“…That’s roughly how things are, Aunt. You must help me!”
Xia Xiaolan spoke sincerely, but Tang Youru remained silent for a long while.
Was this helping Xiaolan?
It was Xiaolan helping her.
So she was still causing trouble for Xiaolan.
This girl was still so carefully protecting her self-esteem!
Tang Youru blinked away the moisture in her eyes. “Xiaolan, I might not do this job well, I know—”
“You might have misunderstood. I’m not asking you to take on important responsibilities right away. Even though you’re my aunt, you’ll need to start learning from the beginning, starting from the bottom.”
Tang Hongwen also thought this job suited his younger sister and chimed in:
“Xiaolan’s company’s Young Eagle Launch Program with the Education Department is excellent. Now she wants to establish the ‘Young Eagle Scholarship’ as a supplementary plan. Everyone involved isn’t just earning a living – I think this work is very meaningful… Don’t you want to help change some children’s destinies? There are many children like Yuli who drop out not because they can’t study, but for other reasons. Most of them won’t have Yuli’s luck to return to school. We can’t help everyone, but helping even one counts, don’t you agree?”
Tang Hongwen spoke the truth.
Yuli was certainly a motivated girl. Even without meeting Xia Xiaolan, Yuli might have helped Tang Youru through their difficulties.
But the method might have been quite different.
Not every child who drops out of school has such luck.
With just Xia Xiaolan’s persuasion, Tang Youru couldn’t hold out for long, and with Tang Hongwen adding his voice, she finally agreed. She couldn’t start work immediately though – she needed to learn some things first.
This job required both compassion and rationality.
Just giving money to every pitiful student wouldn’t be enough even if Xia Xiaolan donated her entire fortune. The prerequisite for receiving help was putting in effort oneself – this was why all scholarships worldwide were tied to academic performance… Tang Youru would be managing scholarship distributions for Xia Xiaolan, and for this, she needed extensive training. Currently, Tang Youru has no experience at all!
So Xia Xiaolan told her she could only pay her an intern’s salary for now, less than what Tang Youru’s caregiver earned. But Tang Youru was satisfied.
A high salary wasn’t necessary – she currently only had an intern’s value.
If not for the family connection, she wouldn’t even qualify as an intern. Now countless people want to work at Qihang. Previously, Qihang couldn’t find highly educated talent even with good pay, but things were different now – even university graduates were applying.
Leaving Tang Youru’s residence, Tang Hongwen patted Xia Xiaolan’s shoulder:
“Child, you put your heart into everything you do…”
Old Tang was too embarrassed to thank her directly but sincerely felt how thoughtful his daughter was.
Xia Xiaolan smiled candidly, “I wasn’t lying though. Don’t you think this job suits Aunt?”
It was precisely because it was so suitable that Tang Hongwen felt Xia Xiaolan’s thoughtfulness.
“The Young Eagle Launch Program can continue. Last month when I went to Beijing to see Elder Song, he said the program was executing well, and the Education Department might increase funding and expand the pilot range. Make the profit you should make, and don’t stop giving back to society – that way, whatever business you do will be stable!”
With Tang Hongwen speaking so directly, how could Xia Xiaolan not understand?
Xia Xiaolan had only met Elder Song once, but she had made an impression.
Regardless of whose power one relies on in business, every patron might one day lose influence or become unable to help due to age, illness, or death. For Qihang to develop smoothly long-term, it had to rely on itself!
What leader would dislike a legally operating enterprise that paid its taxes and consistently gave back to society?
Moreover, the authorities didn’t just dislike Qihang – they showed approval. How could Xia Xiaolan not be happy?
In November, another pair of Xia Xiaolan’s friends were distributing wedding candy – Ning Xue and Jonathan had registered their marriage in America.
These two were quite willful. Both had graduated from Cornell and entered major firms, transitioning from students to working professionals with income. Their relationship remained stable, and their values hadn’t diverged after leaving campus, so what was there to discuss? They simply registered their marriage!
Reportedly, Jonathan had used his savings from working at P&W to buy an engagement ring, and Ning Xue accepted his very first proposal. They happily registered their marriage that summer, but Ning Xue only informed her family back home a month after the wedding… and not even proactively. Zhen Wenxiu had called Ning Xue several times and Jonathan kept answering, making her wonder – hadn’t they rented separate apartments? Were they living together?
Zhen Wenxiu wanted to have a heart-to-heart with her daughter, telling her to be careful and not take the final step if she wasn’t sure Jonathan was marriage material.
Just as Zhen Wenxiu had carefully prepared her words and begun speaking, Ning Xue told her:
“Mom, we’ve already registered. We’re legally married now, so Jonathan gave up his rented apartment and moved in with me.”
Zhen Wenxiu nearly had a heart attack on the spot.
As a mother, she hadn’t even known her daughter had secretly gotten married.
Ning Xue didn’t think it was a big deal – she and Jonathan were financially independent, so wasn’t marriage normal?
Zhen Wenxiu clutched her chest, hung up the phone, and took several pills. After discussing with her husband Ning Haodong, they had to accept the fact – what choice did they have? They couldn’t ask Ning Xue to get divorced, could they?
Zhen Wenxiu had met Jonathan in America. This American young man shared Ning Xue’s values and came from an American middle-class family. He was intelligent and well-matched with Ning Xue in all aspects – initially, Zhen Wenxiu liked Ji Jiangyuan, but unfortunately, Ji Jiangyuan had a mentally ill mother. Fearing Ning Xue would suffer, Zhen Wenxiu had long abandoned the idea of matchmaking between Ning Xue and Ji Jiangyuan.
Jonathan was better. America was different from China – children were expected to leave their parents and form new families after coming of age. It was common for parents to live in one state while children worked in other states or even abroad. Jonathan’s parents couldn’t influence Ning Xue – this was what satisfied Zhen Wenxiu most.
So, Zhen Wenxiu had no objections to Jonathan as a son-in-law; she objected that they had resolved this major life event on their own!
Zhen Wenxiu and Ning Haodong’s compromise was that Ning Xue and Jonathan must return to China for a wedding ceremony.
Ning Xue thought it was too troublesome, but Zhen Wenxiu countered:
“You might live in America, but we’re all in China. This wedding isn’t just for you – it’s for the family. Your father and I can’t bear the gossip!”
What kind of secret marriage was this?
Jonathan, who married Ning Xue, wasn’t someone to be ashamed of!
Zhen Wenxiu was adamant about this, and this time even Ning Yanfan didn’t side with Ning Xue: “Xue, don’t float in the air. Architecture is architecture, life is like – a good architect can’t exist detached from life.”
Architectural art was for human appreciation, so architects themselves couldn’t detach from social communal life. As always, Ning Yanfan hoped Ning Xue could stay grounded!