between clouds and mud

Chapter 19
In the first semester of his third year of high school, Chen Fan passed the IELTS test, and he went through the formalities for studying in the United States one after another.

Perhaps it was because he was busy with the procedures for going abroad, and his relationship with Zhou Song was very estranged during this time. Zhou Song repeatedly invited him to come to his house for dinner, and finally on the eve of going abroad, Chen Fan squeezed out time, and Jiang Lele came with him .

Aunt Song was getting ready early in the kitchen, and Feng Yi went outside the villa to probe several times, then turned her head and told: "Aunt Song, slow down, there are still not all the people here."

Jiang Lele, Chen Fan, and Zhou Song were sitting on the sofa watching TV together, and Feng Yi also sat over.

"Chen Fan, the American aunt is familiar."

When the night was about to fall, the girl dressed in starlight rode a bicycle into the yard.

Feng Yi went out to greet her: "Fangfang is back, didn't I tell you that there are guests tonight?"

"Auntie, don't wait for me."

Zhang Fang stopped her bicycle and washed the handles in the garden.

Feng Yi led her in and shouted: "Everyone is here, Aunt Song, hurry up."

After dinner, everyone's topic naturally cannot be separated from Chen Fan's study abroad.

He is not a second-generation ancestor who has money from his family to send out to get a degree, but a top student who has been admitted to a prestigious school by virtue of his own ability.

Therefore, Feng Yi admired him very much, and even hinted several times that Zhou Song should learn from Chen Fan.

Good abroad, the social status of returnees in that era was still very high, and their resumes were very popular.

Jiang Lele's family also has this plan. Although their daughter's academic performance is average, her family is rich, and some wealthy families basically send their children to this road.

Zhang Fang has been running around for a day because of work, but she still sits patiently and listens, basically rarely talking, and she actively peels fruits for them.

Although the gap in my heart is hard to overcome because of the gap in family status, I am sincerely happy for their bright future.

Feng Yi brought the topic to her daughter, indicating that the family also plans to send her abroad in the future.

Zhou Song was very interested in this.

Seeing that the place was getting cold again, Feng Yi took the apples that Zhang Fang had peeled: "Our Fangfang is also very good, and now we have been promoted to be district managers."

Zhang Fang didn't seem to expect that the topic would be brought up to her, so she was flattered.Jiang Lele nodded in approval: My mother said that Sister Zhang Fang is very good.

Zhang Fang worked as a salesperson for a year, and was promoted to the person in charge because of her outstanding performance, and later promoted to the district manager.

Once she talked with the supermarket business department about the price of counter expansion.

Because the two parties did not agree on the price several times, Zhang Fang went to the office many times with fruits.

So Zhang Fangming was promoted, and he could only swallow the bitterness and suffering in his stomach, and he was not even as comfortable as a salesperson.

If it wasn't for the slight increase in salary, she would rather return to her original position than to serve these uncles with sly words.

Once the leaders of the supermarket just passed by and stopped for a while when they heard the name.

The people in the office immediately changed their faces when they saw the leader outside the door, and got up to say hello, saying hello to Mr. Fang, hinting that the subordinates should get Zhang Fang away quickly.

Mr. Fang didn't answer at the side, but the woman who was full of stars spoke first: "Are you Zhang Fang?"

Zhang Fang nodded in astonishment. A stylish woman called her name, and the capable woman nodded her head as a greeting.

Then a group of people followed her and left in a mighty way.

After that incident, the people in the supermarket no longer deliberately made things difficult for her, and the contract matter went very smoothly.

Every time she went to run an errand, her attitude turned 180 degrees. Zhang Fang is also an excellent talker.

After getting acquainted with each other, someone from the supermarket business department asked her, "What's your relationship with Mr. Jiang?"

President Jiang?She didn't know her, and neither did everyone at first.

On the second day after the incident, Mr. Fang directly fired the young man who made things difficult for Zhang Fang. The young man couldn't figure it out and asked why?
Boss Fang also made him understand: you are the one to blame for offending Boss Jiang, and you should keep a low profile in the future.

Who is Jiang always?
This is the biggest leader of the group.

Our Shangchao is only a small piece of business territory in the Jiang Group, how can the people below come into contact with such a big leader?

President Jiang routinely conducts inspections every quarter, and that day the young man was shot at the gunpoint, and he was used as an example to others.Mr. Fang continued to explain that any manager of product cooperation in the future must have a correct attitude when he comes to negotiate.

Mr. Jiang and Zhang Fang don't know each other, but the girl surnamed Jiang knows one, so she has some points in her heart.

So one weekend, Zhou Song went to visit Jiang Lele to play, and Zhang Fang also bought some fruit to express his gratitude.

Zhang Fang is not a follower in her heart, she has sufficient awareness of her social status, and she has lived in the Zhou family for the past two years with a cautious attitude.

As long as she has time, she helps Aunt Song with housework. She is a diligent girl herself.

After teaching in Dengxinqiao Township every day, she had to do housework at home, and had to go to the fields on weekends. In addition, what made her suffer even more was the inner torment. In that family, she could not get basic respect.

She is very content with her life now, and can earn a decent amount by virtue of her own ability.

Being able to eat a mouthful of hot food with her own hands, she always remembers to buy some fruit supplements when she gets paid every month. Gradually, Feng Yi's attitude towards her has also improved.

Zhou Song and Zhang Fang were about to go home, and Mr. Jiang came back after a day's work.

Zhang Fang looked out of the window from a distance, and hurriedly came out of Jiang Lele's room and went downstairs to greet her.

"Mr. Jiang, hello."

The woman in a delicate and capable suit was stunned for a moment when she saw her face, but she also nodded: "You don't have to be so polite, just call me auntie."

Zhang Fang followed Jiang's mother to sit on the sofa, expressed her intention for coming, and thanked her very much.

Jiang's mother took off her suit jacket and chatted with Zhang Fang for a while.

While speaking, Zhang Fang could feel the calm and easy-going aura of this woman, and she admired her very much.

After a while, the butler brought tea over, and Zhang Fang got up slightly awkwardly to express his thanks.

Mother Jiang took the blue-and-white porcelain-style round teacup and asked, "Are you still in charge of the yogurt business?"

Zhang Fang sat holding a cup, she nodded.

Jiang's mother thought for a moment in her heart. She knew that it was impossible for a salesperson to go to the business department to discuss cooperation. She should have some position: "The person in charge?"

"Area manager."

Zhang Fang kept a low voice when she said this. Although the level of the district manager is higher than that of the person in charge, everyone in this industry knows it, and it is just a gimmick.

Mother Jiang nodded: "Not bad."

Zhang Fang knew it was just a polite remark, but she couldn't help but secretly rejoice.

The two chatted for a while, and Zhou Song and Jiang Lele went downstairs arm in arm.

Zhou Song came over to say hello to the godmother, and Zhang Fang got up to say goodbye: "Aunt Jiang, then I'll go back first."

Jiang's mother put down the teacup in her hand: "Zhang Fang, you are now the district manager. You don't have to be as cautious as you used to be a salesperson. You have to know how to give grace and strength, otherwise it will be difficult to manage the people under your control."

Zhang Fang came to the city to work hard, and has been groping alone in the workplace.

Relying on her perseverance to bear hardships and stand hard work, she can barely eat enough to eat, but now this set obviously doesn't work, and no one has ever pointed her to it.

She repeated this sentence for several nights. As a leader, she handled the salespersons under her hands in every possible way, and did it herself when necessary.

Therefore, I quickly became one with everyone, and the relationship is not bad.

But there is always a lack of leadership. Everyone thinks that the manager is easy to talk, so there are often situations of incoordination at work.

The subordinates are very willful, ask for leave if they want to, and sometimes even forget to say hello and leave.

No one is willing to do the dirty and tiring work of unloading. You push me to let it go. Sometimes Zhang Fang can't stand it, so she rolls up her sleeves and does it.

There are many examples like this, and Aunt Jiang's words enlightened her.

So she began to change her work attitude. At the beginning, the few people under her did not realize it, and they still went their own way. When it was time to settle the wages, they found that something was wrong.

I ran to Zhang Fang for comment: "Fang Fang, this number is wrong, why did I underpay 50 yuan this month?"

"I also underpaid 30 yuan. Did the financial side make a mistake? What's going on?"

"That's right." Zhang Fang said, "You missed work twice this month, and you will be fined 25 yuan a day for your wages."

"You worked as a miner for a day, but you stole yogurt three times, none of which were due. After checking the monitoring, it was not wrong to deduct [-]."

Now everyone was stunned. Zhang Fang was not so strict before. Although he would warn them during this time, he didn't take it seriously. He didn't expect it to be true this time.

"Also, call me Manager Zhang during working hours. After work, we will continue to treat you as usual." After speaking, Zhang Fang instructed me to unload the goods.

Faced with such a big change in Zhang Fang's attitude, the people under him couldn't adapt for a while, thinking that Zhang Fang likes to pretend.Those who had a good relationship in the past began to be uncooperative and stumbling, and even made Zhang Fang unable to step down in front of colleagues.

Zhang Fang was also annoyed, and warned her: "You used your chance twice, and you don't have to do it if you give it the third time."

The woman is an old lady who is over half a century old. When Zhang Fang was a salesperson, the two had rotated together, and they were considered colleagues who had worked together.

Seeing that Zhang Fang was promoted, she felt very unbalanced.The middle-aged woman's temper was also twisted, she didn't believe that Zhang Fang could really drive her away, so she continued to provoke.

Zhang Fang called the accountant on the spot, settled her salary, and told her not to come to work in the future.

Since then, the employees who were waiting to watch Zhang Fang's good show became obedient after seeing her resolute methods.

The degree of cooperation between colleagues has greatly increased, everything is done according to the regulations, and Zhang Fang's work is much easier.

The woman regretted it afterwards and came to Zhang Fang many times.

Zhang Fang is not a hard-hearted person, she was willing to see her at the beginning, but she avoided it when the conversation failed, but the woman was always in vain.

Later, I somehow found someone to find out Zhang Fang's address, and came to visit with a bag of fruit.

Aunt Song heard that the security guard said she was Zhang Fang's colleague, so she didn't think much about it, so she said that she could come in.

The middle-aged woman looked at the luxurious villa area, and she not only sighed: "My mother."

It turned out that Zhang Fang was still a big shot, so she blamed her for seeing it wrong.

Backed by such a big tree, how could Zhang Fang not be promoted?

So when she saw Aunt Song, the middle-aged woman also asked Zhang Fang's identity in private, and after learning that they were relatives.With snot and tears, she told about the bitterness of her family.

There are old and young, and the family is so open-mouthed, all relying on her as an old woman. Now that she has lost her job, the family's life is like frying oil.

What she said was shaking the world and weeping ghosts and gods, tears whirling, and she almost spurted out a mouthful of old blood.

Feng Yi came back from get off work and saw the situation and wanted to ask Aunt Song, but Zhou Huaiming called her and told his wife to go upstairs.

When Zhang Fang came home, she saw a middle-aged woman sitting in the room holding Aunt Song and complaining without a word. Zhou Song on the side of the sofa was slowly turning the pages of the book with headphones on.

She frowned and walked over: "Why are you here?"

The middle-aged woman finally waited for Zhang Fang, stood up tremblingly, and said in a very humble tone, "Manager Zhang, you are back."

Zhou Song stopped reading, took off his earphones and watched quietly.

"Manager Zhang, please give me another chance, I know I was wrong."

"Come out with me." Zhang Fang called her.

But the woman was obviously unmoved, her voice choked up, and tears fell line by line: "Manager Zhang, I just want to ask you to give me a chance. There are five people in my family. How can I live without this job?"

The woman obviously came prepared, and secretly forced Zhang Fang to restore her position based on the attitude that it would not look good to make things big.

"You don't want to go out, do you?" Zhang Fang said with a firm attitude, "Aunt Song, call the security guards to kick her out."

"Manager Zhang, you are a big man, you can trample us little ants to death with one finger. I beg you to let me go. I used to be blind and didn't know that you have a backer. I beg you to be merciful." Pity me old lady, I just want to have a job to pay my bills."

The middle-aged woman dragged the Zhou family into trouble with a single sentence, which made Zhang Fang even more angry.

The security guards came and sent them off mercilessly, making the woman dragged away.

The farce subsided gradually as the cries became smaller and smaller, but what made Zhang Fang afraid to face it was the scene after the farce.

Zhou Song was still looking at her, his eyes were full of inquiry and observation.

She probably can't understand it, like a person drinking water, knowing whether it is warm or not.

"Xiao Liu." Zhang Fang went to sit on the sofa, opened her mouth several times without saying a word, and when her breath calmed down, she said slowly, "It's not as simple as you see, I can only do this."

"Zhang Fang, you don't need to explain to me." Zhou Song's mood did not change, but her eyes were very distant.

"Let's talk in the room." Zhang Fang took her back to the room and closed the door.

Zhang Fang was upset, she could face anyone calmly, but she couldn't face Zhou Song.

First he took an excuse to take a bath, stabilized his mind in the dense mist, and then slowly lay down on the bed.

The heads of the two girls were not stuck together as they were when they were young, and Zhang Fang did not pat her on the back to lull her to sleep.

"Do you think I've changed?" Zhang Fang pondered for a while and said, "But I just want to strive for a better life with my own efforts. You may not understand."

"Zhang Fang, what she said is wrong." Zhou Song said: "You came here step by step by yourself, without relying on anyone."

"I believe you."

Zhang Fang's heart was shocked by Zhou Song's words, and she continued: "During Lele's birthday party, I quarreled with someone, and I was angry and pushed her out of the swimming pool. Later, after the godmother revealed my identity, the girl took the initiative I apologized. But what if I'm just Xiao Liu and not Zhou Song?"

"Zhang Fang, I know that there is no one behind you, no background. You have suffered a lot and suffered a lot of grievances, but you never said that I can't help you as a friend, and I feel very guilty."

Zhang Fang burst into tears in the dark. Originally, the people around her should be a group of people from the bottom of the society, who are running around every day for food and clothing.

The only exception is Zhou Song. Although she lives a carefree life, what is even rarer is her cognitive understanding.

Zhou Song is still that Xiaoliu, she can tell right from wrong.

Not only sensible, but also think from the perspective of others.

She is alone in this city, but it is her honor to have friends like this.

When the breath finally became even, Zhang Fang said calmly: "You have helped me a lot. I wanted to explain to you. I wanted to say that I arranged for her to work in other supermarkets, but she didn't want to go. I still Thank you for understanding me without saying anything."

Looking at the emptiness in front of him, Zhou Song hesitated and said: "I'm just sad. The distance between us seems to be getting farther and farther. There is an insurmountable gap. No matter how hard I try, I can't catch it, and I can't go back. Go to childhood."

When they were young, childhood memories of Dengxinqiao Township.

Those carefree little friends grew up farther and farther apart.

Regarding this point, both of them were indifferent in their hearts, but neither of them had pierced it.

"Xiao Liu, but you will always be my sister." Zhang Fang said affirmatively.

After thinking about it, Zhang Fang still decided to take this opportunity to clarify with Zhou Song.

She had planned to move out a long time ago. Now that she can support herself, it is not suitable to live here all the time.

Zhang Fang has graduated from night school and does not have too much financial burden. Although Zhou Song is hard to relieve, he also respects her decision.

Zhou Song is in his third year of high school and doesn't have much time to be distracted.During this period of time, she almost cut off all social interactions, and spent every day in the sea of ​​books and questions.

Her current grades are basically stable in the top ten of her grade, and sometimes she can break into the top three.

Zhou Huaiming and Feng Yi felt that it was already pretty good, and they didn't want their daughter to be under too much pressure.But Zhou Song is strict with herself, and she still has the last half a year.

On this day, Zhang Chengnian went to the train station early to wait to pick him up.

The husband and wife of the old six had been in the car for a day, and they were dizzy, and their steps were soft under their feet.

Leaning on Zhang Chengnian's support all the way after getting out of the car, I went to the hotel to rest for a night, and then I recovered my energy.

This was Zhou Song's last parent-teacher meeting in his third year of high school. They never thought of coming to the city to hold a parent-teacher meeting.

However, my daughter wrote several letters home, and even bought the train tickets and sent them home together.Only then did the couple catch the ducks and put them on the shelves.

Zhou Song was so busy studying that Zhang Chengnian didn't see him until he sent the couple to school.

She specially took her parents to visit the school. Looking at the neat teaching buildings and the green track of the campus, Fuying couldn't help feeling that the school can still be so beautiful?
Zhou Lao Liu has seen the world: "University is better."

The couple wore the most decent and cleanest clothes and sat in Zhou Song's classroom.

The main purpose of this parents' meeting is to tell parents to relieve the students' psychological pressure. After the parents' meeting was over, Teacher Wen pulled away to say hello to Zhou Song's parents.

The two sides chatted about the children's learning situation together, and Teacher Wen also showed them the grade ranking report card.

If the grades are stable, there is no need to worry about 985 and 211. According to Zhou Song's progress rate, if he works harder in the remaining six months, he can reach a higher level.

The husband and wife nodded in relief, but Zhou Laoliu was still full of tears at his age. He expressed his concern like an old friend for many years: "Mr. Wen, are you in good health?"

Teacher Wen was taken aback for a moment and replied, "That's fine."

"That's good, that's good." Zhou Lao Liu's hand trembled slightly: "Thank you for taking care of our Xiao Liu, you took the trouble."

Teacher Wen replied with a smile: "This kid is studying hard, so I don't need to worry about it. I will be blessed to be able to take care of this group of students before I retire."

"You just retired?"

"Yeah, when I'm old, I still want to teach, but I can't help it when I'm old."

"Mr. Wen, you are a good teacher."

"Thank you, parents are the best teachers for children, and you are very good parents."

After a few people greeted each other, the husband and wife were slowly squeezed away by other parents who came over. Zhou Laoliu went outside the classroom and looked back at Teacher Wen in the crowd, with tears in his eyes.

Standing in the corridor, he seemed to see the little Saturday when he leaned against the window and listened to the class.

It was also as if she saw a graceful young female teacher in a long floral dress on the podium with bright eyes and white teeth.

After more than 50 spring and autumn years, people's voice and appearance have long changed, but her temperament is as upright and graceful as before.

In the package that Zhou Song sent home from BJ in his sophomore year in high school, there was a letter from home, a trophy, and a photo.

In the photo, the old lady standing shoulder to shoulder with Xiao Liu, her face is full of time and beauty, she is Xiao Liu's teacher and also Xiao Saturday's teacher.

After half a lifetime, it is also a blessing in life to meet an old friend and call him a teacher.

(End of this chapter)