Electronic Nezha

Chapter 88 Looking forward
Ever since Li Ping appeared, Chen Feng's eyes kept glancing at her. He was completely distracted during the meal. I noticed it, and others noticed it too. When he said, "I don't believe Miss Li is single," the bosses all understood the implication and waited with smiles to see what would happen next.

Chen Yong grabbed a fork and threw it in front of Chen Feng, saying, "What does it matter to you whether Miss Li is single or not? Are you going to introduce her to a boyfriend?" This was both a joke and a reminder. Everyone could see that Chen Feng wanted to pick up girls, and Chen Yong was afraid that things would get messy in this situation.

Li Ping said, "I'm not single."

Old Wang and I almost fell off the table. We've known her for so many years and we've never seen her have any intimate contact with any man. Putting aside whether it's necessary to hide it from us, this kind of thing can't be hidden. She spends seven or eight hours a day at the market. If she had someone else outside, she couldn't just not make a single phone call, could she?

Chen Feng chuckled awkwardly and said, "I knew it."

Li Ping said calmly, "I've been divorced."

Chen Feng said, "So, you and your ex have rekindled your romance?"

Li Ping said, "No, that's not it."

Old Wang said, "Her ex was a beast—" He then recounted Li Haohan's glorious deeds, including how he hooked up with the sister of their company's boss, and how he took away various remote controls and changed the door locks in order to force Li Ping to divorce him.

At first, some people laughed, but as they listened, everyone fell silent.

Chen Feng angrily said, "That kind of person deserves to die." He calmed himself down and said, "That's not our topic. So, Miss Li, do you have a suitable boyfriend now?"

Li Ping shook her head.

"Is that...your girlfriend?"

Li Ping put down her knife and fork and calmly said, "Mr. Chen is joking. What I mean is that I'm divorced and had a terrible marriage. I don't want to categorize my current situation as the lighthearted word 'single.' I haven't figured out how to deal with relationship issues yet, so if any of you bosses really want to introduce me to a man... or as you would call him, boyfriend, I can only say thank you, but please don't bother."

All eyes turned to Chen Feng again. Li Ping's words were very frank, and everyone knew who she was talking about. She was practically telling Chen Feng: This girl doesn't want to be pursued by anyone, so don't waste your feelings!
Chen Feng wasn't angered by the offense; instead, his eyes were full of admiration. He suddenly stood up and clapped vigorously at Li Ping: "Miss Li, you're so straightforward! You're amazing!"

I thought to myself, "So you like to hear the truth. I should have said that taking big steps could easily lead to injury."

Chen Feng's brother-in-law pressed him down into a seat and said, "You've had too much to drink, sit down."

After a brief emotional outburst, Chen Feng sat down and became completely dejected. He neither drank nor spoke, only looking down at the ground.

Chen Yong said, "It's getting late, Director Xu and the others have to go to work tomorrow—"

Director Xu chimed in, "That's not a problem. The main issue is that you all have a long day ahead of you, Mr. Chen, so please get some rest." It turned out that the bosses were all leaving by plane the next day.

I got up to see him off, and Chen Yong put his hand on my shoulder and said, "With Mr. Liu's vision, have you ever thought about investing?"

"I have no money," I said. Don't you like to speak your mind?

Chen Yong laughed and said, "You can ask me for any good ideas you have—we came here and ruined your local spice market, and we feel really bad about it. That place is a prime location, but it's not like you can just open anything there and expect to make money." True to his business sense, he hit the nail on the head. First of all, opening a restaurant there wouldn't work. Even though the customer flow is guaranteed, parking would be difficult, and the customers would mostly be vendors and those running their own food businesses. Turning it into a physical mobile phone or computer store wouldn't work either. Can you imagine the expressions on people's faces when they say they want to buy a phone and go to a cold storage facility?
Seeing that I was a little hesitant, Chen Yong patted me again and said, "I'm not asking you to think about it now. We've taken a liking to that piece of land, and I've taken a liking to you too. If you have any ideas, feel free to contact me anytime. As long as I think it's worthwhile, money is a small matter. Consider it repaying a favor to you."

People from Wenzhou are really something else. They only repay favors after they see a potential opportunity. But isn't repaying a favor only considered a favor if you still invest money even if you think there's no future in it...?

Chen Yong gave me a business card. Director Xu, who had overheard our conversation, visibly brightened up again! We saw the group of southern business owners out the door, and Chen Yong waved to me, saying, "After we leave, you can go back and catch up with your ex's current girlfriend."

Chen Feng gave Li Ping a deep look but didn't say anything. He wasn't actually that much, he just looked a bit dejected.

My impression of these southerners was not bad. They were very pragmatic and low-key. They were almost scammed mainly because they were eager to take the lead in the market. However, this was not the first time they had been scammed, and they didn't care too much. They would mark where they fell and make sure they didn't make the same mistake again. As Chen Yong said in a casual conversation, how many times can such an ingenious scam happen in an era?

It's not actually that ingenious, is it?

Chen Yong and his colleagues never mentioned the video that Liu Zhenhua sent them.

After the three of us returned to the table, Lao Wang asked the waiter for a few bags and started packing. Many things on the table hadn't been touched. Lao Wang doesn't cook, so this would be enough for him for several days. Li Ping rolled up her sleeves to help him.

Qiao Yan was waiting for me at the door of the booth. He looked much more haggard than I had seen him in the past few days. Qiao Yan is the kind of man who is gentle and refined with a natural smile, making it easy for people to feel close to him. Now he looks like all the guests didn't pay after they finished their meals.

As soon as she saw me, Qiao Yan sighed and said, "You were right. When I took Yu Chen to the hospital, the doctor said her condition was very serious."

"how is it now?"

"We only got the medicine. The doctor recommended hospitalization, but Yu Chen was very resistant. So my mom, dad, and I took turns staying with her, and we couldn't leave her alone 24 hours a day."

"Why did this happen? Did the doctor say?"

“Yu Chen has never been able to accept the fact that her mother has passed away. During that time, I was exhausted and neglected her feelings. That's when the root of my illness started. It's my fault.”

"You can't say that; it's just that we're unlucky."

Qiao Yan's eyes immediately reddened.

I panicked and said, "Why are you crying? I don't know how to comfort a man!" Actually, women don't know how to comfort men either, otherwise, would Han Shiya and I have gotten divorced?

Qiao Yan wiped her eyes and said, "You're the first person to say this in all this time. I think you're absolutely right. I'm just unlucky. Why am I so unlucky!"

"Hey! You're the boss here."

While vigorously wiping away her tears, Qiao Yan secretly looked around: "Did no one see us?"

Old Wang walked out of the booth carrying several bags of food and noticed that Qiao Yan looked like she had been crying. He exclaimed excitedly, "Damn, did the Southerner not pay after eating?" Of course, he didn't know about Qiao Yuchen's situation.

My words amused Qiao Yan, and he said to me, "You can go now, I'm fine."

I nodded and said, "Let's look forward!"

Qiao Yan, as if she had made up her mind, said, "Of course! Let's look forward!"

(End of this chapter)