A Good-for-Nothing

134. Shaken Up (2)

Translator: Dragon Rider

Seeing He Zheng sitting there, Jin Qianlai immediately walked over, sat down on the unoccupied chair beside him, which was a sensitive move, and started nagging He Zheng. “Why didn’t you tell me about this, Cutie? I could have hitched a ride in your car! You know what – I tried to get one of those shared bikes, but it turned out that my credit score was not good enough. Worse still, nobody was willing to lend me their cellphone, so eventually I ended up coming here on foot.”

The corners of all others’ mouths involuntarily twitched with awkwardness. He Zheng twisted his head around to look at Jin Qianlai and asked, “Don’t you live right in the quarters of SMB?”

“They said that people like me who were recommended by SMB officials were not allowed to live there, and they offered me eight hundred yuan as housing allowance, so I had no choice but to rent a basement in the Eastern District.”

It would take more than half an hour for one to go from the Eastern District to this restaurant, even by car.

He Zheng tossed a glance at Jin Qianlai’s sweaty forehead and soaking wet clothes, embarrassment washing over his face. “How long did it take you to walk here from the Eastern District?”

“I’m not sure.” Jin Qianlai looked at the clock on the wall. “I set off at three o’clock.”

It was now half past five, which meant that this guy had walked over two and a half hours.

All the others were rather speechless. Tao Wujiu, the organizer of this dinner party, felt obliged to say something to lighten the atmosphere when everybody else felt awkward. “Alas, you’re not kidding? The next time you need to go anywhere, give me a call. I’ll have my driver pick you up and then send you back. Trips on foot could be so tiring.”

In fact, these words of his were really just pleasantries. However, it turned out that Lin Zhuo was not the only one in this room who didn’t play by the rules.

Jin Qianlai’s eyes brightened as he heard this. “Really?! That’s so kind of you, bro! I can tell that you’re loaded from your extraordinary taste in clothes. We two are definitely going to be friends!”

All others instantly burst into laugh at these remarks.

A simple and honest countryman sitting beside Jin Qianlai said in fairly substandard Mandarin, “Hello, bro, I’m Wei Cheng.”

Jin Qianlai’s gaze shifted to the man. Seeing he was wearing an undershirt and a pair of camouflage shoes, Jin Qianlai felt that the two of them were of a kind and warmed to him immediately. “Nice to meet you, bro.”

Tao Wujiu, seeing the mood had been enlivened, told the waiter to serve their courses.

Though hailing from all corners of the country, they were at similar young age, so they had a lot to talk about, but most of the time, the topic of the chat was the examination. Lin Zhuo was sitting right beside He Zheng who was feeling bored. He gave He Zheng a gentle push and said under his breath, “Hello, He Zheng. I’m Lin Zhuo. It’s a great pleasure meeting you. I heard my elder brother mention you once.”

He Zheng had no idea who Lin Zhuo’s elder brother was. An apologetic look appeared on Lin Zhuo’s fair-skinned face. “My elder brother is Lin Di, but he’s in the second group.”

It came as a total surprise to He Zheng that Lin Di and Lin Zhuo were brothers. The two of them didn’t look alike at all. A flicker of astonishment crossed his eyes. But then he scrutinized Lin Zhuo and found that there was indeed a slight resemblance between their features, though Lin Zhuo was more handsome than Lin Di.

Lin Zhuo said in an undertone, “My elder brother told me that my performance in the interview was not good enough to get me a pass, but he talked to Supt. Li… Would you please thank Supt. Li for me?”

“Sure.”

Lin Zhuo chuckled. He fished a bar of Dove chocolate out of his pocket and handed it to He Zheng. “Chocolate?”

He Zheng, who was pretty happy, accepted the offer.

The waiter served their courses one by one. He Zheng and Lin Zhuo ate in a quite graceful manner, while Jin Qianlai and Wei Cheng finding each other congenital, along with Kang Ba, were gorging themselves on the food.

While eating, Wei Cheng said, “I’m an exorcist from the countryside. Every day, I learn exorcism from my father after farm work. Alas, this year’s harvest was not very good, and we barely have enough to eat.”

“It turns out that life is not easy for you either, bro. You know what, I’ve been having a tough time as well. I don’t even have enough money to buy food. We’re both so poor and unlucky.”

“It’s not about luck. Everybody has their own fortune. But the current government policies are pretty good – applicants for STTP like us don’t have to pay for accommodation or transportation now, no matter we pass or fail. If we pass, maybe we’ll become official public servants, and there’ll be salary and perks, which is something I can only dream about.

We can still make a living with our skills. We’re much luckier than folks in my village who rely on paddy fields for food.” After saying this, Wei Cheng gulped down the rest of the liquor in the wine glass before him and twisted his head around to look at Jin Qianlai. “So we’re not unlucky at all. Do you agree?”

His remarks were cadenced and rich in feeling, which astonished He Zheng greatly.

“Well said, bro! I’m so going to make a friend of you!” Tao Wujiu took up his wine glass, rising from his chair. “Come on. Let’s drink a glass. To these words of yours!”

Wei Cheng, who was an honest countryman, was somewhat embarrassed by the compliment.

The others dissolved into laugh. This conversation had really brought them closer.

Lin Zhuo was also very happy.

A girl sitting beside Lan Bai said, “I heard that Brother Wei’s interview lasted over ten minutes. It seems that the examiners were also very pleased with Brother Wei.”

Someone else observed, “Chen Qianlin also stayed in the interview room for quite a long time, twenty even thirty minutes, I think.”

Chen Qianlin took a sip of his tea, a noticeable smug smile on the corners of his mouth.

At that moment, Kang Ba asked, “He Zheng, if my memory serves me correctly, you stayed in there for half an hour, didn’t you? I and the others waited so long, which was sheer torture.”

All others’ gaze moved to He Zheng, who was surprised. Had he really stayed in there for that long?

Chen Qianlin’s smug smile slowly faded from his face.