“I saw your car in the parking lot. Few people spend their own money to buy that kind of car—yours stands out wherever you park it.”
“Only those in the know give it a second glance.” Regarding Yang Xun, Liu Jun was deeply wounded and didn’t want to say much. But seeing Yang Xun’s sharp eyes darting between Jia Li and Xiao Suihua, he had to add an explanation. He didn’t care about himself, but he was afraid that the pure Jia Li and Xiao Suihua would be looked down upon by someone like Yang Xun. “The baby is the precious daughter of my good friend Qian Hongming, born in the same year as your son, I believe.”
“The little girl is really beautiful. Speaking of which, I haven’t seen my son for a long time. Sigh, I’ve been so busy I can’t spare the time, and my visa is about to expire. Fortunately, my wife understands me. Men, hehe, when work is busy, what can you do? Have you seen the newly revised planning for the science and technology park?”
“No. Since Mr. Yang likes that piece, I won’t get involved.”
“Business is business. Since that land’s original planning was good, I won’t be polite with you. But the new revised planning is quite rogue, seeing that the land’s grade increases, the management committee carved out a large chunk for riverside greenery and non-main roads from the original plot, but they’re still basically selling the remaining plot at the original price. Isn’t this extortion? I plan to withdraw and remind you that if you’re still interested, hurry up and pay to nail it down—don’t wait for them to change their minds again.”
“So you’re saying the park’s public area environment will improve greatly?”
“That’s right, but the wool comes from the sheep’s back. When you need to pay the full price for the environment, the cost-benefit ratio won’t be right. I originally wanted my little sister to notify you tomorrow, but since I’ve run into you, I’ll tell you directly. You’re busy, and I have things to do over there.”
Liu Jun watched Yang Xun hurry away in amazement, as if Yang Xun had come only to say that one thing. Thinking about how he had called the management committee this afternoon when he had nothing to do, and they said the planning hadn’t come down yet—but look, Yang Xun already knew about it. Moreover, Liu Jun believed Yang Xun’s words were true; what was false was the management committee saying the planning hadn’t been approved yet. This was Yang Xun’s influence, Yang Xun’s connections. The park’s land was in high demand—if not for that plot facing the small temple, there originally shouldn’t have been any share for Liu Jun to get involved. So, presumably, after the small temple’s relocation, Yang Xun wasn’t the only one eyeing that land. Whoever found out first about the planning approval, whoever acted first, whoever grabbed it first. Therefore, Yang Xun’s reminder this time could be considered a favor. But Liu Jun wasn’t clear why Yang Xun needed to help him.
Before Liu Jun could figure it out, Jia Li beside him asked: “Liu Jun, are all businessmen so busy they can’t attend to their families?”
Liu Jun was startled and quickly said: “Competition in the domestic business world is fierce, and what we’re competing on are all extracurricular matters, which can only occupy time outside the eight working hours.”
“But why is it that when I ask for your help, you always respond immediately? Hongming also said your factory has more complicated daily affairs.”
“My family situation is special—we’re a father-son team going into battle. If you called my dad, there’s a ninety percent chance you wouldn’t find him because he’s out on business trips and social functions for me. Many of my friends are similar to Hongming—everyone feels guilty when talking about it and can only compensate family members with material things.”
Jia Li’s clear eyes focused intently on Liu Jun, making his gaze dodge left and right. He wasn’t someone who liked to lie, and moreover, he was facing his good friend Jia Li. Jia Li sighed softly: “It still depends on what position something holds in a person’s heart.”
“Don’t overthink this. You’re sick today, so your thoughts don’t count—don’t get caught in a dead end.” Just then, Liu Jun’s phone rang, providing him an escape. But tonight, troubles came one after another—it truly rained when it poured. The night shift personnel informed him that a home textile company across the street from Tengfei had caught fire. The flames were fierce and threatening to leap across the narrow non-main road toward Tengfei with the wind. Liu Jun immediately broke out in a sweat. But at this moment, he was the backbone for Jia Li and her daughter—how could he leave? Anxious, he could only command over the phone for everyone to systematically stop workshop operations until shutting off the production power switches, especially paying attention to electrical safety. He sent non-workshop personnel to release the big dogs and close the company gates to guard the company against potential looters taking advantage of the fire. At the same time, security should immediately implement Fire Prevention Plan No. 3, first spraying the dense roadside trees on both sides wet.
“Liu Jun, you should hurry and get things done. I can manage alone here. After one injection, I’ve already recovered, and there are taxis right outside the hospital entrance—it’s very convenient to catch one, not like coming from home where you have to walk a long way.” While Liu Jun was urgently giving orders over the phone, Jia Li unusually interrupted him.
Liu Jun just shook his head, still calmly and quietly remote-controlling the company’s fire prevention work. Jia Li stopped talking, watching Xiao Suihua still sleeping quietly and undisturbed in Liu Jun’s arms, her heart thoughtful. Fire and water show no mercy—wasn’t this the best reason to immediately throw himself into work? So it could be seen that the key was still where a person’s heart was truly placed. Jia Li was even more confused about her illness.
Liu Jun listened to the workshop, systematically reporting on-site operations. Only after operations were complete and all machines stopped did he put down his phone with a heart full of anxiety, still calmly telling Jia Li: “Don’t worry. The characteristic of factories is constant daily situations. We’ve long been trained to have complete emergency response plans. If this had happened two years ago, I really would have been in a panic.”
Jia Li lowered her head and squeezed out a smile, watching the nurse remove her IV needle. But Liu Jun understood in his heart that Jia Li wasn’t pursuing the topic from before the phone call, not because her questions had been resolved, but because Jia Li was being considerate of him. Sigh, such a good woman, yet Qian Hongming disregarded Jia Li’s kindness. But Liu Jun’s heart was truly on fire at this moment—fire-induced urgency. He had no time to consider Yang Xun’s sudden kindness, nor to think about how to further resolve the depression in Jia Li’s heart. But unfortunately, little Xiao Suihua had fine blood vessels as a child, so one bottle of IV fluid could only drip in slowly. Liu Jun could only suppress his anxiety, constantly calling to inquire about progress, and couldn’t alarm the sick mother and daughter too much. Of course, he could ask friends to help, but the IV was already more than half done—there was no rush for this moment.
After sending Jia Li and her daughter home and having the nanny come downstairs to receive them, Liu Jun didn’t have time to watch them enter the house this time and hurried away.
Rushing to the industrial zone, the whole way was full of noisy people, plus police cars and fire trucks. Liu Jun had to park his car at the intersection and run in. The fire was still burning fiercely, but he could see clearly that the fire point was at some distance from Tengfei. At this time, the street lights were all out, so he couldn’t see clearly what condition Tengfei was in. Only after asking company staff did he learn that the fire on the side near Tengfei had been extinguished first by fire trucks and Tengfei’s deployed firefighting water. Tengfei had escaped danger, and only then did Liu Jun breathe a sigh of relief and have the leisure to mind the neighboring company’s business. Sure enough, he saw the neighboring company’s boss crying heartbreakingly, very tragically. Liu Jun saw several industrial zone bosses nearby and walked over to join them.
Everyone was talking at once, all speculating that the home textile company boss had offended local thugs and been sabotaged. They had already heard the day before yesterday that thugs and hooligans were constantly misusing the home textile company’s public bathroom hot water to bathe and wash clothes. When the boss showed the slightest non-compliance, they would beat him up. This escalated to eating in the cafeteria without paying. Finally, it developed into helping the home textile company’s injured workers extort the boss for commission. Security didn’t dare to get tough, otherwise they’d get beaten up when caught alone. This kind of home textile company had high personnel turnover and many people, with work-related accidents constantly occurring. The thugs took advantage of the situation, giving the boss tremendous headaches. He had consulted left and right neighbors about how to repel enemies, but industrial zone enterprises either suffered deeply from the same problem or, like Liu Jun’s company, had clear management from the start that was impenetrable. It was said that the home textile boss had recently established new systems, signing high-priced security contracts with a security company, changing from his previous submissive style. So everyone suspected that the gang of thugs had become desperate and lashed out. Arson—this most primitive, simplest method was most lethal for textile enterprises, something any random person could think of.
Liu Jun felt the sorrow of the rabbit dying while the fox grieves—every house installed anti-theft doors and windows, so who was to blame? Every house was forced into this by being unable to get help from heaven or earth.
After the great fire, when dawn came, there was a scene of broken walls and ruins. The boss, a grown man, couldn’t help crying intermittently—a lifetime’s hard work was finished, and he still had to pay the fire truck fees. Upon detailed inquiry, it turned out that competition was too intense and profits were thin—this company hadn’t yet insured the factory buildings, equipment, and finished products. Everyone said behind his back that he was truly finished. Selling the burned land, first repaying the bank, then paying wages to dismiss employees—the boss might be left with nothing. At his age, where would he find the energy and fighting spirit to make a comeback? Instead, those few thugs and hooligans had probably already jumped on trains and fled to their hometowns—where could they be found? Even if found, there would be no evidence. However, other companies in the industrial zone were quite relieved—the thugs had recently disappeared.
This night was a false alarm for Liu Jun. Though he had almost no sleep all night, he didn’t dare slack off. Weighing Yang Xun’s notification, he took his check straight to the science and technology park management committee, asked Shen Huadong’s father to put in a word, smiled obsequiously and gave gifts, and tried every possible method to finally pry open the golden mouths of relevant personnel. Liu Jun finally deposited his down payment check with an extra amount. Sure enough, the planning had just been revised, the documents had just been stamped the day before yesterday—still hot from the press—and even the management committee only had a few senior executives who knew about this matter. After a busy day, Liu Jun managed to secure this land plot, and he treated everyone to a good meal. During the meal, he learned how lucky he was to beat all competitors and take first place.
Liu Jun suddenly didn’t know how to understand this thing Yang Xun had done, and Yang Xun as a person. He could only extract one phrase from Yang Xun’s words that night: “Business is business.” Liu Jun vaguely felt in his heart that Yang Xun’s words and actions might be related to this phrase. Regardless, this time, Yang Xun had done him an enormous favor. Liu Jun was momentarily confused.
After eating and singing karaoke, in the early winter night, the main streets were quite desolate. Liu Jun drove quietly alone, not even turning on the stereo, wanting this bit of rare tranquility. But Liu Jun still had no time to deal with Qian Hongming’s family affairs. He was thinking about a topic that officials had occasionally mentioned when eating with management committee officials—that the environmental protection trend seemed to be getting tighter and tighter, so this time, the science and technology park had paid special attention to avoid attracting enterprises that would impact the environment too much. Liu Jun thought it over carefully. The industrial zone where he was currently located, being far from the city, had environmental protection issues that were talked about every year but never practiced. This year was near its end, so there probably wouldn’t be any major actions. Moreover, his Tengfei wasn’t afraid of environmental inspections—in this regard, he had always been self-disciplined.