On the day Zhan Jingrui and He Yao got married, Chu Xi brought Liang Bo along to attend their wedding.
The two were in the ambiguous phase where neither had explicitly confessed their feelings, a sweet period.
Seeing that Chu Xi had truly let go of the past and emanated genuine smiles, a heavy stone in Zhan Jingrui's heart was finally lifted.
In fact, sometimes you don't love someone as much as you think you do, that you can't live without them.
You're just immersed in a self-created persona of deep affection.
Only when you truly meet someone suitable for you, and genuinely become happy, will you realize how important it is to leave an unsuitable person sooner.
Seven years later, Zhan Jingrui found love again and had a happy marriage, but Jiang Jingyu was not as fortunate.
He had also fallen in love at eighteen, but his first love would never return.
On Zhan Jingrui's wedding day, seeing him and He Yao as a perfect match, happy and fulfilled, and then looking at the image of Lu Jiaying on his phone, whom he could never hold, Jiang Jingyu got thoroughly drunk.
Ge'er and Tiantian, including Zhan Bei Jue and Jiang Nan Fang, knew the pain in his heart.
For years, he immersed himself in work, rarely socialized, isolated himself, and almost had no contact with outsiders.
Everyone saw it and worried, secretly devising many ways to help him step out again.
However, he genuinely resisted from the bottom of his heart.
Later, everyone stopped forcing him, placing their hopes in time.
Hoping that time would slowly dilute his pain, and that one day he would walk out on his own.
Time flew by, and it was the spring of the following year.
In recent years, the real estate business had become increasingly difficult.
Demand for housing was decreasing, most developable land had been developed, and urban housing saturation was nearing its peak. Zhan's real estate company's performance was finding it harder to break through, becoming a major issue at every group meeting.
Last summer, Zhan's heard about a preferential policy.
A certain department intended to build a new high-speed rail station in a location in the northern suburbs of Nancheng. The scale of land acquisition was vast, and the engineering workload was immense. Once someone won the bid, they would receive considerable policy support.
However, due to the large land area and the substantial investment required, ordinary companies could not handle this project.
Jiang Jingyu knew that for the current real estate market, this was a piece of fat meat everyone craved.
Besides this project, there was nothing else in the coming years that could elevate the company's standing, so he was determined to secure it.
Doing real estate is simple in one way and troublesome in another.
It's simple because as long as you're willing to invest money, homeowners of dilapidated houses in the suburbs are quite willing to exchange their old homes for new ones in resettlement buildings and give up their land.
The trouble is that some people demand exorbitant prices, hoping to get rich overnight through demolition, requiring a lot of persuasive work.
They took three months to secure the project, but the demolition was never completed.
As of this spring, three households had not yet reached an agreement.
All possible means had been used. Zhan Bei Jue had strictly forbidden violent demolition, leaving his subordinates helpless. Jiang Jingyu decided to make a personal visit to see how difficult these holdouts were.
On the fifth day of February, a Saturday, although the spring air was still chilly, the sunlight was bright.
Jiang Jingyu departed discreetly, accompanied by his assistant Zhang Yang, specifically driving an eight-tenths new minivan into the small town called Shuangqiao Town.
The town was a tiny place, merely a small segment of the high-speed rail station's route.
However, due to the presence of two old factories, the population was relatively dense.
Driving along the semi-new cement road, they made several turns, and the navigation indicated they had reached their destination.
The assistant didn't know the exact location of the holdouts and was unsure where to go next, so he sought Jiang Jingyu's opinion.
Jiang Jingyu's gaze fell upon a fast-food restaurant by the roadside.
The fast-food restaurant had erected an iron frame at its entrance, covered with red cloth, forming a rustic sign unique to the town. The sign bore four large characters: Hao Wei Restaurant.
A young, slender girl was sitting by the sign, washing dishes.
In front of her was a vertical faucet about half a meter high, and beneath the faucet was a large blue plastic basin filled with a pile of bowls.
While they felt the spring chill in their sweaters and cashmere coats, the girl, already sweating from her work, was only wearing a thin sweater with her sleeves rolled up high.
Her skin was extremely fair, showing a hint of redness after sweating, making her look particularly healthy and vibrant.
The assistant followed his gaze and immediately understood Jiang Jingyu's intention, got out of the car, and went to ask for directions.
"Hello, miss. Sorry to bother you, but could I ask you about someone?"
Tong An'an looked up, her almond-shaped eyes meeting his, her pupils dark and moist, a polite and kind smile on her lips.
"Hello, yes. Who are you looking for?"
Her voice was melodious and gentle, carrying the unique sweetness of a young woman.
As she looked up, Jiang Jingyu saw her face clearly.
In an instant, his pupils contracted, then contracted further. His long-dormant heart began to pound.
After that, he didn't hear their conversation until his assistant returned and got into the car. He was still staring at Tong An'an's face.
She looked so much like her.
He had only known about such melodramatic plots in TV shows and novels, where two people looked almost identical, never imagining he would encounter it himself one day.
Before he could recover, the assistant had already driven the car forward.
Thanks to Tong An'an's precise directions, they successfully found the three holdout households.
After in-depth negotiations and analyses of various pros and cons, Jiang Jingyu finally revealed his identity and presented the overall plan. The other party, realizing they couldn't gain any advantage, and seeing that their town was left with only these three families who hadn't agreed, and even the factories had decided to relocate, had no other choice but to accept the demolition terms.
As dusk approached, the two began their return journey.
Passing by Hao Wei Restaurant, Jiang Jingyu couldn't help but glance at the entrance again. The person washing dishes was no longer there.
It was now dinnertime, and the entire restaurant was quiet, devoid of any liveliness.
For reasons unknown, he asked the assistant to stop the car.
"I'm thirsty after talking all afternoon. Let's go buy a bottle of water."
He got out of the car first, with the assistant following behind.
Upon entering, a plainly dressed middle-aged woman in an apron, perhaps having seen them through the window, hurried out from the inner room.
"Are you two here to eat? The menus are on the wall. See what you'd like to order."
The assistant looked at the freezer standing by the wall, about to pick out two bottles of the best water, when Jiang Jingyu raised his hand and pointed at the wall.
"Give me a Mapo Tofu over rice. What do you want?"
Thinking that the owner might be hungry and wanted to eat before going back, the assistant quickly followed his lead.
"Give me the same one, please."
"Okay, I'll start making it. We have free hot water here, please sit, and I'll call someone to serve you."
With that, the woman called towards the stairs, "Tong An'an, come down!"