Pan Shen shot him a questioning glance. Shen Huaixu gave a slight nod in response. "It's raining hard, let the driver take you."

The tea room was suddenly left with only two people, the atmosphere abruptly iced up.

Shen Huaixu ordered a fresh pot of hot tea from the waiter, refilling Ji Chunshan's cup.

What could they possibly talk about?

Ask him how he's been all these years?

Which school he ended up sticking with afterwards?

Why he got into investing?

Shen Huaixu could not decide.

Ji Chunshan left the tea untouched. He merely caressed the irregular patterns on the outer wall of the tea cup, breaking the ice, "Mai Man Ping Wu, what’s the meaning behind the company’s name?"1

Shen Huaixu didn't expect him to get straight to the point, but it make sense for Ji to pose the question, so he calmly replied, "In my junior year, I was a part of a rural outreach activity in Gansu. Villages of that whole area were surrounded by barren deserts. I thought then that solving the problem of food supply is easier said than done. The name of the company reflects my initial intention of entering the food industry, which I find meaningful."

“That's it?"

"What do you expect to hear?"

Ji Chunshan lowered his head and chuckled lightly, "Guess I was overthinking."

Shen Huaixu followed suit and smiled, leading away the topic, "You're quite impressive, promoted to vice president at such a young age."

"Give the credit to my invested companies." Ji Chunshan paused, leaning lazily back in his chair, looking at Shen Huaixu with interest, "It's just good luck."

Shen Huaixu's expression stiffened slightly. Inevitably, this hurdle was hard to overcome.

Ji Chunshan didn't give him a chance to recover, a trace of mockery hooking the corner of his lips, "I'm really sorry for you to run into me, this jinx, again."

"President Ji sure knows how to joke. This time, we owe our survival to Boling's intervention. You are our company's savior." Shen Huaixu swallowed the barbs in Ji Chunshan's words. He refilled the tea for both Ji Chunshan and himself, putting on a smile, "I am sorry for being ignorant when I was younger. I offer this tea in place of wine as an apology."

Ji Chunshan watched him down the tea, not accepting his gesture. He merely tapped the rim of his cup with his fingertips, "I came to see how lucky you could be after leaving me." He shook his head, "It doesn't seem to go so well, you've even fallen to the point of needing me, a jinx, to save you. Shen Huaixu, you've disappointed me."

Shen Huaixu composed his expression, looking at Ji Chunshan for a long time.

Some words, once past the appropriate time to explain, can never be spoken.

Otherwise, they become lies, excuses, or evasions.

Forget it.

After all, Ji Chunshan didn't leave any room for him to explain back then.

Shen Huaixu rose, smoothing the creases on his clothes, his face returning to calm.

"Ji Chunshan, my luck might not be good, but at least it has thickened my skin. I can bear all the sarcasm and ridicule you wish to lay on me." He paused slightly, finally making up his mind, "However, if this is your idea of “catch up”, then I'll have to excuse myself."

Shen Huaixu picked up his umbrella and laptop, turning to push open the door.

"Shen Huaixu."

The sound of the rattan chair's legs scraping against the floor echoed from behind him.

"Xiao Xu."2

Shen Huaixu's hand on the door abruptly stopped. He turned around.

Only two people in the world had called him that way, and the last time he heard it was thirteen years ago.

The torrential curtain of rain swept into the room, instantly soaking his pant legs.

Ji Chunsan propped his hands on the table, his voice low and heavy: "We're even now."

The warmth in the room slowly dissipated, but Ji Chunsan's gaze took on a warmth: "This project was led by Fu Pinghe, investing in your side was the company's decision. It has nothing to do with me."

"You've also pricked me with your words." Ji Chunsan readily drew a termination line on the past, "Now, we're even."

All settled, all even. He was always like this, accounting for everything meticulously.

Shen Huaixu looked at his wet pant leg, a mocking smile tugging at his lips: "Don't worry, once our legal department has reviewed the contract, we'll contact Manager Fu immediately." He pushed the door fully open, politely saying goodbye to Ji Chunsan, "President Ji, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now."

*
Shen Huaixu had a secret; he had been luckier than others since he was young.

He always got the rare ones when buying blind boxes, it never rained when he forgot his umbrella, even when catching buses, he would just happen to meet one that had just pulled into the station.

But this streak of good luck only lasted until the second half of his sophomore year in high school - the day Ji Chunsan transferred to the Sixth Middle School.

Shen Huaixu only remembered that the year heated up very early. It was only mid-April, and the temperature had already soared to 25-26 degrees Celsius.

The night before, he had done three test papers in a row. The stuffy air in the classroom made him drowsy, but the first lesson in the afternoon was physics, taught by the homeroom teacher, Mr. Zhang.

Zhang, with only one character in his given name, was a serious and solemn man, just like his first name “Zheng”3.

Shen Huaixu's grades had been topping the charts at the Sixth Middle School for years, yet he had never been able to pry a single word of praise from Mr. Zhang's mouth.

But that day, Mr. Zhang was unusually late.


Translator’s notes:
1 Ping Wu: Allusion to Ou Yang Xiu, great poet of the Song Dynasty’s lines “at the end of Ping Wu (deserted flatlands), there are Chun Shan (spring mountains).
2 Xiao Xu: Xiao means “little”. The Chinese usually add a “xiao” at the beginning of closed one’s name to show intimacy.
3 Zheng: In mandarin, righteous