Fire Red Food Stall.
Chen Feng and Qin Zhen sat opposite each other, and they had already downed a can of beer each before the kebabs arrived.
Then they looked at each other and laughed out loud.
Qin Zhen wiped his mouth with his hand and said with a smile, "You’ve gotten fatter, I almost didn’t recognize you back at the station. How much do you weigh now?"
"About 170," Chen Feng admitted frankly, "I have gained so weight, but I shouldn’t be considered too fat."
Qin Zhen shook his head, "You’re only 1.78 ters tall and weigh 170. You’re already considered severely obese. Let tell you, you better start losing weight soon, or else when you’re in your fifties or sixties, you’ll definitely be plagued with illnesses."
"Fuck! You’re cursing ," Chen Feng laughed and cursed.
"I’m just telling it as it is. Trust , I wouldn’t harm you."
"Alright, alright, I will lose weight. Eat less and exercise more, I get it."
"Who doesn’t understand that? The problem is doing it, sticking to it. Why don’t you run with every morning?"
"No thanks, I’m not a freak like you. Running six kiloters at a stretch."
"I run ten kiloters now. If I don’t run for a day, I feel uncomfortable all over."
"Go away, don’t co flaunting in front of , acting like you’re Mr. Capable. The most important thing for a man isn’t about being able to run, but about having a strong ’kidney’. I bet I’m not worse than you in that departnt. You used to say your longest was half an hour, I can now last more than half an hour."
"Cut it out! Driving a sports car for half an hour, is that the sa as driving a tractor for half an hour? The engine power is completely different. The fuel isn’t the sa either."
"Shit!"
"Hahaha~"
...
It was still the familiar banter and flavors, although the two hadn’t seen each other for nearly three years, their conversation was just as engaging as ever, without any sense of estrangent or distance due to changes in status.
It wasn’t until kebabs were served one after another that they moved on from shooting the breeze to talking about their experiences over the past few years.
Qin Zhen started by outlining his situation first. He joined the military in his sophomore year of college, first in a regular unit, then moved to a special departnt of a secret military division. Due to confidentiality agreents, he couldn’t go into specifics.
He served in that departnt for nearly eight years and had been discharged from the military to beco the deputy director here more than three months earlier.
Chen Feng wasn’t overly curious to pry into his military affairs, but was quite interested in his current love life, and asked about it.
This wasn’t confidential, and Qin Zhen spoke quite naturally, "While in the military, I had a partner, she was also a soldier. However, due to our service, we rarely saw each other, and after a on-and-off relationship for four or five years, we broke up."
"Is that the one you ntioned last ti we drank in our hotown? I rember you weren’t too pleased with her, right?" Chen Feng asked, sowhat surprised.
He rembered that Qin Zhen was rather proud at the ti, very satisfied with his girlfriend, calling her the rose of the military, a decathlete, and so on.
Qin Zhen gave a bitter smile, "Yes, wasn’t I in the heat of a romance? But relationships often don’t stand the test of ti. After two or three years, coupled with our inability to et often, and her being such an outstanding and independent woman, we gradually drifted apart. To avoid making her uncomfortable, I took the initiative to break up, and she readily agreed."
"Ah, that’s too bad."
Chen Feng could only sigh along in empathy.
He knew Qin Zhen had truly been in love with her. Three years ago, while drinking, Qin Zhen had shown him her picture—she was beautiful and valiant.
Qin Zhen laughed, "So people you just miss. But I’m not doing badly now either, I’ve got a girlfriend who’s five years younger, works at a bank. I’ll bring her out soti to introduce you."
Chen Feng wasn’t surprised by the news; sotis he even envied this guy’s charm with won.
Moreover, he was excelling at work, becoming deputy director before even thirty, quite a young achiever.
"Alright. Let’s et up another day."
Chen Feng agreed.
"Now it’s your turn," Qin Zhen said after skewering a kebab, continuing, "I rember last ti I went back ho for drinks, you ntioned you were about to get married. How’s that going? Do you have kids now? Also, I didn’t attend your wedding, don’t hold it against ."
This ti, it was Chen Feng’s turn to give a wry smile: "Kids? As for a wife, there’s none left, just divorced recently."
"Ah. Divorced? Why?" It was Qin Zhen’s turn to feel sorry for Chen Feng.
"What else could it be? No money," Chen Feng said sowhat despondently as he took a sip of beer, then laughed and said, "However, I’m rich now. As soon as I divorced, the good fortune started rolling in, especially financially. You could say I’ve accumulated a small fortune."
Chen Feng felt no need to hide his wealth from Qin Zhen, one of his few good friends.
"You didn’t buy a house here, did you?" Qin Zhen asked, eyes wide with shock.
Chen Feng nodded with pride: "Of course. Otherwise, how could I say I have a small fortune?"
"Damn! I’m still living in the company dorm. This is really infuriating," Qin Zhen said, looking downcast, then added resentfully, "That settles it, from now on, whenever we go out to eat, you’re treating."
Chen Feng laughed and grandly gestured, "No problem, even if it ans I have to support you from now on."
Qin Zhen laughed and gave him the middle finger directly, Chen Feng took it coolly, still proudly saying, "Now, nominally, I have two girlfriends, one six years younger than , the other four years younger."
"Beast!" Qin Zhen exclaid with a look of righteousness.
"That’s jealousy!"
"What’s there to be jealous about?" Qin Zhen shook his head, "With my looks and charm, if I really wanted two girlfriends, wouldn’t it be a piece of cake? But as you know, I’m not that kind of guy. I take every relationship very seriously and never play around. I certainly wouldn’t two-ti."
"Fair enough. I know you’ve always followed the principle of quality over quantity, but perhaps your standards for a partner are too high, which often doesn’t end well."
"Sigh! Maybe you’re right. All these years, every ti I’ve been seriously involved, it still ended in a breakup. I can’t figure out the specific reasons."
"I think you just like the thrill of novelty. Once the newness wears off, the passion fades."
Qin Zhen fell silent all of a sudden.
The two had known each other since they were sixteen or seventeen and, despite not having seen each other for a long ti, they still understood each other quite well. Clearly, Chen Feng had hit the nail on the head.
"You’re right, I just can’t stay interested for long. Looking back, I feel I might have let them down."
"Love and such, naturally it doesn’t last forever, it becos a kind of kinship over ti. You’re also twenty-eight now, your job is fairly stable, I think you should consider settling down. If you think this one is suitable, why not make it official?"
Chen Feng was speaking from his own experience. Qin Zhen was a year younger than him and was rapidly approaching thirty, still single as an only child; by then, marrying would be considered late.
"That’s hard to say." Qin Zhen didn’t hide anything from Chen Feng, "This current girl took the initiative to chase , she’s a local, and her family has so money, but sothing still doesn’t feel quite right."
"The girl isn’t pretty enough?" Chen Feng asked.
"She’s quite pretty, 1.6 ters tall, not fat or skinny, good figure, graduated from a 211 university. She’s got a good job, and her family background isn’t bad either, plus she’s an only child. Although she’s a bit spoiled, she’s quite tender towards ."
Chen Feng said irritably, "Are you bragging?"
Qin Zhen gave a bitter smile, "I’m just stating facts, what’s there to brag about? But as you understand, she only started pursuing after finding out about my job and status, her intentions are too clear.
Moreover, she even told her parents had prepared an apartnt for her as a dowry. And I can’t afford to buy a house, and I’m not a local. If I marry her, wouldn’t that be a case of the woman being stronger than the man? That I find hard to accept."
Chen Feng thought for a mont before saying, "It seems you don’t love her enough. If that’s the case, better to break up sooner rather than later, to avoid misleading each other. If you need soone ready for marriage, I can introduce you to soone. You t her today."
Qin Zhen’s eyes lit up, he quickly asked, "Is it Wu ngting?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Feng’s heart skipped a beat.
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