Age of Legends

Chapter 237 Variables
Zhao Tao didn't even bother drinking that day. Not long after Zhang Chen and Wang Shuowei left, he hurriedly left as well, leaving the nightclub prince Hong Yao to settle everyone's bills and keep them company.

Hearing that Zhao Tao had left, Yan Mingshu felt a pang of sadness mixed with a sense of disappointment, but there was nothing she could do. Zhao Tao had actually been avoiding her somewhat. Everyone knew that the youngest daughter of the Yan family liked Zhao Tao, but he had always treated her like a younger sister. Perhaps it was because their families had grown up in the same courtyard, or even across the street from each other. But whether he actually liked her was hard to say. Everyone knew Yan Mingshu's feelings, and some of Zhao Tao's friends had even tried to probe him. Qian Junyi sighed, "Perhaps he does like her. It's just that Zhao Tao's personality makes it difficult for him to say it! Besides, he'd be too proud. Who would actually consider their little sister, who's been with them since childhood, as their wife? Wouldn't that be a freak?"

Gu Zhiyu, Yang Du, and Bu Ruijie were drinking together. Their connection with Zhang Chen stemmed from Zhang Chen and Wang Bowen helping with the "Rising Star" project during last Spring Festival. Many people in their circle participated in the private customization and now have CDs and photo albums at home, having experienced being a star. At the time, they felt that Zhang Chen, this brother of Wang Shuowei, was somewhat extraordinary. They hadn't had any contact with him for the past year, and today they finally met again.

Although they didn't meet often, news about Zhang Chen had reached their ears to some extent through Wang Shuowei and Zhao Tao's connections. They knew that Zhang Chen knew Zhao Tao through Wang Shuowei and that their relationship was quite good. But even if their relationship was good, they were still roughly of the same generation as Wang Shuowei, and they belonged to the same generation as them. But until today, seeing Zhao Tao and Zhang Chen whispering to each other, their relationship seemed rather close.

Gu Zhiyu and his group noticed that when Zhao Tao and Zhang Chen were talking, old friends like Bu Ruijie didn't disturb them, and the seating arrangement subtly separated the space around them.

Having grown up in a family of high-ranking officials, Gu Zhiyu, who was adept at reading people, noticed this detail and paid extra attention. It wasn't that the two had any secrets they were afraid of being overheard; these old comrades weren't deliberately keeping an eye on things. Rather, it was more like a conditioned reflex, an unconscious action.

This subconscious sense of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) is worth pondering. It's as if they subconsciously believe that Zhang Chen's status is extraordinary. When Zhao Tao talks to him, it's more like the two of them are having an equal exchange, and they don't need to get involved.

This was something Gu Zhiyu had never seen before.

It was as if Zhang Chen had become the number two in their team. The number one and number two chatted with each other, and they naturally didn't need to participate because the decision-making power was in the other party's hands.

Gu Zhiyu still found it somewhat unbelievable, because in terms of status, the length of time they had known each other, and their relationship, they should have been more familiar with Zhao Tao than Zhang Chen. Yet, conversations like those between Zhao Tao and Zhang Chen had never occurred between Gu Zhiyu and Yang Du.

However, relying on his good relationship with Zhao Tao's brother Bu Ruijie, Gu Zhiyu tentatively asked, "Brother Zhao seems to really enjoy chatting with Zhang Chen! What are they talking about? It feels like it's been a long time since I've seen Brother Zhao talk so freely with someone. What, can't you guys talk to each other anymore?"

Zhao Tao is a quiet and reserved person, and he rarely reveals to others how openly he talks to anyone.

Gu Zhiyu's words implied that Zhao Tao showed a different, more affectionate relationship with Zhang Chen than his closer brothers, and didn't they feel jealous?
To everyone's surprise, Bu Ruijie chuckled and glanced at Gu Zhiyu, a look that made Gu Zhiyu's back tense slightly. Then Bu Ruijie patted his shoulder and said, "You don't need to worry about what Brother Zhao and Brother Zhang Chen are doing... Let's just drink!"

Gu Zhiyu was stunned by what he heard.

I was thinking, "I'm older than Zhang Chen, for crying out loud! And how did he become 'Brother Zhang Chen'?"

Although he felt that he was suddenly inferior to Zhang Chen in Bu Ruijie's classification, he couldn't refute this statement, so he could only awkwardly pick up his glass and clink glasses with Bu Ruijie with a stiff expression.

I wondered what Zhang Chen had done to deserve this...

……

Zhang Zhonghua was suddenly notified to return to Nanguang Company. He entered the new office building, sat in the lounge, and looked around. He remembered coming here a month ago to see General Manager Zhou Ping, wanting to obtain the statement that the company had abandoned the FD29 technology line. He had spent money and treated Zhou Ping to a meal, but Zhou Ping had skillfully deflected the matter. Zhou Ping used his Tai Chi-like demeanor of never getting involved in anything to push him away.

Zhang Zhonghua was extremely frustrated at the time, and he and Huang Huifen had another argument at home.

Later, thanks to Chen Yu, a former administrator, who found the original records of the company's internal meetings and handed them to him privately, Zhang Zhonghua was finally relieved of a worry.

At least his current entrepreneurial venture is separate from his former company. Otherwise, he wouldn't feel at ease. With Zhou Ping and his group at Nanguang Company, they might verbally say they won't cause him trouble, but if he hasn't accomplished anything, they certainly won't bother him; they won't even bother with minor squabbles. However, if any conflicts of interest arise in the future, it's still not a sure thing.

Since he had already secretly resolved the matter, why did Zhou Ping and Ding Shenghua suddenly call him today, pleading with him to come to the company and saying they would reimburse him for some of his previous performance bonuses?

Zhang Zhonghua said he was on unpaid leave, so why should he make up for the performance bonus? Because, based on his familiarity with them, this matter seemed somewhat suspicious.

But since they insisted on sending him, Zhang Zhonghua wanted to see what they were really up to. The last time Zhang Zhonghua came, he was notified at noon and didn't arrive until Zhou Ping "accidentally" bumped into him at the end of the day.

Zhou Ping was immediately taken to the VIP lounge upon arrival. After a short wait, Zhou Ping and Ding Shenghua, who had just finished a meeting, walked in. Upon seeing Zhang Zhonghua, Zhou Ping quickly approached him and shook hands.

"Oh, Lao Zhang, we've been waiting for you to come over! We had dinner together last month, and I was telling Boss Ding that we should treat you to a meal sometime!"

Zhang Zhonghua said, "I'm just an ordinary employee, and I'm on unpaid leave to make a living on my own. You, General Manager Zhou, are so busy with such a big company. I'm already very grateful that you remember me!"

Zhou Ping quickly pulled Zhang Zhonghua over, laughing heartily, while Ding Shenghua, standing nearby, also smiled and offered him a cigarette.

Zhang Zhonghua immediately became alert.

……

"There are several key points to constructing derivatives. The first is to construct functions using the concept of integration. How do we use integration to solve problems involving comparing the magnitudes of functions? ... Most secondary conclusions can be derived in reverse from each other..."

After dinner, Zhang Chen returned to the classroom and sat next to Shen Nuoyi. Shen Nuoyi used this time to explain some problems to him. Today's topic was the construction of mathematical derivatives.

Shen Nuoyi was in her seat, while Zhang Chen was sitting in Zheng Xue's seat. There were still quite a few people in the classroom at this time, including some who had just eaten a quick meal or ate a couple of pieces of bread before returning to their seats to continue working on their problems while waiting for evening self-study to begin.

Many people now know about the relationship between Shen Nuoyi and Zhang Chen. Aside from feeling envious and jealous, they know they can't do anything about it, so those in the classroom can only brood over doing practice problems.

Besides, this is nothing compared to what's to come. Right now, they're still struggling with exams, and it'll be time for them to rise to prominence after entering university and the workforce. While their relationship might seem enviable now, it could just be a case of emotional rebellion during their senior year of high school. Once they're in university, they might just drift apart in the tides of fate.

After all, Shen Nuoyi is one of the most famous girls at Yude High School, and Zhang Chen is indeed far inferior in comparison. Many people are not optimistic about the future of the two of them.

Zhang Chen watched as Shen Nuoyi, holding a piece of paper, spoke in a soft, magnetic voice, sketching function graphs and explaining them to him. Zhang Chen thought to himself, "I've seen plenty of those boyfriend-perspective videos, but have you ever seen a tutoring session from a boyfriend's perspective?"
"...Below the y-axis, approaching negative infinity, the extreme points and extreme values ​​of the function are e and 1/e, respectively. When x equals 1, y equals 0... Just like I said before, remember the secondary conclusions so you can save more time during the exam..."

The setting sun outside the window gilded the edges of the room, and the light shone through the window onto the desks of the senior students, onto the girl, and into her eyes, casting an amber glow of flowing time.

The rarity of time lies in the fact that once this moment is gone, it will never come again.

Shen Nuoyi finally couldn't take it anymore. Her pen paused slightly on the paper, and she sighed helplessly. She looked at Zhang Chen as if he were a naughty child, "You've been watching for so long, have you even remembered the secondary conclusion? What were you looking at?"

"Got it!" Zhang Chen nodded.

"What a nice view!"

Shen Nuo paused for a moment, then could only ignore him and push the paper in front of him. "Then look at this example problem... Given that a, b, c belong to 1/e to positive infinity..." Her voice was still clear and melodious as she read the problem, but her ears turned red visibly.

She was simply trying her best to complete her task, pretending not to have heard Zhang Chen's words and not letting such interference interrupt her summary of the problem-solving approach she was imparting to him.

Just before evening self-study time, Zheng Xue came in and went straight to the seat that Zhang Chen had taken. Instead of confronting him, she slammed her hand on the table and said to Zhang Chen, "Did you hear? My mom called me this afternoon. Nanguang wants your dad to produce his technical drawings. Apparently, some foreign capital wants to cooperate with Nanguang on that technical line your dad used to work on! Somehow, this got leaked, and it's all over the company today!"

(End of this chapter)