Chapter 67: 066 Some People, Once Seen, May Never Be Seen Again

066 Some people, once you've met them, you may never see them again for the rest of your life.

"Mount Daliang? That's the most remote and poorest place in Sichuan Province."

"Exactly, that's why I'm going there because the conditions are bad. If they sent me to Chengdu, what would be the point?" Li Ye said with a smile.

"Wow, Li Ye, Zhang Dongwen, I admire you, I really do admire you both," a girl said.

"It's nothing, just one year, it'll go by fast," Li Ye replied.

"I propose we all raise a toast to Li Ye and Zhang Dongwen, wishing them a smooth trip to Sichuan Province!" Liu Shuai said, raising his glass.

Everyone raised their glasses one after another.

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

After the gathering ended, some classmates wanted to stroll around campus, saying they hadn't been there in over a year and really missed it.

Fang Qingye didn't go.

He decided to see Li Ye and Zhang Dongwen off.

Some people, once you've met them, you may never see them again for the rest of your life.

So he said to Li Ye, "What time is your flight? I drove here—how about I give you a ride to the airport?"

"It's at 4:30 in the afternoon. That would be too much trouble for you," Li Ye said.

"We're all old classmates, what's there to be polite about?" Fang Qingye said with a smile. "Are you going back to campus to pick up your luggage? In that case, I'll go to the hotel, drive over, and wait for you right at the graduate student dormitory. How does that sound?"

"Sure, that works."

Fang Qingye then returned to the hotel, checked out, and drove straight to campus.

The School of Finance was on the Guoding Road campus. It was also the start of the new semester, so Fang Qingye carefully drove to the graduate student dormitory building in the middle of campus and found a parking spot.

He didn't know exactly which dorm room they were in, so he simply leaned against the railing under the shade of a tree and waited.

Students were coming and going all around him.

He suddenly thought of a campus folk song he had once sung.

My dearest brothers

Walk with me around the winter campus

Tell me about

Those pretty girls

And the silver-haired professors

Now it's not winter but early autumn, with lush branches and leaves, and indeed there are many pretty girls.

At that moment, he saw Liu Shuai walking toward him along the tree-lined path.

"Qingye, I'll come with you to see Li Ye and the others off," Liu Shuai said.

"Aren't you going to walk around campus?"

"Nothing much to see. Besides, I'm in Shencheng—I can come whenever I want."

As the two were talking, they saw Li Ye and Zhang Dongwen each come out of the dormitory building pulling a suitcase.

After putting the luggage in the trunk, Fang Qingye drove straight to Hongqiao Airport. When they reached the terminal building, he helped the two take their luggage out.

"Li Ye, Zhang Dongwen, I wish you a smooth journey. If you need any help after you get there, just give us a call. We may not be able to help with big things, but small things we can certainly handle," Fang Qingye said.

"Sure, if I really run into difficulties, I'll reach out to you old classmates for help! Goodbye!"

"Goodbye! Have a smooth trip!"

Watching the two of them drag their suitcases into the terminal, Fang Qingye and Liu Shuai finally drove back.

In the car, Liu Shuai sighed and said, "Honestly, I really can't understand what Li Ye and Zhang Dongwen are doing."

"Why?"

"They finally got into grad school—wouldn't it be better to graduate a year earlier and start earning money a year sooner? Why insist on going to Sichuan Province to teach?" Liu Shuai said.

"I heard Li Ye's family is well-off. His dad is a big boss back in their hometown, so he doesn't have to worry about food or clothing," Fang Qingye said while driving.

"Right, I know a bit about Li Ye's family too. He was the first person in our class to buy a laptop. I still remember—back in sophomore year, he even drove a Mercedes from home to campus, and the whole class was buzzing about it."

Liu Shuai continued with a smile, "Rich kids think differently from me. My family is in a rural village in northern Jiangsu—we're pretty poor. To be honest, I did everything I could to get into Shencai, because I knew a career in finance would make me big money."

"Actually, it's not that hard to understand," Fang Qingye picked up the thread. "In his book The Moon and Sixpence, Maugham wrote a line like this: Pursuing a dream is pursuing your own misfortune. On a street littered with sixpences, he looked up and saw the moonlight. Li Ye and the others are chasing their own moon."

"I can't do it, so I think I'm especially ordinary," Liu Shuai sighed.

"We're all ordinary people," Fang Qingye said, both hands on the steering wheel, turning his head to glance at Liu Shuai in the passenger seat, with a faint smile.

"Just—when we're bending down to pick up sixpences, we shouldn't mock those who look up at the moon. Of course, it wouldn't hurt to occasionally look up and admire the moon ourselves."

"Heh... Qingye, it's only been a year since graduation, and I notice you've changed a lot," Liu Shuai said.

"Changed how?"

"You're no longer the cynical, world-weary person you were in school. You've become much more composed and calm."

"Have I? I haven't really noticed... Maybe it's from staying in a small county town too long—I've lost some of my drive."

"Looks like your little life is treating you pretty well."

"It's alright, relatively relaxed."

As the two were chatting, Fang Qingye's phone rang. He glanced at it and saw it was Xia He calling, so he answered via Bluetooth.

"Xiao Fang, where are you? At home?" Xia He's voice came through the earpiece.

"No, I'm in Shencheng. I just finished a college classmate gathering and was about to head home. What's up?"

"Oh? I have a gathering too, and I want to bring you along."

"What gathering?"

"Director Qin from the Provincial Financial Office is coming to Jinghai City for an inspection. He's a Shencai graduate, so several Shencai alumni working in Jinghai want to take this chance to get together. Director Qin is heading back to Huijing tomorrow, so the gathering is set for tonight. I'm driving from Huijing to Jinghai right now... Don't go home, come straight to Jinghai. Once you're in the city, give me a call."

Another gathering...

Fang Qingye couldn't help but shake his head, yet he agreed anyway.

"Alright then, I'm driving, so I'll hang up first."

"Okay, bye, see you at Jinghai."

After Fang Qingye removed his Bluetooth earpiece, Liu Shuai, sitting in the passenger seat, asked with concern, "What's wrong? In a rush to get back?"

"My boss, the branch manager of Nanxin Branch, is also a Shencai graduate. He said there's an alumni gathering tonight at Jinghai."

Fang Qingye briefly explained the situation.

"That's great news, go quickly!" Liu Shuai said immediately after hearing it. "Alumni are one of the most important networks! And that Manager Xia of yours seems to be quite fond of you."

"He is quite fond of me."

"For us newcomers just entering the workplace, having a superior who treats you well is a blessing earned over countless lifetimes," Liu Shuai sighed. "Qingye, you must seize this opportunity and build a good relationship with your Manager Xia!"

Fang Qingye smiled and changed the subject.

"Liu Shuai, where do you live? I'll drive you there."

"Forget it, my place is quite remote, and it's in the exact opposite direction from the hotel you're staying at. Take the exit at North Ring Road Overpass, drop me off at the entrance of Songhong Road Metro Station, and I'll take the subway back."

"Alright then."

Twenty minutes later, Fang Qingye parked the car by the roadside near the metro station.

Liu Shuai got out of the car and said to Fang Qing.

"Qingye, keep in touch. If you come to Shencheng for business, don't forget to find me. We're classmates and both in the banking system; it's beneficial for us to visit each other more often."

"Understood!"

"Good then, drive carefully and stay safe on the road! Bye!"

"Bye!"

After Liu Shuai entered the metro station, Fang Qingye did not rush onto the elevated highway. Instead, following the navigation, he found a China Merchants Bank nearby, opened a new account for himself, and only then got back on the elevated highway, heading straight west toward Jinghai.