Chapter 489

Chen Xiaozheng's method of understanding Zheng Wei was very simple: silently following behind her. It couldn't be said to be stalking, just seeing what Zheng Wei's life routine was, and finding out why an ordinary small company leader could be so rich. He just hadn't started working yet and had plenty of time, but he didn't follow much, just observed for three days.

It was this three-day observation that made him despair. What did he see? Living in a detached, historic small villa, driving a luxury sports car worth over a million. And he also saw Li Weijuan. Although the house wasn't as good as Zheng Wei's, the car wasn't bad at all. Moreover, the key was that he saw Zheng Wei and Li Weijuan together, the two of them taking their children, who couldn't walk steadily yet and were swaying, for a walk in the park.

This shock, no matter who it was, couldn't bear it. Thinking of his efforts to succeed, and bearing the reputation of an ungrateful villain, thinking he could finally return to the country and find back his youth, but being hit by such a blow, he was unwilling.

He was also a smart person, and could clear up the relationships. Zheng Wei and Li Weijuan both had children, but at the reunion, they all said they were single. In reality, they were extremely inconsistent with their income, wearing big brands, living in big houses, and driving luxury cars. This situation could only be explained by being kept.

He wasn't familiar with Li Weijuan, but he knew she was aiming for rich people, so he wasn't surprised by such a choice. But he really couldn't understand why Zheng Wei was also like this.

He knew that Xu Kaiyang had pursued Zheng Wei before, including at the previous reunion. Although Xu Kaiyang spoke easily, he could feel that Xu Kaiyang hadn't really let go.

If Zheng Wei liked money, she wouldn't have refused Xu Kaiyang's pursuit back in university. If she needed money later, he also didn't believe she had to make such a choice. After all, Zheng Wei had a good reputation, and as long as she opened her mouth, there would be people to help. Not to mention others, Zhang Kai could completely solve the problem. Moreover, there were good sisters who were kept, so there was no need for her to go into the water herself.

After getting drunk once, recovering for two days, and digesting the status quo that made him despair, he summoned the courage to take out his phone, flipped out the phone number exchanged at the last reunion, and dialed it...

In a coffee shop with elegant European-style decoration, classical piano music echoed. Someone was sitting alone by the window, flipping through a book in her hand, drinking coffee from time to time, finding quiet in the noise, standing out from the crowd. She looked quite good, and her clothes were quite bright, so overall she was quite eye-catching.

Zheng Wei looked at the pretentious appearance outside, and couldn't help but feel numb. No matter what the woman's thoughts were or what her purpose was, she couldn't stand this kind of pretentious behavior.

She waved at Chen Xiaozheng at another table behind the woman, accelerated her pace into the coffee shop, and greeted the clerk at the door: "A glass of orange juice, at that table."

After finishing, she walked a few steps to the table where Chen Xiaozheng was, sat down opposite him: "So mysterious, what's the matter with finding me?"

Chen Xiaozheng smiled: "Nothing much, just strolling in Shanghai, remembering you were here, and since I happened to be off today, I found you to come out and talk."

"You're just idle." Zheng Wei thanked the waiter who brought the juice, took a sip, and said: "If you're not busy, go stroll by the Huangpu River. If there's nothing else, I'm leaving."

She wasn't very familiar with Chen Xiaozheng to begin with, and only said a few words at the reunion. Suddenly calling her to drink coffee and not saying what it was about, it was already good that she came. It was also because she happened to be taking her son swimming here with Li Weijuan that she came to see him.

"We're classmates after all, no need to be so distant."

"You have indeed changed a lot now. I remember you used to have a stinky face all day long, as if everyone owed you money." Zheng Wei shook her head: "But I really have something to do. If you have something to say, say it quickly, otherwise let's make an appointment another time."

Chen Xiaozheng sighed and smiled bitterly: "Actually, I'm looking for you today because I want to tell you about my heart."

"No, no, stop, stop. Are you dizzy? If you're looking for me to help, I'll definitely help if I can, for the sake of being classmates. But you have something on your mind, and it has nothing to do with me? And you haven't been drinking?"

Looking at Zheng Wei's 'don't joke with me' expression, Chen Xiaozheng shook his head and sighed again. He looked into Zheng Wei's eyes: "Actually... I like you."

This was too sudden. Zheng Wei widened her eyes in disbelief, stretched out her finger to point at Chen Xiaozheng, and then pointed at herself: "Did I hear that right? You said you like me? Are you crazy or am I crazy? Big brother, we're all pushing thirty, can we not make this kind of joke?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Chen Xiaozheng shook his head: "Actually, from the moment you moved my model, and later spilled my rice, making me lose face in front of so many people, I actually hated you very much at that time. Of course, I think you should have felt the same way about me. But later, when you came to our dormitory to play cards with Zhang Kai and Xu Kaiyang, little by little, I discovered that you had a special kind of happiness. You could play with anyone, laughing and joking, heartless, and I felt the sunshine in you. That's exactly what I was missing, and what I was yearning for. Later..."

After listening to Chen Xiaozheng's journey of heart over these years, Zheng Wei's eyes were only surprised. She didn't expect that she would harvest a secret admirer without knowing it. At this moment, she couldn't help but curse Old Wang in her heart. That bastard didn't take her seriously, and she was the one who sent herself to his door.

She also sighed, just about to open her mouth to tactfully refuse, but saw Chen Xiaozheng waving his hand: "You don't have to say anything, I know it all. I'm looking for you today just to say these things, to let you know this happened, to let you know I like you. If I don't say it, I'll suffocate."

"I understand you." Zheng Wei nodded with a smile, drinking juice: "Didn't I confess to the Wang guy in front of your dormitory building in public back then? It takes courage to say you like someone, it's just that you liked the wrong person."

"I don't even know when I started liking you, so where is there any right or wrong?" Chen Xiaozheng pondered for a moment, leaning forward: "I don't understand one thing, I hope you can enlighten me."

"Let's hear it."

"I saw your child, and you're not married. I know you're not someone who values money, so... why do you want to belittle yourself like this?"

Zheng Wei was stunned for a moment, raising her eyebrows: "Following me?"

"Doing this is indeed wrong, but I just wanted to know how you are doing. Actually, I came to Shanghai a week ago. I didn't look for you immediately because you and Ruan Guan were vague before, and you were dressed so richly, so I was a bit suspicious, you can understand, right?"

"Of course I understand. The fact is just as you see it. You're right, I'm just cheap, but I don't regret it." Zheng Wei had no interest in explaining more to him, because it was really unnecessary. She drank the juice in the cup: "That's it, I have something to do, I wish you find your other half soon. I'm leaving, bye-bye."

After saying that, she got up and left decisively. After leaving the coffee shop, she walked for a while, found the car she had deliberately parked far away, started the car, and drove away.

"Should have just driven over..." She muttered to herself, adjusting the volume of the music in the car, shaking her head and singing along.

Chen Xiaozheng sat there blankly, looking at the traffic outside the window.

Although he had already released himself for two days before, when he really saw Zheng Wei's eyes without any fluctuation and her attitude of not wanting to say more, his heart still hurt very much.

Because the shadow that disappeared because of him was his youth.

What he hurt for wasn't that he couldn't be with Zheng Wei, because there was no emotional foundation to begin with, and he had already thought about these things before returning to the country. What he hurt for was that the girl he had secretly loved for many years and admired so much had now become a mistress of unknown rank who was kept by a rich man and gave birth to a child without a name.

It was far from the beautiful imagination in his heart, ruining the simple, lively, and beautiful image in his heart. This was the key to his inability to let go.

Does he regret all the choices he made until now? He couldn't help but ask in his heart.

Regret, but also not regret! He answered himself like this.

In fact, until now, everything he did had nothing to do with Zheng Wei. He went abroad for a good future, and gave up Zeng Yu because he didn't want to himself, the so-called no feeling. He returned to the country because China's development was advancing by leaps and bounds, and this sea turtle qualification was good for making money.

He was just feeling sad for his lost youth...

There was one more sad person in the world. Although the reason was Zheng Wei, she didn't feel it had anything to do with her. To use someone's shameless words, if you want to blame someone, blame her for being excellent, making Chen Yongzheng unable to forget her. It was all her excellence's fault.

Driving for only seven or eight minutes, she arrived at a children's playground, where there was a swimming pool for infants and toddlers, which was very professional. When she arrived, Li Weijuan was carrying a bag, holding her arms, standing on the side of the field, while communicating with other parents about parenting, while waving at her two sons in the field from time to time, cheering for them.

Seeing Zheng Wei come over, she greeted another woman, walked a few steps to the side, and waited until Zheng Wei was close before asking: "What's the matter with Chen Xiaozheng looking for you?"

"Nothing much, just told me he likes me."

"Oh... what?" Li Weijuan turned to look at Zheng Wei: "Really or fake? You two didn't have any intersection after the misunderstanding at the beginning, right? How did he suddenly like you?"

"Then why can't he like me? I am so naturally beautiful, beautiful and moving, soul-stirring, ruining the country and the people..." Zheng Wei affirmed herself with a smile, waved her hand and said: "It's like Old Wang, didn't you say you had a good impression of that bastard from the beginning? Even if he didn't have money, you had a good impression, it's just that you might not have been with him. Me too, didn't you say I confessed to him in front of so many people in the boys' dormitory building back then? You said how did I like him? I don't know either. After all, before that, we were at odds with each other, so that was liking? Changing to Chen Xiaozheng liking me, it's the same, nothing strange. He told me when I was playing cards in their dormitory..."

Listening to her tell the cause and effect, Li Weijuan was sarcastic: "Oh my, our Miss Zheng really has charm. You said how many years have passed since graduation, and suddenly a secret admirer popped up. Good guy, and he's a sea turtle. Can't compare, can't compare."

"That's it." Zheng Wei hummed, frowning: "But finally Chen Xiaozheng asked me why I belittled myself so much..."

"He knows?"

"Said he found out I didn't tell the truth at the reunion, and followed me for a few days after arriving in Shanghai. Seeing I have a house, a car, and a child, and didn't spread the news of marriage, so he knew. But I didn't tell him much, just said I was cheap, and then left. You said... do we need to tell Old Wang about this?"

Li Weijuan shook her head: "No need, don't you know him? What if you say it? What if you don't? Unless we really wore a green hat for him, otherwise he wouldn't care. This kind of thing is so normal. You haven't had fewer pursuers over the years. The difference is that this time it's just an old classmate like Chen Xiaozheng. Think about it, in Old Wang's eyes, what's the difference between Chen Xiaozheng and those other pursuers?

As for Chen Xiaozheng spreading your business, I think it's unlikely, because he doesn't need to do that. Even if he is really that disgusting, it's no big deal. It will be in time to tell Old Wang then. So I said, no need to mention this to Old Wang, he doesn't care at all."

Zheng Wei thought for a moment: "Hmm, you're right, then don't tell him, it's no big deal."

"But he followed you, this person is really not very good."

"Actually, it's okay. After all, our statement really doesn't make sense. He has the heart to investigate, isn't that the way? If he didn't follow, he would spend money to find someone else to follow. No bad intentions, no intersection in the future, just let it be."

Li Weijuan rolled her eyes, too lazy to pay attention to her...

In Jin Ling, on the sixth floor of a villa in Future City, Jianye District, in a large living room, two people were drinking beside a large solid wood tea table. One was a sad person, and the other was also a sad person.

Zhang Kai looked at Chen Xiaozheng who was drinking silently: "Is this trip to Shanghai not smooth?"

"Aren't you the same?"

"Hmm?" Zhang Kai didn't understand: "How did you see that?"

"People who are falling in the same world have induction." Chen Xiaozheng pouted: "And you were just stunned for a long time, and it didn't look like it went smoothly. Did your crow's mouth hit it?"

"What do you mean I'm a crow's mouth? Isn't that a reasonable analysis?" Zhang Kai was stunned for a moment, then reacted: "You said I'm a crow's mouth, you mean, Zheng Wei is also with a rich man?"

"The child is already over two years old, and Li Weijuan is the same. Their children seem to be about the same age." Chen Xiaozheng sighed, drank two taels of wine in one gulp, bared his teeth and grimaced, exhaled a long breath, and clamped peanuts to drink: "How is Ruan Guan?"

Zhang Kai also drank a large gulp of wine: "The child is already over three years old."

"Didn't you ask whose child it was when you were there? Don't you think it's too coincidental?"

"What about you? Why didn't you ask?"

"You are friends with Ruan Guan, and your relationship used to be good. I have never been friends with Zheng Wei, so where can I ask?"

"Did you tell her you like her?"

Chen Xiaozheng nodded: "Said it, if I don't say it, I'll be suffocated for a lifetime. Actually, it's not that I didn't ask her. At that time, I said I didn't understand why she belittled herself so much, she said she was cheap, and then picked up her bag and left. She actually hasn't changed much, still the same personality."

By now, Zhang Kai already understood, or rather, he had a great grasp of the feeling that Ruan Guan followed Wang Yan, and Zheng Wei and Li Weijuan also followed Wang Yan. If his guess was correct, Zhu Xiao Bei also followed Wang Yan.

Counting Shi Jie, that's five women, four of whom were in the same dormitory, amazing...

He couldn't figure out how Wang Yan did it. He didn't know about Shi Jie, but he had some understanding of Ruan Guan, Zheng Wei, and others. If everything was true, he really couldn't imagine how Wang Yan, who always had a warm smile, could make five women get along harmoniously. After all, at the previous reunion, he still remembered that the appearance of Ruan Guan and the four of them didn't look like they were pretending, and there was no feeling of acting or showing off.

Really awesome.

Thinking about it this way, he felt much better about Ruan Guan being ruined by Wang Yan, the means were really too high...

He shook his head, raised his wine glass and said: "Okay, A-Zheng, don't talk about those, talk about something happy. You've been resting for more than two months, it's time to work, what are your plans for the next step?"

"Go to Beijing, I've already contacted my friends." Chen Xiaozheng looked at the layout of the room: "This house is built by Future Real Estate, I know it's from Wang Yan's hand. Is this decoration done by yourself?"

Zhang Kai smiled and said: "No, this was a model room at the beginning. You also know that Future Real Estate has a Future Design Institute, they also take on interior decoration design work, and have their own decoration material brand, focusing on mid-to-high-end. Everything in this house, from hard decoration to soft decoration, is from Future Real Estate, and the design was done by Old Wang himself. After the villas were sold out, he gave me this house, not bad, right?"

"Not just not bad. Wang Yan is now the youngest architectural master in China, the house he designed himself, the decoration he designed himself, plus the good reputation of Future Real Estate now. If I remember correctly, the average housing price in Jin Ling is over 3,000, and Long Teng's houses are higher than the average, it must be over 4,000. Plus the decoration designed by Wang Yan himself, and the decoration cost, it must be at least 7,000. This house must be 150 square meters, right? That's over a million. Wang Yan is really generous."

"You're not wrong to calculate it that way, but when he gave it to me, it was 2001, and this house was built by their company, all at cost price."

"I'm just asking if it can be sold for a million?"

Zhang Kai laughed and nodded: "Then you're not wrong, it can indeed be sold, he has always been generous."

Excitement is temporary, sadness is long-lasting. Some pain can only be taken away by time. The two people's laughter didn't last long, talking about happy things, but they became unhappy as they talked, drinking dull wine opposite each other, chatting about the past. I don't know when, they fell asleep on the carpet...

Their sadness, they thought only they understood, but in fact they were wrong, because Wang Yan, the culprit, also understood, after all, he had always been very empathetic and very good at putting himself in others' shoes.

Ruan Guan told him about Zhang Kai's matter, and although Zheng Wei didn't tell him about her matter, he knew when Chen Xiaozheng followed Zheng Wei. After all, they were his women, so he would pay attention to safety. Especially this time, his mission was that Ruan Guan didn't want to die, and he had always treated everyone equally, so he protected everyone.

He really didn't care, and there was nothing to care about. Youth is full of regrets, life is full of such imperfections, no one can control it, just let them be sad...

The sadness of these two people was just an interlude in life, but it seemed to mark the end of their youth. From then on, their youth could only be nostalgia.

Wang Yan's days were still lived like that, thirty days a month, twenty days in Jin Ling, ten days in Shanghai. As time passed, the five women grew older, and they reached the time when they were like wolves and tigers, and they also had that mature charm more and more. Too small is not good, too big is not good, too fat is not good, too thin is not good, it's just the right time. Although it didn't make him addicted, he was also enjoying it.

His business was still developing smoothly, still the same set of tricks that he had tried and tested, harvesting world wealth with strengthening pills, feeding back the research of various high-tech technologies, and constantly advancing the technology he mastered. Because he had an infinitely large hard drive in his hand, no matter if it was useful or useless, as long as it had technical content, he would stuff it in if he could get his hands on it, not knowing when it would be used.

Of course, he had always been cautious, and various technologies weren't just saved on the hard drive. He would still occasionally flip through those detailed materials with complete data, not rote memorization as before, but to know roughly what was going on. It was important to be able to guide scientific research. After all, even if he had detailed materials, in any world, it was impossible to take out a whole set of mature technologies.

External force is ultimately external force. He had been mixing for hundreds of years, and indeed the living father sent him to various worlds, but he relied on himself to make a name for himself in various worlds. His abilities, except for a few language skills sent at the beginning, were all learned and practiced bit by bit from nothing, from not knowing to knowing, and from being desperate. So compared to relying on the hard drive, he believed in himself more.

The Long Teng headquarters, which poured a considerable part of his energy into this world, started construction in 1999, and after twelve and a half years, it was officially announced to be completed at the end of 2011. This time, compared to the originally expected ten years, it took two and a half years more, and the corresponding 50 billion budget was not enough. In the end, it cost a total of 65 billion, the highest in the world.

So much money, of course, was not spent in vain. Good-looking was just its most basic viewing function. The entire architectural form was a collection of Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing, as well as his two Wang dynasties, supplemented by modern building materials. Of course, those who didn't understand, looking at it, the feeling wasn't much worse than the Forbidden City, it was just more modern than the Forbidden City. But those who understood knew how high Wang Mouren's attainments in ancient architecture were.

Long Teng was playing with high technology after all, so the headquarters spent so much manpower and material resources, of course, not in vain. Things like energy saving and environmental protection were also considered at the beginning of construction. Even many technologies were developed for this purpose.

It wasn't just Wang Yan who was satisfied, the Jin Ling government was also satisfied. Although it didn't lack the thickness of historical condensation, and it didn't lack the so-called city business card, the Long Teng headquarters, a great work of Chinese architecture that shocked the world, was undoubtedly different. The national government was also satisfied, because this was a good thing done by a private enterprise. On the one hand, 65 billion was thrown down, and the improvement of various indicators could not be ignored. On the other hand, such architecture also made an indelible contribution to promoting Chinese culture.

It was a happy thing for everyone.

The money thrown into the building could not be recovered in this life, but the maintenance money could still be earned. So Wang Yan instructed the headquarters to start selling tickets for tourists to visit.

With so many pavilions, so many large gardens, and even a zoo, if you wanted to see it all, just by walking, you wouldn't be able to see it all in ten days or half a month.

Many people were also curious and wanted to see what happened to the things built with so much money. Generally, those who came to Jin Ling for tourism had to visit this station, and many local people in Jin Ling also wanted to see it when they were free. So the tickets sold quite well, and there was no big problem with daily operation and maintenance.

Although after spending 65 billion, other construction projects were indeed much worse, Wang Yan's enthusiasm for architecture did not fade, and he found fun in it.

It was impossible for him to spend hundreds of billions to engage in a building again. It wasn't that he didn't have money, but the construction period was not good. He probably wouldn't be able to see it. Spending money without seeing results was boring, so he began to focus on designing residential projects.

Future Real Estate had only one residential project in each city, and the name of this project was all called Future City. Every Future City had supporting various infrastructure, which was their advantage.

Previous projects were designed by subordinates, and he made suggestions. Now he really began to return to modern residential construction, enjoying himself...

Zhang Kai was of course doing very well. That website was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2004. It was okay when it opened, it was a normal increase, no sharp rise, and no break. Also taking advantage of this, after multiple rounds of financing dilution, Zhang Kai, who only had 3% of the shares left, completely became a rich man with hundreds of millions.

It was also this year that Zhang Kai, who was proud of his life, successfully found his other half. It was a young and beautiful girl, and she gave birth to a fat boy the following year. Zhang Kai could be considered to have seen through it, and he walked a lot of daily business.

Chen Xiaozheng, who was also a sad person like Zhang Kai, was also doing well. He opened a design firm in Beijing, and little by little it became a design institute, not lacking money. He didn't get married, but had many female friends.

Everyone was quite good, and could be considered successful people.

Time is sand that cannot be held in the hand, and in a blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve in 2020.

At the Long Teng headquarters, a three-story ancient building by the river was specially built by Wang Yan as his residence. At this moment, the ancient building was full of laughter.

The children were all in university now, all over the world. They of course knew it was wrong for their father to be like this, but from childhood to adulthood, and their intimacy with the other mothers, they really couldn't get angry. They condemned what should be condemned, expressed dissatisfaction what should be expressed, and indeed took the beating that should be taken, so they accepted it quite well.

The five boys each held a mobile phone manufactured by their own home, sitting in a row on the sofa playing games developed by their own home, shouting and calling for attacks, or blaming each other. The youngest girl was watching her brothers play behind the sofa, anxious with them. No way, she was too weak, and redundant. Although she was unconvinced, she was helpless, she was obviously no match for her five brothers.

Whenever this happened, she couldn't help but think, why didn't her father give birth to four more? To keep her company.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but raise her head, looking at her father who was busy in the kitchen with her own mother and four aunts wearing aprons.

Wang Yan nimbly rolled dumpling skins with a rolling pin on the panel, and the five women including Shi Jie were wrapping dumplings on the side. There were many people, and their tastes were not unified, so there were several fillings.

Li Weijuan sighed: "Speaking of which, after so many years, this is the second time our family has spent the New Year together, right?"

Zheng Wei took the conversation: "Isn't it? In previous years, we all took the children back to our hometowns to be scolded. I don't know what he was thinking this year, calling us all over again."

She had such a big child, and Wang Yan only showed up twice in these years. Although he didn't lack money, her father was always uncomfortable, and would always scold a few words after drinking. The sisters were all about the same, and they were used to it.

Wang Yan smiled: "It's nothing to think about, just felt it was time to spend a New Year together, so I called you all together."

He didn't spend the New Year together before because he found it annoying. Five women, six children, buzzing and annoying. Now calling them together was because he was leaving, so he wanted to see the women and children one last time.

Shi Jie interjected: "Actually, it's quite good to spend the New Year together, it's lively."

Ruan Guan shook her head on the side: "It's good, but it's only okay occasionally. If it were like this every year, it wouldn't work for the parents."

At this time, Wang Yan didn't speak. Whenever the five women got together, he tried to speak as little as possible, otherwise if it wasn't good, it would be these five women counting him together. Then those little cubs would sometimes join in the fun, and it would be a family criticism meeting...

Having spent more than twenty years together, they were as familiar as could be. Wang Yan didn't have many words to say to the women and children, he just wanted to see them.

About to leave, his mood was still without sorrow or joy, and his face still had that warm smile. Having experienced so much, he had long been numb by now.

Of course, people are not grass and trees, it's impossible to be truly heartless. There was still a little feeling, but that feeling couldn't stir up the slightest ripple in his heart.

The children played games for a while, and their grandparents' video calls came one after another. The elderly spent the New Year at home, missing their daughters and grandchildren, always feeling something was missing. Mobile video was convenient, so they poked to see what the family was doing, and by the way, looked at the unlucky son-in-law and listened to a few auspicious words.

After hanging up the phone, it was inevitable to start condemning Wang Yan. Over the past twenty years, the true reunion experienced by each woman and child was only three or four times. Wang Yan, the master of balancing, specially arranged a schedule, visiting one family a year...

Outside the large floor-to-ceiling window was the Yangtze River flowing eastward, and inside was the lively criticism meeting that Wang Yan couldn't escape after all...