Nominal: Who isn't a son-in-law?

Tianxin Lake is heart-shaped, with a wooden bridge leading from the tip of the heart to a small island of over 100 square meters in the center of the lake.

Upon seeing the small island, Pei Qianqian pulled Chu Shijun to walk faster.

"That was our base. Yuting and I used to go there often to paint."

After crossing the wooden bridge, we arrived at the island. In the distance, there were five or six people, men and women, gathered around a clearing. They were fiddling with something on the ground.

"Sister Yuting!"

Upon seeing a short-haired girl inside, Pei Qianqian called out and raised her hand in a wave.

"Qianqian,"

Upon meeting, Chu Shijun saw Bai Yuting's true appearance; she was very beautiful and had a gentle smile.

"This is Chu Shijun, my boyfriend."

Pei Qianqian, holding Chu Shijun's hand, slightly raised her chin and introduced him.

"This is Sister Bai Yuting, and this is Sister Liu Siyuan. Please introduce these two sisters."

"Hello, Shijun,"

Bai Yuting and Liu Siyuan nodded to Chu Shijun.

"Let's do it ourselves."

At this moment, the man standing in the middle of the three men spoke up.

The tall, muscular man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, stepped forward and extended his hand, saying, "Sun Mingjian, I'm Yuting's boyfriend. We do some business. I'm a few years older than you, so I'll take the liberty of calling you Shijun."

"Hello, Brother Mingjian."

Chu Shijun reached out and grasped it. "Doing business is good. In the future, when I enter politics, I can get them to invest."

"Hello, Zhao Wenning, we're the same age, you can just call me Wenning."

A decent-looking man standing nearby spoke up, but his smile seemed somewhat forced.

"Hello, Comrade Wen Ning, you can call me Shi Jun." Chu Shi Jun extended his hand and shook hands.

"Hello, Zhao Shengmin, Siyuan's boyfriend, also runs a small business."

The last person reached out his hand. He was a bit shorter, with a square face, and his appearance wasn't particularly outstanding.

"Hello, Sungmin hyung."

Chu Shijun also extended his hand.

"Alright, everyone knows each other now. We're going to paint. You guys can chat here," Bai Yuting said with a smile.

……

Pei Qianqian and three other girls were setting up their easels by the lake, chattering and laughing, their voices echoing like silver bells.

Over here, several grown men were setting up a barbecue grill, using charcoal, and preparing ingredients.

"Wen Ning, let's go get some firewood. Shi Jun, you and Sheng Min go ahead and do your work."

After Sun Mingjian finished speaking, he led Zhao Wenning away into the distance. There were trees on the island, so they could gather some small branches from the local trees.

However, Zhao Wenning knew that he was not asked to come with him to collect firewood.

Sure enough, after they were a little further apart, Sun Mingjian spoke up: "I heard from Yuting that you liked Pei Qianqian back in high school, but you were rejected?"

"That's right, Brother Mingjian," Zhao Wenning smiled bitterly and nodded, "but I've let it go now."

Have you really let go?

Sun Mingjian gave him a deep look. "If I encouraged you to boldly continue pursuing him before, now I advise you to truly let go."

"Because of Comrade Shijun?"

Zhao Wenning looked up, a puzzled expression on his face.

"You don't really think he's just an author who wrote about the rise of a great power, do you? Do you think the Pei family has poor judgment? I've even heard his name mentioned by the old man himself in Beijing. You know what that means."

Sun Mingjian said meaningfully.

Zhao Wenning's eyes widened. Although his father was only a vice governor of Linjiang, he had relatives in Beijing. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to befriend Sun Mingjian and his group. Since the other party had said so, it seemed that Chu Shijun's identity was not simple.

"I understand, Mingjian, I'll handle it."

Sun Mingjian nodded in satisfaction, patted Zhao Wenning on the shoulder, and said with emotion, "I'm in business, but you're going into politics in the future. It'll be good to make more friends and curb your arrogance, because you never know who might be behind that seemingly insignificant person in your workplace. More friends mean more opportunities. Family background is often used to ensure fairness."

His statement is not absolute, but it makes sense. Energy at the same level all has offspring. If you openly support someone, then I will support someone too. If everyone does this, things will get chaotic.

"Moreover, heroes are as numerous as carp crossing a river. Today, we are integrated with the world and our economy is developing rapidly. The thinking of each new generation will also change. It is true that it is difficult for a true dragon to emerge from the depths, but if there is the help of the clouds, who can guarantee that no great figure will emerge from any small river?"

After saying that, Sun Mingjian casually picked up some small branches from the ground, and the two of them returned together.

On the other side, Chu Shijun and Chen Shengmin also chatted for a while, and roughly figured out where the others came from.

Zhao Wenning's father was Zhao Anbang, who was then the executive vice governor of Linjiang Province.

Sun Mingjian's business involves coal and steel, and he collaborates with state-owned enterprises, as well as some investments.

Chen Shengmin mainly deals in light industry and home appliances in Shanghai.

Liu Siyuan's grandfather works in a ministry in Beijing. He went to university in Beijing and is now a graduate student.

"Sungmin, Se-jun, what are you talking about? It's so lively."

Sun Mingjian and Zhao Wenning returned, each carrying a few sparse pieces of firewood.

"We're talking about your work," Chen Shengmin said frankly, and Chu Shijun nodded in agreement. There was nothing wrong with talking about such things.

"Hehe, what kind of job is it for us two to be doing business? It's Shijun and Wenning who will go into politics in the future, that's the real job," Sun Mingjian laughed. For a family like theirs, politics was indeed the real job.

However, each generation has its own choices. As the population grows, some people will inevitably choose to go into business or other fields. This is an inevitable result. If everyone gathers together, they won't go far.

At this point, Sun Mingjian lit a fire and handed out cigarettes to the group. Chu Shijun glanced at them and, as expected, found that they were the same as his.

"Shijun, my father said that the people below originally wanted you to go to the Development and Reform Commission. They said your ideas were novel and some of your suggestions were feasible. Unfortunately, Old Qi stopped you and said you have other plans. Would you mind telling us about it?" Sun Mingjian glanced at Bai Yuting in the distance, took a deep drag of his cigarette, and asked with a smile.

"Hehe, Mingjian already knows," Chu Shijun nodded. "He plans to start from the bottom and should be going to Haixi Province."

"Haixi? A coastal area, what a great place! Its economy is developing very well, and it has great potential."

Upon hearing about Haixi Province, Sun Mingjian seemed to understand something. This was truly protecting his own, and it wasn't just a simple entrustment.

"Then I wish you a successful promotion in advance, Shijun. When you start working, if there's anything the local area needs for development, just let me know. I can usually get some small investments."

"It's the same for me. It doesn't matter where the factory is located. If you need anything, Shijun, I'll go over and serve the local people, haha." Chen Shengmin said readily.

"Then I'll thank you both in advance. When that day comes, I promise I won't let you suffer any losses."

"Hahaha"

The group exchanged smiles, their unspoken understanding unspoken.

When it comes to doing business, it doesn't matter where you invest in building a factory. I have friends there, so I can go and build a factory there, which can also create jobs. Isn't that great?

After chatting and laughing for a while, Sun Mingjian suddenly said, "Shijun, there's something else I need to tell you."

"Mingjian, what is it?"

"That's right. You have a position at the Handong Writers Association, right? I have an aunt whose husband is the chairman of the Handong Writers Association."

"You mean Uncle Chu Shengyuan?" Chu Shijun was somewhat surprised. How could this be the relationship between him and the chairman of the Writers' Association?

Sun Mingjian's family background must be very powerful to have been able to start a relationship with Bai Yuting. His uncle is the chairman of the Writers' Association in Handong. Did he cause trouble? Is his family unhappy with the two of them?

"It's a family matter. My uncle is a stubborn man. Some things happened, and the family suppressed him. But he did it for my aunt's sake. When I was on the phone with my aunt before, she mentioned that you had dinner with my uncle and got him drunk. What a coincidence that we ran into each other today. It's fate."

Upon hearing Chu Shijun's address, Sun Mingjian knew that his aunt was right; his uncle, drunk, kept calling him "Shijun" when he came home.

"Hehe, I just wanted to ask you for a small favor. Could you also put in a good word for my uncle? Actually, the old man has wanted to bring it up for a long time, but he's too proud to admit it. My uncle is also holding his breath and won't even answer my calls or my dad's calls."

Speaking of this, Sun Mingjian was also a little helpless. The whole family was stubborn, starting with the old man, including his aunt and the uncle he found. A little misunderstanding would cause them to refuse to go back to their parents' home. He, as the nephew, was caught in the middle and had to act as a messenger, saying "Happy New Year" to both sides every year. Why bother?

"Brother Mingjian, this is a family matter after all, and I..." Chu Shijun was somewhat embarrassed.

"Don't worry, my aunt said that my uncle is just stubborn and won't answer the family's calls. You can go and talk to him. Just say that I said the old man misses his grandson. I guarantee it will work. Whether it works out or not, I'll owe you a favor." Sun Mingjian waved his hand and said.

"Oh, what's with all this talk of personal relationships? I'll mention it to Uncle Chu later. It's good that your family can get along."

This is a trivial matter that doesn't require favors. Without Chu Shijun, can't the other party turn to someone else? It all depends on the people behind him.

He guessed that even if he didn't say anything, Chu Shengyuan probably already understood that this was just a coincidence that he ran into him, and that it was a chance to deepen their relationship.

So he was happy to help out with this small favor. These two businessmen would be a ready-made source of economic development for him when he went to work in the local area in the future.

Seeing that the two had finished talking, Chen Shengmin said, "The charcoal is lit, let's get ready to grill."

"Okay, let's have some more drinks today."

Throwing away his cigarette butt, Sun Mingjian called out to the three women in the distance, "Yuting, come over here, dinner's ready."