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 sweet stage of their ambiguous relationship, where they hadn't yet confessed their feelings.
Seeing Chu Xi truly let go of the past and radiate genuine smiles, a heavy stone was lifted from Zhan Jingrui's heart.
In fact, sometimes you don't love someone as much as you think you do, and it's not like you can't live without them.
It's just that you're immersed in a persona of deep affection that you've created for yourself.
Only when you truly meet someone suitable for you and become genuinely happy will you realize how important it is to leave an unsuitable person sooner.
Seven years later, Zhan Jingrui regained his love and had a happy marriage, but Jiang Jingyu was not as fortunate.
He had also fallen in love at the age of 18, but his first love would never return.
On the day of Zhan Jingrui's wedding, seeing him and He Yao, a perfect match, radiating happiness, and then looking at Lu Jiaying, whom he could never hold in his arms again in the photo on his phone, Jiang Jingyu got very drunk.
Ge'er, Tian Tian, Zhan Bei Jue, and Jiang Nan Fang all knew his heartache.
For years, he had thrown himself into work, socialized very little, isolated himself, and rarely interacted with outsiders.
Everyone saw his state and worried about him, secretly devising many ways to help him reintegrate into society.
However, he genuinely resisted it from the bottom of his heart.
Later, everyone stopped forcing him and placed their hope in time.
They hoped that time would slowly alleviate his pain and that he would eventually come out of it on his own.
Time flew by, and it was spring the following year.
In recent years, the real estate business had become increasingly difficult.
The demand for housing was decreasing, and most developable areas were already developed, leading to near-saturation of housing in cities. Zhan's real estate company's performance faced increasing difficulty in breaking through, becoming a major problem at every group meeting.
Last summer, Zhan's learned about a preferential policy.
A certain department intended to build a new high-speed rail station in a location in the northern suburbs of Nan City. The scale of the land acquisition was vast, and the engineering volume was substantial. Whoever won the bid for this project would receive significant 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 golden opportunity that everyone craved.
Besides this project, there was nothing else that could elevate the company's profile in the coming years, so he was determined to win it.
Doing real estate is both simple and complicated.
It's simple because as long as you're willing to invest money, homeowners in the dilapidated houses in the suburbs are very willing to exchange their old homes for new ones in relocation housing, giving up their land.
The complication is that some people make exorbitant demands, hoping to get rich overnight through demolition, requiring extensive mobilization efforts.
They secured the project after three months, but the demolition was slow to complete.
As of this spring, three households had not yet reached an agreement.
All possible methods had been used. Zhan Bei Jue strictly prohibited violent demolition, leaving his subordinates helpless. Jiang Jingyu decided to go in person to see how difficult these stubborn residents were.
On the fifth day of the second lunar month, a Saturday, despite the lingering chill of spring, the sunlight was bright.
Jiang Jingyu set off discreetly, accompanied by his assistant, Zhang Yang. They specially drove a nearly new minivan and entered the small town called Shuangqiao Town.
The town was minuscule, merely a small sliver of land through which the high-speed rail station would pass.
However, due to the presence of two old factories, the population was relatively dense.
They drove along the semi-new cement road, making several turns. The navigation indicated they had arrived at their destination.
The assistant didn't know the exact location of the stubborn households 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 a metal frame erected at the 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 beside the sign, washing dishes.
In front of her was a vertical faucet about half a meter high, and beneath it was a large blue plastic basin piled high with bowls.
They still felt the chill of spring wearing sweaters and cashmere coats, but the girl, already sweating from her work, wore only a thin sweater with her sleeves rolled up high.
Her skin was exceptionally fair, and with the sweat, a flush appeared, making her look particularly healthy and vibrant.
The assistant followed his gaze, immediately understood Jiang Jingyu's intention, and got out of the car to ask for directions.
"Hello, Miss. Sorry to bother you, but could you help me find someone?"
Tong Anan looked up, her apricot eyes meeting his. Her pupils were dark and lustrous, and a polite, kind smile graced her lips.
"Hello, of course. Whom are you looking for?"
Her voice was pleasant and melodious, 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 Anan's face.
She looked so much like her.
He used to only know about such melodramatic plots in television shows and novels, where two people looked astonishingly alike, never expecting to encounter such a situation himself...
Before he could fully come to his senses, the assistant had already driven the car forward.
Thanks to Tong Anan's accurate directions, they successfully found the three stubborn households.
After an in-depth negotiation and analysis of various pros and cons, Jiang Jingyu finally revealed his identity and discussed the overall plan. The other party realized they couldn't gain any further advantage. Seeing that they were the only three families in the entire town who hadn't agreed, and even the factory had decided to relocate, they had no other choice but to accept the demolition terms.
As dusk approached, they began their journey back.
Passing by Hao Wei Restaurant, Jiang Jingyu couldn't resist looking towards the entrance again. The person washing dishes was no longer there.
It was already dinnertime, and the entire restaurant was quiet, devoid of any lively atmosphere.
For reasons he couldn't quite explain, 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, followed by his assistant.
As they entered, a middle-aged woman, dressed ordinarily and wearing an apron, rushed out from the inner section, perhaps having seen them through the window.
"Are you two here for a meal? The menus are on the wall. See what you'd like to eat."
The assistant looked at the ice chest by the wall, about to pick out two bottles of the best water, when Jiang Jingyu pointed at the wall.
"Give me a Mapo Tofu rice bowl. 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 too."
"Alright, I'll start making it. We have free hot water here, please sit, and I'll call someone to pour it for you."
With that, the woman called towards the stairs, "Tong Anan, come down!"