《來時的路》(中英文混合版） 4.2 親愛的夥伴

4.2      親愛的夥伴

程弈田的家，也就是她租住的40平米的一居室，在El Camino Real附近。這條街道據說是條“皇家”出行之道，“Real”在這裏跟“Real Madrid - 皇家馬德裏足球隊”的“Real”是一樣的 意思”。在有101公路以前，可以一直通到洛杉磯。現在應該也可以，就是真正用這條道開車去洛杉磯的人肯定不會多。El Camino Real在Santa Clara市內的這一段相當繁華。不是大城市那種高樓林立的景象，倒是各種飯館，超市和服務設施遍布，生活上是真方便。周末，尤其是禮拜五晚上，要不是早些到或者預先訂座，好點的餐館就得等上一兩個小時才能坐下。

“Hey, how have you been Yitian?”站在Jung su Jung門外的Bernard給剛走出小白車的程弈田一個熱情的擁抱。

“I am good! So good to see you, Bernard. How is every one?”兩個月沒見了，程弈田很是懷念大家。隻有在公司裏說話有些婉轉，在朋友麵前，她便是最耿直的那個 - 直接忽略了問Bernard是否好，一上來就是她的“大家”。

“Yitian, every one is good. Roy says hello.” Bernard越發地紳士，跟程弈田一起走回Jung su Jung，拉開門請弈田先進去。

“啊！”程弈田被一個人從背後抱住舉起，原地打了一圈。弈田有點驚慌。望眼四周，都是來吃韓國燒烤的客人，一絲驚訝之餘都朝著被抱起打轉的程弈田友好地微笑。等等，剛才Bernard說Roy跟自己問好 - 是他！

“放我下來，大家看著呢！”尹伯文放下弈田，緊緊地抱了一下轉過麵來的弈田，親了親她的臉頰。不知道什麽時候開始，尹伯文在普通朋友般親完弈田臉頰之後還會輕輕地親一下她的額頭，“你瘦了，弈田。”

“你的中文進步了！”程弈田捶了一下尹伯文的胸膛，“You did not tell me that you were coming too!”

“你嘟嘴啦！”尹伯文指著程弈田的嘴，往後退了一步，開懷大笑。

程弈田收起撅起的嘴，跟尹伯文一樣誇張地邊笑邊說：“wow，這個都會說了。上了兩個月的中文班，長進還真不小！”

“Don't you like the surprise? I have missed you.”是呢，每天程弈田下班回來，第一件事就是打開電腦跟尹伯文聊聊當天發生的事情。尹伯文是個大忙人，有時候一個消息過去，要等好一會兒才會有回音。但是每隔幾天，尹伯文總會抽出一兩個小時，什麽也不做，就專門跟她視頻聊天。無非是今天在公司裏學到了些什麽，哪些供應商質量管理那邊的工程師有耐心，又有哪些負責開訂單的采購員比較保守。程弈田也問他movaback的事情，尹伯文會簡單的說個大概，大部分時間尹伯文會花心思教弈田如何去爭取有更多的學習機會來增加接觸麵，又如何去分析學到的東西以取精華去糟粕。每次，尹伯文都會強調如何讓自己可以有發散性的思維，在獲得那種思維能力之外，最重要的還是如何讓公司的管理人員看到自己的這種能力。說實話，程弈田在跟尹伯文說話的時候，享受的是這個交流的過程，至於他一再強調的東西，她並沒有太在意。說來好笑，程弈田還有點害怕當麵見尹伯文呢，怕人家考自己，丟了醜。

“He just got some sponsorship from Prof. Little last night. This poor guy, he can't afford the admission fee to the largest orthopedic conference in San Francisco.”可能是跟顧客的Presentation做多了，Bernard喜歡一下子把結論和原因在最短的時間內同時給出。“And, he is going to stay in the same room with me tonight, and tomorrow!”

“Hey, Bernard, aren't you flattered to be sleeping with your CEO?”平常視頻聊天的時候，尹伯文沒有麵對麵說話時這麽逗 -總是連說帶做的，他說著還伸手去摸了摸Bernard那雙碩大長滿了金黃毛發的手。咦～雞皮疙瘩掉滿地了，Bernard也連忙收起手來，“Please, in separate bed! Please clarify it with the lady in front of us!”哈哈，程弈田也跟著尹伯文大笑起來。

“So, how are things with you Yitian? Happy?”Bernard問弈田，“I heard from Jean Jacque that you are in a rotating program? That must be fun! I am sorry that I haven't seen you earlier.”Bernard最近這一個月都在Santa Clara，但是工作太忙，又都是跟其他谘詢員一起組隊工作，一直到今天他才有空跟程弈田吃飯敘舊。

“Bernard, I am so glad to see you, no worries at all.”程弈田轉過去，看著尹伯文說，“Of course, you too. I am so happy that it just happens we can meet together today. Everything is fine. Jean Jacque knows. Well, funny thing is that a colleague of mine wanted to hook me up with some guy he knows.”去Jung su Jung的路上，程弈田就在想是不是要告訴Bernard這個事情。她猜，跟Bernard說了，也許可以從他那裏了解一下尹伯文對自己是不是真的有心思。畢竟是個女生，當麵問了尹伯文並不好意思。如今，兩人都在，說了更好，有個見證，也好當麵直接跟尹伯文弄清楚。

"Cool, go meet him and let me know if that works out?"尹伯文好像很高興！這是什麽意思？他對程弈田一定是有意的，明眼人都能看出來，不然他的鐵哥們Roy不可能一再撮合。他如今這麽一拍手叫好，連Bernard這個旁人都看不清楚了。

“Yitian, are you going to meet that guy?”Bernard有點擔心。

“Well, I don't know. It depends.”弈田不置可否，她原先是當歐陽師兄說了句笑話，現在她也不知道該如何是好。媽媽打電話的時候已經明確任務了：上半年，你找了個工作；下半年，你得找個男朋友！

“Depends on what?”尹伯文比程弈田都著急，“The more people you see, the more you know what you really need and want in your significant others!”要是媽媽聽得懂這個話，她定是要花兩個小時教育這個思想不正的年輕人。

“You know what, I think you are right, I am going to see him!”程弈田將了尹伯文一軍。

Bernard聽程弈田這樣回答，更是著急，不能讓兩個明明心裏有對方的人就這樣各奔東西啊！“Jean Jacque, you know what you are talking about? You are encouraging her to see some other man?”

“Why not?"不要跟尹伯文辯論，你不會贏，即便是BCG的高級谘詢師也不會贏。“She only experienced Tao, sorry, Yitian, I have to quote Tao here. Well, I know you are over him now, so, I felt ok to quote him. Ok, it's time to explore yourself and really determine who you like. You know what? This is the conclusion I drew when Tu left. I am so happy that she left, and now, I got tons of opportunity to know other girls!”好吧，要是媽媽知道程弈田在跟有這種想法的年輕人一起吃飯，再帥，再有錢，都會馬上拉弈田回家。更何況，這個男生，在媽媽看來，除了有張還算俊朗的臉龐外，是又窮又酸。

“So, you have been seeing girls? No wonder MSN is not really an instant messenger between you and me.”說不出來心裏是什麽味道，是酸楚，是生氣，還是佩服？程弈田很想反駁尹伯文的話，但是如果按照他的邏輯想下去，他的話不是沒有道理。

“Nah, I am too busy. Even better, I think I met some one interesting.”

尹伯文指的是自己嗎？是自己的話，為什麽不幹脆說出來？程弈田不想猜了。累了，猜了7年奚濤，不想落到一生都要不停揣測別人的境地。兩個人的坦誠相待不是更容易？誰也不是誰心裏的蛔蟲！弈田仔細地看著尹伯文，問：“是我嗎？是程弈田嗎？”

“Jean Jacque, don't be silly!”Bernard聽不懂程弈田的話，但憑他對弈田的了解，他知道弈田已經打開了天窗。Bernard的表情很嚴肅，就像跟他的顧客談一個關係顧客生意生死攸關的問題，繼續警醒著這個他非常在乎的顧客：“Be honest, don't hide. Be open, say what you think!”

“Yitian, 是。我admit.”真的！感覺這東西，尤其是女人的感覺，很準。她知道尹伯文在乎她。自己愛她嗎？有過奚濤的教訓了，不能再糊塗了！是喜歡，談愛，說不上。至少，對尹伯文，程弈田還沒有對奚濤的那種掏心掏肺。可是，如果不是愛，為什麽自己要著急著知道？尹伯文沒有錯，連弈田自己都沒有確切地清楚自己的感情，逼他承認有好處嗎？再說了，尹伯文說的隻是他覺得弈田有趣，說愛她了嗎？沒！

“Wow, I am flattered. 尹伯文,you are right, I need to meet more people!”這下子輪到Bernard想幫程弈田捋順她的思維了：“Wait a moment, Yitian, I can see the smile on your face when you see him is so different than when you meet Roy or myself! You can't hide that! Don't lie to yourself!”

“Bernard, you know what, I think I am getting molded by your CEO. The more I talk to him, the more I agree with him, on a lot, or, most of the things. He is right on this one, again, as usual. I need to see more guys!”程弈田說服了自己。

“I pushed you to the West, I encouraged you to stand even firmly on your feet. It’s all because I think highly of you. You deserve a brand new chance to make a wise decision. Don’t rush into things. Don’t be a traditional Chinese – they are just eager to check the to do list: go to good school at 18, go to grad school at 22, get a job at 24, find a man at 25, get married at 26, and have kid at 27. All done, then, next.”尹伯文右手裝作拿筆狀，在左手上邊說邊打勾，然後對程弈田確定地點點頭。“And you, 程弈田, you are unique enough to be different!”尹伯文放下雙手，“And, you got my gift? Well, our gift?”當然，gmail，按程弈田的經驗，還沒有出過差錯。剛看到那張沒有日期的聖荷西去波士頓直飛機票的時候，弈田心裏滿滿的，翻開日曆，是感恩節回去好呢，還是聖誕節？現在，好像她更了解尹伯文的用心: 機票一直在，弈田可以隨時回去找他，但是，他希望是弈田真正成熟了的那一天。

“Ok, enough talking about us. So, Bernard, anything new with Movaback?”理清了心緒，程弈田渾身輕鬆起來，說：“Your CEO is so secretive about his baby company, and he doesn’t like to share too much about it with me. And, you Bernard, my dear boss, how are things? How is the follow up of that 49er football star? Is he willing to try your product?”

“Thank you Yitian for reminding me of that, Jean Jacque, you are going to see him tomorrow, right?” 說起這個美式足球運動員的事情，兩個禮拜前尹伯文跟弈田提起過一句。他當時非常興奮，還使勁表揚了Mike一下，說他是運動員的楷模，接受先進事物的先鋒。總之，在公司成立差不多兩年的時候，終於可以有人願意接受人體實驗。

“Yes, thank you Benard for connecting me with him. It’s an extremely nice opportunity. But, no, I don’t think we are going to have him as our first customer yet, we need to pick and choose our customer.”尹伯文怕Bernard不理解，繼續說，“Bernard, I reviewed all his medical history and decide that he can’t be an ideal patient. He received two major back surgeries already, his L2 and L3 and L5 and S1 are totally fused. It’s not a very good condition to receive disc implantation between L3 and L4. You know that, his body already lost bit flexibility, and the scar tissue around his lower back is not going to do any good to this condition. Plus his age and weight. I have to pass it this time.”為了證明他的判斷的正確性，他也跟Roy討論過，“I called up Roy yesterday and he pretty much agreed with me. Yes, I will visit him tomorrow, thank him and deliver the news to him. He will be a good candidate for our second or third clinical trial runs.”

這麽多考慮！好不容易找到一個開明人士，還不能用！好替他們難過。難怪尹伯文說他做的事情風險很大，也難怪他並不想讓程弈田過多參與和擔心。程弈田目前要做的，在尹伯文看來，是鋪好路，成為一個她想成為的運營公司方麵的能手。他，其實也有私心，他希望有朝一日，弈田可以去他的公司幫他，成為他可以依靠的左膀右臂。

“But, guys, don't worry, I am going to work on Total's CEO. It's coming soon, I am flying over to France in 2 months' time, and remember? I am going to be landing as an angel beside him!”還真是個CEO，經過他這麽一撩撥，剛剛弱下去的火苗又活了起來，生機盎然，越竄越高。“I got my connection through Polytechnic Alumni club. Maximum, the guy who was 2 years senior is now on his advisory team. He confirmed that guy never went through any surgery, and he is desperately looking for a solution. I am going to get him try our product, and he is going to invest big time in Movaback!”

“I really like the angel story!”程弈田再次叫好，“Tape it and show it on Movaback facebook!”

“Sure, my sister is going to be there with me！”太好了，成功就在拐角處！這，大概就是尹伯文很多次提及的煽動力。沒有發生的事情，經過他的一番描述好像正在發生，而且你身臨其境。

“Jean Jacque，”Bernard也跟程弈田 一樣熱血沸騰，“It just sounds so promising! By the way, why don't you want to establish your company in France instead?”這也是程弈田一直困惑的問題。這頓飯吃得值，很多問題都快有答案了。

“I am glad you asked the question. You know what, I've been waiting for this question from you for a whole year!”尹伯文自然有他的答案，“It's a technology initially developed in this country, to be more specific, Boston University. I can't just take it anywhere at will without paying for a huge loyalty fee. If I did, I would be violating the law.”

這些，是程弈田了解的，還有什麽更基本的原因嗎？“True, what else? Why don't you do something like Tao is longing to do, like, going to the mother country to develop something new, and that will benefit your home country a lot?”說起奚濤來，沒有了壓力，沒有了負擔，平靜得就像談論一個熟識的朋友。此時的程弈田，隻想知道尹伯文的想法。

“Tao has Nobel thoughts. ”尹伯文停下，吸了口水，豎起拇指，說：“A good guy. Well, may not be for you, Yitian, but I do admire him.”程弈田對此不作評論。尹伯文接著說：“ I am not as gentle as him, I guess. Or, I'd say, I am more practical. Or, I am just very lucky, since I started with the project that I had passion for, and for Tao, I knew he was passionate for Alzheimer.”

對麵的程弈田繼續聽著，點著頭，“And?”

“And, my home country is on vacation the whole summer, and goes to the Alps from December to January. Things just happen too slowly over there. I don't feel I get the support I need from people there. On the opposite, however, people in the United States are usually workaholic. They tend to move fast, and faster! Regulations are there, yes, sometimes too complicated for me, but they are clearly out there. All I need to do is to turn myself into a lawyer as well, and bite each every paragraph of those super dry documents. See, you can see a through path, and you do see the light at the end of the long, necessarily dark tunnel!”長篇大論之後，尹伯文問弈田:“Do I make sense?”

“Yes, it does. What else？”真是快要打破沙鍋了。

“What else? Yitian, you are getting so GREEDY!”尹伯文撇了撇嘴，仍舊燦爛地笑。

“Sure, I am. Don't I get trained by you, Jean Jacque?”久違的耍賴。

“You know what; I did ask myself the same question as you did just now. When I first knew about Ying Yu Tang, I was shocked, absolutely amazing! You must have experienced the same feeling. You can relate to it much more than I do, right? That very house came from your mother town! See, how well this culture embraces the world. It's a big mixing pot, and yet, you are still able to maintain your own identity. Believe it or now, I came to this conclusion - when it's in the U.S., you think its international; and when it's in France, you think it's only Europe. Do you see the difference?”

是“美漂”嗎？程弈田來矽穀之後，她給自己取了個名字，“美漂。”她給媛媛的解釋是：在合肥，你看到的是安徽；隻有在北京，你才會覺得放眼中國。有點意思，尹伯文的想法居然跟自己的如此相像。

“Also, the actual business practice procedures, beyond the legislation part, are much simpler in the US than in the Europe. Investors are much more willing to invest in American startups, both on east and west coast in particular.”他端起大麥茶，大吸了一口，看來真是口幹舌燥了：“I am very confident that I will be able to persuade one of the most powerful CEO's in the world, but, the following FDA procedures I need to go through are really pain in the butt!”哈哈，看來他屁股疼的不輕，眼睛都被臉部肌肉擠沒了。

“Hmm, the steak is really well marinated, not bad, Yitian, your cooking skills are really not bad!”尹伯文永遠是那樣正麵，不過，這個讚點得著實有些誇張 - 這牛肉都是人家調好了味，醃製了一天一夜的，程弈田做的就是把它鋪在烤爐上，肉變色了就吃，哪有什麽烹調手藝的事？

“Of course, the controlling of cooking time and temperature is a piece of art!”心知肚明不是自己功勞的事，也可以攬成是自己的事，而且還能說出道道來。程弈田，看來已經得了尹伯文的真傳！

在Jung su jung門外，Bernard 不忘西方人的禮節，繼續讚美晚餐，“Yitian, it's really juicy, it's one of the best Korean BBQ place I have been to, thank you for the nice pick!很好！”咦？Bernard，看起來古板，學起新東西，一點也不含糊那，這兩個字發音一點不比一半中國血統的尹伯文差！

“I-M-P-R-E-S-S-I-V-E，Bernard！That just sounded very nice!”三個人都在，永遠都是尹伯文和Roy互相打打鬧鬧，Bernard隻有在必要的時候幫幫其中的弱勢一方。現在被尹伯文這麽一說，有點不好意思，抗議起來，“Jean Jacque, you know what, one day, I am going to reach your sister’s level, and you are F-A-R left behind!”

“I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E! I am advancing every day too, poor Bernard!”說著點起腳來，尹伯文摸了一下Bernard的光頭，“See, just like this, I can reach higher and higher, and even to the sky!”

晚安，親愛的夥伴們。