Chapter 340

On January 23, 1923, the American Osborn and the Chinese Zeng Jun founded the China Radio Company. Through the self-built radio station, they broadcast radio programs in Shanghai for the first time and sold radios.

More than 500 radios in the city received the radio program. This was the first batch of radios to appear in the Shanghai area and the first in the country. After that, with the continuous establishment of radio stations, radios gradually became popular in the Shanghai area. They were all imported products, most of which were produced by the United States. The first type was mineral radios, and the second was tube radios. Most people liked to use mineral radios.

Before the popularization of television, the radio was undoubtedly the most important entertainment tool for humans. Today, most of the people in China in the 80s still had the memory of listening to the radio when they were young. But with the development of the times, first the popularization of television, then the promotion of computers and the Internet, the status of the radio naturally deteriorated, even to an extremely embarrassing point.

For example, there was a tacit understanding in the news industry. During a press conference, if the reporter from the TV station didn't come, then wait until they arrived and set up the machine. If the reporter from the newspaper industry didn't come, then wait for another hour. If he didn't come, then start. If the reporter from the radio news program didn't come, then what? Who didn't come?

Nowadays, radios, or radio programs, were mainly aimed at two groups of people in China. One group was students, and the other was drivers.

In the early years, the third category was actually the migrant workers. But now, most of the construction workers' dormitories were equipped with routers and covered with wifi. The migrant workers with smartphones naturally didn't need to rely on radio programs to pass the time. For students and drivers, the radio just happened to fit the characteristics of their work and life. Therefore, many radio programs would basically broadcast real-time traffic information in the local city. They also knew what kind of people listened to their programs.

…

"Well, listeners, today, our program" Golden Years of Music "is over. Welcome to our program tonight. Tomorrow, we will be on FM 92.9 Nantong Music Traffic Radio. See you there."

The operator on the other side of the glass screen cut into the commercial and made an "OK" gesture to the female announcer inside. The female announcer smiled knowingly, took off her headset, and then gently pinched her wrist. After sitting for so long, it was indeed a little sore.

Today, the job of a radio host had gradually transformed from the iron rice bowl and glamorous appearance that everyone envied a decade or two ago into a kind of persistence. Just like how people used to weave straw sandals to wear at home or sell, they now treated it as a work of art. Radio hosts also gradually began to change in this direction.

Nowadays, if one were to check the resumes of many of the famous hosts of the stations, they would find that they used to work as broadcasters or radio hosts. When the size of this big ship gradually decreased, many of them had no choice but to choose to change jobs and replan their life paths.

"Sister Liu, supper."

As soon as the female host walked out of the studio, the man who had just gestured to her immediately brought out a bowl of wontons. Apparently, he had ordered it on time. The wontons were still warm and had not swelled up.

"I say, Chen De, you can't be so biased. Where's mine?" The female assistant on the side shouted with some dissatisfaction. "You're discriminating, it's not good for us to work together." The female assistant stared at the young man named Chen De with a playful look, but she wasn't very angry.

After all, although this female anchor surnamed Liu was already over thirty years old, she maintained her skin very well. Her skin was so smooth that it was more adorable than that of a twenty-year-old girl. Moreover, her aloof temperament was also very charming. Even the female assistant herself admitted that even though she was a woman, she could not help but have some associations with Sister Liu. She even doubted her true sexual orientation for a time.

As for a young man like Chen De, in the face of such a great beauty, he naturally couldn't control himself. Less than a month after being assigned here, he began to be ingratiating. As a woman, the female assistant found that she actually couldn't be jealous of him. It was probably because he was really too outstanding.

"Here, Xiaofang, here you go."

Sister Liu handed the wonton in her hand to the female assistant, Xiaofang.

Xiaofang said a little embarrassedly, "How can this be? This is Chen De's sincerity. I almost cut the wrong takeout advertisement just now because I was on time."

"You go ahead. I like to eat wontons, not wontons." Sister Liu placed the wonton on Xiaofang's table, then took down her coat from the clothes rack.

Nantong was a coastal city. Even though it was already summer, it was still quite cold at night after the late-night program ended.

"Wontons? Then I'll order wontons next time. " Chen De didn't mind that the wonton he bought was cheap for Xiaofang. In fact, he knew that it was impossible for him and Sister Liu to be together. On one hand, Sister Liu's cold temperament made it difficult for him to covet her. On the other hand, Sister Liu wasn't an empty and lonely woman. Even if he tried to approach her like a young grass, she still wouldn't be interested.

But sometimes, men could be so cheap. Even though they knew that it was impossible for the two of them to develop a relationship, they still couldn't help but be nice to her.

Sister Liu was not young. Although she took good care of herself so that no one could guess her exact age, it could be felt that she should be at the age of a mother. As for Chen De's feelings for her, Sister Liu was naturally able to take it easy and put it down. This was the wisdom of a woman. To be exact, it was the wisdom that a beautiful and charming woman needed.

When he walked out of the broadcasting station's entrance, the weather was a little unfavorable. It started to rain slightly, causing the chill of the night to increase by a notch.

Not far from the left corner of the entrance were two barbecue stalls. They didn't have a storefront and were considered mobile stalls. In fact, doing this kind of business was profitable. The barbecue stalls could all be sold in wholesale, and the wholesale price wasn't expensive. The barbecue equipment was also a one-time addition that could be used for a long time. The cost had already been recouped, and there was no need to pay the store fees.

Moreover, when setting up a stall at night, as long as one knew the rules and consciously cleaned up the surroundings before closing up, there would rarely be any trouble from the city management. It was just that people would be more tired. Of course, living in this world was a very tiring thing to begin with.

Sister Liu carried her bag and walked to one of the stalls. The stall was managed by a husband and wife, with a brother-in-law as an assistant. The business was lukewarm. Less than half of the customers were seated, but the night was still long. It was already considered good.

"The usual three," Sister Liu said to the lady boss with a smile.

"Sure, please take a seat." The lady boss took the initiative to take a rag and wipe the table beside her that had already been wiped. She invited Sister Liu to sit there. It was mainly because Sister Liu was a regular customer, and the lady boss knew that she was from the broadcasting station, so she was especially polite. Of course, the most important point was that the lady boss and her husband were the same as Sister Liu. They were both from Sichuan.

Once people left their hometown, they would feel the closeness of the local dialect.

After Sister Liu sat down, the Lady Boss personally cooked brain pudding for Sister Liu. Originally, the Lady Boss's barbecue stall didn't sell brain pudding, but because Sister Liu liked to eat it, the Lady Boss prepared some every day. It could also be considered as making friends with everyone. Living in different places, meeting a friend from the same hometown who had a good taste always made people feel especially close.

There weren't many people in Nantong who liked to eat brain, or rather, there weren't many people in the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang who liked to eat it. In addition, there were also very few people who liked to eat duck intestines and goose intestines. However, these were indeed delicacies that Sichuan people loved. Sichuan people naturally had their own ways to remove the fishy smell of these foods and make them delicious.

A few people at the next table couldn't help but glance at Sister Liu. They probably felt that the probability of meeting such a beauty at a barbecue stall in the middle of the night was really too low. They used their dialect to evaluate Sister Liu's appearance. Some were indeed a little unpleasant to the ears, but they felt that they were speaking in Nantong dialect. They thought that Sister Liu, who had just communicated with the lady boss in Mandarin, wouldn't understand them. Since there was a language barrier, there naturally wouldn't be any awkwardness. Moreover, Nantong dialect was indeed the most difficult dialect to understand in the country.

Sister Liu understood them, but she didn't care. She didn't even bat an eyelid when the few youngsters opposite her used her body to make dirty jokes.

Since you lived in this world, then while you enjoyed the beautiful side of this world, you also needed to get used to the dirty and disgusting things in this world.

Fortunately, brain, hand, and a bowl of spicy vegetables had already been served. With food, she could temporarily distract herself.

The lady boss scooped a bowl of rice for Sister Liu, then went to busy herself with her own things.

Sister Liu ate quietly by herself. This was probably the most relaxing moment of the day for her.

The lady boss was also a sentimental person. Usually, if she wasn't busy at night, she liked to sit beside Sister Liu and chat with her. The thing they talked about the most was her son and daughter. The couple came out to work to earn money, while their son and daughter stayed in Sichuan to attend middle school. Naturally, they were very worried about them.

The common people's impression of Sichuan women was that they were hot, but in reality, Sichuan women were the most family-oriented. They had a strong sense of responsibility and dedication to their family. This point could be seen most clearly from the lady boss.

The lady boss had once asked Sister Liu if she had children of her own. This was because she wasn't sure. For urban white-collar workers like Sister Liu, even at her age, there were still many who didn't want children.

Carrying on the family line and carrying on the family line was no longer a mission to the modern city dwellers, but a kind of restriction.

Sister Liu had answered once. She seemed to ponder for a moment before replying, "I think so."

It was indeed strange to have to use a question to answer whether or not she had children. However, the lady boss automatically thought that Sister Liu might have been divorced in the past, and her child was with a man.

The hand curd was very refreshing, the soup was also very delicious, the brain was tender and smooth, and the spicy vegetables were also very flavorful. This authentic Sichuan-style supper was actually specially made for Sister Liu by the lady boss.

It was just like when a Chinese opened a restaurant in the United States, the taste of the Chinese food in the restaurant would become very strange to deliberately cater to American tastes. Although the lady boss and her husband were native Sichuan people, the barbecue and supper they usually sold couldn't be considered authentic Sichuan-style. This was because most of the locals weren't used to it, even if the sign in front of the grill was "Old Chengdu Barbecue".

Especially the plate of millet chili and pickled vegetables in front of Sister Liu. The locals wouldn't ask the boss for these things for supper, but these were essential items in Sichuan restaurants.

Before she finished eating, Sister Liu's phone rang. There was no saved number, but it wasn't unfamiliar. This was because Sister Liu didn't use her phone much. She rarely played with her phone, and there wasn't even a name in her contact list. This didn't conform to the current habit of using a phone, but it didn't hinder Sister Liu's life.

Sister Liu picked up the phone, and a man's voice came through the phone.

"You're off work, right? I'll drive over to pick you up."

Sister Liu responded and hung up the phone. A man driving out late at night to pick up a woman who had just finished her night shift. Logically speaking, the two of them should have a very close relationship. However, from the man's tone of voice and Sister Liu's response, it seemed that their relationship was very cold.

When Sister Liu felt that she was done eating, a very ordinary Volkswagen happened to drive over and stop by the side of the road. In the car sat a man wearing a black short-sleeved shirt. The man was holding a phone in his hand, and there was another phone fixed in front of him. This was what Didi drivers usually carried.

Although in recent years, because Didi had defeated the other competitors and started to monopolize the market, the initial benefits had almost been reduced. However, these drivers no longer had any other choice.

"The conscience of the capitalists …"

Sister Liu had heard this sentence more than once from the middle-aged man in the car.

Sister Liu paid the bill and got into the car. However, she did not sit in the front passenger seat, but sat in the back. Obviously, this was a kind of attitude and a kind of distance. If it was an ordinary man who came out in the middle of the night to pick up a woman who had just finished her night shift, and if this woman was still unwilling to sit in the front passenger seat and deliberately alienate herself, she would probably lose interest in picking up after a few days. In this impetuous era, who was more sincere than who?

However, this man had made it a habit to pick her up.

Or rather, picking her up regularly every day had become a part of his life.

"Before capital is monopolized, everything is beautiful. After monopoly, it becomes an exploiter." The man turned off the Didi software on his phone. Obviously, after picking up a woman tonight, he could be considered to have gotten off work.

Sister Liu ignored this man. Although this man was becoming less and less talkative, Sister Liu was no longer interested in talking to him.

There was a word and a painting pasted on the back of the front seat of the car. They were both new, because Sister Liu knew that the man would write a word and paint a painting every day and then paste them on the front seat of the car.

When driving during the day, if there were passengers who knew how to appreciate it, then they could chat with him more. If they didn't know how to appreciate it, then there was no need to chat.

Sister Liu remembered that this man talked a lot in her impression, but when he was writing and painting, he talked very little, as if he was completely immersed in his own world. Back then, this man had proudly boasted to himself that he had captured the hearts of many literary and artistic women with his painting skills.

But now, it seemed that it was all in the past.

He was also getting older, although it couldn't be seen from his appearance.

However, life was only a hundred years old. The ancients said that they would stand at thirty, not doubt at forty, and know their destiny at fifty. At the age of knowing their destiny, ordinary people could become much more free and indifferent at this age, not to mention that this man's experience was much richer than ordinary people.

The man started the car. Nantong was a city that didn't have much traffic, so it was naturally more comfortable to drive at night.

Sister Liu gently leaned against the car door and glanced at the not so gorgeous neon lights outside. This was a quiet city, which was also the reason why she chose to settle down in this city.

Because this city was close to Shanghai, although in terms of size, it was not appropriate to call it a satellite city of Shanghai, but after all, because it was close to Shanghai and was only separated from Shanghai by a Sutong Bridge, it seemed that because of this, the bustling Shanghai had absorbed the hustle and bustle that should belong to it. In comparison, although Chengdu was an inland city, the degree of hustle and bustle was much more serious than that of Nantong on the eastern coast.

The car entered the main road and then went up to the Jianghai Avenue Viaduct. The man driving the car played a song called "Sihime", which was the theme song of a Japanese TV series called "Midnight Cafeteria". The tune was very serene, suitable for listening at night when it was quiet. A while ago, the country had also picked up this Japanese TV series, but the exaggeration and frivolity ran through it, completely losing the flavor of the original Japanese TV series.

Sister Liu let out a sigh, as if her and his youth and impulses had also gone far away. When you lose something, you will guess that you will miss it more, and when you are tired of playing with something, you will regret your previous lack of control.

Unfortunately, there are many times in life that can't be turned back.

After a long time, the car came down from Jianghai Avenue and turned into the side road.

Sister Liu didn't live in Nantong city, but in the suburbs of Xingren Town. The two of them bought a house in the town called Renhe Garden. The reason why they settled there was not because the city's housing price was too expensive, but because the two of them seemed to prefer to drive out at this time at night to relax. If they lived in the city, they would simply go out for a drive to relax, but they would lose the atmosphere of going home from work. It was a very ridiculous reason, but it was accepted by the two of them at the same time.

"Fortunately, we didn't buy this community."

When passing by a community, the man stretched out his hand and pointed.

This was a very ordinary community, but it looked like it had just been built in the past few years, and it didn't seem to be very popular.

"A group of Shanghai people specially bought a house here, and then they didn't live in it, but specifically put an urn as a mourning hall." The man shook his head and said, "In this building, there may be more living people than dead people living in it, sigh."

Sister Liu didn't care about the fact that there were more living people living in the house than living people living in it. What she cared about was that this man actually paid attention to this matter and told her about it as an interesting story.

The man didn't seem to care about Sister Liu's opinion, he just continued to talk to himself, because after the two of them went home, they basically didn't communicate and went back to their respective rooms.

"The price of the cemetery over there has also been inflated, a slightly better cemetery is also worth hundreds of thousands, it's better to really buy a house in the suburbs of the nearby city to use as a mourning hall. In the past, in the countryside, you can often see small houses used as burial mounds, but now it's more generous, and people's houses are used as burial mounds."

Sister Liu slightly closed her eyes, but unfortunately, she didn't get to rest for long, because soon the car turned into the community where she lived, and the man stopped the car.

Sister Liu also got out of the car, and the man locked the car.

The two of them stopped talking and went upstairs in silence. The man opened the door, and Sister Liu entered her room, while the man entered his own room.

They lived under the same roof, but it was as if they belonged to two different worlds, but in fact, they were really the same kind of people.

After taking a shower in the bathroom in the room, Sister Liu didn't dry her hair. Instead, she let her wet hair stick to her shoulder and slowly sat down by the bed.

The furnishings in the room were very simple. There wasn't even a TV or a dresser. There wasn't even a router at home.

Ordinary entertainment had long lost its attraction to them, and what could really attract them was perhaps the essence of life.

Because this made them feel that..,

They were still alive.

Lonely?

They weren't lonely, nor could they be said to be lonely.

In terms of life, in terms of society, they were two very insignificant people. In terms of their path of life, they were also two very insignificant people. Because it seemed that only the two of them were still moving forward on this path.

A long time ago, they had companions..,

But some people gave up, some people left, and leaving probably meant that even if they looked back, they still wouldn't be able to see familiar figures. Perhaps, at the beginning, they could still feel a little lonely, but slowly, when only the two of them were left, they silently accepted this reality.

Perhaps, at this time, many people had already joined or were preparing to join this path, but they had already walked too far. Many people were looking at them, and many pairs of eyes were staring at them..,

Because they had walked too far, so the people behind them were hoping to see an answer from them.

But in fact, there was no answer.

Because there was no choice on this path.

There was a radio on Sister Liu's bedside table. She looked at the time. It was almost time, so Sister Liu turned on the radio,

"Welcome to 'Midnight Horror Stories'. I'm the host of the program, Sun Ran. The story I bring you today is called …"

After listening to this part, Sister Liu pressed the button on the radio and stopped it from playing.

It seemed that..,

This long night..,

This boring life..,

This unchanging life..,

Could only rely on the opening paragraph of this midnight ghost story program to make her soul instinctively throb a little.