The Secret Realm of Time, His and Her Life Through the Changes

After each person finished two cans of beer, Jian Zheng broke the silence first, unwilling to give up and continued the previous topic: "Should I ask my mom?"

“Don’t bother Auntie. A kind lady in our department has already secretly told me that Sun Xiaoyun’s family has some connections. They say she’s a child of someone in the same system, and that’s why she was specially recruited this time,” Zhang Qian said sadly. “With my qualifications, what can I compete with her?”

After Zhang Qian finished speaking, he tilted his head back and downed the beer in his hand in one gulp.

"What kind of nonsense is this? All that talk about being a member of the same system is just an excuse. It's just that someone got in through connections!" Jian Zheng said indignantly.

"Don't worry, you just graduated. You can always find another job. It's not like this is the only place you can find work," Wang Jie patted Zhang Qian's arm, comforting him.

“That’s right, that’s right. I’ll ask around and find another job.” Jian Zheng echoed.

Zhang Qian was usually quiet at school, and his classmates initially thought he was just introverted. However, after he and his four roommates became closer, Zhang Qian started talking more and became much more lively. He wasn't actually introverted; he was just a little insecure and always afraid of saying the wrong thing and being laughed at. Over time, he developed a habit of avoiding expressing his opinions in front of others. If he didn't show any attitude, no one would notice, and he wouldn't care about right or wrong.

In addition, he was thin and unremarkable in appearance, and had no presence in a crowd.

Zhang Qian deserves much credit for the fact that they can get along like brothers in their dormitory.

In their first year of university, Jian Zheng, Zhao Shi, Wang Jie, and Zhang Qian were assigned to the same dormitory and became roommates.

Jian Zheng and Zhao Shi, one a tough guy from the north and the other a talented scholar from the south, have very different personalities, like ice and fire.

From the first argument over dormitory hygiene, they often quarreled over the slightest disagreement, sometimes even to the point of physical violence.

When Jian Zheng and Zhao Shi clashed, Wang Jie was always away from the dormitory. Back then, Wang Jie's routine consisted of going between the classroom, the library, and his part-time job.

Zhang Qian, a gentle boy, could only act as a peacemaker, taking on the responsibility of mediating disputes. But whenever he intervened, things always got worse. He was neither a good spectator nor an excellent peacemaker. In the conflicts between Jian Zheng and Zhao Shi, he often became an innocent "victim."

The final outcome was that the three of them ended up fighting, and in the end, Jian Zheng and Zhao Shi bullied Zhang Qian together.

Having been bullied so often, Zhang Qian became increasingly cautious at school, until one evening in the library, because of a seat.

Zhang Qian helped his senior organize some materials. His senior needed them urgently, so he went to the school library without eating dinner.

Two students from the Foreign Trade Department who came in later wanted to sit next to each other, but the library was already almost full of students.

There is an empty seat next to Zhang Qian, and another empty seat at the table near the door.

The two students insisted that Zhang Qian move to a seat near the door.

Zhang Qian tried to reason with them, explaining that he had arrived first and had already brought three books to look up information, making it inconvenient to move them. However, the two students not only ignored him but also placed his books on the table by the door without his permission. When Zhang Qian went to argue with them, he was pushed, shoved, and verbally abused by the two students: "Back in your hometown, you can carry dozens of kilograms of sweet potatoes at a time, can't you even lift these few books? Hahaha!"

"Exactly, what are you pretending for? You haven't even washed the dirt off your fingernails."

"Haha, just sitting here makes me feel like a city person, huh?"

All Zhang Qian could say was, "I was here first, I was here first."

Coincidentally, Jian Zheng and Zhao Shi were also in the library when they saw Zhang Qian being bullied by two students from another department. Unable to stand by and watch, the two "dormitory war mongers" stepped in to help Zhang Qian get justice: "How can you bully people in the library? That's going too far."

Zhao Shi: "Not only did I not wash off the nail polish, but I also didn't wash off the dirt on the soles of my feet. Which of you two will lick them first?"

Jian Zheng: "You two are really making city people proud. To say something like that, I think you're shameless."

That evening, when Wang Jie returned to the dormitory, he saw Jian Zheng, Zhao Shi, and Zhang Qian drinking beer and munching on peanuts, chatting and laughing...

After drinking a bit, Zhang Qian became more talkative and started repeatedly telling Wang Jie and Jian Zheng about his past: "In the past ten years or so, only two college students have come from our area, and they both came from the same high school. Our school is really amazing."

These two college students are my and my most admired seniors.

He got into Tsinghua and Peking Universities, the top universities in the country! Compared to him, I'm far inferior. I couldn't get into Tsinghua or Peking University; I could only get into Sunan University.

Jian Zheng said, "What's wrong with Sunan University? It also produced professors like Zhou and Yan, who were hired by Tsinghua and Peking Universities with high salaries to become academic leaders."

Wang Jie: "Don't underestimate yourself, you are also excellent."

Zhang Qian waved his hand and continued, "My senior left me a message on QQ the day before yesterday. He'll be coming to Xichuan and our school in the next couple of days to participate in an important experimental project. I'll introduce you two then."

Zhang Qian spoke of his senior with obvious admiration.

"Your senior is a handsome man, unlike me, who is always ridiculed as a 'cripple'."

Jian Zheng: "You keep mentioning this senior, and I'm curious, just how outstanding is he that you admire him so much?"

"Alright, let's stop talking about this." Wang Jie ended the conversation at the right time, because he knew that continuing would only make Zhang Qian feel more inferior and would not do him any good.

Jian Zheng said, "How about we prepare a resume and I'll ask my mom to inquire if other companies are hiring? Even if we can't get a local residency permit, we can still find a job first."

“I have a resume ready, I’ll print a few copies and give them to you tomorrow,” Zhang Qian said. “By the way, the academic affairs office notified us today to vacate dorm rooms, Wang Jie, when are you moving out?”

"Couldn't it be extended to October?"

"It might not work. I'll go ask again tomorrow. I can't move for the time being. I can only find a place after I have a job."

"Let me know the results tomorrow," Wang Jie said. "It's getting late, and I still need to help the professor organize some materials, so I'll head back now."

“I’ll go with you,” Jian Zheng said.

Wang Jie and Jian Zheng walked out of the dormitory building together. Wang Jie said to Jian Zheng with some concern, "Zhang Qian is introverted. He was under a lot of pressure when he left his hometown. If he goes back like this, I'm afraid... he might do something rash."

“Your professorship isn’t finished yet, so let’s come back and visit often these days.” Jian Zheng became worried after hearing what Wang Jie said.