Chapter Seventy-Fifth: Perseverance in Adversity

  This chapter is written for myself as a self-motivation, thank you to all readers who have accompanied me so far, I will continue to persist.

  After arranging everything, Liu Siyuan went to pick up Chen Jun from work with a relaxed mood. He didn't dare enter the city government building directly, as many people still remembered him, and if they saw him leaving with Chen Jun, it would definitely reach Ouyang Qian's ears. It was even possible that she herself was in the municipal office today, and if they happened to run into each other, it would be terrible. He knew that Chen Jun was the person Ouyang Qian disliked the most.

  For Ouyang Qian, his emotions were extremely complicated. To say he didn't care was nonsense. After all these days, they had become intimate, and it was impossible for him to have no attachment to her.

  However, Fang Xinyu's position in his heart is obviously higher. Originally, he planned to make things clear with Ouyang Qian yesterday, but as a result of misfortune, he blamed himself for lacking self-control, letting his lower body control his thinking, and not only did they not clarify things, but their relationship became even more entangled.

  Compared to others, he actually feels most comfortable and at ease with Chen Jun. The latter's views on love are probably influenced by her favorite writer Zhang Ailing, who is a bit of an "actress" type, but anyway, they're not quite normal. It's hard to say if all literary youths are like this, but in any case, Liu Sihuan finds it pretty interesting and difficult to understand.

  He waited at a coffee shop near the city government, which was also her choice and a typical haunt for artistic youth. In fact, Liu Siyuan still couldn't taste the flavor of coffee to this day, it was bitter and not good to drink at all, let alone distinguish between different types of coffee. Chen Jun, on the other hand, was particularly skilled in this area, she could tell you a thing or two about every type of coffee bean.

  Chen Jun didn't keep him waiting for too long before she appeared, dressed in a professional attire that made her look somewhat mature. As it turned out, she was originally two years older than Liu Siyuan, making her the oldest among his women. Ouyang Qian was less than a year older than him, while Fang Xinyi was two years younger.

  "Haven't had dinner yet?" she asked lightly as she sat down.

  Liu Siyuan shrugged and said: "Of course, let's eat together. Are there any good places you can recommend? I'm a country bumpkin coming to the city, I don't know anything."

  Chen Jun smiled and said: "Alright, since you rarely come back to the city, I'll treat you today. Follow me."

  She chose a newly opened Hong Kong-style tea restaurant, which was decorated in a modern and romantic style. The food was not expensive, looked exquisite, and tasted okay. The surroundings were mostly young people, especially couples, but the only drawback was that the environment was a bit noisy. However, the two of them didn't mind, as long as they had each other's attention, the noise around them was just background chatter.

  "Recently, many classmates have gotten married and basically give their entire monthly salary to those red envelopes, so they can't afford to invite too many people. Sorry about that, Secretary Liu." Chen Jun said with a slightly playful tone, looking like she's in a good mood.

  Liu Siyuan was also amused by her and said: "I really don't have money, I can only pretend to be ill and not go."

  Chen Jun's face was filled with a helpless expression as he said, "Nowadays, it's okay if people don't go, but the red envelope must be received."

  Liu Siyuan was speechless for a moment, and when he thought about it, after graduation, he seemed to have drifted apart from his old classmates, especially after going to Beixi Town, the vast majority of his old classmates had even lost contact.

  Suddenly he somewhat understood that Chen Jun mentioned these were also targeted, saying that she was also over 25 years old, and her classmates, especially the female ones, had all gotten married one after another, it seemed that she was under some pressure.

  "It seems like I haven't been in touch with old classmates much, it's a pity." Liu Siyuan sighed.

  Chen Jun smiled and said, "That's because you're too busy, managing a small town must be very tiring. However, I recently checked the situation in Beixi Town, although I haven't been there, but looking at those pictures can also know it's a very beautiful place, I especially like those roads paved with colored bricks and tiles, living there every day is very romantic."

  Liu Siyuan smiled and said, "Beixi is indeed very beautiful, welcome Comrade Chen to come and tour. I myself see it every day, but there's one thing I really like - the place where I live is at the foot of the mountain, and the air is much better than in the provincial city."

  The two of them chatted like old friends, and time flew by quickly. After dinner, Liu Siyuan escorted her all the way to her doorstep.

  "Want to go up and sit for a bit?" Chen Jun's invitation was somewhat sudden, Liu Siyuan didn't know if she was being polite or sincere for the moment. He had been to her home once before, that time she let him experience something he never had in his life.

  Seeing his hesitation, Chen Jun probably also guessed what was going on, she said softly: "Or you can stay at my place today, it's more comfortable than staying in a hotel."

  Seeing her sincerity was enough and didn't seem like a courtesy, Liu Siyuan naturally had no reason to refuse, so he followed her upstairs.

  Mr. Chen seemed to love cleanliness, the first thing he did after entering the house was to let him take a bath first, and Liu Siyuan was surprised to find that she had even prepared a brand new set of pajamas for him.

  "Didn't you stay overnight at my place last time? I saw that you didn't have any pajamas, so it was a bit of trouble, and I just bought a set according to your size." She explained calmly.

  Liu Siyuan first felt a sense of wonder at her meticulous thoughts, and then was surprised to realize that she seemed to have been prepared for him to stay overnight again.

  Liu Siyuan felt refreshed after his bath, and while she was washing up, he casually looked around her room. A book of Zhang Ailing's essays on her desk caught his attention, opened to a page with a sentence underlined in red by Chen Jun:

  "Guarding a heart is not like guarding a cat. It gets cold, it comes to lean on you; it's hungry, it comes to call you; it's itchy, it comes to rub against you; it's tired of you, and quietly walks away. Guarding a heart, how I wish it were like guarding a dog, not you guarding it, but it guarding you."

  Liu Siyuan doesn't keep pets, but he also knows that dogs are loyal to their masters while cats are often loyal to the place where they feel comfortable. So like most men, he prefers dogs a bit more and isn't too fond of cats which always seem to have a bit of evil in them. (Just one family's opinion, cat lovers please don't take offense)

  He couldn't help but feel a little sad, thinking that women seem to love cats more. Every time there's an animal abuse case, it's mostly women who jump out and express their outrage. It seems that in this world, the majority of women have personalities similar to those of cats. This can be understood, as women are often at a disadvantage in their careers, so they need a sense of security more, and want to find a place where they feel comfortable.

  Then how many people in this world are truly wholeheartedly busy for another person?

  "What are you spacing out for?" Chen Jun's voice came from behind, carrying a hint of refreshing scent after her bath. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder, leaned down, and nuzzled his neck, tickling him with a slight stimulation.

  "Oh, nothing much, just browsing around." Liu Siyuan said with a slightly embarrassed smile.

  "Do you also like Eileen Chang?" Chen Jun said with a hint of surprise after glancing at the book he was reading.

  "Haha, I'm a person of relatively low quality, and I don't usually like reading books. But after seeing this sentence, I felt some emotions. It's rare for guys to like Eileen Chang, right?" Liu Siyuan said honestly.

  Chen Jun nodded and casually said: "Back then he didn't like Zhang Ailing either, saying she was pretentious."

  After she finished speaking, her gaze drifted into the distance, as if she too had fallen into a daze.

  "Still thinking about him?" Liu Siyuan couldn't help but ask, although he regretted it afterwards because the question was a bit too sensitive.

  Chen Jun nodded, not particularly concerned, and sat on the bed after a while, looking at him: "Last week he called me and said that he is now working as a salesperson in a private enterprise. The boss seems to appreciate him, and he also said that he will come back and marry me after making some money."

  Liu Siyuan was taken aback and instinctively asked: "Then what did you say?"

  "I just casually said a few words, it's impossible for me and him, I belong to the cat." Chen Jun forced a smile. "He is that kind of person, rather than saying pursuing true love, I prefer a stable life."

  Liu Siyuan nodded, but she seemed to be gradually immersed in her memories: "I remember when we were in college, he was on our school's debate team and always spoke eloquently at various gatherings. He even planned to write online and said he wanted to get rich through writing."

  "What happened later?" Liu Siyuan asked curiously.

  Chen Jun recalled: "At first, it was okay. He wrote that kind of very YY stuff, like 'First destroy Japan, then destroy the American Empire' and so on. What's strange is that there were also some angry youth who echoed him, and gradually he had a fixed group of readers. At that time, he was very happy, saying that he might make money before graduating, and his work went on sale. The result was that almost overnight, those angry youth fans who used to follow him and cheer him on all disappeared, the number of collections kept falling, and at that time there was no minimum income guarantee for writing. As a result, he made only over ten yuan in a month, just enough to buy a few steamed buns."

  Liu Siyuan sighed and said, "This is an unavoidable thing. Everything starts with difficulty. Writing is a matter of talent and opportunity on the one hand, and it's also a great test of willpower on the other hand. It's not hard to write tens of thousands of words, but what's difficult is to keep writing continuously for tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of words. The most difficult thing is that there are few collections, and you have to persevere. I think one sentence says it particularly well: Writing a book is actually a kind of self-cultivation."

  Chen Jun said in agreement, "Actually, if he had persisted, he might have been able to achieve some small success. Even if he couldn't make a living from writing, at least his will and spirit would have been cleansed. But it seems that the dismal results, especially the constantly declining number of views, made him feel extremely humiliated, so he gave up on writing. In today's popular phrase, he 'castrated' himself." When she said the two words "castrated", her face turned slightly red.

  Liu Siyuan thought for a moment and said: "A friend of mine told me that in any situation, one must learn to persevere through adversity; otherwise, success will forever be unattainable."

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