bathtubs are filled because we might not be able to take a shower for a week!""We've gradually gotten used to the bombings, and our courage has grown as well. We all want to witness the real combat s...Chapter 51: Navigating Through

Silently standing in the bustling and rapidly developing city of NanDa. Around him, tall and beautiful functional buildings of cosmetic companies rise up from the ground. Often above the city's skyline, one can see flowing clouds and construction cranes hidden amidst the hustle and bustle.

The city seems unchanged yet changes daily.

Under the brief stimulation of commerce, Su Cen returned to his university where he fits in perfectly. As he walks through the school campus with a backpack on, he occasionally stops to look at the newly constructed modern high-rise buildings under construction.

The framework of the building rises before him, deep and expansive, covered in green safety nets, reaching up towards the sky in an uneven manner.

Su Cen suddenly feels a bit concerned about home. Not long ago, Zheng Ah came over to call Su Cen, telling her that as one of the top distributors for Shenchuan’s Sichuan provincial agent, she has become one of Chengdu's largest chain stationery dealerships, and life naturally gets better day by day. She then asked him to pay attention to his nutrition and not to study too hard; if he runs out of money, he can discuss it with the family.

While Su Richen was sending himself here to go to school over these two years, there hasn't been much change. Dageng Construction had just completed a reorganization internally, and many tasks are currently being handed over.

However, what Su Cen can know is that Su Richen has become busier and busier. As the company's general manager and chief engineer, his responsibilities and burdens have increased significantly. And previously thinning contacts with comrades-in-arms and friends have now become very enthusiastic, especially those comrades in the official system of Xia Hai.

Su Richen’s comrade network includes many people in Xia Hai who are quite influential clusters. The mayor of Xia Hai City, Hong Xiaotian, is also a fellow soldier from Su Richen's original battalion. This year, he took the initiative to organize a large gathering for old comrades-in-arms, some of whom came back from Guangdong, Shanghai, and other coastal cities.

Hong Xiaotian and several business operators among his comrade-in-arms jointly contributed 200,000 yuan to create this reunion. The event was held at the Eight-One Hotel under the "Un-crowned King" of Xia Hai City. According to former colleagues, when Su Richen returns to Xia Hai City, he becomes a celebrity; some officials who never really interacted with him before now come knocking on his door, talking about their old camaraderie.

In fact, there's no such thing as camaraderie; it was merely hearing names of outstanding personnel from the battalion when they were in different battalions. After demobilization and working in Xia Hai City, one only knows a little bit, that’s all.

There are nearly 160 people at this gathering. Among them are farmers who cultivate their own land, laid-off workers, individual traders with small stalls, and some from tobacco, steel, information technology industries and other energy-related departments. Compared to the simplicity of many people, there's a hint of pride in those associated with state-owned enterprises, but generally they tend to seek out or even flatter these "successful comrades."

Over three days of gathering, Hong Xiaotian specially invited television stations to record it; everyone who attended would say something and report their previous battalion number and current situation. The whole event was quite lively.

An 80-minute recording disc—had this been before Su Cen's rebirth, the interview sequence for Su Richen would have ranked among the last hundred or so.

But now, not only is Su Richen’s interview listed in the top ten, he was also pulled aside by Mayor Hong Xiaotian for a warm chat. He even sat at the same table as several comrades-in-arms worth millions and billions of yuan; they talked very pleasantly together. At the comrade gathering venue, Su Richen was even recommended to become one of the few people after Hong Xiaotian who would speak briefly at the meeting. Others showed him a mix of familiarity and awe, most out of respect for his deputy director-level position as general manager of Dageng Construction Group.

In the eyes of some in Xia Hai City, their Su family has truly risen to great heights; the name Su Richen is familiar yet distant, like someone among those legendary figures they talk about.

Despite receiving many benefits in Xia Hai City, Su Richen hardly has time to enjoy this happiness and elevated social status. To others, sitting at a table with some successful comrades-in-arms, the mayor, and top officials in the city to chat and dine is something they can only dream of.

But Su Richen's thoughts are not on building these interpersonal relationships; he’s considering how to ensure the quality completion of various projects across the country and even overseas under Dageng Construction.

However, there was still a lot for him to do. Not only did he need to achieve the goal of diversified operations and break through the one billion yuan mark; he also needed to improve the preservation and appreciation rate of state-owned assets under his ten subsidiary state-owned enterprises. Like last year, he had to ensure that this year, the company would still take first place in the business performance evaluation by the Chengdu SASAC.

In addition to supervising the company's operations, Su Licheng also planned to attend a high-level training program for large enterprises held in Chengdu and obtain an official diploma from Rongda University. Next year, some of Dawujiang Construction's Shanghai projects might be inspected or initiated, which would give him more opportunities to visit his son.

With these matters on his mind, Su Licheng naturally wasn't very interested in a gathering where everyone was trying to gain resources. He had come back specially at Xiao Xiaotian’s invitation, just to report briefly and catch up with some old comrades who were close friends. Now that he was successful, it stirred many memories.

Subconsciously, Su Licheng had reached a level of prominence where others viewed him as an important resource.

"The rear base is secure, and my parents' careers are going smoothly." Su Cunhuai felt that he was leading a new life surrounded by the campus. The polar icebreakers were cutting through the icy layers mixed with dirt to reach regions where auroras could be seen.

After Lin Guangdong's advertisement operation method "Nine Swords of Loneliness" failed on the third floor of Baiyang Villa, it temporarily fell into silence. Recently, Lin Guangdong had been staying at a hotel on Nanjing Road East and mainly focused his efforts on channel operations and distribution. He met with some cooperating units' leaders to solidify these processes.

Su Cunhuai still followed the class schedule for lessons. From dormitory to classroom in fifteen minutes, from classroom to cafeteria in ten minutes, and back to dormitory from cafeteria in twelve minutes - this was his daily routine.

Xiao Xu occasionally talked about events ranging from incidents on their floor to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Fourth Ministerial Meeting held in China. Xiao Xu had not read his books in vain; he engaged with a group of people, cracking sunflower seeds and peanuts while discussing enthusiastically, seemingly imparting profound knowledge.

Zhang Xiaqiao's friend Du Dawei’s gathering hadn't changed much for them. Whether the circle was one that ordinary people kept at arm's length or one that some schemers aspired to join was far from what they, college students living in a dormitory surrounded by ginkgo and camphor trees, cared about.

During this period, Su Cunhuai felt he had neglected Tang Wu. He hadn’t really interacted with her this week; most of their communication involved sending messages. However, through text messages alone, it was impossible to discern much about Tang Wu’s disposition. The tone of the replies she sent and when they conversed over the phone remained cold and distant. Although things between them were clear now, Su Cunhuai didn't want to constantly make verbal advances towards her. Recently, due to family matters, Tang Wu's mood hadn’t been great; it just felt inappropriate.

Uncertain whether Tang Wu knew about the gathering at Du Dawei’s place or not, Su Licheng worried that his roommate Cheng Congcong might misunderstand him and think he had something going on with Lin Luoran. If Tang Wu did find out, she would likely keep it to herself.

After thinking for a bit, Su Cunhuai found the time to leave school and bought a gray-black bicycle from Giant Bicycle’s Jietang store on Siping Road for 2000 yuan. By that year, Giant Bicycles had already established a market in China and was experiencing its fastest growth period.

The shop owner highly praised Su Cunhuai's honesty: "Our shop can handle registration procedures. We have receipts here when you buy a bike; at other stores, you still need to register with the traffic police department. Here it’s simple – once you pay, you can take your bike and ride off straight away. What university are you from Nanjing University Many students from our university buy bikes here. See this saddle here; I won’t remove it."

From entering the store and picking a bicycle to leaving with it after passing through the slightly worn-out entrance, Su Cunhuai spent less than half an hour.

He had hailed a cab earlier to get there. Now he was cycling back to Nanjing University along the opposite road, riding leisurely according to his memory and sense of direction.

"Financial development is necessary, but what range should match with real economic growth What issues need attention when designing this financial model and setting parameters Why are industry self-regulation and external supervision guarantees against excessive financial leverage Every class, I will assign you some deeper topics to think about. Today's lesson ends here; next time, I expect a more precise answer from you all."

The professor closed his book, set the task for the students, then got up and walked out of the classroom, stopping when he was greeted by several students who warmly explained further.

Sight of the elegant beauty carrying a book walking past him gave even the middle-aged professor a sense of coolness, but at the same time, there was a faint sense of melancholy in his heart.

The student Tang Wu seemed to never ask him questions. It appeared that she had no doubts about the economics knowledge he taught. Today, however, when he proposed a more challenging topic for these first-year students, she didn't even consider approaching to inquire, which left the professor somewhat crestfallen. Nevertheless, an image of her walking away with a book in hand lingered briefly before being suppressed by his rationality.

When Tang Wu was about to change classrooms, she stopped on the ground floor and saw Su Cen standing there, crossing a bicycle and smiling at her.

Tang Wu froze for a moment as classmates around her began to cheer and tease.

Everyone had become familiar with each other after attending classes together for some time. In their class, Tang Wu was known as a pure lily. Many people in the department knew about her too. Former students from Second Seventh High School would often mention her, increasing everyone's interest in her. It was well-known that she was an attractive girl who received attention both in high school and university. Now, in their first-year class, Tang Wu had become a frequent subject of conversation among male dormitory mates at night.

The crude and perverted ones were few; many simply wanted to learn more about her through subtle questions.

After all, college students were mostly adults who wouldn't readily reveal their inner thoughts. Discussing Tang Wu in the dorm would often involve mentioning that she had a boyfriend. This fact left many sighing wistfully—nowadays, single female university students are definitely not beauties; being beautiful and unmarried is something envied by many. Many cursed those so-called romantic relationships that squander college resources with hypocritical pretenses.

Standing opposite Tang Wu, Su Cen finally let her classmates see his identity as the one spoken about in legends regarding Tang Wu.

A bicycle and a tall figure, along with a natural smile without any awkwardness.

The usual scene of those who would present roses or unexpected proposals making Tang Wu indifferent until they were left humiliated on the steps or corridor was quite different this time. Su Cen's appearance made everyone take notice and even more so for those close to Tang Wu, their scrutiny became stricter.

But it seemed acceptable apart from not matching the image of arriving on a black horse wearing dazzling brands like Armani in their imagination.

He was still quite conventional, composed, fitting the tone of a college romance.

Tang Wu smiled at the surrounding crowd who were teasing. Her usually unexpressive face showed some change then, looking relaxed and contented.

She walked up to him, looked at his bicycle, frowned and said, "New You're so lazy."

"The school is vast; sometimes riding a bike can be a form of exercise. I can't always come pick you up with just my hands for your books, right" Su Cen took the books from Tang Wu's hand to put them in his own bag and got on the bike.

Tang Wu looked around hesitantly; many people were coming out of the teaching building during this break. Besides her reluctance to be seen by others, there was no other choice now.

But she ultimately sat behind him anyway. Since Tang Wu had never ridden a bicycle before and even less sat on one, she felt uneasy while swaying slightly in front of Su Cen's seat. She tightly held onto his clothes, her face red as they rode through the rows of trees below. The significant thing was that now they were riding right down the middle of the school road, attracting nothing but attention.

If her own mother were to see such a scene, she might very well say that it's "inappropriate."

Thinking about this made Tang Wu feel an indulgent sense of thrill. Times keep moving forward; high school is in the past now and college has arrived. Osama bin Laden attacked America. The world is absurd; what lies ahead for them as they continue to move forward

Sitting on the backseat of Su Cen's bicycle, she never thought that one day she would be sitting behind a boy's seat. Tang Wu felt somewhat shy.

She loosened her grip on Su Cen’s t-shirt and wrapped both arms around his waist. She pressed her cold face against his back and smelled the faint sweat off him, then softly said, "Do you remember what you told me when we left Xiahai"

"One day, I'll come to you driving a Maybach or Porsche," Su Cen laughed heartily. The bicycle was going downhill now; the wind blew her black hair up.

People watching from the roadside were flabbergasted. If anyone else were walking this road and saw such a young man riding his bicycle with his girlfriend, they would all have reacted similarly.

The guy on the bike rides pretty well, but he’s daydreaming, isn't he

Tang Wu tightened her grip around Su Cen. She said softly, "As for cars and houses, bread and milk, I believe we can earn them through our hard work. Don’t buy such expensive cars; practicality is enough. We don’t need a big house either; as long as it’s livable. But the life we have now needs to go on endlessly."

On the bicycle, they sped along the park road.

The apocalyptic teenage boy riding a bike did not live in such an environment of despair and sadness, yet Tang Wu's words could easily pierce through his heart encased in ice.

Having witnessed too many cold realities and experienced countless human relationships of different values, people dance to the tune of life for various reasons. But most do not possess Tang Wu’s calmness and depth.

In a future urban society that is desolate and restless, there are already too many slaves to material desires living as mere shells, striving for status and reputation to avoid becoming bones trampled underfoot by the powerful or pawns at their mercy.

This era has seen much apathy.

Tang Wu, perhaps most people around you think that you merely held hands with a man who isn't suitable for you and experienced a doomed love destined to end here. But I believe facts will soon reveal to everyone: Regardless of whether we ride bicycles or drive Maybachs, all obstacles before us will crumble into dust as we push through.

There have been many issues this month—illnesses and absences—but perseverance has prevailed. Every day in my free time, I read books, striving to deliver the best work for everyone’s appreciation.

I know it's hard to please everyone, but I will try my best to meet your expectations. Sometimes I write slowly due to hitting writer's block, but I put in my utmost effort without slacking off. Su Cen's life should be more spectacular; with everyone's support, I'll do my best.

Lastly, thank you for your continuous support this month—subscriptions, donations, monthly votes, recommendations—all pouring in. You are the best!moderation."Was Xiao Rihua really saying this Su Cen wondered if he had heard it correctly.Xiao Rihua sipped some more tea. "Alright, back to class. There are only a few days left; don't think that be...