The luckiest person

"Mr. Zhou!"

Liu Xinyu's voice carried a hint of excitement and even trembled a little.

That greeting caught everyone in the private dining room off guard.

The smile on Zhou Qiang's face froze for a moment, then gave way to a perfectly measured look of surprise. He looked at Liu Xinyu, then turned an inquisitive gaze toward Wang Xiaoliang.

Wang Xiaoliang hurried to introduce him. "Brother Qiang, this is my best friend, Liu Xinyu."

"You're an alumnus! I know you!" Before Wang Xiaoliang could finish, Liu Xinyu excitedly jumped in. The way he looked at Zhou Qiang was exactly how a fan looked at his idol. "You were featured in Finance Youth! I read that article! Since we went to the same university, I made a point of reading it carefully several times! You've been my idol ever since!"

Understanding dawned on Zhou Qiang, and his surprise turned into a warm smile. He reached out and shook Liu Xinyu's hand. "Hello, nice to meet you."

"Hello, Brother Qiang!" Liu Xinyu changed his form of address as they shook hands.

"No need to be so formal. Sit down. We're all friends here." Zhou Qiang patted his shoulder.

That little exchange instantly swept away the awkward distance of a first meeting.

Everyone took their seats.

Zhou Qiang glanced at the fruit platter and drinks already on the table, then smiled at Wang Xiaoliang. "Xiaoliang, nicely done. You've thought of everything."

Wang Xiaoliang explained a little awkwardly, "Brother Qiang, Xinyu prepared all this."

"Oh?" Zhou Qiang gave Liu Xinyu another approving nod. "That was thoughtful of you."

Then he added, "Next time it's just us eating together, whoever arrives first should order the food. On a day like today, service at Hongbin Tower is especially slow."

"Lanxiang can't stand going hungry."

Something stirred faintly in Wang Xiaoliang's heart.

He clearly remembered that at their last gathering, Zhou Qiang had been a quiet companion almost the entire time, saying little or simply eating in silence. Back then, he hadn't even counted as a supporting player, more like an irrelevant bystander.

But today, Zhou Qiang was talking a lot and openly showing off their affection.

Wang Xiaoliang looked at Li Lanxiang again and found her leaning close to Wei Zijin. He had no idea what they were discussing, but every so often, they shared a knowing chuckle.

Seeing how close they were, Wang Xiaoliang felt that those two were the real best friends.

Chen Xiaoying and Wang Fen, who had shared a dorm room with them for four years, had only been putting on an act.

Women were so hard to understand.

If they didn't like each other, why hang out together? There was no need to pretend to be best friends.

Meanwhile, Liu Xinyu had completely opened up and become the main talker among the three men.

He looked curiously at Wang Xiaoliang and Zhou Qiang. "Xiaoliang, how did you and Brother Qiang meet? You two seem pretty close."

In Liu Xinyu's eyes, Wang Xiaoliang had always been something of a homebody, even a little introverted. He never would have imagined that his friend, who spent his time holed up in their dorm tinkering with games, actually had more connections on campus than he did.

Wang Xiaoliang smiled and offered a simple explanation. "We met through Zijin and Lanxiang."

He paused, then added, "Later, we did a little business together."

"Business?" Liu Xinyu grew even more interested. "What kind of business? You've really kept this under wraps, Xiaoliang. You're even working with Brother Qiang?"

Wang Xiaoliang wasn't sure whether he should talk about it. After all, collecting scrap didn't exactly sound respectable. Instinctively, he looked toward Zhou Qiang for permission.

Zhou Qiang had just lifted his teacup for a sip. Seeing that look, he put it down and spoke to the curious Liu Xinyu in the most matter-of-fact tone imaginable.

"I'm just a scrap collector."

"And Xiaoliang is a regular, reliable customer whom I respect a great deal."

There wasn't the slightest trace of awkwardness or embarrassment on Zhou Qiang's face as he said it. He was as casual as if he'd said, "Nice weather today."

No one was more surprised than Liu Xinyu. His mouth hung open, a whole range of expressions crossing his face. Clearly, he couldn't connect the prominent figure before him with the words "scrap collector."

Even Wei Zijin, who had been chatting quietly with Li Lanxiang, stopped their private conversation. She first glanced at Zhou Qiang, then turned her bright eyes toward Li Lanxiang beside her, seemingly seeking confirmation.

Li Lanxiang caught her questioning look, and a brilliant smile spread across her face.

She told everyone frankly, "That's right. Brother Qiang and I met when I went to sell him some scrap."

There was a hint of pride in her voice.

"Brother Qiang is amazing. He's never felt inferior because he got his start collecting scrap."

Zhou Qiang waved a hand and smiled at Li Lanxiang. "All right, now. Save the compliments for when we're home with the door closed."

Liu Xinyu finally recovered from his shock and gave Zhou Qiang a heartfelt thumbs-up. "Brother Qiang, I really admire you! You're actually still collecting scrap!"

"Don't." Zhou Qiang shook his head. "I'd like to have been born into a rich family, an official's family, or a celebrity's family too. Given the choice, who would really want to start from scratch and build everything with their own hands? Even an ordinary family would have been better."

He looked at Liu Xinyu and said very seriously, "I'm not actually all that capable. I've just been lucky enough to meet a lot of people who helped me along the way."

"You're being too modest, Brother Qiang."

Wang Xiaoliang noticed that Liu Xinyu had already switched quite naturally from "Mr. Zhou" to "Brother Qiang."

"It's not modesty. We're all friends here. I have no reason to hide anything," Zhou Qiang insisted. "I'm telling the truth. I really am lucky. Sometimes, when luck comes along, it leads you around by the nose. You don't get a say in it."

Seeing how serious Zhou Qiang looked, Liu Xinyu realized he wasn't joking and stopped arguing, though his expression clearly still held some disbelief.

Zhou Qiang saw what he was thinking.

He smiled and pointed toward Li Lanxiang beside him.

"If you don't believe me, let Lanxiang, the luckiest of us all, tell you just how important luck really is."

Li Lanxiang exchanged a glance with Zhou Qiang, put down her chopsticks, gathered her thoughts, and began speaking slowly.

"Actually, I was terrible at school."

That was her first sentence.

"It wasn't that I wasn't smart. I just didn't put much effort into it. I grew up in a single-parent family. My mom raised me on her own. Ever since I was little, I had to help her work and run her little stall."

"My mom really wanted me to get an education and leave that little place behind, so I went to high school. But the work at home couldn't stop. My time was split in two, and naturally, my grades fell behind."

"Just when I thought I might not even get into university, the PE teacher at our school came to see me."

"He told me to train in volleyball."

"I'd helped my mom carry things and do physical work since I was little, so I was much stronger than most girls, but I'd never had any proper sports training."

"The coach said that if I trained well, I might be able to get into university as a student athlete."

"I went home and talked it over with my mom. Without another word, she closed down our little stall and went out to do odd jobs. She told me, 'Don't worry about anything else. Just focus on volleyball.'"

"In the end, with my pitiful academic scores and my volleyball ability, I really did get into Jiang University."

Her account was matter-of-fact, as though she were telling someone else's story.

"After I started university, the team gave us a monthly stipend, but my mom fell ill. She couldn't go out to work anymore, much less pay for my living expenses and tuition."

"Just when I was out of options and wondering whether I should take time off from school, my luck came through again."

As she spoke, she glanced at Zhou Qiang.

"I met Brother Qiang. I sold him the scrap we'd saved up in the dorm, hoping to get a little money. In the end, when he saw how hard things were for me, he let me work for him and paid me a salary."

"Back then, I never would have imagined that collecting scrap could be so profitable. Brother Qiang paid me very well. It was enough to cover not just my tuition and living expenses, but even let me send a little money home to my mom every month."

"That was how I made it steadily through to my senior year, supporting my mom along the way. As graduation approached and everyone was worrying about finding a job, one of my teammates picked up a side gig playing in a league for a company. There was prize money. But on the day of the match, she suddenly felt ill and asked me to take her place. We agreed to split the prize money fifty-fifty."

"I really just couldn't bring myself to turn her down, so I went to help her out. Only after I got there did I find out that I was playing for the State Grid team."

"And we won the championship."

"Then, somehow, I caught the management's eye, signed a contract, and became a permanent employee at State Grid. I hadn't even graduated yet, and I'd already received my first month's salary."

After finishing, Li Lanxiang spread her hands.

"See? Hasn't everything gone especially smoothly for me?"

"That's why Brother Qiang always says I'm the luckiest person he's ever met."

"And I think he's right."

"Come on. To a smooth graduation for all of us, and to more good luck ahead. Cheers."

Li Lanxiang raised the glass in front of her. It was still baijiu, but this time it was Moutai.

After hearing Li Lanxiang's story, however, Wang Xiaoliang didn't envy her luck.

From his perspective, this story about luck was inseparable from the people who had helped her.

Behind her good fortune, the figures of three people stood out clearly.

Her mother, who had kept encouraging her and given up the business so she could train.

Parents were benefactors bestowed by heaven.

The PE teacher who had spotted her physical abilities and athletic talent among all those students.

Those who showed the way to the lost were benefactors.

And Zhou Qiang, who, when she was at her lowest, had called it "helping out" while actually giving her dignity and a livelihood.

Those who offered a hand in hardship were benefactors.

Three benefactors had made her a lucky person.

And those three benefactors, too, fell within the verdict laid down by the Book of Fate.