Chapter 313: Wang Dali, The Entrepreneur (2/2)
Right after assuring me, he turned to the waiter and ordered two of the most expensive dishes!
Dali continued to create his business enthusiastically but kept the details to himself. I acted as if nothing happened. In the worst-case scenario, the business was a complete failure and I would have to look for a job.
In May, the students on campus had all switched to cool summer wear. There was only a month left before graduation.
Every few days, we all went out for a meal together, happily drinking cheap beer with stir-fried potato shreds and twice-cooked pot. We dreamed of a beautiful future, hearts filled with ambition and hope, certain we could overcome anything. After getting drunk, we would hold our heads in agony and wail in memory of the youth that was about to fade.
The boys in the class gathered for drinks so often, the oldest in our dormitory drank so much he had to be hospitalized for gastrointestinal bleeding.
However, he soon recovered and was discharged from the hospital within a few days. Then, in the name of celebrating his recovery, we went to the cheap Sichuan cuisine restaurant outside of campus for another round of vomit-inducing drinking. After more than two hours of eating, drinking and being merry, two of our roommates were completely drunk, while Dali was slightly tipsy. We went back to our dormitory on foot.
As night fell, some of the girls in junior year strolled around campus in their pretty dresses as they laughed and chatted. “How nice it is to be young,” Dali sighed with emotion. “Looking at these beautiful young girls reminds me of my younger days. At the time, I too walked along the street like this, eagerly looking at other girls.”
”Ugh, stop being so dramatic,” I chided. “Go back and drink some vinegar. You need to sober up!”
”Isn’t the whole point of drinking to get drunk?” he argued. “Sigh, do you think I made a big mistake? Maybe I should’ve chased after our juniors. Instead of fighting so desperately in our ‘resource-deficient’ department, I might as well have tried my luck in someone else's gold mine. After all, senior students might have a special appeal to juniors. Ah, I do regret it!”
”It's not too late now,” I laughed. “Go up there and try your luck!”
Dali debated with himself for a second, then waved his hand repeatedly, ”Not today! Perhaps another day!”
”I'll bet ten yuan that you’re too afraid to strike up a conversation with a girl,” I quipped.
Provoked by my words, he retorted, ”Who says I’m afraid?!”
”Then go ahead.”
”Fine! I’ll do it!”
Dali moved the drunkard on his shoulder to the side of the road, summoned up his courage and walked towards the girls. Halfway there, he turned around and said, ”Forget it. I only have Bingxin in my heart.”
”You coward!” I scoffed.
”Fate is a mysterious thing,” Dali remarked as he started weaving a web of nonsense. “It’s important to be content with what you have instead of insisting on that which does not belong to you. Who knows? A girl might come up and talk to us instead.”
”You might as well stop looking for a girlfriend!”
With the two drunk men on each of our shoulders, we slowly made our way back to the dormitory, only to find a petite girl wearing a yellow dress standing downstairs. She poked her head through the entrance as if waiting for someone. ”Looks like you were right!” I joked. “There’s a girl looking for you.”
”I'm not the man of the hour on our campus,” he sighed. “She’s definitely looking for you!”
Just then, the girl turned around and timidly asked, ”Excuse me, which of you is Song Yang?”