“I heard Xia Xiaolan invited you to her home. Why didn’t you go?” Ning Yanfan asked, puzzled.

Ning Xue paused. “Nothing is interesting about it. We’re not particularly close.”

Xia Xiaolan had invited her roommates from Room 307 to her home. Ning Xue wasn’t very familiar with them, and she thought her presence might make the Room 307 residents uncomfortable. Ning Xue knew she wasn’t easy to get along with and wasn’t used to socializing. She didn’t want to spoil the atmosphere.

Maintaining friendships requires energy. If it weren’t for her grandfather’s request, Ning Xue wouldn’t have had so much interaction with Xia Xiaolan. As for being friends with Xia Xiaolan, Ning Xue wasn’t opposed to it, but it was impossible to expect her to be more proactive. Their relationship hadn’t reached the point of visiting each other’s homes. Ning Xue didn’t understand—classmates and friends were in two different states. Being classmates happened because they got into the same school, chose the same major, and were assigned to the same class. How could these circumstances automatically transform classroom relationships into friendships?

When Ning Xue expressed her doubts to her grandfather, Ning Yanfan was surprised: “Xue’er, how can you think like that? The bonds between classmates are pure and precious. The school environment is uncomplicated. Although you all come from different family backgrounds and have different genders and personalities, you chose to study architecture for various reasons… This shared interest is rare and valuable. When people share the same aspirations, they can become friends. You won’t find opportunities like this again.”

What did classmates compete over?

They competed over academic performance, competitions, and scholarships.

These competitions were healthy.

Once Ning Xue left campus and was assigned to work anywhere, competition between colleagues would become more meaningful. The struggle for promotions and evaluations would never end. Competition between colleagues belonged to the adult world, and it was much harder for colleagues to become true friends.

Ning Xue pondered this thoughtfully.

Ning Yanfan said she needed friends. Looking around, Ning Xue found only Ji Jiangyuan and Xia Xiaolan somewhat agreeable.

Ji Yala had lowered Ning Xue’s opinion of Ji Jiangyuan. She thought he was too weak, unable to stop Ji Yala’s unreasonable behavior, which disappointed her.

As for Xia Xiaolan, she gave Ning Xue complex feelings.

Sometimes she would do things Ning Xue admired, making her want to categorize Xia Xiaolan among the intelligent people, but then Xia Xiaolan would do something Ning Xue disapproved of.

Ning Xue felt a sense of disappointment in Xia Xiaolan’s potential… she felt this thought was dangerous—why should she care so much about how Xia Xiaolan behaved?!

…

Xia Xiaolan’s roommates had an enjoyable half-day at her home.

Liu Fen found them enthusiastic, and they found Liu Fen reasonable and easy to get along with. Without other disturbances, the courtyard was peaceful, they could speak freely, and the meal was a result of everyone’s collaborative effort.

Cooking skills were secondary; the joy and fun were what mattered most.

So everyone was quite happy during their first visit to Xia Xiaolan’s home.

After Xia Xiaolan saw them off, Liu Fen was still smiling. She could tell her daughter was popular in the dormitory. Having so many friends made Liu Fen very happy!

It was worth noting that back in the countryside, Xia Xiaolan had no friends.

Partly because Xia Xiaolan was competitive and difficult to get along with, and partly because of the village environment. Take Xia Hongxia, who was the same age as Xia Xiaolan and her cousin, for example—they were always at odds, and Xia Xiaolan had never brought classmates home.

“How was it being Master Ning’s assistant today?”

Xia Xiaolan took out her notebook. “Spent the whole day taking measurements. Master Ning had his granddaughter guide me. She’s in our major too, and her academic performance is exceptional!”

Liu Fen knew who Ning Yanfan was from Xia Xiaolan’s previous explanations—a highly respected architectural master in China. A freshman serving as Ning Yanfan’s assistant? Even graduate students had to be carefully selected, usually with a doctorate as the minimum requirement!

This was all thanks to Grandmother Yu’s connections.

Liu Fen felt very grateful, though Grandmother Yu hadn’t thought much of it.

If Xia Xiaolan were too foolish, Ning Yanfan wouldn’t have accepted her anyway. It was Xia Xiaolan’s merit that got her into Huaqing’s Architecture Department. This served as a threshold, allowing Grandmother Yu to mention her to Ning Yanfan, especially since Ning Yanfan’s granddaughter also studied architecture at Huaqing.

“Ah Fen, you’re going to Yangcheng tomorrow. Have you packed?”

This trip to Yangcheng couldn’t involve carrying cash. The two stores in Xidan and Xiushui Street needed to be stocked with spring clothing, requiring at least seventy to eighty thousand yuan.

With the current value of Chinese currency, it was like carrying seven to eight hundred thousand in future terms… Liu Fen being a woman traveling alone made Xia Xiaolan worried. If it weren’t difficult to get leave from school, Xia Xiaolan would have accompanied her mother.

Liu Fen had made several trips to Yangcheng and wasn’t afraid of traveling far.

After selecting goods and making payment, everything would be transported back by train. She didn’t need to carry anything herself.

The difficulty lay in selecting merchandise. Having opened two clothing stores at once, what if the goods she chose didn’t sell?

Xia Xiaolan told her not to worry:

“There’s no such thing as clothes that won’t sell, only salespeople who aren’t working hard enough.”

While others had street stalls, Xia Xiaolan opened stores.

While others hired anyone, Xia Xiaolan taught everything from etiquette to sales techniques, all to make things easier for Liu Fen.

The only thing they couldn’t completely delegate to store employees was sourcing merchandise—this had to be done by Liu Fen personally.

The next morning, Xia Xiaolan personally saw her mother off on the train, then went to Da Guan Yuan to take measurements and draw plans. The weekend’s hard work left Xia Xiaolan so exhausted she fell asleep as soon as she hit the bed.

In Pengcheng.

At the same time, Du Zhaohui had also finished his busy schedule.

During the New Year holidays, the Du family’s smuggling boats were raided again. Only Du Zhaohui had a peaceful New Year; things were reportedly chaotic in Hong Kong. Du Zhaohui was genuinely busy, and Xia Ziyu’s mysterious prediction had been forgotten, just as Xia Ziyu herself had long since left Pengcheng for Beijing.

There was still no news of the missing Xia family members, and Du Zhaohui hadn’t searched earnestly.

Xia Dajun was just a bodyguard—how could a bodyguard’s family compare to the group’s hundred-million-yuan investments in the Special Zone?

But on March 11th, when Du Zhaohui woke up at noon from his hangover, an assistant knocked and entered.

“Young Master, something big happened in the Soviet Union… The original leader passed away due to illness yesterday, and a new leader took office this morning.”

The assistant spoke haltingly.

The Soviet Union, that huge country, seemed to treat selecting leaders like a joke. The dynasty changed overnight, and the news hadn’t even been released yet. It was only because Du Zhaohui had people specifically monitoring Soviet developments that the assistant could report this news now.

“What did you say?!”

Du Zhaohui had forgotten about this matter. What did this mean—was Xia Ziyu, a female college student, capable of prophecy, or did she have some remarkable intelligence channel?

The assistant repeated the information, but Du Zhaohui still found it hard to believe.

Until the evening news broadcast, news of leadership changes in a neighboring country couldn’t be ignored.

The evening news not only reported this news but also introduced the Soviet Union’s new leader—a former agricultural official who, through compromise and negotiation between various forces, unexpectedly became the leader of the red superpower.

The evening newspaper was published almost simultaneously with the news broadcast. In Beijing, when Xia Xiaolan saw the newspaper, she finally remembered what major event she had forgotten—the succession, the leader who would ultimately bring about the Soviet Union’s demise, had stepped onto the historical stage on this very day!