Socks Romance

Yesterday, I sat face-to-face with my good friend Zihan in a quiet little shop on a street alley. She was elegantly sipping her rose tea and described her experiences and current state of life in a tone full of ups and downs.

Zihan and I were classmates in elementary school. Her family wasn't wealthy, but she had loving grandparents and parents. As the youngest child in the family, almost all the love and care from the family was focused on her. However, too much love and concern made Zihan into a sentimental and delicate person on the surface. She is a pure little woman, I think. She has some of the gentleness and pleasing personality of a pet, as well as the sentimentality, innocence, and romance of a little woman. Not to mention charm, but she is exceptionally slim and charming.

Zihan left home at the age of 19. She said: "At that time, I left home with an overly strong sense of self-respect and ambition." You know, I was the favorite child at home, but not a promising one, so I could only choose the life of 'escape'. When she first arrived in Beijing, everything was curious to her, yet also unfamiliar. Thus, she stayed at a small restaurant opened by a friend of her brother's. Since it was an internal restaurant mainly catering to the residents of military compounds, there was night snacks and breakfast. At that time, she said that after a day of busy work, everything seemed chaotic. In early spring of March, the weather carried a slight chill. Because there was no dormitory, every night she could only pull out two tables, use a screen as a shield, and sleep in the gap behind the bar. On the other side of the restaurant hall were the chefs and helpers. She was the only girl.

She spent three months at that small shop. Three months later, she had her own dormitory, a very dark little room, just one room. But she decorated it to be exceptionally fresh and comfortable. During this period, a so-called "big spender" man wanted to date her. That person was short and stout, chubby, walking like a mailbox moving on the ground. He was the driver and assistant for the top leader, basically just signing orders and such, acting like a smug little man. It was rumored that he had a few hundred thousand yuan in his hands. His petty farmer consciousness was strong. Although Zihan was destitute at the time, she was still a girl with dreams.

Six months later, Zihan completely left here. She believed she had a basic understanding of the large environment in Beijing. There was no need to continue being buried here. Thus, she applied for a job at a company doing direct sales. So-called direct sales, but in fact, it was unlicensed operation of a mobile small vendor. The company had more than 30 people, with males accounting for 20%, and the rest were women. Among these women, Zihan was the most spirited and beautiful. Her training manager was a boy her age who was handsome with a bit of rural charm. All the girls drooled over him, and Zihan was no exception. Another interesting scene was that all the boys in the company liked Zihan. At this time, Zihan gave up being the manager's assistant and started a lukewarm relationship with another person.

Their sales task at that time was various styles of men's and women's socks. For each pair sold, they would earn about 1.5-2 yuan in commission, with a daily volume of around 20-30 pairs. Zihan said that everyone's common experience was that hospitals and schools were easier to sell in quantity. Therefore, within about 2 months of engaging in this work, Zihan alone entered the nurse station and doctor's office of the Postal and Telecommunications Hospital.

That day, her performance was very fruitful. Because each nurse bought 2 to 4 pairs, what surprised her most was a baby-faced boy who bought a whole box of light gray socks and even left his phone number for delivery. Afterwards, he and Zihan ordered several boxes of socks intermittently.

In Zihan's later life, whenever she saw light gray cotton socks, she would remember that man. She thought about dating him, but considered herself too humble and insignificant, always feeling unworthy of him. Thus, they became like broken kites, missing each other, yet no one could help them reconnect.

Years later, Zihan cohabited with the manager's assistant. Zihan was with him hoping to marry him, managing a somewhat ambiguous relationship, but ultimately parted ways.

By chance, she met the baby-faced boy again. By this time, he was already middle-aged, with a stable career and life. What about Zihan? She had long transformed from an inexperienced girl into a still elegant and slender little woman. In Zihan's words: "An accidental encounter made the love buried deep in my heart burst forth uncontrollably."

At first, it was just Zihan unilaterally giving her love, but later both of them ignited the flames of love, burning for each other. He had a girlfriend, and I was worried that Zihan would love without restraint. However, Zihan said: "Because of my self-respect, I almost lost half of my happiness." Even if I am forever his mistress, I am willing.

Seeing Zihan's face filled with bliss, I sincerely wished them long-lasting happiness. Afterwards, I joked: "Others rely on matchmakers to tie red strings, but you have a sock connection."

She laughed genuinely. I don't know how important this man is to her, but I know he must be significant. I deeply immersed myself in my own thoughts.