Monday is a cruel day for every office worker. It jolts those still immersed in the weekend awake, making them realize their lives don’t belong to them, but to the capitalists.
It was raining a bit when he left, adding a layer of gloom to Liang Ruixi’s already depressed mood.
Liang Ruixi swiped his card at the company just in time. In the office, his colleagues also looked sluggish because the upcoming weekend coincided with the May Day holiday, meaning they had to work a full six days this week.
“Xiao Liang, take these contracts to print.”
“…Okay.”
“This month’s summary needs to be finished before the holiday.”
“No problem…”
After barely getting started with work, everyone received a notice from HR: the company decided to organize a team-building event before the May Day holiday, with the destination being Yanlu Mountain in a neighboring city.
The team-building day was set for the compensated day off that would normally be a workday. Employees could choose to depart after work the day before and spend a night at Yanlu Mountain, with the company reimbursing 150 yuan per person for accommodation and meals. The remaining employees would take a company-chartered bus at 6 AM the next morning and return together after the team-building activities concluded that afternoon.
Upon hearing the news, employees discussed animatedly, “Huh? We finally get the May Day holiday, why schedule team building now?”
“It’s a free company event, and it saves us a day and a half of work, isn’t that good?”
“I was planning to visit a neighboring city anyway; I might just not come back to Haicheng after the event that day.”
“But I don’t like hiking at all. Company team building is always these same old tricks, definitely tiring and boring. Might as well slack off at the office.”
“Yeah, after hiking, your back and legs will be sore, and you’ll have to lie around like a corpse for the first two days of the May Day holiday…”
“Forget it, forget it, whatever. This arrangement is somewhat humane; being able to choose when to depart is a perk for people like me who struggle with waking up early.”
Liang Ruixi, however, stared blankly at the destination on the screen. If he remembered correctly, the first class event for their Law Department Class 2 in his freshman year’s first semester was also at Yanlu Mountain…
The colleague surnamed Lin next to him asked, “Xiao Liang, HR is taking statistics. Are you planning to go on Friday evening or Saturday morning?”
“Friday evening, I can’t wake up that early on Saturday.”
“Me too! Then, should we share a room at the hotel on Friday night?”
“Sure.”
After work on Friday, Liang Ruixi and Brother Lin boarded the company’s chartered bus. Most of those who chose to leave that evening were single young people without families. They usually didn’t see much of each other across departments, but now, on the same bus, the atmosphere was very lively. And Liang Ruixi, with his handsome looks, inevitably became the center of attention wherever he went.
“Xiao Liang, you must be twenty-six or twenty-seven this year, right? Any plans to get married?” The person asking him was Sister Feng from HR, who was leading the group.
“…No.”
“Is your relationship with your girlfriend still good?”
“Hehe…” Liang Ruixi gave an awkward laugh to brush off the question.
A female colleague then said, “Your girlfriend’s family seems quite wealthy, doesn’t it?”
Everyone immediately got gossipy: “Really? How do you know?”
“I saw them downstairs at the company before, but I didn’t know then. Last month, I ran into them at the Industry and Commerce Bureau. Her family apparently runs a company…”
That person revealed a few pieces of information that even Liang Ruixi himself hadn’t known before, leaving everyone clicking their tongues. A male colleague surnamed Ma said enviously, “No wonder Handsome Liang is so laid-back at the company. Turns out he’s got a sugar mommy ah.”
Liang Ruixi: “……”
Xiao Ma sighed, “Ai, I want a sugar mommy too. I don’t want to work hard anymore.”
Another female colleague joked, “A sugar mommy? Do you think just anyone has that capital? Before you daydream, please go get plastic surgery.”
Even Brother Lin, next to Liang Ruixi, teased, “If I were a woman, I’d also like someone like Xiao Liang. He’s handsome, has a good personality, and can sing, just seeing him makes you happy. But for you… forget it, forget it. I wouldn’t want you even if you paid me.”
Xiao Ma feigned anger, “You guys are too much! Don’t ugly people have human rights?”
Liang Ruixi chuckled, “Alright, alright, stop making me a target for hate.”
The whole bus arrived at Yanlu Mountain in high spirits. After getting off, Sister Feng organized everyone for dinner nearby, which didn’t end until 9:30 PM, when they returned to the hotel.
Liang Ruixi was so tired he just wanted to collapse and sleep. Brother Lin put down his backpack and took a shower first. When he came out and saw Liang Ruixi still lying face down in the same position, he couldn’t help but tease him, “Aren’t you going to call your rich girlfriend?”
Liang Ruixi gave a bitter smile. “Stop teasing me, Lin-ge, we already broke up.”
“Broke up?” Brother Lin was very surprised.
“We just broke up recently.” Liang Ruixi knew there were a few single women in the company who had a crush on him. He hadn’t said anything in front of everyone on the bus, afraid they’d make advances before he’d had a chance to sort out his feelings.
Now that he was only facing Brother Lin from the same department, Liang Ruixi no longer held anything back.
“No wonder you’ve seemed a bit down at work these past few days,” Brother Lin comforted him. “It’s alright, just try to look on the bright side. You’re so handsome, finding another rich woman will be a piece of cake.”
Liang Ruixi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Do I really look that much like someone who lives off women?”
“For us who aren’t local,” Brother Lin sighed. “Don’t say I’m cynical, but after working for these past few years, I’ve realized it’s too hard to get rich in this city solely through your own efforts. It’s better to find a local girlfriend, preferably one whose family has some money. You wouldn’t need to buy a house, and you wouldn’t have to worry about your kids’ hukou or schooling either. That way, you could truly save yourself half a lifetime of hard work.”
“Uh…” Liang Ruixi was speechless. He knew Brother Lin was being very practical, but he didn’t agree. For two people to be together, they first had to like each other. If there was no affection, what was the point of anything else? Besides, he was a grown man with hands and feet; why should he live off others? Compared to the life Brother Lin yearned for, Liang Ruixi preferred to be like Zhou Yan, pursuing a career he genuinely invested time and passion into and being self-reliant and financially comfortable.
With the lights out, Brother Lin’s snores soon filled the air beside him.
Liang Ruixi lay on the unfamiliar hotel bed, his head on the pillow, and unconsciously recalled his freshman year, seven years ago, around late April leading into May when he visited Yanlu Mountain for the first time.
That was the first group activity organized by their class.
During their student days, they didn’t have much money for hotels, so they could only spend the night in cheap wooden cabins near the mountain peak. The cabins had communal sleeping platforms, one for boys and one for girls, costing just over twenty yuan per person.
The young people, excited to be on a group outing, bought three cases of beer, led by class committee representative Lu Jingcheng. They stuffed two or three cans into each boy’s backpack, huffing and puffing as they carried them up the mountain to use as game penalties.
Upon arriving at the cabin, they first played Werewolf together. At first, with girls present, the boys didn’t dare to be too wild; even punishments were limited to singing a song or taking a small sip of alcohol. Around ten o’clock, when the girls couldn’t stay awake any longer and returned to their own cabin, they brought out all the beer, laid it on the bed, and loudly declared, “No sleep until we’re drunk.”
That night, all the twenty-something boys in the class gathered together, sharing their most private secrets. Some talked about family and parents, others about love and youthful crushes. However, most of them were still single at the time and had no dating experience, so they talked more about the former.
Liang Ruixi still remembered Wei Ran complaining bitterly about how his dad had incredibly high expectations for him, always criticizing him no matter what grades he got, which made him feel very inferior. He even started crying while talking. Some classmates weren’t only children and spoke tearfully and angrily about parental favoritism.
Liang Ruixi couldn’t help but tease them: “What are you guys even complaining about? Crying over a little bit of grievance? Are you even men?”
Wei Ran retorted, unconvinced, “An optimist like you must have come from a happy family since childhood; how could you understand the pain in our hearts!”
Liang Ruixi hadn’t intended to say anything, but provoked by Wei Ran, he couldn’t help but blurt out, “My dad passed away when I was seven.”
Everyone looked at Liang Ruixi in shock, and even Zhou Yan seemed very surprised.
Liang Ruixi could only tough it out and explain, “He died in an accident, it’s nothing. I was still young when he passed, so I didn’t really grasp it.”
Someone asked, “Weren’t you sad?”
Liang Ruixi said, “After so many years, I can’t quite remember anymore. I recall being a mischievous kid, and my dad even hit me sometimes; he was very strict. But as I grew up, I noticed everyone else had dads, and mine was gone, which made me a bit sad. Especially in middle school, whenever I got into a fight, I’d get really worried. What if they couldn’t beat me and brought their dad, but I couldn’t go look for mine? What then…”
He spoke in a playful tone, and despite the tragic past, he still made everyone laugh.
Wei Ran then asked, “What about your mom? She must have been really good to you, right? Did she find you a stepfather?”
Liang Ruixi shook his head, his expression dimming: “She’s gone when I was in middle school.”
Lu Jingcheng exclaimed, “What do you mean, your mom passed away too?”
Liang Ruixi: “No, it’s just… she suddenly disappeared without a trace. My aunt told me that my mom went to pursue her own happiness. I’m not sure, she probably ran away from home, or maybe she quietly remarried.”
He was smiling as he said these words, but this attitude was even more moving than bitter resentment. Some of the boys couldn’t stand listening, almost looking at him like he was an orphan: “Then how did you grow up?”
Liang Ruixi chuckled, “I still had my grandparents, and my maternal grandma and my aunt. I was pretty much raised by my aunt; actually, all of them doted on me. My grandpa told me that this world is inherently impermanent; don’t think that things must be a certain way. Being too hung up on things just makes you unhappy; cherishing the present is more important.”
Everyone fell silent after hearing this. Shen Hui sighed faintly, “Your grandpa is a philosopher.”
“That’s right, besides my aunt, my grandpa is my favorite,” Liang Ruixi said, shaking his head. “And all the teachers I’ve had from childhood up were pretty good to me. In middle school, my homeroom teacher never criticized me for fighting, but if my buddy got into a fight, he’d be punished with standing in the corner and copying school rules every day, hehehe. Maybe it’s because I’m better looking.”
The classmates, who had been immersed in Liang Ruixi’s sorrowful past, were jolted by his narcissistic comment and exclaimed “Damn it” in unison, lamenting that fate was fair, giving him that face because he had no parents.
Once the atmosphere became lively again, Liang Ruixi turned to comfort Wei Ran: “Maybe your dad has high expectations for you, but having expectations also means he cares about you, right? Think about it, if he were gone one day, would you still feel aggrieved?”
Wei Ran’s eyes reddened. He picked up his beer, clinked it with Liang Ruixi’s, and said, “Thanks, brother.”
After Liang Ruixi finished sharing his own experiences, someone also asked Zhou Yan to tell his story.
Zhou Yan had simply been listening quietly before, but suddenly being called out, he couldn’t help but say, “I too once had the sorrows of a youth writing new verses, but after hearing everyone’s stories, I suddenly feel my own anxieties are trivial. Life is unpredictable. I’ll chug this can of beer; thank you all for the inspiration.”
With that, he “clicked” open a new bottle and tilted his head back to drink.
The author has something to say:
[Little Interlude]
Zhou Yan: So what did you do in middle school when you fought and they brought their dads?
Liang Ruixi: So I usually beat them until they didn’t dare to bring their dads.
Zhou Yan: ……
