Xie Qian was clearly mocking him, yet Tai Wu took it seriously. After pondering earnestly for a long while, he tentatively asked Xie Qian,
“Could it not be both?”
Xie Qian pressed his lips together, unwilling to speak. He feared that opening his mouth would unleash a torrent of cutting words that would crush Tai Wu.
Peng Guoqing reacted quickly. He punched Tai Wu hard. “Be serious. Do not try to be clever in front of Xie Qian.”
Tai Wu winced in pain. The alcohol cleared from his system. Seeing Xie Qian’s expression, he felt a twinge of guilt.
They had all known each other since childhood. Why be so harsh?
On second thought, Xie Qian truly was different from wastrels like them. While they still drew living expenses from home, Xie Qian had already divided the family assets. He ran a film and television company and a logistics company with great success.
Similar in age, yet worlds apart in calibre.
What shame was there in seeking guidance from Xie Qian? In terms of ability, Xie Qian was on par with their uncles’ generation. Well, Tai Wu felt his own uncles were not even as impressive as Xie Qian.
With that perspective, Tai Wu instantly felt at ease. He lowered his head honestly and admitted his mistake. “I was wrong. I should not have waited until I needed the toilet before digging the pit. Before, I just messed around. Whatever age brought whatever tasks, and the family arranged everything. I only had to follow along. Now I do not want to obey the family’s arrangements, but I lack the capital to negotiate with them… Xie Qian, can you teach me?”
Like Peng Guoqing, repeat a year and rely on his own strength to get into a good university again?
Tai Wu mentally crossed out that option at once.
The process by which Peng Guoqing had gained admission to a 211 university was something even Peng Guoqing himself did not wish to recall. Tai Wu had heard snippets and was already terrified.
Moreover, Tai Wu was already in his sophomore year. Dropping out to retake the gaokao would waste too much time, not to mention that the Tai family would never agree to such reckless behaviour.
It was not that the Tai family looked down on Tai Wu. Rather, everyone knew his level. Retaking the gaokao would not land him an exceptionally good school anyway. So why bother with the effort? He might as well obediently follow the family’s plan, go abroad, and pick up a diploma.
Tai Wu silently prayed that Xie Qian would absolutely not suggest the “retake the gaokao” path. Perhaps heaven heard his prayer. Xie Qian did not mention it at all.
“Are you serious?”
“More real than pearls.”
“If you give up halfway…”
The threat in Xie Qian’s trailing tone made Tai Wu shiver. For a moment, he did not know what oath to swear.
Peng Guoqing spoke for Tai Wu. “If he quits halfway, may he never be with the one he loves for the rest of his life.”
Tai Wu truly wanted to beat Peng Guoqing to death on the spot.
Yet when Xie Qian’s gaze swept over, Tai Wu’s bravado vanished. Gritting his teeth, he steeled himself.
“Just as he said. If I quit halfway, I deserve never to be with the one I love in this lifetime.”
Another one changing for love.
Xie Qian was not surprised.
The world of young people was not complicated. Absent major upheavals, the only reason was usually “changing for love”.
“Peng Guoqing is about to produce a television drama. Start by assisting him.”
Xie Qian pointed out a path for Tai Wu. Tai Wu nodded eagerly. “Good. I will definitely assist him properly. Whatever he tells me to do, I will do.”
In the past, if anyone had told Tai Wu to work under Peng Guoqing and assist him, Tai Wu would have flipped the table. They were friends of equal standing. Why should there be hierarchy?
Now it was different.
Peng Guoqing had improved vastly. Tai Wu felt no shame in Peng Guoqing leading and himself following.
Moreover, on the way over, Peng Guoqing had already explained to Tai Wu. Xie Qian did not help people lightly. Before helping, he would always test them. If they failed the test, why would Xie Qian waste energy? There were two kinds of help: genuine and transformative, or perfunctory and casual. Peng Guoqing had asked which Tai Wu preferred.
Nonsense. Of course the genuine kind.
Choosing that meant passing Xie Qian’s test. Tai Wu treated assisting Peng Guoqing as the test.
“Anything else?”
Xie Qian asked Tai Wu. Tai Wu shook his head vigorously.
His gaze shifted to Peng Guoqing.
Peng Guoqing did have something. “About that project, can I start it soon?”
Ordinary classes could no longer satisfy Peng Guoqing. After reading the gossip thread on the Fudan campus forum, he urgently needed something to distract himself.
Was the thread just fabricated gossip from nosy onlookers?
Peng Guoqing did not dwell on it.
Even if Xie Tang was not dating Jiang Wei, Jiang Wei’s appearance alone had put immense pressure on Peng Guoqing, giving him a strong sense of urgency.
Without Jiang Wei, there would be someone else.
He could not let Sister Tang wait forever for him to grow slowly. He had to transform at a faster pace.
Peng Guoqing thought he would need to expend great effort convincing Xie Qian, just like the nine versions of the proposal. To his surprise, Xie Qian looked at him for a moment and agreed outright.
“As long as you are ready, you can start anytime. I said you would lead this project.”
Wah, wah, wah.
Xie Qian truly spoiled him.
Peng Guoqing was deeply moved.
Others called Xie Qian cold. It was all false. Any friend Xie Qian acknowledged would be protected by him.
Xie Qian could not empathise with Peng Guoqing’s delicate, sentimental mindset. Confirming the two had nothing else, Xie Qian sent them away.
The academic underachiever dragged off the wastrel.
The pair chatted as they headed to hail a taxi. The wastrel, uneasy, repeatedly confirmed with the underachiever. “Xie Qian told me to assist you. You will not dump all the dirty, tiring work on me, right?”
“What, is Young Master Tai too precious to do dirty, tiring work?”
The underachiever’s tone was unfriendly.
The wastrel explained. “I can do dirty, tiring work. But after I finish it, you have to teach me something real.”
The underachiever was still learning himself and truly did not know what he could teach the wastrel.
But Xie Qian had already set the stage for him. The underachiever refused to admit defeat and replied slyly. “How much you learn depends on how much work you do. Teaching you directly while you resist learning is useless. It depends on your comprehension.”
Tai Wu felt he was simply not fond of studying, not stupid. As long as Peng Guoqing taught seriously, how could he fail to learn?
Before getting into the car, Tai Wu thought of a key point. “You have to pay me a wage for working for you, right?”
Tai Wu had his own calculations.
He was preparing two approaches. One was to show the Tai family his change through effort over the next half year, so they would respect his wish not to study abroad. The other was, if after half a year of effort there was no result and the family still insisted on sending him abroad, he needed some money to resist them.
Without money in hand, his words carried no weight.
Without money, he could not even eat properly. How could he talk of protecting anyone?
If it came to relying on pocket money from Zhang Nan, Tai Wu would rather buy a block of tofu and bash his head against it.
Letting a girl support him went against Tai Wu’s values. Letting a brother “pay a wage” aligned perfectly with them.
Peng Guoqing cursed. “I should not have softened and wanted to help you. Not charging you tuition is already generous, and you still demand wages.”
The two argued about the wage amount as they got into the car.
Xie Qian watched the backs of the two fools and felt utterly speechless. His brows furrowed.
Fully delegating the drama production to Peng Guoqing. Would President Peng’s twenty million investment really not go down the drain? The fellow had an innate air of unreliability.
Yet one thing surprised Xie Qian.
Wen Ying had mentioned the campus forum thread to him. Peng Guoqing had been drinking in the daytime, so he must have learned about it.
Having suffered a major blow himself, Peng Guoqing still remembered to help Tai Wu with his troubles. Xie Qian did not know whether to praise Peng Guoqing’s kindness or his big heart.
And Tai Wu. Utterly useless in every way, slovenly and irritating to Xie Qian.
Yet such a person had sent a comforting text when Xie Qian was at a disadvantage and spoken up for him boldly in front of the Tai family. The shift in Beijing’s public opinion towards Xie Qian and Zou Weijun owed something to the efforts of Tai Wu and the others.
True underachiever, true wastrel.
Useless people, but not bad people.
Thinking of this, Xie Qian’s furrowed brows gradually relaxed. Herding one sheep is herding. Herding a flock is also herding. Just herd them together like this.
