Chapter 1723: Side Story of the Younger Generation (7): Yan Family Uncle? The "Junior" with No Sense?

Yan Chi was at the main campus in the city, hardly any chance of bumping into him.

This meant Jiang Ruan had been at Nanjiang for a year or two without ever seeing Yan Chi, let alone any Yan Family members.

Until Yan Chi graduated...

Still hadn’t seen him.

...

While the dorm-mates were still discussing that very handsome freshman, Jiang Ruan’s phone rang. It was a senior from the student council. At the start of university, everyone was eager to join various clubs, including Jiang Ruan, who signed up for the student council’s news interview department.

But she got lazier over time, not even willing to attend meetings.

"Senior." Jiang Ruan answered the call.

"The meeting is at Classroom 201 in the main building this afternoon. It’s the first meeting of the semester, and the president will be there. If you skip again, you’ll definitely get kicked out of the student council." This senior, who was in the same department, always looked after her.

"Okay, what time? I’ll definitely be there on time."

Jiang Ruan was just going through the motions, and the afternoon meeting mainly focused on the freshmen’s evening party and recruiting new student council members. It was the same every year and nothing special.

But this year was different...

"On the final day of the freshman military training, there will be a march, and all the students from the old campus will come over, so this year’s party is a joint event between the two campuses, making it especially significant..." The president was energetically explaining, but none of this really concerned Jiang Ruan.

However, when assignments were being handed out to each department, Jiang Ruan, in the news department, found herself tasked with interviewing professors and academicians to give the freshmen some words of encouragement. But this year was different...

They were to interview outstanding seniors or graduates to set an example for the freshmen.

The first outstanding graduate was——

Yan Chi!

Everyone knew he’d be a tough nut to crack.

Even if he hadn’t graduated, there was no guarantee he’d agree to an interview, let alone having already graduated.

"But... we should at least try." The department senior chuckled, "Let’s assign the tasks now, everyone gets one person to interview."

"I’ll go talk to Dean Liu."

"Then I’ll interview Professor Ding, he’s teaching a course this semester, so scheduling an interview will be more convenient."

...

Before Jiang Ruan could react, she realized the interview list had already been chosen, leaving only Yan Chi for her.

"Jiang Ruan, can you handle it?" The senior asked with a smile.

Can you handle it? Clearly, she couldn’t.

"I managed to get Senior Yan’s phone number from someone, try to contact him. Just give it your best shot, if it doesn’t work out, no worries, don’t stress about it."

Although Jiang Ruan was slacking in the student council, she was serious when it came to actual assignments.

Back at the dorm with Yan Chi’s contact, she felt utterly defeated.

Her roommates were thrilled about having Yan Chi’s contact but no one dared call him. To them, the number was just a string of meaningless digits.

Jiang Ruan lay in bed, tossing and turning...

Since the task fell on her shoulders, she had to give it a try. If he declined, that would be normal, but as long as she tried, she could at least report back to her senior.

After much thought, she decided to send him a text to test the waters.

**

At this moment in Yan Group

It was after work hours, all was silent, except for the top floor of the Yan Building where the lights were still on. The security guards on duty were quietly chatting together.

"Mr. Xiaoyan hasn’t left yet?"

"Looks like he’s working overtime again tonight."

"Poor guy, at his age, he should be out dating and enjoying youth, not wasting his time in the office."

"He’s just like Mr. Yan, hopefully, he won’t be like his father, and finds a wife to settle down with soon."

A sharp ringtone broke the silence on the top floor. A cold male voice answered the call, "Hello...?"

"Senior Yan, sorry for bothering you, this is Zhuang Shuo from Civil Engineering, we’ve met before."

"What’s up?"

"Well, the university is holding the freshmen’s evening party, and as the student council president from the new campus, I’m in charge of planning it. We hope you can record a short interview segment for us, it won’t take much of your time. In the next few days, someone from the news department will contact you."

Although Yan Chi originally didn’t want to agree to this, the person was somewhat familiar, and he thought, recording a video wouldn’t take more than a few minutes, it wouldn’t be troublesome, so he agreed.

Jiang Ruan was also editing a text:

[Hello, Senior Yan, I’m from Nanjiang University’s student council. We’re organizing an event, and I was wondering if you’d have some time to let us interview you. It won’t take long.]

Jiang Ruan checked the message multiple times to make sure there were no typos; she even verified the punctuation.

Clicking send——

She only mentioned she was from the student council, not giving a detailed introduction.

Prepared for the possibility of being rejected, she had no idea her own student council president was diligent enough to personally reach out for Yan Chi’s interview.

So, after the message was sent, she got a reply within two seconds.

[Sure.]

...

Jiang Ruan was stunned.

What’s going on?

He agreed?

So quickly? Isn’t he notoriously aloof? Wasn’t he worried she might be tricking him?

From the start, Jiang Ruan never intended to interview him, so what now? What should she do?

Bracing herself, she asked:

[When would you be available?]

[This Friday, at 10 AM, I have half an hour.]

[At your office?]

Yan Chi, with his phone in hand, found the situation puzzling—what’s up with this junior?

Was he hoping Yan Chi would go looking for him instead?

Lack of tact?

Even during his time at university, very few girls dared to approach him, so he instinctively assumed this was a "junior", hence the mix-up...

Letting slip a faint chuckle, he sent a message:

[Should I come to your school?]

Jiang Ruan bit her lip, [That’s not what I meant. I just wanted to confirm the location to avoid any misunderstanding.]

Yan Chi chuckled, put down his phone, and didn’t reply anymore.

As for Jiang Ruan, lying in bed, her mind was a blank...

What to do?

Why did he agree?

Though they hadn’t met, if they did and introduced themselves, he should recognize who she was.

The two families were acquainted, would it be inappropriate to show up empty-handed? Should she bring something for Uncle Yan? But what would be a good choice...

**

Feeling the headache, Jiang Ruan texted Jiang Mutang.

The message was: [Bro, what kind of gift would you like?]

Considering he’s a guy, he might have more insight.

Jiang Mutang squinted his eyes: [Are you dating?]

[...]

Jiang Ruan felt vexed, surely she shouldn’t have asked him for anything.

[How old is he, what’s his name, how did you meet? Is he a student or already working?]

[I’m not dating, it’s just a senior, don’t overthink!] Jiang Ruan feared his misunderstanding and explained eagerly, [It’s just a senior, I need to interview him, asking him for help. It wouldn’t be appropriate to meet empty-handed, so I’m thinking of bringing a small gift...]

Ordinary gifts for a senior didn’t require much thought, and given that they were all students, there wasn’t the social formality expected in the working world. It was surprising she actually came to him for advice.

Even without seeing her face, Jiang Mutang could sense someone about to jump anxiously, so he replied straightforwardly:

[You’re anxious, so there’s definitely more to this.]

Jiang Ruan was upset and didn’t bother explaining further.

Even before graduation, she and Yan Chi had never met or made any connections, so she never imagined that after graduation, they’d interact in this way.

Truly a fateful encounter.