At the start, I had to choose one of four options, and I immediately picked the Brahmin from the cou

Zhou Yanhuai was shocked to hear this.

In all his years, he had never seen his proud and arrogant grandfather give such high praise to any younger generation.

He swallowed hard and nodded vigorously. "Grandpa, don't worry, I know what to do. I will definitely hold onto this 5% stake firmly and without disgracing our family, and I will not allow Brother Xiao's plan to go wrong in terms of compliance."

Grandpa Zhou patted his shoulder with satisfaction. Although the Li family boy was no ordinary person, his grandson was not bad either. Although he was a bit introverted, he was upright, patient, and capable.

He turned around and rearranged the Podocarpus macrophyllus on the windowsill. "This pine has been with me for over twenty years. A few years ago, it was infested with pests, and half of its branches withered. The gardener said to throw it away, but I couldn't bear to. Look, it has slowly recovered in the last two years, sprouting new needles and growing even more vigorously than before."

He plucked a withered pine needle, twirled it between his fingers, and said, "People are just like this pine tree. They are not afraid of disasters, but they are afraid of not being able to stand after a disaster."

"Work hard with the Li family lad and go out and gain experience. If you really make a huge mistake, your old face can still cover for you one last time."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanhuai's eyes welled up with tears. He quickly lowered his head, pretending to push up his glasses, and rubbed the corner of his eye with his thumb.

Who is Zhou Shuli? What kind of situation hasn't he seen? Naturally, his grandson's lapse in behavior did not escape his notice.

"How old are you? Your eyes still get red so easily." Zhou Shuli snorted, his tone disdainful, but his wrinkled eyes clearly revealed a hint of undisguised kindness and relief.

Meanwhile, in the general manager's office of the building materials market.

Zheng Guodong, with a half-burnt cigarette between his fingers, listened to his son Zheng Hao's report, especially after hearing Li Xiao's remarks in the car that money could never be earned enough. He remained stunned in his boss's chair for a long time, unable to recover.

Zheng Hao, seeing the cigarette butt almost burning his fingers, warned, "Dad, be careful, it'll burn you!"

Zheng Guodong then seemed to snap out of his daze, stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray. "The Li family has truly produced a dragon this time!"

He turned his head and looked his son up and down, who still looked carefree and silly, and suddenly felt a strange pang of heartache.

As the saying goes, "comparison is the thief of joy, and comparison is the thief of joy." He used to think that although his son was a bit unreliable, he was at least clever. But now, compared to Li Xiao and Zhou Yanhuai, he was simply unbearable to look at.

Both are eighteen, but the Li family's son is already strategizing, planning how to divide the spoils, and blocking any escape routes. He even managed to recruit Zhou Yanhuai, a privileged young man from a powerful family, into his family's CFO with just a few words. Meanwhile, his own foolish son is still happily gloating over an RS7 he hasn't even gotten his hands on yet.

"Dad, why are you staring at me? Is there dust on my face?" Zheng Hao felt uneasy under his father's gaze and subconsciously touched his face.

"Gray, gray, gray! I think your head is full of gray! I'm asking you, how do you plan to do this job?"

Zheng Hao paused for a moment, then replied matter-of-factly, "What else can I do? I'll just do whatever Brother Xiao tells me to do. He wants me to buy out the property rights, so I'll go to the Land Bureau and the Planning Bureau, have a meal with your old friends, and get all the paperwork done. What else can I do?"

"Stupid!" Zheng Guodong slammed his fist on the table in exasperation. "Do you think this is like going to the market to buy groceries? A ten million yuan plate, such a large plot of land in the south of the city, do you really think those shrewd guys in the government are pushovers? You're just a greenhorn who just graduated high school, why should they take your place at dinner?"

Zheng Hao shrank back, feeling a little uneasy. "Then... what do we do? I already assured Brother Xiao that I would be okay with this, I can't just let him down now, can I?"

Zheng Guodong raised his hand and slapped Zheng Hao on the back of the head again. "What can you do? Of course, I'll personally clean up your mess. Otherwise, do you think those 15% of the shares were free?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Hao wasn't angry at all. Instead, he grinned and went over to his father, fawningly massaging his shoulders. "Hehe, I knew you loved me the most, Dad! With you personally taking charge, those few pieces of land in the south of the city will be a piece of cake!"

"Easy peasy my foot!"

Zheng Guodong slapped his son's hand away from his shoulder. "That piece of land in the south of the city, although it's a piece of wasteland that nobody wants, it would be a miracle if a greenhorn like you could negotiate it."

This time, Zheng Hao didn't dare to joke around anymore. Instead, he obediently pulled up a chair and sat down opposite his father, listening attentively.

"I'll personally take you with me on this trip. Starting tomorrow, I'll have to go and invite Old Sun from the Land and Resources Bureau, Old Liu from the Planning Bureau, and the deputy county head in charge of the southern part of the city—all of them. You stand next to me and watch how I speak, how I act, and how I handle things appropriately."

Then Zheng Guodong's voice softened, "I'm getting old too. This future ultimately belongs to you young people."

"I've worked my way up from street vendors to building markets, from delivering goods on a tricycle to where I am now. I've never stopped for half my life. I used to think that as long as we were there to support you, even if the sky fell, it wouldn't hit your heads."

"But look at Li Xiao, he's only eighteen, fresh out of the exam hall, and he's already willing to spend ten million to gamble on an opportunity that no one else can see. Zhou Pangzi is the same, he quietly built the compliance framework to its second version. Your generation is much more capable than ours back then, there are always talented people emerging in every generation."

"Haozi, the biggest regret of my life is that I didn't hold onto that piece of land in the east of the city back then, and someone else snatched it away. I always think that if someone had been there to give me a word of advice back then, maybe I wouldn't have suffered such a big setback."

He reached out and patted Zheng Hao's shoulder, much lighter than the slap he'd given him earlier. "This whole game in the south of the city was orchestrated by you, Brother Xiao, with Zhou Yanhuai as the ballast. All I can do now is guide you through the process. But how long can we keep going? Three to five years? In the end, you'll have to carry this mess yourselves. Learn from them properly, and don't let me lose face in your hands."

As Zheng Hao listened to his father's slightly hoarse voice and looked at the face that had unknowingly been etched with wrinkles, his eyes couldn't help but well up with tears.

Although he usually likes to play and joke around, he can also distinguish right from wrong.

Why did Li Xiao give him 15% of the shares? Frankly, it was because he valued the connections and capabilities his father, Zheng Guodong, had built up in Jiangyang County over the decades. Besides, this matter wasn't solely dependent on the Deng family; even without the Zheng family, there were the Sun, Wang, and Tang families…

But Li Xiao deliberately pinned the title on Zheng Hao, which not only gave him face but also intentionally helped him out.

"Dad, don't worry."

Zheng Hao, unusually serious, abandoned his usual carefree attitude. "Brother Xiao treats me like a brother, and you've personally paved the way for me. If I don't improve, I'll truly become a hopeless mess. Just you wait and see. Tomorrow, when I go with you on business, I'll definitely keep my eyes open, observe and learn as much as I can, and I absolutely won't bring shame to our Zheng family."