Ann Wan’s interview ended quickly, as previously, magazine interviews with students would come from various departments of education and key schools, but now, with the development of network media, even central government agencies’ magazines have humbled themselves, and other traditional media outlets also actively sought more attention.
Ann Wan enthusiastically recommended a male classmate who was excellent at playing volleyball, but the other party didn’t seem interested in interviewing just one person. After all, not everyone had as many social media followers as Ann Wan, with a beautiful volleyball goddess, and excellent academic performance.
After school, Ann Wan went to play volleyball, and the magazine reporter was still there, taking photos and videos of Ann Wan’s training. Liu Chang’an left his backpack at school and walked back home.
“First month, vegetable flowers; second month, knife fish; third month, eel; fourth month, mandarin fish; fifth month, white fish…” Liu Chang’an recited while walking along the riverbank, feeling like it had been a long time since he last ate fish. For Liu Chang’an, eating at the school cafeteria or nearby small restaurants was only to satisfy his hunger; cooking himself was for the sake of savoring good food.
So, Liu Chang’an put his phone in a plastic bag, wrapped it layer by layer, and put it in his pocket with a zipper. Then, he jumped off the bridge.
The river wind hit his face, and Liu Chang’an closed his eyes, preparing to take the impact of the water.
“Ah!” A woman’s sharp scream came from afar.
Liu Chang’an turned around in mid-air, making a hand gesture with his index and thumb, and plunged into the water.
For an average person, jumping from such a height into the water would be extremely dangerous, but the impact force of the water only made Liu Chang’an feel a sense of relief, and then he swam out of the water, quickly reaching the riverbank.
The woman was still screaming and calling out, and soon, a crowd gathered, watching Liu Chang’an swim out of the water without a care.
Should they call the police?
Maybe it’s a mental patient?
Is he doing some extreme sports?
Maybe he’s a live streamer.
He’s probably an outdoor live streamer, the kind who does crazy things.
As the discussion continued, Liu Chang’an had already swum away, unable to hear the voices on the bridge. He swam to a densely vegetated area near the riverbank, searching around until he found a large mandarin fish between two large rocks.
Although May is the best time to eat white fish, you can’t always get what you want, and mandarin fish isn’t bad either. When choosing mandarin fish, you can’t select ones with a black back and round body, as those have hard bones and aren’t delicious. This one in front of him was flat and white, typically tender and soft-fleshed, and the fish meat would naturally fall off after cooking.
Liu Chang’an wasn’t greedy and caught one mandarin fish, putting it in his pocket and zipping it up, then swam to the shore.
It had been a long time since he crossed the Junsha River; now, the river was narrower and had a faster current.
Except for a few swimming enthusiasts, there were fewer people crossing the Junsha River these days, unlike the peaceful times after liberation when the heroic effect brought a large group of swimming enthusiasts.
Wet and dripping, Liu Chang’an returned to the residential area, bought a bottle of Erguotou at a small store, and the owner, Auntie Xie, saw him and burst out laughing, trying to pull down his pants, wanting to play a prank on him.
Older women like to tease young boys, just like men like to tease young girls; there’s no difference.
Liu Chang’an reacted quickly and pulled away, laughing, as Auntie Xie was a divorced woman, known for being straightforward and bold.
“Ah…can’t believe it…” Auntie Xie continued to laugh, her eyes shining, because she saw Liu Chang’an’s pants jump up and down.
Liu Chang’an took out the mandarin fish from his pocket, not wanting to give the wrong impression to this older woman, who might come knocking on his door at midnight, even if it’s been hundreds of years since the days of scaling walls and opening gates.
Auntie Xie seemed disappointed but still found it amusing.
“I’ll send you the money later.”
“Okay.”
Liu Chang’an went home, changed his clothes, killed the mandarin fish, and added some wine and autumn oil to steam it. This mandarin fish needs to be steamed just right, and the key is to keep the water vapor from dripping onto the fish, making the fish meat tender and juicy. If it’s too white, the flavor won’t be good.
After eating the fish, Liu Chang’an looked at the truck in front of his house, feeling that it didn’t belong there, but for now, he didn’t know where to put it.
Liu Chang’an turned around and looked at his room.
At this time, his phone rang, and Liu Chang’an took it out of the plastic bag to see the message.
“Today, I saw someone jumping off the bridge and scaring me to death!”
“That was me.”
“Ah, what a coincidence?”
“I really did jump off the bridge, and there was a woman screaming nearby, quite tall. Was it you?”
“Not me, I came later, after a while.”
“Really?”
“Really!”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get a good look at her face, but her scream sounded good.”
“Hey, who praises someone’s scream in that situation? It’s an exaggerated scream, that’s all…”
“You screamed nicely.”
“Ugh, I said it wasn’t me!”
Just then, Fan Jian’s call came in, saying that the construction site needed someone to keep watch that night, and it would pay three hundred for one night.
Keeping watch isn’t a physical job, but it’s boring, so the pay is higher than carrying bricks, Fan Jian explained.
Liu Chang’an happily agreed.
At 10 pm, Liu Chang’an arrived at the construction site and met Fan Jian.
Fan Jian was dressed in a suit, looking polished and pressed, more so than the last time Liu Chang’an saw him. As usual, he pulled out a tin of cigarettes.
Liu Chang’an refused, laughing and waving his hand.
“At 11 pm, the workers will have basically left. You just need to walk around and check if there are any electrical switches or water faucets left open. If you find anything, just turn them off. Besides that, just be careful of people sneaking onto the construction site to steal materials,” Fan Jian said, sizing Liu Chang’an up, suppressing his doubts and not asking any questions.
“Okay.”
Fan Jian handed Liu Chang’an a safety helmet and flashlight, and Liu Chang’an followed Fan Jian’s instructions, walking around the site. After one round, he could rest for a while before going again.
As the construction site quieted down, Liu Chang’an waited patiently.
Today’s events were undoubtedly arranged by Qin Yanan. Qin Yanan didn’t seem to have much interest in him, but that idle little girl was determined to entangle him.
Liu Chang’an didn’t like this, but he wasn’t worried, and he looked at the flashlight in his hand, marveling at modern technology. This thing would have been incredibly powerful in ancient times, with its concentrated light and small scatter angle, making it suitable as a signal lamp. Even in nighttime battles, this lamp could disorient the enemy, making it easy to defeat them.
Playing with the flashlight, Liu Chang’an continued his rounds, walking to the fence, where he saw Qin Yanan holding a large black dog, accompanied by four men in black suits standing at the exit.
“No unauthorized personnel are allowed on the construction site at night,” Liu Chang’an said sternly.
Qin Yanan’s eyes flickered, wondering if Liu Chang’an’s brain had some issues. The last time she saw him, he was selling her mustard and high-quality mushrooms, and now, he was…what was he thinking?
Zhu Juntang seemed to want to use a more gentle approach to bring Liu Chang’an over, but Qin Yanan felt it was unnecessary. Since he wasn’t the kind of man Zhu Juntang liked, then there was no need to use a gentle method; it was more effective to use a direct approach.
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