Chapter 494: A King in Business

"Shut your mouths, both of you." Zhou Andong winced as he rubbed his waist.

Hearing Zhou Andong's words, Gu Bing and An Jing laughed even more wildly.

"This is a watch your sister-in-law bought for you." Seeing Jian Qiu handed the watch to Zhou Anbei, then leaned in and whispered in his ear, "This watch cost over 110,000. Don't tell Dad and Mom, or they'll get angry."

Zhou Anbei nodded vigorously: "Thank you, sister-in-law!"

An Jing checked the time and asked Gu Bing: "It's late, are we leaving or not?"

Gu Bing stood up and said: "Let's go!"

Zhou Andong and Seeing Jian Qiu saw the two of them out.

Zhou Andong said: "It's quite far from here to your place. Xiao Qin and I won't be going over there for the next couple of days."

An Jing asked: "Then where are you staying?"

Zhou Andong said: "We'll just book two rooms at the guesthouse across the street."

"Fine!" An Jing nodded, then looked at Seeing Jian Qiu: "Are you going home?"

Seeing Jian Qiu said: "I am, but I'll stay a little longer."

An Jing and Gu Bing each hailed a yellow 'mian'er' taxi and left. Zhou Andong and Seeing Jian Qiu went to a nearby restaurant, packed a few dishes, and returned to the hospital.

After eating and staying for a while longer, Seeing Jian Qiu finally left.

Zhou Andong, Zhou Anbei, and Xiao Qin booked three rooms at a guesthouse across the street that looked decent enough.

January 22, 1993, the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, New Year's Eve!

Just as the sky was brightening, Zhou Andong was woken up by the sound of firecrackers outside.

He got up, washed up in the bathroom, and pushed open the window; the cold air rushed in.

"Hoo!" Zhou Andong let out a long breath, which instantly turned into white mist. "Damn, it's cold."

He took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. The streetlights on the roadside were still on, but the vendors on both sides of the road had already set up their stalls.

After finishing the cigarette, Zhou Andong closed the window and returned to the bed to turn on the TV, which was broadcasting the morning news.

Before he knew it, the sky had completely brightened, and Zhou Anbei and Zhou Anqin came to knock on his door.

"Brother!"

Zhou Andong put on his clothes and went out: "Let's go!"

When they arrived at the hospital, Yuan Liying had already started getting busy.

Zhou Andong said helplessly: "Mom, just keep it simple here. Just make a few dishes, that'll be enough."

Yuan Liying said: "It's the New Year, especially here; we should celebrate properly and be happy."

Zhou Anqin took off her coat and started helping out.

Past one in the afternoon, over a dozen dishes were laid out on the table, including chicken, fish, duck, and shrimp—even more sumptuous than at home.

"It's New Year's!" Old Four looked at the table full of food, jumping and dancing.

Zhou Andong wheeled Zhou Xiaoxin out, and the whole family sat in a circle around the table.

"I want to drink champagne!" Old Four pointed at the Beibingyang soda and shouted.

Zhou Andong took it and said: "That's three characters, not two. Do you recognize them?"

Old Four blinked: "I do, champagne!"

"Ha!" Zhou Anbei mocked: "You refuse to go to nursery school, and now you don't even recognize the characters. Isn't that embarrassing?"

Old Four still refused to admit defeat: "Hmph, then you tell me, what are these three characters?"

Zhou Anbei said: "Beibingyang!"

Old Four said triumphantly: "I knew that too; I was just testing you."

Zhou Andong flicked Old Four on her little forehead: "You little devil, you wouldn't know them even if you saw them."

As they were laughing and chatting, the hospital room door was pushed open, and Gu Bing walked in with a grin.

"Uncle, Auntie, Xiao Qin, Xiao Bei, Old Four, Happy New Year!"

Zhou Andong asked strangely: "It's New Year's Day, why are you here?"

Gu Bing waved his hand: "It's boring at home, and I had nowhere else to go, so I came over."

Zhou Andong curled his lip; he knew this guy had something on his mind, but since he didn't say it, Zhou Andong didn't ask.

"Haven't eaten yet, right?"

"Nope!" Gu Bing didn't stand on ceremony either; he found a stool, sat down next to Zhou Xiaoxin, and picked up the liquor bottle to fill the cup in front of Zhou Xiaoxin. "Uncle, I'll have a drink with you."

"Good!" Zhou Xiaoxin said happily: "Let's have a drink, us two men."

With the addition of this buffoon Gu Bing, the reunion dinner was very lively.

Meanwhile, at the Jian family home, three tables were set up in the large living room, but the atmosphere was somewhat stifling, and Seeing Jian Qiu's expression was very unpleasant.

"Clack!"

Seeing Jian Qiu threw down her chopsticks. Gu Minglan said with dissatisfaction: "What are you doing? It's New Year's, don't go looking for trouble."

Seeing Jian Qiu scanned the room, ignoring Old Master Jian and the Old Madam sitting to the side.

"Throwing chopsticks? I didn't flip the table; that's me giving you face."

"Seeing Jian Qiu!" A middle-aged man's expression turned very ugly. "We said all this for your own good, didn't we?"

"Exactly!" A middle-aged woman said: "That Zhou Andong might have some ability, but so what? His background dictates that he can't reach the threshold of the Jian family."

"Qiuqiu!" A young man said: "Listen to your brother, break it off with that Zhou Andong; he's not good enough for you. If you don't like finding a partner in the system, Seventh Master Yun has much more ability than Zhou Andong. He's doing import-export business now, and I heard he has assets of three or four hundred million. I'll introduce you two."

"Ha!" Seeing Jian Qiu sneered. "Three or four hundred million, and doing import-export business? That ability is truly 'strong,' and he's certainly made a lot of money."

The young man frowned: "With that sarcastic tone, what kind of attitude is that?"

Seeing Jian Qiu said: "Second Brother, do you know what that import-export business is? Do you know how he made those three or four hundred million? If you had put Seventh Master Yun in the Jiangzhou Winery back then, tell me, would he have had the ability to build the winery to its current scale?"

The young man smiled: "As long as he's given the opportunity, I believe he could definitely do it."

Seeing Jian Qiu also smiled: "Second Brother, I didn't expect you to have such confidence in him. How about this? The Shanye Radiator Factory is suffering from severe losses. I heard the workers haven't been paid for a long time. Since you say Seventh Master Yun has such strong ability, why don't you let him take over the Shanye Radiator Factory? I won't even ask how much tax he can pay the country in a year; as long as he can get the factory to break even, pay off all debts, and pay the workers' wages within a year, I'll consider breaking up with Zhou Andong."

The young man had been listening with a smile, but once she finished, his smile froze on his face. He had heard about the situation at the Shanye Radiator Factory; it was a complete mess, and several factory directors had been changed, none of whom could figure it out.

"What?" Seeing Jian Qiu mocked: "Since Seventh Master Yun has such strong ability, I imagine saving a radiator factory shouldn't be a difficult task for him, right?"

At this moment, the middle-aged man spoke again: "If Seventh Master Yun can't do it, Zhou Andong definitely can't either."

"Zhou Andong can do it!" Seeing Jian Qiu's words were firm. "In business, he is a true king. You all can't compare to him, and Seventh Master Yun is even worse; he's not even qualified to carry his shoes."

"Zhou Andong can do it!" Seeing Jian Qiu's words were sonorous, "In business, he is the true king. You can't compare to him, and Yun Laoqi is even worse, he doesn't even have the qualifications to carry his shoes."