Chapter 471

Youth is very short, and time passes very quickly.

When we were young, we felt time passed very slowly every day, feeling that limited time was infinitely stretched. When we grew up, time slipped away without us noticing. And as we get older, the speed of time increases.

College life is, of course, also very fast. Endless knowledge, endless books, high-intensity study every day, time is squeezed full, studying from morning to night every day, always feeling time is not enough. Of course, compared to children, they might hope time passes faster, because that is the step into society they dreamed of when they were young. Then, after stepping into society, they see children playing without worries, and begin to have regrets; it's just such a circle.

At the end of the freshman year, during the summer vacation, Wang Yan was busy with his own affairs. In half a year, it was enough for him to occupy a place in the southern herbal tea market. After all, the herbal tea bags he sold not only had diverse flavors and better effects, but compared to the cost, they were perhaps just a little more expensive than what each family prepared themselves, so sales were naturally not a worry.

Thus, with the income from the herbal tea bags and some loans, he purchased production lines and began to get involved in canned herbal tea and other flavored drinks. With this hot summer, his tea beverage company took a step further.

At the same time, it was also at this time that he transferred a batch of previous ground-push personnel to Hong Kong to promote the strengthening pills. With a foundation, it was now enough to support the initial sales of the strengthening pills. It wouldn't be long before his business would spread across this world again.

And on the side of the Zhu sisters' "Life on a Skewer," three shops had been opened in Jin Ling. The popularity hadn't changed, and every shop could be said to earn gold every day. Sister Zhu didn't serve dishes anymore and patrolled between the three shops. Occasionally going to Shanghai, Suzhou, etc., she also started to engage in so-called inspection and research, and began the work of shop location selection. The basic strategy was to first develop the Yangtze River Delta region, open branches in major cities, and then blossom in many places, in other provincial capitals across the country, and then spread and radiate to the surrounding major areas.

So Sister Zhu was still very busy, and now that she had three shops and was supporting hundreds of people, she was no longer the ignorant person she was originally, but had become capable and vigorous.

Zhu Xiao Bei didn't go to the shop to work anymore, because there were already three shops, and she couldn't handle it. Moreover, every shop had a responsible manager, and if she went, the manager's work would be hard to do. So she started doing inspection work, occasionally looking at where the service wasn't good, so as to improve it. These two sisters were both quite good.

In the blink of an eye, it was school starting again. Everyone was already a sophomore, and looking at the green, new faces looking around the campus, they already had some different insights in their hearts.

School starting naturally involved a gathering of meeting again, which was nothing special. They had known each other for a year, and everyone's relationship was quite good, laughing and playing very naturally.

However, Xu Kaiyang was no longer obsessed with pursuing Zheng Wei. Knowing that Zheng Wei really had no interest in him, he withdrew in time, and now they were good friends. Laughing and cursing together, they looked quite good.

Even after not seeing each other for more than a month, Zheng Wei was still as aggressive toward Wang Yan, but Wang Yan didn't take the bait at all, making her teeth itch with anger. Ruan Guan and the others were just watching the show, laughing.

After eating the meal of meeting again, they officially started classes. Wang Yan didn't attend classes with them anymore. Under his slow learning, the courses of both the civil engineering and architecture departments had already been learned to the junior year and were about to reach the senior year. Of course, knowledge wasn't measured like that, it was just about that. In this sophomore year, his tasks were actually two: a thesis and a work, and after that, he would start graduate school. For the remaining rest time, sometimes he played with Ruan Guan and the others, but most of the time he was with Shi Jie...

In mid-October, the school held an art performance, talent display, and program competition. Even if it didn't require everyone to participate, it was still very lively.

Zhang Kai went to Ruan Guan and the others to watch the program on stage together.

Li Weijuan asked: "Old Zhang, you aren't inseparable from Young Xu Gong, why are you alone now?"

"Don't mention it." Zhang Kai had an expression of envy, jealousy, and hatred: "Do you remember that junior I told you about a while ago?"

Zheng Wei stretched her neck: "Are they really together?"

"More than that, I'm telling you, don't go spreading it everywhere. Just the day before yesterday, he didn't sleep in the dorm at night." Zhang Kai whispered to promote Xu Kaiyang.

The four girls looked at him in surprise in unison: "So fast?" They weren't unsociable, and they were all adults, so they talked about dirty jokes every day; naturally, they wouldn't be very shy about this kind of thing.

"Then can I lie to you?"

Zhu Xiao Bei counted with her fingers: "They met when school started, and now it's military training for three weeks, so it's only been a little over half a month, and they're already staying out overnight?"

Zhang Kai looked admiring: "I have to say he's amazing."

"If you can't speak, don't speak." Zheng Wei pinched Li Weijuan impatiently: "I'm just good buddies with him, don't drag me into it. He's rich, handsome, and there are plenty of girls willing to follow him. I haven't heard of anything before, so it's not easy to get to now. Anyway, no man is a good thing. However, Young Xu Gong is okay; there are plenty of little girls who like him. I haven't heard of anything before, so it's not easy to get to now."

"If you can't speak, don't speak." Zheng Wei pinched Li Weijuan impatiently: "I'm just good buddies with him, don't drag me into it. He's rich, handsome, and there are plenty of girls willing to follow him. I haven't heard of anything before, so it's not easy to get to now. Anyway, no man is a good thing. However, Young Xu Gong is okay; there are plenty of little girls who like him. I haven't heard of anything before, so it's not easy to get to now."

Li Weijuan raised her eyebrows, shrugged, rolled her eyes, and exaggeratedly pulled a zipper on her mouth with her hand.

Ruan Guan shook her head with a smile, her big eyes looking at Zhang Kai: "Why don't I see Old Wang? He didn't come?"

"He said there's nothing to see, he's reading in the dorm alone." Zhang Kai responded casually, pointing to the stage: "Hey, look, isn't that Zeng Yu? Don't say, she's quite eye-catching like this."

It was exactly the scene that happened in the original play: Zeng Yu and a group of female classmates were shaking hula hoops in passionate and dynamic music.

"Wow, this flexibility, amazing." Zhu Xiao Bei exclaimed.

Seeing a few people watching seriously, Zheng Wei was pondering on the side. After a while, she stood up with a hunched waist: "I'm going to the bathroom."

Li Weijuan nodded: "Do you want me to accompany you?"

"No, no, does this need accompaniment?" Zheng Wei waved her hands repeatedly and left the auditorium where the performance was held...

Boys' dorm 312. On the table by the window, there were many boards piled up, and on the floor were fallen scraps and debris. Wang Yan was polishing materials with tools; it was clear he was making a model.

"Dang, dang, dang" knocking sounds rang out, and Wang Yan shouted "Come in" without raising his head.

He had his back to the door and couldn't see who was behind him. After waiting for a while, there was no movement. He turned around and looked at the person who came in, slightly surprised: "What do you mean?"

Looking at his eyes, Zheng Wei was somewhat flustered, not knowing how to speak for a while. After a long while, when Wang Yan was about to turn back, she said: "Are you still with that Shi Jie?"

"Does it have anything to do with you?"

Zheng Wei didn't speak either, just glared at Wang Yan stubbornly, but tears slowly slid from the corners of her eyes.

Wang Yan frowned: "What on earth do you want to do?"

"Do you hate me that much?"

"Not really, it's just that I don't hit it off with you. Zheng Wei, I think I should have made it very clear, what are you trying to do like this?"

"Bastard, I hate you." Zheng Wei shouted with a choked voice, then wiped her tears and turned to run away.

Wang Yan shook his head helplessly, closed the door, and sat down to get busy again. A little girl who was tangled and had beautiful fantasies about love—he believed Zheng Wei must have had a lot to say, but she didn't say a word when she saw him; it was quite interesting...

This was a small episode in life, but this time the episode wasn't useless. Zheng Wei didn't go to play cards in the neighboring 310 anymore, nor did she appear in front of him with Ruan Guan and the others, as if she started to deliberately avoid him. He naturally didn't care; after all, he always let things take their course and didn't force them.

Zheng Wei's abnormality naturally couldn't be hidden from Ruan Guan and the others. They asked, but Zheng Wei didn't say anything, so they didn't pursue it. If she didn't want to say, she wouldn't say anything, and if she wanted to say, she would say it even if they didn't let her.

Just like that, a week passed. This afternoon, the four girls returned from class and saw a migrant worker-looking person sitting against the wall with two large pieces of luggage at the dorm door.

All four were stunned. Before Ruan Guan and the others could ask, Li Weijuan hurriedly stepped forward to greet: "Why are you here?"

The man hurriedly stood up, looking at Li Weijuan, who was quite different from his previous impression, feeling somewhat strange. He said somewhat nervously: "I came to see you." A Henan dialect made Li Weijuan frown.

"Juan'er? Who is this?" Zheng Wei asked, bumping Li Weijuan with her shoulder.

"Just a fellow villager of mine, I don't know how he found his way here." Li Weijuan forced a smile, looked at the man: "Come with me." After saying this, she turned and left.

The man responded, nodded to Ruan Guan and the others, hurriedly picked up his luggage, and chased after Li Weijuan, disappearing...

Watching the two disappear, Zheng Wei said with wisdom: "There's a problem."

Zhu Xiao Bei nodded: "I think so too, Li Weijuan was so nervous just now, and besides, this is a fellow villager, yet she didn't introduce him to us."

"Alright, can you guys not be so gossipy? Let's not ask when she comes back. Li Weijuan loves face so much, she definitely doesn't want us to know. I just saw her complexion, it wasn't very good, let's not provoke her." Ruan Guan was as considerate as ever.

"Maybe it's her boyfriend from back home." Zheng Wei grumbled and entered the room: "She keeps shouting about finding a rich man, finding a rich man, but now one like that pops up. Hey, don't look at me like that, I'm not attacking anyone personally, it's just that I don't know how to describe it. The man just now clearly didn't have money, and he was carrying big bags and small bags; he should be here to work in Jin Ling. Li Weijuan loves face and is vain, and now that we've seen it, who knows how she'll make it up later..."

"Knowing that, why are you still saying it?"

Seeing Ruan Guan and Zhu Xiao Bei glaring at her with displeasure, Zheng Wei smiled awkwardly, sat there, and played Super Mario with the controller...

Walking to an inconspicuous corner outside the school, Li Weijuan finally stopped, panting, and looked at the man who had been following behind without a word, at a loss: "Chen Liang, who told you to come find me? You even let my classmates see you... Didn't I say if you couldn't get into college, I wouldn't be with you? Why are you still looking for me?"

Knowing that he had made Li Weijuan lose face in front of her classmates, Chen Liang sighed, lowered his head, and didn't dare to look at the former girlfriend who had changed quite a bit: "I just wanted to see you. I didn't get into college this time either, and I didn't earn much from the job I found at home for more than a month, so I wanted to come to this big city to see, and maybe be closer to you."

"Closer to me? It's impossible for me to have anything to do with you anymore. Don't people have to climb higher? Isn't you coming to the big city to work also climbing higher? Who wants to be poor in that small county for a lifetime until they die? I'm a college student, you're a migrant worker, it's impossible for us anymore. Just treat me as a heartless person, it's me who dislikes the poor and loves the rich."

"Juan'er, you look better than before, it's me who's not worthy of you, you'll definitely have a future." Chen Liang finally raised his head, his eyes looking at her were bright: "Alright, I've caused you trouble, I'm leaving."

He carried his luggage and turned to leave. He had many words in his stomach when he came, but now that he saw her, many words were unnecessary. If it were any sweet talk, he couldn't say it either. Seeing her like this was quite good.

Li Weijuan watched his back, pondered for a moment, and still chased after him: "Chen Liang, wait a moment. What kind of job do you plan to find?"

Chen Liang turned around and looked at Li Weijuan, who had run up to him: "I don't know, I'll look around. Anyway, a big city like Jin Ling must earn more than our hometown."

"Then you're unfamiliar with the place, you'll be cheated without even knowing it." Li Weijuan pondered for a moment, let out a long breath, and said: "This way, wait here for a while, I'll go find my classmate to come over; he's quite capable and knows how to make money, I'll ask him to help you plan. You don't have to wave your hand; he earns more in a month than we can earn in two years of hard work, he's very capable. Besides, you came to see me, so I have to treat you to a meal. Wait for me to find him, let's talk while eating. Oh, right, when you see him later, just say you're my fellow villager, don't say too much, you know? Wait for me, I'll be right back."

Chen Liang watched Li Weijuan run away, sighed, turned to leave... then walked back, sat on his luggage, and silently watched the scenery in front of him...

"Wang Yan, someone is looking for you downstairs."

"Thanks." Responding, Wang Yan got up and went downstairs. As soon as he reached the lobby, he saw Li Weijuan standing outside waving at him. He chuckled and went out to approach: "I thought it was someone else, then just go up directly, you're so carefree, why don't you dare to go in?"

"I'm afraid of getting needles in my eyes." Li Weijuan curled her lip: "You think everyone is like Zheng Wei, so shameless? Don't talk about this, you go up and change your clothes and go out with me? I'll treat you to a meal, and by the way, ask you to help think of a way and give some ideas."

"Hey, what kind of asking, you're so polite. What's the matter, tell me first?"

Li Weijuan looked at his shorts and half-sleeve shirt: "You'd better go back and change your clothes, we'll talk while walking, it's quite chilly, I can't afford it if you catch a cold."

"Alright, then wait a moment." Wang Yan responded, turned and entered the dorm building, and walked down after a while in pants and a shirt.

【Stable running for many years, the novel app that old versions of chasing bugs are using, huanyuanapp.】

The two walked toward the outside of the school side-by-side. During the process, Li Weijuan told him about her fellow villager coming to Jin Ling to work, wanting him to help see if he could find a reliable job, or if not, help give some ideas to avoid being cheated. He naturally didn't refuse; after all, it was very simple, just something he could solve by lifting a hand.

Li Weijuan was quite kind-hearted, worried about her fellow villager being cheated, so she found the most awesome person she knew to help. In the original play, there was no indication; perhaps she helped, perhaps she didn't, but after all, she didn't know someone as awesome as Wang Yan originally, so it was highly likely she didn't help.

Of course, it was also mainly because Ruan Guan and the others had already seen this Chen Liang, and Zhu Xiao Bei had the best relationship with Wang Yan, so it couldn't be hidden easily, and he would definitely know in the future. Otherwise, based on Li Weijuan's vain and face-loving nature, she would likely not care about Chen Liang. Now it was based on the fact that everyone knew anyway, so there was no need for so many scruples, and help if she could; after all, they were old lovers, and there was always some sentiment.

And from another perspective, if Wang Yan could help, it could also let this Chen Liang feel the huge gap between him and Li Weijuan, making him cut off his thoughts and consciously stay away.

Seeing Chen Liang, Wang Yan took the initiative to shake hands with him: "Hello, Chen Liang, right? My name is Wang Yan, I'm Li Weijuan's classmate."

"Hello, hello, I'm Juan'er's... fellow villager."

"Alright, let's not stand here, let's go, find a restaurant and go eat." Li Weijuan greeted enthusiastically.

Wang Yan pointed to the luggage on the ground: "Do you need me to help you carry it?"

"No, no, it's not heavy."

There were quite a few small restaurants near the university, and Wang Yan had basically eaten at all of them; they were all okay, so he didn't pick too much, found one not far away, went in, ordered a few stir-fried dishes, and each took a bottle of Beibingyang and found a table to sit down.

Li Weijuan, who was sitting beside Wang Yan, opened her mouth: "What do you think, talk to him and let him see what he can do."

Looking at the two in front of him, Chen Liang put down the drink in his hand and mused: "I don't have any skills, I can only suffer and sell my strength. Now there are many buildings being built, and there are jobs on construction sites. I still have some strength, so I want to find a construction site to see."

Wang Yan nodded: "I heard from her that you met in a college entrance exam cram school, studied for three years and didn't get in, so you had to come out to work. Now there are quite a few college students, but there aren't that many yet. You have a high school diploma, which is better than many people. I see you are quite steady and are a person who is willing to work. Since Juan'er introduced you, I trust you too, so just work with me. 500 a month, food and housing included. If you perform well in the future, I'll promote you and raise your salary."

Before Chen Liang could speak, Li Weijuan suddenly turned to look at Wang Yan beside her: "Work with you? Old Wang, what are you doing? I haven't heard that you're doing any business?"

Before opening the tea beverage factory, Zhu Xiao Bei knew, but Wang Yan instructed her not to say it, so Li Weijuan and the others didn't know that their Comrade Old Wang was also operating a factory that had taken down a considerable market in the south.

"Low profile, low profile." Wang Yan chuckled at her: "It's a herbal tea factory. During the summer vacation, I added new production lines and started making drinks. It won't be long before you can see it in this restaurant. I won't tell you the specifics, I'll take you two to see the factory in a while and you'll know. The dishes are here, eat, eat."

Chen Liang and Li Weijuan were both burdened with worries and had no desire to talk. Moreover, saying more would lead to mistakes, and Li Weijuan didn't want Wang Yan to know too much, as that would damage her image. Chen Liang was even more so; he saw Wang Yan's confidence and composure and knew this kid wasn't ordinary, so he didn't want to cause trouble for Li Weijuan. So this meal was eaten very quietly and very quickly.

After eating, Wang Yan took Li Weijuan and Chen Liang, who was following closely, to the downstairs of the house he bought. In the suspicious gazes of the two, he took a car key out of his pocket, opened the trunk of a brand-new, square, angular black Santana, put Chen Liang's luggage in, and then opened the car door to let the two get in.

"Old Wang, this is..." Li Weijuan, who was sitting in the passenger seat, said uncertainly.

Wang Yan nodded: "I bought it during the summer vacation. The factory is very far away, so if I don't drive, I can't come back." As he spoke, he started the car, skillfully shifted gears, stepped on the gas, and drove out of the residential area.

He didn't lie; the factory was in the suburbs, and even though the scale of Jin Ling city wasn't as big as it would be later, it wasn't small either. After about half an hour's drive, they successfully arrived at a factory with the sign "Long Teng Tea Beverage" at the gate.

Wang Yan's car honked twice at the gate, and the security guard ran out to open the gate and let them in.

Inside were two six-story small buildings with mottled walls, and besides that, there were several large factory buildings. It looked quite imposing, but it was actually very simple and nothing special. Several large trucks were parked outside the warehouse, and workers were using conveyor belts to load boxes of goods into the trucks, with several large searchlights as light sources, looking very busy.

Wang Yan didn't explain either, and took the stunned Li Weijuan and Chen Liang into the factory building. As soon as they entered, the smell of medicinal herbs hit their faces. Wang Yan thoughtfully handed them masks. He himself was calm; this stuff wasn't poisonous, and he was very used to this smell.

Walking through the workshop, looking at the running machines and the busy crowd, Wang Yan introduced the production process to the two. He didn't have any other meaning, just wanting Chen Liang to understand whether this work was tiring or not. Another point was to let Li Weijuan rest assured; after all, it was a "fellow villager" introduced, and they were all good friends, so she had to be responsible for Chen Liang.

To be honest, this work was indeed not as tiring as a construction site, but it wasn't easy either; after all, it was a factory, and it was filled with blood and sweat, so how could it be really easy? He was now trying to seize the southern herbal tea market, with so many stalls, and it was a consumable, so he only had a few production lines, which couldn't keep up with supply. So the people stopped but the machines didn't, working in shifts. One shift was eight hours, with another two hours counted as overtime, which was a ten-hour shift, and it was day-night rotation, sometimes even working for 24 hours straight, so it wasn't easy.

After walking around, Wang Yan took the two back to the car: "Workshop, dorm, you've seen them, how is it? Are you doing it? If you don't want to, it doesn't matter, I can introduce you to other work. You were introduced by Li Weijuan, so I'll help you to the end, I'll definitely arrange it for you."

Without waiting for Chen Liang to speak, Li Weijuan suddenly turned to look at Wang Yan beside her: "Work with you? Old Wang, what are you doing? I haven't heard that you're doing any business?"

Chen Liang looked at Li Weijuan, who was still stunned, and nodded: "Just stay here, you have good food and good sleep, and you pay social security, and the salary is high, what else can I be dissatisfied with?"

Nodding, Wang Yan opened the trunk: "Alright, then you stay here today, I'll have someone arrange it for you, and you'll start working tomorrow. Work hard, if you do well, promotion and transfer in the future won't be a problem. I'm never stingy with those who work for me, good luck."

Habitually drawing a small pie, he found someone to arrange a dorm for Chen Liang, got him bedding and such, and after staying for a while, he took Li Weijuan and drove back to school...

"Wang Yan?"

"Mm? Why not Old Wang anymore?"

"I don't recognize you a bit." In the dark car, Li Weijuan looked at the angular side face illuminated by the dashboard on the driver's seat.

"I told you to keep a low profile, look, it's only been half a year, and you don't recognize me."

"When did you open this factory?"

"During the winter vacation last year, it's been more than half a year now."

"Seeing that you even bought a car, I remember this car should be 200,000, right? Your business must be doing very well, right?"

"It's okay." Wang Yan answered modestly. The herbal tea bags were indeed profitable, but the production lines were also money, and such a large piece of land for the factory was also money, and this car of his was also money, so it wasn't as glorious as it looked; there were quite a few loans. It was just that he had enough confidence and dared to take steps without fear of tearing his balls.

"Oh, right, don't tell Ruan Guan and the others about this, otherwise if they think too much, it will become distant. Today it was just because you asked me for help that I was exposed. In the future, let's just be as we were, don't be polite with me."

Li Weijuan chuckled: "You can rest assured, it's not easy to know a big billionaire, I definitely won't let you go."

"Hey, that's right, this state is the best."

Wang Yan guided the conversation, and the two chatted and laughed like this, parked the car in the residential area, and walked all the way back to the dorm building.

"Alright, don't worry about Chen Liang, I definitely won't mistreat him. It's getting late, hurry back, maybe Ruan Guan and the others are worried about you, I'm leaving." Wang Yan stood at the door of the girls' dorm, waved at Li Weijuan, and turned to leave.

"Old Wang!"

"Mm?"