Shine on Me

My first instinct was to turn down this assignment—it wasn't absolutely necessary for me to go to the factory area. But before I could speak, another young man said, "Have I met this colleague before?"

He slapped his forehead. "Zhuang, isn't this the person you were chatting with downstairs in the residential area last time?"

"Yes," Zhuang Xu stood up and said. "What a coincidence. This Ms. Nie is my university alumna."

Section Chief Wu looked pleasantly surprised. "What a coincidence! Then this works out perfectly. Let's hurry over there."

Section Chief Wu led the way out of the meeting room, while the unfamiliar young man gathered his things and followed.

Zhuang Xu lingered behind, pausing at the doorway. He held the meeting room door open, turning to look at me.

Outside, Section Chief Wu glanced back in slight confusion.

I stepped out.

We all walked out of the office building together.

The young man, who introduced himself as Wang Alex, was quite talkative. "Sorry for being late. I had to visit another company first, which delayed me and held you up after work hours."

"No problem at all," Section Chief Wu said repeatedly.

"Is the factory area far from the office? Do we need to drive? Actually, Zhuang is still on sick leave—I called him in to help because he previously handled your company's business. He's no longer in our department..."

Before he could finish, Zhuang Xu interrupted, "I'm fine."

Section Chief Wu gave Zhuang Xu a once-over. "No wonder Mr. Zhuang looks a bit under the weather. Should I call a driver? It might take a little while."

"No need. I'm fine. Thank you, Section Chief Wu."

Walking behind them, I happened to finish sending a text message. Hearing this, I glanced up at his back—he did seem noticeably thinner.

The factory area wasn't far, but the scorching weather made the walk uncomfortable. Halfway there, we encountered employees leaving work and had to weave against the crowd to reach the new factory area. Alex took out a camera. "Section Chief Wu, as I mentioned earlier, I need to take some photos for our records. Don't worry—these won't be made public."

This was standard procedure for post-loan inspections, so Section Chief Wu didn't object. "We agreed to let you take photos, so of course you can take what's allowed."

After Alex finished photographing the exterior of the new factory area, we led them inside to tour the production line. This was an area I knew better than Section Chief Wu, so from start to finish, I handled the explanations.

As we walked, I covered everything—the production process, the performance and capacity of the production line, and relevant financial data like average costs—all as concisely as possible.

Soon, the entire production process had been explained, and we reached the end of the line. Standing by the equipment, Alex asked me, "Ms. Nie, I reviewed the copy of the production line procurement contract. You purchased second-hand equipment—why not import the most advanced equipment from Europe?"

"Mainly for two reasons," I answered earnestly. "First, of course, is cost—both the equipment itself and transportation. Second is timing. The government has recently introduced many favorable policies, and we're optimistic about market prospects. Purchasing domestically allows us to start production as quickly as possible and seize the first wave of opportunities."

"If you're so optimistic, why not go all out from the start?" Alex said. "If you anticipate a major market upswing, wouldn't it be better to invest in the latest equipment before competitors catch on, rather than risk being overcharged by suppliers when demand surges later?"I patiently explained, "We've studied the performance data of the latest overseas equipment. Compared to what we've purchased, there's no fundamental breakthrough. As for whether we'll be outpaced in the future... perhaps in a few years, we won't need to buy equipment from abroad anymore?"

Alex was visibly shocked. "Ms. Nie, do you think photovoltaic production equipment can be completely localized in the future?"

"Gradually localized, I believe this is definitely the future trend. In fact, we think the entire photovoltaic industry chain will be localized in the future, with upstream and downstream fully integrated."

"Alright, Ms. Nie is indeed very optimistic," Alex shrugged, his expression clearly showing he didn't agree with what I said. "You and Zhuang are indeed alumni, with similar views. Last year, China's entire photovoltaic industry suffered a severe blow, and major banks tightened loans. We've been hesitant about whether to grant your company a loan, and Zhuang's industrial development research report and trend predictions played a significant role. Zhuang, could it be that you're so invested because of Ms. Nie?"

He said it jokingly.

While I was talking to Alex, Zhuang Xu had maintained an aloof attitude, his gaze lingering on the equipment. Only when Alex mentioned him did he turn around and say indifferently, "I didn't know Nie was working here before. I just joined last year; my research report couldn't influence my superiors' decisions."

I stopped arguing with Alex and politely said with a smile, "In any case, thank you, Zhuang. Mr. Wang, you don't need to worry too much. You must have already checked our collateral—the bank won't lose out, right?"

Section Chief Wu secretly gave me a thumbs-up and chuckled, "I think we shouldn't keep standing here talking. There's a small meeting room ahead; let's take a break and have some tea."

Section Chief Wu gestured for them to proceed, leading Zhuang Xu and Alex toward the meeting room.

After walking a bit, he slowed down and whispered to me, "This Alexander is a bit arrogant, not as good as your classmate. Too bad he changed departments and isn't responsible for our company anymore. This Alexander—banks aren't charities, why does he have so many opinions? You handled that well just now."

I said, "No need to take it too seriously. Just be polite."

Section Chief Wu replied, "Of course. From what I gather from Director Dai, we won't be taking loans from Bank A in the future anyway, since we're focusing on domestic business now."

I nodded.

The small meeting room was quite simple, usually used for factory meetings. Once inside, Section Chief Wu invited everyone to sit on either side of the table, and I poured them tea. Alex asked a few more questions, then glanced at Zhuang Xu and stood up. "Section Chief Wu, where's the restroom? Could you show me the way?"

Section Chief Wu also stood up. "It's a bit hard to find. I'll take you there."

He led Alex out of the meeting room, and the room fell silent.

Surprisingly, I felt calm inside, no longer thinking about avoiding the situation, and quietly waited for him to speak.

Zhuang Xu's expression was also calm and unreadable. Perhaps because he had just recovered from illness, his cheeks were slightly sunken, and sitting in the chair, he looked pale and frail.

His gaze fell on the cup. "I've been here before. I didn't expect you to be here."

My eyelashes fluttered slightly, but I didn't speak.

"I even visited your finance department.""Fate is truly strange, isn't it?" He looked up at me. "When we graduated, I thought you'd go work in Shanghai. During the job fair before graduation, I submitted several resumes for you, all near Bank A. But you never showed up. I couldn't help but call, but your phone was always off. I tried calling Jiang Rui too—same thing. Later when I returned to Nanjing, I visited Jiang Rui's home. Auntie Zhang told me you and Jiang Rui had gone abroad to study."

"When I saw you again on New Year's Day, you said you were already with Lin Yusen, that it had just been an exchange program before." He spoke calmly. "But now Jiang Rui tells me you weren't together back then."

I finally stood up. "I'm sorry, I need to get back to work."

"Running away?" A bleak smile touched his lips. "Do you think I'd interfere in someone else's relationship? I just..."

"I don't even know why I came here."

His gaze dropped to the table. "What did I do wrong, Nie Xiguang?"

After a moment's silence, I asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

An suffocating silence filled the air.

I stood and walked toward the door. As I pulled it open, his quiet question followed me: "Why did you lie to me on New Year's Day? I could accept many reasons, but to miss each other like this... Don't you regret it, Nie Xiguang?"

My hand tightened on the glass door. It took me a while to respond. "Zhuang Xu, there's something I've always wanted to confirm with you."

He looked at me. "Go ahead."

"In college, I asked Ye Rong about you. She told me you were just neighbors who weren't very close—that's why I confessed to you. I never meant to come between anyone. I texted you an explanation before, but you never replied. Did you receive it?"

This time it was his turn to pause before answering. "I did. I—"

I cut him off. "Then I have no regrets."

My eyes burned, but I was glad my voice remained steady. "I've proven my innocence. I have no regrets."