Chapter 300: Roommate Returns

Chapter 300 The Roommates Return

Ye Changqing's calm demeanor helped calm the others.

A veteran miner remarked, "Changqing, you're not like Boss Liu. If we come back empty-handed again this time, you'll be under tremendous pressure..."

Ye Changqing smiled at him. "Don't worry, that won't happen."

When he went independent from Boss Liu, many people didn’t understand.

But only Ye Changqing knew that he had made this decision after careful consideration.

He also believed he could succeed—before committing to the project, he had done his homework.

Leading the team further west, after about five hundred meters, Ye Changqing picked a new location for the mine shaft.

Once the location was confirmed, the workers could get to work on the mountain.

……

Lu Hanchuan checked in at his military post, and Ye Xiaoxiao submitted her internship documentation to the school.

"Alright, your internship report looks fine. What’s your thesis topic? Have you decided yet?"

Sun Zhengyao had no concerns about the students in the Traditional Chinese Medicine class. As long as they had a solid foundation, writing a graduation thesis would be simple.

Ye Xiaoxiao had already written up her thesis while in the northwest and gave it to Sun Zhengyao to look over.

Even if the topic wasn’t suitable, there was still time to rewrite it.

"Professor Sun, here’s the first draft of my thesis."

Sun Zhengyao: "You’ve finished the first draft already?"

He skimmed through the topic and table of contents first. "This is a challenging direction..."

As he continued reading, he found that Ye Xiaoxiao’s draft was pretty much perfect—in fact, as a professor, he felt no further revisions were necessary.

In fact, he thought it would be a waste to use it just for an undergrad thesis. This paper was good enough for an academic journal.

Ye Xiaoxiao saw he was quiet.

"What’s wrong, Professor? Is the thesis not acceptable? Should I rewrite it?"

Sun Zhengyao replied, "It’s acceptable, but using it as an undergraduate thesis would be a bit of a waste. At most, it could count as an honors thesis. If published in a journal, it would be very beneficial for you."

Ye Xiaoxiao was indifferent. "As long as it works, I’m not in a hurry to publish. Many international academic journals dismiss papers from our country and don't appreciate the value of Traditional Chinese Medicine."

"That's an impressive perspective for a young person. Since you feel this way, the thesis is basically fine as it is."

Sun Zhengyao suggested Ye Xiaoxiao tweak the draft a bit, and it would be ready.

Ye Xiaoxiao thanked him, slid the paper into her bag, and gave a wave goodbye.

……

Come late May, students started trickling back to campus to prepare for their thesis presentations and graduation.

It was the first time Ye Xiaoxiao had seen her roommates since school started.

Everyone’s back except Wang Jiao.

At the little diner near the entrance, Ye Xiaoxiao asked, "Where’s Wang Jiao at?"

From their dorm, only Wang Jiao and Tang Xiuxiu had internships in the capital, but not at the same company.

Tang Xiuxiu said, "Sounds like something came up with Wang Jiao, and she didn’t complete her internship."

Without the internship supervisor’s approval, the student couldn’t do anything about it.

"Seriously? She lasted four whole years, just to flop at the finish line."

Although Xia Li usually didn’t get along with Wang Jiao, she never pegged her as a slacker.

College is hard enough to get into these days, and Wang Jiao was being irresponsible toward herself.

Tang Xiuxiu added, "She hit me up a few days ago, inviting me to her concert."

Ye Xiaoxiao exclaimed, "Wait, what?!"

She’s doing a concert now? In the capital?!

"It’s supposed to be in the next few days. Do you all want to go together?"

"If we’re not busy, sure," Ye Xiaoxiao replied.

She was curious what kind of gig it was.

She hadn’t heard anything about it at all.

No hype or anything.

"Yeah, count me in," Xia Li chimed in.

He Jing asked, "How’s your thesis going? I haven’t shown mine to the teacher yet."

Ye Xiaoxiao’s was different—she wrote about traditional Chinese medicine.

"Mine’s done, just waiting for the graduation defense."

He Jing sighed, "Ugh, lucky you, Xiao Xiao."

Theses aren’t even that hard now.

No fancy plagiarism scanners, as long as the teacher is satisfied, it’s fine.

Xia Li groaned, "How are you real? I don’t even know if my mess will satisfy the teacher. What if they trash it outright?"

Tang Xiuxiu interjected, "Can we not talk about school while eating?"

Li Meiru arrived with a man and introduced him, "This is my boyfriend, Li Jie. This is his spot."

Makes sense why we’re here.

Ye Xiaoxiao thought the vibe here’s actually nice, with two floors and a good view upstairs.

"Hey Boss Li, good to meet you," Xia Li greeted warmly.

The others also exchanged greetings with Li Jie.

Li Jie smiled shyly, "Help yourselves to whatever you want. My treat, no need to hold back."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Thanks, we appreciate it."

"Please have a seat. I've got things to do."

Li Jie didn't join them for the meal. After exchanging a few words with Li Meiru, he went to the lobby to work.

Li Meiru sat down with several bottles of soda. "Let's talk over drinks."

Tang Xiuxiu: "Wanna get some drinks?"

Ye Xiaoxiao: "You've got school tomorrow, better not."

Tang Xiuxiu gave up on the idea.

Though they had worked for less than a year, they'd changed a lot.

Some had cut their hair short, while others had permed theirs.

They'd shed some of their youthful naivety and looked more professional.

"Then it's settled. We'll go see Wang Jiao the day after tomorrow and catch that concert too."

Tang Xiuxiu reminded everyone before they left.

Ye Xiaoxiao was fine with it, and since the others lived in the dormitory, it was no problem for them.

...

On the day of the concert, Ye Xiaoxiao met up with the others at four in the afternoon.

"What time does it start?"

Tang Xiuxiu: "They said six."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Six is still daylight."

Tang Xiuxiu: "It's not safe when it's dark, and with that so-called concert, a crowd might form and attract the police."

Ye Xiaoxiao didn't know about city rules these days, but Tang Xiuxiu had a point.

So, the group biked to the concert spot.

When they arrived, Ye Xiaoxiao thought it was weird.

It was just a desolate open space—no stage had been set up, and no one was running things.

"Did we come to the wrong place?" Xia Li asked, confused.

Ye Xiaoxiao also thought they might have made a mistake.

But Tang Xiuxiu was adamant. "No way, the letter definitely said this was the place."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "There's a tent over there. Maybe someone's inside."

Tang Xiuxiu: "Let's go check it out."

So, the group headed toward the tent.

Xia Li also complained, "Tents are usually in the wild. This is an empty lot, sure, but it's still in the city. It's just bare concrete—why set up tents?"

Tang Xiuxiu said, "Maybe they're going for like peace within the bustle."

Upon entering, they discovered a drum set placed between several tents.

"Wow!" Xia Li exclaimed, her mouth falling open. "There really is a band here."

Before they could ask if anyone was inside the tents, they heard arguing voices from within.

"You said we were holding a concert, but there's not a single audience member. Xu Jiale, are you kidding me?"

"They just don't get real art. Our band's gonna blow up eventually."