Chapter 181: Don’t Leave Until We Meet Again
Su He’s second stop was to visit Sister Zhang from the Procurement Department. She gave her a bottle of foreign perfume.
Sister Zhang was delighted, treating it like a priceless treasure and insisted on treating Su He to a meal.
Su He smiled sweetly and said, “Sister Zhang, you’re a veteran with a wide network. If you come across any good raw materials in the future, please think of our An County Textile Factory—when it’s convenient, of course…”
Sister Zhang agreed enthusiastically, gripping Su He’s hand like she didn’t want to let go.
Su He’s last stop was to see Section Chief Yu.
Section Chief Yu said sourly, “Little Su, are you really going back to An County? Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider? I really think you’d have better prospects here in S City!”
Principal Chen, sitting silently like a quail nearby: Tch! This guy still hasn’t given up trying to steal my star pupil!
Su He laughed and said, “Section Chief Yu, I appreciate your kindness. But like I said before, An County needs me more! Besides, whether I’m in An County or S City, No.1 Textile Factory will always be home to me.”
Principal Chen: A cunning rabbit always has three burrows—this girl’s ‘homes’ are multiplying faster than rabbits!
Su He also went to see Director Gao from An County’s textile factory and told him she’d be returning the next day.
Director Gao felt a little lost—like the factory would lose its guiding star the moment Su He left.
But of course, he couldn’t ask her to stay.
Several young workers, including Wu Qiang, were clearly reluctant to part with her—two of the female workers even had red-rimmed eyes.
Director Gao: …Wait, didn’t they only meet a few times? How did they form such deep bonds so fast?
After leaving the textile factory, Su He made her way to the S City Food Factory to bid a heartfelt farewell to Section Chief Wei.
Section Chief Wei’s parting words were full of conviction:
“Little Su, if things don’t go smoothly at the An County Food Factory, our doors in S City will always be open to you!”
Principal Chen: …One after another, all these people trying to poach her! None of them have good intentions!
Su He said a few polite words and subtly hinted that she had a lot of luggage and it might be difficult getting to the train station.
Section Chief Wei, catching on immediately, offered to arrange a car to take her.
Principal Chen’s verdict on the whole thing: The thin-skinned go hungry, the thick-skinned get their fill!
Back at the hotel, Su He said goodbye to Director Qu and took the opportunity to ask for a thick stack of shopping bags printed with the Jinxiang Hotel logo.
She might not be able to stay there next time, so she needed to prepare props in advance.
She also said goodbye to the hotel staff. Her farewells were so emotional that many of the young women had teary eyes.
Principal Chen could only stare speechlessly.
During dinner, Su He even gave a farewell speech to the foreign guests staying at Jinxiang Hotel.
Her core message was simple: An County is a wonderful place, and I, Su He, am a hospitable person. If you ever get the chance to visit China again, you must come to An County as my guest!
Daniel leaned over and asked, “Su, I’ll be attending the Canton Fair in October—will you be there?”
Su He smiled, “If nothing unexpected comes up, I should be attending.”
Daniel’s eyes lit up instantly: “Then we’ll meet there for sure!”
——
Although Principal Chen didn’t understand English, watching Daniel follow Su He around like a loyal puppy set off alarm bells in his mind.
Another potential foreign romance?!
Once they were back in their room, Principal Chen voiced his concern to Su He.
She chuckled, “Principal, don’t worry. Daniel only sees me as a friend. He doesn’t mean anything else.”
Only then did Principal Chen breathe a sigh of relief. He then spoke to her earnestly,
“Little Su, you’re still young. You need to invest more of your energy in your studies and career. Don’t start dating too early!
With your qualities, even if you wait another ten years, it’ll still be easy to find someone.
And speaking from experience, your personal worth determines the caliber of your partner. The better you are, the better your future spouse will be…”
Although Su He had once said on the train that she had a boyfriend, Principal Chen had always assumed it was just an excuse to reject John.
After he finished his long-winded speech, Su He said weakly,
“Principal… but I am dating someone right now. We haven’t made it official, but he gives me his whole salary every month…”
Principal Chen: “…”
Which damn punk pulled this off?!
Day and night I’ve been guarding against this, and still I missed it!
He ground his teeth. “What unit is he from? How old is he? What’s his job? What’s his family background?”
Su He smiled slyly, “Principal, we haven’t officially confirmed the relationship yet. I’ll tell you once it’s settled.”
Principal Chen snorted,
“He gives you his entire salary and you think he’s going to get away?! With your tactics, he’s already got both feet in!”
Su He: “…”
Is that a compliment or an insult?
Seeing she wouldn’t tell him, Principal Chen didn’t press. Although he already thought of Su He as family, he knew where to draw the line. That sense of propriety was one reason Su He liked having him around as her “background character.”
*
The next morning, Director Tian arrived at Jinxiang Hotel in a sleek S City Food Factory car.
He was nearly blinded by what he saw—
A group of hotel staff and blond, blue-eyed foreigners were crowded around Su He, all bidding her farewell.
Even after the car had driven some distance, a tall foreigner was still waving furiously.
Director Tian clutched his chest. Thank god we’re heading back to An County—I can’t take this level of stimulation anymore!
But then he remembered the train tickets and perked up again.
“Little Su, you weren’t able to get sleeper tickets, right? I don’t blame you—tickets from S City are hard to get. Getting hard seats is already a win. Don’t feel bad, I totally understand…”
Su He blinked innocently.
“Director Tian, I did get sleeper tickets—bottom bunks, too! Oh, and since we have a lot of luggage, I spoke with the station staff. They’ll lend us a cart and let us in through the staff entrance, so we won’t have to deal with the crowds.”
Director Tian: “…”
Dear heavens, just strike me with lightning already! I’m done with this life!
At the train station, sure enough, Su He came out pushing a small cart loaded with all their bags—including the 40 pounds of dehydrated vegetables.
Yu Guodong took the cart and followed Su He through the staff entrance straight to Platform 3.
The whole time, Director Tian said not a word.
The blow was just too much.
He was starting to think he wouldn’t make it to retirement—Su He, that rising tide of the new generation, was going to leave him stranded on the sands long before that.
