Chapter 286: Living in this World

In front of the crowded square, throngs of tourists followed the flag-waving guide and moved forward. Every corner seemed extraordinarily lively. Amidst the bustling crowd, quite a few fellows with cameras dangling from their necks were using their keen eyes to screen for customers.

Their first targets were pretty girls, especially those with boyfriends. Such combinations had the highest probability of spending money.

Next were those traveling with parents because filial piety meant they were willing to spend.

So, when Jiang Qin appeared here holding Feng Nanshu’s hand, countless eyes began converging on them, faces revealing a very crafty smile.

Jiang Qin was quite familiar with this kind of smile because he saw it every night when he looked in the mirror.

Damn it, not good. Someone’s going to swindle my money!

The little rich girl had just finished taking a family portrait not long ago and was still in the mood. If she saw this, and heard that people could wash out the photos immediately after taking them, wouldn’t she just throw her wallet at them?

Jiang Qin reached out to pull away Feng Nanshu, who wanted to squeeze in, and ran into the city gate tower.

Today, the little rich girl wore a floral dress with an ethereal aura, a pair of square black sunglasses on her face. She looked cold and aloof, out of this world. Those who didn’t know would definitely think she was a cold, white, rich, and beautiful woman, but her inner self was just a silly, cute little darling.

After a while, the crowd from 208 arrived at the ticket window of the Forbidden City.

Looking straight ahead, a large vermilion plaque hung on the tall vermilion city gate tower, with the two characters “Meridian Gate” written on it in a neat manner. The sight made their necks feel a burst of coolness, and even the act of swallowing became extremely difficult.

“This is where they chopped off heads in ancient times, right?” Lu Feiyu recalled the phrase “push out of the Meridian Gate and behead.”

Dong Wenhao heard this and shook his head: “Only high officials could lose their heads here. Ordinary people didn’t have this privilege. The vegetable market over there is where the most heads were chopped off.”

“Ancient people were really hardworking.”

“Yeah, if you didn’t work hard, there were differences in treatment even when you died.”

After hearing this, Jiang Qin couldn’t help but take a deep breath: “Good employees will indeed engage in self-PUA. Say a little more; I love to hear it.”

Su Nai squinted at the few boys: “Can you talk about something more auspicious?”

“Then let’s not talk for now. The Forbidden City closes at five o’clock. If you chat a little longer, we might not be able to get out.”

“Then let’s hurry. I want to take a look at what the dragon throne really looks like.”

The group of fifteen people bought tickets, entered the palace, had their tickets checked, and passed through the gate. As soon as they exited the gate tunnel, they were stunned by the magnificent palace in front of them.

So this was where the emperor lived. Oh boy, how much of the people’s blood and sweat did this cost? However, it was said that the last emperor Puyi also had a miserable fate. Later, when he returned to his own home, he had to buy tickets.

The group sighed while walking through the palace with its flying eaves and upturned roof corners, frantically taking photos of those ancient buildings.

Actually, when visiting such a museum, if there was no guide leading the way, one would only see a lively scene. But if they hired a guide, they wouldn’t have enough time. So, the only thing left to do was take photos.

Lu Xuemei loved taking photos of the cool and cold boss lady the most because she looked good from any angle, which even made her inexplicably confident in her own photography skills.

Of course, they weren’t the only ones frantically taking photos in the Forbidden City. Especially in Taihe Palace Square, one could see three couples taking wedding photos. The trailing wedding dresses appeared pure white and moving under the sunlight.

“Boss lady, look over there. Someone is taking wedding photos. Wow, it’s so beautiful!”

Feng Nanshu, wearing large black sunglasses, looked over with a cool and cold expression: “Xuemei, that’s a family portrait.”

“Huh? Isn’t it a wedding photo?” Lu Xuemei was a little unsure after being made confident by the boss lady.

“That’s a family portrait, really. I’ve taken the same kind before.”

“?”

Feng Nanshu took out her phone, intending to show her the electronic version of the family portrait, but was pulled away by Jiang Qin, who appeared from behind.

Lu Xuemei was a bit dazed: “That’s not right. That’s definitely a wedding photo. This is common sense.”

Dong Wenhao couldn’t help but cough: “Xuemei, I guess you haven’t seen the boss and boss lady’s QQ space, right?”

“What space?”

Dong Wenhao took out his phone, opened the menu, functions, 3gQQ, and entered the space.

Lu Xuemei glanced down and found that there was a post published a few days ago in the boss’s feed. The caption was two smiley face emojis, and below was a photo of him and the boss lady.

In the picture, the boss was dressed in a suit and leather shoes, and the boss lady was graceful and elegant. The two looked ahead, eyes shining, expressions joyful. The picture was so beautiful that it took one’s breath away.

However, in stark contrast to this beautiful picture, the comments in the boss’s comment section were quite harsh.

Seeing this, Lu Xuemei was slightly stunned, thinking that the boss’s name turned out to be Jiang Qin. She had always thought it was Jiang Qin!

“Did you see it? This is the family portrait the boss was talking about. What do you feel?”

“No matter how you look at it, it looks like a wedding photo…”

Dong Wenhao nodded very profoundly: “So you understand why the boss lady said that just now, right?”

Lu Xuemei was stunned for a moment: “Oh, no wonder the boss lady said it was a family portrait. It turns out the boss lied to her again?”

“I don’t think so. There must be something strange going on here. It’s still unclear who is lying to whom.”

While they were talking, the newlyweds taking wedding photos gradually withdrew, and Jiang Qin wiped his sweat, waved his hand to let everyone gather, planning to take a group photo so that it could be put in the brochure in the future.

In the scorching summer, just standing there gave a sticky feeling, let alone in the plaza without any shelter. So, everyone immediately gathered together and randomly grabbed an enthusiastic passerby to act as a photographer.

As the boss and boss lady, Jiang Qin and Feng Nanshu were of course surrounded in the center, while the others stood apart according to their seniority.

“Later, when I shout 123, remember to all shout eggplant!” The enthusiastic passerby instructed.

Jiang Qin smacked his lips: “Let’s not shout eggplant. Eggplant doesn’t sound good, and purple isn’t auspicious. Shout ‘make a fortune.’ Everyone shout ‘make a fortune.'”

“Boss, you really have greed engraved in your bones.”

“No, I have my bones engraved in greed.”

When the shutter sound rang out, everyone shouted “make a fortune,” and this scene was instantly captured on July 15, 2009, at 4:13 p.m.

This was the first group photo of 208’s core members, and they didn’t know at this time that this photo would become one of the most classic images in the field of starting from scratch entrepreneurship, nor did they know that this photo would be vied for by countless media and newspapers in the future.

After six o’clock, the group left the Palace Museum in a grand manner and arrived outside Shenwu Gate.

To be honest, this trip was really exhausting, and everyone’s forehead was sweaty.

Jiang Qin had Lu Feiyu and the others buy some old popsicles from the small carts on the roadside, then sucked on the popsicles and leaned against the bridge pier of the moat, watching the distant sunset. The red glow of the sunset intermingled with the glaze of the Forbidden City, which was very beautiful.

“I thought my college life would pass as ordinarily as others, but I never thought it would be so wonderful.”

“Yeah, if I hadn’t joined 208, I would definitely be bored to death at home now. I wouldn’t even know who to find if I wanted to go out and play. But who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, I would come to the capital?”

“Yesterday, I posted on my space that we were going on a company-paid trip, and my dorm mates were so envious they could die.”

“I feel that in my junior year, I’ve lived more fully than my freshman and sophomore years combined.”

“The sunset in the capital… is really beautiful.”

“The boss is a bit of a dog, but he’s actually a good person.”

“I think, even if I graduate from college and have to leave 208, I will always remember this busy year and miss everyone who fought together.”

“Lu Feiyu, did you pee yourself?”

“No, I… I was just blinded by the smog.”

“…”

Jiang Qin propped himself up on the bridge pier with both hands, jumped up, and then sat on the stone railing, beginning to gaze at the gradually darkening sky, as well as those gradually dispersing tourists, and those aunties selling popsicles in the streets and alleys. His eyes suddenly became incomparably deep.

At that moment, the evening breeze blew through the glazed tiles, fluttering his bangs, as if it had blown through his forty-year-old dilapidated soul.

In this world, many times people live for a sense of existence.

You hope that someone will remember you, hope that this trip to the mortal world has not been in vain, hope to leave behind some stories for those who come after to tell.

And not hope that you live like a transparent person, burning yourself up without illuminating life.

He felt that so far, he had done quite well, and his overall score should be 70 points.

Jiang Qin held the popsicle stick in his mouth, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

“Boss, where are we going next?”

“Let’s go to Wangfujing for a stroll, buy some things, and then have dinner together.”

Jiang Qin jumped down from the stone railing, took everyone to take a bus to Wangfujing, and after getting off, he waved his hand: “Go ahead, if you see something you like, just take it. Don’t mind the price, just don’t get caught.”

The team immediately made a “tsk” sound but still went into all kinds of malls and shops along the way.

To be honest, as core members of 208, whether it was someone at the managerial level like Su Nai or a nobody like Lu Feiyu, they were all quite well-off and were never stingy when it came to buying things.

So before long, they already had many shopping bags in their hands, with the main goal of returning fully loaded.

“Boss, where are we going tomorrow?”

“Let’s go to the Great Wall. Doesn’t the old saying go, ‘You’re not a hero if you don’t reach the Great Wall’?”

Dong Wenhao pondered for a moment: “Alright, then let’s get up early tomorrow and go to the Great Wall. We’ll play until the afternoon, and on the way back, we’ll stop by the Olympic Park.”

Jiang Qin nodded: “Okay, it’s decided then. Get up early tomorrow morning. We’ll take a long-distance bus. No one is allowed to fall behind!”