Hesitating for a moment, Ryan Carter didn’t answer him right away. Instead, he looked at Eric Bennett and suddenly asked out of the blue, “Seventh Eric, are you really going to join the Procuratorate?”

With a sheepish grin, Eric Bennett showed a helpless expression on his face.

“Big Ryan, even though it’s just a temporary job, my parents went through a lot of trouble to pull strings and get me in. How could I not go?”

Looking at the boy in front of him, whose face was full of mischief yet radiated sunshine, Ryan Carter found it hard to connect him with the down-and-out man he would become more than a decade later—depressed, and every time they met, he would inevitably drink himself into a stupor. Frowning slightly, Ryan Carter felt as if he was recalling something important related to Eric Bennett, something significant enough to affect Eric Bennett’s future. But everything he was experiencing now was so strange, even a bit surreal, that for the moment, he truly couldn’t remember what it was.

Seeing that Ryan Carter didn’t answer his question, Eric Bennett said no more. Knowing Ryan Carter’s character well, he naturally understood that the reason Ryan Carter was so resistant to the job arranged by his family was partly because he couldn’t let go of his pride as a college graduate, and partly due to some personal reason.

For these newly graduated top students, the chimes of the new millennium seemed not far away. Beautiful dreams were still alive for these young people looking forward to a bright future, not yet withered and helpless like flowers battered by wind and rain in later years. In their hearts, they had wonderful plans for the future, believing they could change the mediocre fate of some people, because they always believed they were unique in this world.

Of course, except for the somewhat dazed Ryan Carter, no one could have predicted that in the coming era of global economic integration and information explosion, the pressure of employment in society would become so severe that most fresh graduates would end up living in basements, earning a meager salary of just eight hundred yuan a month, while those with rich social experience would become the preferred candidates for employers.

The muddle-headed Ryan Carter was dragged along by a few close friends; they were all going together to see Second EricBrian Cooper off. At the school gate, they unexpectedly ran into a few girls. It was obvious from their red-rimmed eyes that they had just said goodbye to their own classmates and were still immersed in the sadness of parting.

A woman’s mind is always sensitive. Just as the two groups were about to pass each other, a voice called out, “Ryan Carter, are you even a man!”

That voice instantly pulled Ryan Carter out of his daze and back to reality. Looking at the girl across from him, whose face was lightly freckled, he remembered her name was Grace, his college girlfriend Julia Clark’s roommate, and a well-known figure in the college—not just for her looks, but also for her fiery and outgoing personality. She had quite a following, and even attracted boys from other departments hoping to win her favor.

More than a decade later, Ryan Carter seemed to recall Brian Cooper mentioning that this girl eventually married a foreigner, got a U.S. green card, and lived a happy and fulfilling life. Whether it was for the green card or for love, that was anyone’s guess.

Standing next to her, the girl who gave him a wry smile was named Julia Clark. At that time—or rather, right now—she was Ryan Carter’s girlfriend whom he had just broken up with. Ryan Carter vaguely remembered that the night before, he’d had a disagreement with his parents over the phone, drank a lot, and drunkenly joined the others to see Brian Cooper off at the school gate. Later, Eric Bennett said he saw Julia Clark and her friends at the gate. Now, because he’d just been joking around in the dorm with Third Eric, he’d been delayed a bit, and the two groups happened to run into each other here.

Almost forgot to mention, the girlfriend Ryan Carter dated in college was also the last girlfriend of his life. Later, Ryan Carter became impoverished and drifted from place to place. After becoming an online writer, although he earned a decent amount in manuscript fees, he turned into a complete homebody, with neither the time nor the opportunity to find a woman. So, even in his thirties, he was still single.

Julia Clark, however, didn’t seem as agitated as Grace. On one hand, it was because she was the one who initiated the breakup; on the other, she felt that since they couldn’t develop in the same city after graduation, there was no point in dragging things out. Could a long-distance relationship really last? Still, seeing Ryan Carter’s slightly messy hair and somewhat haggard eyes, the three years of feelings they’d shared made her heart ache. She looked at Ryan Carter and nodded worriedly.

What surprised her, though, was that at this moment, Ryan Carter actually smiled.

Chapter 003: Severing Emotional Ties and Entering Officialdom

Ryan Carter had imagined countless times what it would be like to meet Julia Clark again, but he never thought it would be in this setting. Looking at the woman in front of him, still so fresh and lovely, his emotions were strangely calm.

“Maybe it’s heaven giving me this chance, so I can finally put the past to rest.”

Thinking this, Ryan Carter looked calmly at Julia Clark, smiled slightly, and said, “Time to go, isn’t it?”