"Hello? Ruolin?"
After a moment, Jiang Ruolin barely managed to calm herself before saying with a sob in her voice, "Liu Shang, why are you so foolish?!"
"That pressure is enormous. It doesn't belong to you, and for now, you can't bear it."
"No matter what happens in the future, as long as you're always by my side, that's enough."
There was another half of the sentence that Jiang Ruolin kept hidden in her heart: I'll take care of everything else!
Though she did not say it aloud, Liu Shang had already guessed what this kind, silly girl with her purest convictions was thinking.
"Ruolin, listen carefully to me."
"Those who truly care about you, like your parents, have only one goal: they hope you'll be happy in the future."
"If they oppose us being together now, it's only because I'm not good enough and can't give you happiness."
"But one day in the future, when I can prove that I'm capable of making you happy, I don't think anyone will oppose us then."
"As for those who don't truly care about you, or who harbor ulterior motives, let them drift away with the wind from now on."
"Actually, much of the pressure you're thinking about right now is unnecessary, blown out of proportion."
"Ruolin, trust me. This world is beautiful, and our tomorrow will be even better."
"Trust me. Enjoy our university life, enjoy our youth. Don't pay attention to those distracting noises and gloomy things, okay?"
Listening to Liu Shang's soothing, incomparably warm words, Jiang Ruolin obediently nodded.
"Liu Shang, when did you become so good at comforting people?"
"And... I miss you..."
Liu Shang finally stopped running. Then he looked up at the darkening sky and said those words again:
"Ruolin, I miss you too, every moment of every day, for this life and forever!"
Early the next morning, before Zheng Shiwei and Fu Liang, who had gone to the internet café for an all-nighter, returned, Liu Shang had already eaten breakfast in the cafeteria and squeezed onto a crowded bus.
As it happened, Liu Shang had barely arrived at the company when Xu Tiande and Manager Zhong, each with their own car, arrived one after another as well.
At that time, only a few people had arrived in the spacious office hall.
"Liu Shang, did you come from the university? How did you get here?"
Faced with Xu Tiande's concern, Liu Shang smiled. "Yes, Professor Xu. I took the bus from the university this morning."
"Ah, you child. Oil University and the company are in two different districts. It's quite a distance."
"You're a student, so your schedule is already tight. Everyone understands that. Don't do this again in the future. Focus on your studies and live well."
Facing such a purely academic old professor as Xu Tiande, Liu Shang truly felt a touch of warmth in his heart.
"Yes, thank you for your concern, Professor Xu."
"But I normally get up at this time to go running anyway."
"Now that I'm working here, and my working hours are already fewer than everyone else's, I naturally have to make every second count within the limited time I have."
Manager Zhong smiled and patted Liu Shang on the shoulder. "Good, this kid isn't bad. Working hard is always a good thing."
"But you're still young. If you run into difficulties at work or in life, don't try to carry everything alone. You can come find me or Professor Xu."
"Oh, right. Your workstation and computer have already been set up. They're near my office and Professor Xu's."
As he spoke, Manager Zhong led Liu Shang to his workstation and gave him a general introduction to the company.
Their technical department occupied a huge office hall.
In the middle of the office hall stood two rows of workstations facing each other, with more than twenty stations in total.
At one end of the hall was a row of small offices divided by glass partitions, around seven or eight in all. Those were the offices of the technical management staff.
The two largest offices at the front belonged to the technical experts, Manager Zhong and Xu Tiande.
Just as Liu Shang, Manager Zhong, and Xu Tiande were chatting pleasantly, an unexpected figure hurried in.
Liu Shang looked up and saw that it was his nominal senior, Ma Yuan.
"Oh, Professor Xu, Manager Zhong, you came in so early."
Ma Yuan had always been the type to arrive right on the dot, and more often than not, he would even be a little late.
Who knew what had gotten into him today? He had suddenly arrived so early.
Xu Tiande and Manager Zhong smiled and nodded at him before returning to their respective offices.
At that moment, Ma Yuan walked over to Liu Shang with a smile and patted him on the shoulder with exaggerated warmth.
"Liu Shang, you got here really early!"
"From now on, we'll be coworkers. If there's anything you don't understand, just come ask me anytime. My workstation isn't far from yours."
Liu Shang returned his smile but did not waste words on meaningless pleasantries.
He then turned on his computer. It was an old machine with average specifications, but more than sufficient for office work.
Soon, work officially began, and the people who had been chatting in the office started getting busy.
Xu Tiande and Manager Zhong added Liu Shang on QQ one after another. Most of their work communication and file transfers were done through QQ.
"Liu Shang, I've just sent you some well engineering designs, construction reports, completion reports, and quite a few practical technical materials."
"Look through them when you have time, study them, and then try doing some yourself. If there's anything you don't understand, come find me anytime."
"You don't need to rush during this initial period. Focus on learning first, and don't put too much pressure on yourself."
The elderly Professor Xu Tiande stood beside Liu Shang's workstation and smiled as he patted him on the shoulder.
Liu Shang smiled and nodded, agreeing.
Just then, Ma Yuan also walked over at just the right moment.
"Liu Shang, you can come to me anytime for these basic technical matters and field procedures."
"Before you came, I was the one specifically responsible for all of this."
"Professor Xu has too much work and is usually very busy. He often goes out to meet with clients or handle company affairs, so we shouldn't add to Professor Xu's burden."
For an ordinary intern, hearing Ma Yuan say that would surely have been enough to make him happily accept the arrangement.
And Xu Tiande naturally would not have objected to such a trivial matter.
But for Liu Shang, every moment of his time was immensely precious. He did not have that much spare time to shoot the breeze with Ma Yuan.
"Hehe, no need, Brother Ma. I see that you're usually busy too."
"I'll first familiarize myself with the documents and materials Professor Xu sent me, then try drafting some designs and reports for Professor Xu to review."
First thing in the morning, Liu Shang had handed Ma Yuan such a polite rebuff that all the schemes Ma Yuan had painstakingly planned the night before were thrown into disarray.
Chairman Song Guangyuan had previously assigned Liu Shang the position of technical engineer, the same as Ma Yuan's. Ma Yuan had no authority to order Liu Shang around.
What was more, Xu Tiande was standing right beside them, so Ma Yuan could not say anything too harsh to provoke or suppress Liu Shang.
As he stood there blankly, Xu Tiande smiled as well. "Ma Yuan, you should go back and work first."
"Liu Shang will study with me for a while. If he truly gets involved with fieldwork later, then he can come find you."
Since Xu Tiande had spoken, Ma Yuan could only smile awkwardly and return to his workstation with a slightly gloomy expression.
Quite a few people in the office hall witnessed the dramatic scene. Most of them smiled inwardly as if watching a show.
At the same time, they secretly marveled: So this was the Liu Shang everyone had been talking about yesterday?
He really was impressive for a freshman. No wonder he had managed to storm into the conference room alone yesterday!
Before you continue