Chapter 36 Chapter 36
In the unobstructed boarding corridor, two passengers, one in front of the other, pushed their carry-on bags, their suitcases immaculately dressed. Unlike the majority of passengers waiting at the gate with tired faces, their eyes sparkled and their spirits were high, a difference that even the flight attendants noticed.
For red-eye flights, the cabin lights are dimmed with extra care, and the plane flies across the sky under the stars, like a silent traveler.
As they approached the cabin door, the man walking behind suddenly stopped, his misty eyes gazing at the twinkling lights in the distance.
Even though they would meet in a week, he couldn't help but wonder what she was doing at that moment.
Although nominally based in City S, Lu Ye had never spent more than five days in any one place since he started working. He never felt a need to return to a particular place, and he didn't have much of a sense of belonging to the house he bought in City S. But over the past few weeks, he couldn't help but develop a certain attachment to City P.
"What's wrong?" Shen Xingyu called him from the front.
"It's okay." He took a long step forward.
After revising the report and sending it out before takeoff, Lu Ye put on the eye mask that the flight attendant had carefully provided, intending to take a two-hour nap.
Before lowering the sun visor, he glanced out the window. The smooth curve of the fuselage swept through the clouds. The night was clear, and he could even make out a few miniature versions of mountains, rivers, and lakes.
Perhaps it was because of the casual chat with Shen Xingyu that Lu Ye fell deeply into the old dreams.
In the dream, he was a bystander, observing every time he said something insincere.
The most fortunate thing was that he decisively faced his feelings. The girl he had been paying attention to for no reason since they first met, step by step, stepped over his safe distance and naturally walked into his heart.
He is very principled, sometimes even making people feel inflexible, but she always agrees with him and reaches the same goal.
He was filled with a strong sense of responsibility, working tirelessly to revise the group project before the deadline. She was the only one who worked alongside him. Even when her eyes were dazed, she listened carefully to every point he made and followed them one by one.
And she relied on her inexplicably powerful talent to repeatedly get high scores in class quizzes and homework, and her bright and gentle face like a soft moon was just an opportunity.
Lu Ye still remembered how he meticulously prepared the flowers, scraping off the thorns before tying them into a bouquet of pastel-colored roses with silk ribbon. Even the normally unfazed man, even when faced with a moment of unsteady breathing, his cool, jade-like palms began to sweat slightly.
He forgot whether he said "I like you" or the more direct "Be my girlfriend", but he still remembered An Jiyue's bright and cheerful smile after she took the flowers.
She said nothing, only looking at him and smiling between the delicate pink and white buds, a flicker of triumph in her eyes. By then, they had been in tune with each other for a long time, and Lu Ye knew her attitude at a glance. He finally breathed a sigh of relief and took her hand.
It was a truly carefree time. Although he had always disliked socializing and was extremely low-key, with An Jiyue by his side, he could no longer live a self-isolating life.
Like countless other student couples, they visited parks and amusement parks, waiting in line for three hours for a popular attraction. Meanwhile, they each delved deeply into their favorite fields, shining brightly. By the end of the school year, they each secured first and second place in the dual degree program and were both hired as summer interns by leading financial institutions.
An Jiyue had not initially invested in financial institutions. Her first target was major TV stations and emerging online content platforms, but by mid-May she still had nothing to show for it.
On the surface, Lu Ye simply said a few words of comfort, but in fact he was secretly revising and submitting the resume for his worried girlfriend, and finally got her an interview opportunity.
An Jiyue's tears welled up with gratitude, and then she gave him an even more unexpected result: an employment letter from a financial institution that looked exactly like him, except for the name.
They spent their first summer together in Pingjiang Industrial Park. The days of staying up late to reply to letters and review manuscripts were dark and gloomy. Lu Ye was not afraid of the hardship, and An Jiyue occasionally complained but never went on strike.
At that time, the pace of the urgent project she was following was too fast, and she often stayed up all night. Her gentle features were thinner, and the bone line of her jaw was more prominent.
He was used to self-discipline and self-reflection, so he was used to this kind of life. But every time he saw her thin profile, he couldn't help but feel distressed.
An Jiyue would even take the initiative to work overtime until late at night, and would still stay at her post when everyone else in the group had left work.
She was already so diligent, yet the other interns in her group were still gossiping about her. When they caught her smiling in and out of the general office a few times, rumors started to spread.
Some say she was hired without completing the interview process, relying solely on her looks. Others say she may have already climbed the corporate ladder, as she was so young and could chat and laugh with the CEO so easily.
The gossip was centered around a man who, with his eyelids drooping, winked at each of the people around him, hinting at a compromise. Then, everyone, listening with rapt interest, lamented the notorious chaos of the financial world.
It was at this time that Lu Ye strolled over.
He had a cold demeanor, a detached aura that kept strangers away. Those people never engaged in gossip in his presence. After learning of his relationship with An Jiyue, their glances became even more subtle and ambiguous. They were clearly discussing something lively, but they fell silent upon his arrival, their intentions to tease and watch the show clearly evident.
That day he deliberately slowed down his steps and pricked up his usually attentive ears.
Lu Ye stood tall and straight, lowering his eyes and scanning the crowd, as if looking down at the insignificant people.
The boy who fabricated the obscene rumor gave two awkward laughs, and seemed to want to comfort him.
The next second, a heavy and swift punch hit the man's eye socket. He didn't even have time to groan. The second punch, and the third punch, hit his cheeks and chin one after another.
The people sitting around him scattered in panic, some shouting for security. When they were finally separated, Lu Ye looked up at everyone, his eyes bloodshot, his dark pupils streaked with dark red bloodshot, and murderous intent welled up in his eyes.
Everyone was so frightened that they were speechless for a moment, frozen in place, not daring to look him in the eye. Even the security guards who had rushed over after hearing the news instinctively relaxed their grip.
Only a slender figure rushed forward, grabbed his arm which was still bulging with veins, and asked in a trembling and anxious voice what had happened.
Behind An Jiyue followed closely the head of their financial institution's investment banking department. The decisive middle-aged man crouched down to examine the young boy's injuries, not forgetting to instruct the security guard to call an ambulance.
When the department head turned to them, his eyes were much kinder: "I'll take the child to the hospital first. Jiyue, comfort him."
An Jiyue nodded, one hand still pulling at the hem of Lu Ye's clothes.
Lu Ye lost his strength, and his sinister and cold gaze circled around again, and finally softened again when it stopped on her.
His bony palms covered her face, and he said in a deep and clear voice, "Let's go."
That was his first fight and one of the few times in his life when he lost control.
He had a chance to get to the truth then. An Jiyue, upon learning the whole story, flew into a rage, and as soon as she calmed down, she tried to explain her innocence to him. But she had barely gotten started, saying, "The department head and the president are both from my family..." before he forcibly stopped her.
He covered her lips with his cold fingertips, looked down at her fluttering eyelashes for a few seconds, and finally sealed them with a kiss.
"No need to explain."
"Of course I know what you are like, just as I know myself."
"You are someone I have verified countless times with my soul. I have never failed once."
It was clearly him who didn't ask anything, so why should I care in the end?
Unexpectedly, Lu Ye was not fired early, but was transferred to the research institute. Instead, the boy who spread the rumors resigned voluntarily because he felt guilty.
Unlike An Jiyue who was an intern for only three months, Lu Ye was transferred to a long-term intern due to his outstanding abilities and achievements. He will be retained after another round of assessment next summer.
Although his academic qualifications are impressive, they are just standard in this industry, and naturally he has competitors who hold diplomas from more prestigious institutions.
But he is calm and fearless. He has accumulated experience and research reports that have been verified to be correct by the market. This is his only trump card.
At least at that time, Lu Ye did think so.
So when the retained list was announced, he was completely unfazed by the fact that his name was prominently on it. He deserved it.
This time, the rumors did not avoid him, but were deliberately passed to his ears.
"The boy with the highest retention score has a strong background."
"He didn't have enough academic qualifications to even qualify for the retention defense, but someone managed to squeeze him in."
"But if someone is strong, then academic qualifications don't matter, right?"
"Why don't you care? Then what's the point of all those college entrance exam scores we worked so hard to get?
"That's right. There are so many talented people out there. Since we've set the threshold of a Peking University or Tsinghua degree, we should treat everyone equally. Now that we're only giving him a backdoor, is that fair to everyone else?"
"You're still overthinking it. If his connections were able to get him into the defense, couldn't they just internally appoint him as the new hire? Maybe he really did bring his own resources into the team, and maybe the team will have to rely on him for annual bonuses in the future."
Lu Ye knew perfectly well that he had no background or connections. His parents were a pair of honest teachers who lived a simple, repetitive, yet contented life in a second-tier city.
But it was not difficult for him to guess who had such a prominent family background as rumored.
That person was able to easily get the same internship position as him a month after all the interviews were completed.
The man was drinking tea during his lunch break in the president's office of a listed company, coming and going freely.
Without saying a word, the man summoned the department head to help him clean up the mess.
Naturally, you can also "say hello" to him and give him a great opportunity that "if it's not you, it will be someone else".
At that time, An Jiyue had been sent overseas by her parents to pursue a master's degree. No matter how busy he was, he would always take a few minutes every day to talk to her on the phone, listening to her countdown with anxious fingers until she could return home to reunite with him.
Perhaps there were one or two times when I mentioned that I wanted to fight for the opportunity to stay and defend my thesis?
She actually cares so much about it.
Lu Ye held his breath, his heart pounding so hard that it hurt his eardrums.
He ignored the time difference, but the call went through in a split second. A soft, cheerful voice reached him across the ocean.
"Congratulations to the future Chief Lu!"
No more questions or confirmations are needed. Lu Ye closed his eyes sarcastically, clutching his phone tightly, his eyes unfocused.
"Thank you for your words. I will become the chief, but not here."
His voice was cold and indifferent, like the chill from the Arctic colliding with a warm current. The joyful voice of the girl on the other side of the ocean was caught off guard and frozen in mid-air.
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