Chapter 409: Fated to Meet but Not to Be Together

Chen Yang lingered outside Liu Qingqing's door for several hours, but she never showed up.

After that, Liu Qingqing cut off contact with him and even blocked his phone.

He came here today mainly because Chen Chunmei's words moved him. If Liu Qingqing had accidentally gotten pregnant from that night's madness, how would he explain it to Lin Wei...

However, Chen Yang felt he was overthinking. He and Lin Wei had tried many times without success, while with Liu Qingqing it had only happened once, and under those lost‑control circumstances, it was even less likely to result in a pregnancy.

He came specially to see Liu Qingqing, just seeking peace of mind.

Since Liu Qingqing is deliberately avoiding him, waiting any longer is pointless.

Chen Yang was strolling alone in the staff housing of the teacher's university attached middle school when he inadvertently walked into the old‑brand breakfast shop where he and Liu Qingqing had first eaten rice noodles.

The shop door was open, inside there were no customers, only Old Man Zhang sitting alone reading a newspaper.

Chen Yang stepped forward and greeted him, but the man ignored him and kept reading his newspaper.

However, just as Chen Yang was about to leave, he spoke again: "Everyone has already moved out for a month; you only now think of coming back to look for her—what's the point?"

Chen Yang turned around in surprise; he hadn't expected Liu Qingqing to have moved house as well. "Old Man Zhang, where did Qingqing go?"

Old Man Zhang snapped, "Her father's in the south, so of course she went there!"

Chen Yang frowned slightly; the S‑virus outbreak in the south is severe now—did Liu Qingqing, in order to avoid her, even neglect her own health?

However, regarding Liu Qingqing's decision to stay or leave, Chen Yang truly had no say; he could only silently wish her well.

Old Man Zhang coldly reminded Chen Yang: "You little brat are now a celebrity in Xingcheng; you'd better stop pestering Qingqing. If those gossip reporters catch you together, where would you put the Liu family's face? How would Qingqing ever manage to live in Xingcheng after that?"

Chen Yang fell silent for a while after hearing that. After saying goodbye to Old Man Zhang, he then drove off alone.

Liu Qingqing's departure might be fate. He and Liu Qingqing are destined, in this life and past lives, to have affinity but no union.

After returning to his villa in Jiangmen Town, Chen Yang called Su Mingyue.

"Su Mingyue, has Liu Qingqing been in touch with you lately?"

"No! I haven't been in contact with her for ages!"

"If she comes to you, please take good care of her for me."

"Chen Yang, there's something behind your words—did something happen that I don't know about?"

"No, don't overthink it!"

"All right! If she shows up, even if you don't say anything, I'll still take good care of her."

"Then thank you."

"Why be so formal between us?"

"By the way, how's the preparation of the chain stores in Shencheng going? Has Zhao Xiaoxiao's health recovered?"

"The urban area already has four chain stores, all run by Zhao Xiaoxiao and Xiao Jian. Her health should be fine."

"Have all the procedures for the People's Building project been completed?"

"The paperwork is done, but the epidemic here is severe now, so Miss Zhu is temporarily not planning to launch the project."

"All right, if there's nothing else I'll hang up."

"Wait, there's one more thing. I'm planning to use company funds to buy some shops and homes in Hong Kong. Do you support it?"

"You're not familiar with Hong Kong; if you want to invest there, you'd better consult Miss Zhu and Manager Guo first, so you don't get taken for a ride."

"Okay. I've got nothing else, you can hang up—good night!"

"Good night!"

After hanging up, Chen Yang lowered his head and thought for a while. He always felt that Su Mingyue was deliberately concealing Liu Qingqing's situation.

They're on such good terms; given Liu Qingqing's personality, if she went to Shencheng she would definitely stay in touch.

It looks like Liu Qingqing is deliberately avoiding him again.

However, knowing that Liu Qingqing is with Su Mingyue, Chen Yang can also rest easy.

On the second weekend of April, Chen Yang brought Lin Wei together to pay respects to the Chen family's ancestors and parents.

When burning the joss paper, Lin Wei, an atheist, actually whispered a plea to Chen Yang's parents to bless her with an early birth of a Chen heir. Chen Yang, listening beside her, felt moved to the point of tears.

After finishing the rites for his parents and the Chen ancestors, Chen Yang then took Lin Wei to look at his new house.

The house was built superbly, almost exactly matching the design plans provided by Liu Shijie. Not only was Chen Yang satisfied, Lin Wei also liked it very much.

After viewing the new house, Chen Yang and Lin Wei, under the guidance of Chen Dalei, toured the vegetable greenhouse base in Chen Family Village.

Currently the base has planted cucumbers, tomatoes, string beans, eggplants, four‑season beans, celery and other vegetables designated by the People's Agricultural Products Trading Company. Some early‑maturing varieties have already begun to bear fruit, and their appearance is excellent. According to Lin Wei's estimate, at most half a month from now this batch can be officially harvested.

Seeing the people of Chen Family Village able to shake off the label of a poor village through their own hard work, Chen Yang still felt greatly relieved.

When leaving, Chen Yang gave Chen Dalei 20,000 yuan to distribute among the villagers who helped build the Chen family's houses.

According to Chen Chunmei's wishes, Chen Yang must hold a big banquet in the village to entertain those who helped build the houses. But the new house hasn't been renovated yet, nor has the house‑warming ceremony been performed; after careful consideration Chen Yang still decided to postpone arranging the banquet.

That 20,000 yuan counts as his token of gratitude to those villagers who pitched in.

After leaving Chen Family Village, Chen Yang made another trip to Panlong Town, where he consulted Zhou Zhengyang about the vegetable greenhouses and the cooperative pig‑raising situation.

Only after confirming that everything was developing well did he bring Lin Wei back to Qingshui City, satisfied.

"Husband, after seeing the results of the vegetable greenhouse bases in Chen Family Village and Panlong Town, I'm even more confident about the vegetable greenhouse plan for Shuanglong Town." Lin Wei's purpose in returning this time, besides accompanying Chen Yang to pay respects to his parents, was chiefly to check on the development of the vegetable greenhouses here.

With the People's Agricultural Products Trading Company guaranteeing sales, the vegetable greenhouse base need only focus on planting. And the situation in Chen Family Village shows that the current greenhouse planting technology is mature and can be scaled up for production.

Chen Yang reminded Lin Wei: "Success depends on heaven, planning on people. Whether things turn out well still hinges on people. Panlong Town's location is remote; to escape poverty they can rely only on their own hands. So when opportunity comes, they will strive to seize it. Shuangfeng Town lies close to Qingshui City, giving it more options than other poor areas. If we don't do proper ideological work, trying to achieve the same effect as Panlong Town will likely be difficult."

Lin Wei gave a slight nod. She of course understood what Chen Yang meant. In fact, during this period the biggest difficulties she's faced have been the pessimistic attitudes of some people in the town.

Some of those people want to get something for nothing, waiting for Chen Yang's company to demolish and collect high compensation; others can't endure hardship and just want to enjoy an easy life in the city.

Carrying out work in such an environment is truly miserable to the extreme.