Chapter 13 — Old Love Turns to Ashes

Three days later, I officially departed for the South. The moment the plane landed, the humid air hit my face. I stood on the street and took a deep breath, my eye sockets suddenly felt hot. It turns out I haven't smelled this familiar scent for a long, long time. The next day I went to the company I contacted in advance for an interview. The process was very smooth. Job offer letters are sent the same day. The salary is a bit lower than Beijing, but enough to pay for housing and food. More importantly, I scrolled to the job description in the attached section, looked at the position name and job content, and the corner of my mouth couldn't help but curl up. This is the job that I like. * Chapter 11 Time passed very quickly, in the blink of an eye it had been two years. In the past two years at the company, I rose from an ordinary designer to the position of Creative Director. The company specializes in cultural and creative projects, helping long-standing brands innovate their images and design visual identities for local tourism projects. I lead a small team, running throughout 8 cities and districts along the banks of the Xiang River. Bringing traditional crafts, long-standing architecture, and ancient flavors hidden in alleys, turning them into posters, creative cultural products, bringing them back to human life. Last year, when there was an intangible culture exhibition, the provincial leaders came to cut the ribbon and even made it onto the local news. Salary has increased twice, although it cannot be called rich and noble. But every penny is earned by myself, every job is something I want to do. I didn't expect that the next time I would meet Giang Tu Nien again would be in a situation like this. That afternoon, I rushed to the partner company for a meeting to report, and conveniently called a technology car. As soon as I sat in the seat and gave the address, the driver looked at me in the rearview mirror and suddenly slammed on the brakes.

“A Mien…”

That voice made my whole body stiffen in the chair. Giang Tu Nien sat in the driver's seat, wearing a faded gray hoodie. That face is still the same face, but the whole person looks haggard and haggard.

“I…”

His voice was hoarse:

“Do you live in this area?”

I didn't answer, I bowed my head and looked back at the booking information on my phone. Indeed, it was his license plate, the application system automatically dispatched it. This city has millions of people, yet it's such a coincidence.

“Let's go.”

I put on my seat belt:

“I'm in a hurry.”

He was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting me to be so calm. He stopped for a moment before starting the engine. He drove very slowly along the way. Arriving in the lobby of the partner building, I scanned the payment code and pushed the car door open. He suddenly spoke up:

“A Mien…”

He turned around from the driver's seat, opened his mouth and then closed it again, only after half a day could he squeeze out a sentence:

“Are you… living well?”

I did not answer. It's been two years, whether life is good or not is not his turn to ask.

“Why are you here?”

I asked him back. He lowered his eyes and stroked the steering wheel twice with his fingers:

“Beijing can't survive anymore, those scandals are hanging on the internet, the recruitment side just checks their background, no one dares to accept them.”

"Before, I substitute taught at a private school for a while..."

Speaking of this, his face was full of unsightly expression.

“Van Van sues you all the way to the principal, every day blocked at the school gate. The school felt it had a bad influence and fired him."

“After that, I changed a few more jobs, but without exception, Van Van completely destroyed them.”

"There was no other way, I had to flee to the South..."

He hesitated, his voice even lower:

“Nowadays, driving a technology car, running day and night, is enough to eat.”

I looked at him for a few seconds, suddenly realizing there was nothing more to say. As I turned around to enter the office building, I heard the sound of the car door opening behind me.