My heart is tied to that sky

On the second day of October, at six in the morning, the city of Zhejiang was awakening.

Sunlight filtered through the heavy velvet curtains, casting dappled shadows on the carpet.

The autumn rains of 2019 seemed to have stripped away the crispness and dryness that are unique to October.

Below the Qingyang Zundi Hotel, early morning sanitation trucks drove by on the street.

The rustling sound of tires crunching over fallen leaves was particularly clear in the quiet morning light.

A faint, static-filled horn sound could be heard in the distance.

A northern accent, with a drawn-out ending, called out: "Henan braised noodles... handmade steamed buns..." The voice grew louder as it approached.

Then another round of hawking calls came from near and then receded, muffledly drilling into my ears through the glass.

Ye Zhi Qiu was awakened by the intermittent sounds of the marketplace.

She turned her head slightly and looked at Gu Zhixing, who was fast asleep beside her.

That face, usually so tense and imbued with the rationality and restraint characteristic of an architect, appeared soft and gentle in the morning light.

She didn't move, but just looked at him quietly, her gaze sliding down his broad nose and finally settling on his lips.

Last night's images flooded her mind like a tide: his broken breaths, his burning palms, and the deep vows he whispered in her ear.

At that moment, she felt as if he had completely crushed her and then pieced her back together.

Her heart was still pounding, and that soft, tingling sensation that seemed to seep into her bones reminded her that what had happened last night was not a dream.

Instead, a sense of belonging, which she had never experienced before, was spreading through her body with the morning light.

this is Love.

She leaned forward slightly, her fingertips trembling almost imperceptibly.

She gently traced the outline of his brow bone, as if confirming ownership of a rare treasure.

From this day forward, this man will be more than just her life partner.

She is also her strongest support in this big family called Qingyang.

Gu Zhixing seemed to sense her gaze, and his eyelashes trembled.

Then they opened their eyes. Their eyes met, no words were needed, only the deep affection in each other's eyes was so intense it couldn't be dissolved.

He reached out and pulled her closer to him, resting his chin on her pink shoulder.

Her voice was hoarse from just waking up: "Awake? Sleep a little longer, today... I'll be busy."

Ye Zhi Qiu's cheeks flushed slightly, and she softly hummed in agreement, burying her face in his warm neck.

This tenderness, where one person has a shoulder to lean on and the other finds ultimate gentleness, is found in the smallest of spaces.

It was a quiet time just for the two of them, the most precious prelude to the bustling day that was about to begin.

In contrast to the tranquility of Gu Zhixing and Ye Zhiqiu's master bedroom, the guest room next door was filled with a different kind of human warmth.

Tang Muyang was dressed in a black best man suit, his brows slightly furrowed as he adjusted his bow tie in front of the mirror.

Gong Yiqing stood behind him, holding a first-aid kit.

She was carefully tending to the small wound he had sustained from last night's socializing.

"Look at how much you drank last night. Your body is your own responsibility; don't always risk your life."

Her tone was reproachful, but her movements were extremely gentle.

Tang Muyang turned around, took her hand, and looked at her with a look of apology and tenderness: "Wife, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry to have worried you. Yesterday was a big day for Zhixing and Zhiqiu, and as the leader, I had to hold things together."

Gong Yiqing looked at the bloodshot eyes in his eyes and finally sighed.

She straightened her husband's collar and said, "Alright, stop joking. Take it easy at drinking parties in the future. Getting passed out is a kind of loss too."

Tang Muyang smiled and stole a kiss on her cheek: "Yes, ma'am."

In another luxurious private room at the Qingyang Hotel, the notification light on Su Man's dressing table was lit up.

The two WeChat messages were from Lin Mo, indicating that the work account was WeChat.

"President Su, please review the blueprints for the Nanyang project, including the jewelry chain from five countries and the infrastructure drawings. We await final approval."

"My eldest son, Lin Chengji, my second son, Lin Chengyan, and I have arrived at the designated location in Bangkok and are waiting for the support team to arrive."

Su Man picked up her phone and tapped it lightly with her fingertips.

This instruction message, originating from Bangkok and like a game of chess, was forwarded to the project group of the Lingnan branch.

On the morning of the third day, at the entrance of the Lingnan Branch building.

Under Zhou Zhengqi's swift and decisive command, everything was already in place.

Several black minivans lay quietly in the morning light.

The golden logo of Qingyang Industry on the side of the vehicle shines brightly in the morning sun, exuding an imposing and dignified aura.

With Zhou Zhengqi's command of "Let's go," the convoy slowly started and headed straight for the airport.

Two hours later, at an altitude of 10,000 meters, a Gulfstream business jet was piercing through the clouds at an extremely high speed.

Beneath the wings, the outline of the Indochina Peninsula is clearly visible, with Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport in sight.

On the tarmac, the Lin family's support team stood in the wind, their eyes fixed on the end of the runway.

As the roar of the engine grew louder, the giant steel bird carrying Qingyang across borders landed smoothly.

The hatch opened, and the two sides met, marking the beginning of Qingyang Industrial's overseas expansion.

In the executive lounge of the Qingyang Zun Di Hotel in Zhejiang.

Ye Zhi Qiu had just finished signing the documents for his transfer to Kyoto, the moment his pen touched the ground.

This means she will leave the southern stronghold she built herself, making room for subsequent capital operations.

As the newly appointed financial director from headquarters, Li Huixin sat in the leather chair that originally belonged to Ye Zhi Qiu for the first time.

The budget reports for the Nanyang project were piled up in front of me.

Her expression was calm and composed, as if those complex numbers had their own order in her eyes.

Tang Muyang stood aside, looking at Li Huixin's face, which was completely different from Ye Zhi Qiu's.

She was rational, sharp, and devoid of warmth, yet a sense of melancholy arose within her.

He recalled a half-joking remark Gong Yiqing once made: "What the group needs is someone who can force everyone to talk about compliance."

It seems that Li Huixin came for this very reason, to fill the risk control gap that Ye Zhiqi faced after leaving after marriage.

During a voice call with Tang Muyang, Tang Jianguo joked, "It's going to be difficult to get reimbursed in the future."

"President Tang, public funds belong to the public." Unexpectedly, his loud voice was overheard by Li Huixin.

He was doing his routine work in Jiangnanli when he was left speechless by the rebuttal.

Meanwhile, in the Zhejiang Water office, colleagues who were busy with their work burst into laughter.

"Mr... Mr. Tang." Tang Jianguo awkwardly shrank his neck and hurriedly hung up the phone: "I have something to do."

But everyone understands that this seemingly relaxed scene is actually another heavy blow after Qingyang's depersonalization system was implemented.

In early spring in the Northwest, the wind still carries a biting chill.

There was no heating in the temporary prefabricated houses on the construction site; only an old coal stove was crackling and burning, and the air was filled with the smell of coal smoke.

Qin Fendou had just hung up a phone call; it was from the Zhejiang Water Group headquarters urging them to expedite the process.

The impatience in his tone was clearly audible even from two thousand kilometers away.

He threw his phone on the table and impatiently unzipped his down jacket.

The white breath exhaled vanished in an instant in the cold air, and the knuckles of the fingers turned white from clenching too tightly.

"Damn it, these bastards, do they really think we're easy targets?"

Li Xiao kicked the door open, carrying two hot bottles of liquor, and walked in cursing.

His face, which usually wore a cynical smile, was now filled with gloom.

"That Mr. Wang from the building materials market just now asked us to advance 50% of the funds! Does he think we run a bank?"

Qin Fendou didn't say anything, but silently picked up the thermos on the table and took a sip of hot water to calm his nerves.

The chill wasn't just from the weather, but also from the financial pressure in the early stages of the project.

If we can't secure this largest building materials agency rights, all the initial investments in the West-to-East Power Transmission Project will be wasted.

He simply took off his heavy down jacket and tossed it onto a folding chair beside him.

The lines of her shoulders and back under the sweater were taut, like a fully drawn bow.

Seeing his tense expression, Li Xiao slammed the bottle of liquor on the table, grinned mischievously, and whistled.

"Alright, Struggle Bro, stop striking that somber pose. If you keep keeping that tense look, I'll piss my pants before Boss Wang does."

Qin Fendou ignored his nonsense, picked up his phone, and opened WeChat.

The screen lit up; it was a message from Li Huixin.

There was no lengthy explanation, just a cold, impersonal line of text and a screenshot of an Excel spreadsheet:

"The 20% down payment limit is crucial. Cash flow must be maintained. Finalize the cooperation before construction begins in early summer; don't make things difficult for me."

Qin Fendou stared at the line of words, his eyes gradually sharpening from their initial anxiety.

Like finding water in the desert, he typed quickly, replying with a single word: "Okay."

Just as he was about to put down his phone, the screen suddenly lit up, and Li Huixin's WeChat voice call request popped up.

Qin Fendou was taken aback for a moment, then answered the call and pressed the speakerphone button.

Before he could even speak, a burst of laughter erupted, followed by the sound of Li Xiao's large mouth looming closer.

"Hey! Fendou, who's checking up on us in the middle of the night?" Li Xiao snatched the phone and shouted into the receiver.

"Sister-in-law! It's me, Li Xiao! Brother Fendou is so worried he's losing his hair, your call is a lifesaver!"

After saying that, he handed the phone back to Qin Fendou, and then added an even more outrageous and reckless remark.

"Keep striving and try your best to win over Dr. Li as soon as possible, so I can have a sister-in-law!"

Qin Fendou's face darkened, and he reached out to cover the receiver: "Li Xiao, what nonsense are you spouting..."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, followed by Li Huixin's cool yet slightly amused voice.

Although he was cursing, the coldness he displayed on WeChat seemed to have disappeared: "Li Xiao, if you can't keep your mouth shut, go to Africa next month."

"No, no, no! Sister-in-law, spare my life!" Li Xiao was so frightened that he quickly made a gesture to seal his mouth and shrank to the side.

Qin Fendou held his phone, and the corners of his mouth, which were originally tense, now involuntarily turned up slightly.

He spoke into the receiver, his voice unconsciously softening.

"Dr. Li, I've received your proposal. Hei Xiong wants to advance 50% of the funding, and I'm struggling to figure out how to counter him."

"Let's discuss based on the data in the table," Li Huixin's voice came through the electrical connection, calm yet reassuring.

"I'll handle the cash flow issue. You guys just go for it and don't embarrass Qingyang."

"Okay." Qin Fendou looked at the pitch-black night outside the window, his eyes becoming more determined than ever before. "I'll listen to Dr. Li."

After hanging up the phone, Qin Fendou put his phone back in his pocket and put his heavy down jacket back on.

He deftly zipped up his jacket and turned to look at Li Xiao, who was huddled to one side.

The pent-up anger in his eyes had long since vanished, replaced by a calm that comes from being trusted.

"Li Xiao".

"Huh?" Li Xiao was still covering his mouth and chuckling to himself.

"There's no rush to discuss this deal," Qin Fendou said, picking up a bottle of baijiu from the table and taking a large gulp.

"Once construction starts on a large scale after the start of summer, and Boss Wang can't afford to wait any longer, then we'll go see him. If we can't reach an agreement then, we'll just find another company!"

Looking at his smug expression, Li Xiao pursed his lips and muttered under his breath:

"Well, it's not even official yet, and they're already acting like husband and wife..."

When the second batch of core forces heading to Southeast Asia departed.

Su Man did not appear on site; she had a brief conversation with Zhou Zhengqi via WeChat video at headquarters.

On opposite ends of the screen, the tenderness between lovers welled up in their eyes, but they were forcibly suppressed by reason.

For the sake of their shared ideals, they tacitly chose restraint and temporarily put aside their romantic feelings.

After a brief silence, Su Man parted her red lips slightly, leaving behind only the unspoken message of waiting for their triumphant return.

Zhou Zhengqi's Adam's apple bobbed as he stared at the cold yet stunningly beautiful face on the screen. The surging emotions finally condensed into a single sentence.

"We'll get married when they return victorious."

After he finished speaking, he abruptly ended the video call.

"You... Zhou Zhengqi!" The moment the screen went dark, Su Man's usually icy face flushed red.

With a hint of exasperation and coquettishness, she practically spat out those words through gritted teeth.

She slammed her phone on the desk, pointed at the black screen, and continued her furious outburst, her chest heaving violently.

"You... this is utterly shameless harassment!"

She took a deep breath, trying to suppress the sudden heat with her usual calm.

But that long-sealed, still burning youth has been brutally torn open by this man.

She instinctively covered her chest, feeling the intense beating there.

"That bastard, he..." Su Man muttered to herself.

His previously tense lips finally couldn't help but reveal a very faint yet extremely gentle smile.

Meanwhile, the second batch of key personnel drawn from various branches of the Lingnan branch have all gathered here.

In the crowd, Zhou Zhengqi specifically called out to Zhao Gang and Zhu Xiaohui.

"The two years of trials and tribulations in Xiaoxiang have honed you into the sharpest swords."

Zhou Zhengqi's gaze swept between the two men, his tone deep and iron-like.

"Now, this sword is going to be planted in Vietnam. The winds are high and the waves are rough there, are you... afraid?"

Zhao Gang subconsciously turned his head to look at Zhu Xiaohui beside him, his eyes revealing a barely perceptible tenderness and concern.

He then turned his head, straightening his back perfectly.

His voice boomed: "President Zhou, as long as we have sunshine behind us, we dare to brave the fierce competition in the business world!"

Zhu Xiaohui met his gaze, her cheeks slightly flushed, and added a sentence with a firm yet subtle expression.

"I... will be wherever you need me." Their cooperation, spanning five years from the Zhejiang River to the Xiang River, speaks volumes.

Zhou Zhengqi looked at the unspoken understanding flowing between the two, nodded slightly, and a hint of approval flashed in his eyes.

"Okay. I feel relieved now that we can trust each other with our backs."

At the boarding gate, Zhou Zhengqi stuffed a small flag embroidered with the words "Qingyang" into Zhao Gang's hand.

His gaze was piercing, his tone concise yet every word carried immense weight: "Live and take over the territory."

From then on, Zhao Gang and Zhu Xiaohui, the two star partners who were specially recalled from Xiaoxiang by headquarters, were no longer considered a threat.

As a ballast, it embarked on its journey to Vietnam.

The humid heat of Bangkok felt like an invisible wall, hitting me as soon as I got off the plane.

Zhao Gang and Zhu Xiaohui were assigned to a temporary office and traveled between Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Until the early summer of 2019, I was assigned to Vietnam, where the weather in Hanoi was similar to the temperature in China.

But upon entering the Thanh Duong Hanoi office, I truly felt that this was not a place to enjoy myself.

Those were several makeshift houses converted from shipping containers, with corrugated iron roofs that scorched intensely under the midday sun of early summer.

Lin Mo has spent the last two years like this, traveling around Southeast Asia with his two sons.

My deepest impression is that Hanoi not only has harsh conditions, but also a treacherous atmosphere.

After making arrangements for Zhao Gang and Zhu Xiaohui, Lin Mo hurriedly flew to Singapore.

As he was leaving, he grasped Zhao Gang's hand and said, "I'm relieved to see you here."

Lin Mo knew that he had been a comrade who had worked his way up in the political circles of Zhejiang for many years.

Back when Qingyang Industry was just starting out, it was Tang Muyang who went to great lengths to persuade this section chief of the investment promotion bureau to resign from his civil servant position.

On this day, Zhao Gang accompanied the advance team to inspect the dock.

One of them casually pointed to the menacing opponents around them and bluntly stated that this was a battlefield of carnage.

As expected, Zhu Xiaohui walked into the temporary office: "Manager Zhao! This place really is a den of wolves."

"The first payment for jewelry raw materials was intercepted by local forces as soon as it arrived in the account."

After hearing this, Zhao Gang was briefly shocked and then fell into deep thought.

Even with that composure unique to officials, the Nanyang project faced the risk of a broken funding chain when it was just starting out.

It truly made him feel like he was in dire straits.

At night, Zhu Xiaohui watched him vomit and have diarrhea due to severe acclimatization problems.

Zhao Gang, however, gritted his teeth and checked the contract details, his eyes reddening with heartache.

She wrung out a warm towel and gently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

The two were in a cramped shipping container room in a foreign country.

They persevered through mutual care, and their feelings for each other quickly deepened as they shared hardships.

They went from being colleagues side by side to becoming true comrades-in-arms and lovers.

A week later, Lin Mo's eldest son, Lin Chengji, arrived, arranged by Su Man.

Zhou Zhengqi spent a fortune to buy them the most upscale office building in Hanoi.

Lin Chengji was a calm and composed person, and he and Zhao Gang exchanged toasts several times at the dinner table.

"Manager Zhao! With Qingyang behind us, let's just charge forward!"

With Zhu Xiaohui's careful care, Zhao Gang gradually adapted to the local environment.

He regained his former dignity and hit it off immediately with his younger brother, Lin Chengji.

The two men negotiated with the local chamber of commerce, attempting to pull strings.

Lin Mo was secretly making arrangements behind the scenes, while Zhao Gang cooperated with Lin Chengji.

"We must establish rules belonging to Qingyang, China, on this lawless land," Zhao Gang said.

"Manager Zhao! But this is just the tip of the iceberg," Lin Chengji reminded the seasoned official in front of him.

After Zhao Gang established himself in Hanoi and secured the supply lines for raw materials...

The real meat grinder is only just beginning to show its fangs.