Huang Meiyun slammed her purse onto the sofa the moment she walked in, glaring at her husband.

"What's wrong? What did you see?" Zhang Cheng Zhi stood there, an apron tied around his waist, water still dripping from the vegetables in his hand.

"Your classmate's son, the one named Wang Zhuo, he was right in our hallway, kissing some girl!" Huang Meiyun huffed, "His hand was already under her skirt! I'm going to get eye strain just thinking about it tomorrow!"

Huang Meiyun had been walking the stairs lately because she was dieting, so she didn't take the elevator. She never expected to walk into the stairwell and find a young couple locked in an embrace at the landing. Her description of his hand being under the skirt was an exaggeration, but he was definitely touching her thigh.

Zhang Cheng Zhi looked astonished and asked, "Did they see you?"

"That girl didn't see me, but Wang Zhuo did, and he even smiled at me!" This was what bothered Huang Meiyun the most; she felt Wang Zhuo had no respect for her at all.

"No way," Zhang Cheng Zhi said, slightly perplexed. "His family lives upstairs. Can't he do whatever he wants when he gets home? Why on earth would he do that in the hallway?"

"Where's the thrill in doing that at home? They must have calculated the time when no one would be using the stairs, that's why they were hiding there secretly."

Flesh in the wild? Zhang Cheng Zhi suddenly understood. "Wife, I remember now! Wang Zhengdao was expelled because he was caught doing exactly that, and it was with the vice-principal's girlfriend, out in the small woods behind the school!"

This bit of secret history wasn't even known to Wang Zhuo. Because the gossip surrounding the incident was so potent, it had stuck with Zhang Cheng Zhi for over two decades.

"Like father, like son, I suppose!" Huang Meiyun asked suspiciously, "Cheng Zhi, do you think they might actually go all the way right there in the stairwell?!"

"You can never be sure," Zhang Cheng Zhi never hesitated to assume the worst about others. He sneered, "If his old man could do something like that, how good can the son be?"

...

If Wang Zhuo were to overhear this conversation between the Zhang couple, one wonders what he would think. In reality, he had only pulled Gan Lin into the hallway for a few minutes of intimacy before letting her go. He had wanted to bring her upstairs for a longer, lingering moment, but she was in a rush to get home with her acceptance letter.

Joy brings a spring to one's step, and the two acceptance letters had sent the young man and woman into a state of euphoria. It was a pity that Gan Lin had to leave immediately; otherwise, something real might have happened today.

For the past few days, Wang Zhuo and Qiu Lu had been studying jade, learning a great deal from the professional expert, effectively stepping one foot across the threshold into the specialized field.

As for Qiu Lu's business, it remained largely the same. He occasionally received a call or arranged a meeting to view goods with a buyer in person, but his presentation skills were severely lacking, and his business acumen was insufficient; he hadn't managed to close a single transaction.

Essentially, he had abandoned the idea of starting a business. After all, the appreciation in value of the jade he had acquired would completely cover his losses during this period, and coupled with the two-million-yuan "super red envelope" Wang Zhuo had given him, there was no immediate need to rush into finding a job.

Actually, if finding work was the issue, Wang Zhuo could secure him a position right now. Just that single Jade Cabbage was enough to keep him busy for over a month, not to mention the pile of rough stones they hadn't even cut yet; even if only a small percentage yielded jade, it would be enough for him to work for a year or two.

In the corner of the garage, Fei Long, watching the footage, was still restless, occasionally letting out shouts like "So big!" or "Fantastic!" as commentary.

Qiu Lu finished carving a small section, carefully comparing it against the clay model. Seeing Wang Zhuo marking lines on a piece of rough stone with a red powder stick, he asked, "Wang Zhuo, if you go off to school, what are you planning to do with all these stones?"

Wang Zhuo put down the red powder stick and smiled, "I'll take them with me, hire a few people to process them into finished products, and open a small shop to sell them slowly."

"With your current assets, that's certainly feasible," Qiu Lu nodded thoughtfully.

"Brother Qiu, are you interested in joining the venture?" Wang Zhuo seized the opportunity to extend an olive branch.

"Sure," Qiu Lu's reply was unexpectedly prompt. "As long as I have material to work with and money to earn, I'm in."

"So, it's settled with a word?"

"It's settled!"

The first sturdy warhorse had been hitched to Wang Zhuo's chariot, a simple, clean arrangement that came about naturally. This was partly due to the harmonious relationship between them, and partly because Qiu Lu was too naive, believing that two million yuan was enough for a lifetime, making him content and desireless.

...

The final summer vacation of senior high school was drawing to a swift and unrestrained close.

Since changing his phone number, the random calls and texts had decreased significantly, though spam messages and one-ring calls still seemed to be an inherent feature of China Mobile’s service—probably something that wouldn't cease even with a few more number changes.

Lately, however, the calls had started trickling in again. With acceptance letters arriving at various levels, class reunion activities had become frequent, and often Wang Zhuo and Gan Lin were the central figures at these gatherings.

Guan Yingying had not had a chance to return since her last visit. She had been busy all summer learning to manage her father's business, flying back and forth between major cities from time to time.

Fortunately, Wang Zhuo was about to start school in Jiangzhou, which was Zheng Shichen's forward operating base; they would be able to see each other often from now on.

Qi Fei had taken a trip to Hong Kong, then immediately rushed back to Guangdong to participate in a ten-day trade fair. She probably wouldn't return to Jiangzhou until early September to sort out the accumulated matters at her studio.

Wang Zhuo found it somewhat amusing that everyone seemed destined to gather again, only this time the stage would be the larger city of Jiangzhou.

"Wang Zhuo, Wang Zhuo!"

Early in the morning, Fei Long burst into Wang Zhuo's garage studio, shouting excitedly, "My supplementary admission notice is out! A school finally accepted me!"

"Which school was blind enough to take you?" Wang Zhuo chuckled, putting down the special publication he was holding. This thick, glossy color catalog had been specially mailed from Hong Kong by Qi Fei, showcasing the latest international jewelry trends—things unseen in the mainland.

Fei Long puffed out his chest proudly. "It's the school I put down as my first choice! They finally recognized my talent and asked me back!"

"I think some other student must have declined, leaving an opening for you?"

Fei Long snorted. "Who cares? At least I can go to Jiangzhou now! The Oriental Pearl, The Bund, big-bottomed foreign girls—I'm coming!"

Wang Zhuo shook his head with mock exasperation. "Think about foreign girls only after you manage to study abroad. In Jiangzhou, you won't even get a dark-skinned girl."

"I ended up in the same school as that bastard Cheng Gang again," Fei Long laughed. "By the way, when are you buying your ticket? Are you flying or taking the train?"

Wang Zhuo shook his head. "We're driving. Brother Qiu and I will go together."

"Driving sounds good too. If we take the expressway, it's about a day's drive." Fei Long nodded. "I think I'll take the high-speed rail. People say that at my weight, I’d have to buy two tickets to fly."................................... The next chapter marks the start of a new volume. Readers following along should please return to the book page and click on the new chapter to continue reading.