My first instinct was to decline this task – I wasn’t the only one who could go to the factory area. However, before I could speak, the other young man said, “Haven’t I seen this colleague before?”

He smacked his forehead, “Zhuang, isn’t she the one who was chatting with you downstairs at the residential complex?”

“Yes,” Zhuang Xu stood up and said, “What a coincidence, Miss Nie was my university classmate.”

Section Chief Wu was both surprised and pleased, “What a coincidence indeed! Let’s hurry over then.”

Section Chief Wu led the way out of the conference room, with the unfamiliar young man gathering his things and following.

Zhuang Xu stayed behind, stopping at the doorway, holding the conference room door, and turning to look at me.

Outside, Section Chief Wu turned back, somewhat puzzled.

I stepped out.

We walked out of the office building together.

The young man who introduced himself as Wang Alex was quite talkative. “Sorry, we went to other companies first, so we’re late getting here. We’ve delayed your getting off work.”

“It’s no problem, no problem,” Section Chief Wu said repeatedly.

“Is the factory area far from the office area? Do we need to drive? Zhuang is still on sick leave, I called him to help because he previously handled your company’s business, though he’s no longer in our department…”

Before he could finish, Zhuang Xu interrupted him, “I’m fine.”

Section Chief Wu looked Zhuang Xu over: “I was wondering why Mr. Zhuang didn’t look well. Should I call a driver? Though we’ll have to wait a bit.”

“No need, I’m perfectly fine, thank you, Section Chief Wu.”

Following behind them, I had just finished sending a text message when I heard this and looked up at his back – he had indeed grown notably thinner.

The factory area wasn’t far, but the weather was hot, making the walk uncomfortable. Halfway there, we encountered employees leaving work, and we walked against the flow of people to reach the new factory area. Alex took out his camera, “Section Chief Wu, as I mentioned before, we need to take some photos for documentation. Don’t worry, these photos won’t be made public.”

Post-loan inspection included this step, so Section Chief Wu didn’t object, “What we’ve agreed you can photograph, you can photograph.”

After Alex finished photographing the factory’s exterior, we led them inside to inspect the production line. Section Chief Wu wasn’t as familiar with this part as I was, so I did all the explaining from start to finish.

As we walked, I explained everything concisely, from the production process to the production line’s performance and capacity, as well as some financial data like average costs.

Soon the entire production process tour was complete, and we reached the end. Standing by the equipment, Alex asked me: “Miss Nie, I saw the copy of the production line purchase contract – you bought second-hand equipment. Why didn’t you import the most advanced equipment from Europe?”

“It was mainly based on two considerations,” I answered seriously. “First, of course, is cost – both the cost of the production line itself and transportation costs. The second is time – the country has recently introduced many favorable policies, and we’re very optimistic about market expectations. Purchasing production lines domestically allows us to begin production as quickly as possible to catch the first wave of opportunity.”

“If you’re so optimistic, why not go all the way?” Alex said, “If you predict the market will see a big surge, wouldn’t it be better to buy the newest equipment before others react, rather than being harvested by equipment vendors at high prices when demand rises?”

I explained patiently: “We’ve studied the performance data of the latest foreign equipment, and compared to what we purchased, there’s no fundamental breakthrough. As for being harvested later… perhaps in a few years, we won’t need to buy equipment from overseas anymore?”

Alex was visibly shocked: “Miss Nie thinks photovoltaic production equipment can be completely domestically produced in the future?”

“Gradually domesticated, I think this is the future trend. We believe the entire photovoltaic industry chain will be domesticated in the future, with upstream and downstream fully integrated.”

“Alright, Miss Nie is indeed very optimistic.” Alex shrugged, his expression disagreeing with what I said. “You and Zhuang are indeed schoolmates, with similar views. Last year, China’s entire photovoltaic industry suffered a severe blow, and all major banks tightened loans. We were hesitant about whether to lend to your company, but Zhuang’s industry development research report and trend predictions played a big role. Zhuang, did you pay such close attention because of Miss Nie?”

He said it jokingly.

While I was talking with Alex, Zhuang Xu maintained a detached attitude, his gaze lingering on the equipment. Now that Alex mentioned him, he turned around and said flatly: “I didn’t know my classmate Nie worked here. I had just joined last year, my research report couldn’t have influenced my superior’s decisions.”

I stopped arguing with Alex and smiled politely: “Thank you anyway, Classmate Zhuang. Mr. Wang, you don’t need to worry too much. You must have already checked our collateral – the bank never loses, right?”

Section Chief Wu secretly gave me a thumbs-up and laughed, “Why don’t we stop standing around talking? There’s a small conference room ahead, let’s rest and have some tea.”

Section Chief Wu made a gesture of invitation, leading Zhuang Xu and Alex toward the conference room.

After walking a bit, he fell back a few steps and said to me quietly: “This Alexander is a bit arrogant, not like your classmate. Too bad he changed departments and isn’t handling our company anymore. This Alexander – the bank isn’t doing charity, why does he have so many opinions? You answered well just now.”

I said: “No need to mind too much, just be polite.”

Section Chief Wu said: “Of course, I see Director Dai’s intention is to not take loans from Bank A anymore anyway, since we’re mainly focusing on domestic business now.”

I nodded.

The small conference room was rather basic, and used for workshop meetings. After entering, Section Chief Wu invited everyone to sit on either side of the conference table, and I poured tea for them. Alex asked a few more questions, then glanced at Zhuang Xu and stood up, saying: “Section Chief Wu, where’s the bathroom? Could you show me?”

Section Chief Wu also stood up: “It is a bit hard to find, I’ll take you there.”

Section Chief Wu led Alex out of the conference room, and the room suddenly fell silent.

I was surprisingly calm inside, no longer thinking about avoiding him, quietly waiting for him to speak.

Zhuang Xu’s expression was also calm and undisturbed. Perhaps due to his recent illness, his cheeks were slightly sunken, and sitting in the chair, he looked pale and thin.

His gaze fell on his cup: “I’ve been here before, didn’t expect you to be here.”

My eyelashes flickered slightly, but I didn’t speak.

“Even went to your finance department.”

“Fate is strange, isn’t it?” He raised his eyes to look at me, “At university graduation, I thought you would work in Shanghai. At the job fair before graduation, I submitted several resumes for you, all near Bank A. But you never appeared, and I couldn’t help calling, but your phone was always off. I also called Jiang Rui, also off. Later when I returned to Nanjing, I went to Jiang Rui’s house, and Aunt Zhang told me you and Jiang Rui had gone abroad to study.”

“When I saw you again on New Year’s Day, you said you were already with Lin Yusen, that you had just gone for a study tour. Now Jiang Rui tells me you weren’t together then.”

I finally stood up: “I’m sorry, I need to get back to work.”

“Why run?” A desolate smile played at his lips, “Do you think I would come to interfere in someone else’s relationship? I just…”

“I don’t know why I came.”

His gaze fell to the table, “What did I do wrong, Nie Xi Guang?”

I was silent for a moment: “What did I do wrong?”

A suffocating silence spread.

I stood up and walked toward the door. As I pulled it open, a soft question came from behind, “On New Year’s Day, why did you lie to me? I could accept many reasons, but such a missed opportunity – don’t you regret it, Nie Xi Guang?”

I gripped the glass door, and it was a while before I spoke: “Zhuang Xu, there’s one thing I’ve always wanted to confirm with you.”

He looked at me: “Go ahead.”

“In university, I asked Ye Rong, and she told me you were just neighbors who weren’t very close, that’s why I confessed to you. I had no intention of stealing someone else’s love. I sent you text messages explaining this before, but you never replied. Did you receive them?”

This time he took a long time to answer: “I received them. I…”

I interrupted him: “Then I have no regrets.”

My eyes felt a bit hot, but I was glad my words were clear: “I’ve proven my innocence. I have no regrets.”