Shi Niannian was dissatisfied with Jiang Wang’s baseless jealousy and his claims about her classmates having inappropriate thoughts about her. She had been upset with Jiang Wang about this matter more than once, but today she was utterly proven wrong.

Shi Niannian stared at the blushing young man standing in front of her, who was holding a pink letter with a hand-drawn heart on it.

She took a step back, somewhat stunned: “I’m married, you know.”

The young man looked up at her and pressed his lips together: “I know that. I’m not trying to come between you two. It’s just that we’re about to graduate, and I still wanted to let you know that I like you. Just for you to know, that’s all.”

“…” Shi Niannian looked at the letter awkwardly, her heart beating a bit faster—not because of the confession, but because she felt strangely guilty about listening to another man say these things behind Jiang Wang’s back.

Seeing her silence, the young man pushed the letter forward again: “Just look at it once. You can throw it away afterward, it doesn’t matter.”

Shi Niannian bit her lip: “Take it back. I’ve been married for almost two years. It’s not appropriate for me to receive this kind of letter. The thesis defense is about to start—I should go. You should hurry and prepare, too.”

After speaking, she quickly pushed open the door and left, lowering her head as she ran downstairs. Not watching her path, she bumped into someone at the corner, her forehead hitting hard against their chest.

The familiar scent of the man enveloped her. Shi Niannian rubbed her forehead and looked up, only to see Jiang Wang looking down at her, one hand still resting on her waist from when he caught her.

“Why are you running so fast? You almost fell,” he said in a low voice, frowning slightly.

Several school leaders were standing behind him. Shi Niannian quickly stepped out of his embrace, looking him up and down. The man was dressed quite formally in a suit with his tie fastidiously knotted—his usual work attire. He probably hadn’t come specifically to find her.

“What are you doing at the school?” Shi Niannian moved closer and asked softly.

Jiang Wang raised his hand and pinched her face: “You’ll know soon enough.”

Shi Niannian didn’t understand.

Jiang Wang added: “Your defense is coming up, right? Go prepare first. I’ll come find you later.”

Six months ago, Shi Niannian had started working on an innovative project in collaboration with graduate students from other departments. It was a project combining medicine and technology with tangible innovative results, which was also the subject of her graduation thesis.

She waited in the preparation room. She knew her thesis content by heart and didn’t use these final moments to review again. Instead, she turned her head to look out the window.

Two years of graduate school were coming to an end, in this place where Jiang Wang had also studied for four years.

Looking out from the window of this room, the First Teaching Building was right in front. Classes had just ended, and students were pouring out of the entrance, walking with umbrellas, chatting, and laughing. The bicycle shed was also crowded with people.

“Next, Shi Niannian, please get ready.”

Someone at the door called her name. Shi Niannian calmly turned her attention away from the window, tapped the thick stack of printed papers on the table to straighten them, and carried them to the glass conference room next door.

She didn’t feel particularly nervous. She had prepared thoroughly. Her thesis advisor was Chen Qing, known for being strict—she had revised her thesis countless times. The professors on the defense committee probably couldn’t be stricter than Chen Qing.

Shi Niannian took a deep breath at the door and walked in.

She bowed at the entrance and introduced herself: “Good day, professors. I am Shi Niannian, and my graduation thesis is about…”

She calmly finished her self-introduction before looking up at the row of professors. Suddenly, her gaze froze as she spotted a familiar figure, causing her to almost trip as she walked forward.

Jiang Wang leaned back slightly, the corners of his mouth lifting imperceptibly.

Shi Niannian had no idea how Jiang Wang could be directly involved in her department’s thesis defense, sitting among the professors, but this wasn’t the time to ask.

She regained her composure and opened the pre-loaded PowerPoint, methodically beginning to explain the background of her topic, reasons for selection, current development status, and so on.

After finishing her presentation, the school professors asked several questions, which Shi Niannian answered one by one.

The young woman stood confidently at the front, clearly explaining key points, difficulties, and innovations. She wore a simple white short-sleeve shirt and jeans, her hair in a ponytail, with a few loose strands at her forehead tinted warm by the sunlight.

In front of Jiang Wang was a printed copy of Shi Niannian’s thesis. He had already read it at home, as her project involved some technical aspects that required his expertise.

He flipped through the thesis, listening to Shi Niannian’s voice—gentle yet firm—feeling an inexplicable sense of pride.

When the professors finished their questions, the main examiner turned and asked: “Does anyone else have any questions?”

Jiang Wang stopped twirling the pen between his fingers. The man’s deep voice emerged: “Did the technology transformation outcome mentioned in your thesis participate in an innovation project?”

This question was one to which he already knew the answer, but Shi Niannian still nodded obediently: “Yes, it did.” She then mentioned the name of the national innovation activity in which she had participated.

Jiang Wang followed up with two more questions related to the technology. During the project, Shi Niannian had primarily been responsible for medical support, and her understanding of the technical aspects wasn’t extensive, so she explained based on her memory.

Jiang Wang’s questions were quite professional, and Shi Niannian set aside her confusion to answer seriously.

After the defense ended, just as she left the conference room, she received a call from Professor Chen.

Shi Niannian had become Chen Qing’s last student. After her graduation, Chen Qing would retire. People jokingly called her Chen Qing’s “final disciple.”

“Professor Chen, you were looking for me.” Shi Niannian knocked twice on the door before entering his office.

Chen Qing’s office was mostly packed up, with just a few things remaining. He asked: “Is your defense over?”

Shi Niannian: “Yes, just finished.”

“A company has contacted us about the innovation project you uploaded earlier. You might want to check it out.”

The innovation project required uploading the results to a relevant website for judging. What made it different was that various companies could log in to see the innovative projects and invest in producing those that interested them, though few people got such opportunities.

Shi Niannian was taken aback, her mood lifting: “Alright, I’ll check it right away.”

Chen Qing took out photos that had been tucked in his desk drawer and placed them in a cardboard box—a thick stack of photographs. He had taught for so many years and had countless students; truly, his students were spread far and wide.

Shi Niannian stepped forward to help with one of the boxes: “Professor, let me help you with this.”

“Can you manage it?”

“Yes, it’s fine.”

Chen Qing didn’t refuse. His car was parked across from the college building. He was a fashionable old professor, with white hair, who drove himself to and from work every day.

“Will you continue seeing patients after you stop teaching?” Shi Niannian asked.

“What’s the point of seeing patients after retirement?” Chen Qing waved his hand dismissively.

He had always been reserved by nature. In the two years Shi Niannian had studied and interned with him, she had rarely seen him smile.

As they passed through the flower beds and the fountain, Chen Qing carried a cardboard box in one hand while opening the car lock with the other. Suddenly, the rear door opened, and an elderly white-haired woman shakily extended her foot.

Chen Qing quickly ran over, the keys at his waist jingling: “What are you doing out here?”

The elderly woman looked up, her smile creating ripples of wrinkles: “You’ve taught for decades and now you’re retiring. I wanted to welcome you.”

“Why do you need to welcome me? Your legs aren’t good.” Chen Qing placed her leg back inside the car and closed the door again. He opened the trunk and put the box inside. Shi Niannian placed her box inside as well.

She smiled and said, “You and your wife have such a good relationship.”

“Hmm.” Chen Qing acknowledged.

He spoke very little. Shi Niannian thought the conversation had ended, but then she heard him say: “My wife had a small surgery recently. At our age, there are always some ailments. In these last moments, we should cherish the people in front of us.”

In these last moments, Shi Niannian was startled.

In the end, Chen Qing left stylishly, waving to Shi Niannian with his back turned, without saying goodbye, and drove away.

Shi Niannian stood there for quite a while before finally letting out a long breath.

She had already interned at the hospital for some time. In her department, she rarely encountered life-threatening illnesses. Huang Yao was in neurology and sometimes faced situations where patients anxiously asked about their diagnosis, but Huang Yao couldn’t bring herself to tell them when the test results showed only a few months of survival.

Later, Huang Yao had sought out Shi Niannian once. The two interning young women, wearing white coats, sat in the quiet, empty hospital stairwell. Huang Yao cried inconsolably, unable to adapt to such a work environment, seeing so much separation between life and death every day, and witnessing patients’ tearful faces.

At that time, Shi Niannian didn’t know what to say and simply sat quietly beside her, waiting for her emotions to stabilize.

Now, seeing Chen Qing’s decision, she felt more at peace. Many regrets come from the guilt of “I could have done better,” so he decided to retire and cherish the people around him in his final years.

Graduation season came at the height of summer. Shi Niannian stood there for a while, then crouched down to sit on the flower bed steps. She took out her phone and logged into the innovation project website.

There was an unread message, with an envelope icon bouncing at the top.

She clicked on it, and the message popped up, leaving her stunned.

Jiang Wang had come to listen to presentations about projects with tangible transformation outcomes. Jiang Corporation was interested in expanding into the pharmaceutical field, and after listening, he had already identified several investment intentions.

“So I’ll send you the details of those projects afterward. You can systematically evaluate them before contacting them. The school will notify them in advance,” said Dean Fan of the Medical School.

Jiang Wang nodded: “Good, thank you for your trouble, Dean Fan.”

The group went downstairs together. At the entrance, the dean asked: “How will you be returning, CEO Jiang? Shall we arrange for someone to take you back?”

Jiang Wang looked around, finding Shi Niannian sitting by the flower bed, and smiled faintly: “No need to trouble you. I still need to find someone.”

Dean Fan followed his line of sight and squinted, recognizing her: “Oh, that’s our department’s student Shi Niannian, Professor Chen Qing’s last student. She did quite well in her defense just now. You probably selected her project, too. Would you like to meet her now?”

Dean Fan, unaware of the situation, marveled that the legendary CEO Jiang from the Business School was indeed worthy of his reputation for eagerly seeking talent.

Then he heard him say, “We know each other.”

Jiang Wang laughed softly and said in a deep voice, “She is my wife.”

On the way home, Shi Niannian sat in the back seat and held her phone in front of the man: “Is this your investment?”

The words “Jiang Corporation” were prominently displayed on the screen, with a unique logo in the upper left corner.

Jiang Wang asked the driver to turn up the air conditioning and ruffled her hair: “Yes.”

“You came to our school to attend the defense just for this?”

“Yes.”

“You’re investing in my project.” Shi Niannian leaned against him, playing with his fingers. “What if I lose money for you?”

“That’s why I have conditions.”

Shi Niannian turned to look at him: “What conditions?”

Jiang Wang turned slightly and, ignoring the presence of others, bit her ear and said, “Work at my company this summer.”