He truly had a knack for writing “official” pieces. Later, after entering university, he leveraged his talent for crafting flowery summary reports and advanced achievement materials to climb the ranks—first in the departmental youth committee, then the faculty-level youth committee, and finally the university-wide youth committee. His meteoric rise made him highly sought after, and by the time he graduated, he was already a hot commodity with countless achievements to his name. Compared to his spirited and triumphant university years, she, who was on the same campus, was utterly unremarkable. Even her own mother would nag her, “Look at Jiang Hao! He’s turned his writing into a career. And you? You’re always daydreaming about romance and the fleeting beauty of nature. It’s utterly useless!”
She mumbled her acknowledgment, but during a weekend trip home, she unexpectedly ran into Jiang Hao on the bus. He caught hold of her and asked, “Why didn’t you sign up for the campus literary club?”
She retorted sharply, “I’m studying information and communications engineering, not Chinese literature.”
“Come to the youth committee office on Monday afternoon. I need to discuss something with you.” His tone remained formal and bureaucratic. “You haven’t even submitted a Party membership application. Why aren’t you actively seeking self-improvement?”
“I want to be a laggard!”
Her voice rose slightly, and the entire bus turned to look at them. He glared at her, and she glared right back. As her glare intensified, he suddenly burst into laughter. “Hey, hey, watch out—your eyeballs are about to fall out.”
In the end, he always let her have her way. It wasn’t because he was afraid of her; as he put it, he simply didn’t want to stoop to her level. She was hot-tempered, while he was calm and even-tempered. Besides, she was a girl, and ever since they were children, his parents had always reminded him, “You have to take care of your little sister.”
He was seven months older than her, yet she always addressed him by his full name, Yu Jiang Hao, and he always called her by her full name, Meng Zhe Zhe.
There was only one exception. It happened when they had just started working. He ran into her at a restaurant while accompanied by a stunningly beautiful girlfriend. Fearing any misunderstanding, he hastily introduced her to the woman: “This is my little sister.”
“Favoring romance over friendship, favoring romance over friendship, favoring romance over friendship!” she cursed him three times over in her heart, but on her face, she smiled sweetly. In the end, she even hitched a ride back with him and his girlfriend, showering the woman with insincere praise until Jiang Hao was beaming with pride.
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