Gao Baoliang came from the train station and hadn't had dinner yet.

Wang Xiufen cooked for him while listening to his recent situation.

Lin Chen even took out a bottle of Moutai from his collection and wanted to have a drink with him.

The two children were still awake. Jiang Ning helped them wash up and put them to bed. Then she came to the dining table and chatted with them.

"I quit my job!"

Gao Baoliang's words were like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples.

"Didn't you say in your last letter that you were going to be promoted to deputy director? Why did you resign?"

Lin Chen and he had been corresponding, not very closely, but they would contact each other once every few months.

"It's a long story. I was too persistent, which caused the bureau to be criticized by higher-ups for its low case-solving rate. Then, someone reported me, so I just resigned."

While eating, Gao Baoliang briefly recounted the process.

It turns out that after he was transferred to the city's public security bureau as the captain of the criminal investigation team, he had been tracking down throat-slitting cases.

Through his investigation, he became increasingly convinced that Li Jianfeng had not died, but had instead fled.

As for where he fled to, he suspected it was to Guangzhou.

However, after three years of effort, he still couldn't find Li Jianfeng's whereabouts.

The bureau then asked him to close the case as soon as possible. After all, there was already a perpetrator in the throat-slitting case, and there was no need to look for the perpetrator's missing son. It would only waste a lot of police resources.

He certainly disagreed. If Li Jianfeng was really not dead, then he would be a threat to Lin Chen's family.

“You really need to be careful. The country has now relaxed the restrictions on population movement. Unless you work for a government agency, you don’t need a letter of introduction to go anywhere. Although Li Jianfeng has lost an arm, he is still in great danger.”

This was part of the reason he came to the capital.

He's a former criminal investigator, so he can step in and protect them if anything happens.

Lin Chen nodded gravely, and after a long pause, he said:

"Let's not talk about that. What are you planning to do after you get here?"

Gao Baoliang naturally shook his head. After being a policeman for so many years, he really didn't know what else he could do.

There's no way he could get into the public security system here!

"If you haven't decided what to do yet, you can work with me for a while and resell things. I'll be busy with my graduation project this year, so I won't be able to focus on business."

Lin Chen patted him on the shoulder and said.

Gao Baoliang agreed: "That's great. I don't have any big ambitions, as long as I can eat."

Jiang Ning chuckled: "How could I possibly lack food for you? I'll prepare a room for you in a bit, and you can stay here from now on."

Oh, by the way, do you want to give Meng Jiao a call?

"Telephone?"

Gao Baoliang then looked around the room and saw a small wooden box covered with a white cloth next to the sofa, inside which was a bright red telephone.

Lin Chen had indeed made money; his house was fully furnished with all kinds of furniture and appliances, and he even had a telephone.

This level of skill is probably better than 90% of the locals.

However, instead of calling her right away, he wanted to go to the school to find her and give her a surprise.

Meng Jiao would write him a letter every ten days or so, telling him about her recent situation and what was happening here, and he would reply to every letter.

Last time, she told him about meeting Jiang Ning while she was with Li Jiabao, and he rarely replied to her letters after that.

He would even advise her that being with Li Jiabao was a good thing, since the two families were of similar social standing and it would be a powerful alliance.

As for our connection, let's leave it at Chayuan Village.

Of course, Meng Jiao still held onto her previous thoughts; she wouldn't give up and would continue to wait for him.

Now that we've entered a period of reform and opening up, if he really wants to be with her, he should drop everything and come over.

The next day, Gao Baoliang followed Lin Chen into Tsinghua University.

After making some inquiries, he quickly found Meng Jiao.

At this moment, Meng Jiao was giving a speech in a large classroom. She was poised and confident, and her speech was very engaging, winning applause from her classmates and teachers from time to time.

Gao Baoliang silently sat down in the last row of the classroom and waited quietly for the get out of class to end.

However, after Meng Jiao finished her speech and the teacher announced the end of get out of class, several boys immediately surrounded her.

Gao Baoliang immediately noticed that the boys' youthful eyes were filled with admiration for Meng Jiao.

With her increased confidence, Meng Jiao became even more charming and popular.

His gaze turned complicated.

He began to hesitate, wondering whether he should appear before her...

Just as Meng Jiao was surrounded by people wanting to go on dates with her, she suddenly looked up and saw Gao Baoliang sitting in the last row, quietly watching her.

She was first shocked, then delighted.

Then, she pointed to the back of the classroom and said to the boys:

"Do you see the man sitting over there? That's my boyfriend."

The group all turned to look at Gao Baoliang, who had a buzz cut and an upright expression, which immediately deflated their spirits.

Wow, Meng Jiao's boyfriend is so handsome! They really can't compare.

A few minutes later, Gao Baoliang and Meng Jiao walked side by side on the school's tree-lined path.

Gao Baoliang was very happy and wanted to hold Meng Jiao's hand, but she shook him off.

"Didn't you just say I was your boyfriend?" Gao Baoliang stopped and looked at her with a smile.

Meng Jiao pouted: "That was just a temporary measure for me; you were just a tool. You haven't written to me much these past few years, so why do you think we can still be the same as before?"

Gao Baoliang knew she was angry, so he quickly hugged her and coaxed her:

"Don't be angry anymore, I'm here now, aren't I? You don't know how much I've missed you and my heart aches every day during this time apart."

Meng Jiao, remembering his words about her marrying someone else, poked his chest hard and said in a cute but fierce tone:

"You're kidding me! Humph, if you don't come soon, I'm really going to marry someone else!"

Upon hearing what she said, Gao Baoliang felt as if his heart had been stabbed, a dull ache throbbing within him. He quickly pulled Meng Jiao into his arms, holding her tightly.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I've decided to stay in the capital, make something of myself, and marry you."

Meng Jiao's heart softened, and she rested her chin on his shoulder, crying softly.

She herself never imagined that a brief relationship she had during her time in the countryside could stay in her heart for so long.

Fortunately, Gao Baoliang did not disappoint her.

What are you planning to do here?

The two of them held hands and started strolling around the campus.

Meng Jiao was most concerned about his job.

Hearing him say he was going to do business with Lin Chen, she said somewhat nervously:

“Doing business isn’t a long-term solution. How about I ask my dad to arrange a job for you? You used to be a criminal investigator, so this kind of job shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Gao Baoliang felt this was inappropriate: "I don't want my future father-in-law to find me a job. Besides, I'm from out of town. Even if I get a job, there's no chance for promotion. Am I supposed to just sit on a fixed salary for the rest of my life?"

Lin Chen is my brother since childhood. He said he'd take me into business, and he definitely wouldn't cheat me.

Seeing his insistence, Meng Jiao didn't say anything more.

She probably never imagined that a few months later, he would earn enough money to buy a courtyard house through his business.