Chapter 126: Cooperation

In the restaurant belonging to Tang Lingwu's family.

Zheng Fa, along with Tang Lingwu and her mother, were sitting at the table.

The dishes on the table were not abundant, nor did they look particularly exquisite; they were all ordinary home-cooked meals.

But Tang Lingwu looked at them with a bit of surprise: "Mom, you cooked today?"

Auntie Ye pressed her lips into a smile, glanced at Zheng Fa, and said: "Didn't I tell you? Today we must thank Classmate Zheng. Only when Mom cooks it herself is there sincerity!"

Perhaps it was to show intimacy, or perhaps there was also a thought of keeping things secret.

In the entire restaurant, there were only the three of them: Zheng Fa and the two women.

"Come! Eat the chicken wings!"

Auntie Ye reached out and moved a plate of cola chicken wings from in front of Tang Lingwu to Zheng Fa's right side, smiling as she said: "Lingwu loved this dish I made the most when she was little. You try it!"

Zheng Fa looked up and glanced at Tang Lingwu.

She was holding her chopsticks, her eyes fixed on the plate of chicken wings, her expression full of shock.

It was clear that she truly loved this chicken wing dish.

"And there are meatballs; Lingwu just loves the ones with lots of meat!"

"Our family didn't have this much money before, and when my health was still good, Lingwu loved the food I made. I raised her round and plump, but now that she's grown up, she's not as cute as before."

Listening to Auntie Ye's sigh.

Zheng Fa looked at the plate piled so high in front of him it could barely hold more, and fell silent.

Auntie, you remember so clearly what Tang Lingwu loved to eat when she was little; it sounds like a very deep mother-daughter bond.

But why don't you let Tang Lingwu eat it!

Didn't you see this girl, one moment moved, the next holding her chopsticks in mid-air for ages, yet not having eaten a single bite of her favorite dish?

Seemingly noticing Zheng Fa's gaze, Tang Lingwu pouted, didn't look at Zheng Fa, but simply picked up a stalk of Han Xiaobai from in front of herself and nibbled on it bit by bit, like a little hamster, her expression somewhat aggrieved, clearly not liking this dish much.

Zheng Fa gently pushed the chicken wings in front of himself over to in front of Tang Lingwu.

Tang Lingwu glanced with her beautiful eyes, her nose wrinkled slightly, she pressed her lips into a smile, picked up a piece of chicken wing, and began to gnaw on it.

Auntie Ye looked at Zheng Fa, then glanced at her own daughter, and the smile on her face became even more obvious.

After the simple meal was finished.

The housekeeper cleared away the leftover cups and cold food from the table, and the three of them, while drinking tea, began to discuss the main matter.

"I heard from Lingwu that you are planning to build a nursing home?"

When saying this, Auntie Ye's tone inevitably carried some doubt.

Obviously, the idea of a young man like Zheng Fa wanting to enter this industry was somewhat incomprehensible to her.

Zheng Fa looked at Tang Lingwu, not knowing what this girl had told her mother, and could only nod at Auntie Ye.

"I just wanted to ask..." Auntie Ye showed a bit of unease on her face: "Is there anything I can help with?"

No, why are you being so humble when you want to help?

"Regarding the nursing home, the main issue right now is the location." Zheng Fa thought for a moment and said: "I have some requirements regarding the terrain and topography."

"I see..." Auntie Ye glanced at Tang Lingwu; obviously this girl hadn't told her about this before. She thought for a while and said: "What are the specific requirements?"

"First, it is best to be closer to Jingcheng or other major cities."

This was not solely for the consideration of Zheng Fa attending university.

There was also the reason that major cities have more talent.

"Second, people need to go into the mountains to investigate some preliminary suitable locations."

"That's simple; I'll just hire a professional investigation team." Auntie Ye spoke up.

That was nothing, but Auntie Ye's next sentence made Zheng Fa a bit stunned:

"Location selection, permits, roads, construction—I can solve all of these for you."

"This..."

... Auntie, that's quite a big claim.

Even without knowing exactly how much money these things would cost.

It was definitely not a small sum.

Zheng Fa even believed that for Tang Lingwu's family, this would also be a considerable investment.

"Before, I went to the hospital for a checkup." As if seeing the surprise on Zheng Fa's face, Auntie Ye suddenly brought up another matter: "The doctor said my results were unbelievably good."

"..."

"I didn't believe it at the time, so I went to Jingcheng to get checked again."

Auntie Ye looked at Zheng Fa and said: "Everything is very good. I've had this illness for over ten years... I've only taken more and more medicine, and the checkup results have gotten worse day by day, never getting better."

"Auntie, what you mean is..."

"As long as you continue to treat me, whether you want to build a nursing home or build a palace in the mountains... I am willing to pay."

In Auntie Ye's eyes, there was a deep plea.

Zheng Fa still didn't quite believe it; he could understand Auntie Ye's eagerness to get cured.

But promising such a huge investment right off the bat—in his heart, it was actually unreasonable.

Rich people are just rich, not stupid, especially first-generation entrepreneurs like Tang Lingwu's parents who built their wealth with their own hands and feet—they wouldn't be stingy, but they wouldn't throw money around either.

Auntie Ye being so generous made Zheng Fa hesitate instead.

Auntie Ye seemed to see through Zheng Fa's distrust; she smiled and explained: "Do you know how Lingwu's father made his fortune?"

Zheng Fa shook his head.

Tang Lingwu also had a look of curiosity on her face; obviously she didn't know about these things before either.

"Back then, our family's business had just started; we could only say we had a small foundation." A look of nostalgia appeared on Auntie Ye's face: "At that time, there was an opportunity, but it required us to invest a lot of money."

"At that time, neither my husband nor I had enough money on hand; we had to go to the bank and borrow from various relatives and friends."

Auntie Ye glanced at the two of them and continued, "Back then, we hesitated too, unsure whether we should invest so much. If that project had failed, not only would our family have been ruined, but we would also have been burdened with debt."

"And then?" Tang Lingwu pressed.

"Later, Lingwu's father happened to meet a grandmaster from the south..."

"..."

"That grandmaster calculated his fortune and said this opportunity was the greatest fate of his life." Auntie Ye sighed, "So we made a bold decision then and invested all our money."

Zheng Fa didn't need to ask what happened next.

Just look at how prosperous Tang Lingwu's father, Tang Zhiqiang, is now.

"From that moment on, I knew there are extraordinary people in this world—meeting them is my blessing."

Auntie Ye said softly, looking at Zheng Fa.

Clearly, in her eyes, Zheng Fa was practically equivalent to a grandmaster.

After a long silence, Zheng Fa finally spoke: "Auntie Ye, you cannot believe in feudal superstition!"

Tang Lingwu stared at him for a long time, a question mark slowly rising on her face; her eyes said only one thing—You're a cultivator, yet you call this feudal superstition?

Zheng Fa was sincere.

Fortune-telling was something he had hardly heard of even in the Xuanwei Realm; of course, it might also be that his cultivation was too low to encounter such things.

But there isn't even spiritual qi in the modern world.

This thing sounded even less reliable.

"I understand, I understand; this matter should not be made public."

"It's really not..."

"Classmate Zheng, your massage technique... is too rough."

Auntie Ye's words left Zheng Fa in silence.

Seeing him fall silent, Auntie Ye smiled lightly and spoke frankly instead: "Of course, the reason I'm willing to invest so much is that I hope to cooperate with you in the future."

"Cooperate?"

"No matter what you used to cure me," Auntie Ye said with a light smile, "I only hope that in the future, when I have someone I want you to help treat, you will step forward. Of course, money is no problem."

Zheng Fa suddenly understood.

Auntie Ye had already spoken of helping build a nursing home, even implying she was willing to spare no cost.

She hadn't even mentioned taking shares—clearly, this was the reason.

As if she saw that Zheng Fa had figured it out, Auntie Ye said meaningfully, "Some people's fates cannot be measured by money."

After talking for a while, Zheng Fa and Auntie Ye agreed that an inspection team must first go and take a look.

As for how to build the nursing home and how to cooperate, those were matters for the future.

Xuanwei Realm.

On the eighth peak of Jiushan, Sun Daoyu was leading Zhou Qianyuan up the mountain.

"These past two days, the Sect Master has not been very happy."

Sun Daoyu said with a furrowed brow.

"Mm."

Zhou Qianyuan's somewhat distracted reply came.

Sun Daoyu turned back, looked at his junior brother, and sighed in his heart: There is another one who is even unhappier.

However, he did understand the knot in Zhou Shidi's heart.

Ultimately, it was because of recent events that Zhou Shidi and the Sect Master had grown estranged...

He even felt that Zhou Shidi's grievance was justified—he simply refrained from saying anything out of respect for the Sect Master.

Thinking of this, Sun Daoyu could only shake his head and look ahead.

"Eh? Isn't that Zheng Fa?"

Looking at a figure from behind on the mountain path, he said in surprise.