1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 320: No Servants
Just as Yang Mo guessed, even though he had basically finished the production mobilization work, Mr. Wang never bothered him in the past few days.

So after the Lantern Festival, Yang Mo and Miss Mu, as well as a group of employees in Momo Baitou whose overall score was above A last year, finally headed to Texas.

However, what surprised outsiders was that even though anyone with a discerning eye could see that the relationship between Yang Mo and Zhang Wenshun had almost reached the point of breaking off, Yang Mo still brought his little apprentice, who spent every day with Zhang Wenshun, to Texas.

This is very puzzling. After all, almost everyone knows the relationship between Bai Mengmeng and Zhang Wenshun. No matter how close the master is, he is not as close as the uncle who has a life-and-death friendship with his father.

So, if Bai Mengmeng's name appeared on the roster of the asset company before the beginning of spring, it could be explained by the possibility that Yang Mo, Mr. Wang and Zhang Wenshun would form an iron triangle.

After Old Wang returned and showed obvious intention to punish Yang Mo, it was surprising that Yang Mo did not exclude this young apprentice when reviewing the roster.

In fact, not only did Yang Mo not fire Bai Mengmeng, he also adjusted her position from team leader of the Innovation Investment Department to confidential secretary of the Board Office, and concurrently served as assistant director of the Business Review Department.

The Business Review Department itself is a core functional department directly under the Board Office, rather than a purely operational department like the Innovation and Investment Department... More importantly, the position of Director of the Business Review Department is concurrently held by Yang Mo, the Deputy General Manager.

Bai Mengmeng understood very well why his master made such adjustments.

It is obvious that the reason why I was assigned to the Innovation Investment Department before was that I wanted to use various innovative small projects as an opportunity to train myself from the grassroots level.

As the situation changed, Yang Mo arranged himself to be the assistant director of the Business Review Department, and also took on the position of confidential secretary of the board of directors. This was simply to fulfill the last bit of responsibility as a master before he and Zhang Wenshun became complete enemies, and to help her grow up as quickly as possible through the case teaching model.

Although this is somewhat like rote learning, and Bai Mengmeng, who lacks sufficient front-line experience, may not be able to fully understand these cases, but no matter what, for the young apprentice whose actual situation is quite special, this is the best solution.

and so……

It turns out that Uncle Zhang knows his master best!
This was the only thought in Bai Mengmeng's mind when he received the organizational structure document officially issued by the asset management company.

To be honest, I must have been very lucky in my previous life to have met such a master.

So, when the bus arrived at a newly built bungalow office area in the north of Dezhou, which was full of the style of state-owned enterprises in the 1970s and 1980s, Bai Mengmeng found his simple dormitory according to the information on the note. After putting down his luggage, he didn't even think about cleaning his dusty room, and hurried to his master's new office...

........................

"Master, can you place this pot of lucky charm in the left corner of the office door? There is a radiator there, and it is also facing south, which is the most suitable place to place the lucky charm."

Bai Mengmeng pointed at a huge pot of pineapple flowers and looked at Yang Mo with eager eyes.

The height of the lucky tree used as an office bonsai is usually 40 to 50 centimeters. If the crown is included, an ordinary large flower pot is enough.
But the pot of Bromeliaceae in Yang Mo's office is about 70 to 80 centimeters tall, and is planted in an oversized slim-waisted flowerpot in a very festive way. I don't know where Miss Mu had someone find such a rare thing... Plants in the Bromeliaceae family are not cold-resistant and will be frostbitten when the temperature is below zero. Therefore, for Qi Lu, this thing is really delicate. Except for large companies that can heat their offices 24 hours a day, few people will put this thing in the office.

Looking up at the potted plant with a single red head amidst the greenery, Yang Mo, who was taking out various decorative objects from a large cardboard box, rolled his eyes and said, "It's fine to leave it where it is. There's no need to mess with it... It's such a big pot of flowers, and you're so small. It wouldn't be worth it if you hurt your waist!"

Different from the practices in later generations, ordinary workers these days will not help you tidy up the office carefully so that you can realize your dream of going to work with just a bag.

Although the basic hygiene of places like the deputy general manager's office has been cleaned thoroughly and some necessary bonsai have been placed in there neatly, but how should the office be decorated, what kind of decorations should be placed in each place, and how should each item be placed for the best convenience... Sorry, you have to do it yourself. I don't understand this and I'm not interested in doing this.

So faced with this independent office with an area of ​​more than 50 square meters and a box of things purchased by Miss Mu, Mr. Yang really had a headache. In his later life, he was used to the cool and simple office style. How would he know how to put so many strange things?
Seeing his master's nonchalant look, Bai Mengmeng immediately became dissatisfied: "Master, you too, this potted plant is related to Feng Shui, how can it be placed randomly?"

As she spoke, she struggled to drag the pot of lucky charm that reached her chest, and explained breathlessly: "Lucky charm brings wealth and fortune; the south direction brings fame, and the color red is suitable...Put this pot of lucky charm in the corner of the office door, and I guarantee that you will be prosperous this year, and all your wishes will come true!"

People in the southern region generally pay more attention to these things than those in the northern region. Although people in Tongren are not as superstitious about Feng Shui as those in the southern coastal areas, that refers to ordinary people. There are many people in the Tongren compound who study this thing carefully, so Bai Mengmeng also knows a little about it.

In fact, the young apprentice also has his own selfish desires.

Logically speaking, a huge potted plant like this, especially one with the lucky charm, should either be placed in the lobby of the unit or in the office of the company's top leader. It is actually very inappropriate to put it in the office of Yang Mo, the deputy general manager... Even though he is the actual decision-maker of the asset management company, there is still a director-level Buddha sitting above it.

But the young disciple didn't care about all this. She knew very well that after Mr. Wang came back, her master's life would definitely not be so smooth this year.

Although she really couldn't help her master due to her abilities and family background, she still wanted to do something to help her master.

So, not knowing what she could do, she could only give it a try and help her master correct his feng shui.

I hope this thing can be useful and help improve my master's luck!

The young disciple thought so.

Yang Mo looked at his argumentative apprentice in silence, smacked his lips as if he had a toothache, put down the wooden sculpture in his hand, and stood up from the ground.

"I'm afraid of you. Stop for a moment. Let me lend a hand and help carry this thing over!"

Seeing his master rolling up his sleeves and reluctantly coming over to put his hands on the edge of the flower pot, Bai Mengmeng couldn't help but laugh...

………………

More than ten minutes later, just as the master and apprentice spread out all kinds of ornaments in the big box on the table and discussed where each item should be placed.

Duoduo~
Following two knocks on the wooden door, Miss Mu and Miss Eggplant, who had not been seen for more than half a month, walked in.

"What kind of person are you? Didn't you say that I would come and help you with these things after I put the luggage away? Why did you do it yourself first?"

Miss Mu gave Yang Mo a reproachful look, and without taking off her coat, she walked straight to the corner, picked up the thermos and poured some water into the newly bought basin. Then she rolled up her sleeves, stretched out two white and tender fingers to pick up the towel in the basin, carefully wrung out the scalding thing, and came to Yang Mo.

"Get out of the way quickly! These newly bought ornaments are covered with a lot of dust. Are you not afraid of getting your hands dirty just by rubbing them like that?" Mu Liya looked at Yang Mo with disgust, but her hands did not stop. She picked up an old cloisonné enamel bottle and started to wipe it a little clumsily.

Yang Mo looked at his hands in confusion.

Is it dirty?

no?
I think these things are pretty clean!

Eggplant girl couldn't stand the dog food in front of her. When she saw the steaming handkerchief covering the enamel bottle, she immediately shouted with some distress: "Hey, hey, hey, Wood, why use a hot towel to wipe these old things... This is a good thing I looted from a friend. His father spent hundreds of dollars to buy this pair of copper-based enamel bottles from the Imperial Capital Cultural Relics Store... Slow down! Slow down! Be careful not to explode the blue color!"

Miss Mu looked at her unhappily, "Look at how stingy you are. You're talking as if everyone hasn't learned about thermal expansion and contraction... We're in the house, there's heating, and we're not outside in the freezing cold. How can we get burned so easily?"

As she spoke, she looked at the slightly stained white towel in her hand and curled her lips: "Besides, since these things have been sent here, they belong to our Boss Yang... This is not like your friend's house, where there are not so many professional maintenance tools. They are just decorations, and they are just for the sake of being clean and beautiful. What's wrong with wiping them with a hot towel... Here, take a look for yourself, is it much cleaner?"

Looking at the enamel bottle which seemed to be much brighter, the Eggplant Girl felt so heartbroken that she could hardly breathe. She trembled and pointed at the dullard with her finger. Lin Luosu sighed, but said nothing in the end.

Indeed, since these things have been given away, they have nothing to do with her; and unlike those ancient calligraphy, paintings and porcelain, the number of enamel works from the Qing Dynasty is not as scarce as later generations say on the Internet. In the antique circle at that time, the ecological niche of this thing was actually much lower than later generations thought. (This is what an elder heard from his friend. The author does not know much about this and does not know whether it is true or not)

Of course she knew that her sisters were not completely ignorant of the basic knowledge of antiques. After all, antiques and calligraphy and painting are inseparable. Miss Mu has practiced calligraphy for more than ten years, so it makes no sense that she doesn't even know the taboo of not using a hot towel to wipe old objects.

So, it's pretty clear.

On the one hand, Miss Mu, who is not short of money, has never regarded enamel, which many people consider vulgar, as a real plaything;
On the other hand, this sister, who had great potential for love, was deceived by her lover. She was worried that this uneducated and vulgar man would find it embarrassing to have such old objects covered with old colors in the office, so she wiped the pair of copper-based enamel bottles repeatedly with a hot towel so carelessly.

Yang Mo, who was standing aside, couldn't help but twitch his lips. Seeing Miss Mu still wiping the pair of enamel bottles with a hot towel, who knows how much money they would be sold for in the future, he quickly reached out and rescued the pair of antiques from this squandering girl: "That's enough, that's enough, no need to wipe it anymore. I like the old color on this bottle. If you wipe it too clean, people might think it's a fake!"

Carefully placing the pair of bottles back into the box covered with silk cloth, Yang Mo considerately took the towel from Miss Mu's hand, and then pointed to another box fearfully: "I originally thought these ornaments were imitations, but after all this time I found out that they are real old items...Um, Xiaoya...don't tell me that this Ru kiln goose-neck bottle is also real, right?"

Following Yang Mo's finger, a thin-necked bottle with a green glaze was quietly placed in a medium-sized box. The faint patterns on the bottle were mixed with the layers of densely stacked cracks, giving it an indescribable simplicity and elegance.

Seeing Miss Mu turning her head to look at her, the Eggplant Girl curled her lips and said, "What are you thinking about? Do you think things from the Ru kiln are so easy to get? Not to mention such a large complete porcelain vase, even if I give you a broken tile, few people would be willing to give it to you."

"Don't worry, this is a replica, and a fabricated replica. It is based on the sky blue glaze carved goose neck vase discovered in the archaeological excavation of the Ruguan Kiln site in 1987. It is a fabricated replica... See, the body of this vase is almost identical to the original, even the cracks are imitated, but in addition to the glaze color being a bit stiff, the neck of the bottle is much thinner than that of the sky blue glaze carved goose neck vase."

Pointing at the bottleneck, the Eggplant Girl glanced at Yang Mo with a bit of contempt: "The reason why it is fabricated, rather than copied completely from the original, is because we are afraid that if the copy is too real, we will be arrested, which would be too unfair!"

Yang Mo naturally knew that the girl was secretly mocking him, telling him not to take him for granted… He was just a section-level cadre, not even qualified to touch the fragments of the official Ru kiln, let alone a complete piece of this national treasure.

Hearing her sister scolding Yang Mo, Miss Mu looked at her calmly, and naturally took the hot towel from Yang Mo's hand again. She picked up a small copper stove with a blackened surface with some difficulty and started to wipe it.

Upon seeing this, Eggplant Girl was immediately shocked and quickly pulled her back: "Oh my goodness, that is a replica of the Xuande furnace from the early Qing Dynasty. Although it is not as rare as the real Xuande furnace, it is definitely a good thing... People look at the shape and the coating of the copper furnace. If you wipe off the patina, then people will not be able to see it clearly!"

Mu Liya glanced at her with a half-smile, and said "oh" softly, letting her snatch the copper stove away, but her eyes slightly glanced, and her eyes were cast on a boat-shaped ivory sculpture that was only two feet long and yellow with brown. Lin Luosu immediately smiled bitterly and raised his hands in surrender: "I am afraid of you, so, the display of the ornaments will be left to me. I will definitely arrange them in an orderly manner for General Manager Yang, and clean the cabinets by the way, just consider it as my apology... Okay?"

Seeing her surrender, Miss Mu smiled brightly and slapped the towel on her hand: "Okay, I'll leave this to you... No one else understands these messed up things except you."

The eggplant girl rolled her eyes secretly and thought to herself, you are capable of this. You are always taking care of your lover's face and emotions.

What do you mean no one understands this mess except me?
This is called Chinese spatial aesthetics, okay!
and……

If I remember correctly, someone is also very good at this, okay!

After Mu Liya patted the towel to Lin Luosu, she changed the subject: "Yang Mo, I remember I asked the logistics department to deliver the mounted calligraphy yesterday, where is it?"

Yang Mo shrugged and pointed to the corner of the wall: "It's there. I was thinking of hanging it up after I had the office cleaned up... By the way, what material did you ask someone to use to make the letter frame? I tried it just now, and it's not light."

When talking about this, Miss Mu's eyes were filled with a little pride: "This is my first time writing for someone. Such a commemorative item must be made of good materials... The frame is made of ebony, and it's purple sandalwood. How about it, it's quite impressive!"

"Ebony" is actually just a folk name, and it is a general name. Anything that is dark in color can be called ebony; and the so-called purple sandalwood is actually black rosewood, and its scientific name is East African black rosewood. Although no one is speculating on this thing now, it is already a very, very good wood among ebony.

Yang Mo looked at the somewhat arrogant Miss Mu and felt a little amused. It was just an ordinary pair of calligraphy. Was it worth using this kind of wood that required wasting precious foreign exchange to import?

More importantly, you can just let the people in the logistics department do this kind of thing. Are you so obsessed that you have to do it yourself?
Shaking his head, Yang Mo dragged the chair behind his desk over, took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and was about to step on it to hang the heavy frame...

Dododo~
Following a gentle knock on the door, Li Ming walked in timidly: "Boss, Director Ding... No, it's General Manager Ding who's here. He wants you to come over and have a chat."

Mr. Ding?
Has that clay Buddha arrived?

Yang Mo looked at Li Ming speechlessly as he lowered his head and never dared to look at Miss Mu and Eggplant Girl's faces.

I thought the general manager's office was just two rooms away from here, and it could be reached by just visiting. But he had to ask his subordinates to run over to pass on the message. This person from Dongying is really arrogant!
After thinking for a while, Yang Mo pulled his legs off the chair and said, "Okay, go back to the office by yourself... No, go back to the dormitory and tidy up the room. I'll be there soon."

Seeing Yang Mo nonchalantly putting down his sleeves, Li Ming felt a little touched. It was obvious that his boss had noticed that the people in Dongying had a sense of rejection towards them, who were transferred from the drilling company. He didn't want a small fry who had just been promoted to deputy section chief to be pointed at like a servant, so he simply let him go back to the dormitory instead of the office.

"Okay, Boss. I'll go back to the dormitory first. Let me know if you need anything."

Although Li Ming has little experience, he is a smart man. He knows that if he stays in the office area, he will probably be bullied by others, which will make his boss lose face. It would be better for him to go back to the dormitory quickly so that those people will not be able to find anyone to show off their power.

………………

Seeing Yang Mo put on his coat and leave the office, Miss Mu and Eggplant Girl were not surprised. In a joint project like this, it was normal for both sides to test each other right from the start.

However, the two sides had already agreed in advance that Director Ding was sent here just to be a figurehead and to coordinate some work that Yang Mo was not convenient to do. The real person in charge was still Yang Mo, so this move to establish authority had no effect except to slightly satisfy the other party's vanity. When the company was officially listed tomorrow, Yang Mo would still have the final say in the company.

So, the two sisters completely ignored the existence of a certain young apprentice, and while whispering about the group of idiots in Dongying, they worked together to hang up the heavy plaque.

"what?"

After the inscription was hung up, Eggplant Girl finally had time to appreciate her sister's calligraphy. She looked confused and asked, "What is going on?"

No wonder Miss Lin looks like this, the plaque hanging in Yang Mo's office is really too different.

Unlike the common running script or cursive script, the calligraphy on this plaque is written in Yujin Seal Script.

Well, there is actually nothing to be surprised about. After all, although there are not many people who hang plaques with seal script, there are some. Moreover, Miss Mu's jade-muscle seal script has delicate and symmetrical strokes, neat structure, and beautiful and elegant characters without losing its simplicity. Although it is a little feminine and lacks some of its toughness, it can still be regarded as good calligraphy. It is not shameful to hang it in the office.

But the content written on the plaque is very strange.

"Gu. Upper Nine?"

What's happening here?
Who would hang words like this in an office?

Although the content of saying things like "peace and tranquility lead to far-sightedness", "great ambitions", and "God rewards hard work" has been written too much and seems extremely vulgar;
But you can write something less vulgar like "broad-minded and far-sighted", "happiness comes from the mind", "circumstances change with the mind", etc.

Even if it may not be so appropriate, it is still much better than writing these three confusing words, right?
What’s even more bizarre is that the layout of this calligraphy is completely different from the common calligraphy plaques.

A normal plaque with inscriptions should be symmetrical on both sides and have a little blank space.

But in this calligraphy, the three small seal characters are all squeezed on the left, while half of the rice paper on the right is completely empty... This is no longer just an imbalance between the left and right, it is a lack of balance at all.

"No, it's wood... What's going on? Could it be that the people in the logistics department mounted it wrong? Why don't we ask them to re-mount it quickly?" The Eggplant Girl pointed to the white paper that occupied half of the area and said in a low voice.

Although she didn't like Yang Mo, this was his first day in office after all. This kind of thing happened before he even had the job title.
As the saying goes, don't hit someone in the face. It's really too much to mess up the plaque hanging in someone's office like this.

Miss Mu smiled when she heard this: "It's not framed wrong, it's like this... Yang Mo threw the words by tossing a coin, and this layout was also his own request."

The Eggplant Girl was surprised: "There is such a thing? He left such a big blank on the right. Is he planning to have someone fill it in later?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Luosu reacted: "What! These three words were drawn by Yang Mo by tossing a coin?"

Miss Mu smiled and nodded: "That's right... and Yang Mo didn't want too many people to know the content of the plaque, so he only let me write those three words."

Lin Luosu was completely confused: "There is such a way to play!?"

After taking a breath with some toothache, Lin Luosu came to his senses: "Gu, hexagram eighteen, lower Xun and upper Kun... upper nine, do not serve the king, act in a superior way?"

Although Miss Eggplant's interests and hobbies are more inclined towards martial arts, as a second-generation scholar, she has a basic understanding of first-class classics such as the Book of Changes. Therefore, she can easily read out the content that was not written on the plaque according to her memory.

Miss Mu nodded slightly, with an inexplicable pride on her face: "Yes, this is what Yang Mo wants to say to encourage himself."

The eggplant girl twitched her lips and thought to herself that she had thought that Yang Mo was a rough guy, and now it was me who was made a fool of myself!
Not serving the king?

Wow, so crazy! So awesome! So manly!
No wonder the following hexagram texts were not written out. If they were, I’m afraid that eleven out of ten people would be shocked when they saw them!
but……

Lin Luosu frowned, gently pulled Mu Liya and whispered: "But is it really okay to hang such words? Don't forget that although there are fewer people studying Zhouyi nowadays, there are still some... Moreover, don't forget what the interpretation of Gu Gua is, and Shangjiu is at the top of Gu Gua, which means the extreme of Gu Gua... This is not a good thing to say. If someone sees it, it may cause trouble!"

Miss Mu smiled bitterly and shook her head: "I know, I have also advised Yang Mo, but he said that since this is the divination given by God, there is absolutely no reason to change it... I can't convince him, so I can only let him go."

As she spoke, Mu Liya sighed softly: "And even if someone finds out, so what? It's okay. What is the situation these days? Don't people know? Yang Mo just told the truth... Could it be that even telling the truth in a subtle way is not allowed these days?"

Having said that, there was a hint of reserved pride on Muliya's face.

Whether or not you will be in trouble has nothing to do with whether you say it openly or not, but it has a lot to do with who says it.

Yang Mo is no longer the small shrimp that can be manipulated by others. Even if someone sees something wrong with the inscription, a smart person will just pretend not to see it.
Even if someone really wants to cause trouble for him after seeing through it.

Ah……

Are the father and daughter of the Mu family really just there to eat and do nothing?

Bai Mengmeng, who was standing quietly at the side, heard everything.

While marveling at his master's willfulness, he couldn't help but smile bitterly when he recalled what his uncle Zhang said about his master a few days ago.

really,

The one who knows his master best is Uncle Zhang...

------

PS, the direct interpretation and extended content of Gu.Shangjiu cannot be written directly in the book. Teachers who are interested can check it by themselves. Teachers who have some knowledge of this can also provide some popular science in the comments.

(End of this chapter)