With his elbows on the table and hands clasped under his lower lip, Qian Hongming hesitated to speak, unable to defend himself. Finally, he only said: “I have very strong desires, all kinds of desires.”

“But you’re also a person with a rich and sensitive inner world. You think much more than I do. I’ve been wondering why you often don’t go home, finding various excuses to stay in Shanghai, yet you love Jiali so much.” Liu Jun paused. “You’re afraid of exposing your ugliness in front of Jiali, aren’t you? I just figured this out for you.”

Qian Hongming quickly but not decisively retorted: “Liu Jun, I’m not as pure as you imagine.”

“We’re both approaching forty—how could we be pure? Does all that I just said mean I’m pure? Not necessarily. Hongming, I sincerely hope you don’t personally destroy your own heart. Find time to face yourself properly. You don’t even dare face Jiali anymore.”

“Liu Jun, don’t make assumptions, okay? Though we’re good friends, we’re ultimately different people. Don’t force your thoughts onto me. I’m indeed not pure—my heart isn’t pure. I don’t want to hide this from you. I could humor you, but this kind of question is very… childish to me.”

Liu Jun stared steadily into Qian Hongming’s eyes. “I don’t believe it.”

Qian Hongming felt irritated. “Whether you believe it or not, facts are facts.”

“The fact is that you’re not fundamentally bad. Don’t abuse yourself. Alright, let’s end today’s discussion here. You’ve nearly worn your lips swollen—if others saw this, they’d think you’d gone crazy or something. You really can’t go home to see Jiali now, hehe.”

Qian Hongming was startled and quickly withdrew his arms, feeling unpleasantly exposed. He tried to restrain himself, smiling: “President Liu is now used to commanding thousands of troops—even at the dinner table, you’re so measured and methodical.”

Liu Jun also laughed, not probing deeper. Without drinking, though they had talked a lot, they still finished eating quickly. Liu Jun asked the waitress who had sent the wine. The girl wouldn’t say, but her eyes kept drifting toward a particular private room. Liu Jun understood, walked to that private room, opened the door to look, and returned with a wooden expression. Inside sat a beauty he recognized immediately—Yu Shanshan.

Upon hearing that Yu Shanshan had sent the wine, Qian Hongming immediately slapped the table and laughed loudly. He waved the waitress over, rushed to pay the bill, and added six servings of papaya milk stewed bird’s nest to be sent to Yu Shanshan’s private room. Liu Jun disapproved: “Of all things to send, why something so easily misunderstood?”

“The beauty wants a chance to show off in front of you—I’m just playing a trick on her.” Qian Hongming grinned as he pulled Liu Jun out of the restaurant. “It’s rare we’re gathering alone. I want to see how you drive my car. Quickly think of a place where we can go off-roading.”

“Aren’t you very busy tonight?”

“No matter how busy, I have to make way for you. Let’s go.”

Liu Jun sat in the car thinking for a while before remembering a friend’s construction site. He made a phone call to confirm, then they headed there. Qian Hongming was too lazy to explain the special operating features, letting the old hand Liu Jun explore on his own—for someone who was naturally mechanically gifted, self-exploration was fun. However, watching Liu Jun’s operation, he couldn’t help feeling indignant. Though this car was European-made, it was entirely American-designed, targeting the massive American market. At just over 1.7 meters tall, he found the car quite unwieldy to drive. Many functions Liu Jun could reach with just a finger required him to move his whole hand. Some people’s advantages were comprehensive, armed from toe to tooth.

At around eight o’clock on a summer evening, the roads were still bustling with people, many citizens out enjoying the cool air. However, the road to the construction site was still a stone path with basically no pedestrians. But Liu Jun had only driven about a hundred meters when they encountered an elderly woman wearing a round-necked floral cotton shirt and black artificial cotton wide-leg pants. The old woman was carrying a pile of wooden strips with a local-style palm-leaf fan among them. The stone road was narrow and dark—one wrong step would mean falling into the muddy ground beside it. The old woman stood in the middle of the road, somewhat at a loss. Liu Jun pulled the car to the roadside and let the old woman slowly pass by the car body using the headlights.

Looking at the wooden strips still covered with cement and sand in the old woman’s hands, Liu Jun asked curiously: “She seems like a local, right? Do locals still use wood-burning stoves these days?”

Qian Hongming laughed: “You pampered young master has always been like ‘why don’t they eat meat if they have no rice?’ Do you know how much a gas canister costs now? One hundred twenty to thirty yuan, and looking at oil price trends, gas prices will keep rising. How much do ordinary wage earners make per month? Their salaries haven’t increased much. Many families can’t afford it and have switched back to coal briquette stoves at home.”

“How does President Qian know this? Amazing.”

“Because I come from the working class and remain rooted in the working class.” Qian Hongming smiled. “Last time I took Xiao Suihua to the countryside on a tricycle, casually touring around a small town. The tricycle driver told me that in summer, he has to drink five thermos bottles of boiled water a day. Gas at home burns out in a flash—how can he afford it? Luckily, a neighbor set up a tiger stove to boil water, one bottle for ten cents. For someone like him, drinking five or six bottles a day, that’s eight cents per bottle, wholesale price. Don’t look at me like I’m lying to you. Why is boiled water from tiger stoves cheap? Because real estate is booming now, construction sites are everywhere, and construction sites have discarded wooden strips and pieces. But the wooden boards that the old lady picked up might be for kindling her coal-briquette stove at home. Burning coal briquettes costs twenty to thirty yuan a month, much cheaper than gas.”

Only then did Liu Jun understand why coal briquette stoves were everywhere when he entered the countryside last night. It wasn’t a special rural scene but a necessity, forcing people to turn back the clock a dozen years and pick up coal briquette stoves again. “Oh, and the recent flour price increases, instant noodle price increases, pork price increases… the company cafeteria’s expenses have indeed risen these past two months. I never asked about it, thinking it was due to increased dining numbers.”

“Doesn’t your company provide free meals? For some low-wage groups, that might be their best meal of the day.”

“How much did one serving of papaya milk stewed bird’s nest cost just now? Truly ‘wine and meat behind vermilion gates while frozen bones lie on the road.'”

“I often take Xiao Suihua to walk around urban-rural fringes and visit paired assistance families in mountain areas, bringing food and supplies to let Xiao Suihua understand life’s hardships. Don’t follow your pampered young master’s path of ‘why don’t they eat meat if they have no rice?'”

“Hehe.” Liu Jun laughed good-naturedly at being teased. “I just said this about you—fundamentally a good person, yet you insist on abusing yourself.”

“At our age, to put it harshly, half our bodies are already buried in yellow earth. Good or bad, we are what we are. I’m too lazy to overthink it. Life isn’t easy—don’t add more troubles.” Qian Hongming didn’t let Liu Jun continue, rushing on: “Do you know how Yang Xun is doing? He’s now a genuine coal boss. At a recent Shanghai gathering of fellow townspeople, I saw him there too—three Hummers in a row, with two people closely following him who looked like bodyguards. I heard he’s been looking for outlets for his expanding capital, considering various investments.”

“I knew already—Yang Li told me.” Liu Jun deliberately gossiped: “Yang Xun finally agreed to sign the divorce papers this year. He reportedly gave his ex-wife in America a substantial sum. The two children belong to Yang Xun but remain in America for their ex-wife to educate and raise them. Yang Li says Yang Xun actually trusts and values his ex-wife greatly. Many things the Yang family siblings don’t know, he tells his ex-wife everything. But when it came to the crunch, he regretted it, too late. His ex-wife, that type of person, couldn’t possibly tolerate a man fooling around outside, especially repeatedly despite her advice. I’ll remind you, too—Jiali can’t possibly not see what her husband is doing outside. Don’t bully her gentleness.”

Qian Hongming remained silent. The two sat quietly in the darkness for a while before Liu Jun turned the car around to head back to the city. Qian Hongming only spoke after a long while: “Liu Jun, I know you’re thinking of me. Even when my sister brought this up, her reason was not to harm girls, not from my perspective. In this world, the only person who speaks so many heartfelt words to me like today is you. My only request is don’t make me take a stance—leave me some room to maneuver. Rest assured, I’ve heard every word you said. Come, let’s shake hands.”

Liu Jun extended his right hand in the darkness. The two brothers gripped tightly, needing no more words.

When Liu Jun returned home, it was nearly ten o’clock. Dandan had just fallen asleep. Liu Jun went in to check, then was kicked out by Cui Bingbing to shower. Liu Jun asked with a sly smile: “In the middle of the night, a woman telling a man to get clean—what’s the meaning?”

“Just wait to get beaten. I’m afraid of dirtying my hands.” Cui Bingbing was genuinely unhappy, puffing her cheeks in sullen anger.

After washing, Liu Jun returned to the living room wearing only pants, obediently lying on the sofa with a playful grin: “Start hitting. My right shoulder is a bit sore today—help me pound it there.”

“You shar-pei dog.” Cui Bingbing couldn’t help laughing, jumping up to hit him. But it was more thunder than rain, with half the punches landing on his right shoulder. Just as they started their playful fighting, Dandan’s crying came from the bedroom. They immediately stopped and rushed in, seeing the little one crying harder and harder, hugging daddy and mumbling: “Mommy don’t hit daddy, mommy don’t hit daddy.” Both parents were torn between laughter and tears. Cui Bingbing had to promise not to hit Daddy, coaxing for a long time before getting Dandan back to sleep. Coming out and closing the door, Cui Bingbing indeed only dared bare her teeth and wave her claws, not daring to make noise or threats.

“Hongming said Yang Xun is holding huge capital, urgently needing places to invest. How did the world suddenly produce so much money? Investors everywhere, even several PEs chasing me for meetings, while I’m preparing to invest in building a new heat treatment branch factory. Who will ultimately use all this investment output? But thinking again, you could say when we were young, having a bicycle was impressive, but now my family has so many cars, and the streets are still always jammed. Foreign media always says China’s expanding oil demand exacerbates oil supply-demand contradictions, pushing up crude oil prices—I think there’s some truth to that. Thinking this way, building my new heat treatment branch factory is very necessary.”

“You discussed this with Hongming? Couldn’t you two talk on the phone?”

“I discussed life philosophy with Hongming, hoping he won’t stray further. He told me he’s planning to apply for Australian investment immigration, saying the environment there is quiet and Jiali would like it.”

“That’s truly being banished to the cold palace. Hey, why is Jiali like dough? I can’t stand her—every time I’m anxious for her, she’s not anxious at all.”

“Couples’ affairs—how can outsiders manage them? Even Dandan mistook us for fighting. I advised Hongming, he listened—that’s enough. Tomorrow morning, I’ll first go to your parents’ place to change the outlet, take Dandan over, then go straight to the airport. Will you see me off?” Liu Jun, hearing that his in-laws had installed a high-power cabinet air conditioner, voluntarily offered to change their outlet, worried that high-power air conditioners draw heavy current and generate heat; unqualified outlet plastic casings would be like releasing poison under high temperatures. His in-laws were naturally delighted, praising their son-in-law’s initiative and thoughtfulness.

“International business… can’t you assign it to specialists?”

“I want to hand it over, too. I’m slowly training people, mainly slowly building up new people’s passports—a few more stamps from somewhat important countries, and probably future visa applications to any embassy will pass. The sales team Luo Qing has built is something. I don’t need to worry—he’s made technical training excellent. Now I feel sorry for the smart people in the sales team. If these people used their good minds for technology, how wonderful that would be.”

“Speaking of this, I must remind you carefully. Though you favor technology in your heart, you can’t show such bias in your words. Every department in a company is important. If you secretly favor some over others in funding allocation, that’s one thing, but don’t show unfairness in speech—it will discourage people. We often say in management that sometimes a supervisor’s verbal praise makes people happier than a bonus.”

“Yes, wife.”

“A friend passed word that the director of the industrial zone where Tengfei is located is finally leaving. The new director is sent down from the city. Tell your dad to find time to visit.”

“One well-fed one leaves, a hungry wolf arrives—what’s to be happy about? We’ll have to make connections all over again. Our profit and tax performance was excellent in the first half of this year, and our research achievements very national-level. I only care about how to use F-1 to exchange for a Science and Technology Progress Award—provincial or national, both work. For the new director, right, my dad can visit. With all the taxes I’ve paid this half year, all the foreign exchange I’ve created, it wasn’t earned for nothing.”

“You consider yourself a taxpayer now? Hehe, since you can create so much profit and tax, then President Liu, shouldn’t you take out more to let the brothers celebrate together for you? Brother, this thinking is wrong. Alright, let’s discuss the next matter…”

With Liu Jun leaving the country again tomorrow morning, they sat down with piles of official and personal matters to discuss. Cui Bingbing also produced a list, asking her husband to bring back exotic items when traveling abroad—she wanted to give them as gifts. Liu Jun couldn’t help thinking of Yu Shanshan he’d seen in the private room, wondering what life would be like if he were with Yu Shanshan. At least such mutual consultation and discussion would be impossible, and as for physical satisfaction… this really couldn’t be thought about much. He just didn’t know why Yu Shanshan was watching him, previously watching him play soccer, now sending good wine. He didn’t know what else of his had fallen under Yu Shanshan’s observation. Among women he’d once had some connection with, Yang Li was much more generous and appropriate. He could now talk well with Yang Li as friends—even Cui Bingbing knew this and didn’t mind. But whenever he saw Yu Shanshan, he wanted to flee.