Hearing this, Liu Jun finally understood completely and grasped what was going on. But the more he understood, the more uneasy he became. He wasn’t clear how many things he didn’t understand still lay ahead, things that his existing knowledge couldn’t help him deduce, things so foreign he couldn’t even formulate questions to ask Qian Hongming for guidance. All he could ask was, “So what else should I pay attention to?”

After Liu Jun asked this question, he didn’t hear an answer for quite a while. Turning his head, he saw Qian Hongming puffing out his cheeks and rolling his eyes. Liu Jun couldn’t help but sigh, “When I first returned to China, I was full of ambition, seeing deficiencies and opportunities everywhere. Only now do I realize the difficulties – and I’m finding it increasingly difficult.”

“That just shows you’re getting started.”

“Right, I used to often think, ‘Why don’t people in China do such simple things?’ Now I know the fool was me for thinking that way – no one is stupid.”

“Don’t overcorrect. You’ve been abroad and deeply experienced another world. If someday you can master the rules of both sides and integrate them, none of us will match you. Sigh, what did Yang Li do to you yesterday? Give me the details.”

“She was drunk and very enthusiastic – unexpected.” Liu Jun couldn’t help but whistle. “She has a great figure, I almost committed a crime.”

“From the way she looked today, she’d welcome you committing a crime.”

“But I couldn’t take advantage of her while she was drunk yesterday. You seem particularly interested in Miss Yang? Something suspicious?”

“No, I’m just curious about your attitude. Supposedly, going abroad shouldn’t have made you more open-minded? During those business trips when you were negotiating deals, didn’t you visit dance halls?”

“Yes, of course I did. They even called girls over – my god, so brazenly in public places, I was amazed. China is the open one. You… these days, when Jiali isn’t convenient, have you been to those kinds of places?”

Qian Hongming jumped up in shock, “Don’t talk nonsense.”

Liu Jun laughed heartily, “Then why are you interrogating me? I’m the one with justification here. Should I drop you off at home or somewhere else?”

“No need, I’m meeting someone for coffee and dinner. Want to join us for entertainment later?”

“You don’t need to call me. Today I need to digest all this information – at least memorize it backwards and forwards, plus make plans. Hongming, you have a big problem – you seem to spend relatively little time at home.”

“No, I’m very family-oriented.” Qian Hongming flatly denied this, very firmly. “But work requires it – I have to sacrifice some personal life.”

Liu Jun disagreed, but he knew Jiali thought the same way, and the university classmates he’d encountered also said it was natural for men to have evening social obligations. Liu Jun was conflicted – to obtain those “buts” behind the regulations, would he also have to attend social functions? But if so, what time would he have for studying, improving himself, and enjoying personal life? Also, should he be pursuing those “buts”? He always felt those “buts” were full of gray areas, yet they were so tempting, like the apple in the Garden of Eden.

Liu Jun didn’t go home either – he went to the welfare institute. Just as he reached the entrance, he received a call from Yu Shanshan. It turned out Yu Shanshan had entered the import-export company, and after a few days of work, her supervisor found her capable and gave her a mobile phone. Yu Shanshan took advantage of the weekend to quickly buy a phone, get connected to the network, and tell everyone. Liu Jun suddenly very much wanted to invite Yu Shanshan to dinner, but she sounded rushed on the other end, as if countless things were chasing her, so he had to abandon the idea. He knew he shouldn’t be contacting Yu Shanshan at this time – if word reached Yang Xun’s ears and Yang Xun reasonably made some connections, a young girl like Yu Shanshan would suffer. But he told himself he owed Yu Shanshan a dinner.

The welfare institute didn’t have much that needed repair – the facilities were all very new, and even the washing machines were brand names. Learning that Liu Jun was educated, the aunt arranged for him to help several older children in elementary school with their homework. This was work Liu Jun could handle with ease. He stayed until dinnertime before leaving. This time he didn’t see that Porsche lady, but learned from the children that the welfare institute’s new building was donated by Porsche lady Ms. Liang and her husband, Director Song of Donghai Head Factory. The welfare institute’s equipment was also updated by them, and they also paid the medical expenses for many of the little girls. Liu Jun found this familiar, amused by the complex gossip from the children’s innocent mouths. Only when driving home did he remember that when he first returned, Qian Hongming had mentioned this when hosting at Haoyuan. Oh, wasn’t that Yang Xun’s legendary protective umbrella? Liu Jun discovered he had inadvertently entered a spider’s web.

But the two hours of volunteer work at the welfare institute made Liu Jun surprisingly calm. He didn’t know why, only that he would come back again, though he would avoid Ms. Liang. People in that circle were better left alone.

Yang Xun and his company’s export department employees couldn’t get visas to the two countries that quickly, making him pace anxiously. He could only call his brother Yang Lian in America to ask him to visit the companies in those two countries to inquire about the real reasons for the payment refusal – phone calls were always inadequate for such distant matters.

Yang Lian finally managed to take leave and got useful information from the first company he visited – they said Shi Yiji’s shipment infringed on patents, and they’d received a lawyer’s warning letter. Yang Lian, having been abroad for a long time, found this reason perfectly valid, but when he called Yang Xun with the reason, Yang Xun exploded. This happened to be during a family meeting, with second brother Yang Su and little sister Yang Li both in Yang Xun’s office discussing matters. Yang Xun slammed down the phone and said, “It must be Liu Jun’s doing. That damn kid deliberately screwed me over – too vicious.” Yang Xun repeated Yang Lian’s findings to his siblings.

Yang Li watched her eldest brother rage and felt her heart inexplicably tighten. Almost as if possessed, she interrupted her brother and said loudly, “Big brother, I know what you’re going to do next. But I’m telling you, those people who studied abroad have a clique, and Liu Jun is now part of it, very close to Liang Sishen.”

Yang Xun’s fury froze in mid-air, his face twisted and strange. “How do you know?”

“I live next door to Liu Jun,” Yang Li answered calmly. “Big brother, Liang Sishen would not approve of your patent infringement – you know that in your heart.”

“The kid has climbed up to Liang Sishen?”

“After suffering a loss from you once, wouldn’t he grow some brains? He’s a local, with his father and Qian Hongming as two advisors – he’s not some foreign businessman who fell from the sky.”

Yang Xun stared at his sister with murderous intent, but Yang Li was the only one in their family who wasn’t afraid of him. Yet Yang Xun believed Yang Li’s words, not for any other reason, but because he knew Liang Sishen deeply. He’d long noticed that Liu Jun had a certain quality very similar to Liang Sishen when she first came to China: that kind of natural nonchalant “foolishness” that children from well-off families are born with.

“We should investigate the internal traitor – who told Liu Jun about the foreign merchant information and our delivery and shipping times,” Yang Xun’s eldest brother, Yang Su, reminded his furious brother.

“No need to investigate – everyone is suspicious, everyone is innocent,” Yang Xun quickly calmed down, his face iron-gray. “We took no precautions – every one of the thousands of mouths at the branch factory could have leaked it. Including those in the import-export department. If we investigated seriously, I think the factory would be in chaos for days. Let’s end this matter here – don’t tell anyone it’s because of patents, we must unify our story that it’s a foreign merchant’s breach of faith. Otherwise, where would I put my face? Fourth, you notify the office to draft punishment for the import-export department personnel involved.”

Yang Li agreed, but asked uneasily, “What about Liu Jun?”

Yang Xun didn’t answer, but having to swallow such a big loss, especially one caused by a seemingly naive scholar’s small scheme, made Yang Xun’s chest tight with frustration. He couldn’t continue the meeting and sent his siblings away to sulk alone in his office. But he obviously couldn’t repeat his old tricks to vent his anger – according to Yang Li, Liu Jun had intentionally climbed up to Liang Sishen. Any move on his part would surely send Liu Jun running to Liang Sishen for help. But how could Yang Xun swallow this anger? In all his years in business, he’d taken countless falls, but all at the hands of important people. Today was the first time he’d fallen into a small player’s hands, and with such massive losses. No matter what, even with Liang Sishen blocking him, he had to vent this anger.

After Liu Jun’s industrial zone negotiations, he prepared a rough analysis report and discussed with his father whether they should settle in that industrial zone. Liu Shitang certainly wouldn’t just believe the investment official’s words – he had friends contact other friends to find factory owners who’d entered the industrial zone before them. After some communication, he approved his son’s choice. So Liu Jun contacted the investment official on Tuesday to come handle the procedures.

The investment official was very responsible and thorough, personally guiding Liu Jun through submitting approval reports. They even had ready-made templates for wholly-owned enterprise bylaws, and advised Liu Jun to spend twenty thousand Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong to register a company in some island nation, then use the island nation company’s materials to register here. Foreign investment approval was relatively complicated, beyond what the county where the industrial zone was located could handle, but while Liu Jun couldn’t find his way around, the investment official knew all the ins and outs. While others followed regulations in the main hall, properly waiting for hall staff to send materials for approval signatures, the investment official could skillfully find his way to the officials’ offices, getting there first while others were still queuing. It was precisely because the investment official handled staged capital verification for Liu Jun that his foreign currency difficulties were finally resolved.

Liu Jun felt bad about this, but the investment official said this was the treatment foreign investment deserved. Only later did Liu Jun learn that investment officials who successfully attracted foreign merchants would receive higher percentage commission rewards. At the time, Liu Jun felt very guilty toward the investment official who was running around for him and insisted on treating him to lunch, but the official instead took him to eat for free at the government cafeteria. This deeply moved Liu Jun. A few days later, when everything was completed, he again willingly offered to treat them, and the investment official finally agreed. Liu Jun treated several people from the investment office to a good meal, finally repaying this favor. Everyone at the dinner table patted their chests and guaranteed that if Liu Jun encountered any problems in the industrial zone in the future, he could come to them.

With one major matter completed, Liu Jun returned home very happily. He even felt his father sometimes worried too much – doing business in China wasn’t too difficult. As long as all steps were followed, most government people were quite kind. He entered his home, turned on the CD player, and was just preparing to take off his hypocritical suit when Yang Li called asking if he was home – she wanted to come over to talk. Liu Jun wanted to be gracious and go over himself, but when he opened his door, Yang Li was already anxiously waiting at his doorstep. This was their first meeting since that drunken incident, both feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Liu Jun invited Yang Li in, not knowing what this girl wanted with him. But Yang Li spoke first: “Ah, so you have a piano at home.”

“Yes, the piano I’ve used since childhood. Please sit inside. What would you like to drink?”

“No thanks, I just want to briefly discuss something with you.” But Yang Li reached out and closed the front door, making Liu Jun nervous. “The refusal to accept our company’s products was actually because two foreign trade companies received your lawyer’s letter – my big brother already knows. I came to give you a heads up.”

Liu Jun hadn’t expected Yang Li to be so direct. He was startled and didn’t react immediately, just looking at Yang Li. Yang Li also looked at Liu Jun – today’s professionally dressed Liu Jun was quite handsome and pleasing to look at. “My big brother is very angry, You need to be careful. That’s all, good night.”

“Please wait, Miss Yang.” Liu Jun never would have expected Yang Li to come warn him. “Please sit inside for a while, my home is quite simple, please don’t mind.” As Liu Jun spoke, he reached out to stop Yang Li from opening the door, gently guiding her to sit on the sofa. Yang Li’s whole body trembled slightly, quickly stepping back several steps and sitting properly on the sofa with an unnatural expression. Liu Jun was stunned again and couldn’t help but smile. “Coffee or alcohol?”

“Plain water, thank you.”

Liu Jun simply brought the coffee pot and hand-crank grinder to the living room. “Try my Ethiopian coffee beans I just bought from Hong Kong – they have a rich cocoa flavor, you’ll definitely like them. I went to Hong Kong to register a company, to establish a wholly-owned enterprise in China under a foreign company name. The procedures have just finished.”

“You’re not going back to Germany? Don’t you have a girlfriend waiting in Germany?”

Liu Jun shrugged, “Not going back, China is good too.” He sat at the table and began grinding beans. “Miss Yang, thank you for coming to warn me. Your big brother is very powerful, I’ve already suffered at his hands, but I still won’t allow patent infringement.”

“But couldn’t you have been gentler, sending the lawyer’s letter to the foreign party before shipping? Now you’ve caused my big brother such huge losses – do you think he’ll let it go? You were too rash, actually taking action against my big brother without any protective measures.”

“Can I explain? Your big brother went too far. Hongming and my father both think like you do – you all care about me, thank you.”

Yang Li was speechless, staring blankly at Liu Jun sitting sideways at the table with his legs crossed, leisurely turning the grinder handle. Liu Jun’s posture was very handsome. “It seems I was overthinking – you appear to have everything under control.”

“You weren’t overthinking. But I’m prepared to bear the consequences of my actions. I’ve been waiting for your big brother to get angry after learning the reasons – I’ve been waiting for many days.”

“You’re thinking too simply.” Yang Li wanted to say more but stopped, watching Liu Jun finish grinding and pour the beans into the pot. What more could she say? The other side was her big brother – she couldn’t just watch him suffer either.

Liu Jun said seriously, “I’m not thinking simply. But a scholar can be killed but not humiliated – I’d rather bear the worst consequences than not send that lawyer’s letter. Besides, my actions were legal.”

Yang Li could only sigh. She couldn’t persuade her big brother or the person in front of her – she could only watch helplessly as the two fought.

Liu Jun wasn’t a fool – he’d long understood Yang Li’s feelings. But he could only play dumb, explaining his coffee to Yang Li. Yang Li listened absentmindedly, and after the coffee was ready, she drank a few sips, leaving rose-colored lipstick marks on the cup rim, then said goodbye. Liu Jun walked her to the door. Yang Li wanted to say something but hesitated, pacing back and forth several times before finally sighing and speaking: “If anyone from Shi Yiji asks, just say you know Liang Sishen – that’s Director Song’s wife from Donghai Head Company.”

After Yang Li left, Liu Jun stood at the door, bewildered. Weren’t they on the same side?

At this time, Engineer Shao from the Municipal Industrial Architecture Design Institute, called Liu Jun, asked him to go to a sauna center, saying two construction company managers hoped to meet Liu Jun gradually. It was already quite late, and Liu Jun was too lazy to go out, knowing Engineer Shao wanted to broker connections for his new factory construction. Unexpectedly, Engineer Shao was already waiting downstairs with the two construction company managers. Unable to refuse such enthusiasm, and getting Engineer Shao’s guarantee to produce blueprints a week early, Liu Jun reluctantly went out, but refused to go to the sauna center – they went to karaoke instead.

Liu Jun thought he could sit briefly and then leave. He didn’t expect to see Qian Hongming in a private room. He first heard Qian Hongming’s singing voice in the corridor, but was enthusiastically half-embraced by the mama-san into their private room. He only remembered the room number of Qian Hongming’s room. After entering, the construction contractors wanted to call the girls, but Liu Jun refused, so the others didn’t dare call any either. Everyone discussed Liu Jun’s project amid the thunderous music inside and out. Liu Jun knew nothing about construction and had no clue about domestic construction company qualifications – there was nothing to discuss. He told everyone he’d hired a classmate as a consultant and could arrange a time for the classmate to discuss things with the blueprints. The two contractors kept flattering Liu Jun, but he had nothing to discuss with them. After several perfunctory exchanges, he came out to find Qian Hongming.

Pushing open the door to Qian Hongming’s private room, Liu Jun was shocked. Inside was a group of men about his age and social level, along with a group of scantily clad, seductive women. Indeed, there was Qian Hongming, but Qian Hongming hadn’t seen him because Qian Hongming was lying back against a seductive woman’s thighs. This was Liu Jun’s first time seeing such a dissolute Qian Hongming. After a moment of shock, he immediately turned and left, apologizing to the man beside him, saying he’d entered the wrong room.