Staring at the familiar scenery outside the train window, Lin Yuhui had traveled this road home countless times. Yet all the people he once cared about were gone. Now, home was nothing but a cold empty house, along with the last lingering trace of indifferent familiarity he held onto.
望着火车窗外那熟悉的风景,这条回家的路林语晖已经走过太多次,但是曾经那些自己在乎的人却已经都不在了,现在的家就是那冰冷的房屋,和自己仅剩的一丝无所谓的熟悉.
Lost in idle thoughts during the journey, Lin Yuhui's mind drifted to Seris. Could she be someone new stepping into his life? His rational mind told him the odds were slim, yet a string of coincidental events felt like subtle hints from fate. While updating his employment contract and personal files in the work cloud drive folder, he chanced upon Seris's information too. It turned out she had joined the company just one month after him. Her birthday fell on the exact same day as his ex-wife's, her Chinese zodiac sign matched his daughter's, and there was a precise twenty-year age gap between them. He sighed to himself and pushed the thought aside. Even with matching age and looks, nothing was guaranteed. Modern women always chose the best possible partner in their prime years. Unless… someone extraordinary, with a kindred spirit and aligned inner virtues.
旅途上无聊的思绪中,林语晖也想到了瑟瑞斯,她会不会是走进自己生活的新人呢?理智告诉他可能性极小,但是那一串串的事件,仿佛是命运的提示.林语晖在工作网盘目录中跟新自己的合同与个人信息的时候,他也发现了瑟瑞斯的,原来他只是比自己早了一个月入职这家公司,而她的生日居然是与自己前妻的相同,她的属相与自己女儿相同,年龄与自己差整二十岁,哎,这就别想了,即便年貌相当也未必能成,现在女性都会在自己的黄金年华找最优选.除非?超凡脱俗的,心灵品质相通.
It seemed joining the new company had opened a new chapter in Lin Yuhui's life, yet old unresolved matters still lingered. This trip back was to attend a court hearing and tie up loose ends once and for all, so they would no longer drain his energy. He had already asked his boss for leave and finished all pending work, expecting no urgent tasks to handle during this time. Still, his boss sent an email right away—there were client doubts that needed clarification. Unfortunately, Lin Yuhui was on the train, and all the detailed design drawings were stored in his office folder thousands of miles away. He needed someone to lend a hand on-site.
似乎自从加入了新的公司林语晖开启了人生的新篇章,可是之前那些琐事依然没有处理完毕,这次回去出庭就是把之前的事情处理完毕,不再牵扯精力.本来他是和老板请了假的,手头的工作也完成了,应该这段时间没什么需要自己处理的工作.但是老板依然发来了邮件,客户有些不理解的,需要说明一下,但是林语晖自己正在火车上,更多细节图纸在自己的办公故事文件夹中,远在千里之外,除非有人在那里帮一把手.
Lin Yuhui immediately thought of Seris. She was a junior employee, and he had helped her with work before; she would surely agree to assist. Dylan, on the other hand, was out of the question—Lin Yuhui knew his temperament all too well. He messaged Seris via Sapphire's WeChat. After a brief explanation, she promptly scanned and forwarded the required documents as he'd hoped, getting the task done smoothly.
林语晖想到了瑟瑞斯,她是初级员工,自己之前也帮过她工作,应该可以求助.而迪伦则很难,林语晖心里很清楚他的秉性.于是林语晖通过萨菲尔加了瑟瑞斯的微信,简单的沟通她很快如期望扫描了必要的图纸转发了,任务完成.
During this trip back to his old hometown, Lin Yuhui made no effort to visit his child or his parents. It felt as though they existed on entirely separate parallel paths. After traveling all weekend, he returned to the office early on the following Monday morning.
林语晖的故地回访并没有去看自己的孩子,也没有想去看自己的父母,似乎与他们走在不同的平行线上.经过周末的赶路,他成功地在新的周一到来的早晨又出现了单位办公室.
He arrived fairly early, with only Jin Yan present among colleagues. As the two chatted, Seris walked in. As Lin Yuhui exchanged polite thanks and greetings with her, he noticed her tone and demeanor were unusually lively and elated. Could his arrival be the reason?
林语晖到达的时间比较早,其他同志也只有金彦在场,在与他闲聊之间,这时瑟瑞斯也到了,林语晖在与她的道谢寒暄之间,发现她的音调和神采都异常兴奋,难道是自己的出现?
"You're in such a great mood this morning, Seris?" Jin Yan remarked as she walked past, clearly noticing her bright spirits too.
"瑟瑞斯今天早上这么开心啊?"一边的金彦看着她面前走过说,他也看出来了.
Once the morning's work wrapped up, the office atmosphere grew lively as usual—with Dylan leading the chatter.
一上午的工作差不多了以后,办公室的气氛又开始活跃了起来,当然还是迪伦,
"Hey, our community's promoting COVID vaccinations. Has anyone here gotten the shot?" He chatted aimlessly with everyone around, asking one colleague after another, as if he needed others' opinions to make up his own mind.
"哎,我们社区宣传推广打新冠疫苗呢,你们打没打?"和这个聊和那个聊,问这个人问那个人,似乎他在靠与他人交流来做决定,
"Hey, Stephanie, have you had the vaccine?"
"哎,斯蒂芬妮,你打没打?"
Lin Yuhui listened quietly, inwardly amused. Who needed to sound others out over something like this? Stephanie ignored him. She was always quiet by nature, and whether she responded to Dylan depended entirely on her mood. Being married, she kept a proper distance from the opposite sex. That never stopped Dylan, though—every noon he'd sneak over with a mischievous grin to sit at the same lunch table as the female colleagues.
林语晖在旁边听着心里好笑,怎么这事情还有让别人给自己探路的吗?斯蒂芬妮没理他,斯蒂芬妮平时话不多,打不搭理迪伦属于看心情,似乎都是有家室的人,比较注意与异性接触分寸.但是这并不妨碍他每天中午贱兮兮地主动凑上去和女同事们坐一个餐桌吃饭.
"Hey Seris, are you getting vaccinated too?" He called out to her across Lin Yuhui, obviously just looking for an excuse to talk to the young woman.
"哎,瑟瑞斯你打不打疫苗?"他又隔着林语晖问瑟瑞斯,可能就是为了和美女搭话吧.
Lin Yuhui cut him off bluntly with a serious tone.
但是林语晖总是很认真,直截了当地告诉他,
"Don't get the vaccine. Industry insiders warn it may trigger the ADE effect." With that, he shared the relevant documents with all office colleagues for reference.
"不要打疫苗,据业内人士说有ADE效应,"说完他把自己手头的资料群发给了公司同事,供大家参考.
Lin Yuhui's reasoning was simple: the safer those around him were, the safer he would be. Ultimately, everyone was free to choose what they believed.
林语晖的逻辑很简单,自己周边的人安全自己也更安全,但是要怎么做取决于个人选择相信什么.
Soon after, Jin Yan replied with thanks. With two young children at home, he was genuinely eager for every possible protective measure.
很快早上聊天的同事金彦回复了感谢,因为他有两个孩子年纪还小,确实需要多种防护手段.
Lin Yuhui noticed Dylan skimmed the shared files and paid them no further mind. Seris, however, showed genuine curiosity and began looking up the ADE effect online—she was indeed willing to learn.
而林语晖注意到迪伦收到邮件只是看了看就过去了,旁边的瑟瑞斯倒是很有钻研精神,在上网搜索ADE效应,孺子可教.
As lunchtime drew near, Lin Yuhui hesitated for a long while before deciding to test Seris's intentions toward him. He pulled out his meal ticket and asked her:
又快到了午饭时间,林语晖思索再三,想明确瑟瑞斯是不是想要和自己发展关系,便拿出饭票问她,
"Want to grab lunch together?" After all, she had subtly hinted at closeness with him before.
"一起吃午饭吗?"毕竟之前她曾经变相地和自己,
"Haha, I'm not worthy."
"呵呵,我不配,"
Lin Yuhui never expected such a reply. He was not an easygoing person, nor one to indulge others' unreasonable attitudes.
He let out a cold huff, didn't spare her a glance, and walked off at once. He thought poorly of her manner: if she didn't want to go, she could simply say so—there was no need to bring up status, worth or being unworthy.
林语晖没想到她会弄出这么一句,他也不是一个性格好的人,也不会惯着谁,
"哼,"了一声,没看她一眼起身就走了.因为觉得她为人差劲,不去就说不去,关高低贵贱配不配什么事.
Midday sunlight streamed into the cafeteria hall, gilding the tables and chairs beside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Lin Yuhui sat alone in a quiet corner, enjoying his lunch. Having worked in Shanghai before, he was familiar with Jiangzhe cuisine. He was particularly fond of cold mixed asparagus lettuce and similar green vegetables here—fresh, crisp and flavorful. The variety of home-style dishes also supplemented his dietary fiber well, greatly improving his digestion. The only downside was cutting back on rice portions. Though the cafeteria aunt already adjusted servings based on customers' builds, he'd still noticeably put on belly fat over the past month.
中午的阳光照进食堂大厅,把落地窗旁边的桌椅照得闪亮.林语晖一个人坐在清净的角落里,享受自己的午餐.他曾经在上海工作过,对于江浙这一带的食物有些了解,他很喜欢这边的凉拌莴笋一类的青菜,味道好,爽口,而且各种家常菜品的搭配很好地补充了膳食纤维,使得自己的肠道状况比原来好多了.唯一的问题是需要少盛一些米饭,自己不是工人,虽然窗口阿姨盛饭的时候已经看人下饭量了,但是自己这一个月以来还是明显肚皮上肥肉变厚.
He savored his meal slowly, gazing at the sunlight-dappled furniture around him, as if enclosed in his own quiet bubble of time. As for Seris, whom he'd quietly grown fond of before, he knew he needed to gradually erase her from his heart.
一边细嚼慢咽品尝着美味,一边看着光晕里的桌椅,仿佛自己处在一个自己的时空之中,享受自己的静谧时光.只是自己之前偷偷放进心里的瑟瑞斯,需要慢慢自己把她抠出来了.
Lin Yuhui now saw the truth clearly: she had no romantic interest in him at all. Yet why did she and Sapphire constantly gossip about dating behind his back every day? They knew full well no man in the office was a suitable match for her, yet they chattered endlessly as if desperate for everyone to know she was looking for a partner—he could not fathom their thinking.
现在林语晖已经很清楚了,她根本对自己没一点意思,但是为什么她和萨菲尔要每天在自己身后谈论找对象呢?明知道这个办公室没男人适合她,却偏要唧唧歪歪地生怕所有人都不知道她要找对象,不知道怎么想的.
He reflected on all the unsolicited advice he'd given her before: the 33% optimal stopping theory for blind dating, warnings not to let mediocre men linger around her (which would only drive away outstanding suitors genuinely interested in her), and all his other well-meaning words. It had all been pointless meddling.
回想自己之前为她发的微信,相亲问题33%的最优停止理论,以及劝告她不要让那些不入流的男人围着她,那样会阻止真正想要接近她的优秀男人,以及等等,都是吃饱了撑的.
On Monday afternoon, the boss held a project kickoff meeting in the office. Before production began for every new equipment order, the project department led cross-departmental meetings to confirm detailed data, attended by nearly all office staff and some production workers.
周一的下午老板在办公室组织了项目开工会,每当有新的设备订单开始生产之前就要由项目部牵头,各部门开会落实细节数据,基本上是全员办公室人员参加,还有部分生产人员.
As a new recruit in the project department, Seris was tasked with taking meeting minutes. Halfway through the meeting, the boss repeatedly called out both Seris and Lin Yuhui by name, firing questions back and forth.
瑟瑞斯就是项目部的新员工,少不了她要做会议记录.老板也是绝了,会议快结束的时候把瑟瑞斯和林语晖的名字在一起点名了好几次,问这问那,
"Isn't that right?"
"对不对?"
"Is this correct?"
"是不是这样?"
He made the two respond in turn, drawing everyone's attention to them.
轮番让两个人回答,曝光,
Lin Yuhui understood his boss's kind intentions and respect for his life experience and maturity. Yet young beautiful women cared nothing for such qualities—they simply could not comprehend their value.
林语晖知道老板的好意,也知道他对自己人生积淀的认可,可是年轻貌美的女性并不看重这些,她们根本不懂.
(translated by doubao)