Li Feng Mei’s eyes were swollen.
She stayed in her room applying a towel compress for quite a while, only willing to come out when she felt presentable enough to be seen. Though everyone could tell she had been crying, they tactfully chose not to mention it.
Li Feng Mei felt there was no point in hiding anymore and asked Xiao Lan: “Does everyone know about your uncle’s situation?”
No wonder Xiao Lan suddenly said she wanted to travel to Peng Cheng. If it was just for tourism, why not choose winter or summer break instead of a weekend? So it was because she knew Liu Yong had a situation in Peng Cheng! Li Feng Mei now felt everyone must have known and kept it from her alone.
Encountering such a situation, others were probably laughing at her behind her back.
“Isn’t it just that someone was trying to lead my uncle astray? But he hasn’t done anything wrong. Under your guidance and criticism, he doesn’t even dare to work with that Hong Kong businessman who always tries to get him to drink anymore. Can’t you let this one incident go?”
Li Feng Mei patted Xiao Lan’s arm, “Don’t be silly, do you need to teach me about these things? If I make a scene with your uncle, wouldn’t that just make that vixen seem more gentle in comparison?”
Xiao Lan gave a thumbs up, acknowledging that the older generation was indeed more experienced.
The confrontation was over, and Liu Yong was willing to tell her everything. Nothing had happened – Ge Jian or Li Dong Liang had accompanied him every time, so how could anything happen when Liu Yong was never alone? Li Feng Mei was nearly 40 years old, and much more level-headed than those young girls who would flare up at the slightest provocation.
She had previously suspected Liu Yong might have someone here and had worried about it for a long time. When she discovered it wasn’t just her wild speculation, that there really were other women throwing themselves at Liu Yong, Li Feng Mei immediately entered battle mode.
Simply arguing wouldn’t solve the problem and would only push Liu Yong toward others. Li Feng Mei believed in having proper tactics and strategy. At least Liu Yong was still willing to tell her things voluntarily – if he stopped sharing with her in the future, the situation would become much more serious.
When Li Feng Mei shared her thoughts, Xiao Lan felt her aunt possessed great wisdom about life.
This had nothing to do with education level. Education might help make a confused person less confused, but Li Feng Mei was never confused to begin with. She had the resolve to leave her ex-husband over ten years ago, and she knew exactly what kind of person Liu Yong was.
Li Feng Mei was more worried about whether losing those tens of thousands of yuan would affect Liu Yong’s business.
Xiao Lan didn’t give a casual response but thought carefully before answering: “If it’s just tens of thousands, uncle’s business can still barely manage to get by. If we had discovered this later, after most of the money had been invested, it would have been much harder to withdraw.”
Li Feng Mei breathed a sigh of relief.
They couldn’t stay in Peng Cheng much longer – their flight was in the afternoon.
Currently, there are only one or two flights a day between major cities. Xiao Lan also needed to return to Beijing as she had classes Monday morning. At noon, Tang Hong En said he wanted to treat Xiao Lan to lunch. By 11 o’clock, Liu Yong still hadn’t returned from picking up materials at the Xiang Mi Hu district with his people, which made Xiao Lan worried.
When she heard Mayor Tang was hosting the meal, Li Feng Mei refused to go.
Only Xiao Lan and Liu Fen were familiar with Mayor Tang – how could she be so tactless as to impose herself at this meal?
Xiao Lan couldn’t persuade her otherwise. Pan San Ge said he would help see things through to the end and went along. With Li Dong Liang and Ge Jian there too, both capable fighters, Xiao Lan wasn’t too worried about Liu Yong’s safety even if there was a conflict with Liu Tian Quan’s side.
However, they had left early in the morning and still hadn’t returned by noon – it seemed Liu Tian Quan’s side wasn’t willing to let the matter rest. Offending this person might cost more than just tens of thousands – Liu Tian Quan was after all a notable construction boss in Peng Cheng. If he created trouble for Yuan Hui in the future, it would be quite troublesome to deal with.
Still, that was better than getting mixed up with Liu Tian Quan.
If Liu Tian Quan conducted business properly, there would be no problem with everyone making money together. But this person wasn’t honest in his mainland business dealings behind the scenes – Xiao Lan would have to be crazy to stay close to him.
Tang Hong En had said lunch would be at 12:30, but it was already 1 PM when he appeared.
The dining location was familiar to both Xiao Lan and Liu Fen – a private room at the municipal government guesthouse. Tang Hong En needed to take care of his stomach recently and rarely ate at the unit cafeteria, usually having meals specially prepared at the guesthouse.
“I got held up in a meeting and was delayed a bit. Have you two been waiting long?”
When Tang Hong En finally arrived, Xiao Lan and Liu Fen had already drunk quite a bit of tea. The mother and daughter had been discussing Liu Yong’s situation and hadn’t noticed the time passing.
“Uncle Tang, we haven’t been here long… but it hasn’t been that long since your surgery, and your meal times are irregular again?”
Tang Hong En nodded, “You sound just like Secretary Peng – so young but already nagging.”
Xiao Lan immediately fell silent.
She was only 19 this year and didn’t want to be called nagging.
“Mr. Tang.”
Liu Fen remained quite formal, but Tang Hong En was friendly towards her: “It’s nothing, I just heard you were in Peng Cheng and wanted to treat you to a meal. Xiao Lan, why didn’t your uncle and the others come?”
Xiao Lan didn’t hide anything, “My uncle went to Xiang Mi Hu to get materials today. He and Liu Tian Quan have completely fallen out. This is better – without Liu Tian Quan’s ‘support,’ Yuan Hui’s development in Peng Cheng might be slower, but at least we won’t have to constantly worry.”
For a boss worth tens of millions, even the smallest jobs they let slip through would be enough to keep a small company like Yuan Hui busy for a year.
Xiao Lan wasn’t too concerned – opportunities were everywhere in Peng Cheng. They could survive without Liu Tian Quan. Yuan Hui had completed the municipal government guesthouse renovation, which gave them a reputation. Things would improve after another two years of development.
Peng Cheng’s development would only get better – Xiao Lan understood this better than anyone, so there was no need to rush.
Tang Hong En didn’t know about the clear future development trends that Xiao Lan foresaw, but he found her very open-minded. In business, meeting influential people who could help could shorten the process of accumulating wealth. It was admirable that Liu Yong could think clearly and was willing to cut ties with Liu Tian Quan.
“Long-term stability is better than temporary aggressiveness.”
While tens of thousands wasn’t a large sum for Liu Tian Quan, it was not a small amount for Liu Yong. However, Tang Hong En couldn’t directly intervene to make Liu Tian Quan return the money – administrative interference in commercial matters would have very negative effects. But there were other ways.
It was enough that Xiao Lan had brought this matter to Tang Hong En’s attention. She was returning to Beijing in the afternoon, so the matter definitely couldn’t be resolved today.
A simple word from Tang Hong En to his secretary would be more effective than Xiao Lan and Liu Yong running themselves ragged.
Tang Hong En encouraged Xiao Lan and Liu Fen to eat without holding back.
The guesthouse chefs were already very skilled, and when cooking for Mayor Tang, they put in even more effort. The ingredients didn’t need to be precious or rare – Cantonese cuisine emphasized the original flavors, and Xiao Lan quite enjoyed this meal.
However, when the mother and daughter returned to the building materials store, Liu Yong’s group still hadn’t returned.
With only a few hours until their flight, Xiao Lan was worried and asked Kang Wei to drive over and check on them.