Chapter 147: Live Streaming System from the Sky (22)

"I heard the imperial court is building postal stations? When will they be finished? This old man wants to send some Peking University specialties to my second uncle at the border, and while I'm at it, ask him if he can buy fresh mutton there. Seeing the Little Marquis eating with such relish, this old man also wants to taste the beef and mutton from beyond the pass. Thinking back to those years..."

"The imperial court is building postal stations? Is that for real? Like the express delivery from the Heavenly Palace? Can non-officials send mail too?"

"The notices have been posted for several days now, how could this be fake? They've already been built in the towns around Jingcheng, but the postage isn't cheap—the further it goes, the more expensive the postage!"

"That's normal! After all, we don't have the wide, smooth imperial roads of the Heavenly Palace, nor the two-thousand-li-per-hour giant flying chickens. Being able to spend a little money to send letters and items to distant friends and family is already the Emperor's grace, seeking welfare for the common people!"

"The Emperor is wise! This move is a good policy that benefits the people!"

"The Emperor is wise! I hope that one day our Daliang can also develop the kind of long-distance rail transport vehicles from the Heavenly Palace! I went to Jingcheng to take the imperial examinations, and my bones were rattled to pieces by the carriage; I was truly terrified by the shaking."

The Minister of Revenue felt a tightness in his chest upon seeing this barrage comment.

Then he let out a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that the key to long-distance rail transport vehicles is the technology that allows them to run along tracks without being pulled by horses!

Without this technology, what use is it to just know how to build tracks?

It is said that the Ministry of Works has been ordered by the Emperor to gather craftsmen to study it, but he reckoned it wouldn't be figured out for three, five, or eight years.

The Emperor had only recently ascended the throne, and between granting general amnesties and reducing taxes, the national treasury's income and expenditure were severely unbalanced.

The curious items of the Heavenly Palace are fine to just look at; stop coming up with this idea and that idea—the Ministry of Revenue really can't scrape up any more money!

In the blink of an eye, two months passed, and Xie Yang took her nephew and niece from Northern Xinjiang all the way south, playing until they reached a southern coastal city.

The calendar also moved from the end of May to the end of July.

In July and August, students of all levels across the country are on summer vacation, and tourist attractions are packed.

But since they were already here, how regrettable would it be not to take the children to see the sea, play in the sand, and taste the seafood just caught from the ocean!

Therefore, no matter how crowded it was, Xie Yang still took her nephew and niece to join the bustle and came to the island for a vacation.

Fortunately, she acted quickly; while she was still in Chang'an City admiring peonies and touring the city that never sleeps, she had already booked the rooms at the island resort hotel.

If one waited until they arrived to book, let alone family suites, even ordinary standard rooms would be impossible to snatch up.

The prices of five-star resort hotels during peak season are not cheap, yet they are still in such high demand.

It is mainly because the location is truly excellent, looking out over the stretch of sea with the best view.

The white sand beach facing the main entrance belongs to the hotel and is separated from other beaches by a fence made of Palm Trees and coconut groves, with security guards occasionally watching, so there are relatively far fewer tourists.

It was already two o'clock in the afternoon after checking in, and after coaxing the two children to take a nap, around four o'clock, Xie Yang brought her nephew and niece to this white, fine-sand beach, which had few people and beautiful scenery, to play in the sand and look at the sea.

Having rented three lounge chairs and one oversized sun umbrella, Xie Yang lay on a lounge chair wearing sunglasses, while her nephew and niece dug in the sand and built castles nearby.

Looking up, the sea and sky were one color, the blue waves vast and boundless; looking down, she sipped coconut water, occasionally snapping a few photos of the children—how pleasant!

"Xie Yang? Is that you, Xie Yang?"

A voice sounding somewhat uncertain came from not far away.

Xie Yang looked toward the sound.

"Oh! It really is you, Xie Yang!"

"Hu Qinqin?"

Xie Yang was quite surprised to meet her college roommate here, even though this roommate didn't have much of a friendship with her.

"It's me! It's been so long, you wouldn't have failed to recognize me, would you? You haven't changed much."

Hu Qinqin sat down on one of the lounge chairs with familiar ease.

She was here with her husband to make up for their honeymoon.

They got married on May Day, but they were too busy at that time and couldn't get leave, so the company agreed to let her move it to July.

She hadn't expected the beach in July to be so crowded, and more than half were children digging in the sand; she would step into sand pits dug by children every few steps—one pit here, one pit there—and it was easy to sprain an ankle if she wasn't careful.

It was so different from what she had imagined!

She had thought she could walk slowly hand-in-hand with her lover on a beach with a gentle sea breeze, watching the sunset glow and the shadows of sails on the sea... In reality, it wasn't romantic at all.

It was only when her husband said that there was a beach here exclusively for the hotel, where there were fewer tourists, that she followed him and quietly circled around from the coconut grove in the back to get here.

Her feet were blistered from walking in high heels for so long, and seeing someone had rented a sun umbrella and lounge chairs, she also wanted to rent a set to sit down and rest, but upon asking, she learned that while the lounge chairs and sun umbrellas here were free, one had to show a room card to rent them.

Since they weren't staying at this resort hotel, they had no room card, so they had to give up.

She stared enviously at that oversized sun umbrella and the three lounge chairs underneath it again and again, thinking to herself that it really is a case of "some have too much while others have nothing at all"—some people rent three and only use one, while others want to rent but can't.

After staring for a long time, she realized that the woman on the lounge chair looked more and more like Xie Yang, which is why she walked over.

Seeing the coconut water in Xie Yang's hand, Hu Qinqin felt thirsty too; she sent her husband off to buy a drink, then tilted her head to look at Xie Yang and asked with a half-smile, "Where are you working now?"

Time really has been kind to Xie Yang; three years after graduation, she still looks exactly the same as when she was in school.

If one really had to talk about changes, it would be that she has become more beautiful and confident.

Unlike herself—although the bank is a good place to work and others are envious when they hear it, only she knows the hardship involved.

Before she got in, she thought bank work was so leisurely—going shopping, buying things, and drinking coffee on weekends, going to bars with colleagues and best friends after work at night...

After she got in, she discovered that all of this was just a fantasy!

In the actual daily work routine, when it gets busy, let alone having weekends occupied, one often has to stay late at night for meetings and overtime.

After three years, she felt like she was being squeezed dry; a large handful of hair would fall out every time she washed it, and her skin was dry and dull.

Compared to Xie Yang, there was at least a five-year age gap.

This made Hu Qinqin feel both envious and jealous.

Xie Yang didn't know how she maintained herself; whether it was the luster of her hair or the fairness and smoothness of her skin, it was even better than when she graduated.

Could it be because she was too busy with work and had no time for skincare or hair care?

"Our bank is really too busy. We held the wedding on May Day, and my marriage leave was delayed until now before I could take it."

Hu Qinqin complained and acted affectionately at the same time:

"My husband insisted on making up for the honeymoon, so we came to the island to play for a few days. What about you? Did you take annual leave or was it a recuperation trip organized by your unit?"

Not all companies have recuperation leave.

Especially for private enterprises, even those of a relatively large scale, they would at most organize a short-distance spring or autumn outing during the spring or autumn seasons, or hold some kind of team-building activity nearby.

Paid recuperation and vacation benefits exceeding three days are generally only available to those within the system, those with public institution staffing, or a few of the top-tier monopoly enterprises in the country.

Yet she remembered that Xie Yang had not taken the civil service exam, nor had she heard of her applying for the internal recruitment of a Silver bank, and she hadn't even seen her prepare a resume.

This made her increasingly curious about Xie Yang's workplace.