Back to the prime of life

Chapter 118 Before Departure

"You're not in a hurry, are you?"

"No rush. I don't have any teachers, no company, and the student union has long since given up on me. All I have most now is time."

Since you are free, just sit down.

She still has two boxes in her room, so she won't move them for the time being.

Han Jiayi put on her down jacket and came to Lu Changge's rental house. She looked around and found that there were not many things.

Two pillows on the sofa.

There were two creased books on the coffee table.

There were only two glasses and a kettle on the dining table.

"This is boiled water, do you want some?" Lu Changge asked.

"Well, I've been cleaning up all morning and my mouth is dry."

When she got it, she found that it was still warm, not completely cold. "Why do you have so little? Are all boys like this?"

"Divided by people. I have a habit of throwing things away regularly."

"why?"

Lu Changge said, "There are many things that appear useful but are actually useless. They just get in the way. People should focus on moving forward and let go of the past whenever possible."

"I never felt this way before, but when I was packing up my things while moving, I realized that I did have a lot of things I hadn't used for a long time. However, I'm not as rich as you, so I can't bear to throw them away."

"Hey, what does this have to do with money?"

Han Jiayi took a sip of water, raised an eyebrow and asked, "Did you say something just now? After you knew that I went to work at JD."

"What do you mean?"

"You're different from other boys, I know that." She leaned against the sofa, her chin resting on her hand. "So far, all the boys I've met have said as much as they can in front of me. Only you seem to be hiding something. Why?"

"It's not about hiding things, it's about saying things appropriately and not saying things that are inappropriate. Just like a few days ago, a friend came to me and complained about his girlfriend. Even if his girlfriend was indeed wrong, I couldn't say it to his face."

Han Jiayi asked: "If it is really wrong, why can't you say it?"

Lu Changge said, "Men are fickle. One day he gets mad and says whatever he wants, but a couple of days later his girlfriend coaxes him and they're inseparable again. What's he going to do if he thinks about me judging his girlfriend?"

"Haha, this is the first time I've heard that men can be fickle." She laughed, a rare sight. She was about to leave, so she felt completely relaxed. "But I'm not the type who can't tell good from bad."

"I know. You don't have to think too much about it. For e-commerce companies, expanding product categories is a necessary choice, so you made the right choice by choosing JD."

Lu Changge was sitting on the long sofa, and Han Jiayi was sitting alone, forming an L-shape between the two, so he leaned to the side to shorten the distance between them.

“Why do we have to expand our product categories?”

"Once you start working, someone will popularize this concept to you. In the internet age, customer acquisition costs are always there and are even getting higher. So, in theory, after you acquire users through advertising and marketing, the more they buy from you, the better. This requires a vast product range to spread the costs. After all, even if I really went to JD.com to buy a computer, I wouldn't buy computers there every day."

“What if we don’t expand our product categories?”

"It's not necessarily doomed, but it will definitely make life uncomfortable. E-commerce is essentially a distributor like Gome and Suning, simply moving their stores online. When another giant distributor emerges, it will first enter your product category and then, relying on its low costs, launch a price war against you. Often, it can also control upstream manufacturers and restrict supply to you. With such restrictions everywhere, it's hard to live comfortably."

Thinking of this, Han Jiayi felt a lot more at ease.

From graduation to work, most people will struggle and feel confused during this period, not knowing what they will face in the future.

In the past, men were afraid of choosing the wrong career. Now, both men and women have to work, and women are also afraid of choosing the wrong career.

"I submitted my resume to Dangdang," she said. "It's best if I didn't get in. Vertical platforms like these either survive or get acquired; they can't grow big."

"But the place I wanted to go the most was Alibaba. It's in Hangzhou, close to where we are. My relatives and friends all prefer it. Now if I tell others about it, they will think I went to a small company."

She sighed, feeling somewhat helpless.

How to say it, JD.com is indeed a small company in this era, and for a long time, Alibaba has been too popular, resulting in an atmosphere in society that JD.com cannot compete with Alibaba.

"If you want to talk about small, my little Taobao shop is even smaller."

Han Jiayi asked, "You probably won't be working for any company in the future, right? The salary you get from working there is too different from what you get."

"should be."

"Will you stay in Jiangzhou in the future? Or do you want to go to another city?"

Lu Changge had considered this. Kyoto, the Magic City, was certainly prosperous, but he was a little unfamiliar with the place.

Furthermore, he came from the rail transit industry. After more than ten years of work, he knew every corner of Jiangzhou clearly, and even had a rough idea of the changes in the officialdom.

If you don't stay in a city like this, where else should you go?
He doesn't have a passion for big cities, and there are so many big companies in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen that it wouldn't be anything special for him to set up another one. On the contrary, if he could make a name for himself in Jiangzhou, his official status would be different, and the resources he could obtain would also be different.

"I will probably stay in Jiangzhou."

Hearing him say this, Han Jiayi smiled unconsciously and said leisurely, "I want to come back too. We Jiangzhou people don't seem to like going out. We don't envy the vast world outside, but rather miss our own small bridges and flowing water."

"Then why don't you go to Shanghai?"

"I've been looking for jobs and following them. I'll come back when the time is right."

"This shows that Jiangzhou is a good place. Ever since I was old enough to understand, I've heard people say that the girls in Jiangnan are as gentle as water, as beautiful as jade, as elegant as chrysanthemums, and as gentle as poetry. This place is good for people, especially women."

Han Jiayi blinked, looking a little embarrassed. "Where did you collect these words from? I've been here for so many years, and I've never seen a girl as beautiful as water, jade, chrysanthemum, and poetry."

Lu Changge blurted out, "Aren't you one of them?"

"Puchi, please stop praising me." She clearly wanted to laugh, but tried to hold it back.

Lu Changge said, "How can it be called flattery? Has no one ever praised you like this during your entire university life?"

"I'm so fierce, who would dare to talk to me like that?" She seemed to be inexplicably a little proud, but not too strong or annoying.

"Then I have violated the laws of heaven."

"We're graduating soon anyway, so it doesn't matter. They all say they're very busy with work, so it's probably a luxury to imagine chatting like we did today."

The balcony faces south, and at this time you can see that the sky is already tinged with a faint red. The setting sun in the west draws a ribbon of color across the entire sky, which is spectacular and beautiful.

She gazed into the distance and said, "The university I've been looking forward to since I was a child is now over. It's a bit boring. Sometimes I even feel like life itself has no meaning."

This is so profound.

Lu Changge advised, "You can't not survive. Developed countries don't have children anymore. You'll most likely be born in India in your next life."

Han Jiayi was choked up. "It's funny, but also cold."

Lu Changge said: "Just smile."

Later they sat here and watched the sunset for a while, until the sun set, and then they started moving things again.

(End of this chapter)