thousand cups

If Jiang Qidong's death was an impermanent fate, Jiang Mo felt that what happened after that was probably bad luck.

The timing of the event was too tight, and it all happened in that year.

Less than two months after his father's death, Mei Qing's family also collapsed.The family business that has been in operation for many years finally fell into the hands of his uncle Mei Heng.

The news was told by Mei Qing.When she spoke, her face was so calm that it was almost indifferent, as if she was mechanically telling someone else's story, without any disturbance at all.Probably because she has experienced too much, she has become stronger and more indifferent.

"My family probably hates me." Mei Qing said, "They didn't want me to marry your father at first, thinking that your father has no future, and that he is not in the same family as our family... It's also funny. Wait until your father When the official career went well, they came forward to beg for this and that. I ignored it because I was afraid of bringing trouble to your father, and there are a lot of gossips outside...you know it too. "

She took a sip of tea, her movements were still graceful.

"I have never had a hard time since I was a child. Your grandfather loves me the most and has nothing to say to me." Mei Qing said, "Forget about the past, but now I have difficulties at home. I can't ignore it. Xiao Mo, you Do you understand what I mean?"

Jiang Mo nodded, saying that he understood everything.

During that time, everything was in chaos.

Shen Chaowen accompanied Jiang Mo to witness the whole process of the decline of the Mei family.To be honest, Shen Chaowen was not very surprised by this result. He had already guessed that there was something wrong when he found out that the Mei family was running to Jiang's house frequently, and it was not a small problem.Old-school companies are actually very fragile inside. "Old" may be a kind of background, but such a family business still has too many disadvantages in today's rapid development.Once a loophole is not blocked, it only takes a short time to overturn.

The Mei family still failed to survive in the end, and was eliminated by the times just like that under the failure of a high-level decision-making.

Mei Qing used her savings to help her natal family tide over the difficulties, and sold all her stocks and jewelry.Only one house was left, and her dowry back then, which was the only thing she insisted on, was left to Jiang Mo.After dealing with the affairs of my natal family, I packed up my things and left, and ran to Jiangsu to say that I wanted to relax.

Jiang Mo and Shen Chaowen were worried about her after all, so they followed her to find her.

When they found someone, they found that Mei Qing was in good condition, and Ms. Mei didn't wrong herself. She rented a small two-bedroom house with her little savings and lived a very leisurely life.When I have nothing to do during the day, I go out for a couple of laps. At night, I go to the square to dance and chat with strangers. I don't feel bored.She said that she liked the environment of this small place very much and did not want to go back to Shanghai.She also said that she went to a small local library one day and saw that she was looking for a handyman, so she applied for it on a whim. The curator liked her quite a bit and asked her to try it next week.

She said that she wanted to stay in that place and live a quiet life, and she didn't want to go back to that sad place again.

Jiang Mo was very reluctant to part with Mei Qing, and advised her to go back with him.Mei Qing shook her head, and only said that she would definitely go back on the anniversary of his father's death.She told Jiang Mo to go back to his own life, don't worry about her affairs, just keep in touch with her regularly.

Persuasion failed, Jiang Mo and Shen Chaowen were sent away by Mei Qing's few words.

In the past, Jiang Mo had always been a happy family and carefree person.The death of Jiang Qidong and the downfall of the Mei family caused Jiang Mo's life to undergo earth-shaking changes. He lost a lot in a short period of time. The family broke up, and Mei Qing left a big empty house Give it to him, I ran to a quiet place to heal my wounds.His relatives left him in different ways, and they all had their own destinations.

After returning to Shanghai, Jiang Mo was unwilling to go back to that empty home again.He didn't want to sell the house, he didn't want to rent it out, and he didn't want to live in it. Shen Chaowen had no choice but to follow his wishes, pack their things into a few big boxes, find a new house, and stay with Jiang Mo. Moved to a new apartment with a kitten.

A new life with just the two of them begins.

Jiang Mo didn't experience too many struggles, and he made peace with life in a short time, and calmly accepted the gatherings and separations in life.

Shen Chaowen felt that Jiang Mo seemed to have changed a little, becoming more silent.He used to be a bit frivolous, especially after drinking.But now he is not so extroverted. Although his nature is hard to change, he still speaks and does things out of tune, but compared to the past, he has a very contradictory temperament, optimistic and mournful.

Sometimes during the day I would happily play chess with the retired man downstairs, but when I came back at night, I suddenly started to feel depressed. I silently dug out a bottle of wine, poured myself a drink, thought silently, sighed silently, The expression is very unpredictable, and the whole person is very "silent".

Shen Chaowen felt that his temperament was more "floating".It seemed that he looked away, and became lighter and lighter. Looking at it, he always felt that he was about to turn into a fairy.

At first, Shen Chaowen was very worried, fearing that something might go wrong if he went on "silently" like this. After a long time, he realized that this person has not changed. He still drinks all day long, raises flowers, plays with cats, writes scripts, and loves life very much. Only occasionally will a person "silently" for a while.

All Shen Chaowen could do was to accompany and take care of him. He guarded Jiang Mo in a clumsy way, trying to tell him with practical actions that he was always there and would never leave him.

After life gradually stabilized, Shen Chaowen returned to work in the law firm under the recommendation of his former boss.

After entering the extremely intensive working state again, Shen Chaowen found that there seemed to be some problems in his relationship with Jiang Mo.

In other words, problems that have not been resolved in the past are gradually exposed.

Shen Chaowen's work life is very busy. The commercial projects he does are often very big and the rhythm is very tense. He often needs to play games with the other party on the negotiation table to promote the project. The work requires him to be calm, strong, resist huge pressure, and constantly participate Adversarial legal negotiations.The content of the job is like this, and Shen Chaowen's personality is very strong. If the aftermath of that kind of strength is accidentally brought into life... there will always be some problems.When Jiang Mo was in a good mood, he could laugh with him and accept his strength, but when he was in a bad mood, they would have a quarrel, and the conversation would collapse after two or three sentences.

Jiang Mo often can't stand his domineering temper, and thinks that he came to the house from office, which is suffocating.You have to control everything every day, and you are not forgiving, but you want to say that you are convinced, which is really hard to let people take a breather.

Shen Chaowen also has negative emotions, mainly focused on two points.For example, seeing Jiang Mo gathering with those cronies, as long as they didn't keep a little distance, regardless of gender, Shen Chaowen would explode.His possessiveness in this kind of matter has reached a very dangerous level, as long as he crosses the line in his heart, he will immediately turn his face and refuse to listen to anything.Another example is when he saw Jiang Mo going out without saying hello and drinking himself out of his mind...Jiang Mo used to like to drink, but before he knew how to pay attention to the amount and drink restraint in accordance with the principle of sustainable development. Now it seems I don't care at all, I always indulge myself without restraint.Shen Chaowen sometimes had nothing to do with him, fearing that he would drink himself out, so he could only quarrel with him, and after the quarrel was over, he still had to cook him hangover soup in anger and distress.

After arguing for two days, two good days, their relationship continued in a cycle like that, moving forward very steadily.

They need each other, rely on each other, but also have some complaints.One thinks the other party is too casual, and the other thinks the other party is too serious and tough.This is a very strange paradox. They were attracted to each other because of this nature in the first place, and they also repel each other because of this nature in life.

Shen Chaowen also summed up his own problems in private.He knows that his character is indeed a bit awkward, and he also wants to solve their problems. If Jiang Mo cannot be changed, he can first make concessions and adjustments to adapt to the opponent's rhythm.However, due to his busy work and life, Shen Chaowen had no time to deal with their problems properly.

Shen Chaowen could feel that his mentality was a little out of balance during that time.The trivialities of life itself, the pressure of work, and emotional problems all made him very tired.

The turning point was that class reunion.

The initiator of the party was the captain of Shen Chaowen's previous debate team. The people who came were all comrades who debated together back then, and everyone had a good relationship.They are all from law schools, but because of their different subdivisions, they work in various industries.Anyway, the group of people at the table that day had all kinds of legal migrant workers, public security, law enforcement, criminal, civil and commercial lawyers, whatever they wanted.At the dinner table, Shen Chaowen sat on the left with a senior sister who was a divorce lawyer, and on the right was a junior in the procuratorate. With his left ear, he listened to the senior sister's experience of watching couples bickering every day. No words at all... After listening for a while, the remarks on the left gradually attracted Shen Chaowen's attention.

After listening to it for a while, he became obsessed with the bloody marriage stories that his senior sister talked about. Those stories were so deeply rooted in the hearts of Shen Chaowen's pain points.

Finally, the senior sister told a story she heard.A couple who are very busy at work and have strong personalities, separated three times.They have commonalities and personalities. The different parts of their personalities separate them several times, and the similarities in their commonalities keep them reunited.

Shen Chaowen was in a daze.

Someone commented that two people with strong personalities being together is a disaster. If they don't want to change, anyone who takes a step back will think it's not worthwhile and shouldn't get married.

The senior sister retorted: "Don't you change if you don't get married? People always grow up because of various things. Change is not necessarily a bad thing. It depends on whether you change habits or yourself for the other party."

What changes is the habit, or the self.

Shen Chaowen's heart moved because of these words.

Perhaps growth requires change.You can't just see the other party's problems forever, you also need to make adjustments and make changes. "Change" itself is not that scary, it depends on what is changing and what kind of result you want to achieve.

Someone at the table asked the senior sister: "Will being a divorce lawyer for too long make you less believe in love?"

The senior sister chuckled: "Why do you say such stupid things? Love and marriage are different. Love and marriage are two different things. Marriage is an institution."

Shen Chaowen couldn't help answering: "Sometimes I feel that love also needs a system, and the maintenance of any relationship needs some rules. This is the process from freedom to the establishment of a contract, isn't it?"

The senior sister smiled and said, "Maybe, I don't refute you. But I personally think that love is free, emotional, precious, and cannot be defined."

Shen Chaowen lowered his head and thought about her words.

The senior brother who was a bit ambiguous with the senior sister when he was studying and asked with a smile: "Jiayuan, are you still so optimistic when you look at the chicken feathers in your marriage every day?"

The senior sister nodded resolutely: "I try to treat other people's negative textbooks as wrong question books and use them to correct mistakes. The more I read, the more I feel that the truth is precious. It may be a strange angle, but other people's failures will indeed make mistakes. It made me appreciate my feelings even more."

Senior Brother jokingly said, "Jiayuan, you are a bit emotional today, not like you."

The senior sister glared at the other party: "Li Yuan, you don't understand love, you are destined to be lonely."

Senior brother said, "I'll wait for you."

The crowd laughed.

For some reason, Shen Chaowen was deeply moved by the senior sister's words.

He thought about his work...endless overtime, business trips, unable to take care of his partner and himself.Very busy, very tired, as if I have lost part of my freedom.In the past two years, as the conflicts with Jiang Mo increased, Shen Chaowen often considered whether to change his way of life.

Shen Chaowen bowed his head and thought for a while, and suddenly had a bold idea.

He tentatively asked his senior sister: "I have a friend who wants to change his career to become a divorce lawyer. He used to do non-lawsuits and has no experience. Senior sister, can you give me some advice?"

The corner of the senior sister's mouth twitched: "Don't beat around the bush, is that friend of yours you?"

Shen Chaowen nodded: "Oh, it's me."

The senior sister was puzzled: "I heard that you did a good job in mergers and acquisitions. You resigned once and then jumped in. You still do core cases every day. You are doing pretty well. Why do you switch careers?"

From non-litigation to litigation, from the negotiating table to the lawyer's seat, this span is indeed very large.

Shen Chaowen answered her: "Tell me about it, I'm curious."

After the senior sister and he looked at each other for a few seconds, she approached him with a smile and shared her experience in this business.

A month later, Shen Chaowen, who wanted to completely change his appearance, made an important decision. He resigned from the law firm that many people could not even get into. Entered a medium-sized firm, starting from the simplest job, and determined to become an excellent divorce lawyer as soon as possible.

In that year, Shen Chaowen was full of hope for the future. He was very happy that he would not have to travel all the time in the future, and could spare more time to take care of his family and spend more time with his boyfriend.

And Jiang Mo's career was terrible that year, and he even encountered a shitty thing that would still make him feel sick 30 years later.That shit had something to do with Shen Chaowen's birthday that year, but Jiang Mo really didn't want to confess to Shen Chaowen why he forgot his birthday that year, so he could only worry about it for a whole year.