Official title: Refused to stay at the university, started his career in a rural town.

Qi Tongwei's hand, gripping the ledger, was trembling violently.

"I dare not go back! I dare not face those people's eyes. I'm afraid they'll ask me—Tongwei, which big organization do you work for?"

"Tongwei, have you become a high-ranking official?"

"Senior brother, what am I supposed to say? Should I tell them I'm in a poor mountain village similar to ours, mediating land disputes every day? Should I tell them I didn't even make it to the deputy section chief level? I don't even have the face to go home for the New Year!"

Qi Tongwei gritted his teeth, the muscles in his jaw bulging. "They sold their chickens, sold their grain, and even gave up their winter quilts, only to have me end up back in another remote mountain village?"

He couldn't continue; something seemed to be stuck in his throat, and only his chest heaved violently. The account book in his hand was crumpled, his knuckles white and bluish. He turned his face to the side, staring intently at the opposite bank of the river, his shoulders trembling slightly.

Yang Fan reached into his pocket, pulled out two cigarettes, and lit one for Qi Tongwei. He took one for himself, not in a hurry to speak, and watched the ripples spreading across the river.

"Tongwei, I'm here today to tell you something—your years as deputy section chief are calculated from your first day at work. This is not the same as your official appointment on paper, do you understand?"

Qi Tongwei looked up, stunned, and remained silent for a long while.

"But even so, senior brother, tell me... when will this ever end?"

Yang Fan stood up and patted him on the shoulder. "Back when I was in Qingping, Lao Ma told me that this place was beyond saving, that eight college graduate cadres had left in nine years. I wasn't sure either, so I took out my money and bought paper bags. I went to Lao Wang and said that if he lost money, it was on me, since he wouldn't lose anything. Step by step, we've come this far, and the per capita income in Qingping has increased from two hundred to nearly five thousand."

"Tongwei, the tougher the place, the more it hones a person's character and abilities. You've been working here for almost two years, and you know the situation of every single household inside and out—that's your foundation."

He paused.

"If you think your path is difficult, then let me tell you about my experience at the beginning of the year."

"My cooperative had just started when it attracted a great talent, Zhao Ruilong."

"That's the son of Zhao Lichun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee. We didn't agree to him taking control of the cooperative, so he slammed his fist on the table and smashed an ashtray in front of me and Secretary Wu, telling us to just wait and see."

Yang Fan flicked his cigarette ash, his tone as calm as if he were telling someone else's story.

"Then on the fourth night, I went to a meeting in the county and was tricked into driving under the influence by a county leader. Luckily, I was cautious and escaped unharmed."

"When I returned to Qingping Township the next day, I found that Secretary Wu had been taken away by the Discipline Inspection Commission. It wasn't until they found that we were clean, that our actions could withstand scrutiny, and that we could be investigated—that we were finally free of any trouble—that we got through this ordeal."

Qi Tongwei's eyes widened, the cigarette between his fingers, he forgot to smoke it.

"Senior brother, what's this?"

"Isn't this more dangerous than what you're doing?" Yang Fan asked, looking at him.

"If we're talking about something truly impactful, it has to be that article in the Jingzhou Daily and Comrade Zhao Lichun's speech at the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee meeting. They directly brought down our Ningzhou City, and Secretary Wu and I could have ended our political careers at any moment. You know what happened next; the school pulled a fast one on me, which allowed me to get through it safely."

He threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out.

"But if I had fallen earlier, guess what I would be like now? If I had driven that night and been caught drunk driving—the township head would have been dismissed, I would have received a party disciplinary action, and there would be a record on my file. The cooperative would have gone bankrupt, Hengtong would have withdrawn its investment, and Qingping would have returned to the era of 'doing nothing is better than doing nothing.' In my life, let alone rising in rank, it would have been a question whether I could even stay in the system."

Qi Tongwei's Adam's apple bobbed. He looked at Yang Fan, his lips moved, but no sound came out.

His mind was in turmoil.

Those months were truly a precipice for my senior colleague—he was framed for drunk driving, subjected to a surprise attack by the Discipline Inspection Commission, named and shamed by the provincial newspaper, and reprimanded at a meeting of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee.

Every misstep could lead to imprisonment or complete disgrace.

And what about Qi Tongwei? What does he have? Besides emotional repression and anxiety about a bleak future, who has truly harmed him?

No one plotted against him, no one wrote articles criticizing him, and no one named him at the provincial party committee standing committee meeting. He was simply left out in the cold, stuck with the treatment of a deputy section chief.

Compared to that, my own experience really doesn't seem like much.

"Senior brother, so what you mean is—"

"Tongwei, you must remember this—no matter how strong the evil winds are, they can never bring down a straight bamboo. You must calm down and focus on your work, and lay a solid foundation. As for some people, they can suppress you for a while, but not forever; after all, they won't last many years."

He looked at Qi Tongwei.

"Most importantly, you can't let yourself go astray first."

Qi Tongwei didn't say anything, but carefully put the crumpled account book back into his inner pocket and patted it on his chest.

"Senior brother, I understand. You've truly walked on the edge of a knife. What am I? I've just endured it all."

He let out a long sigh of relief, and the tension on his face seemed to ease a little.

Yang Fan looked at the renewed determination on his face and sighed inwardly. This kid said he understood, but the look in his eyes—he was still looking outward.

He was still thinking, "If I can just get through this, then someone will notice me, and I can get transferred."

He didn't understand what "not many years left" really meant.

Yang Fan stubbed out his cigarette and suddenly asked, "Tongwei, what are your thoughts on your relationship with Chen Yang?"

Qi Tongwei was taken aback. "What? What are you thinking?"

"Do you think you two will work out? What's the bottleneck?"

Qi Tongwei's face darkened, and he hesitated for a moment. "Teacher Liang is one aspect, but the gap in our current conditions is another, and there's still a distance to go—"

"Do you think it's just teacher Liang Lu?"

Qi Tongwei looked up, his eyes filled with confusion. "Isn't that right? If it weren't for her—"

Yang Fan shook his head.

"Then let me ask you something: why do you keep saying you want to be transferred to Beijing?"

"Chen Yang is in Beijing," Qi Tongwei blurted out.

"Who told you Chen Yang went to Beijing?"

"Uncle Chen said so." Qi Tongwei paused. "Uncle Chen Yanshi told me that Chen Yang has been transferred to Beijing. He said young people should be ambitious and work hard to get transferred to Beijing, otherwise how can we guarantee Chen Yang's future?"

Yang Fan's lips twitched.

"That old bastard," he muttered under his breath, then chuckled, though he was thinking to himself.

"Chen Yanshi's theory is always applied to other people—his eldest son is in the garrison area, and Chen Yang went to Beijing. They've only been working for a few years! Did they go there on their own? Haha!"

Yang Fan turned around to face him, his voice low, but every word was like a nail hammering into Qi Tongwei's ears.

"Tongwei, let me tell you something! Back then, a female classmate who was close to Chen Yang once told me—Chen Yanshi scolded Chen Yang several times because of you."

Qi Tongwei's fingers tightened.

"What are you cursing about?"

"To say you lack ambition is like a toad trying to eat swan meat."

A river breeze swept over him, but Qi Tongwei stood motionless in place.

"He just looks down on you." Yang Fan's voice was soft, but every word hit the mark.

"They even look down on people like us, do you understand?!"

"Who is he? He's the executive deputy chief prosecutor at the provincial level. Chen Yang is his daughter. Would it be difficult for him to bring you and Chen Yang together? If he just nodded and gave Liang Qunfeng a heads-up, how much trouble could Liang Lu cause? But he didn't! Not only did he not help, he also blocked it."

Yang Fan watched as Qi Tongwei's face slowly turned white.

"While he was stopping you and Chen Yang, he was telling you—young people should rely on their own abilities to be transferred to Beijing honestly and fairly, without using connections or back channels. Is that right? Yes. But when you hear those words from his mouth, think about it carefully."

Qi Tongwei's voice was a little dry. "No, Uncle Chen is an old revolutionary; he despises pulling strings the most—"

"Dislike using connections?" Yang Fan chuckled. "Then how did his son get into the garrison? How did Chen Yang get into Beijing? Did they get in by simply submitting their resumes right after graduation? Tongwei, wake up!"

Qi Tongwei remained silent. He stood there, the river wind whipping his hair into a mess, but he didn't move.

Yang Fan looked at him and sighed inwardly. This man was truly infatuated.

He was caught up in Chen Yang's romantic relationship and the promise Chen Yanshi made to him—"As long as you work hard, you can be transferred to Beijing and be with Chen Yang."

Then he attributed all his misfortunes to his own lack of effort and to Liang Lu's suppression.

He never considered that the door that was truly blocking him might not want him to go in at all.

"Tongwei." Yang Fan patted him on the shoulder, his tone softening.

"I'm telling you this today not to make you hate anyone. I want you to see clearly—what you've been chasing might never have been intended to open the door to you in the first place. Instead of focusing on how to transfer to Beijing or how to reunite with Chen Yang, you should focus on doing the things in front of you well."