Right after graduating as a postgraduate, the employers in the field of study would likely snatch up these postgraduates like precious treasures and offer them a terrifyingly high salary, enabling them to live a happy life. This was the perspective of the narrator at that time, as well as the narrator's naive perception. However, it seemed that Baobao and his friends didn't think so. They had been discussing whether three years of social experience was more important or a postgraduate degree was more recognized. Anyway, the power of love is the driving force and motivation for young college students. Baobao studied hard every night. At that time, Baobao was really diligent. Time passed like this. When the narrator was in the second semester of the first year of college, on a sunny day, Baobao called the narrator's dormitory and asked the narrator to go out for a meal and get together. The reason was that both Baobao and Lili had been admitted to the postgraduate program of their own school and college, which was worth celebrating. At that time, the narrator really thought that Baobao and Lili were amazing, and the narrator's simplicity at that time really made the narrator nostalgic. Of course, it was a big drunk, and even the simple narrator at that time drank happily, as if Baobao had already embarked on a happy life. It turned out that among the students in Baobao's dormitory who took the postgraduate entrance examination, only Baobao himself was admitted. What was even happier was that Baobao's girlfriend Lili was also admitted to the postgraduate program. The narrator thought Baobao was really lucky. At that time, the narrator thought Baobao must be the luckiest person in the world. Thus, while the people in Baobao's dormitory were happily graduating and busily looking for jobs, Baobao had already determined that he would stay in this school for another three years. At that time, Baobao was the happiest, and so was Lili. When a summer vacation ended, the narrator became a sophomore, and Baobao moved to the postgraduate dormitory. Baobao began his postgraduate life. Because Baobao's undergraduate classmates had flown to various job positions all over the country, Baobao became somewhat lonely. Baobao entered a strange state where he was familiar with the school but somewhat unfamiliar with his classmates. Naturally, as the junior fellow apprentice, the narrator still went to Baobao's dormitory from time to time. Also because of this, the narrator and Baobao had more opportunities to play football and basketball together. At that time, the narrator was carefree, but Baobao was not as happy as he was during his undergraduate years. It was a feeling suppressed in the heart, but it could be felt. However, the narrator at that time had no ability to understand it. Several times when the narrator went to Baobao's dormitory, it was found that Baobao and Lili were in conflict, which was something that had never been seen before, but the narrator didn't know why. Occasionally, some of Baobao's classmates who had already started working would come to the school to invite Baobao for a meal. Of course, if the narrator happened to meet them, the narrator would cheekily call them senior brothers and follow them to have a free meal. That was a happy thing for the narrator, but it seemed not to be the case for Baobao. As for why, the narrator didn't know at that time. Gradually, the narrator found that Lili began to complain about Baobao. The specific reason was not explored. At that time, the narrator was also chasing girls all over the school, but in the heart, the narrator still yearned to meet a girl like Lili, and the narrator could also start a love like the one between Baobao and Lili. Haha, even after ten years, the narrator still remembers this small goal that was once very clear in the mind. When the narrator was a junior and Baobao was a second-year postgraduate, life still went on like this. But when Lili was not present, Baobao often said: I don't know if reading for a postgraduate degree is a mistake. At that time, the narrator thought that maybe Baobao had read too many books and his brain was messed up. What the narrator admired the most was that Baobao was studying law, and he got the judicial certificate in his second year of postgraduate study. At that time, the narrator thought that Baobao would definitely be a judge or prosecutor in the future, which made the narrator envy for a long time. When the narrator was a senior and Baobao was a third-year postgraduate. That year, the narrator didn't know why, but he was always sad, always depressed, always not so happy, confused, and muddled. Baobao's state was no different from the narrator's. Although there was a three-year age difference between us, we had the same topic: What to do after graduation. Although Baobao had a postgraduate degree and also had a judicial certificate, the narrator felt that Baobao's pressure was no less than the narrator's. When the narrator asked Baobao if the narrator should take the postgraduate entrance examination, Baobao firmly told the narrator: Don't! He gave a bunch of examples of his undergraduate classmates and roommates from that year. Some of them had already bought new houses and new cars. If the narrator still planned to live in the dormitory, then he could take the exam. Baobao completely despised, absolutely despised the narrator's idea of taking the postgraduate entrance examination, as if he himself were not a postgraduate. To be honest, with the narrator's grades and level at that time, the narrator really couldn't get into a postgraduate program. The narrator gave up the idea of taking the exam and started to look for a job wholeheartedly. Of course, the whole family was involved in looking for a job. The narrator's mother really wanted the narrator to take the postgraduate entrance examination, but the narrator's father didn't seem to expect the narrator to go to graduate school at all. In the narrator's father's words: It was already a stroke of luck to be admitted to an undergraduate program. As for a graduate program, hurry up and find a job to enter the society. The narrator followed the army of interns that year and entered the current unit for an internship. Through the narrator's father's efforts, the narrator stayed in the current job. That year, when the narrator was an intern, Baobao took the civil service examination. His written test was excellent, but he failed the interview. The reason for his failure was not known until ten years later. Lili's civil service examination was very straightforward. She didn't even pass the written test. That year, when the narrator was running around the building as an intern in the unit, Baobao faced a dilemma. Both Baobao and Lili were about to graduate. Here was a problem. Lili's hometown was in the southern "Pearl" city, while Baobao was a local. Lili was an only child and naturally hoped to return to that city known as the "Pearl". Of course, that city was many times more famous than our provincial capital. The "Pearl" was an adventurer's paradise before the liberation. Most of the stories of the Republic of China era were based on it. Of course, it was also very attractive to Baobao. However, Baobao's parents were not very willing, or rather, unwilling. The narrator didn't know how Baobao persuaded his parents back then. Still, he pulled the suitcase and held his girlfriend Lili's hand and got on the train heading south. The narrator started the nine-to-five working life in the workplace. After graduating and having a job, the narrator received a monthly salary, which was a happy thing. Also, at that time, the narrator felt that suddenly, the colleagues around seemed unable to get along like classmates and teachers in the student days. Haha, the narrator entered the society. When the narrator was bored, he would go back to the school and invite the classmates who stayed in the university for postgraduate studies for a meal. But gradually, the narrator didn't want to go anymore. At first, the narrator took a bus to treat them, then a taxi, and later the narrator drove the unit's car to treat them. In the third year after graduation, the narrator drove his own car to treat them. It was very easy to find these classmates who were being treated. There was no need to call. The playground, the bus stop, the dormitory, the Internet cafe, without exception. Gradually, the narrator had no common topics with these postgraduate classmates. The things the narrator talked about were not interesting to them, and the things they talked about gradually lost the narrator's interest. It was at this time that the narrator understood why Baobao always said whether reading for a postgraduate degree was a mistake at that time; also understood the awkwardness in the hearts of those who were always being treated. Because of the different topics of concern, because the narrator felt that his postgraduate classmates were still so naive, and at that time, Baobao's classmates must have also thought Baobao was naive. There was no way. This was a matter of perspective; also understood why Baobao strongly opposed the narrator going to graduate school and why he always painstakingly talked about those classmates who didn't go to graduate school. Now it's all clear. Age is there. It's not that you can be simple if you want to. People will compare themselves with others, and the narrator also gradually understood what Baobao and Lili were arguing about at that time. In the second year after the narrator graduated, the narrator went to the "Pearl" city on a business trip for the first time. Taking the reimbursable plane and staying in the reimbursable hotel, after finishing the business of the unit, the narrator really wanted to find Baobao and get drunk with him. When the narrator dialed the phone, Baobao sounded very surprised, but he stammered that he was busy in another place, and then said a lot of apologetic words. The narrator didn't really care about it at that time. Then it was the second time the narrator went to the "Pearl" city. When the narrator called Baobao again, he was still stammering about being on a business trip, still apologizing for not being able to come, and still saying a lot of apologies. But the narrator seemed to sense from this bunch of apologies that Baobao seemed to have some unspeakable difficulties. It was not as simple as being unable to meet because of a business trip. In the following days, the narrator and Baobao still occasionally called each other to ask about the recent situation. It was also at that time that the narrator found that friends, classmates, and colleagues were actually stage-based. Previously, they saw each other every day and fooled around every day. However, at a specific period, these people became an element of your memory. If you want to contact them again, only the string of numbers in the phone remains. Sometimes, when you think of it, you will feel sad... When the narrator invited another senior brother, who was also Baobao's classmate, for a meal, the narrator heard the news that Baobao and Lili had broken up. The narrator was somewhat surprised, but it seemed that there was also some kind of expectation in the heart, and it didn't feel so unexpected. The phone calls with Baobao were still the same. The narrator heard that Baobao resigned from the earliest law firm and went to a foreign trade company. Then when the narrator asked about Lili, Baobao didn't want to mention it, and naturally the narrator didn't ask more. In the next three years, the narrator and Baobao didn't meet again, but the phone calls were still occasional to ask about the recent situation. In the fifth year after the narrator graduated, which was also the fifth year after Baobao graduated, Baobao resigned from the foreign trade company again and went to a new law firm. Then Baobao fell in love again and got married again, but the tone of Baobao's phone calls no longer had the dullness of the previous few years. When the narrator and Baobao met again in the ninth year after the narrator graduated, which was also the ninth year after Baobao graduated, it proved that some friendships do not change with the passage of time, which is very important. It was also at that time that the narrator knew that the brotherly affection and the feelings between men play a decisive role at a critical moment. The thing is, when the narrator had been working for the ninth year, the narrator could be considered a middle-level manager in the unit. But just when the narrator was having a smooth sailing, a subordinate in the narrator's department did some illegal things. Once the loss was formed, it would be a considerable loss for the narrator's unit. Of course, the narrator needed to take leadership responsibility and also bear the responsibility of lax supervision. When the narrator's subordinate was helping a company get a loan, through false materials and by using his own relationship to winning over (lure, this word might not be the most accurate in this context, but I'm not sure what the exact meaning is in the original text. Maybe it means to bribe or persuade in an improper way) a certain employee in the credit department to forge documents, the company successfully got a not small amount of funds from the narrator's unit, but the company had no direct repayment ability.