Chapter 744

Old man, this is home, not your unit—can't you be nicer to Chen Yang?

That brat got my daughter pregnant without my consent. Back in my youth, not shooting him would already be merciful.

Heh, if your daughter didn't agree, what could Chen Yang do? Don't forget what happened to Yun Chuan back then.

Hmph, don't bring this up with me. Old Zhu went so far as to add this villa as a dowry just to bring our Min Min into the family. And how did our daughter treat Yun Chuan? Such an honest kid, yet she was driven to haunt red-light districts. I've been too ashamed to go drink with Old Zhu for years.

Old man, that's all in the past—why bring it up? I've already had Min Min repay the villa's cost at market price to the Zhu family. The suppliers for Chen Yang's real‑estate projects in Goat City and Magic Capital also paid the Zhu family. All things considered, we haven't shortchanged them, have we?

And what about Ning Yatou? How are you going to explain this to your second brother's wife?

Explain what? That engagement was severed by your second brother's wife herself, and Ning Yatou didn't object back then. Now you regret it and want the pregnant Min Min to back out? Do you think that's reasonable?

... Then why are they still running over to Ning Yatou's place late at night? Isn't that just asking for trouble for your second brother's wife?

I don't know about that. Young people's affairs—let them sort it out. Besides, I'm still pleased with Chen Yang as my son‑in‑law.

Hmph, if things blow up later, you go explain it to the old master yourself.

Explain what? I'd like the old master to explain Ning Yatou's sneaky trip to Star City too. Do you think he'll give me an explanation?

……

Lingering Fragrance Pavilion—Chen Yang stood outside the gate, hesitating for a long time, unable to step forward. This made Chu Min, who was accompanying him, a little impatient.

Honey, what are you afraid of? It's not a dragon's pool or tiger's den—worst case, you just lose your virtue once. As a man, you can't lose either way.

Chen Yang gave Chu Min an irritated glare and said, 'Honey, is that really what a normal wife would say? If I lost my virtue, I'd be giving you a green hat—could you tolerate that?'

Chu Min rolled her eyes. 'That's just a possibility; the odds are practically zero. But if you keep standing here catching a chill, I'm worried our baby won't be able to take it.'

Hearing that, Chen Yang resignedly walked into Lingering Fragrance Pavilion.

Today Lingering Fragrance Pavilion had no customers; aside from the staff, only Chu Ning and Luosen were seated inside.

Actually, this meetup was initiated by Luosen. He said he wanted to discuss the development of the Commoners Commercial Building again.

'Old Luo, why did you call us out so late? Is there something important?' Chen Yang asked Luosen directly, without even looking at Chu Ning.

Luosen gestured to Chu Ning beside him, gave a wry smile, and said, 'This was Chu Ning's idea—you should talk to her about it!'

Chen Yang frowned slightly, looked at Chu Ning with suspicion, and asked, 'Are you having second thoughts? Do you want to take back that plot of land?'

Chu Ning replied expressionlessly, 'The land's already sold to you, I've taken the money—I definitely won't take it back. I had Luosen invite you out because I want to join this project and find something to do.'

Chen Yang didn't answer right away; instead, he glanced sideways at Chu Min beside him.

She replied, 'Why are you looking at me? I have no interest in meddling in work matters.'

Chen Yang sighed, looked at Chu Ning with doubt, and said, 'You're not short of money—you could easily run a project on your own. Why work for me?'

Chu Ning said calmly, 'I just want to keep myself busy for a while—I didn't say I'd keep doing it forever. Working for you, I can leave anytime with no strings attached. If I did it myself, profit aside, I'd still have to deal with a heap of hassles. I find that annoying.'

Chen Yang was still a bit hesitant, so he tossed the decision back to Chu Min: "Honey, what do you think?"

Chu Min readily said: "As long as Chu Ning is happy, I have no problem."

Seeing Chu Min not object, Chen Yang also felt embarrassed to refuse again. After all, he knew all too well what Chu Ning was like when she went berserk.

He said to Chu Ning: "Since you insist on joining this project, just be Luo's assistant!"

Chu Ning shook her head upon hearing that: "No, I want to be the head of the Old Hundreds Financial Investment Company's Yangcheng District. Besides the Financial Tower project, I want to be involved in the other projects as well."

Chen Yang immediately felt a headache upon hearing that. In the past, Chu Ning could just take charge of whatever she wanted; as long as he pulled the strings behind the scenes, nothing major would usually happen.

Now he is Chu Min's husband. If he were to constantly contact Chu Ning for work, even if Chu Min had no objections, getting past her parents would be tough!

Seeing Chen Yang's hesitation, Chu Ning displeased said: "What are you afraid of? Do you think I'd deliberately screw you over?"

Chen Yang thought: If you really screwed me over, things would actually be simple. I'm just afraid you'll do too well, making our ties harder to untangle later. Then I truly wouldn't know how to stand my ground in the Chu Family.

However, at this moment Chen Yang had no better option; he could only agree for now.

Anyway, his work focus is currently in Modu and Xingcheng, and he might go to the capital in the future. As long as he doesn't frequently come to Yangcheng to meet Chu Ning, there will eventually be a day to resolve the issue.

Since Chu Ning is being put in charge of investment work in Yangcheng District, besides the Old Hundreds Financial Tower, Chen Yang also briefly introduced her to the Panyu District real estate project, the electronics factory project, the Old Hundreds e-commerce city, and the several cold storage warehouses scattered across Yangcheng's districts.

Since these projects were originally overseen by Ouyang Sheng, Chen Yang also made a special call to him, telling him to prepare well so he could hand over the details to Chu Ning the next day.

Afterward, Luosen suggested having a drink to celebrate. Chen Yang, hearing that, refused without hesitation. Given his low tolerance for alcohol, if he got drunk again he would surely cause another big mess.

Moreover, the longer he stayed at Lingering Fragrance Pavilion, the deeper the Chu Family elders' suspicions of him became.

Two days later, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Old Hundreds Financial Tower in Yangcheng's Zhujiang New Town officially commenced. What surprised Chen Yang was that the municipal official tasked with speaking at the ceremony turned out to be Lin Wei's uncle.

However, throughout the process, aside from a brief handshake during media interviews, the two had little interaction.

By contrast, as the head of the Old Hundreds Agricultural Products Trading Company's Yangcheng District, Ouyang Sheng got along quite well with that deputy mayor.

Chen Yang didn't mind that. After all, Ouyang Sheng had no background in Yangcheng; to carve out a niche there, he had to rely on Deputy Mayor Hu's influence.

The tension between him and Deputy Mayor Hu actually stemmed from Elder Hu's prejudice. Once Hu Qingwan intervened, the other side took no further action.

Otherwise, Ouyang Sheng's work here could not have gone so smoothly.