Rebirth in 2011: Starting as an Advertising Genius

The class group chat exploded.

As soon as Huang Xiaoqian sent the message, her phone started ringing non-stop, like firecrackers going off during Chinese New Year.

"Hongcun? That village from the paintings?"

"Three days? No more classes? Awesome!"

"What should we bring? A drawing board? Paints? Should we bring a sleeping bag?"

"Advisor, is there hot water at the accommodation?"

Huang Xiaoqian replied to each message in the group chat, her tone gentle and patient: "Just bring your drawing board and art supplies. The school will arrange accommodation; it's a standard room with hot water. Please be careful and don't bring too many valuables."

Chen Jianghe looked at the screen, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Hongcun.

He had been there in his previous life, but he couldn't remember the specific details.

I only remember that the place was indeed beautiful, with white walls and black tiles, and horse-head walls, reflected in South Lake, like a traditional Chinese ink painting.

At that time, Hongcun was still an undeveloped place, and many of the visitors were art students. In later years, however, the place became well-known to tourists and turned into a very crowded place.

This life...

He left the group chat, opened a private chat window with Huang Xiaoqian, typed a few words, then deleted them, finally sending only one sentence:

[Chen Jianghe: Director, are you going too?]

About two minutes later, the reply came:

[Huang Xiaoqian: I'm your counselor, of course I have to go. Otherwise, who's going to take care of you guys?]

Chen Jianghe: That's good.

[Huang Xiaoqian: What's so good about it?]

[Chen Jianghe: With you here, I feel at ease.]

There was a long silence on the other end.

Chen Jianghe stared at the screen, and he could almost picture Huang Xiaoqian's expression at that moment: her ears were red, she was biting her lip, and her fingers hovered above the keyboard, unsure of what to type.

About half a minute later, she replied with two words:

Huang Xiaoqian: ...Shut up.

Chen Jianghe laughed out loud.

-----------

The day of departure was Tuesday, at seven o'clock in the morning, and two buses were parked at the school gate.

It's already May, but it's still a bit chilly in the mornings.

Chen Jianghe, carrying a backpack and a camera bag, strolled leisurely to the meeting point.

A number of people were already standing at the school gate, gathered in twos and threes.

Some people were carrying drawing boards, some were dragging suitcases, and some were carrying large bags of snacks, as if they were going on a spring outing rather than sketching.

"Jiang He! This way!" Wang Lei waved to the crowd.

Chen Jianghe walked over and found that Wang Lei was carrying a bag and holding a mobile phone in his hand.

"Where's your drawing board?" Chen Jianghe asked.

Wang Lei chuckled: "Take a picture with your phone, then draw it when you get back. That's called 'technological sketching'."

"Actually, it's just laziness," Chen Jianghe added.

"What do you know? This is called efficiency."

Chen Jianghe ignored him and glanced around the crowd.

Huang Xiaoqian hasn't arrived yet.

"Jiang He!" A clear voice came from behind.

Chen Jianghe turned his head, and Yuan Meng jogged over, carrying a large drawing board bag on her back and a canvas bag in her hand, with fine beads of sweat on her forehead.

"Why are you carrying so much stuff?" Chen Jianghe reached out to take her canvas bag.

"No need, no need, I can take it myself..." Yuan Meng shrank back a little, but Chen Jianghe had already taken it.

The canvas bag was quite heavy, and it was filled with paint and brushes.

"Are you going to move the entire art supply store there?" Chen Jianghe asked, weighing the options.

"I'm afraid it won't be enough..." Yuan Meng said softly, her face slightly flushed.

Wang Lei glanced at the two of them, gave a meaningful "Oh—", and then tactfully took a few steps forward:

"I'll get on the bus first to reserve a seat, you guys take your time."

Yuan Meng stood there, her fingers unconsciously twisting the backpack strap.

"Um... thank you for carrying my bag."

"We'll talk on the bus." Chen Jianghe walked towards the bus, then turned back after a few steps. "Where are you sitting?"

"Huh? I...I don't care."

"Then sit next to me."

He spoke casually, as if he were saying, "The weather is nice today."

Yuan Meng's heart skipped a beat, and she followed with her head down.

Inside the bus, students were scrambling for seats.

The front row by the window was occupied by several girls, the middle rows had a few scattered people sitting, while the back rows were quite empty.

Chen Jianghe chose a window seat in the third-to-last row, put Yuan Meng's canvas bag under the seat, and then stuffed his own backpack onto the luggage rack.

Yuan Meng sat down next to him, too nervous to look at him, and could only pretend to look at the scenery outside the window.

"Didn't you sleep well last night?" Chen Jianghe asked.

"Sleep...sleep well now."

"Then why are your eyes dark?"

Yuan Meng subconsciously touched her eyes, then realized that she had deliberately worn light makeup today, and the concealer covered her well, so it was impossible to tell.

"You're lying to me?"

Chen Jianghe smiled but did not answer.

Yuan Meng turned her head away angrily, but she couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.

Huang Xiaoqian finally appeared at the bus door.

She wore a light blue shirt with a thin white cardigan over it, paired with dark blue jeans and white canvas shoes. Her hair was tied in a low ponytail, giving her a refreshing and gentle look.

"Is everyone here? Class monitor, please count the number of students." She stood at the car door, holding a folder in her hand, her voice not loud but clear.

Chen Jianghe looked at her through the car window, his gaze softening unconsciously.

In his past life, he had seen Huang Xiaoqian in many different ways: her haggard appearance right after her divorce, her relaxed state when she was with him, and her adorable moments when she occasionally acted coquettishly.

But this was actually the first time he had seriously watched "Huang Xiaoqian in her early twenties".

Young, clean-cut, with no trace of weariness in his eyes.

Like a newly opened flower, yet to be battered by wind and rain.

Huang Xiaoqian seemed to sense that gaze, turned her head to look at the car window. Through the dark glass, she couldn't see inside, but she still smiled subconsciously and got into the car.

She boarded the bus through the front door, stood next to the driver, and began taking attendance.

"Wang Lei".

"arrive!"

"Li Tianyu".

"arrive."

...one after another.

"Yuan Meng".

"Here!" Yuan Meng raised her hand, her voice a little loud, startling the people next to her.

"Chen Jianghe".

"Here." He didn't raise his hand, but simply responded.

Huang Xiaoqian looked in the direction of the voice and her gaze met Chen Jianghe's.

Time seemed to be slowed down.

She met his eyes, her smile froze for a moment, then she quickly looked away and continued reading the next name.

After roll call, the bus started moving.

It takes about five hours to drive from Suzhou to Hongcun.

After the car entered the highway, the carriage gradually quieted down. Some people put on headphones to listen to music, some leaned back in their seats to sleep, and a few girls huddled together to watch variety shows.

Yuan Meng wanted to take out her phone to listen to music, but realized she had left her earphones in the dormitory.

"Use mine." Chen Jianghe handed over an earphone.

"Thank you..." Yuan Meng took the earphones and carefully put them into her ears.

The song playing in my headphones is Eason Chan's "Long Time No See".

The melodious piano prelude, coupled with the highway guardrails rushing past the window, creates a strange sense of tranquility.

The two sat side by side, sharing one earphone, with a fist's distance between them.

No one spoke.

Yuan Meng looked out the window, but in her mind she kept thinking, could this headphone cable be considered a kind of connection?

She secretly glanced at Chen Jianghe.

He had his eyes closed, and it was hard to tell if he was asleep. He had long eyelashes, a straight nose, and slightly pursed lips.

This is different from the mature, confident, and calculating Chen Jianghe he usually is.

He only looks like an eighteen-year-old boy when he's asleep.

Yuan Meng looked for two seconds, then quickly turned her head away, her heart pounding like a drum.

Just then, the car lurched, and her shoulder bumped into his arm.

He did not dodge.

She didn't have any either.

In my headphones, Eason Chan sang the line—"I came to your city, walked the path you once walked..."

Yuan Meng's ears turned red.

It's not because the headphones are too noisy, it's because they're too quiet.

It was so quiet that she could hear his breathing.