In the blink of an eye, the year was 1990.

He Yun had behaved well during her prison sentence, so she was released three months early.

She didn’t tell anyone, quietly returning to her hometown instead.

No one in Beijing City had been paying special attention to the prison, so they were all unaware.

In June, back in Beijing City, Xue Yue received a wedding invitation from Ding Ruzhi.

"Li Yanfei?" ’Hmm, I’ve never heard that name before.’

Ding Ruzhi nodded. "He’s the man I’m marrying."

Xue Yue teased, "Finally seen the light?"

Ding Ruzhi lifted her chin and said nonchalantly, "I saw the light a long time ago. He’s just a man. There are plenty of them out there."

Xue Yue smiled and nodded. "You’re right. The future holds infinite possibilities."

Ding Ruzhi said to her, "Oh, by the way, you can bring a plus-one."

Xue Yue raised an eyebrow. "I’ll go home and ask my other half. If he’s free, I’ll bring him along."

"Okay."

In fact, He Lang hadn’t been as busy these past two years as he used to be. Just as he said, he had completely delegated his authority, letting his subordinates do the busy work. He wasn’t young anymore and felt he should be enjoying life more.

He Lang had mentioned to Xue Yue several times that he wanted to take her on a trip to Hong Kong, or maybe Shanghai. Those places were developing rapidly and offered a different kind of scenery from Beijing City.

But Xue Yue couldn’t let go of her work. She had been promoted to team leader at the end of last year and was very busy. Unlike He Lang, she couldn’t just pick up and leave whenever she wanted.

"Just wait a little longer. I’ll go with you when I get some vacation time."

Every time she said this, He Lang would look at her helplessly.

"The way I see it, the only time you’ll be free is when you retire."

Xue Yue would just smile and say, "That won’t happen."

She never expected He Lang’s words to come true.

Ding Ruzhi’s wedding was held at the Beijing Hotel.

When Xue Yue and He Lang arrived at the hotel entrance, they saw a red banner hanging overhead. It read: "Welcome to the wedding ceremony of comrades Ding Ruzhi and Li Yanfei."

He Lang glanced at it and commented, "Well, they did a good job with this. No chance of going to the wrong place."

Ding Ruzhi’s parents and the groom’s parents were standing at the entrance, greeting guests.

Xue Yue didn’t recognize any of them. She just handed over a red envelope and stated who she was.

Upon hearing this, Ding Ruzhi’s mother grabbed Xue Yue’s hand and shook it.

"So you’re our Little Ru’s boss! Please, come in."

"Auntie, congratulations."

"Thank you. Please, go on in."

They went inside and saw other people from their department who had already arrived.

When Deng Weiwei saw Xue Yue come in, she waved at her.

"Sister Xue, over here."

The corners of Xue Yue’s mouth curved up. She led He Lang over and sat down at the table with her colleagues.

"Hello, brother-in-law."

"Hello, brother-in-law."

"..."

Xue Yue’s subordinates were all used to calling He Lang "brother-in-law." He Lang smiled back at them.

Xue Yue looked at them. "You all got here pretty early."

Guo Zhaoyang smiled. "We just got here a little while ago ourselves."

Deng Weiwei pointed to a spot not far away and said to Xue Yue, "Minister Jin is over there. It scared us to death. We’re so nervous we don’t dare to move, terrified he’ll notice us."

Xue Yue looked over and saw that it was indeed Minister Jin.

Xue Yue said to He Lang, "I’m going to go say hello to my minister. Do you want to come?"

He Lang nodded. "Let’s go. It’s not like I’m someone you have to hide."

Xue Yue arched a brow.

"Minister."

Jin Shaoming turned to look. "Oh, it’s Mr. Xue! You came too."

He then looked at He Lang. "This must be your husband, right?"

He Lang nodded and extended his hand. "Hello. I’m He Lang."

Jin Shaoming shook He Lang’s hand.

A woman beside Jin Shaoming asked, "Shao Ming, who is this?"

Jin Shaoming introduced her to Xue Yue and her husband. "My wife."

"This is my colleague from work, Xue Yue, and this is her husband."

Jin Shaoming’s wife sized up the couple for a moment, then smiled and said, "What a fine pair, a talented man and a beautiful woman. A pleasure to meet you."

Xue Yue smiled and replied, "A pleasure to meet you, Madam."

"Boss He?"

Just then, a middle-aged man walked over and extended his hand toward He Lang. "It really is you, Boss He! I didn’t expect to see you here."

He Lang also extended his hand for a shake. "Director Wang."

Jin Shaoming asked curiously, "Old Wang, you two know each other?"

Director Wang nodded. "More than just know each other—we do business together often! Boss He is an outstanding entrepreneur. He was even in the papers before. He opened the very first supermarket in our Beijing City, and now his hotel is one of the most prominent in the city."

Both Jin Shaoming and his wife looked at He Lang in surprise.

He Lang laughed. "You flatter me. My ventures are just small-time operations. I can’t compare to your state-owned factories."

Director Wang sighed. "Boss He, don’t be so modest. Our factory hasn’t been doing well these past few years. If you hadn’t helped pull us through, I don’t know what would’ve become of it."

Since the beginning of the year, many large state-owned factories had begun laying off workers one after another. Business was generally sluggish for most of them.

Jin Shaoming was also aware of this, and he couldn’t help but see He Lang in a new, more respectful light.

When the people nearby overheard He Lang’s identity, some of them also showed an interest in coming over to build connections.

Because Ding Ruzhi’s parents worked in state-owned enterprises, most of the people they’d gotten to know were also from state-owned factories.

Soon, the wedding ceremony began.

Xue Yue quickly pulled He Lang back to their seats.

Xue Yue said to He Lang, "This is their wedding day. We should keep a low profile and not steal the show."

He Lang chuckled. "I didn’t expect them to be so enthusiastic."

It was more than just enthusiasm; it was adulation and flattery.

Xue Yue shot him a look. ’I know him too well. He might be saying that, but I bet he’s feeling pretty smug inside right now. That guy... he always has a mischievous streak and loves it when people praise him.’

’Who would have thought that the "iron rice bowl" of the past would become so worthless now?’

Ding Ruzhi and her husband came out.

Ding Ruzhi was wearing a red wedding dress, while the groom wore a black suit. Standing together, they looked quite compatible.

When Ding Ruzhi came around with the groom to toast the tables, Xue Yue offered a few words of praise when they reached theirs.

Ding Ruzhi winked at Xue Yue.

Ding Ruzhi’s husband was none other than Li Yanfei, the man from the tax bureau whom she had been on a blind date with before.

To think that their blind date hadn’t worked out before, but five years later, they would unexpectedly meet again.

After a brief chat, they learned that both of them were currently single. Ding Ruzhi’s impression of Li Yanfei was still quite good.

In truth, Li Yanfei had also quite liked Ding Ruzhi, but during their blind date, he could tell she wasn’t interested in him, so the matchmaking had ended there.

Starting from that day, the two of them began frequently going out for meals and movies. Li Yanfei wasn’t stingy, and after spending some time together, Ding Ruzhi felt he was a good match and they made their relationship official. This made Ding Ruzhi’s mother ecstatic.

So, after a discussion between the two sets of parents, the wedding was set.

Not long after her wedding, Ding Ruzhi came to resign.

"Are you really planning to go back to being a full-time housewife?"