Zhou Cheng visited Kang Wei but had to return to the academy.
Discipline was discipline – occasional leniency was possible, but no one could break rules indefinitely.
Zhou Cheng might have some special privileges, but that depended on the situation. Most times, once he put on his uniform, he had to follow orders. If he wanted complete freedom with his time, fine – take off the uniform!
Xia Xiao Lan felt her boyfriend needed psychological counseling, but Zhou Cheng’s leave was too short to give her a chance to dig deeper.
What could she do?
“How about I come visit you next month?”
It was already mid-March, and meeting next month would be wonderful, but Zhou Cheng worried about her getting tired from traveling between cities.
“I’ll just sleep on the train, and when I wake up, I’ll be there. It won’t be tiring. Don’t worry, I’ll ask Shao Guang Rong or Kang Wei to help buy sleeper tickets. We’re not tight on money now, I won’t try to save on this.”
Zhou Cheng smiled, remembering their trip to Yang Cheng to get merchandise.
“You might look delicate, but you can handle hardship. Still, I hate seeing you suffer. Feel free to use the money Grandmother gave you – she definitely won’t miss it. We’ll show her more filial piety in the future.”
Money only had meaning when spent; unused, it was just numbers on a bankbook.
What could Xia Xiao Lan say? She was grateful that Zhou Cheng, living in the 80s, shared her views on spending… otherwise, just on this point of consumption habits, who knows how long it would take them to adjust!
Increasing income was more important than reducing expenses – only those capable of increasing income could say this.
Zhou Cheng’s willingness to let Xia Xiao Lan spend freely came from his previous cigarette business savings of several hundred thousand. Otherwise, with his monthly salary of just over a hundred yuan, he wouldn’t dare make such claims.
Before leaving, Zhou Cheng still worried about Xia Xiao Lan: “The money I gave you to manage is for you to spend freely. Don’t put my money in the bank while taking out loans yourself.”
She even used her own money to give red envelopes to Zhou’s elders. His wife was too generous – Zhou Cheng felt like he was living off her!
He handed over his savings – it wasn’t like he was expecting Xia Xiao Lan to make a fortune with it.
“I know, I’ll use it. Don’t worry about settling the Shi family, I’ll discuss it with Aunt Guan.”
Even after the train started moving, Xia Xiao Lan lingered on the platform.
Having met just before the New Year, this separation wasn’t as hard. As long as Zhou Cheng was at the academy, they’d have chances to meet. Xia Xiao Lan purely worried about her boyfriend – Shi Kai’s sacrifice had changed him from before.
The conflict between Gao Fei and Fang Shi Zhong led to both Xia Xiao Lan and Zhou Cheng’s growth.
But this time it was Zhou Cheng alone. While Xia Xiao Lan could share the burden of the Shi family matters, she couldn’t share the psychological pressure.
“Zhou Cheng, you can do it.”
Xia Xiao Lan didn’t return to the hospital – Guan Hui E had taken charge there, and Xia Xiao Lan had her things to handle.
As soon as she returned to school, Ning Xue stopped her. “Are you still going to Grand View Garden this weekend?”
Xia Xiao Lan wanted to go, but this weekend was the 16th and 17th – both her family’s store and Luna’s store were opening. She needed to help at home.
“I can’t make it to Grand View Garden this weekend. For the parts I’ve already drawn, Ning Xue, could you take a look?”
Xia Xiao Lan didn’t want to be useless. Regardless of why Ning Xue cared about her studies, Xia Xiao Lan couldn’t let people down… She always tried to be someone who made others proud, not disappointed. Before discussing time constraints, she needed to show Ning Xue how far she’d gotten with her limited time – this showed Xia Xiao Lan’s attitude!
Xia Xiao Lan brought out the floor plans she’d been drawing. The white paper showed many erasure marks – her early drawings weren’t professional, but you could see her efforts to become more professional.
For the overall floor plan of Grand View Garden, Xia Xiao Lan had nearly finished.
Ning Xue’s assignment included detailed partial views – Xia Xiao Lan needed to draw each building, not just the overview.
“Not bad, just draw faster.”
This was the highest praise Ning Xue could give. She returned the drawings to Xia Xiao Lan:
“I’m not trying to make things difficult for you. You started in architecture too late. If you follow the department’s teaching pace, by graduation you’ll only be an architecture student, far from being an architect. You need to put in more effort than others and stay ahead of them. One step ahead leads to staying ahead. You need more practice – if you can’t even draw good floor plans, we can’t move to the next step.”
Hua Qing’s Architecture Department trained future architects.
What Ning Xue said might have been Ning Yan Fan’s intention – they thought Xia Xiao Lan should move faster, not completely following the department’s teaching plan but staying ahead of it.
If she stayed consistently ahead, by graduation, Xia Xiao Lan might be an “architect” rather than just an architect-in-training.
“I understand, I’ll work hard!”
Xia Xiao Lan didn’t see this as a bad thing. Ning Xue’s words aligned with her values.
Time spent on important things wasn’t wasted.
Xia Xiao Lan felt she and Ning Xue had a lot in common – they should have become friends… but Ning the academic genius only befriended other geniuses. After repeated setbacks, Xia Xiao Lan felt a bit intimidated.
Seeing Ning Xue about to leave, Xia Xiao Lan couldn’t help calling out to her.
“My family’s clothing store is opening in a few days. Would you like to come take a look?”
Ning Xue’s cold gaze made Xia Xiao Lan almost surrender. “I’m not asking you to buy clothes, though of course you can if you like something. I mean, doesn’t girls’ friendship usually start with shopping together?”
Girls’ friendship?!
Ning Xue found those female classmates who linked arms going to the cafeteria, attended classes together, and even went to the bathroom together, clingy and childish.
Couldn’t they handle their own business? Why did they need someone else’s company?
Remembering Ning Yan Fan’s words, Ning Xue stiffly nodded: “Alright, I’ll come.”
When Ning Xue agreed, Xia Xiao Lan was startled.
The academic genius’s expression was so rigid, clearly treating friendship as a diplomatic mission.
Xia Xiao Lan silently felt sorry for Ning Xue for three seconds!
…
Yang Cheng.
Chen Xi Liang couldn’t stay hidden forever. With Luna’s opening approaching, he still needed to manage the store.
A Hua’s unexplained stay in Yang Cheng, despite his hatred for Xia Da Jun, still needed to complete the young master’s tasks. Having just met Ke Yi Xiong, he had the gang leader help find this elusive Boss Chen.
Chen Xi Liang was different from before. Ke Yi Xiong sent Cao Liu personally to ‘invite’ Boss Chen.
Professional work needed professional handling. Cao Liu quickly tracked down Chen Xi Liang:
“Boss Chen, our boss invites you for morning tea. Your business is doing well, why must you go against Cheng Rong Group?”
Chen Xi Liang wasn’t afraid of Cao Liu anymore.
He used to be, but now his perspective was different. Looking at Cao Liu again, he wasn’t so frightening.
“Brother Liu, since when did Boss Ke start mixing with Hong Kong people? Getting involved in small matters for a Hong Kong company… doesn’t sound too good, does it?”