I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 67 Circles and Connections
From Shencheng to Jinghai, it is closer than returning to Nanxin County. Fang Qingye drove for more than two hours to reach Jinghai City. After getting off the Shenhai Expressway, Fang Qingye called Xia He.

"Senior, I've already gotten off the highway and am about to enter the city. Where are you?"

"You're driving, right? Then go straight to the Oasis International Holiday Hotel. I've already booked room 806, and I've reserved a room next door to you, room 807. Please check in at the front desk."

"Ok."

Fang Qingye navigated to Oasis International Hotel and drove for another half an hour to reach his destination. After parking the car in the underground parking lot, he went to the front desk to complete the check-in procedures, took the elevator to the eighth floor, went back to his room to take a shower, and then went next door to meet Xia He.

After knocking on the door and entering, I saw Xia He wearing a collarless white shirt and black wide-leg pants, looking elegant and intellectual.

"Have you moved in?" Xia He asked.

"Ah."

"Please sit down. I'll make you some tea. I know how to be particular about tea. This is the Yuhua tea I brought from home."

After saying that, Xia He took out a small can of tea from her suitcase and made a cup for Fang Qingye.

"Thank you."

Fang Qingye held the teacup and sat on the sofa next to him to drink.

"Xiao Fang, were there many people attending your class reunion this time? How did you feel?" Xia He asked.

"The people who went were pretty good. Almost everyone who worked in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai areas went. I hadn't seen them for over a year after graduation, and they were all very happy to see them this time." Fang Qingye finished speaking and added, "Everyone is doing well at work."

"They're graduates of Shencai, how bad can they be?" Xia Hejiao said with a smile, "Actually, in a few years, as their personal development diverges and the distance between them grows, the number of people attending these kinds of class reunions will gradually decrease."

That’s true, Fang Qingye nodded.

Fang Qingye felt it personally.

Before my rebirth, the university class group had already become a dead group, let alone any classmates’ reunions.

"When you attended the class reunion this time, did you meet any classmates with whom you had a particularly good relationship in college? Especially female classmates?" Xia He asked with a smile.

So gossipy?

"Senior, I didn't have any connections with any of my close female classmates when I was in college." Fang Qingye answered simply, "There was a male who organized this party and now works at the Shanghai Banking Regulatory Commission."

Fang Qingye briefly explained Liu Shuai's situation.

"Well, then you and your classmate will keep in touch frequently. After all, you have a common language in the workplace." Xia He said.

"Let me tell you about one of my classmates."

"Oh, go ahead." Fang Qingye also became interested.

"When I was in college, there was a female classmate who shared a dorm with me. We were very close and we were almost inseparable during our four years of undergraduate studies. Some classmates even joked that we were a lesbian couple."

Xia He laughed as she spoke.

"Later, I took the postgraduate entrance exam to continue my studies, and she got married shortly after graduation, marrying a rich second-generation man. At first, we still had some conversations on QQ, but later on, there was nothing much to talk about."

"She talks about beauty, pets, shopping and playing cards with a bunch of wealthy ladies like her, and even some romantic affairs in their circle. Now that she has a baby son, she talks about children all day long."

"I'm not really interested in these things. I like to talk about finance, economics, and some trivial things at work. We are increasingly finding ourselves at odds with each other. So we rarely talk anymore, except for sending each other greetings during festivals."

Fang Qingye nodded and said, "Someone once said: Life is like this. Many people can only accompany you for a part of the journey."

"You're absolutely right. Only people in the same circle can interact with each other, like you and your classmate Liu Shuai. The people I'm introducing you to tonight are the kind of friends you need to know and interact with at this stage of your career, at least."

Fang Qingye did not answer, but picked up the tea and took a sip.

"Senior, we have two more classmates, a couple who took a leave of absence from school to go to Sichuan Province to teach." Fang Qingye repeated the situation of Li Ye and Zhang Dongwen.

"Really? That's quite impressive." Xia He said, "I heard that the conditions in the A-ba area are very difficult. They are just a couple, so maybe it would be better if they could take care of each other."

Fang Qingye nodded.

However, he vaguely remembered that Zhang Dongwen came back a year later to continue her studies. After graduating from graduate school, she joined an investment bank in Shanghai, and he had met her several times.

As for Li Ye, we eventually lost contact and it was said that he stayed in western Sichuan.

Everyone took a different path. After staying in Xia He's room for a while, Fang Qingye returned to his room to take another nap. Around 5:30 in the afternoon, Xia He knocked on the door to wake Fang Qingye up.

Driving to the underground parking lot, Fang Qingye sat in the driver's seat, fastened his seat belt and asked Xia He who was sitting in the back seat.

"Senior, where are we going now?"

"Garden on the Clouds".

Yunshang Bieyuan is a very famous high-end restaurant in the local area. It is located in the CBD of Zhongnan Century City. It took the two of them less than half an hour to drive there.

After parking the car, they went in. The environment here was very elegant, with flowers in every corner of the store. Fang Qingye followed Xia He into a private room.

The private room was very large and luxurious, but there were three men sitting on the sofa next to it. When they saw Xia He come in, they greeted her with a smile.

Among them, a man who looked about 30 years old, with short hair and a very energetic look said to Xia He, "Xia He, did you bring our schoolmate here?"

"Yes, he is Fang Qingye, and he is now the assistant to the president."

"I heard that your Dongfang Bank is setting up an assistant president position in Jinghai on a pilot basis. Xia He, you really spare no effort for your junior students."

"Of course, and Xiao Fang is also very good."

Xia He smiled and replied, then said to Fang Qingye, "Xiao Fang, let me introduce them to you one by one." He pointed to the middle-aged man sitting on the sofa in the middle, who was about 40 years old and had slicked back hair. He said:
"This is our senior, Yang Kehua, Vice President of the Municipal Construction Bank, and a graduate of the School of Statistics and Management."

"Xia He, you don't know? Our senior is about to remove the word "secondary"." The 30-year-old man interrupted.

"Really? President Yang, I have to congratulate you today." Xia He congratulated him immediately.

"Don't listen to Lei Ming's nonsense. Everything has changed before the announcement." Yang Kehua said modestly, but a hint of pride flashed across his face.

"Hello, President Yang." Fang Qingye stretched out his right hand and said with a smile.

President Yang was quite enthusiastic and shook Fang Qingye's hand.

"Hello, Xiao Fang, you are young and promising. You are young and promising."

"This is the deputy director of the Municipal Finance Bureau, Mei Shuwei, a graduate of the School of Accounting." Xia He pointed to the man next to her who was almost 40 years old, wearing glasses and looked a little serious.

"Hello, Director Mei." Fang Qingye said.

Mei Shuwei shook Fang Qingye's hand, adjusted his glasses out of habit with his right hand, and asked, "Xiao Fang, your last name is Fang. Do you know Fang Jianhua, the newly appointed director of your county's Finance Bureau?"

"That's my second uncle." Fang Qingye said with a smile.

"Ah? What a coincidence." Mei Shuwei was a little surprised.

"Really, Xiao Fang? Then you should toast Director Mei with a few more glasses of wine on behalf of your second uncle today." Lei Ming, who was standing next to him, interrupted again.

"Of course, of course." Fang Qingye also agreed.

"No, absolutely not." Mei Shuwei said hurriedly:

"Lei Ming, you don't know. Last week, Director Fang came to the Municipal Bureau to report on his work. At dinner that night, he got Director Liao, Director Liu, Director Wu, and me all drunk. Afterwards, Director Liao joked that we should avoid anyone named Fang from now on."

"My second uncle can drink quite well, but I can't." Fang Qingye was not being modest.

Indeed, he was afraid when he saw his second uncle drinking.

But the good thing is, I heard from my second aunt that my second uncle never drinks when he is alone at home, and he only drinks for social occasions.

After introducing Mei Shuwei, Xia He was about to introduce the last man named Lei Ming.

Lei Ming was very enthusiastic. "Xia He, you don't have to say anything. Let me introduce myself. I'm Lei Ming. I work at the Municipal People's Bank of China. I graduated from the School of Economics and was in the same class as your President Xia."

"Head of the Monetary and Credit Management Section of the Municipal People's Bank of China." Xia He added from the side.

"Hello, Chief Lei." Fang Qingye shook hands again.

After everyone in the private room was introduced, a beautiful waitress in a silk cheongsam came in with a man about fifty years old, followed by a young man who looked a few years older than Fang Qingye.

(End of this chapter)