Could the project be saved?

Ask Xia for investment.

How could that be possible? That’s not a small amount of money.

Xu Jing was stunned by his friend’s idea. “I wasn’t clear earlier – Xia came to look at the house, but it was her uncle who paid for it…”

“It’s all the same! Even if she’s not rich herself, she knows rich people!”

Xu Jing’s friend was overwhelmingly excited. Xu Jing, being more clear-headed, quickly covered his friend’s mouth while Xia Xiaolan was away getting drinks: “Lower your voice! Haven’t we been laughed at enough about our project? Before you even consider whether Xia has thought about it, put yourself in her shoes – if you came to a party and two unsuccessful people tried to persuade you to invest a large sum in some project, would any sane person believe in it?”

Moreover, Xia Xiaolan was just a young girl.

She came to America as an exchange student, had no financial troubles at home, and had a bright future ahead – why would she bother with two strange men?

Xu Jing barely knew Xia Xiaolan; they had only interacted during the house purchase. Once money was mentioned, wouldn’t Xia Xiaolan run away as fast as she could?

Xu Jing’s friend gradually came to his senses and realized Xu Jing had a point.

“You’re right! We need to take it slow and earn Xia’s trust first.”

They should get to know Xia Xiaolan first, become familiar with each other, and then discuss other matters.

As for his and Old Xu’s “project,” it had been barely surviving for so long anyway – what difference would a little more time make?

When Xia Xiaolan returned with drinks, Xu Jing’s friend had composed himself:

“Miss Xia, I haven’t properly introduced myself. I’m Ma Hai, and like Old Xu, I study computer science.”

“Senior Xu studies computer science?”

Since Xu Jing mentioned he was no longer teaching, Xia Xiaolan adjusted her way of addressing him.

This was certainly a trendy major.

It was also a very promising field, or rather, a field with great “money prospects.”

In 1981, IBM launched the first true personal computer, the IBM 5150. Although this beige box only had 16K bytes of memory and cost over $1,500, it could use cassette tapes to download and store data and came with a floppy disk drive… While personal computers were still rare in China in 1986, Americans were gradually embracing them.

$1,500 was an acceptable price for middle-class families.

Thinking about the coming years, from computers evolving into the internet and the resulting waves of wealth, Xia Xiaolan sincerely praised them: “Both seniors have great foresight – this is truly a promising field!”

Much better than studying architecture.

If one studied computer science abroad for a few years now, they could be an industry leader for many years after returning home!

For architecture students like Xia Xiaolan, unless they went into real estate development themselves, those who didn’t do well could easily end up as construction site supervisors.

Xia Xiaolan’s sincerity was evident to both Ma Hai and Xu Jing.

Ma Hai was both surprised and delighted that Xia Xiaolan had such high regard for their field.

Xu Jing felt embarrassed though. “The major is great, but I only started studying it after coming abroad. I haven’t studied long enough and I’m not very good at it.”

His ex-girlfriend Xiang Li had chosen his major for him after he came abroad.

Computer science was unfamiliar to Xu Jing, and he had to spend an enormous time on his studies. Perhaps focusing too much on studying, he had neglected to accompany his girlfriend, and after frequent arguments, she had broken up with him.

Ma Hai believed Xiang Li had dumped him because he had no money and had fallen into Li Yong’s arms.

Xu Jing himself felt it was because of their lack of communication that their feelings had faded, leading to their breakup.

As Xu Jing was thinking about this, Xiang Li couldn’t help herself and came over with a drink:

“Xu Jing, you know them?”

Ma Hai spoke with an unfriendly tone, “Miss Xiang, does Xu Jing need to report to you about who he knows?”

“I’m just concerned about Xu Jing. If we can’t be lovers, can’t we at least be friends? Ma Hai, your thinking is so narrow-minded!”

Ma Hai downed his drink in one gulp: “I’m narrow-minded? If I were narrow-minded, I wouldn’t have owed—”

“Ma Hai!”

Xu Jing felt deeply embarrassed. “Please stop.”

He didn’t answer Xiang Li’s question either.

Xu Jing felt awful; six months after their breakup, he still couldn’t forget Xiang Li, and that was what hurt the most.

Compared to love, was money really important?

He knew why Xiang Li had come over – back in China, she would get jealous whenever other girls talked to him.

Xu Jing didn’t want to think too badly of Xiang Li, attributing her probing to old habits… but this made him feel even worse. Xiang Li still maintained her old habits, yet they were no longer together.

Li Yong appeared quite magnanimous, seemingly unbothered by his girlfriend talking to her ex-boyfriend.

Xu Jing couldn’t stay at the party any longer. He put down his glass, not even caring about the abundant food at the party, and pushed his way through the crowd.

Ma Hai called out anxiously: “Hey, Old Xu, Old Xu, wait up! Miss Xia, let’s keep in touch!”

Ma Hai was sweating profusely, torn between his fleeing friend and a potential investor gleaming with golden opportunities, unsure which to give up.

Fortunately, Xia Xiaolan had picked up on the situation.

Whether it was Han Jin or Li’s girlfriend Xiang Li, Xia Xiaolan wanted to avoid such situations altogether.

Women who got needlessly jealous were impossible to communicate with.

But getting jealous over talking to Li Yong was one thing – did she need to control who talked to Teacher Xu too?

She had issues.

Seeing Ma Hai sweating profusely, Xia Xiaolan used this as an excuse to leave as well. “Let me give you my contact information, otherwise how will we keep in touch?”

The three of them left one after another, while Xiang Li stood there biting her lip, lost in thought.

…

Xu Jing hadn’t gone far; he was sitting on the steps right outside the house.

Ma Hai put his hand on his shoulder, seeming to both apologize and complain:

“Old Xu, why can’t you stand up for yourself just once? Think about it – Xiang Li’s the one who owes you money, but now it looks like you owe her money, running away at the sight of her! What’s the deal with that? I’ve seen Li Yong driving the car you bought plenty of times, so why doesn’t he help Xiang Li pay you back for the car?”

Xu Jing responded in a muffled voice:

“This isn’t about money at all. What would you know? You’ve never even had a girlfriend.”

That struck a nerve with Ma Hai.

So what if you had a girlfriend?

You got dumped anyway. True friends stab each other without hesitation, so Ma Hai immediately counter-attacked:

“Right, right, right, it’s not about money – it’s about you not having any money!”

You shouldn’t keep provoking an honest person. Just then, Xia Xiaolan came out for some air. Xu Jing looked up and saw her, and in the heat of the moment:

“Miss Xia, would you be interested in investing in a project? It’s something Ma Hai and I are working on. We both think it can make money, but no one will invest in us, and we’ve used up all our own money. Now the project is stuck halfway…”

Ma Hai wanted to cover Xu Jing’s mouth.

Hey, hey, hey, didn’t they just agree to take things slowly?

Even if they were seeking investment, there was no need to expose their weaknesses – this would scare away even the most foolish investor!

But Xia Xiaolan wasn’t scared away, though she was puzzled how the conversation had suddenly jumped from relationship drama to investment projects.