Assistant Yu was a proper, rule-abiding, respectable man!

The workplace was the workplace; the "tactics" they ever came into contact with were just the kind you saw on the news—like scalding a money tree with boiling water, secretly overfeeding the rival’s koi to death, that sort of thing.

Now that this rich father and son were really about to turn their tricks on each other, he fell silent on the spot.

After a while, still sticking to laws and regulations, he said:

"This... isn’t okay, right?"

Mr. Yang was just saying it casually.

Doing business was like being a person—there had to be a limit; you couldn’t push people too hard.

Right now he was taking the lion’s share of the benefit; later on he’d appropriately give one-third back to Xiaoyang, and life would be beautiful. There was no need to scoop up every last piece of the kid’s new deliveries.

Otherwise if the kid got desperate, waited till he was at work and pried the lock at home—if he called the cops, the police wouldn’t even take the case!

Tsk!

If he weren’t so old, why couldn’t he and Qiaoqiao be an intergenerational pair of best buddies?

Anyway, that’s why Yunqiao Village still needed one of their own people!

"Then hurry President Chen along," he gave the somewhat-relieved Assistant Yu a new assignment:

"Tell him once the cooperation with Yunqiao Village is finalized, he has to stay there and really settle down to handle this matter properly. He absolutely can’t phone it in."

"When the time comes, I still have some personal errands I need to entrust him with."

As mentioned before, Assistant Yu had just been promoted; he naturally hadn’t had much contact with this President Chen back when he was in the branch office.

Now thinking about how the other man was also young and already in a high position, then looking at his boss, who clearly had something deeper in mind.

Could it be that...

Hiss!

The hidden depths within a big conglomerate were truly unfathomable! 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

...

Meanwhile, with the comfort of the corn, Xiaoyang had finally relaxed a bit.

When he went back to the room, Qiaoqiao was carefully lifting the huge castle up, and only after slotting in the last set of components did he turn to look at Xiaoyang.

It was very hot in summer. The air conditioner was on in the room, the windows were closed, and for a moment everything was very quiet.

His pupils were dark, and when he looked over without speaking, he seemed even more focused.

Xiaoyang set down the box in his hands, puzzled. "What’s wrong?"

Qiaoqiao shook his head. "You were unhappy just now."

Xiaoyang instantly felt guilty.

Even if his dad took all that food away, he wouldn’t keep every bite from him. To mope and stew over such a small thing for half the day, and even call back and forth over it...

With how sensitive Qiaoqiao was to people’s emotions, how could he not notice?

Come to think of it, even though he’d deliberately invited the kid over this time, the guest experience these past two days had really been awful.

He took a deep breath, then nodded:

"I was a little upset just now, but I’m fine now!"

But he hadn’t invited Qiaoqiao over so he could experience this kind of mood. So he asked:

"Qiaoqiao, are you afraid of the sun or the heat?"

Sure enough, Qiaoqiao’s attention was diverted. He nodded, then shook his head:

"When it’s too hot it’s not very comfortable, but I’m used to it. Mom says people can’t stay in air-conditioned rooms all day long."

"I’m a bit afraid of the sun, so when I go out I have to wear a hat and long sleeves."

Yang Zhengxi instantly grinned:

"Then let’s go a little farther."

He glanced out at the lush green lawn outside the window. "To support our farm machinery R&D tests, we have large agricultural bases all over the country."

"Qin City is our headquarters, and the surrounding counties all have big farms set up. In this season, not only are different kinds of rice and wheat ripening, we can also harvest daylilies and cotton."

"Do you want to come stay at the farm with me for a bit?"

Daylilies and cotton?

They didn’t have daylilies at home. They’d planted some cotton before, but not much—he only remembered that when it bloomed, it was very pretty.

He wanted to go!

But...

"Haven’t you been waiting for your deliveries this whole time? If we go out, what if you can’t eat them in time when they arrive?"

Xiaoyang laughed. "We’ll put what belongs in the fridge in the fridge, freeze what needs freezing, and prep what needs prepping."

"I am a bit anxious, but my dad’s not going to go so far as to not let me taste any of it."

"Besides, the farm isn’t far from here at all. It’s only a little over an hour’s drive—then I’ll let you drive the combine harvester!"

"Are you afraid of the heat?"

Qiaoqiao’s eyes lit up immediately:

"I’m not afraid!"

"Is the combine harvester very big?"

He hesitated a little. "Teacher Xin said if I don’t have a license, I should say no when people try to get me to drive things."

Xiaoyang burst out laughing.

Their farm wasn’t like Qiaoqiao’s side. Qin City was also mountainous, but they’d deliberately opened up large stretches of flat land.

Endless fields of daylilies, cotton, rice, and wheat.

Crops with different levels of height and lodging resistance each had different harvesting machines in different seasons.

And when the big combine harvester started up, it couldn’t go very fast. The cab was fully enclosed, too, so whether Qiaoqiao drove fast or slow, or even a bit too fast, nothing would really happen.

At worst, the harvest wouldn’t be very neat, but it wouldn’t ruin the grain.

In fact, it was much safer than a regular vehicle.

He didn’t answer, just smiled enthusiastically again. "It’s fine, they’re experimental machines. I’ll take you to see them when the time comes."

As he spoke, he bustled around helping Qiaoqiao pack, while saying:

"Honestly, harvesting rice and wheat and cotton isn’t that interesting. The machine just passes once and that’s it. But right now daylilies still have to be picked by hand. Want to try picking some? My grandma loves eating them. My dad specially kept a plot just for her, and it’s also convenient for occasionally testing new machines."

Qiaoqiao nodded. "Do the ones you grow yourself taste good? If they’re good, I’ll ask my sister to plant some next year too."

Yang Zhengxi thought for a moment. "Then let’s go taste them together. If they’re planted at your place, they’ll definitely get even tastier."

...

Over in Shan City, the back kitchen of Changleju was a flurry of activity; all kinds of side dishes and seasonings were ready to go.

Master Qian inspected everything inside and out before finally nodding:

"Alright, rest for a bit. We start sharp at one this afternoon."

To host this all-fish banquet, the boss had promised triple pay plus a bonus, so everyone up and down in Changleju had been looking forward to it!

The client manager, however, thought about it and said, "We’re using all freshwater fish, and there are so many ways to cook them. There’s no guarantee someone won’t get a bone stuck... Should we contact a few doctors to be on standby?"

Master Qian immediately had a headache.

Running a business really wasn’t easy these days. Back when he was young, what restaurant ever had to worry about what to do if a guest got a fishbone stuck?

No wonder he’d spent his life honestly just being a chef.

He shook his head. "Ask the boss directly. I can’t make that call."

To be honest, Boss Chang had thought about this from the beginning. But they were running a restaurant—inviting doctors to sit by during a banquet just felt weird.

Yet most of the people who had the opportunity to attend this all-fish banquet were the rich and powerful in Shan City. If something really went wrong...

The restaurant business was truly a tough one!

He suddenly remembered the boxes of hawthorn pills they’d packed up in the back and paused:

"Alright then, send invitations to doctors from a few of the municipal People’s Hospitals. Say we’re grateful for their benevolence and superb skills in saving lives, and are specially inviting them..."

He didn’t even really know why they were going to such painstaking lengths—anyway, just get everything arranged first.