and everything felt so natural. Just like that, without any warning, confession, or romantic scene that many girls dream of, we started our relationship.

  Because of Tong Chen, for the first time, I had the idea of spending my whole life with someone. Tong Chen changed me in many ways, from my lifestyle to the way I dressed and wore hats. Her deep impression was already on me...