Back to the teenage years

Chapter 597 The Season When Flowers Are Plump and Lush (Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets)
The sunshine in mid-April was just right.

In the tiered classroom of the Second Teaching Building of Xiangtan University, the window frames cut the sunlight into slanted warm yellow blocks, and heated debates rose and fell. Chalk dust floated and sank in the beams of light until the bell rang, marking the end of Professor Li Weimin's class on "Business Ethics and Entrepreneurial Spirit".

Before the end, Li Weimin arranged the midterm project.

The project title is "Design of Commercial Transformation Plan for Historic Districts in Rita City".

Li Weimin has high requirements. He adopts a student group collaboration format, with each group consisting of three to five people. Students are free to form teams to conduct research and practice. The topics must be based on real cases, balancing cultural preservation and business sustainability, and must provide specific financial models and social benefit assessments. Students will also have to defend their work on-site!
The students groaned in despair upon hearing this series of demands.

Li Weimin said with a smile, "Don't rush to cry. I will invite experts from the Lijin City Planning Bureau and local developers to serve as judges during your defense. Winning this project will help you with your evaluations and postgraduate recommendations, and will also give you the opportunity to intern at large companies. In addition, the best proposal will be sent to the desks of the relevant departments."

Li Weimin's series of genuine encouragements were truly enticing, and many students' eyes lit up, with many eager to try their hand at it.

Zhang Yunqi was naturally paired with Zhao Yihan and Zhou Dingchuan.

Zhou Dingchuan was appointed as the team leader. They still need to find specific projects and then conduct research to develop research topics.

After leaving the classroom, Zhang Yunqi suggested that Zhou Dingchuan bring Liu Ying from their class into the group as well, because Liu Ying lived in the Taiping Ancient Street area of ​​Huangxing South Road and was a resident who had been relocated due to demolition. She naturally had a deeper understanding of the commercial transformation of the Lijin Historical District and had a say in it.

Zhou Dingchuan, however, was still thinking of debating with Zhang Yunqi about the views they had just discussed in class. He firmly upheld the view that "corporate cost control should be guided by morality" and resolutely opposed Zhang Yunqi's approach of using realism to push all current social cost issues onto the system and the government, while he, as a capitalist, remained aloof.

Zhang Yunqi patted Zhou Dingchuan on the shoulder and said, "Whatever makes you happy."

Zhou Dingchuan was deeply affected.

Zhang Yunqi then said, "Let's go, let's call Ma Daha and Xiao Jinren, as well as He Daxian and Song Junxian, and have a meal at my place today."

Zhao Yihan, who was standing next to him, widened his eyes and pointed, "Song Junxian is right there."

Zhang Yunqi paused for a moment, then turned his head to look over.

Under the sycamore trees not far from the Second Teaching Building, Song Junxian and Hong Sen from their department were smoking. Song Junxian was leaning against his bicycle, his hair was messy, his shirt was wrinkled beyond recognition, and there were several cigarette butts lying at his feet.

Beside the two boys was a girl, holding a book in her arms and a thermal lunchbox in her hand, talking to Song Junxian. She was delicate and beautiful, one of the "two beauties" in the department, and Song Junxian's distant cousin, Li Yusheng.

A breeze rustled through the sycamore trees.

A cheer came from the basketball court in the distance, full of youthful energy. But beneath that carefree exterior, how much hormones were subtly swirling in the air during the season when the flowers were in full bloom?
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The sunshine in mid-April was just right.

The vegetation grows wildly, the flowers are plump, and it's the perfect time for mating.

Since the housewarming party, Lu Yuanzhou has not only created romantic encounters with Li Yufei, but also visited Yuexin Lake Villa from time to time.

One of the finest qualities of a businessman is shamelessness. Lu Yuanzhou grasped this essence. He came openly and honestly, without caring whether Li Yufei was there or not.

When Li Yufei was around, Lu Yuanzhou would simply visit, have tea with Li Jilin, and chat with Xie Jing. At these times, Li Yufei would often be alone on the living room sofa watching TV, and Lu Yuanzhou would never disturb her easily, keeping his distance. However, his unintentional acts of care seemed to make his concern omnipresent.

When Li Yufei wasn't around, he truly felt at home. Xie Jing's words, "Come visit often," gradually became more than just polite talk; they reflected the reality of the Li family.

One day in mid-April, Li Yufei was not home, and Xie Jing was tidying up in the front yard. They had only recently moved, and many old and miscellaneous items were still unpacked. Lu Yuanzhou arrived again with tea and snacks, his reason quite appropriate: "I happened to be driving by Yuexin Lake, and a friend brought some pre-Qingming Longjing tea and lotus flower pastries from Hangzhou. I brought them over for Uncle, Aunt, and Yufei to try."

Xie Jing smiled and invited him to sit down, then turned to make tea. Several old photo albums were piled on the coffee table, one of which was open.

Lu Yuanzhou's gaze was drawn to it.

This is an old photo album, hand-pasted together, filled with pictures of old streets taken with a point-and-shoot camera. He recognizes the old street—the ancient bamboo-scented alleyway of Wangyue Ridge. In every photo, there's a little girl striking various adorable poses, her features exquisitely delicate, as perfect as a piece of newly fired Jingdezhen celadon.

He was so engrossed in watching it.

He turned the pages one by one, from the innocent image of the little girl with pigtails to her unparalleled beauty in her school uniform. Finally, under a close-up photo of an old osmanthus tree, he saw a line of crooked little words written in pencil by the little girl: "Tree hole, oh tree hole, am I the prettiest girl in the Bamboo Fragrance Kingdom?"

Lu Yuanzhou couldn't help but laugh.

Xie Jing brought out the tea and saw him looking at the photo album. She smiled and said, "These are things from when Yufei was little, just a mess..."

Lu Yuanzhou gently closed the old photo album: "How could that be, Auntie? From this photo, I can feel that Yufei was very innocent when she was a child, and I hope she can always have that childlike joy."

Xie Jing filled Lu Yuanzhou's cup with tea and sat on the sofa in the front corridor, with the shimmering waves of Moon Heart Lake beside her: "Actually, my daughter looks gentle and delicate, but she's incredibly strong-willed at heart..."

Lu Yuanzhou smiled, understanding Xie Jing's meaning, and said, "Auntie, you don't need to worry about this. We are still young, and many things can be left to nature. But no matter what, I will respect her."

Xie Jing looked at Lu Yuanzhou. He spoke politely and earnestly, and was handsome and dashing. He was also down-to-earth in his work, and his ambition was beyond question.

She was increasingly pleased with this young man.

Although her husband didn't particularly like Lu Yuanzhou, Xie Jing, as a woman, especially one who had been through it all, could sense that the young man's feelings for his daughter were pure and respectful.

Lu Yuanzhou put the teacup back on the coffee table, picked up the old photo album, and said, "Auntie, could I borrow Yufei's old photo album for a moment? I'll bring it over in a couple of days."

Xie Jing paused for a moment, then asked, "Xiao Lu, this is Yufei's. You want this..."

Lu Yuanzhou explained, "It's like this, Auntie. I've recently become quite interested in cultural and intangible cultural heritage projects. Many of the buildings in the Bamboo Fragrance Ancient Alley in the photos are old buildings from the late Qing Dynasty in Xiaoxiang, but some have been destroyed. Now the city is planning to demolish and rebuild this street, and it will be completely gone. It feels like a real pity. Fortunately, our Xiongsen Group has a design institute that is currently conducting research on historical districts. I think the alleys, old shops, and street scenes that Yufei photographed are particularly vivid and have a sense of historical depth, so I plan to have them scan these old photos. In the future, if it is really demolished, at least these images can be preserved so that future generations can see what this place originally looked like."

Xie Jing understood what she meant and nodded with a smile: "You're such a thoughtful child, always thinking of everything. Speaking of which, that's where I grew up, because Yufei's grandparents' old house was in Zhuxiang Ancient Alley. It's a real pity that it's going to be demolished now. If you need it, take it, just be careful not to break it."

Lu Yuanzhou put the photo album into his briefcase and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Auntie, I guarantee it will be returned intact. I'll send you a copy as soon as the images are made."

Xie Jing's eyes were full of smiles. She said "okay" several times and added that Yufei would be overjoyed when she saw it!

The two chatted briefly before Lu Yuanzhou got up to say goodbye and left the Li family villa.

He got into the car, but didn't start it immediately.

He took out the old photo album and flipped through it page by page, carefully examining the girl, the blue bricks, the roof tiles, the carved wooden doors and windows, and the texture of the street in the background of each photo, as if he were examining the gentlest piece of a grand plan!
Outside the car window, the shimmering light of Moon Heart Lake reflected into the car, casting shadows of light and shadow on his face.

After a long while, he closed the photo album.

The BMW 730I slowly drove away from Yuexin Lake Villa, disappearing into the warm sunshine of early summer.

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