Chapter 1#

Chapter 1#

Later, Zhang Xingchuan said that he fell in love with Tan Xiao at first sight.

In fact, after their first meeting, he put Tan Xiao out of his mind once they parted, not even remembering the other’s name.

Until one day, a manager from the marketing department came to report some trivial matters to Zhang Xingchuan. This manager wasn’t at a high enough level and rarely had the chance to meet the CEO directly. After nervously finishing the official business, perhaps to ease the atmosphere, he mentioned: “The intern recommended by the CEO’s office is quite good—smart and capable. Although young, he’s very steady.”

Who? Zhang Xingchuan looked confused, unable to recall which one he was talking about.

The manager wasn’t sure what kind of connection that intern had anyway. Seeing the CEO’s expression, he didn’t dare to say more and laughed it off before excusing himself.

Zhang Xingchuan asked his special assistant, “Which intern was he talking about?”

The special assistant said, “A student named Tan Xiao, from the Finance Department of Tsinghua University. When you attended the alumni forum in November, you told me after you returned to push his resume to the marketing department.”

Only then did Zhang Xingchuan remember.

Over a month ago, Zhang Xingchuan was invited to the Tsinghua University Alumni Forum.

This was the second time he had been invited to attend an alumni event. The last time was five years ago; at that time, his startup was only halfway through and the future was uncertain. Although he was invited, he could only sit in the back.

Wencheng succeeded in listing on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange two years ago, transforming from an internet unicorn into an industry giant.

The co-founder and CEO of Wencheng, thirty-five-year-old Zhang Xingchuan, could be said to have returned home in glory this time, and his seat was arranged in the middle section of the front rows.

During a break in the activity, Zhang Xingchuan left his seat to take a phone call. When he returned, an elderly alumnus on stage was already interacting with student representatives. To avoid disturbing the order, Zhang Xingchuan randomly sat in an empty seat on the edge of the back row.

In the same row, one seat away from him, was a student listener—a boy who wasn’t interested in the ongoing dialogue. He had his head down looking at his phone, which was silently playing a video: a documentary on humanistic economics that Zhang Xingchuan had also seen, “The Super-Rich and Us.”

When Zhang Xingchuan, dressed in a formal suit, sat down next to him, the boy didn’t look up but quickly put away his phone and placed both hands on the keyboard of the laptop in front of him—a smooth series of moves typical of a slacking student being caught red-handed.

Zhang Xingchuan happened to catch a glimpse of the boy’s computer screen, which indeed had an unfinished document with the title: “Challenges and Reconstruction of Tech Company IPO Pricing Models under the AI Wave.”

The forum was already halfway through, and Zhang Xingchuan had gone on stage earlier to give a speech as an alumni representative. His speech happened to discuss the same direction as this paper.

Moreover, he quickly discovered that the student had written a section of discussion extended from his speech. However, the context of that paragraph had not been modified yet; it must have been new content inserted after hearing his speech and getting inspiration.

At this time, the boy also noticed Zhang Xingchuan was peeking at his screen and reached out to turn off the laptop screen.

Zhang Xingchuan was an extreme “E” (extrovert). Whether in the past or now, before or after success, he always had a personality that liked to take the initiative to communicate with others.

At this point, he already had some interest in this boy and didn’t hesitate to start a conversation: “Are you writing a paper?”

“Yes.” The boy was clearly also very outgoing and replied in a low voice, “It’s very difficult to write, so I have to work on it whenever and wherever I can. Teacher, which department are you from?”

Zhang Xingchuan said, “Computer Science, but I’m not a teacher. I’m an alumnus from the class of ‘08.”

The boy was very surprised, turned his head, and looked directly at Zhang Xingchuan.

Naturally, Zhang Xingchuan also saw his face clearly.

Both of them froze for a moment and then simultaneously offered a polite smile.

Based on the content of his paper, Zhang Xingchuan guessed, “Are you from the School of Economics and Management? What major?”

The boy said, “Finance. Sorry, I thought you were a teacher just now. Hel… Hello.”

He had only listened carefully to this alumnus’s speech and hadn’t noticed the titles and backgrounds introduced by the host. He racked his brain but couldn’t remember who Zhang Xingchuan was.

Zhang Xingchuan said, “I am Zhang Xingchuan from Wencheng.”

“Ah, so it’s Mr. Zhang from Wencheng.” The boy smiled with sudden realization and said, “Hello, Mr. Zhang. I’m a Diamond member of Wencheng. My name is Tan Xiao.”

The main app of the Wencheng Group, “Wencheng,” is an online travel service platform.

Tan Xiao proactively pushed his computer closer to let Zhang Xingchuan look at his paper.

“This part has actually been stuck,” Tan Xiao said. “Listening to your words is better than pulling ten all-nighters. Today’s event was really worth coming to. My brain has been touched by Mr. Zhang’s Midas touch.”

Zhang Xingchuan flipped through the document and found that the original flow of his thoughts was already very clear. The newly inserted paragraph could only be considered the icing on the cake.

Even knowing it was a compliment, being complimented by a smart person was still very gratifying for Zhang Xingchuan.

The two of them exchanged a few short words about the paper. In order not to affect others, they both leaned slightly closer to each other.

Speaking of a certain part, Zhang Xingchuan suddenly noticed Tan Xiao was staring at him and said, “How so?”

“Sorry.” Tan Xiao was a bit embarrassed and said, “The stage lights were too bright. When Mr. Zhang was speaking, I couldn’t actually see your face very clearly. Seeing you up close like this, you are truly good-looking.”

Zhang Xingchuan was momentarily speechless.

He was, of course, aware of his own handsomeness; good-looking people aren’t unaware of their looks. It was just that he hadn’t been praised like this—face-to-face and bluntly—for a long time, and he was a bit unaccustomed to it.

Tan Xiao’s words were by no means a compliment; they came entirely from the heart.

Zhang Xingchuan was a universally attractive man, with very standard features. In an era that pursues uniqueness, some might judge him as being too conventionally handsome to have a personality, but certainly, no one could truly find any fault with his face.

Probably to suit today’s environment, he wore a well-fitting dark suit and a proper tie. He clearly had a regular fitness routine, as the outlines of his pectoral muscles were visible under the thin shirt at the suit’s collar. He also wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, looking like a handsome scholar.

Zhang Xingchuan said, “Thank you. You are also very handsome.”

Tan Xiao was another type of handsome—big eyes, a high nose bridge, and the corners of his mouth tilted upwards. Wearing only a simple tracksuit, he didn’t have much of a scholarly air. Even sitting down, one could tell he had long limbs and very upright shoulders. He must be lively and active, a sunny and athletic college guy.

For two men meeting for the first time to praise each other’s looks was somewhat subtly strange.

Both sides tacitly paused the conversation and listened quietly to the dialogue of several alumni on stage for a while. They were sharing the impact of alma mater life on personal development. It wasn’t boring and was sometimes quite interesting, though it was all somewhat cliché.

Zhang Xingchuan should have gone back to his own seat. Sitting here was more comfortable than sitting in the front; the neighbors in the front rows were all shrewd people with eighteen layers of meaning hidden behind every word, requiring constant mental effort to deal with them.

Tan Xiao also seemed puzzled as to why he hadn’t returned to his seat yet. He looked toward the front rows and said, “Did someone steal your center seat?”

Zhang Xingchuan said amusingly, “We don’t have such boring things at our alumni events.”

“That’s not necessarily true.” Tan Xiao motioned for him to look the other way and said, “The student audience from the Computer Science Department is all sitting over there. There must be fans of yours in the middle. They’ll come looking for a photo with you in a while.”

This was the first time Zhang Xingchuan had returned to his alma mater since Wencheng’s successful listing. He wasn’t very aware of how his status as a new business elite had risen in the minds of his younger brothers and sisters. He said in surprise, “Me? I have fans?”

Tan Xiao didn’t take the opportunity to flatter him and Wencheng. Instead, he said, “Which of the famous seniors here today doesn’t have a few fanboys or fangirls? I heard some even have on-campus fan groups.”

Zhang Xingchuan said, “What? I thought I was the only one. It turns out everyone has them.”

Tan Xiao was amused, took out his phone, and said, “Can I request a photo first?”

“Of course.” Zhang Xingchuan cooperated by looking at the lens and took a selfie with Tan Xiao.

Zhang Xingchuan liked this student named Tan Xiao a bit.

He had also interacted with “Gen Z” newcomers in the company, including recent and past graduates from this school and the one next door. There were many with ability and potential, but a young person like Tan Xiao, with such a natural and refreshing personality, was rare. He wasn’t timid, his EQ was online, and he was good-looking—a young man who was naturally very likable. This is a very rare trait among elite talents.

Before the end of the event, the two also chatted about some insignificant campus trivia. Tan Xiao’s attitude was always neither humble nor arrogant, his speech was very well-measured yet retained a special sense of humor, which made Zhang Xingchuan’s impression of him improve by a few more points.

Finally, as if on a whim, Tan Xiao smoothly brought up something and said, “After I finish this paper, I should go looking for a winter internship.”

Zhang Xingchuan heard his meaning and asked accordingly, “Where are you going to intern during the winter break?”

Sure enough, Tan Xiao asked back, “Does Wencheng recruit interns?”

Zhang Xingchuan gave him his special assistant’s email address and said, “Send a resume.”

A very accidental and pleasant campus encounter thus ended.

But Zhang Xingchuan was truly very busy. He only gave instructions to his special assistant and then put the matter out of his mind.

More than a month later, the time had already shifted from late autumn to mid-winter. It wasn’t until after the department manager’s tentative mention that he remembered Tan Xiao.

Unintentionally meeting a talented young man and inviting him to submit a resume to Wencheng was too common for a CEO.

The special assistant also just followed routine. After all, Zhang Xingchuan himself didn’t mention the person or the matter again later.

However, this time Zhang Xingchuan felt slightly apologetic.

His impression of Tan Xiao was too good. When he asked Tan Xiao to submit a resume, his intention was definitely not to just stuff him into any department.

It just so happened that there was a lot going on, and it wasn’t yet time for student winter internships. There was a time gap, and once he got busy, he forgot.

The reason a CEO’s special assistant could become a special assistant was naturally because they were quite discerning. Upon seeing Zhang Xingchuan’s expression, they immediately went out to investigate the matter thoroughly and then flew back to report to Zhang Xingchuan.

Tan Xiao had been interning in the marketing department for two weeks. He handled workplace affairs and interpersonal relationships like a fish in water; otherwise, a winter intern wouldn’t have been remembered so clearly by the department director. That director had specifically asked HR before finding out it was a recommendation from the CEO’s office.

Zhang Xingchuan wasn’t surprised that a Tsinghua student performing so excellently during an internship. The alma mater produces many talents; if a meteorite were to unfortunately fall into the campus, it’s very likely to hit a top-tier genius at random.

The special assistant then showed Tan Xiao’s resume to Zhang Xingchuan.

Zhang Xingchuan wasn’t worried about the “beauty” of the resumes of his younger brothers and sisters at Tsinghua. Tan Xiao didn’t disappoint either; his academic performance was excellent, and his internship experience was rich, interning at big internet companies and well-known industrial enterprises every year.

One thing, however, was beyond Zhang Xingchuan’s expectation.

Seeing that Tan Xiao didn’t look old, he guessed Tan Xiao was either a senior or a master’s student. When they met and chatted happily, he didn’t ask about these things.

Tan Xiao was indeed only twenty-three years old, born in 2002. He was admitted to the Finance Department of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University at sixteen. After graduating from his undergraduate degree, he was recommended for a combined master’s and doctoral program and is currently in the third year of his doctorate.

Zhang Xingchuan’s apology increased by another 5 percentage points.

He planned to find some time in a day or two to call Tan Xiao upstairs for a chat.

Personally inviting a prospective PhD in finance to submit a resume and then putting them in the marketing department as an operations intern was indeed a bit inappropriate.

In this materialistic world, some very idealistic phenomena occasionally occur. People usually call it fate, or providence.

The CEO was still thinking about taking time to meet the intern in the afternoon, and by evening, he happened to run into Tan Xiao himself.