Starting from the day before yesterday, Principal Bai had contacted Jiang Qingkui, hoping to have Zhou Wang attend a homecoming speech event for outstanding alumni. However, Zhou Wang had not explicitly accepted the invitation, citing that he had not yet returned to Yunan Province.
"Now that I’m back, accept the invitation. Confirm the time with him, and by the way, I can attend the exchange meeting, but it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to be the only speaker. Please ask Principal Bai to consider this," Zhou Wang instructed after some thought.
Jiang Qingkui responded and went off to make the call, while Zhou Wang leisurely continued with his dinner.
It’s not that Zhou Wang wanted to put on airs and refused to speak directly with the vice principal of his alma mater, but having Jiang Qingkui as a mediator allowed him some flexibility. If the discussions didn’t go smoothly, it wouldn’t strain the relationship.
Zhou Wang had, since taking up his position in Hangzhou, observed Zhang Shihao’s methods in handling issues, leading to some realizations in this area.
The role of a secretary involves much more than just serving tea and water.
...
After dinner, Zhou Wang took a shower, and Chen Mei helped dry his hair. Now refreshed and free from travel fatigue, Zhou Wang suddenly found himself at a loss for what to do.
It was only a little after 8 p.m., and going to sleep was out of the question; he definitely couldn’t fall asleep yet.
Should he call up Zhou Yiquan or Tang Yiming to hang out?
Or perhaps find an old classmate like Li Cheng to hang out with?
Forget it, meeting them would only lead to drinking, and Zhou Wang was already fed up with having too much alcohol in Hang City...
Video games?
That lacked appeal too. The night was so beautiful that Zhou Wang didn’t want to engage in such a solitary activity.
Zhou Wang looked up, thinking that Miao Ying was probably still in her room reading novels or comics. As for Jiang Qingkui, she had gone to the Dianwang Club as soon as they returned and who knows when she’d be back...
Besides, the two women had been with him for several days. They deserved some time to themselves. With this in mind, Zhou Wang didn’t feel right asking Miao Ying to come out and keep him company.
Thinking about it, Zhou Wang began to feel restless. He thought to himself how absurd it was that even as a billionaire, he could feel bored...
It didn’t make sense!
Feeling disinterested, Zhou Wang lay down on his Fendi Casa custom sofa worth 488,000 and pulled out his phone to engage in one of the common pastimes of ordinary people:
Browsing through social media.
In fact, Zhou Wang rarely browsed social media these days due to his schedule being too busy to find such idle time. Managing to reply to the piled-up messages on WeChat was a challenge enough, let alone scrolling through social media.
Scrolling from bottom to top, Zhou Wang suddenly stopped at a post...
A post from his senior actually appeared on his social media feed.
This was an extremely rare occurrence.
The content was simple: "A new beginning."
The accompanying photo was of a modest opening ceremony where a banner faintly showed "Huaxia Music College Class of 2024 Graduate Student Orientation."
The post was made that morning, and there were already likes from Ding Yi, Jiang Qingkui, Professor Wang Hongying, and others underneath.
Huh?
When did Jiang Qingkui add Jiang Mo on WeChat?
No, that’s not the main point. The point was that Huaxia Music College had already started its term...
Why hadn’t his senior informed him!
A slightly angry Zhou Wang instinctively opened the chat window with Jiang Mo, but quickly, his anger dissipated.
The last message on the chat interface was from his senior an hour ago, a photo taken at a cafeteria with just a simple meal.
"Honey, I had dinner... I just discovered that Beidou’s salted tofu pudding doesn’t have mint or chili. Oh, they call it tofu brain here."
Zhou Wang fell silent, scrolling up, realizing that the last time he had replied to Jiang Mo’s message was two days ago, but Jiang Mo never stopped sending her daily greetings, good nights, and periodic updates.
For example, at 10:58 p.m. last night, Jiang Mo had sent a short video.
The content was inexplicably amusing:
"Master, this is the 14th practice."
In an elegantly decorated, antique-style boudoir, Jiang Mo, barefaced and serious, spoke to the camera, then turned to fetch a popsicle from a hidden fridge nearby.
Yes, she performed a meticulous act of eating the popsicle for the camera.
Zhou Wang watched the video, which contained no explicit content, but it stirred something within him.
It was mainly due to Jiang Mo’s overly immersed expression. She seemed to be looking directly at Zhou Wang through the lens, wearing that unique mix of embarrassed and defiant expressions. Her cool demeanor mingled with desire, like a lost angel.
Her crimson mouth moved back and forth over the popsicle, spinning and dancing, even tying a knot with her tongue at one point.
After watching the over-a-minute-long video, Zhou Wang chose to play it again.
After several repetitions, Zhou Wang took a deep breath and finally turned off the video.
He then scrolled through their private chat history, feeling a pang of guilt.
He had assumed that his senior had been ignoring him, but it turned out that he had often forgotten to reply to Jiang Mo.
However, Jiang Mo never expressed any complaint about this, nor did she ever take the initiative to call Zhou Wang. It was unlike Su Yajing, who managed to find ways to coddle Zhou Wang every day, immediately placing a video call if Zhou Wang nodded.
Jiang Mo was always quiet, like a hidden orchid in a deep valley, only displaying her beauty when Zhou Wang took the initiative to approach her.
So what had he been doing when he ignored his senior?
Lately, things had been too hectic, and Zhou Wang couldn’t quite remember his activities.
Shaking his head, Zhou Wang casually transferred 200,000 to Jiang Mo and typed: "Spend it freely, don’t save, because you won’t be able to use it all."
Jiang Mo replied quickly: "Okay."
She didn’t ask why Zhou Wang thought she wouldn’t be able to spend it all.
"Shipping the car over would be too much trouble. I’ll have Ding Yi pick out a car for you. You can just buy one anew in Beidou."
Jiang Mo: "Okay."
Zhou Wang thought for a moment, then added, "Rest early, and I’ll come to Beidou to see you in a while."
This time, Jiang Mo’s reply changed: "Alright."
Zhou Wang sensed her hidden joy and couldn’t help but smile himself.
After replying to his senior, Zhou Wang continued scrolling through social media and was soon drawn to another post, pausing as he fixed his gaze.
Shen Yutong, what’re you up to!
Tongtong: "I may not have a clear destination, but every day I’m making progress. #RooftopDanceCheckIn Day 9"
(Accompanying Image - Shen Yutong’s Back in the Corridors)
Zhou Wang’s breath caught for a moment. How could a girl even make a back view appear so striking?
Even though Zhou Wang was well acquainted with Shen Yutong’s explosive figure, he still instinctively wanted to give the post a like.
Yet, inexplicably, seeing Shen Yutong post such a photo on social media made him slightly unsettled.
It’s not that he was unaware of the reason; Zhou Wang knew it was the possessive side of his male nature at play.
Even though he and Shen Yutong weren’t in that kind of relationship, Zhou Wang couldn’t help wanting to keep this view to himself since Shen Yutong had already expressed her feelings for him...
Looking at the photo, Zhou Wang suddenly remembered something.
He went to the storage room on the first floor and quickly found a gift box.
Opening it, the box contained nothing but a card with the detailed address of a certain residence and a lone key.
This was the Valentine’s Day gift Shen Yutong had given him, but Zhou Wang was never entirely sure what she meant by it.
At this moment, Zhou Wang picked up the key, glanced at the photo on his phone, and found himself lost in thought.