Chapter 4 — The Bed of Your Own Choosing

She was in charge of page layout for the school newspaper. When she saw me tying an apron to move cartons, she raised her eyebrows: "Aren't you here to listen to the startup seminar? Why did you start your business with just one shift last night?" "Starting a business requires capital." "It's five yuan an hour to accumulate capital, are you planning on going public at the age of 60?" Boss Qiang poked his head out from inside: "Meng Lan, don't attack new employees. Our store's development potential is huge." Meng Lan said: "Last month you said the same thing to the person who just quit his job." I worked there for two weeks. Before each exam, students brought patchy review materials to photocopy. In the same subject, ten people printed ten copies, the format was messy, and the number of pages was also lacking. I rearranged exam questions for courses and key points in class, creating a set of documents classified by subject. At first, Boss Qiang refused to pay the paper, I proposed to collect the deposit, and if I sold one copy, I got two-tenths. After hearing this, Meng Lan said I didn't look like I was eighteen years old, but like someone who had been hanging around in a small commodity market ten years. "Children from poor families learn to worry early." That's all I can explain. She didn't ask anymore, just helped me edit the ad to make it clearer. The first batch of documents sold more than seventy sets, minus expenses, I received three hundred and sixty yuan. It's not much, but it's the first money I've earned in this life. After the start-up seminar, the academy launched a creative contest for new students. Gu Cheng took the registration form and came to Room 407 to find me. He placed a cold can of Coca on my table: "I heard you have been making good money selling documents at the printing shop. Let's form a team, I'll be in charge of presentations and relationships, you'll be in charge of the plan." In his previous life, he also said the same thing. I stayed up for half a month to write a plan for the school's information platform. Gu Cheng won first prize. The reward was four thousand yuan, he invited us for a meal, and said the rest would be used to maintain the project. The project was not completed, and the money was not mentioned again. "I already have a team." I said. Gu Cheng pulled up a chair and sat down: "Who are you with?" "Han Dongming, Du Hang, there's also Meng Lan." "Meng Lan is a second year, right? The competition rules say the person in charge must be a first year, at most she can only be an advisor." "The person in charge is me." Gu Cheng took a sip from the can of Coke, as if not understanding: "You are in charge of the presentation?" "I can talk." Han Dongming poked his head down from the top bunk: "Not only can he talk, he doesn't even need to drink water when he makes someone choke." Gu Cheng ignored him and lowered his voice: "Yanxuan, we're in the same class, and we're in the next room. Teaming up with outsiders isn't a good fit, right?" I raised my eyes: "Who said we have to work together when we are separated by a wall?" There was a light knock outside the door. Shen Nianchu stood there holding two textbooks. Gu Cheng turned around and asked: "Why are you here?" "Luo Nan told me to give the dormitory cleanliness inspection form." She gave the form to Han Dongming, her eyes fell on the registration form on the table. "Are you guys forming a team?" Gu Cheng laughed: "Boss Zhou criticized me, planning to do it myself." Shen Nianchu looked at me: "Gu Cheng is good at attracting sponsorship and handling presentations. You could work together." She spoke very sincerely. In her opinion, Gu Cheng's strengths should be seen by everyone, and I am good at writing, so helping him compensate for his weaknesses is very natural. "Our team is full." I said. "The maximum regulation is five people, don't you guys only have four?" "The fifth position is reserved for people who really need it." Gu Cheng's face darkened: "What do you mean?" "It means literally." The room was silent. Shen Nianchu hugged the book tighter:
"If you don't want to cooperate, you can say it directly, no need to say such harsh things." I originally wanted to refute, but seeing the disappointment in her eyes, I remembered Meng Lan's warning: "Don't let people think you were once married to her." Eighteen-year-old Shen Nianchu has never received more than ten years of my sacrifices, nor has she ever touched our joint account. She is only used to competing for benefits for Gu Cheng. I lowered my voice: "I don't like other people dividing the roles before coming to inform me. I've made up my mind: I intend to do it myself, this has nothing to do with who is good or bad." Gu Cheng stood up, picked up the half-drunk can of Coke. "Okay. We met at the competition." When going out, he bumped into the door frame, scolding the dormitory for making the door too low. Shen Nianchu didn't leave right away. "Do you really hate him?" "I don't hate him." "So why every time he looks for you, you seem to be on guard against theft?" "Because he always feels like he can take other people's things, just open his mouth to take them." She looked at the documents on the table: "Including your plan?" "Including my time." Shen Nianchu was silent for a moment: "Gu Cheng has been like that since childhood. He's not bad, it's just that his family follows him, sometimes they don't know the boundaries." "She knows it, but she still follows him." Her face changed slightly. I knew I hit a place she didn't want to touch.