Chapter 191 Goodbye Is No Longer Yesterday

s might startle her like a sparrow. Though she wouldn't necessarily refuse, it would put undue pressure on her.Stepping outside, Su Cen pointed to a shop near the entrance of No. 27 High School and as...Volume 6 Chapter 191: When We Meet Again, It's No Longer the Same

Schuyang Xue took a flight from Changsha to Shanghai on May Day at around three in the afternoon. After asking the flight attendant what time they would arrive in Shanghai, he sent a message to Suen Cun saying that it would take about two hours and that he would call him after meeting up with his friends there.

Actually, the cabin's announcement system displayed the duration of the Changsha to Shanghai flight. Schuyang Xue asking this information from the flight attendant who had a small pimple but whose sweet smile was not affected by it was rather strange behavior. However, he did not meet the standard for someone who would be privately discussed about by others, so the entire flight crew treated him with the same attitude as they would any other passenger and nothing extraordinary happened like exchanging phone numbers.

This didn't make Schuyang Xue feel defeated; instead, his mood was very good. He thought to himself that he had finally arrived in Shanghai where there were countless beautiful women.

After landing, Schuyang Xue's friend in Shanghai indeed turned up as promised. His name was Du Shun and back when they were in junior high school, he used to attend Xia Hai No. 1 High School but transferred to a high school in Shanghai at the beginning of his second year of high school, following his family there. He continued studying and took the college entrance exams in Shanghai, making it much easier for him to gain admission to local universities. Du Shun was currently attending Shanghai University but had hardly attended any classes as his parents had given him money to start a business, which now seemed to be worth several million yuan.

This matter was widely known among Schuyang Xue's generation in Xia Hai; Du Shun often kept in touch with his former friends so many people knew about his current situation. In fact, he didn't have too many friends in Shanghai.

This differed from Suen Cun who had also left Xia Hai No. 1 High School for university. As the two most notable individuals back then, after they left Xia Hai and entered their final year of high school to prepare for the college entrance exam, those days gradually faded away due to the intense pressure of daily life. It was only when they reached university that people learned about them through mutual friends; however, these updates were always envious ones as both of them were at prestigious universities in Shanghai, but few had much chance to meet them since many people only knew about them through their fellow students or classmates.

Schuyang Xue had also heard from Liu Rui that Suen Cun was the founder of China's Facebook and was now leading his life with a flourish in Shanghai.

Although what Liu Rui said wasn't meant as a joke, even though Schuyang Xue knew that Suen Cun's father had been transferred to Huang City as a vice-mayor, he still didn't believe that the person behind many instant messaging tools and social networking sites was Suen Cun.

So his mood during this trip couldn't be described; everything felt different. In the past, even very long ago, he had thought that he was better than Suen Cun. Not only did he think so, but even his parents and many others in their small city back then also held such views.

When something surpasses your understanding, you tend to ignore it or pretend not to care about it. Just like Schuyang Xue couldn't imagine what the life of a man who had founded China's Facebook with over ten million users and an investment of two hundred million yuan in the current year looked like. So he didn't have much direct insight into such matters.

In contrast, Du Shun's silver-grey Audi A6 was very attractive to him as soon as they left the airport. Getting into Du Shun's car, Schuyang Xue tried to remain calm despite feeling excited and was extremely envious of Du Shun's life.

After starting the car, Du Shun introduced it: "I modified the sound system; originally, it came with Bose speakers, but I switched them out for British Marshall Mos ones. They're top-notch." He then put in a CD by Yanni and the music truly sounded heavenly.

Seeing Xue Yiyang's admiration, Du Shun felt a surge of vanity. He had a wide circle of friends and enjoyed staying in touch with his old buddies, partly because he wanted to show off how successful he was.

Du Shun asked where they were going, and Xue Yiyang replied that they would go to Nan University first, while also calling Su Can.

As the car sped through Shanghai's bustling downtown area, Xue Yiyang thought about their destination. He shook his head; he truly admired Du Shun despite studying at a prestigious university like SJTU, rarely visiting campus and instead claiming to be rushing from work. In Shanghai, Du Shun had purchased three houses, usually spending time either at home or in the office, or out playing—typical of a small business owner's lifestyle. If Su Can were really the CEO of Facebook, would he still be hanging around on a college campus It didn't sound very convincing.

Upon arriving at Nan University and parking in the car park below the School of Economics, Su Can strolled out. He had just returned to Phoenix City for a few days but was back due to pressing matters regarding the legal person status of Phoenix Industry. After staying home for several days, he left again; before departing, Zeng Ke urged him to stay longer and at least see through May Day.

Su Can didn't have any plans for the holiday, but most employees at Facebook Chinese would be on leave. Only management staff and rotating technical personnel wouldn’t be. These days, Tang Wu had been busy running between Meiluo Tower in the morning and Nan University in the afternoon; Qiao Shuxin would send a car to pick her up after work.

Ruan Sige and others from Tang Wu's dorm knew about the growing influence of Su Can behind the scenes, but they were at a loss for words regarding their opinions on Su Can and Tang Wu. Perhaps in two years when they graduated and started looking for jobs, Su and Tang might have become the kind of leaders mentioned in textbooks; watching Facebook or Big Pineapple Holdings change society's mindset and economic landscape.

Ruan Sige once saw a girl from her department fiercely debating on CCTV’s national college student debate show while eating at the cafeteria. She noticed that this girl, usually gentle and reserved, now stood confidently before the camera in a tailored suit, speaking eloquently to millions of viewers nationwide. This made Ruan Sige think of Tang Wu.

She felt even more strongly about it because she knew one day, this room mate with her ponytail and calm demeanor—someone who could remain composed under pressure and was cold on the outside but warm inside—would make a successful appearance in life's "studio," letting everyone see her achievements. This girl hadn't yet appeared on CCTV like some of their peers but would surely do so eventually.

Whether it was this debating classmate from Nan University or Tang Wu, they both inspired Ruan Sige to think about the future and what she could achieve in her four years of university. She knew that these years were precious and beautiful, and she couldn't let them pass by aimlessly under exam stress.

It's likely that all three—Ruan Sige, Tong Tong, and Cheng Congcong in Dorm 302—have undergone changes.

Tong Tong would persistently practice yoga to exercise her body and occasionally work as a yoga instructor for extra income. She would also study hard for the CET-6 exam while purposefully collecting recent legal examination questions and information about companies' legal departments, aiming to pass the judicial qualification test. In her words, studying law should start with passing this test; if she didn't like working at a firm initially, she could always become a lawyer. Plus, mastering foreign languages wouldn't leave her without opportunities; foreign enterprises or tech giants like Facebook needed legal experts.

Cheng Congcong, after breaking up with the Shanghai government official's son, no longer spent all day looking for handsome boys on campus but instead devoted more time to this year’s art department final project: a sculpture made from waste materials symbolizing environmental protection. She joked about inviting everyone to her future exhibition of sculptures. Indeed, Cheng Congcong's environmental-themed artwork later won an award at Nan University.

Du Shun and Xue YiYang picked up Su Cen at Nan University, asking if they should head to the restaurant they had booked.

Xue YiYang flew for an hour and a half, then spent some time getting around, so it was already nearly six o'clock; they should be heading for dinner now.

Su Cen nodded in agreement with Du Shun and Xue YiYang to go to the restaurant on Huaihai Road that Du Shun had booked. Su Cen called Tang Wu on his way there, but she said that she would come over after finishing work at FaceBook. At this time, Su Cen was mainly responsible for strategic planning at FaceBook, while Tang Wu was familiar with internal management. Because of her young age and lack of relevant experience, Tang Wu had not taken up a mainstream managerial position yet; instead, she was learning from Zhao YanBin, who was a friend of Tang Wu's uncle Tang Guozhong and had worked in a securities company as well as having experience in roadshows for several listed companies.

Tang Wu’s first step wasn't to apply what she learned at Nan University or bring her strong-willed personality into the company, but rather to let other young employees feel the softer side of FaceBook.

The first thing Tang Wu memorized wasn’t financial terms; it was each employee's resume and birthday. Therefore, in the seventy-person Chinese headquarters of FaceBook, she could randomly call out any person’s name and know their birthday and work history. When Tang Wu could accurately address a company's most junior employee by name, hearing her gentle voice calling them made many young employees feel熱血沸騰.

This was actually not difficult; it was something that Tang Wu had always done since student days when she served as class monitor. During her school years, Tang Wu would remember everyone in her class’s names, even their parents’ names and home addresses—Su Cen included, though he was an unremarkable underachiever. It was just that she had always been cold on the outside but warm on the inside, a fact that many people didn’t realize.

Sitting in this luxurious restaurant on Huaihai Road, Du Shun asked Su Cen when his friend would arrive; Su Cen said it wouldn't be long and suggested they order first.

Xue YiYang knew that Su Licheng had become the mayor of Huancheng but hadn’t further confirmed Su Cen's current identity. Seeing how Du Shun contrasted with him, he wondered if he might have been tricked by Liu Rui and this person together because they shared a common name.

This thought made Xue YiYang even more at ease; while looking at the menu prices that would cost him half a month's living expenses for a single dish, he said, "On the way here, did you find the sound system in Du Shun's car comfortable…"

Su Cen nodded. Xue YiYang continued, "He modified his Manqueen audio system; it’s powerful."

Du Shun smiled and said, "It’s nothing special; mainly, I like the sound quality myself. For instance, for soft music you’d use one type of setup, but for piano or rock music which has more dynamic range, another combination is better to enhance that aspect. My system emphasizes rich sound quality, as I'm someone who pursues perfection in this area."

Su Cen nodded and said, "I haven't researched that yet; my car uses a Naim brand audio system."

When Du Shun heard this, he was momentarily taken aback and exchanged looks with Xue YiYang. He had thought Su Cen was just a friend of Xue YiYang from Nan University but hadn’t expected him to have his own car at school; Xue YiYang seemed to have anticipated something as well, looking somewhat dazed.

Naim audio is a British brand that is rather understated and reserved. However, Du Shun has never heard of any car being originally equipped with Naim's sound system.

Except for Bentley cars.

Half an hour later, Qiao Shuxin's Mercedes stopped in front of the seafood restaurant. The door opened, and Tang Wu got out, wearing nothing more than休閒褲和連帽外套, looking extraordinarily elegant and captivating. She arrived at the group’s table with a slight smile, saying, "Sorry for being late."

Only then did Du Shun suppress his surprise as he looked at Tang Wu sitting next to Su Can, already wondering in his mind how these two classmates, Xue Yiyang and Qiao Shuxin, were different from ordinary college friends.

After having dinner together, even with the worst eyesight, Du Shun could tell that although it wasn’t a Bentley, the Mercedes which had just brought Tang Wu here was no worse than his own car. He asked how they planned to proceed next but didn't act on his own initiative; he wanted to genuinely find out about these two classmates' backgrounds.

Su Can thought of Song Zhen calling him earlier to set up a meeting, so he said that everything had been arranged with Song Zhen.

The reason for Song Zhen’s meeting was the digital music distribution alliance established this year by Zhao Hao. Tom, Sohu, Tencent, Facebook, Baidu, and Mobile were gradually discussing their entry into the alliance. Zhao Hao planned to turn this alliance into a digital music marketplace like iTunes, expecting to earn 35%-45% profit sharing per song sold. The production cost of a single song was approximately several ten thousand yuan, requiring sales of only tens of thousands of songs to recoup costs. And some of the songs signed by Zhao Hao's artists could sell hundreds of thousands.

The advantages of digital music were beginning to show, with an incredibly promising future in sight.

When Su Can called Song Zhen, Tang Wu stood beside him like a snow lotus without any reaction. Because Su Can didn't hide his interactions with Song Zhen, it also indicated that there was nothing problematic between them. Moreover, perhaps Tang Wu might not even consider Song Zhen as a threat.

When Du Shun and Xue Yiyang arrived together with Su Can and Tang Wu at the teahouse on Hengshan Road where Song Zhen had arranged to meet, they saw that there were several other people beside Song Zhen.

Before Song Zhen even stood up to greet them, someone from her side got up first. There was Chen Chen, a host of an entertainment program in Shanghai, and the executive president of Sekwan Group in Shanghai, quite renowned in the industry. Another two or three people were present as well; they all seemed to be influential figures who knew about Sekwan Group's background and this high-level collision. When they saw Su Can arrive, they immediately stood up to greet him.

Chen Chen smiled and said, "Hey, Su Can, you became famous overnight at Nan University with your last battle; did our Miss Song properly reward you" The matter of Su Can saving Sekwan Group's reputation at Nan University, as well as the subsequent espionage case within Sekwan Group and the suicide of an undersecretary in a real estate corruption case, had indelibly etched Su Can’s name into many people's memories.

Perhaps Xue Yiyang didn’t recognize Song Zhen, who was currently very famous in Shanghai, but he couldn't have missed seeing Chen Chen. As for Du Shun, with his detailed knowledge of the current situation involving Sekwan Group at the center of controversy and even witnessing the true face of this renowned woman, Song Zhen, he felt dizzy and overwhelmed.uld call him out of boredom while with her family. It seemed their relationship was deepening significantly despite the challenges ahead."I went and am now back on the street. Facing me is a new super...