Sail across the sea

Chapter 498 The Little Cabbage in My Private Plot
Xu Dan got married four years ago. Her husband, Cheng Haoguang, is an engineer at Canghai Fertilizer Plant. He is two years older than Xu Dan and graduated from Maolin Institute of Technology.

This marriage was arranged by Xu Dan's father, Xu Zhenxin. Shortly after Gao Yiping was transferred to the fertilizer company, Xu Zhenxin was promoted to deputy director of Canghai Fertilizer Plant. Cheng Haoguang was discovered by Xu Zhenxin from among the young talents in the entire plant, meeting a series of standards such as talent, character, and appearance.

Currently, Cheng Haoguang has been promoted to deputy head of the production department in the factory. He is doing a very good job, and even without his father-in-law's protection, his future prospects are very promising.

Xu Dan is now the office director of Canghai Chemical Group, a veritable head of the group, wielding even more power than her father, Xu Zhenxin. Although she is married and has a child, Xu Dan still acts like a girl next door in front of Gao Fan, showing him immense trust and admiration—in modern terms, she's Gao Fan's die-hard fan.

Xiao Pei is still unmarried, which is a consequence of living in the provincial capital. If she had returned to Cangtang back then, a 26-year-old woman who is still unmarried would be driven crazy by the constant nagging from her relatives to get married.

Xiao Pei and Xu Dan were good friends when they were in middle school. Xu Dan was a rather simple-minded girl, perfect as a "confessional" for close friends to pour out their secrets. However, this confessional was not without its flaws, and Gao Fan was the one who listened to the whispers.

Xiao Pei naturally knew about Xu Dan and Gao Fan's relationship, and she also knew that Xu Dan could keep secrets from everyone except Gao Fan. Since she chose to tell Xu Dan, she naturally intended for Xu Dan to relay the information to Gao Fan.

As for saying she didn't want Xu Dan to tell Gao Fan, that was just feigned modesty. If she truly didn't want Gao Fan to know, why would she tell Xu Dan?

Xu Dan knew what Xiao Pei was thinking, so she told Gao Fan about it as soon as she went out.

Gao Fan was aware of Xiao Pei's thoughts, so he didn't stop Xu Dan from leaking the secret.

That's how it often is between friends; everyone pretends to be confused, but actually, no one is confused at all.

“Xiao Pei wants to go abroad,” Xu Dan said.

"Is she planning to go find Fang Rui?" Gao Fan asked instinctively.

There was a past of ambiguity between Xiao Pei and Fang Rui. During their university years, Xiao Pei wrote Fang Rui many letters, but Fang Rui, still immature, couldn't receive her signals. Later, Xiao Pei accepted roses from a suitor at her university, and her contact with Fang Rui ceased.

Fang Rui went to the United States after graduating from university, and Xiao Pei ended her campus romance after graduating from university. Gao Fan didn't know if the two of them had kept in touch afterward. He and Fang Rui had been corresponding, but they had never discussed this matter.

Fang Rui completed his doctorate in the United States and stayed there to work. His boss was his doctoral advisor, who was also a successful businessman. Fang Rui's work had absolutely nothing to do with the physics he studied; he was involved in one of the earliest commercial internet projects in the United States.

Gao Fan didn't know Xiao Pei's current status, only that she was still single. As for Fang Rui, he was definitely single to the extreme. Because of this, when Xu Dan said that Xiao Pei wanted to go abroad, Gao Fan's first thought was whether she wanted to rekindle her relationship with Fang Rui.

Or perhaps she had already contacted Fang Rui, and this trip was at Fang Rui's invitation.

Unexpectedly, Xu Dan shook her head and frowned, saying, "She didn't go to see Fang Rui. There was an American businessman who said he could help her get out of the country."

Gao Fan asked warily, "What kind of merchant is she? How did she meet him?"

“He was a businessman from the United States, a white man. Xiao Pei met him when she went to the Spring Trade Fair. Later, he came to China several more times and made a special trip to Maolin to meet with Xiao Pei.”

"Is Xiao Pei dating him?"

"That's it."

"Did they..." Gao Fan hesitated, knowing it was difficult to ask certain questions. He knew the character of foreigners, and he really didn't want to see his female classmate being taken advantage of.

Xu Dan understood Gao Fan's meaning; married women with children have no taboos about such matters. She said, "I asked Xiao Pei, and she said that the American was interested in that kind of thing, but she didn't agree."

"Well..." Gao Fan organized his thoughts, "If she's open-minded about this, then it's fine. People aren't as feudal as they used to be, so this kind of thing isn't a big deal. But if she cares about this, then you should still advise her to stick to her principles and not fall for it."

“Xiao Pei is very conservative. She told him that unless they get a marriage certificate, they can’t do that.”

"I didn't realize that. I thought she was very open-minded."

"No, that's just your prejudice."

"So, does she like that American?"

"From what she said, she just doesn't dislike it."

"Then what's in it for her?"

"They said they could help her go abroad."

"Paying such a high price just to go abroad?" Gao Fan was somewhat surprised and sighed.

Xu Dan glared at Gao Fan and said, "What do you think? There are plenty of people who want to go abroad now... except for you."

Gao Fan was disheartened; he had to admit that this was the current reality.

At Peking University alone, there are thousands of teachers and students who are single-mindedly focused on going abroad, while those who don't want to go abroad are the exception.

Some teachers go abroad as exchange scholars and then overstay their visas. The cost of this is actually very high, because overstaying is a violation of the law, meaning that the person can never return.

There are also some people who will stop at nothing to study abroad. Gao Fan once heard Yang Kai say that a male student at a certain school was hooking up with a female foreign teacher who was more than ten years older than him, just to get her to vouch for his studies abroad. As for the girl… Gao Fan didn’t have any concrete evidence and dared not say anything.

This chaotic situation was somewhat distant from Gao Fan's experience. When he heard about it, he simply listened to it as a story, without feeling angry or upset.

But when Gao Fan heard that Xiao Pei had also decided to reluctantly accept a foreign businessman she had only met a few times in order to go abroad, he felt somewhat uncomfortable.

After all, she was the prettiest girl in his class. Although Gao Fan had never had any romantic feelings for Xiao Pei, he still regarded her as a precious little cabbage in his own garden.

The bok choy is ripe; we cut it down, tie it with a red ribbon, and put it in the supermarket to sell—it doesn't matter. After all, daughters grow up and leave home.

But if a pig were to root up your vegetables in the garden, who could accept that?
What's more, it's a white pig!

(End of this chapter)