direction
"Good afternoon, students. I am Pan Yue, the founder of the Campsite As Promised brand..."
With a sudden buzzing in his head, Zhu Shiyi couldn't help but stretch out his face and grin from ear to ear.
She closed her eyes, rubbed her eyelids, and then opened them again.
The people standing on the stage haven't changed.
That figure, that voice.
...
Shocking, utterly shocking;
Doubt, utter doubt.
Time and time again.
Is this some kind of ghost?
How could such a coincidence happen in the world?
"Hey, third floor, hurry up and pick a hero, you didn't ban them just now!" A strange man suddenly urged through the headset.
With only a few seconds left to select heroes, the first player chose a marksman, and the second player locked in a mage.
Zhu Shiyi's heart tightened, and he quickly and randomly selected a mage.
"What are you doing on the third floor? Didn't you see that the second floor already picked a mage? Pick a support!" the male voice angrily berated.
Fortunately, the person on the fourth floor reacted quickly and locked down the mage in the last half second.
Zhu Shiyi quickly typed: "Sorry, my good brothers and sisters, I have something to do. Can we restart?"
"What do you want? Why didn't you say so earlier?" the male voice asked again.
Zhu Shiyi made up a story on the spot: "My fourth uncle is about to give birth, family members, please, please let me start over."
The male voice didn't speak again, and the person on the fifth floor posted a few periods.
The fifth floor also chose the mage, and the game restarted.
Zhu Shiyi breathed a sigh of relief, took off his headphones, and looked at the podium.
That was close! I almost got yelled at for going AFK and ruining my teammates' game.
"Today's lecture topic is career planning."
Pan Yue wore a long-sleeved black shirt and suit trousers. Behind his half-covered black-rimmed glasses, his sharp profile was undeniable.
"Wow, this guy is so handsome..." The classmate next to Zhu Shiyi grabbed Zhu Shiyi's hand and shook it excitedly.
Zhu Shiyi silently supported him.
She opened the group messages, scrolled up, and located the lecture notification.
“Pan Yue, founder of the MEETING brand and an outstanding young entrepreneur in Jinrong.”
There's no mistake.
Is the world really that small?
"The topic of today's speech is," Pan Yue said calmly on stage, "how to make good use of professional skills and apply them to your career."
Pan Yue cut straight to the point: "I'm just throwing out a brick to attract jade."
“Let me first introduce my resume,” Pan Yue said, pointing the laser pointer. “After graduation, I worked at a travel company for two years, and then started a business with acquaintances. We are building a campsite brand called ‘Ruyue’.”
“There are many camping brands on the market,” Pan Yue paused, “most of them are established brands that design and sell camping equipment.”
"As for 'Ruyue', it is an emerging brand in its early stages and does not have an advantage in the camping market."
Zhu Shiyi then realized the difference between the two words.
The "camping" brand and the "campsite" brand.
“To solve this problem, companies should adopt a strategy of avoiding direct competition,” Pan Yue said forcefully. “To be precise, ‘Ruyue’ is a campsite brand. As the name suggests, it only operates camping areas, and its main product is service, not merchandise.”
"This is the first point I want to make: innovation."
Zhu Shiyi almost couldn't keep up with the pace.
...Is this what the lecture is like?
Shouldn't they first present a bunch of social analysis data, talk about the importance of career planning, then offer some motivational platitudes, and finally leave the audience disappointed during the Q&A session with no one answering their questions?
“Innovation is not about wild imagination, but about capturing market demands and data,” Pan Yue continued, turning the page. “As we all know, the tourism economy was not doing well in the past few years because of the pandemic.”
“When the economy is sluggish, there will be a trend of favoring low-priced products.”
"The lipstick effect," Zhu Shiyi murmured to himself.
Report: She received this question in advance.
People around also answered one after another.
“Yes,” Pan Yue nodded, and the page switched to a line chart. “Data shows that camping popularity continued to rise in 2021-2022.”
The bar chart slides in: "Jinrong, a trendsetting new first-tier city, ranks second in the country on the list of popular camping destinations."
“Camping, a short-term, low-cost, suburban outdoor activity, has a potential market,” Pan Yue concluded.
Zhu Shiyi listened intently.
Pan Yue spoke on stage, starting with the practical problems faced by campsites and the various solutions.
It provides detailed explanations from the perspectives of production, operations, and marketing, interspersed with various professional knowledge.
Zhu Shiyi suddenly realized that their professional courses had this purpose.
I used to complain that my major courses were too varied and seemed useless.
Before I knew it, the lecture was coming to an end.
Pan Yue gave many concluding remarks, but Zhu Shiyi only remembered one.
"Ultimately, it comes down to understanding yourself and improving your abilities."
......
Understand yourself and improve your abilities.
Considering the current plans.
Which direction should we take?
The postgraduate entrance exam is too tiring. If she doesn't switch majors, she'll have to study advanced mathematics, which she knows nothing about, and she doesn't want to.
She doesn't want to study a different major; she doesn't want to learn.
Are you taking the civil service exam or applying for a government job?
Here's a joke: Yuecheng Culture and Tourism Bureau doesn't accept applicants with a culture and tourism major. Meanwhile, first-tier cities are scrambling to fill positions with no restrictions.
She actually prefers to find a job directly.
But she is a liberal arts student from a non-prestigious university, and she wants to find a job in her field in Yuecheng, a first-tier city that is not a tourist destination.
......
It would be a miracle if they could find it.
In Yuecheng, even primary school teachers need to have a master's degree.
Given her current situation, even if she were to desperately try to be someone's slave, no one would want her.
It's more practical to sell coconuts on the beach.
She needs to find a way to improve herself, work hard, and prepare to become a beast of burden.
How can I improve myself?
...
A thunderous round of applause erupted from the audience.
Zhu Shiyi was half-asleep.
In a daze, she clapped lightly a few times.
During the final Q&A session, a young man asked Pan Yue how he made the decision to quit his job and start his own business.
Pan Yue's reason was straightforward: "Working in a big company is too tiring."
He paused for a moment: "Of course, the most important thing is to have start-up capital."
Zhu Shiyi understood it perfectly.
How many self-made tycoons are there?
It's all thanks to their financial power that they have the confidence.
“I’ve weighed many factors,” Pan Yue said, his tone softening and becoming more approachable, “but my partner is different; he can make a decision in the time it takes to eat a wonton.”
Zhu Shiyi blinked.
This person sounds like Lin Changren, right?
So, these two people can decide such a big thing just by having a meal?
Zhu Shiyi sighed.
...
The lecture ended on time.
Ni Yuqi texted her five minutes ago: I can't concentrate on studying, how about we go eat barbecue together!
Zhu Shiyi: I refuse. You'd better hurry up and start learning.
Zhu Shiyi had a poor appetite and wanted to eat something light.
For no apparent reason, I thought of clear soup wontons.
Zhu Shiyi: [I'm going to eat wontons at the South Gate.]
Ni Yuqi: [crying]
The wonton shop at the South Gate is said to have been open for over ten years.
The wonton wrappers are thin and the filling is plentiful. A mouthful of wonton soup sprinkled with scallions warms and soothes the stomach.
--
"Uncle, I'd like a small bowl of fresh pork wontons," Zhu Shiyi called out to the owner in Mandarin from the kitchen entrance.
"Okay, little sister," the shop owner said in a dialect-accented Mandarin, "Do you want some scallions?"
"Eat." Zhu Shiyi agreed, turned around, found an empty table to sit down, and took out the oranges she had just bought on the way to peel and eat.
The number of people at the stalls gradually increased.
"Boss, a large portion of fresh meat, and another plate of braised beef, with extra scallions."
...
That sound.
Zhu Shiyi turned his head away.
In the South, on a sweltering summer day, there's a wonton stall near a school that doesn't even have air conditioning.
This man was wearing leather shoes, a long-sleeved shirt, and dress pants, with a belt tied at his waist neither too loose nor too tight.
Who else but Pan Yue?
Zhu Shiyi was shocked.
no.
Why is he eating wontons too!
Should we say hello?
She didn't wear makeup today.
The person staring at them suddenly turned their head.
Zhu Shiyi turned around abruptly, lowered her head, silently peeled the orange, and quietly put two segments into her mouth. She chewed them lightly, like a thief.
A shadow fell.
Zhu Shiyi was startled.
A sudden thought struck her, and unable to suppress her curiosity, she quietly looked up.
His eyes fell into another astonishing trench.
Pan Yue's pupils suddenly contracted, and he opened his mouth abruptly, his eyes widening slightly, but he remained silent, probably too shocked to speak.
*
In a world as vast as the Earth's 7 billion people, a person will likely encounter approximately 29.2 million people in their lifetime. In other words, the probability of two people meeting is only 0.00417.
The probability of meeting someone repeatedly is even smaller than 0.00004%.
Statistically, this is an extremely low probability event, almost an impossible one.
But this almost impossible event actually happened.
...
Why is she here?
Study in another city.
...
Why didn't she add him?
Does she... still remember him?
The wonton shop was bustling with noise, just like the restaurant in Qincheng that night.
A subtle feeling rose in Pan Yue's heart.
*
"Hi!" Zhu Shiyi shuddered slightly, concealing her expression. She waved mechanically, feigning surprise.
She then realized she was still holding an orange in her hand.
When Zhu Shiyi met Pan Yue's eyes, he felt inexplicably awkward.
She chuckled awkwardly, made a couple of forced laughs, and looking at the orange in her palm, she went all in, stretching her hand out: "Want some...?"
Just then, Pan Yue opened his mouth, his tone tinged with surprise: "You..."
Zhu Shiyi subconsciously shut up.
Pan Yue's expression also paused.
He lowered his eyes, a muffled laugh escaping his throat.
"You go first."
Zhu Shiyi's lips twitched, and she gave an awkward laugh: "...Nothing, I just wanted to ask you if you want to eat oranges."
"Thank you," Pan Yue said, taking the oranges and speaking more calmly, "Is there anyone sitting across from you?"
"No, no." Zhu Shiyi looked around and saw that the place was already packed with people.
Pan Yue stretched out his long legs and sat down opposite her.
Zhu Shiyi stole a glance at Pan Yue.
He frowned slightly.
...Does he have a problem with seeing her here?
The air suddenly fell silent.
The other person sat down, put down their bag, ate an orange, and didn't say anything.
Zhu Shiyi looked away; if he didn't look, he wouldn't feel awkward.
...Okay, it's still awkward.
“You are,” Pan Yue broke the silence, “a college student here?”
The sound ends with a long, rising tone.
You could tell he was trying to suppress his shock, but his expression still betrayed a great deal of disbelief.
Zhu Shiyi nodded quickly.
Pan Yue stared intently at her.
......
What are they doing?
Her throat tightened involuntarily.
A soft chuckle escaped his lips.
Pan Yue looked away and shook his head: "You actually study at a university in Jinrong."
Zhu Shiyi gave a dry laugh: "Yeah, I didn't expect to be here either."
...What is she saying?
“I mean, I didn’t expect you to be here either,” Zhu Shiyi quickly added, “I’m from Jinzhou University’s School of Tourism, and I just finished listening to your lecture.”
Pan Yue raised his eyes, then lowered them again, a slight smile playing on his lips: "You studied tourism management?"
“No,” Zhu Shiyi shook her head, “I’m a junior majoring in cultural industry management.”
Pan Yue hummed softly, "It's quite a coincidence."
It seemed as if they had already calmly accepted this melodramatic encounter.
He swiftly unbuttoned his shirt wrist with one hand, slightly flipping up the long sleeves.
...Just like that?
"Why aren't you surprised at all?" Zhu Shiyi couldn't help but ask.
“Surprised,” Pan Yue said quietly, with a meaningful tone, “but thinking about it, you’re here, so it’s not so surprising.”
He rolled up his long sleeves, revealing his muscular forearms. He tore off a piece of paper, his muscles bulging with veins, trembling slightly.
"Why?" Zhu Shiyi's mind went blank, spinning wildly like a rusty machine.
Did she say she came here because of what he said?
She then realized something was amiss: "Then why did you say I was here? Aren't you surprised?"
Does he think she only came to eat wontons because of what he said?
That's so narcissistic!
“Because.” Pan Yue crossed his arms and leaned forward slightly.
Zhu Shiyi was startled and quickly interrupted, "I like to eat this, I especially like it."
The more she spoke, the more uneasy she felt: "Really."
Why would she feel guilty?
She wasn't even with Pan Yue!
Although there might be a slight impact.
If he hadn't mentioned it, she probably wouldn't have remembered wontons.
But she only wanted wontons, not him.
"That's exactly what I mean." Pan Yue nodded slightly, a hint of a smile in his eyes, his speech slow yet firm:
"I heard it as I was walking down the street: this restaurant has good food and many repeat customers, especially college students."
Zhu Shiyi quickly echoed.
Yes, that's exactly what she meant.
Pan Yue propped himself up on his arm: "This is the first time I've truly grasped the concept of a global village."
He expressed disbelief in a joking tone.
Zhu Shiyi laughed.
It turns out he was genuinely shocked too.
Fate is truly wondrous.
Zhu Shiyi blurted out a ridiculously dry joke: "Which village are you from?"
To everyone's surprise, Pan Yue suddenly burst out laughing, his shoulders trembling slightly. He asked her in return, "And you? Which village are you from?"
Which village? How did she know?
...Sheep Village?
Zhu Shiyi grew up in the city and didn't even remember the name of her hometown village. Her mind raced, and suddenly she remembered Pan Yue's company name.
"That village, Ruyue Village. Here we are, as promised."
“…” Pan Yue moved his head slightly and raised an eyebrow. “Very good. Our company also kept its promise.”
"Do I look like an employee of your company?" Zhu Shiyi joked. "Can you hire me after I graduate, boss?"
Pan Yue's lips curled into a smile, and he asked with interest, "So, what are you good at?"
Zhu Shiyi blurted out, "I'm good at making jokes."
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