Chapter 71: Setbacks
Walking on the path, my stomach was churning so much I felt like vomiting; it was the first time I’d overeaten to this extent.
Citing the reason of complicated work tasks, she repeatedly declined the Yan Family’s kind offer to stay overnight. Su Ning took their large and small bags of gifts and left the Yan Family gate with Yan Bei.
“Shall we walk?”
Seeing her discomfort, Yan Bei took the things from her hand, put them in the car, and suggested, “It’s not far from the river here; walking along the riverbank can take us directly to your hotel.”
It only takes a little over ten minutes by car, but over an hour on foot.
“Okay.”
She gladly agreed to his proposal; it was just right, as she also wanted to see if there would be a chance to talk during the walk.
……
It was just past seven, still a while before dark in summer. The evening breeze by the river blew gently, carrying away the strands of stifling heat in the air.
The riverside park has always been known as a dating holy land; most people coming here are men and women who are dating partners.
Some shy ones sit far apart, leaving most of the space empty in between, still not daring to make eye contact;
Some bold and passionate ones hide behind big trees, quietly holding hands, hugging, or even kissing;
Of course, there are also those who get excited and argue over the amount of bride price, then sadly break up.
In short, walking through this stretch of the park, they didn’t dare to glance around at all; an inexplicable awkward atmosphere lingered between the two.
Suggesting to walk along this riverside park—unreliable second brother, he grumbled harshly in his heart for a while. Yan Bei lagged two steps behind, gazing at her profile, his mind full of thoughts on how to break this situation.
“Yan Bei, did Uncle Yan study abroad when he was young?”
“Yes, he came back after finishing his PhD in Red Leaf Country.”
Hearing her no longer silent but asking about his father, Yan Bei quietly relaxed his clenched hand and followed the topic, telling her some stories about his parents.
“That’s great.”
How many couples in the world have emotional experiences like Yan Bei’s parents?
Nowadays, partners are mostly matched by introductions; once they like each other and meet both sets of parents, they discuss marriage. Dragging out dating is just being a hooligan.
They say marriage freedom, love freedom, but it’s really just no more blind arranged marriages like the previous generation.
To be so unrestrained, loving fiercely and passionately—Uncle Yan and Aunt Yan really make people feel envious.
“They all say men from our Yan Family are romantics; once they like someone, it’s for life.”
Meeting his eyes, which reflected the stars in the sky and flickered accordingly, Su Ning’s heart suddenly skipped half a beat: You’re sighing, fine, but why suddenly look at me like this?
“You… can you not stare at me like that?”
“Hm?”
“This kind of direct gaze at night is really too scary.”
Yan Bei was stunned into laughter; sometimes he really wanted to crack open her head to see what was inside—why was she always so different from normal people.
He used to be accused of being oblivious to romance; now facing her, he finally knew what that felt like.
“Okay, sorry.”
“No problem.”
Her serious response amused him outright; Yan Bei shook his head.
But warm water boils the frog; he had enough patience. He was also prepared for the long haul, waiting for her to understand.
“By the way, how is Uncle Yan doing at the Regiment Headquarters now?”
He frowned slightly in surprise; though unexpected that she suddenly cared so much about his father, he answered every question.
Little did he know Su Ning was endlessly conflicted inside, thinking about how to casually remind him without being obvious.
From their conversation and the foreseen future, she knew the Yan Family was at its peak in Yan Bei’s father’s generation.
The two brothers, one from Z and one from J, not only dominated their respective fields but were also exceptionally united; their father’s bold retreat paved a smooth path for them.
The Yan Family juniors, seven in total, were each more outstanding than the last, both in character and work.
In enemies’ eyes, such a Yan Family was certainly not to be underestimated; they absolutely had to strike decisively and crush them completely, leaving no chance of turning things around.
In the future scenes, there was no Yan Bei; if her thoughts were correct, his death that day would be the trigger for the entire event.
Now, because of her intervention, Yan Bei had avoided his predetermined fate of death; what followed would surely change, so he would definitely be the key to breaking the situation.
Can’t rush!
This matter hasn’t shown any signs yet—no solid evidence, no reliable sources.
Even if he ultimately chooses to believe her, the consequences she would bear…
She shook her head to herself; Su Ning exhaled deeply, steadying her heart that had been turbulent since learning of this: There’s still more than half a year; be more steady, no rush, no rush.
“Su Ning, you can choose to tell me anything; I think I’m a good listener and a pretty good advisor?”
“Heh, no problem, I’ll remember that.”
Smart people’s probing stops at the right point; the two tacitly moved past the previous topic.
……
He saw her to her room door before turning to leave; back home, Yan Bei frowned in thought for a bit, then went to the second floor and knocked on his father’s study room.
No one knew what the father and son talked about; only after he left, the study room light stayed on for a long, long time that night.
Ms. Xiang, alone in the empty room for most of the night, unusually didn’t throw a little tantrum.
She thought her son was asking his old man for advice on winning a beauty’s heart and planned to share her own insights and experience the next day.
……
The next day, morning light spread over the river surface, dyeing the rippling water red; white egrets trailed long tails skimming low, stirring up chains of wave circles.
Having dreamed all night, the dreams full of that person’s eyes flickering with starlight shards in the darkness, staring straight at her.
Su Ning woke up startled, panting continuously, and rubbed her racing chest hard: “Sure enough, I was scared?”
First Xiao Qiu, then Yan Bei…
If it happens again, she didn’t know if this little fear-of-ghosts habit would heal on its own or get worse.
She raised her hand to pinch her cheeks and tug her mouth, fully waking up before quickly getting out of bed.
After washing up and changing into easy-to-move-in clothes and pants, she combed her hair and tied it into braids.
Then she went to the space and had breakfast with Little Round Circle, prepared lunch for it; Su Ning hurriedly went out to start the purchasing task.
On this business trip to Shanghai City, Director Liang had given her no light task: to purchase a batch of the new special blended fabric here for the factory.
She had done her homework on this blended fabric before coming; compared to pure cotton or linen woven products.
Blended fabric made by mixing fibers like linen, cotton, and synthetics can better resist wear and wrinkles; it’s hugely popular in the Shanghai City market—once it appears, it’s snapped up, supply can’t meet demand.
There are definitely more than just Gu City Textile Factory coming to Shanghai City for the same purpose, so the difficulty of this task is imaginable.
She went straight from the hotel to the destination, officially starting her journey of hitting walls.
From early morning out until sunset, exiting the Sixth Factory empty-handed again, Su Ning felt utterly exhausted physically and mentally.
Two trips in the morning, three in the afternoon—running so many times in a row.
A wry smile tugged at her lips; a whole day wasted, not even seeing the person in charge, just underlings giving all sorts of evasive delaying words.
Thinking of that greasy fat-headed man just now, with his hints in every word, a chill and cold intent rose in her eyes.
“No wonder…”
Fu Jiaming had told her that doing this job well required building various connections and constantly establishing her own network.
Without some connections or background, it’s not impossible, just more difficult, time-consuming and laborious, and the final result may not satisfy.
She gripped her hand tightly at her side; she just didn’t believe it—this Director Tong was some hard-to-see figure?
She absolutely had to see him!
If she couldn’t see him at the factory, she’d block him outside.
With her plan set, Su Ning smiled, generously pulling out a White Rabbit Milk Candy from her carried handbag and handing it to the old man at the gate.
“Hey, young comrade, what are you doing?”
“Old man, I’m from Gu City Textile Factory, came to Sixth Factory for…”
“Oh, I get it, hahaha~”
Guarding the gate here all day, he’s seen everything and everyone; the old man knew what she was after just from catching the hint.
Always liked by old folks, she was no exception this time; after some chatting, she got the information she wanted.
Like this Director Tong’s appearance features, and his approximate work and off-work times and patterns.
After thanking the enthusiastic old man profusely, she went to the nearest state-run restaurant from Sixth Factory, checked her watch, ordered a meal, and chose to wait patiently.
The old man said Director Tong’s eldest son isn’t good at studies; taking advantage of summer vacation, he specially found someone to tutor him well, hoping he could work hard and get into a good university.
Every week he’d pick one or two days to bring him big meat dishes or something from the state-run restaurant, both as a reward and a carrot dangled in front of him.
