Chapter 2819: Not Going on a Blind Date

Just as Wu Jun and Zheng Mingyu were locked in a tug-of-war—one patiently taking notes without complaint, the other racking his brains to find a way, to pull strings, to leave without a trace—

Wu Jun remained very amiable, speaking gently and with great patience, while Zheng Mingyu grew increasingly anxious, for Wu Jun was impervious to pressure; all his usual tactics of coercion and inducement, which had always worked before, were utterly ineffective here, which infuriated him. Thus, the two remained locked in their struggle until dawn.

Anqi Hutong!

He rose before seven in the morning, thinking to visit the rear annex to see his daughter; upon entering the five-courtyard compound, he saw the fourth son practicing boxing, with a security guard nearby offering pointers. The girl's punches were fierce and powerful, full of strength.

"Chairman!" the security guard exclaimed, seeing Zhou Andong approach, and hurriedly greeted him.

Zhou Andong smiled and asked, "How is she doing?"

The security guard replied, "Anning is very talented and willing to endure hardship; she persists every day, even in the rain, practicing in the reception hall."

Zhou Andong nodded, thinking, I never expected the fourth son to actually stick with it, and to this extent—wind or rain, no excuse.

"Big brother!" the fourth son lowered his fists, picked up the towel hanging from the nearby tree branch, wiped the sweat from his face, and said, "You're going to Guangdong Province today—Is Su Su coming too?"

"Yes!" Zhou Andong said without pausing: "I'm going to check on Little Feather."

The fourth son said to the security guard, "Brother Xu, thank you."

"Don't mention it!" the security guard laughed and turned to leave.

"Big brother, wait for me." The fourth son hurried after him: "I also want to take a shower."

Zhou Andong, without stopping his stride, asked, "Not practicing your shouts anymore?"

"Of course I practice—every day, one hour, rain or shine." The fourth son said proudly: "But Mom said morning practice disturbs everyone's rest, so I do it after finishing my homework at night."

"Exactly!" Zhou Andong nodded in agreement. At that moment, the two entered the rear annex and went up to the second floor. The fourth son returned to his room to wash up, and Zhou Andong pushed open the door to his own room.

Qiu Qian and the nanny, Li Jie, were packing luggage; they were to go to Guangdong Province, the grandmother said she missed Su Su and Little Feather, and asked them to bring the children along. There was no way around it—this matter, he and Qiu Qian could not possibly refuse. So, they needed to pack quite a bit, especially everything the children used—nothing could be omitted.

"So much stuff?" Zhou Andong looked at the piles of large and small bags on the floor and said helplessly: "Besides the children's things, adults don't need to bring too much. It's only a few days; if we're missing anything, we can buy it later."

Li Jie laughed and said: "Adults really only need a few changes of clothes; the rest are all for Little Feather and Su Su."

"Alright!"

Zhou Andong said nothing more, pushed open the door, and saw Little Feather still sound asleep. He stood by the baby's crib, marveling for several minutes before coming out again.

"All packed?"

"Almost." Qiu Qian straightened her back, her tone tinged with helplessness: "Going out with a child is this much trouble—all these big and small bags."

Zhou Andong laughed: "Also fortunate we have enough people; otherwise, we really couldn't carry all this."

Qiu Qian began packing Zhou Andong's clothes again, each piece carefully selected, making Zhou Andong grit his teeth: "Wife, I'm not going on a blind date—enough already."

Qiu Qian lifted her head, her eyes dangerous: "What, you still have ideas?"

"What ideas?" Zhou Andong immediately sensed the danger, adopting an innocent expression: "I was just making an analogy—we're just going to Guangdong to handle some matters; there's no need to bring this many clothes."

"Hmph!" Qiu Qian snorted, treating Zhou Andong's words as a fart, and continued selecting clothes.

Zhou Andong sighed helplessly, turned to the sofa, sat down, turned on the TV, and then lit a cigarette.

An hour later, everything was finally packed—five suitcases and three backpacks—and Zhou Andong felt his head ache from looking at them.

"Alright, let's go eat." Qiu Qian exhaled, then added: "Li Jie, after you finish packing your luggage, remember to put your ID in a safe place—don't forget to bring it, or we won't be able to board the plane."

"Don't worry!" Li Jie said solemnly: "Last night, I already put my ID in my bag."

Since the flight was in the afternoon and there was no rush, after breakfast Zhou Andong checked his briefcase, mainly the delivery note inside—namely, the special wedding gift Alice gave him; forgetting the delivery note would cause trouble.

Past one in the afternoon, Zhou Lao Si sat on the threshold of the main gate, holding a half-plastic bag of melon seeds, cracking them one by one while watching Wang Wentian and the others busily loading luggage onto the vehicles.

Zhou Andong approached Lao Si, reached into the plastic bag, grabbed a handful of melon seeds, and before he could even crack them, a car horn sounded from the alley entrance. He looked up and saw a Crown parked at the mouth of the alley. Immediately after, Tang Lin, Zhang Zuo, and Jiang Yuyue, along with Ma Xiaotong, got out of the car.

"Huh?" Zhou Andong slipped the melon seeds into his pocket, looked at the four approaching people, and smiled: "Why did you all come together?"

"Autumn Sister!" Jiang Yuyue first greeted Qiu Qian, then said: "We're preparing to return to Jiangzhou the day after tomorrow to film the Wanjiang MV. Tang Lin said you're going to Guangdong today, so we came over to tell you and ask for leave for Anning."

"Just have Anjing tell the teacher." Zhou Andong looked at Tang Lin and Zhang Zuo: "Why did you two come too?"

Zhang Zuo said in a carefree, flirtatious tone: "Going to Guangdong definitely requires settling the pharmaceutical factory's affairs, right? With no one holding down the fort, it wouldn't work—so I and Big Lin are coming with you."

Tang Lin nodded: "There are some matters you're not convenient to handle in person—I and Big Zuo can take care of them, which will save a lot of trouble."

Zhou Andong listened, and somehow felt a small touch of emotion: "You two actually have a bit of conscience."

"That's what you say." Zhang Zuo said smugly: "If you want to say we lack conscience, that's you, Zhou Dongzi—my conscience is huge."

Seeing Zhang Zuo's smug attitude, Zhou Andong's slight feeling of emotion instantly vanished like smoke; his tone became very indifferent as he said: "I haven't had a drink with Grandfather Zhang in a long time. When I return from Guangdong, I'll go find Grandfather Zhang and drink a few good cups. By the way, I'll chat with him about what this very conscientious grandson of his has been up to."

"Damn it!" Zhang Zuo sprang up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and immediately blinked his eyes: "You can make up whatever stories you want about me—I'll just go along with it. Anyway, I don't go near that old man, and he can't catch me."

As he said this, the brat sidled up to Lao Si, grabbed a handful of melon seeds, and said: "Zhou Lao Si, you say you just know how to eat—you only grow fat, not tall."

"Everyone's height is under two meters—what right do you have to say that?" Lao Si looked up at Zhang Zuo: "Wait until your height reaches two meters, then come mock my height."

"I…" Zhang Zuo opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.

"Hahaha…"

Seeing Zhang Zuo embarrassed, everyone burst out laughing.

"Big brother!" Lao Si looked toward Zhou Andong: "Big Brother Zuo is truly fierce—probably only drinking dichlorvos could make him go near children. You'd better stay away from him, lest you get infected—there's no cure for that."