Yu Xing had no answer for a moment and could only sit in the lab, quietly lost in thought.
By the time Zhong Zhiling returned from dinner at the cafeteria, he flipped on the light and was startled by his senior classmate sitting silently in the dark. "Senior, what are you doing? You didn't even turn on the light?"
"Thinking," Yu Xing answered seriously.
"Thinking about what? Did Teacher Liu give you some new task?"
"Thinking about whether the me of tomorrow, the me of today, and the me of the past—which one is the real me." Yu Xing looked pensive. "It reminds me of the Ship of Theseus, and of Zhuangzi dreaming of the butterfly."
One was a question from the first century AD: if the planks of Theseus's ship were gradually replaced until not a single original plank remained, would it still be the same ship?
The other came from Zhuangzi's "Discussion on Making All Things Equal": did Zhuangzi dream he was a butterfly, or is the butterfly now dreaming it is Zhuangzi?
It was hard for Yu Xing not to think about dreams, and hard not to notice the changes in his own state of mind. If he were still the first-year grad student he had been, even knowing in advance that the wealth-management product would collapse, he probably would have panicked.
But Zhong Zhiling had no interest whatsoever in discussing philosophy with his senior. He simply slumped into his chair with a miserable face, his mood completely different from before dinner, muttering, "Whatever me, whatever ship, whatever butterfly—sigh, any ship or butterfly that can fix things between me and my girlfriend is a good ship, a good butterfly."
Yu Xing glanced at the unlucky soul beside him, and his mood suddenly brightened. To hell with which me, which ship, which butterfly. My dad is my dad, I am my dad's son, my mom is my mom, I am my mom's kid...
He let out a breath and looked at Zhong Zhiling, who knew nothing yet about the larger problem. "What's wrong with your girlfriend?"
"Sigh, I'm going to grad school, but she didn't pass the entrance exam. We agreed she'd take it a second time, but now her family wants her to go back to her hometown and find a job. We had a deal!" Zhong Zhiling sighed and groaned. "We had another huge fight at dinner just now. She could pass it if she tried! What does it mean if she goes back now? How does long-distance even work? If she listens to her family and goes back now, will she be forced into blind dates later too? What does that make me?"
The unlucky soul rambled on, never expecting to be suddenly ambushed by breakup season.
Yu Xing listened halfheartedly while mulling over his own affairs, but his mind wandered back to Zhuangzi's butterfly dream—did Zhuangzi dream he was a butterfly, or the butterfly dream it was Zhuangzi? Between Zhuangzi and the butterfly, there must be some distinction. This is called the transformation of things.
But this time it wasn't philosophy—it was a calculation layered over the sorrow by his ear: transformation.
The American side was a lost cause for now, and the hole in front of him still needed filling. He did not want to see history repeat itself in the slightest, even if this time he could turn things around by enduring a few years of hardship.
Endure five years, toil like an ox for ten, suffer for fifteen...
A spark flared up in Yu Xing's heart and instantly grew into a roaring blaze. Right now, he didn't want to endure at all!
He cut off the unlucky soul and said, tentatively, "All she wants is a gesture of commitment."
Zhong Zhiling said blankly, "What gesture? We agreed we'd strive together!"
"You got a recommended grad school spot and you get to stay at the university. What if she fails the second attempt too? There are so many opportunities on campus—would your heart change?" Yu Xing sighed. "You keep saying you love her. How exactly do you prove that love?"
"I—I..." Zhong Zhiling tried to think of an answer.
Yu Xing pressed on: "You say you love her, you say you'll be together until the end. But whether she goes back or not, whether you're long-distance or not, I think you two will never end up together."
"Impossible!" Zhong Zhiling was in his first love—already three years—and firmly believed in their future. "I said I'd marry her, and I will!"
Yu Xing shook his head. "I don't believe it. Not that many college couples make it to marriage."
Zhong Zhiling said resolutely, "We're different!"
Yu Xing shook his head again and said flatly, "I don't believe it."
Zhong Zhiling practically leaped up, forgetting this was his own senior, glaring at him furiously: "Who cares whether you believe it or not?!!"
"I've seen plenty of couples like you." Yu Xing's tone carried a hint of disdain. "Do you know how many college couples break up after graduation? How many don't survive two years? How many real-world problems you'll face after graduating? You don't!"
He sped up, giving the unlucky soul no time to think, and laid out the idea he'd been considering: "Do you dare bet with me? Not on anything else—just on whether you two get married in three years!"
"Bet on what??" Zhong Zhiling, fortified by the conviction of first love, demanded almost uncontrollably.
"Simple. You put up 500 yuan now. If you break up within three years, the money is mine!" Yu Xing stared hard at the junior student in front of him and stated the terms.
Zhong Zhiling agreed without hesitation: "Fine! If we don't break up, you double it as a wedding gift!!"
"If you two get married in three years, I'll give you 999 roses as a gift!" Yu Xing pulled three sheets of A4 paper from the drawer and quickly drafted a contract.
In just five minutes, Zhong Zhiling was handed three copies of the contract already signed by Yu Xing, was instructed to sign as "Party A," and then, somewhat dazedly, was told to pay up.
Holding two copies of the contract, he watched his senior put away the third, feeling utterly bewildered.
What was going on?
How had his own love life turned into a bet with his senior?
Zhong Zhiling felt something was off but couldn't say what. After thinking for a while, he finally found a question: "If we do get married, what if you welch and don't give us the roses?"
Even at 5 yuan a rose, 999 roses came to nearly 5,000 yuan, while he was only putting up 500—exactly one-tenth.
"There are three copies of the contract with my signature. We're all from the same lab. If I can't honor even a small bet like this, you can ruin my reputation at Nanjing Medical University." Yu Xing promised, "Besides, it's just a few thousand yuan. If my junior brother really gets married, what's wrong with me happily paying a few thousand for it?"
Hearing this, Zhong Zhiling figured it sounded about right.
Seeing him still hesitate, Yu Xing added, "If I'd cheat you even over this, may I never finish grad school and never become a doctor! I swear on the lamp!"
Zhong Zhiling finally nodded.
Yu Xing, seeing the most crucial step had not been completed, stretched out his hand. "Pay up!"
Zhong Zhiling took out his wallet, pulled out half his living expenses, and handed it over still feeling that something wasn't quite right.
"Junior brother, it seems you really do have confidence in your love, really are steadfast about your future." Yu Xing pocketed the money and praised him. "I can't wait to send you those roses."
Hearing this, Zhong Zhiling calmed down a little. He looked at the contract in his hand, thought briefly, and said, "I'm going to show her my attitude right now—show her my confidence in our future!"
"Uh." Yu Xing watched his junior brother rush excitedly out of the lab, reached out to stop him, then stopped himself. Oh well—love always has to weather some storms.
The junior was a small experiment in an idea.
It was graduation season, which was breakup season; many student couples were facing harsh realities. Perhaps he could work that angle.
One couple was 500 yuan. Find 100 couples willing to pay, and that's 50,000.
Nanjing Medical University alone probably couldn't supply that many target customers, but what if the scope expanded to all of Jinling? A thousand couples? Ten thousand couples?
And what if the region expanded to East China, or even the whole country?
And what if the customer base expanded from campuses to society at large?
Yu Xing's mind began to spin. Maybe he could take a small bite of this. Young people inevitably suffer for love anyway—why not use that suffering to help him solve some real-world problems?
His family's total investment in the wealth-management product was around 5 million, which meant he'd need 10,000 target couples.
That seemed hard, and indeed...
wouldn't be easy, would it?
He'd also have to factor in operating costs, corporate taxes, and a series of other issues; the actual customer target would need to be even higher.
Yu Xing had weathered one collapse after another, devoted himself single-mindedly to working hard and earning money, and had never started a business. But from the moment he'd woken from that dream this afternoon until now, he couldn't think of any way to make money fast.
Maybe... give it a try?
"Think about what Accountant Jia would do."
Yu Xing murmured to himself, summoning the true form of the master who painted grand ecosystem pies. If it were this former boss, he could probably talk for hours, probably organize special sessions for tens of thousands of couples, and draw perfectly round, plump pies without blinking.
He also remembered the mockery from the senior classmate he'd heard on the phone earlier—he still needed practice.
Yu Xing sat in the lab thinking quietly. What the law does not prohibit is permitted. If it took the form of a commercial service or a gift package, perhaps it could rely on ordinary commercial contract law and related regulations—at the very least, it could keep things compliant for a while.
Even if it got running, he didn't necessarily need to find that many customers within three months. With the financial storm exploding, having some money on hand could ease the situation, instead of being helpless like before.
With 500,000 in hand, it would be like sweet rain after a long drought.
With 1 million, like sweet rain after a long drought plus a wedding night.
With 1.5 million, like sweet rain after a long drought, a wedding night, another wedding night, and yet another wedding night.
Yu Xing didn't expect the problem to be solved all at once. As long as this stage could be eased and the relatives given something to hope for, enduring a few more years would still allow a one-time resolution in the end.
But he had never started a business. Even with experience leading people at a company, the two were fundamentally different.
Yu Xing pulled out a notebook and began sketching out his thoughts for a startup project, considering what potential resources might help. If it came to starting a business to make money, he couldn't do it on his own...
The lab was quiet. The pen rustled across the paper, leaving behind line after line of thought.
But the quiet was soon broken by Zhong Zhiling, who had left and now returned.
He burst into the lab waving two copies of the contract, shouting, "Yu Xing, Yu Xing! We broke up—we broke up!"
Yu Xing's train of thought was cut off. He put down his pen and carefully studied his junior brother—no, carefully studied this potential human resource—and asked with concern, "What happened? Didn't you show her your attitude?"
"She said—she said I was waving some damn contract around offering guarantees out of nowhere, and that something's wrong with my brain!" Zhong Zhiling said agitatedly. "She said I'm unreliable! She broke up with me!"
Yu Xing said, puzzled, "How is that unreliable? It's in black and white, three copies, everyone signed."
Zhong Zhiling shot his senior an angry look. "No—not that! It's that this proves nothing, proves nothing..."
For a moment he couldn't find the right words.
Yu Xing helped him phrase it: "This thing can't prove you two will make it, right? And it can't solve the real problem of whether she goes back to her hometown, right?"
"Right! Exactly!!" Zhong Zhiling confirmed.
Yu Xing nodded. Fair enough—it did make sense.
Zhong Zhiling looked at his senior, helplessly seeking help: "What do I do? Senior, how do I fix this?"
"No need to fix anything." Yu Xing mused. "Didn't you break up? The problem doesn't exist anymore."
Zhong Zhiling: "..."
He was nearly in tears.
He had rushed off excitedly to share his confidence and commitment with his girlfriend, only to spark an even bigger fight, which then turned to the long-distance issue, and then the breakup.
It didn't have to be like this... they could have cooled off and talked it through...
He said in anguish, "I don't want to break up!!"
"I think it was probably just something she said in anger. Meet up tomorrow and talk it over." Yu Xing offered this comfort, then shifted his tone. "But the main problem isn't the contract you signed, nor the fight you just had—it's the jobs, the schooling, the distance between you. Those are the problems."
Thinking of the fight with his first love, the breakup, the future, Zhong Zhiling's tears really did fall.
He sat in his seat crying silently, overwhelmed with sorrow, pain, and misery.
"Ah." Seeing this, Yu Xing sighed. "Junior brother, this situation..."
Zhong Zhiling looked up, full of hope. "Senior, do you have any ideas? Any advice?"
"Your situation... I broke up around this time last year, you know." Yu Xing had been through this stage and shook his head. "Love is between two people, after all. I don't have any good solutions."
Zhong Zhiling wiped his tears miserably, and after a while stood up and said, "Senior, come on, let's go drink!"
"Hold on." Yu Xing considered. "Since you're this upset, I do have a method."
A flicker of hope rose in Zhong Zhiling, hoping his senior would point the way. The problem his first love had suddenly raised today had thrown him completely off balance, and the breakup just now had churned his whole heart inside out.
Yu Xing looked at the junior in front of him, confirmed he was ready to listen, and solemnly announced, "The money you invested with Yu Xuhui is gone."
Zhong Zhiling: ?
He stared at his senior in confusion, not processing for a moment—but the next moment, he understood. The bewilderment that hadn't yet faded from his face mingled with suddenly rising terror, producing an absolutely spectacular expression.
The sadness from the breakup receded like a tide, but what surged in behind it was far more stimulating panic.
Zhong Zhiling shot to his feet and cried out, "What? Senior, what money is gone? Wait—how do you know I invested? Yu Xing, explain yourself!"
Yu Xing motioned for his junior to sit down, and didn't press when he didn't. He opened the recording on his phone and played the call with the senior classmate.
The call's contents were perfectly clear, and the implications were unmistakable.
The first time Zhong Zhiling heard it, he couldn't believe it. He snatched the phone and listened a second, third, fourth time...
Restless!
Sweating buckets!
Utterly soul-shattered!
Zhong Zhiling forgot all about asking his senior anything. Only after listening to the recording several times did he remember to call Yu Xuhui in America from his own phone—but one call, two calls, three calls, all powered off.
He stared blankly for a good while before turning to his senior, his face ashen, lips trembling: "Se-Senior, is-is this true?"
Yu Xing asked with a sigh, "How much did you invest?"
"430,000!!" Zhong Zhiling's voice trembled too.
"Well, that's not too bad." Yu Xing nodded, then added, "I put in 5 million."
The sliver of hope born from the first half of that sentence was completely dashed. Zhong Zhiling gave a bleak, desolate smile of utter despair. "How is that 'not too bad'... My money, my money..."
It was the money his parents had saved over half a lifetime.
They had planned to wait until he graduated and started working at the hospital, then figure out how to buy a home.
All of it gone—how could he ever explain it to anyone!
No need to worry about long-distance or not anymore. Not a shred of security left...
He really wasn't sad about the breakup anymore, that much was true. Now he was...
Zhong Zhiling felt there was nothing left to live for!