My Best Friend Zijian
The picture of smiling Zijian brings vivid memory of his trademark, yet a deep sadness creeps in my heart and I couldn't help blaming him for presenting such a heavy topic to me, life and death, only this time Zijian isn't there to help me.
Zijian is one of my best friends, which I have much stringent criteria more than just dining, wining, partying, which are important for being friends. Zijian is really an excellent party animal, he has the ability to enjoy the finer things in life and he can bring his friends into the enjoyment as well, an quality not too many people possess.
A best friend is more, a best friend has the ability to impact your life journey, like Zijian.
Zijian was ahead of me for 2-3 years in graduate school, so when I graduated, he was already joined the ranks of junior bosses. At that time, the Chinese economy just began to take off and Zijian was quick to feel the excitement and explored the feasibility of a biotech venture in China with local business leaders. I was part of the team Zijian had assembled and had opportunity to witness his business acumen in first hand. Although the venture didn't fly for various reasons and Zijan decided to focus on his academic career instead. But this invaluable experience with Zijan planted an entrepreneur bug in my heart. I eventually started my own biotech company after I left Toledo.
That shared experience with Zijian was instrumental for my career selection and changed my life forever. Thank you, Zijian.
A best friend can help you to understand and enjoy life better, like Zijian.
Zijian is known for his bourgeois taste even in graduate school. Yet I was completely dumbfounded years later when we met again to dine in a restaurant. Zijian was already a professor then and he proudly showed off his knowledge and taste for all kinds drinks, martini for appetite, white to match with seafood, red to match with steak, the difference and beauty of whisky, rum, gin, vodka, and when to drink these. Last, but not least, dessert wine. To me, Zijian must have mastered the drinking, no wonder he became a productive professor. It also clarified my confusion i had since I started graduate school, when my advisor expressed his serious concern that no one in the lab was enjoying drinking. Now I understand, a good professor isn't measured by how many papers he has published, rather, he is judged by his appreciation of drinking culture.
Well, jokes aside, the simple fact that Zijian enjoyed and knew how to drink was the reflection of his deep appreciation of what life can provide. He treated every moment as present, just as Master Wu Gui advised in Kong Fu Panda. Even he was already ill, Zijian still organized a wonderful golf trip to North Michigan with a few friends. During the trip, he was the one to book the hotel, to show us the sites and local taste, to challenge us with golf course of various styles, to make sure every one was taken care of and happy. Best of all, to enjoy the time together. Yet he was ill and in pain the whole time.
That is Zijan I know, appreciate finer things in life and share his enjoyment with his friends.
I am greatly grateful with Zijian as our best friend. Now he moves on to somewhere else better, but we are still here to be just like him, to appreciate and to enjoy what life can and will provide.
William Lee and Hong Chang
