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

Chapter 632, 631: "This love can only be cherished in memory, for at the time it was already lost."

Zhang Dongwen was wearing a brown wool coat, and her original ponytail was now loose.

She also noticed Li Ye across the road.

She came to stroll along the Bund alone today.

When she's busy at work, stressed, and feeling irritable, she likes to come here alone for a stroll. Watching the bustling crowds and listening to the laughter, she stands on the shore watching the cruise ships slowly pass by, letting the river breeze tousle her hair. This usually makes her feel a little better.

When we were in school, we would walk hand in hand, but later she walked alone, though she's gotten used to it.

She just didn't expect to run into her ex-boyfriend here.

Eyes facing each other.

Looking at the other person, Zhang Dongwen felt both unfamiliar and familiar.

He's tanned, but looks more mature and masculine.

Why did he come to Shanghai?

She had an urge to go over and say hello, but she stopped abruptly before she could take a step.

Not far away, a gentle young woman holding a little girl's hand waved to Li Ye: "Come here, Li Ye, Mei Duo said she'd take a family photo for us."

"Daddy, come quick!" the little girl shouted, jumping up and down, her childish voice full of joy.

"They're here!" Li Ye hurried over, picked up the little girl, and the young woman naturally leaned against his shoulder, a happy smile on her face as she looked at the camera. The three figures overlapped in the sunlight, forming a perfect silhouette.

Zhang Dongwen stared blankly at everything until the other party finished taking the photos, at which point she snapped out of her daze.

A relieved smile appeared on his face as he put his hands in his pockets and quickly left.

Li Ye put his daughter down and subconsciously looked across the street.

The place was empty; Zhang Dongwen was nowhere to be seen.

The dinner was held at the Wangjiang Pavilion on the 101st floor of the Shanghai World Financial Center. There weren't many people there, just Mr. and Mrs. Fang Qingye and Mr. and Mrs. Liu Shuai. Liu Shuai's wife, Li Lei, was holding her eight-month-old son.

Fang Qingye took the initiative to treat everyone to this dinner, and since everyone knew he was now a wealthy man, no one objected.

Slow-cooked Wagyu ribeye, wild yellow croaker from the East China Sea, and truffle foie gras Wellington were served. This time, instead of drinking baijiu, the sommelier recommended DRC Richebourg, a Grand Cru vineyard in Burgundy.

The four families ate and chatted, sharing their experiences in western Sichuan, and had a great time.

Li Ye is still the principal of the Yuewan Village School where he taught in the past, but Liu Xigesang has been transferred back to teach at a primary school in the county town.

The child is young and needs care.

Also, I can stay in Yuewan Village; there's no need for my wife to come and suffer with me.

After a satisfying meal, the women chatted with their children, mostly about family and kids, while Fang Qingye and Liu Shuai stood on the rooftop overlooking the scenery.

The 101-story building offers a panoramic view of the entire city, though the wind is a bit strong.

"I ran into Zhang Dongwen on the Bund today," Li Ye said suddenly, looking at the flashing neon lights on the high-rise buildings across the street.

"Hmm?" Fang Qingye and Liu Shuai both looked at him.

“When we were strolling along the Bund with Meiduo and the others, I suddenly saw Zhang Dongwen standing alone on the other side of the road. Just then, Meiduo asked our whole family to take a group photo, and then I couldn’t see her anymore.”

Fang Qingye and Liu Shuai remained silent, listening quietly.

"Do you know what Zhang Dongwen is doing now?" Li Ye asked again.

“I only know that she joined Morgan Stanley after graduating with her master’s degree, but I don’t know exactly what she does,” Fang Qingye replied, then looked at Liu Shuai.

“She works in the investment banking department of Morgan Stanley’s Shanghai branch. I’ve seen her there before because of her job,” Liu Shuai said.

"How is she now?"

"It's alright. You know, investment banking pays well but the pressure is also high. Anyway, I heard she's very busy and often works overtime."

Li Ye paused for a moment, hesitated, and then asked, "Does she have a boyfriend?"

"I'm not too sure about that. It's a personal matter and I shouldn't ask, but I haven't seen her getting close to that boy."

"Oh"

"You want to see her?" Liu Shuai turned to look at Li Ye: "I can help you make an appointment."

"No need," Li Ye said with a smile. "I just happened to see it today, so I was asking. But..."

"But what?" "Help her if you can. It's not easy for a girl like her to work hard in Shanghai. You two are now a big boss and a leader, both with power and influence," Li Ye said with a smile.

"Look at what you're saying, what kind of leader am I? I haven't even made it to the deputy director level yet." Liu Shuai said self-deprecatingly, "But we'll definitely help if we can, after all, we're classmates, don't you think, Qingye?"

"That's for sure."

"Hey, what are you guys chatting about outside? It's so cold out there!" Liu Xigesang shouted from inside the room.

"Let's go inside. Don't tell Zhang Dongwen what I asked you today," Li Ye said, and the three of them returned to the room.

Around nine o'clock sharp, the gathering ended and everyone dispersed.

The next day, Fang Qingye and his wife, along with Bai Ou's mother, took a car back to Nanxin.

Bai Ou rests at home, while Fang Qingye still has to go to work at the bank. After all, the end of the year is the busiest time for banks, with peak periods for corporate financial settlements, concentrated processing of credit business, and demand for personal financial management and savings.

They also need to cooperate with regulatory authorities to complete annual data reporting, and conduct internal performance evaluations and bad debt write-offs.

This morning, Fang Qingye accompanied Lei Ming, the deputy director of the municipal branch of the People's Bank of China, on a routine inspection of Jinghai Bank's anti-money laundering work. In the afternoon, while at his office, his QQ notification on his mobile phone suddenly went off.

Since the advent of WeChat, QQ has gradually declined. Apart from Huang Tao, Fang Qingye rarely receives QQ messages anymore. This profile picture is unfamiliar; it's a bunch of unknown small flowers that looks like a girl's, but it's not Huang Tao.

Fang Qingye opened it and found that it was a temporary conversation initiated by someone in the university class group.

Most of the QQ groups have become inactive, including university class groups. The QQ user named Yimihua was actually Zhang Dongwen!

"Fang Qingye, are you there?"

"exist."

Have you heard anything about Li Ye lately?

"I saw him in Shanghai a few days ago, and we had a meal together," Fang Qingye briefly told Zhang Dongwen about the gathering.

"He's married?"

"Yes, he married a local girl."

Fang Qingye then briefly recounted Liu Xigesang's situation.

The other party is silent.

Seeing that Zhang Dongwen hadn't replied for a long time, Fang Qingye couldn't help but ask.

"Zhang Dongwen?"

"No, it's nothing, I was just asking casually," Zhang Dongwen replied.

"Fang Qingye, please don't tell him that I once asked you about him."

"clear."

"I won't bother you anymore, bye-bye."

"Bye-Bye."

Zhang Dongwen's QQ profile picture turned gray.

Fang Qingye sighed softly and put her phone into her pocket.

The Spring Festival of 2015 arrived late, and the most talked-about event this year was the WeChat red envelope battle.

WeChat distributed over 5 million yuan in cash red envelopes and 30 billion yuan in coupon red envelopes through the "shake" interactive feature in conjunction with CCTV's Spring Festival Gala.

Fang Qingye and Bai Ou also joined in with great enthusiasm, but unfortunately, he was unlucky and only managed to grab two red envelopes, totaling a total of 3.6 yuan.

After the Spring Festival, when everyone went back to work, Bai Ou went to Shanghai again, accompanied by her mother, while Fang Qingye was busy with bank matters.

Today is the first day back at work. As is customary, I'm supposed to wish my subordinates a Happy New Year, and of course, check on their work discipline as well.

Fang Qingye was about to take a car to the Liulin branch, but just before leaving, she suddenly received a call from the county party committee office.

"Hello, President Fang, this is Xiao Chen from the County Party Committee Office. In half an hour, Secretary Lu and County Head Wang will be visiting you and all the employees of Jinghai Bank to extend New Year's greetings."

"Are both Secretary Lu and County Head Wang coming?"

It is customary for county leaders to extend New Year's greetings to major departments and key enterprises in the county after the Spring Festival, but usually the leaders act separately, given the large number of units involved.

It is extremely rare for the top two leaders of the county to personally visit a unit to extend New Year's greetings today. Is there something else going on?

(End of this chapter)