16: Xu Jia

"What, are you saying I used to be a little country bumpkin?"

Xu Jia's eyes, adorned with light eyeshadow, narrowed slightly.

She looked at Chen Qiu with a hint of dissatisfaction.

"Calling you a bumpkin would definitely be an understatement."

"If you were a little country bumpkin back then, then the other girls for miles around would be nothing more than clumps of dirt."

Although Chen Qiu’s words were a bit exaggerated, they weren't far from the truth.

When Xu Jia was in school, she only wore that simple and plain blue-and-white school uniform.

Even then, her vibe was on a completely different level compared to the other girls in the village.

During that period of budding romance in middle school, she had countless suitors.

Back then, Chen Qiu had been slightly close to her, and because of that, he had even faced threats from several school bullies.

"Hmph, that's more like it!"

Xu Jia rolled her eyes at him, but the corners of her mouth curled up in satisfaction.

The barrier between them, formed by years of not seeing each other, quietly melted away during these few jokes.

Only then did they vaguely regain the feeling of relaxed conversation from years ago.

Xu Jia tilted her smooth chin toward Chen Qiu.

"Want me to give you a lift?"

Perfect.

Chen Qiu had also overestimated his physical stamina and was just about to take a break.

He didn't stand on ceremony either.

He pulled open the door of the small red car and sat inside.

Inside the car, there was a faint, elegant floral scent that didn't seem like perfume.

It was very clean and comfortable.

He turned his head to look at Xu Jia, who was driving.

His eyes lit up slightly.

She was wearing a high-quality white silk shirt on top.

The shirt buttons were meticulously fastened up to the second one.

It perfectly revealed her delicate collarbones.

The shirt fit well, perfectly outlining her graceful curves.

Over it, she wore a well-tailored black women's blazer.

On the bottom, she wore a black pencil skirt.

The hem stopped right at mid-thigh, just the right length.

Her long, straight legs were wrapped in black stockings as thin as cicada wings.

On her feet, she wore a pair of black stiletto heels.

Refined, capable, and full of the aura of a mature office lady.

Earlier outside the car, the light was dim, and he had only mentioned it jokingly.

Now seeing her up close, he realized that she really had undergone a complete transformation!

Xu Jia's current looks, figure, and temperament...

...were not inferior at all to some of the minor stars on TV.

The only fly in the ointment was that the 'work-worn aura' on her was a bit heavy.

It was a sense of fatigue that could hardly be hidden, left behind after being repeatedly hammered by work and KPIs.

If he remembered correctly, as soon as Xu Jia graduated, she joined a bank through campus recruiting.

Wasn't a bank job supposed to be the legendary easy 'iron rice bowl'?

"Did you quit the bank?"

Chen Qiu asked curiously.

"Why do you have the faint resentment of a corporate slave radiating from you?"

Hearing this, Xu Jia's mature aura instantly collapsed, and she immediately started venting.

"Who told you bank work is easy?!"

"It's easy for you to say!"

"You have no idea how heavy the KPIs I carry every month are! Deposits, wealth management, funds, credit cards—everything is evaluated!"

"Encountering unreasonable customers can make you so angry you'd get a heart attack!"

"The leaders also hold meetings every day to feed us empty promises. Three meetings a day, and they say the same things!"

"It looks like we get off work early, but we still have to maintain client relationships after getting home!"

"Tsk tsk, it seems the bank's rice bowl isn't easy to handle either," Chen Qiu remarked.

Xu Jia suddenly quieted down; she turned her head to look at Chen Qiu with some surprise.

Chen Qiu had also been out in society for several years.

But the feeling he gave her was still very fresh.

He didn't seem to have that exhaustion and numbness of someone whose edges had been smoothed down by society.

Not only was his speech relaxed, but his whole temperament was also quite leisurely.

He seemed fundamentally different from her colleagues and the ordinary workers she encountered.

Xu Jia voiced the doubt in her heart.

"Looking at your state, are you doing really well for yourself in Pengcheng?"

Chen Qiu shook his head with a chuckle.

"What do you mean 'doing well'?"

"To tell you the truth, I was laid off by my company."

"Otherwise, why do you think I came back even earlier than those college students who are still taking exams?"

Xu Jia finally understood.

No wonder.

She nodded in understanding.

"The current economic situation is indeed not very optimistic."

"News of layoffs everywhere is very common. It's also because of this that our bank's performance pressure is particularly high this year."

Subsequently, Chen Qiu praised Xu Jia's decision to join the bank right after graduation.

Although banks were no longer the absolute 'iron rice bowls' of decades ago...

...compared to those private enterprises with precarious futures, as long as one didn't take the initiative to resign or make a huge mistake...

...there was a high probability of being able to work peacefully for the better part of one's life.

Not to mention, in this special period of economic downturn, a bank job was definitely considered a good one.

Hearing this, Xu Jia just nodded with a flat tone.

"It's just... a bit more stable."

Joining the bank back then was mostly following her parents' decision.

For a girl, stability and decency were more important than anything.

But in fact, her heart yearned more for the prosperity of first-tier big cities.

Especially after she had relied on her own efforts to be promoted step by step to a private banking relationship manager.

Her daily work involved coming into contact with truly wealthy people.

When she saw those people enjoying a life of luxury and dissipation that she had never seen before...

...her heart couldn't help but be restless.

But she didn't dare.

She had grown up in Gannan and attended university in Gannan.

After graduation, she had worked in a local bank for several years.

She didn't dare take that step.

Her father had suffered a fall last year, resulting in hemiplegia.

To treat the illness, the family had exhausted their savings and even owed some money.

Her mother needed to stay at home to take care of her father around the clock.

Her younger sister was just a senior in college and had just entered her internship period; her salary was barely enough for her own living.

Strictly speaking, she was the only real labor force in this family.

She simply didn't dare to resign.

She was afraid that if her dream of making it in a big city failed...

...she might not even be able to maintain her current basic, refined, and decent life.

"Just drop me off at the intersection ahead."

Chen Qiu's voice interrupted Xu Jia's thoughts.

After the two said goodbye, Xu Jia drove back to her home.

Xu Jia's mother, Lin Fang, was watching TV in the living room.

Seeing her daughter return, she asked casually.

"Why are you back so late today?"

Xu Jia replied while changing her shoes.

"Oh, I ran into an old classmate on the way and chatted for a while."

She put down her bag and asked.

"Where's Dad?"

"I just took him for a walk outside; he's tired and went back to his room to rest."

Since that fall, after a long period of treatment, although they owed some money, fortunately, Xu Jia's father had recovered a lot and had entered a long recovery phase.

Every day, Lin Fang had to take him to practice walking and perform sports rehabilitation.

After putting her things down, Xu Jia went into the kitchen to help her mom prepare the vegetables.

"Is that old classmate you mentioned a man or a woman?"

Lin Fang asked seemingly casually, but her probing tone had already begun to show signs of investigation.

Xu Jia's beautiful face was filled with helplessness.

"A man, and a very handsome one at that, okay?!"

"Mom, are you that afraid your daughter won't be able to get married?"

Lin Fang rolled her eyes at her, her tone becoming serious.

"Stop talking nonsense with me."

"Do you think you're still a young girl in your early twenties? You're about to be an old maid!"

"I'm telling you, once a girl passes thirty, she's hard to marry off. She won't be able to get married!"

Xu Jia rolled her eyes, too lazy to pay attention to her mother's old-fashioned rhetoric.

After Lin Fang nagged for a few more sentences, she suddenly seemed to remember something.

"Oh, right. Are you still in touch with that middle school classmate of yours?"

"I have so many classmates; which one are you talking about?" Xu Jia said helplessly.

"The one from the neighboring Nankeng Village!"

"The one who got along quite well with you in middle school and even came to our house several times?"

"Chen Qiu?"

Xu Jia's eyes flashed.

In her mind, Chen Qiu's handsome face with that faint smile instantly flashed by.

"Yes, yes, yes! That Chen Qiu!"

Lin Fang's voice suddenly became gossipy.

"You have no idea!"

"I just got back from their village, and I heard he's made it big out there!"