Zhou Wang is coming too?
Wang Qiaobin only hesitated for a second before he quickly realized.
Damn, right, I must be an idiot!
How could outstanding graduates return without Zhou Wang being involved...
At one time, Wang Qiaobin had felt sorry for Zhou Wang.
This junior knew the ropes, socialized well, and understood boundaries. Unfortunately, it seemed that something happened to his family later, and with the punishment he received, he disappeared from Wang Qiaobin’s social circles.
When Wang Qiaobin graduated, he invited familiar alumni to a dinner, and Zhou Wang didn’t come.
The next time they met was two months ago at his family’s club.
At that time, Wang Qiaobin was merely amazed at Zhou Wang’s drastic change, but after another month went by, he realized... he had been amazed too soon.
He couldn’t understand Zhou Wang anymore.
Without a sound, he became a shareholder of Wuyou Media, reaching the same level as Young Master Zhang’s second uncle, while in reality, even squeezing into that circle of Young Master Zhang was somewhat forced for Wang Qiaobin.
He was like a peripheral "tool man" in that circle, occasionally having a good time together, or being needed when entertaining was required. But as for becoming good friends... it was impossible.
Wang Qiaobin didn’t think anything bad about it, just occasionally lamented it. Nowadays, he didn’t feel comfortable calling Zhou Wang as casually as before.
...Even after Zhou Wang switched to that ridiculously grand "189 nines" number, he still made a point to tell him.
Maybe it was precisely due to this subconscious thought process that Wang Qiaobin didn’t associate today’s event with Zhou Wang at all.
It wasn’t that Zhou Wang wasn’t up to the mark, it’s just... this event seemed a bit beneath him.
As a legitimate billionaire and a young entrepreneur, a classic example of a grassroots rise, if Zhou Wang were to attend, it would surely be with high-profile publicity, or at least be an event on the scale of a university anniversary celebration.
Besides, Wang Qiaobin wasn’t even sure if Zhou Wang was still in Yunan Province.
Until this moment, when that pretty teacher surnamed Ni spoke, did Wang Qiaobin realize he might have fallen into some kind of mental blind spot.
He just couldn’t figure out where the problem was for the moment.
"Is Zhou Wang really coming?"
Wang Qiaobin’s eyes lit up, and then he cautiously spoke: "Teacher Ni, the favor you need from me is..."
"Student Wang, let’s go over there to talk."
Ni Hong looked around, presumably due to concern over the large number of people, and led Wang Qiaobin to a corner of the garden. After the surroundings settled down a bit, she carefully began to speak:
"Here’s the situation, actually after today’s networking event, there’s a banquet. The school leaders have tasked me with ensuring that Zhou Wang attends at all costs, but as of now, Zhou Wang hasn’t given me a definite response. I can sense that his interest in participating isn’t very high, so..."
Being adults and understanding people, even though Teacher Ni’s words were somewhat restrained, the savvy Wang Qiaobin immediately got the point.
"Teacher Ni wants me to help persuade Zhou Wang to try and attend the banquet?"
"Yes, that’s exactly it, because Secretary Chen will also be attending..."
Ni Hong nodded slightly, with a slight bitter smile on her lips, indicating the considerable pressure she felt.
Secretary Chen?
Wang Qiaobin first froze for a moment, then was thoroughly shocked.
Cai University had only one Secretary Chen, and that was Cai University’s actual top honcho, Secretary Chen Gengyun. Currently, Cai University’s official president is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, but it’s actually Secretary Chen who handles all major and minor management matters.
The first in command of a key university like this can’t just be simply defined as a "president," because who’s to say they won’t take a new position and appear behind the TV speech podium someday.
At least throughout university, aside from the opening and graduation ceremonies, Wang Qiaobin hadn’t seen him again.
And now, according to Teacher Ni, Chen Gengyun would not only attend the dinner, but likely was doing so because of Zhou Wang.
Brother Dog’s clout was overwhelming!
"I understand, Teacher Ni, all I can say is that I’ll try my best. As for swaying Zhou Wang’s thoughts, I can’t guarantee that."
"Yes, yes, Zhou Wang might not be too fond of certain formalities. Originally, we even prepared banners and the like beforehand, but he declined them all, so I’m a bit unsure of Zhou Wang’s preferences, hence I’m reaching out to you... Regardless of the outcome, I’m grateful for your help."
Ni Hong first gave a slight smile, melting away some of her icy demeanor, then apologized with a hint of regret: "It might have been a bit awkward for you earlier, so I’m apologizing for that. It was my lack of consideration, the event’s schedule wasn’t well-designed, mainly due to time being too tight, some details weren’t carefully considered, sorry!"
Wang Qiaobin was momentarily taken aback, then realized Ni Hong was referring to his self-introduction segment earlier.
"It’s nothing, just a bit of trivial issues..."
Wang Qiaobin waved his hand, then something occurred to him, so he tentatively asked: "Teacher Ni, could I ask if it was you who arranged for me to receive the invitation for this networking event?"
Ni Hong knew what Wang Qiaobin wanted to ask, and after some thought, she chose to frankly say: "Yes, I specifically sent the invitation to you, Student Wang. On one hand, due to time constraints, the number of local outstanding alumni we could contact was limited. On the other hand, it was also because of your relationship with Zhou Wang..."
"The school hopes this event can be as successful as possible. The contributions you make today, the alma mater will surely take note of them."