Chapter 371

The two of them played at being a family, affectionately fooling around, while their two mothers chatted in the kitchen as they cooked.

They talked about everyday things—what they usually did, their hobbies—typical middle-aged women's topics; Xu Liyun merely listened and murmured occasional agreement, saying little.

She had never engaged with most of Liu Xiaoli's hobbies or daily activities, for they belonged to different strata; if not for her son's success, she and Liu Xiaoli would have been from two entirely different worlds.

Soon the meal was ready—a full table—and the four sat down to eat, Fang Hong beside his mother; Liu Tianxian beside her mother.

This was the first time the two families had sat together for a meal.

Liu Xiaoli held her rice bowl and asked, "Xiao Fang, is your company busy?"

"Very busy. Lately I've been handling organizational restructuring—I'm feeling overwhelmed." Fang Hong spoke honestly.

After all, he had never managed a company on Chang'e Technology's scale; a billion-dollar enterprise differs fundamentally from a ten-billion-dollar one.

For something like Yutu, just delivering quality content suffices, and someone like Chen Zhixi could manage it—but Chang'e Technology is entirely different.

He had to consider many things, many he'd never encountered, things that shattered his understanding.

He couldn't fathom how novel protagonists, after reincarnation, could so effortlessly manage colossal corporations without collapse.

"Oh? Are you running into difficulties?" Liu Xiaoli asked, puzzled.

"Not exactly difficulties—it's hard to explain." Fang Hong couldn't clarify; he could only slowly explore and grow.

"His other company is different from his previous one—he doesn't understand many things."

Liu Tianxian told her mother, then turned to Fang Hong: "Don't worry. A leader doesn't need to understand everything—just hire people who do and let them work."

"Xixi's right. A leader is like the sun—shine down and let others work. No need to understand everything."

Liu Xiaoli encouraged him again: "Whenever you both have time, go to Wuhan and meet Xixi's father."

So that was it. Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian exchanged glances, each reading the other's thoughts.

Xu Liyun also knew this signaled an impending good omen and added, "Perfect—why not have them return to their hometown to pay respects to Honghong's father too?"

"That works. Do both at once. Let us know when you're free." Liu Xiaoli agreed.

This was a ritual to inform deceased elders of the marriage—essentially bringing the bride to "show" them, so they might know in the afterlife.

It was also a custom!

Fang Hong was getting married, but his father didn't know who the bride was—how could he explain that? Even burning paper money required his father to know, roughly speaking.

Listening to their planning, Liu Tianxian stayed silent, turning into a shy, obedient girl quietly eating her rice; once these rituals were done, she would soon become a wife.

She felt anticipation, yet also uncertainty—what exactly was being a wife like? Could she handle it?

She began to daydream.

"I'm fine with anything—just follow Tianxian's schedule." Fang Hong had freedom; taking ten or even fifteen days posed no problem.

Everyone turned to look at Liu Tianxian, who was staring blankly.

"Hey, what do you say?" Liu Xiaoli nudged her daughter's arm.

"I—I'm pretty busy these two months—I've got ads to shoot and events to attend, all already scheduled." Liu Tianxian's cheeks flushed slightly.

She was a celebrity, with many appointments; these two months were the peak season for celebrity commercial activities.

She added, "After two months, I'll be less busy and can free up time."

"Funny—I'm also busy these two months. My company has a pile of work too. I'll probably be free around then." Fang Hong changed his tune.

Just moments ago he'd said he didn't care; now that Liu Tianxian said she was busy, he suddenly claimed he was too.

Clearly, he was entirely aligning with Liu Tianxian's schedule—when she was free, he was free; when she wasn't, he wasn't.

"Then you two figure it out yourselves. Just let us know once you've decided." Liu Xiaoli didn't press them, letting them choose when to go.

This was just a formality—informing relatives and friends—not especially important.

Over this meal, they'd only discussed the two of them; after eating, Fang Hong and Xu Liyun prepared to leave.

"Li Yun, when you're free, come have afternoon tea with us," Liu Xiaoli saw them to the door.

"Sure! You can come visit me too," Xu Liyun invited.

"I definitely will," Liu Xiaoli saw her off to the car.

The way they addressed each other—using full names was fine, but calling each other "sister" by taking one character gave the impression they were still young, like sisters.

Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian exchanged glances, their eyes filled with affection, yet neither spoke.

"Go home now, we're leaving," Xu Liyun said from inside the car, waving to the mother and daughter.

Fang Hong got into the driver's seat.

"Aunt Xu, drive carefully," Liu Tianxian said, concerned.

Xu Liyun nodded, signaling: "Go back!"

The car started, slowly pulling away from the Villa; only when it vanished from sight did the mother and daughter go inside.

"Your mother-in-law has a nice personality," Liu Xiaoli mused. She was gentle, not domineering—her daughter wouldn't suffer.

Someone like that—if conflict arose—Liu Tianxian's fiery nature would quickly cool.

"Right? I told you she had a great personality," Liu Tianxian smiled.

"With your fiery temper, you'll need to tone it down after marriage," Liu Xiaoli warned. "What? What's wrong with me? I'm fine—they all like me!" Liu Tianxian immediately pouted.

"Look at you—never tidy up at home, always sleeping in—who could put up with that?" Liu Xiaoli scolded.

"Only you can't stand it—everyone else can," Liu Tianxian stuck out her lip, refused to argue further, and ran back inside.

How could a mother speak like that to her own daughter?

Liu Xiaoli didn't chase after her; she'd just spoken casually, not seriously.

All parents do this—they always try to knock their children down a peg.

The next day at noon, Fang Hong returned to Liu Tianxian's home and found Liu Xiaoli tending her garden, spotting him.

"Xiao Fang, here to pick up Xixi?" Liu Xiaoli, wearing a straw hat and crouching, glanced back.

"She's off for two days, so I thought I'd take her out for a little trip."

Fang Hong walked closer and said, "What are you doing?"

"Planting. Perfect timing—come help me plant these seeds." Liu Xiaoli used a small trowel to dig a little hole, gesturing for him to drop the seeds from the small pot beside her into it.

"How many?" Fang Hong crouched down.

"Just one will do." Liu Xiaoli said.

Fang Hong took one black seed and dropped it into the little dirt hole; Liu Xiaoli smoothly buried that seed.

Liu Xiaoli dug another little hole and chatted, "Do you usually grow things at home?"

"I don't. That's something for people your age. Our age should be the age of striving." Fang Hong dropped another seed as he spoke.

"You need to balance work and rest. Don't push yourself too hard—relax when it's time to relax." Liu Xiaoli dug at the dirt hole.

Fang Hong tossed a seed and said, "What you say makes sense. I should learn from you."

"Hehehe, what is there to learn from me! I was just saying." Liu Xiaoli laughed. She had her own knots in her heart too.

This boy sure had a sweet mouth in front of her.

"Learn from how you conduct yourself. I think you're especially open-minded—you see things clearly, see through them, and you've raised Xixi so well. You're the model I want to learn from." Fang Hong said.

"That's enough, enough. Between you and me we don't need these empty, flattering pleasantries. Just chat normally."

Liu Xiaoli felt he was kissing up, and added, "Oh right, you also have a company—what does it do?"

She'd heard about it before but never asked what it did.

"It's a tech company." Fang Hong nodded.

Hearing this, Liu Xiaoli was quite surprised. This Jade Rabbit was still growing, yet he'd already set up another big operation—quite some drive. No wonder he kept saying he was busy all day.

"Not easy to run, is it?" Liu Xiaoli had heard the night before that it wasn't easy.

"Yes. I always feel there are so many difficulties, feel my abilities aren't enough." Fang Hong didn't hide it.

He really did feel that way. Jade Rabbit was fine—just that small an operation. But Chang'e Technology gave him a feeling of not knowing what to do, not knowing where to start.

His old idea had been: keep adding sectors, make every sector strong, and he'd achieve his goal.

He realized that idea wasn't realistic—because how to make them strong? That was the hard part.

"Hard to lead, can't attract talent, can't break through yourself." Liu Xiaoli summed it up.

Fang Hong nodded, indicating yes.

"Do you think when Liu Bei found Zhuge Liang, was it Zhuge Liang who gave Liu Bei confidence, or Liu Bei who gave Zhuge Liang confidence?" Liu Xiaoli spoke in a soft, gentle voice—it had a very comforting feel.

When Liu Tianxian was gentle, she gave off that same feeling.

"Liu Bei gave Zhuge Liang confidence." Fang Hong said, his hands not stopping, continuing to help drop the seeds!

"Right. If Liu Bei hadn't given Zhuge Liang confidence, why would Zhuge Liang have followed Liu Bei?"

Liu Xiaoli glanced at him, then went on, "Throughout history there were many founding emperors who weren't that capable. Liu Bang, Liu Bei, and others all succeeded. It wasn't that they were so strong themselves—it was that they had energy, they could inspire people.

It's a good thing if a founder has ability, but it's fine if he doesn't. What he must have, though, is powerful energy."

Fang Hong listened to that last sentence, lost in thought.

"Think about it—those talented people without you, no matter how capable, how could they fulfill their ambitions, how could they show their abilities? If Zhuge Liang hadn't had Liu Bei, would his talent, his ability, have had nowhere to be used?

That's why Zhuge Liang spent his whole life repaying Liu Bei's grace of recognition—because it was Liu Bei who gave him confidence, gave him the chance to act, gave him hope."

Liu Xiaoli spoke plainly, but in Fang Hong's ears it gave him a feeling that he'd lost something.

That thing was confidence—unparalleled confidence. Give yourself confidence, and let others see confidence in you, see hope.

When he first founded Jade Rabbit, that's exactly what he'd done. He gave Chen Zhixi confidence, gave Meng Jun confidence, gave Yu Xian confidence—and that's what made those people follow him wholeheartedly.

But now, starting a business again, he'd lost that thing. The reason wasn't hard to understand.

People like Zhang Nan, Zhang Lidong, Gao Zhun, Yang Zhenyuan—in their past lives were figures who, in the internet industry, could make the whole world tremble with a single stomp.

One sneeze from them, the dust from that sneeze alone could affect countless people doing internet sales.

Psychologically, that naturally made him feel much smaller.

So when doing many things, he didn't demand too much, didn't show the dominance he should have, didn't appear so relaxed either.

That was a huge taboo. If the leader has no confidence, how can the people below have hope?

(End of chapter)