Chapter 1749 Another Chance Encounter, Traveling Together

After Zhou Chen took a shower, he returned to the dormitory and hung up his clothes. As soon as he finished, Yang Jingming and Wei Pengpai came in.

"Tuxi, tomorrow is the weekend, let's go out and play together. We have been in Shanghai for so long, but we have only walked around and haven't had a good time."

Last semester, everyone just entered the university, and many of their ideas have not changed. In addition, the economy is tight, so most of the time they stay in school and study hard. Only occasionally will they go out to play, but basically they stay nearby and have never been too far away.

After the start of this semester, everyone has become familiar with college life and has gradually opened up. There are too many places to play and go in a big city like Shanghai.

So the students who don't have any pressure for the time being are all ready to start walking around and playing in Shanghai. Maybe they won't have the opportunity after four years of college.

Zhou Chen is the youngest in the dormitory, but he has the widest experience. When everyone encounters problems in various aspects, they like to ask Zhou Chen for help.

Yang Jingming and Wei Pengpai were not familiar with Shanghai. They wanted to go out and play, but they were unfamiliar with this big city and felt uneasy. So they discussed and decided to take Zhou Chen with them.

Zhou Chen wiped the water stains on his hands and asked, "Where are you going to play?"

Yang Jingming and Wei Pengpai looked at each other and said, "The most famous place in Shanghai is the Bund. We want to go there. We have checked the bus routes. We will leave tomorrow morning and can play until we come back in the evening."

"Okay, I have no problem."

"Great, then we will ask Zhang Jun later."

Zhang Jun came back in the evening and agreed immediately when he heard that they were going to play. So the next morning, the four of them got up early.

When they arrived at the school gate, Zhou Chen found that there were more than just the four of them. There were actually other people, both men and women, a total of more than ten people, and they really went out to play in a group.

But thinking about the current situation, it is normal. It is not safe to go out alone, especially for girls, so it is much safer for everyone to go out in a group.

The group walked along the Bund and played around until the evening before taking a bus back to school.

In the next few months, many classmates in the same class would make appointments to go out together on weekends. As long as they didn't buy anything and only paid for the travel expenses, everyone could still afford it.

In April, Zhou Chen went out with Yang Jingming and Wei Pengpai again. This time they went to the very distinctive Shanghai alleys.

Shanghai alleys are a unique form of residential buildings in Shanghai. They are different from traditional Chinese Jiangnan residential buildings and any Western architectural forms.

However, they always have more or less traces of traditional Chinese architecture and more or less foreign architectural influences.

Shanghai alleys best represent the characteristics of modern Shanghai urban culture, and they are also the most direct product of modern Shanghai history.

Walking between alleys, Zhou Chen is no longer new to such buildings. He has seen them too many times, but Yang Jingming and Wei Pengpai are the first time to come into such close contact with such alleys with urban characteristics. They are very interested and walk around and discuss all the way.

The alleys are crowded because of the densely packed houses and the large number of residents. Many low-rise buildings may not see the sun all year round, so they feel a little damp.

"Zhuang Tuxi."

Suddenly, he heard someone calling him. Zhou Chen turned his head and saw a girl standing more than ten meters away from him.

"Zhuang Tuxi, it's you. I thought I was seeing things."

Li Jia was wearing a gray-white sweater, still with two long braids, carrying a shoulder bag, and trotting to Zhou Chen, smiling.

"What a coincidence, Li Jia."

Meeting Li Jia here, Zhou Chen really felt it was a coincidence. He knew that Li Jia lived in her uncle's house, and her uncle's house was in the alley, but Shanghai is so big, with so many alleys, and he and his classmates just came to stroll around and met her.

"I'm going to take a look at the alley with my classmates, what about you?"

"Our teacher assigned us homework to do a survey of the alleys. Taking the Shanghai alleys as an example, we studied the relationship between space and people and designed small living spaces. All the classmates in our class are here, including Zhuang Tunan, but I don't know where he is now."

"Oh, so, the Shanghai alleys are indeed quite architecturally distinctive."

Zhou Chen is a true master of architecture, with top-notch theoretical, practical and hands-on abilities. Buildings like Shanghai alleys are not unfamiliar to him at all and he knows them very well.

Yang Jingming and Wei Pengpai, who were not far away, were quite surprised to see Zhou Chen chatting with a girl. They did not approach him and quietly hid aside.

"Zhuang Tuxi is really popular with women. He can be approached by girls just by walking around."

"There's nothing I can do. If you can grow up like him, have his temperament and confidence, you will also be popular with women."

"From your tone, do you think girls judge people by appearance?"

"Isn't it?"

"Okay, you're right."

"Do you want to go over?"

"Forget it, let's go shopping and meet at the bus stop later."

Yang Jingming and Wei Pengpai were very discerning and didn't disturb him. They left quietly.

Li Jia asked: "Zhuang Tunan should be drawing a picture nearby. I'm quite familiar with this place. Do you need me to take you to find him?"

"No, I'm not here to look for him, I'm just strolling around." Zhou Chen had no intention of looking for Zhuang Tunan.

Li Jia blinked her big eyes and said softly: "My uncle's house is in this alley. I've lived here for a few years and I'm familiar with it. I'll take you around?"

"Aren't you here to finish your homework? This will delay you."

"It doesn't matter. I may not be good at other homework, but I'm more confident about the alley."

Li Jia was very confident. Her eyes never left Zhou Chen. She didn't know why, but she had the urge to get closer to Zhou Chen. This was a feeling she had never had in more than ten years. She had never had it with any boy, only Zhou Chen. When she saw Zhou Chen, she felt a throbbing in her heart.

She didn't know if she liked him, but she just wanted to stay with Zhou Chen for a while, wanted to know more about Zhou Chen, and wanted to know how Zhou Chen wrote such good poems and articles.

Zhou Chen looked at her expectant eyes and said, "Okay."

Since Li Jia was so enthusiastic, he would not reject her kindness. He was not a Taoist or Buddhist, and could not achieve the purity of the six senses. He did not hate Li Jia, so he was willing to contact her and did not think so far.

After getting Zhou Chen's answer, Li Jia smiled happily.

"Then follow me."

Zhou Chen followed Li Jia through the alleys, listening to Li Jia introduce the alleys to him in a clear and pleasant voice.

After walking for a while, Li Jia took Zhou Chen to the roof of a building and looked down at the surrounding buildings.

"You can see more from this position."

Zhou Chen looked at the surrounding scenes and looked down at the people coming and going in the alleys. There was a strong smell of fireworks.

"Li Jia, you brought a paintbrush and a sketchbook, right? Lend them to me."

"You want to paint?"

Li Jia was surprised. She had seen Zhou Chen's comic strips and knew that Zhou Chen could paint, but she had never seen him before. She took out the paintbrush and sketchbook from her bag and handed them to Zhou Chen.

"I'm interested, give it a try."

Zhou Chen took it, opened the sketchbook, and saw that it was full of buildings drawn by Li Jia, so he continued to flip through the pages until he reached a blank space.

He looked around again, slowly closed his eyes, and after 30 seconds, he opened his eyes and began to paint.

Li Jia stood behind Zhou Chen, watching Zhou Chen paint stroke by stroke, and soon immersed herself in Zhou Chen's skills.

As a student of architecture, she was naturally good at painting. She was not familiar with Zhou Chen's painting methods at all, but one thing was certain, Zhou Chen's painting skills were countless times better than hers.

After more than ten minutes, Zhou Chen stopped writing, and a very clear alley scene appeared on the paper.

"Your painting is so good. The painting of this alley is much better than that of me, a student of the Department of Architecture."

Li Jia sincerely admired. This was not flattery, but praise from the heart. She was very sure that if she were asked to paint, she would definitely not be able to reach Zhou Chen's level.

No mistakes, one post, one content, one 6, one 9, one book, one bar!

What surprised her most was that this painting was not only well-painted, but also very good at architectural painting.

"Do you also understand architecture?"

"I know a little, but I am best at figure painting and landscape painting."

He painted the most figures and had seen too many different landscapes, so he was also very good at landscape painting and could draw the naturalness and spirit of landscape.

"Would you like to try it?"

"What?"

"Draw a sketch for you."

"Can I?"

"Of course."

Zhou Chen was in the mood, so he drew a sketch of Li Jia again. For him, this was much simpler than painting an alley, and it was finished in a few minutes.

After taking back her sketchbook, Li Jia looked at herself on the paper. Although it was just a sketch, she could recognize it at a glance. She couldn't help but smile brightly.

"Thank you, Zhuang Tuxi."

"I'm glad you don't mind."

After happily looking at it for a while, Li Jia closed her sketchbook and put it in her bag.

"Zhuang Tuxi, your neighbor's brother sent me all his collections. I've read all the stories you published. They're very well written. How can you write so well? You're amazing."

"Maybe I have some talent. My family was so poor at that time. We couldn't even get enough food. We were hungry all day. I wanted to make some money. It happened that the country began to allow submissions to earn royalties at that time, so I wrote a few fairy tales with the idea of ​​giving it a try. As a result, I really made money, so I kept doing it."

After hearing this, Li Jia showed admiration: "Then you are really amazing. I saw that you first published it around 1980. How old were you at that time? You could write stories and make money by yourself. When I was your age, I didn't know anything."

"You are also amazing. You can get into Tongji University."

Zhou Chen and Li Jia had just come down from the roof when someone came towards them.

"Tuxi, why are you here?"

Zhuang Tunan was carrying a bag and holding a sketchbook. When he saw Zhou Chen and Li Jia, he was immediately shocked. He didn't expect to see Zhou Chen here, and he was with Li Jia. He couldn't help but secretly guess what was going on between Zhou Chen and Li Jia.

Zhou Chen said: "I came to the alley with my roommates in the dormitory. I didn't expect to meet you guys here to finish your homework."

"Is it such a coincidence?"

Zhuang Tunan whispered, his expression showing that he didn't believe it at all.

Zhou Chen didn't care whether he believed it or not, and said goodbye directly: "I'm going to find my classmates, and we are also going to go back, you guys go do your own things."

After saying that, he quickly left, leaving behind Zhuang Tunan who was mumbling to himself, and Li Jia who was waving goodbye to him.

Zhou Chen found Yang Jingming and Wei Pengpai, and when they were waiting for the bus, the weather was not good, it actually rained, making the three of them soaked in their clothes, and they were dripping wet when they got on the bus.

"Didn't the weather forecast say that there would be no rain today? How come it rained without any sign?"

Hearing the complaints of the two roommates, Zhou Chen smiled and said: "Shanghai is not bad. If you go to our Suzhou, you will know what it means to rain as soon as you say it, especially in the spring and summer season, it can rain for more than 20 days a month."

"Is it so exaggerated?"

"Of course."

A semester is over soon, and in a blink of an eye it is the summer vacation of the freshman year, and most college students have to return home.

When Zhou Chen returned home, Zhuang Xiaoting and the other two were about to take the high school entrance examination. Zhuang Xiaoting and Lin Dongzhe both applied for No. 1 Middle School.

As for Xiang Pengfei, his grades were far worse than those of Zhuang Xiaoting and Lin Dongzhe. Zhuang Chaoying wanted him to apply for a technical secondary school, but Zhuang Hualin refused to agree and insisted that he go to high school and take the college entrance examination in the future. He had no choice, after all, he was just an uncle, not a parent.

As soon as Zhou Chen came back, Zhuang Xiaoting got close to him again.

He rubbed Zhuang Xiaoting's head affectionately and asked, "There will be an exam in two days. There should be no problem in the high school department of No. 1 Middle School, right?"

Zhuang Xiaoting nodded vigorously: "I think as long as I perform normally, there will be no problem."

Zhou Chen looked at Lin Dongzhe again: "What about you?"

Lin Dongzhe stammered: "I don't know either. Anyway, I will try my best. I hope God will let me get into No. 1 Middle School."

When Zhou Chen and Zhuang Tunan were at home, they would often help him with his studies, so his grades were not bad. But after they went to college, Lin Dongzhe started to play around again, especially with Xiang Pengfei who was playing badly together. The two of them were like-minded and had no time to study.

It was only a few months before the high school entrance examination that Lin Wufeng and Song Ying became ruthless and supervised his study. Lin Dongzhe studied hard for a few months. As for whether he could get into the high school department of No. 1 Middle School, it depended on his own luck.

In the plot, Lin Dongzhe passed the exam with a perfect score. Now that his foundation is better, Zhou Chen estimates that he should still have a good chance of passing.

"The exam will start in a few days. I will help you with intensive training in the next few days."

"Okay, second brother."

"Ah?"