Just after Xiao Zhan handed in his resignation and politely declined the manager's rather insincere attempts to retain him, something completely unexpected happened.
A new manager joined the neighbouring team, and the company threw a welcome party for him. Everyone on the floor received a slice of cake. Xiao Zhan, mingling among his colleagues, looked toward the crowd gathered in the centre.
After a moment, he rubbed his eyes and blinked hard, then looked again. A tall, lean young man with a curved, smiling gaze—his mannerisms and expressions oddly familiar. The new manager from the neighbouring team was...
Mo Ran?
Mo Ran seemed to have noticed Xiao Zhan too. While talking to others, he gave Xiao Zhan a polite nod and smile.
Suddenly, the cake that had tasted so good moments ago lost all its flavor.
Mo Ran held the same position as Xiao Zhan's current manager. In other words, not only had Mo Ran become a colleague at the same bank, but he was also two ranks above Xiao Zhan. Two ranks...! And they had graduated in the same year! Xiao Zhan had studied finance in college, while Mo Ran had majored in mathematics. Logically, he should have become an engineer or actuary. Since when had he switched to finance?
Xiao Zhan had worked at the bank for years and was still a mid-level analyst, while Mo Ran had parachuted in from abroad as a manager?
Fragments of their school days flashed through his mind.
Mo Ran had been the heartthrob of the math department. From the moment Xiao Zhan entered university, people often remarked on how similar the two looked. Perhaps because of those comparisons, when they finally met through Wen Qing's introduction, they couldn't help but evaluate each other. Xiao Zhan was cheerful and well-liked, while Mo Ran was charismatic and socially adept. Over time, though there was no open rivalry, they secretly competed in any area where comparisons could be drawn.
Wen Qing thought they were childish—just a bunch of friends in the same circle, no need to be so petty or calculative.
But now Mo Ran was a bank manager, and Xiao Zhan had just handed in his resignation, leaving behind a secure, comfortable job for a risky unknown. The future felt like a vast fog.
Xiao Zhan reluctantly took a few more bites of cake, then stood up to get coffee in the break room. He still had work to do that afternoon and needed to begin preparing for his transition. The trash bin in the break room was filled with used cake plates. Holding his thermos cup, Xiao Zhan debated what strength of coffee he needed. Just then, Mo Ran walked in, holding a bottle of mineral water. He paused slightly upon seeing Xiao Zhan.
Then Mo Ran smiled politely and said, "The team's really enthusiastic. I told them yesterday that the welcome party wasn't necessary, but today I still got cake."
Xiao Zhan returned the smile, just the right amount of polite. "I heard the new manager transferred back from abroad and was really handsome. Didn't expect it to be you."
Mo Ran leaned against the wall of the break room, unscrewing his bottle and tilting his head back to take a drink. Then he looked back at Xiao Zhan, still smiling. "Sorry, Zhan Zhan, I forgot to tell you I was back. I should've reached out, but it's been crazy these past couple of days. I didn't get the chance."
Xiao Zhan began brewing a strong black coffee, the aroma filling the space.
"It's fine. I saw Nie Huaisang's post about picking you up at the airport. I guessed then."
He paused briefly, then added, "Wang Yibo's back too, isn't he?"
Mo Ran nodded. "Yibo and I went to the same business school in the U.S. We were classmates for several years."
Xiao Zhan nodded again, not asking any further.
He had already seen Wang Yibo. No matter what he had studied abroad or what business school he attended, it was clear he had returned to the country and started lending money at high interest rates. As for Mo Ran, they had never been particularly close in their circle. Besides the slight sting of discovering he had become a manager; Xiao Zhan didn't feel much else. The freshly brewed black coffee was still steaming. Though he didn't add sugar, he poured in a bit of milk.
Mo Ran, watching him move back and forth, seemed to think of something and said, "Nie Huaisang told me you and Jiang Cheng are engaged. Even bought a home together?"
Xiao Zhan turned around, holding his coffee cup.
Mo Ran smiled again. "Congratulations to you both."
Xiao Zhan couldn't tell how much sincerity versus sarcasm was in that congratulation. He opened his mouth as if to respond, but swallowed the words.
"We just bought it recently. Thanks," Xiao Zhan said with a composed, polite smile—formal and distant.
***
Wang Yibo bought a fragrant, greasy roast chicken from a nearby shop and went to visit his father.
Old Wang was buried in a peaceful, scenic plot on the outskirts of City B. His passing had been sudden—no one, not even his family or closest friends, expected him to die from illness. By the time Wang Yibo flew back from abroad, his father had already been laid to rest. In the past, to protect Wang Yibo, Old Wang had always kept his son hidden from public view. So much so, that even at his funeral, Wang Yibo hadn't been able to attend.
The relationship between father and son hadn't exactly been warm, but it wasn't cold or indifferent either.
Wang Yibo bowed before the grave, then found a clean spot in front of the tombstone, patted it clean, and sat down. Slowly and methodically, he began to carve the chicken for his father.
"When things settle down a bit and I'm not as busy, I'll go to City A to see Mom."
The chicken was rich and juicy, and his hands were soon coated with grease. He didn't mind. When he was little, it had always been his job to carve up the chicken, duck, and fish his dad made. He often ended up with oily hands just like this.
"Mom wants me to bring her here to visit you. She wants me to move you to City A, so she can be close to you. The two of you got along just fine when you were alive, but now that you're gone, even your wishes clash."
He opened a can of beer and placed it in front of the tombstone. "City A is quiet, but I'm in City B. If both of you are here, I can come visit more often."
"So.. I haven't decided yet," Wang Yibo said, opening another can for himself.
It was early in the morning, and the cemetery was nearly empty. Not even a groundskeeper was in sight. No one was around to care that he was drinking beer in a graveyard.
He leaned forward and tapped his can gently against the tombstone—his way of clinking glasses with his father.
"Hope everything's going well for you over there. I've taken care of your living arrangements, or... afterlife arrangements, I guess. If you need anything else, show up in a dream. And behave yourself with Mom. She never liked the things you did—so don't keep doing them. Don't go starting up your gambling and drinking dens in the afterlife too."
Old Wang had always moved through all kinds of circles, never caring if money was clean or dirty. But Wang Yibo's mother had come from a refined, scholarly family. Though they'd fallen on hard times and she was in poor health, she never touched anything that was illegal or shady. That the two of them had even met, let alone fallen in love and had a child, was something Old Wang once described to young Wang Yibo as a "miracle." He himself knew he wasn't a good man, and in order to protect Wang Yibo and his mother, he never publicly acknowledged their relationship.
Wang Yibo had once asked his mother if she truly loved Old Wang. She had gently stroked his hair with an expression he didn't quite understand.
"I didn't like the things he did, and I didn't stay by his side. But I loved your father. Otherwise, how could I have had you, silly boy?"
Wang Yibo took a sip of his beer and clinked it against the tombstone again.
"One can is enough. Drinking too much isn't good for you. Smoking and drinking—doctors are always warning about high blood pressure and cholesterol."
He shifted a bit, leaning back against the tombstone. There was never any need for formal displays of respect between him and Old Wang. His father had been a rough man. Their interactions had always been casual, more like close friends than father and son.
Resting his back against his father's grave, Wang Yibo looked up at the blue sky over City B.
"It's my fault. While you were still alive, I should've reminded you more often."
A few years ago, City B had suffered badly from pollution. But things had improved, and now the early morning sky was a striking blue, with clouds that seemed to stretch to the edges of the horizon. Wang Yibo closed his eyes slightly, his voice tinged with emotion.
"I used to think you weren't a good husband, or a good father. But later, I realized—I wasn't a good son either."
"That's why I came back."
He finished his beer, turned to face the tombstone, and gently touched his father's engraved name with his fingertips.
Then he stood up, carefully arranging the neatly carved chicken in front of the grave.
"You used to tell me that running a business isn't easy. I know now that you were putting it lightly—it's actually really hard. The bigger the operation, the harder it gets. What you left me... is something you built with great effort. Father..."
Wang Yibo paused, then slowly bowed once again.
"Please believe that I'll manage it well. I'll take everything you left and lead it to a better place—towards a bright, sunlit future."
He straightened up, standing tall, and looked toward the place where his father now rested. Then, just like Old Wang used to do when visiting him as a child, Wang Yibo gave a small, stiff smile and nodded solemnly.
"See you next time," he said, turning around and walking away, stepping into the last traces of the morning's quiet as he left the cemetery.