Tang Yang’s flight to B City, booked by the New Thunder Committee, was at 7 AM on Monday. At 5 AM, when the alarm first rang, Tang Yang pulled the blanket over her head. Jiang Shiyan reached over to her to turn off the phone. At 5:10, the second alarm sounded, and Jiang Shiyan silenced it again. At 5:15, the third alarm rang. Tang Yang, groggy and uncomfortable, called out “Jiang Shiyan,” and he simply turned off her phone.
When Tang Yang jolted awake from her haze, it was already 6 AM!
“I—” Tang Yang swallowed the curse word she was about to utter, quickly sat up, and shoved Jiang Shiyan.
Jiang Shiyan frowned and pulled her close, his voice hoarse: “Why the hell are you going…”
Tang Yang pinched his waist hard.
Tang Yang whirled around the room like a spinning top, getting ready. Jiang Shiyan lazily yawned and sat up to put on his pajamas. At 6:10, Tang Yang finished preparing and changed into high heels. Jiang Shiyan went to the bathroom to splash his face and grabbed the car keys to accompany Tang Yang out the door.
Jiang Shiyan floored the gas pedal. With the early morning traffic being light, they made the usual 30-minute journey in just 15 minutes.
There was a long queue for the early flight. As soon as the car stopped, before Jiang Shiyan could say anything, Tang Yang grabbed her bag and dashed out.
She wore a dark green satin shirt dress, her fair skin making her look like a bouncing little plant. She became a small dot in the distance, her voice fading with “Excuse me,” “Could you please let me through?” “I’m running late,” “I’m so sorry, thank you,” before disappearing completely.
Aren’t airport departures in TV dramas supposed to be full of lingering affection and sweet nothings?
This…
“Hey, that Audi Y999 in front, are you leaving or not? You can only stop here for two minutes!” A traffic warden shouted through a megaphone.
Jiang Shiyan glanced up at the CCTV camera above, then at his pajamas. Feeling like a schoolboy being called out on the school broadcast, he sheepishly started the car and left, unable to suppress a smile.
Because in Tang Yang’s imagination last night, they should have arrived at the airport an hour early. Jiang Shiyan would have nagged like an old father, then given her a goodbye kiss. She would have walked away pulling her suitcase, while Jiang Shiyan watched from afar. Before entering security, she would have looked back to meet Jiang Shiyan’s reluctant but smiling gaze.
In reality, Tang Yang had raced through everything, barely making it onto the plane. As she collapsed into her seat, her only thought was “Thank heavens.”
She had run so fast that as her breathing changed from rapid to normal, her drowsiness gradually disappeared.
Tang Yang was on a small aircraft with few passengers. Some were dozing off, while others occasionally turned to look at her.
Following their gaze to herself, Tang Yang discreetly adjusted the silk scarf around her neck. As someone continued to stare, she took out a small mirror from her bag, carefully adjusting the scarf while pretending to check her reflection…
Was it that obvious?
It shouldn’t be, she had specially applied concealer.
But she had applied it in a hurry. What if she missed a spot?
Tang Yang slightly turned a corner of the scarf and indeed saw a faint reddish mark in the hollow of her neck. Her ears burning, she hurriedly covered it, only to notice another red mark at the end of her collarbone…
This man, this man…
As the plane soared into the sky with a moment of weightlessness, Tang Yang couldn’t help but think of last night. She had kindly taken a selfie to comfort him, and he had pressed her against the wall and then carried her to bed.
“We can’t do bad things, but we can do things that are almost as bad.”
He breathed into her ear, his kisses trailing downward.
He licked the two beautiful rosy peaks, then buried his face in the crook of her neck, biting, nibbling, and breathing heavily, his mouth full of her sweet scent…
Tang Yang’s body was tinged with a faint pink, whimpering and moaning, aroused beyond comprehension.
Yet Jiang Shiyan called her “baby” in her ear, his voice full of coaxing warmth. His hot palm covered the back of her hand, then guided it to touch his burning…
The flight attendant quietly asked passengers what they wanted for breakfast. Tang Yang, her little face hot, replied: “Century egg and lean pork porridge.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, you want?” The flight attendant naturally gave Tang Yang an extra look.
Tang Yang repeated herself, her face burning red as she adjusted her scarf.
An hour and a half later, after getting off the plane, Tang Yang stood by the roadside waiting to be picked up.
She turned on her phone, remembering her embarrassment on the plane. With her soft earlobes hot and red, she sent an angry message.
[Wife: Jiang! Big! Dog!!!!!!]
Jiang Shiyan had moved all his things to Tang Yang’s place yesterday. After returning from the airport, he was gradually sorting things out.
Receiving the WeChat message, Jiang Shiyan smiled and promptly replied with a [Woof], then sent her a photo.
[Jiang! Big! Dog!: I saw a bunch of sponge pads in your wardrobe’s inner compartment, similar to powder puffs but thinner. What are they? Should I put them on your dressing table?]
You know what they are when they’re next to the underwear?!!
Knowing what they are, how can you still ask?!!
Tang Yang was so angry she wanted to stuff someone in her mouth and chew them to pieces. But then her eyes caught the upper part of the photo, seeing her small intimate garments next to his most personal boxer shorts. A pink bra strap was even curled on top of the black fabric… Tang Yang’s face burned red again.
She was particularly irritable.
[Wife: I! Won’t! Tell! You!]
On the other end of the screen, Jiang Shiyan burst into laughter.
On this end of the screen.
“Deputy Tang? Are you Deputy Tang?” A woman in her early twenties gently tapped Tang Yang’s back.
Seeing the Huishang Bank logo on the woman’s chest, Tang Yang put on a reserved yet friendly smile: “Yes.”
The woman took the things from her hand: “Deputy Tang, are you feeling unwell? Your face looks a bit flushed.”
Tang Yang said softly: “It’s nothing, the air conditioning on the plane was a bit high.”
The woman responded with a couple of “Ohs, led Tang Yang to the car, and enthusiastically introduced her to B City’s overview.
Tang Yang didn’t mention that she had done her research and doctorate in B City. She listened politely, then took a photo of the roadside scenery and posted it on her Moments, commenting on how B City had changed.
Half an hour later, the car stopped at the south gate of the business district, and they got out.
The woman took Tang Yang’s ID to help her check-in at the hotel. People bustled around them, with skyscrapers soaring into the clouds. On the side of a building hung a gold-trimmed “Huishang Bank” sign.
Tang Yang shaded her eyes with her hand, squinting slightly as she walked in.
The second phase of the New Thunder Plan had 151 participants, divided into three classes, each with a class instructor. It would last six weeks and include eight courses, including physical training.
Monday morning was the opening ceremony in the Huishang Auditorium, with classes starting in the afternoon.
The average age of the participating management was around 40. Tang Yang was in Class 1, the shortest and youngest, and was unsurprisingly arranged in the front row.
Before going, Tang Yang had been full of complaints and displeasure, but once classes started, she took notes diligently. They say three cobblers with their wits combined equal Zhuge Liang. Although the commercial banking courses were relatively basic for Tang Yang, she knew she urgently needed to supplement her knowledge in other areas, such as law.
At 3 PM, the break after the first class ended, and the bell for the second class rang.
The spring sunshine was warm and cozy. Many uncles and aunties in the back rows were quietly dozing off. Tang Yang sat by the window, spinning her pen to cast various shadow shapes in the sunlight, her mind slightly wandering.
Back in high school, Jiang Shiyan used to sleep during class.
She was mischievous then, liking to tease him. Sometimes she’d cover his face with a napkin like a blanket, sometimes she’d gently touch his nose tip with paper. Jiang Shiyan’s nose would twitch and twitch until he couldn’t hold back a sneeze, and he’d usually be called on by the teacher to answer a question…
“Tang Yang, Tang Yang from A City branch’s credit review department, Tang Yang.” The teacher on the podium called three times.
Tang Yang stood up embarrassedly: “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” the pot-bellied professor gestured to the PPT with his eyes, “Please answer this question.”
The professor had already called on three people, all of whom had rambled on to save face.
Tang Yang followed the professor’s slow pace, reading the material: “In 2017, banking financial institutions’ real estate loans were based on prudence, with a non-performing loan ratio of less than 1%… B City’s real estate loan growth rate was similar to A City’s, but the starting point and growth speed were slower than A City’s. The GARCH test results for the two sets of data are…”
Question: What are the reasons for this situation?
Tang Yang thought for a few seconds, first answering from a theoretical perspective, then paused and added: “Considering the specific differences between A City and B City, A City is by the river, while B City is surrounded by mountains. A City’s development and construction speed is faster than B City’s, which necessarily leads to A City’s real estate loan rate reaching its peak earlier than B City’s. This is corroborated by the trend graph of A City’s migrant population change and the time series table of B City’s left-behind children and aging population on the previous page. The young labor force from B City is moving to and settling in A City. A City’s property market is nearing saturation while B City’s is just beginning…”
The professor didn’t stop her, so Tang Yang continued: “In last year’s Huishang Bank yearbook, the credit card negative example section mentioned ‘Three-Six Town’ in B City. It talked about going there to issue credit cards, only to find after a three-hour mountain drive that most of the town’s residents were elderly people who didn’t meet the age criteria. One in every three people was over sixty years old…”
Tang Yang’s voice was clear and pleasant, her pace moderate. After fully articulating her answer, she sat down.
The professor’s eyes showed approval: “You consider issues comprehensively, and your perspective is good… Are you from B City?”
Tang Yang politely replied: “I used to rotate positions in B City.”
Ah, a management trainee.
The New Thunder Plan’s class atmosphere was relatively relaxed. The instructor of Tang Yang’s Class 1 happened to be the president of B City’s branch, known for his ability to identify talent.
The professor asked the branch president: “Why didn’t you keep her in B City?” It doesn’t seem right.
The B City branch president half-jokingly said: “We wanted to, but couldn’t keep her.”
The B City branch president had been quite good to Tang Yang back then. Tang Yang clasped her hands apologetically to the branch president: “It was indeed for personal reasons…”
Everyone laughed and moved on to the next topic.
The cafeteria provided three meals a day.
After class in the afternoon, some people were packing up and inviting familiar faces to dinner, others were making new friends. Many people added Tang Yang on WeChat, exclaiming “Youth is promising” when they heard she was under 30. Tang Yang originally wanted to go to the cafeteria to find familiar tastes, but Chen Qiang liked her Moments post and privately messaged her saying he was in B City.
Does this count as meeting an old friend in a foreign land? Tang Yang readily agreed on a time and place for dinner with Chen Qiang and sent a WeChat message to Jiang Shiyan.
Jiang Shiyan sent her a long string of text. Tang Yang called him back while getting into a taxi.
Tang Yao arrived at Youran Residence, the place Chen Qiang had chosen. When she got there, Chen Qiang was already present.
The man, now with only one hand and seated in a wheelchair, drew many sidelong glances, but Chen Qiang appeared unfazed. Tang Yao sat down, and the waiters served their food quickly. She helped Chen Qiang with his rice and soup, passing them to him, and asked, “What brings you to B City?”
“I’m here for a financing project,” Chen Qiang joked. “Some capitalists want 30% of the original shares. Us poor folks have to work harder to get any piece of the pie.”
Chen Qiang looked much better than when Tang Yao had last seen him, and he was more talkative too. Tang Yao avoided mentioning his past, fearing it might hurt him, but Chen Qiang was quite open about it. He told her that last month, he had written a small program that was discovered and bought out by Tencent’s studio. After improvements, it became a hit plugin. The studio offered him an annual salary of one million yuan, but he declined. Instead, he bought his parents a new house and came to B City.
Chen Qiang admitted that in the past, he couldn’t get over the mental hurdle. He had been a top student at a prestigious university with a bright future ahead when he was expelled. After that, he never wanted to touch anything related to his studies again. Then, after the truck accident, he fell into severe depression…
His suicide attempt at the hospital was perhaps a form of release.
The words Tang Yao had said when she visited seemed both helpful and unhelpful at the same time. Regardless, when Chen Qiang looked back on those dark days, he chuckled and said, “How should I put it? It’s like watching someone else’s fleeting dream.”
“By the way,” Chen Qiang asked her, “how are things between you and Jiang Shiyan? How is he? I saw on Weibo that he’s quite outspoken and sharp-tongued.”
Chen Qiang felt that such words, given Jiang Shiyan’s capabilities, were complimentary, so he spoke them naturally.
Tang Yao thought for a moment before replying, “He’s an excellent cook and knows how to make many dishes. Sometimes he can be a bit long-winded and nagging, and occasionally he throws little tantrums and acts silly…”
As she thought about it, Tang Yao’s eyes softened. “Just now when I told him I was coming out to have dinner with you, he kept asking what I was going to eat and where…”
He had repeatedly reminded her to be careful with her diet, not to eat Japanese food, and to avoid raw foods since she was on her period.
As Tang Yao spoke about Jiang Shiyan, her eyes curved into crescents, as if sprinkled with tiny stars, though she was unaware of it.
Chen Qiang felt a bit overwhelmed by this display of affection. He clicked his tongue twice and took out a hard drive from his bag, pushing it towards her.
Tang Yao asked, “What’s this?”
Chen Qiang replied, “I obtained it legally. Consider it a small gift for our meeting. There’s no rush; you can look at it when you’re back in A City.”
Tang Yao wanted to say more, but Chen Qiang said he had other matters to attend to and hurriedly said goodbye.
When Tang Yao called Youran Residence to make a reservation, the manager had already put her bill under Jiang Shiyan’s name. She was, after all, the girlfriend of Young Master Jiang, their regular VIP customer. They wouldn’t rush her to leave after finishing her meal.
It was then that Tang Yao realized Chen Qiang had called her out primarily to give her this device. What was inside it?
As Tang Yao weighed the hard drive in her hand, a familiar male voice suddenly came from behind: “Deputy Tang, with your Buddha-like heart, you can even arrange to meet a loan client’s family member from A City to B City.”
Tang Yao quickly slipped the hard drive into her sleeve and turned around to see Zhou Mo seemingly coming from the direction of the restroom.
“President Zhou’s words are quite pointed,” Tang Yao said coolly.
“It’s fine,” Zhou Mo sat down opposite Tang Yao. “With so many new people coming to Xinlei, I can’t help but want to remind you that it’s lonely at the top. Kindness can often be an obvious weakness in many situations. What’s most feared is that you can’t tame the ungrateful. After Zhang Zhilan, there will be a second one. After helping Chen Qiang once, there will be a second time.”
Relieved that Zhou Mo hadn’t overheard her conversation with Chen Qiang and didn’t know about the hard drive, Tang Yao inwardly sighed with relief. “One’s circumstances aren’t something they can decide for themselves,” she said.
Zhou Mo replied, “But you can keep your distance from these people.”
Both Zhou Zisheng and Zhou Mo had told her that even a person with the best temper would feel uncomfortable being criticized twice in a row.
Tang Yao felt anger rising within her, but she maintained a smile on her face. “What work I do is my business. I don’t like others criticizing me. Since President Zhou brought it up, I might even want to develop a product that directly serves special groups if possible. After all,” Tang Yao slowly curved her lips, throwing Zhou Mo’s words back at him, “most girls are kind-hearted.”
Zhou Mo detected the gunpowder in her words and changed the subject. “So, what do you think the chances are of you staying in B City after your training if Zhou Zisheng communicates with the people here?”
Was this a threat?
Tang Yao remained unafraid. “How I was transferred back to A City from B City before, I can still be transferred back now.”
When Tang Yao was originally transferred back to A City, her relationship with Zhou Mo hadn’t soured yet. As a senior who had guided her, Zhou Mo could still chat with her occasionally.
The reason for Tang Yao’s transfer back to A City was very personal, and he knew a little about it.
Zhou Mo crossed his legs and lightly tapped his chopsticks against the bowl. “So you liked Jiang Shiyan even back then? You went to all that trouble to transfer back just to be with him?”
“I didn’t think about being with him at that time,” Tang Yao’s expression softened, and she spoke very naturally, “But because it was Jiang Shiyan, I cared.”
After Tang Yao said this, Zhou Mo fell silent.
After a while, Zhou Mo put down his chopsticks. “If it weren’t for the cookie incident, do you think we could have been… friends?”
“Friends” seemed too extravagant, so Zhou Mo changed his wording: “Acquaintances?”
Tang Yao smiled, “There are no ‘ifs’.”
Zhou Mo didn’t know what else to talk about with Tang Yao, and Tang Yao didn’t want to chat with him either, but out of politeness, she didn’t leave.
After an awkward silence, Zhou Mo excused himself and entered a private room.
Tang Yao gathered her things and also stood up to leave.
Whether by someone’s deliberate arrangement or by coincidence, as Tang Yao entered the elevator and stood still, she happened to see Zhou Mo and a group of senior executives from Jiujiang coming out of the private room, heading towards her.
Jiujiang Group had complex connections, and due to its listing, Tang Yao only knew about Jiujiang Real Estate, led by Gan Yiming’s wife, Wei Changqiu, whom she had dealt with before.
In this encounter, Tang Yao saw not only Gan Yiming’s wife Wei Changqiu but also several people who looked similar to Wei Changqiu.
Wei Changqiu was talking to the people beside her, her hand resting intimately on Zhou Mo’s shoulder. Zhou Mo raised his eyes and met Tang Yao’s gaze, his expression so bland it was almost nonexistent.
Tang Yao held her breath as the elevator doors slowly closed.
“Click.”
The soft sound of the doors closing in the space occupied only by Tang Yao was like a beam of light.
Tang Yao remembered that the factory where Chen Qiang’s father, Chen Zhanggang, had his accident belonged to Jiujiang. The ungrateful apprentice Chen Zhanggang had saved had the surname Wei. The person Chen Qiang had beaten up in college also had the surname Wei. She recalled Zhou Zisheng’s guarded expression when many people mentioned Gan Yiming’s “backing” and “father-in-law”.
Vaguely, it seemed as if something was connecting all these pieces.
Tang Yao’s heart was racing.
—-
Each member of the Xinlei program had a high-end single room. The woman who had come to pick up Tang Yao earlier was everyone’s life assistant.
When Tang Yao returned to the hotel, the things she had allowed the assistant to unpack were already arranged.
Tang Yao had left her computer in the classroom and hadn’t brought it back. Remembering that Chen Qiang said she could look at the hard drive when she returned to A City, she didn’t rush. She put the hard drive in her bag, took a shower, and curled up in bed. She began searching for “Jiujiang” online.
Jiujiang had done a lot of publicity in its early years but later seemed to have done some concealment. There were many bits and pieces of news, but nothing significant. The most detailed content was about Jiujiang Real Estate, but Tang Yao had already seen all of this, and she even had more internal data. What she wanted to know was about the parts of Jiujiang Group beyond Jiujiang Real Estate.
After flipping through over a hundred pages, Tang Yao finally saw an interview video from a few years ago – “The Eastern Rothschild, the Wei Family Consortium Behind Jiujiang”.
Tang Yao let out a sigh and clicked on it, but the screen suddenly showed static. Was the content corrupted?
Tang Yao noticed a watermark from an early marketing account at the bottom of the video and sent a WeChat message to Jiang Shiyan.
Jiang Shiyan came online to play games with his dear Tang Yao…
The two chatted over voice about “what they ate”, “B City’s Youran Residence isn’t as good as A City’s, that little spicy chicken Cheng Siran”, “meeting Zhou Mo was unpleasant”, “Tang Yao when you come here, there’s something good”, “Tang Yao, don’t hit me so hard with the frying pan, I didn’t do anything wrong, why are you abusing me, wuwuwu”…
Tang Yao’s voice was soft: “I only hit you because I like you. I don’t hit anyone else.”
The person who was whining pitifully a second ago immediately became obedient and lay down on the ground: “Come on then!”
Tang Yao let out a giggle. Her character in the game also lay down next to his. She pulled her headphones closer to her lips and said very gently and softly, “Muah.”
Her face flushed with embarrassment.
Jiang Shiyan, who had been running wild in the game earlier and even got hit by someone because he was distracted chasing his dear Tang Yao, suddenly seemed to be injected with chicken blood after receiving this kiss. He sprang up, grabbed a sniper rifle, and hid in a high spot. He aimed here, eliminated an enemy, aimed there, eliminated another.
When there were only three people left including him and Tang Yao, Jiang Shiyan put away his gun and started throwing smoke grenades frantically. Tang Yao was confused: “What are you doing?”
“Pretending we’re watching fireworks with Tang Yao,” Jiang Shiyan had just finished speaking when that person died from the shrinking play zone.
Tang Yao burst into laughter at the sight of the victory screen.
“Buzz buzz.” Just then, Jiang Shiyan’s assistant sent the original video to Tang Yao’s email.
Tang Yao opened it, and it really could be played.
Tang Yao called Jiang Shiyan. When he answered, she asked softly, “What are you doing?”
“The old man and the others want to go out to play. I went back to the old house this afternoon to bring some vegetables. Earlier, I was bathing that pig, then I was playing games with my little moon, and now,” Jiang Shiyan chuckled softly, “I’m on the phone with Tang Yao.”
Quite a few characters appeared Mr. Jiang was indeed busy with many affairs.
The two chatted intimately for quite a while about trivial matters and the night clouds between the trees. Tang Yao told Jiang Shiyan about her encounter in the elevator, and Jiang Shiyan asked, “So can you watch the video now?”
“Yes, yes,” Tang Yao remembered how she had told him earlier about wanting to tease him like before, making him get called on by the teacher, but ended up being the one called on by the teacher today. She felt playful and said sweetly and politely, “Thank you, old classmate. You’ve helped me so much, I’ll treat you to a meal next time I’m back. After all, we’ve known each other for so many years.”
Their classmate friendship could indeed be said to be very deep.
“We’ve been old classmates for so many years, and I’ve helped you with such a big favor. Treating me to a meal seems too insincere,” Jiang Shiyan was itching to pull his mischievous Tang Yao into his arms and give her a good squeeze, but instead, he mimicked her tone and said in a casual voice, “Why don’t you spend a night with me instead?”