Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 265 Old Friend
Yan Hui is a very studious person. In all these years, he has never met someone as knowledgeable as Chen Jian.

Chen Jian may still be somewhat inexperienced in some areas, but he is indeed a professional in the field of chemical engineering, which is something worth learning from.

Every now and then, Yan Hui would go to chat with Chen Jian, and they often went out to eat together.

In 2001, there was one similarity to the future: doctoral students in basic fields such as chemistry and materials science had a tough time because it was difficult to earn extra money.

Yan Hui understood that it was unlikely he could get involved in the chemical manufacturing industry now, not only because of funding issues, but also because his network was too limited. Moreover, Chen Jian himself lacked confidence; he had absolutely no confidence in completing the polyurethane production.

“Sometimes I just think you PhDs are pretty incompetent. Look at me, even though I don’t have the money to invest in a chemical plant right now, I’m confident I’ll have money in the future! Look at you, every time I tell you that you’ll become a professor and be able to build a production line, you suddenly lose confidence.” Yan Hui mocked Chen Jian, their relationship was indeed quite familiar.

"I call it having self-awareness," Chen Jian retorted sarcastically to Yan Hui. "I'm nowhere near as good at bragging as you!"

"That's called having confidence, you know?" Yan Hui laughed.

“Sure, if all goes well, I’ll graduate with my PhD in two or three years. I’ll be waiting for your investment then,” Chen Jian joked.

Winter gradually passed, and before we knew it, it was the end of March. Yan Hui's precast concrete business had already gotten underway, and his orders had doubled.

The number of precast slabs needed each week has increased from about 700 to 1500, which means that the profit each week is easily over 10,000!
Aside from visiting the construction site and processing plant twice a week, Yan Hui had little else to do in his precast panel business. Therefore, he had some free time to expand into the timber and panel industries.

Cash flow has picked up again, although it's not quite back on track yet, but Yan Hui's condition has basically recovered, and no one can tell that he was ever in a gloomy situation.

One evening at the end of March, Song Zhiyuan arrived in Jinan as promised, and Yan Hui picked him up on his little motorcycle.

Song Zhiyuan is 20 years old this year. When Yan Hui met him, he was almost afraid to recognize him.

The once timid boy now appears much more composed with the addition of glasses.

Song Zhiyuan had a blank expression and looked somewhat wooden, but as soon as he saw Yan Hui, he immediately became very happy: "Brother Yan! Brother Yan!"

"You've grown so tall! You look as tall as me now!" Yan Hui was both surprised and delighted, and went forward to hug Song Zhiyuan.

"Brother Yan, I brought you roast duck! I bought it at Quanjude this morning and brought it over in a bag!" Song Zhiyuan seemed very happy.

"Have you never even eaten a duck from Quanjude yourself?" Yan Hui was both touched and amused.

"No, no," Song Zhiyuan said somewhat embarrassedly.

"It's alright, it's alright, we'll eat by ourselves tonight. It's perfect, I know one of your seniors, I'll invite him over for dinner tonight." Yan Hui thought of Chen Jian.

"You know a senior from our school? What a coincidence!" Song Zhiyuan was somewhat surprised.

"Yes, and it's quite close to your major, organic synthesis."

"Huh? Master's or PhD?" Song Zhiyuan knew immediately that this wasn't an undergraduate major. "Second year of PhD. This guy's a good guy, you'll see when you meet him." Yan Hui and Song Zhiyuan hadn't seen each other for a long time, but they felt that he hadn't changed much.

As a freshman, Song Zhiyuan was still a bit of a novice, much like Ma Junliang was when Yan Hui first met him. But Yan Hui believed that Song Zhiyuan wouldn't change.

"Doctor!" Song Zhiyuan exclaimed with deep respect.

Yan Hui called Chen Jian to arrange a meeting, then took Song Zhiyuan with him, and rode his motorcycle to the restaurant.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, Yan Hui ordered several cold dishes and continued chatting with Song Zhiyuan, deciding to wait for Chen Jian to arrive before ordering the hot dishes.

After Song Zhiyuan was admitted to university, his father's condition almost returned to normal. For Song's father, that disaster destroyed everything he had. As his son became more sensible and mature, Song's father's obsession faded a lot.

"Everything's alright now, Brother Yan, all thanks to you," Song Zhiyuan said gratefully. "If it weren't for you, I really wouldn't have had the courage to go to high school, or even university. During those years of high school, I was doing some timber business around the construction site, and I mostly did small business during holidays."

Song Zhiyuan's business strategy was simple. Because he was a local and his family situation was unusual, many people in the market knew about him, so no boss would drive him away. Since Old Song would occasionally help him out, Song Zhiyuan was doing quite well. Every weekend he went to the market to work as a "middleman," and many clients already knew him.

"So, you have a good understanding of wood?" Yan Hui asked thoughtfully.

"Speaking of which, I've been in that market in Tiexi for about five years. I can basically tell whether the timber is good or bad just by looking at it." Song Zhiyuan nodded, without being modest.

"It's a pity. You're a top student, and you're destined for great things. Otherwise, you could come and do business with me. I'll gradually spin off the timber business later." Yan Hui had his own plans.

As the two were chatting, Chen Jian opened the door to the private room and came in, greeting Yan Hui: "What are you talking about?"

"Come, let me introduce you. This is Song Zhiyuan, who used to work with me in a small business in Fengtian. He's a freshman at the University of Science and Technology now. This is Chen Jian, from Shandong Province. He's a second-year doctoral student at the University of Science and Technology. You two are both majoring in chemistry." Yan Hui gave a brief introduction.

"Oh? You're studying chemistry too? Junior, you're a bit down. Chemistry is tough," Chen Jian immediately retorted.

"I originally wanted to study mechanical engineering, but I didn't get accepted," Song Zhiyuan said, lowering his head in shame.

"Oh? Is that so? That's alright then. Chemistry is a better discipline than mechanical engineering! There's plenty of room for you to make a difference!" Upon hearing this, Chen Jian immediately defended the reputation of the discipline.

The two hit it off quickly, and Yan Hui asked the waiter to prepare hot dishes before opening the box of roast duck.

After a few words, everyone started talking about the same topic Yan Hui had just mentioned.

"To be honest, if you study chemistry, you'd be better off following Boss Yan in business. Look at me, I've got a PhD, and my senior classmates are all postdoctoral fellows, but we still don't earn as much as Boss Yan when we look for jobs," Chen Jian advised. "You have so many years of business experience, which is better than chemistry."

"Huh? Senior, does chemistry even have a future?" Song Zhiyuan asked uncertainly.

"Chemistry certainly has a future, but whether that has anything to do with you, I don't know." Chen Jian gently shook his head.

(End of this chapter)