The First Bridge Competition

  "Xiao Ye, let's take our car back to Changsha." After receiving the He Long Cup Bridge Double Match trophy and certificate in Jianning City, Ye Zhenran heard Ye Lao calling him warmly.

  Yezhen Yan smiled and thanked Ye Lao: "Thank you, Ye Lao, sorry for the trouble."

  "Come on, don't be polite." Ye Lao's bridge partner Zhang Hengliang also said.

  Zhang Hengliang is an officer of a certain field army stationed in Jiannan City, NJ Military Region. Every time Ye Zhenran sees him, there are guards following him, and he can't help but guess his rank.

  Ye Ziran got on the military jeep with Zhang Liren.

  The four of them all entered the final after two rounds of elimination, and they all broke out from the preliminary group in Changja County. According to Zhuo Ye Lao's words, this is fate.

  "Good job this time, Little Ye." Old Ye praised after the car started.

  "Yeh Lao, it's just that Zhang and I were lucky today. We had three good hands and we all called some risky shots. Who would have thought the card type was so good? As a result, we completed the contract. And there was another hand where your East-West pair made a low-level mistake, turning an ironclad 4-spade contract into a void one, suddenly giving us the highest score." Yeh Zhen said, "Actually, based on our level, if we formed a team to play in the team tournament, we wouldn't have gotten a high ranking."

  "Luck is reserved for those who are prepared." Ye Lao said with a smile, and then asked: "How long have you been partnering with Xiao Zhang?"

  "It's been a year." Zhang Liren replied: "It was Xiaoye who played well, most of our cards were mainly played by Xiaoye."

  Zhang Liren is a friend Ye Zhenran made after graduating and starting work. Although they are more than ten years apart in age, the two have no distance between them, not only as card friends but also cooperating harmoniously at work.

  "What are you doing in Changsha?" Zhang Hengliang interrupted to ask, although he had played cards with Ye Zhenran a few times, but didn't know their situation.

  "I work in the Party and Government Office of Mashixiang Town, Changja County. Zhang Liren is the director of the town's police station." Ye Zhenran replied.

  Xiao Ye is the director of the Party and Government Office in Ma Shi Township, a good young man. Old Ye said this to Zhang Hengliang. In fact, the two of them had also interacted with Ye Ziran and Zhang Liren during the Chang Jia primary election, but Zhang Hengliang didn't pay attention to these things.

  "Oh? Looks like Xiao Ye is still quite young." Zhang Hengliang turned his head from the front row seat to take a look at Ye Zhenran.

  "Uncle Zhang, I've been working for two years now. I graduated from the Computer Science Department of J University and participated in the unified recruitment of grassroots reserve cadres in Jianan City at that time. I was one of the ten grassroots reserve cadres recruited and was assigned to Changjiang County. The county party committee's organization department then arranged for me to work as the director of the Party and Government Office in Mashizhen Township."

  Ye Ziran was a high-achieving student at J University, joining the party in his junior year and serving as president of the student union. Upon graduating in 1988, the department head approached him to stay on as faculty, but Ye had been rejected by Yang Ying, whom he had secretly admired for over two years, and was emotionally uninterested in staying in the provincial capital. Coincidentally, the Jiangnan Municipal Committee's Organization Department was conducting a reform pilot program to select grassroots cadres through open recruitment of graduating college students. After passing qualification review and theoretical exams, Ye Ziran underwent an interview with a deputy director-level cadre from the Organization Department, who was extremely satisfied with his performance. His comprehensive assessment score ranked first, earning him a spot on the Jiangnan Municipal Committee's reserve cadre list, where he received special attention as part of the third echelon.

  Zhang Hengliang listened to Ye Zhenran's answer and said "oh". He thought to himself, this is also a good opportunity. As the top student of the most famous school in the province, he entered the cadre team through public recruitment, his future prospects should be good. Of course, how far he can go depends on his own ability and luck.

  "Xiao Ye, tell me, you majored in computer science, why did you abandon your major and take the path of politics?" Ye Lao was in high spirits today, having played several good hands, so he asked his question in a very casual tone.

  "It was a case of yin and yang," Ye Zhen replied, "I originally wanted to stay in the provincial city, but at that time my emotions were a bit abnormal, I didn't want to stay in the provincial city. Coincidentally, the Jianan Municipal Party Committee Organization Department publicly recruited reserve cadres from among the graduating college students, and I was admitted after applying."

  "Oh?" Old Ye was taken aback, not expecting him to answer like that. In his impression, officials who had entered politics would answer similar questions in a subtle and implicit manner while also showing a strong sense of righteousness. Ye Ziran's answer obviously made him feel surprised. "This little Ye is quite interesting!" Old Ye liked his straightforwardness very much, so he asked with great interest: "Did you have a girlfriend in college? Otherwise, how could you have lost love?"

  "It's not even love, it's just my one-sided infatuation." Ye Zhenran replied. Then he told the story of how he had a platonic crush on his senior Yang Ying for three years, and how he mustered up the courage to confess to her on the eve of graduation, only to be gently rejected.

  The story is long, and Ye Ziran's memories are like a cup of bitter coffee on a sweltering summer day, lingering and complex, leaving a lasting aftertaste. Like the willow branches swaying gently in the wind, they are weak yet resilient, with a hint of stubbornness and reluctance to let go.

  These purely emotional unrequited love stories are so beautifully sad, making the listener feel a sense of desolation, while also feeling sympathy for the protagonist. Moreover, Ye Ziran had already made a good impression on Ye Lao's heart, and when he first met him, he felt that Ye Ziran looked a bit like his younger self. Now, listening to him open up his heart and share his innermost sorrows with him, Ye Lao couldn't help but feel an even deeper sense of desolation.

  The first time he met Ye, Old Ye had an inexplicable good feeling about him, as if he had met someone very close to him in life. At this moment, hearing him openly and honestly share his past embarrassing stories without any disguise, Old Ye felt even more affectionate after sympathizing with him. He felt that Ye was completely opening up his heart in front of him, with a kind of unconditional trust from a younger person to an elder, and Old Ye's gaze towards him became even softer.

  Because they had a car, it only took two hours to return from Jianan City to Changjia County. Along the way, most of the conversation was between Ye Lao and Ye Zhenran, listening to the old and young talking in harmony, Zhang Hengliang interjected several times.

  After Ye Lao retired, he didn't like city life and moved to Changsha. On the one hand, it was for peace and quiet; on the other hand, he liked Changsha's natural environment. However, being far away from the city, only Cai Shu followed him to spend his days, taking care of his daily life, and inevitably felt a bit lonely. Now seeing Ye Lao and Ye Zhenran chatting happily, Zhang Hengliang unknowingly felt relieved.

  "Xiao Ye, are you Chang Jia Ren?" Zhang Heng Liang asked.

  "No, I'm from Jinshan County, Guangming City, two hundred kilometers away." Ye Zhenran smiled and replied.

  "It's inconvenient to go home." Zhang Hengliang said again.

  "Yes, I live in a dormitory and only go home during National Day and Spring Festival." In 1990, China still implemented a six-day workweek, with only one rest day per week.

  "When you have time, accompany Old Ye more often. You don't have to play cards, just go and chat with him. My troops are stationed in Jianan, I can only find time to come to Changsha on Sundays." Zhang Hengliang continued.

  Ye Ziran smiled and said, "Alright, Uncle Zhang, don't worry, I don't have any relatives in Changsha either. After work, I'll go to Ye Lao's house for company, and I can also get a free meal." He paused and continued, "I have an inexplicable affinity with Ye Lao, and many times I didn't even need to finish my sentence before he knew what I was going to say next."

  Ye Lao smiled with a pleased expression. He had a special affinity for Ye Zhen Ran, partly because of his youthful and sunny appearance, which seemed to be the image of himself in his younger years, especially that smile, those eyes were very similar.

  Zhang Liren joked: "Xiao Ye, you and Ye Lao have the same surname. People who don't know will definitely think you two are grandfather and grandson when they hear how well you communicate."

  Ye Lao said: "Xiao Zhang, I thought you were a straightforward person, who knew you would also try to flatter people when speaking."

  Everyone burst out laughing at his words.

  Among the laughter, Ye Lao asked Zhang Hengliang again: "Has Nianyue started summer vacation? Why didn't she come to Changja?"

  He said: "She has mentioned it several times, wanting to come and stay with you for a while, I reckon she'll be here in the next few days."

  Ye Lao's face lit up and he said repeatedly: "Good, good! It's been more than half a year since we last met, Nian Yue must have become even prettier, after all, a girl changes eighteen times by the age of eighteen."

  Zhang Hengliang smiled slightly and said, "This girl is quite missing you, and hasn't let you suffer in vain."

  The car was bumpy, but fortunately the scenery along the way was good. Jianan City is located in Jiangnan, with many waters and mountains, and everywhere you look, there are green trees and clear water. This place can be called a land of outstanding people, and historically, it has produced many literary figures, including Wang Xizhi, a great calligrapher of the Jin Dynasty, who lived on this land for a long time.

  The car arrived at the county town of Changja in the late afternoon. The four people got off at the gate of Ye Lao's house, and Ye Zhenran and Zhang Liren bid farewell to Ye Lao and Zhang Hengliang. Ye Lao wanted to keep Ye Zhenran at home for dinner, but Ye Zhenran replied that it was not possible today because he still had to go to the county committee secretary Tang's house once. Secretary Tang's wife, Yu Jia, called him in the morning saying that her computer was broken and asked Ye Zhenran to help fix it after returning to Changja. When Ye Lao heard this, he smiled and didn't keep him anymore, but asked him to come to his house every evening from tomorrow onwards. Ye Zhenran readily agreed.

  The two of them pushed their bicycles out of Ye Lao's courtyard and rode off in different directions. As they parted ways, Zhang Liping asked again, "Xiao Ye, do you really have something to attend to? Otherwise, come over to my place for dinner?"

  "No, I really need to go to Secretary Tang's house, you go back, so that your wife won't worry."

  "Alright then, next time you're free come over for dinner, Yang Hongmei wants to introduce another girl to you, I heard she's not bad."

  "Never mind, thank your sister-in-law for me, but I don't want to talk about friends right now." Ye Zhenran raised his hands in a surrendering gesture.

  Although it has been more than two years, Yang Ying has gradually faded from his heart, but the future wife is still to be found by himself, he resisted "introduction" in his heart.