Seventh Year Of Separation chapter 20
Orange Sea
Wu Mou was quite frightened by this incident, immediately calling the security of the new factory to report the safety issue. He spoke at length on the phone, elaborating on every detail.
After that, he complained to the security guard who came to inspect, and even after the person left, he kept talking to Gu Jiahe, completely losing his previous tipsy demeanor.
“Xiao Gu, it seems that just teaching legal knowledge during training is not enough. We need to strengthen everyone’s safety awareness.”
Late at night, Gu Jiahe’s head was throbbing from listening to Wu Mou’s talk. He might as well let Wu Mou be the captain of the security team.
After fussing around in the new factory for an hour, Gu Jiahe calmed down Wu Mou and sent him back.
By the time the two returned to the hotel room, it was already late at night. Gu Jiahe inserted the room card into the power slot at the door.
The small light in the hallway turned on.
The two entered the room one after the other. Gu Jiahe silently changed into slippers.
“Quite agile.” Suddenly, Li Zhao spoke from behind him.
Gu Jiahe realized he was referring to the accident just now.
“Just colleagues, I would have pushed anyone else too.” Gu Jiahe turned his head to glance at him, shaking off his hand as a gesture to distance themselves.
Li Zhao smirked and replied casually, “Thank you.”
Gu Jiahe realized he was echoing the words he had said before. Li Zhao even mimicked his tone. Parrot-like mimicry, annoying.
Back in the room, Gu Jiahe took a shower first. Before entering the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror and examined the long scar on his arm. Most of the scab had fallen off, leaving a pink scar.
He began to consider whether he should borrow some scar removal cream from He Xiao next time.
After finishing his shower, he blow-dried his hair and sat on the edge of the bed. Li Zhao resumed working on his laptop.
Gu Jiahe overheard him discussing something related to a litigation case. It seemed that although Li Zhao no longer practiced litigation, he still helped his colleagues at the law firm solve some problems.
Gu Jiahe was about to ask why he was still involved in litigation matters. Then he thought it might be presumptuous of him and kept quiet.
Anyway, he needed to reduce any chance of communication with this parrot.
Two days later, Gu Jiahe went to give training to the production department. It was more challenging than the training for middle and senior management because the grassroots employees had a weaker awareness of risk. Gu Jiahe had to find many cases, use videos to visually demonstrate to everyone, and explain one by one why certain actions were not allowed and the potential consequences.
As a result, this training lasted the whole afternoon.
In the afternoon, auditors and lawyers were also in the factory area for document organization.
After seeing Gu Jiahe coming out of the training room, the auditor colleagues enthusiastically asked him, “Manager Gu, do you want to go to the harbor later to see seagulls?”
Gu Jiahe lifted his head from the training materials. “Huh? Seagulls?”
“Yeah, you can see seagulls at the harbor here, it’s a popular spot!” Several colleagues were excited and readily agreed.
Gu Jiahe couldn’t refuse their enthusiasm and nodded in agreement.
A colleague next to Li Zhao lightly tapped on Li Zhao’s desk and asked him, “Lawyer Li, want to come with us later?”
Li Zhao lifted his head from the computer and shook it. “No, I need to help organize the visit records.”
“But you can do that tomorrow.” The colleague leaned in to persuade him.
Li Zhao was quite stubborn and still shook his head. “There’s always something to do tomorrow.”
Gu Jiahe silently mocked him in his mind for being such a workaholic. If the company went public, he’d give him 51% of the shares.
At the end of the workday, several people walked to the harbor. Fortunately, the harbor was not far from the factory area, only a ten-minute walk away.
Gu Jiahe had been here for many days, but it was his first time to truly appreciate the sea.
“It’s the Orange Sea!” exclaimed the auditor colleague excitedly, pointing to the sea.
Gu Jiahe looked up and saw the sea dyed orange by the setting sun. The color transitioned from deep to light, like a beautifully blended oil painting.
Gu Jiahe sighed, indeed it looked like an orange sea.
Stepping away from the crowd, he found a corner to stand alone.
Several bright red gantry cranes were situated along the coast. The huge mechanical structures contrasted against the orange sea, creating a marvelous visual impact.
Standing behind the railing on the shore, he gripped the rusty guardrail, facing the vast industrial machinery. At this moment, it felt like stepping into some kind of futuristic real-life game.
There used to be a textile factory in Pingcheng. When Gu Jiahe was very young, Qian Liyun had worked there.
He vaguely remembered there being a long assembly line inside. To him at that time, that assembly line seemed like a terrifying mechanical monster.
It wasn’t until two years ago when he returned to Pingcheng and passed by the textile factory again, looking through the factory windows, that he realized the assembly line was only about ten meters long, and the machines weren’t as tall as he remembered.
It was just that these machines had been sitting there for over a decade, motionless. It was he who had changed.
Before long, a huge cruise ship slowly approached from afar. It should be for tourist sightseeing.
The ship was large, about three or four stories high. All the lights on the ship had been lit, floating on the sea like a moving castle.
People on the ship were standing on the deck taking photos, their fluttering skirts like the brightest strokes in this painting.
It would probably cost a lot of money to go on such a cruise. Gu Jiahe’s behavior habit formed over the years was that whenever he saw something beautiful, he would subconsciously calculate how much it would cost.
He vaguely heard people singing on the ship, saw them partying, exchanging cameras, taking pictures of each other. This sunset cruise ship was only about ten meters away from him, but it seemed like it was separated by billions of light-years.
Soon, the ship sailed off in another direction, gradually receding like a spaceship soaring into the deep orange sunset.
Watching the sun sinking a bit more, Gu Jiahe looked at the rare scenery before him and thought of something, so he took out his phone and made a video call.
After half a minute, the call was finally answered.
Gu Jiahe switched to the rear HD camera and shouted at the screen, “Grandma!”
“Dear me, where are you?” Grandma asked.
Gu Jiahe smiled and replied, “I’m by the sea. Look, this is the real sea! An orange sea!”
“It looks beautiful,” Grandma smiled on the other end of the screen, “Are you on a trip?”
“No, I’m here on a business trip.” Gu Jiahe switched the camera back, “Grandma, next time you come, I’ll take you here.”
Grandma shook her head, “I’m afraid not. My body can’t even handle a train ride.”
Gu Jiahe laughed at her, she’s only this old.
Grandma asked him again, “When are you planning to come back?”
“I…” Gu Jiahe calculated, realizing it had been over half a year since he last returned to Pingcheng.
“You didn’t even come back for May Day,” Grandma scolded him.
“May Day, May Day…” Gu Jiahe repeated softly, recalling the date.
It was quite tacit, as both ends of the screen fell into silence.
Gu Jiahe didn’t want to continue the conversation, so he changed the subject, “There are specialty seafood products here. I’ll buy some tomorrow and send them to you.”
Grandma didn’t pick up on that, after a while she asked him, “Has that person come to see you?”
“What’s wrong?” Gu Jiahe was a bit surprised by her sudden question.
“He came downstairs again last time, making a scene outside. I didn’t open the door for him. In the end, he was shouting about settling scores with you. I’m afraid he’ll really cause you trouble.”
Gu Jiahe took a deep breath, then calmly looked into the camera, “No. Don’t worry. I’m fine.”
“Are your colleagues treating you well? No one is bothering you, right?” Grandma asked, still feeling uneasy.
“They’re all very good to me. Taking care of me.” Gu Jiahe reassured her, “Don’t worry, I’m fine here. But you, if you need money, remember to tell me early.”
Grandma nodded on the other end, “I have enough money.”
After Gu Jiahe hung up the phone, he closed his eyes for a moment.
The seagulls they had talked about hadn’t arrived yet, and the sun was about to sink below the sea level. The sea breeze grew stronger, and Gu Jiahe’s eyes were a bit dazzled by the wind. He leaned on the railing by the shore, burying his head in his arms.
Until ten minutes later, he heard a strange cry.
Ah — Ah — Hey —
He couldn’t help but smile with his head buried. When he looked up, a large group of seagulls were flying towards the shore.
So this was how seagulls sounded, quite different from what he imagined. Why did they sound so silly?
The seagulls flew closer and closer. Gu Jiahe remembered that he had taken two bags of cookies from the office pantry just now.
He took out the bag of cookies from his pocket, tore it open, and then broke the cookies into pieces, scattering them onto the flat surface of the railing.
In no time, the birds smelled the food and flew over. Gu Jiahe quickly stepped back to make room for them.
Their gray-white wings flapped a few times, and they accurately landed on the railing, boldly pecking at the crumbs Gu Jiahe had scattered.
These birds were indeed bold, not afraid of people at all. Gu Jiahe marveled in his mind.
He clapped the crumbs off his hands, took out his phone from his pocket, opened the camera, focused on one of the seagulls devouring the cookies, and then pressed the record button.
These big birds ate with gusto, and in no time, they finished off the cookies.
Seeing that the food was gone, they didn’t linger, flapping their wings in groups and flying off into the distance.
Gu Jiahe clicked his tongue, they were truly ruthless, then he raised the camera, continuing to film their figures.
But as he turned the camera ninety degrees to the right, a figure appeared in the lower right corner of the lens.
Gu Jiahe paused the recording, squinting to look in that direction.
The person happened to turn around, wearing a neatly pressed shirt, standing alone on the other side of the railing.
Gu Jiahe curled his lips.
Huh, wasn’t he supposed to stay in the office and organize documents?