Chapter 945: Waste Is Shameful

“That won’t do!” Jia Hongbin said with a smile. “We need to set our sights higher. You don’t need to run—just walk like a normal person. Then I’ll treat you to drinks. One call, and you stroll right over.”

“Hahaha…” Zhou Andong laughed heartily. “You’re definitely buying that drink.”

After chatting a bit about family matters, Zhou Andong, Jian Qiu, and Jia Hongbin stepped out.

Then they saw Lao Si trotting over, tilting her little head up at Jia Hongbin and his secretary.

“Uncle, brother, do you drink iced red tea or Very Cola?”

Zhou Andong smiled. “This is my little Lao Si—my youngest sister.”

Jia Hongbin looked at Lao Si’s chubby, adorable face and ruffled her hair. “I’ll have iced red tea.”

“Me too,” the secretary added with a smile.

“Great!”

Lao Si scampered to the fridge, climbed onto a stool, and opened it. Only then did Zhou Andong notice both bottles of iced red tea and both bottles of Very Cola had already been opened.

The little girl grabbed two opened bottles of iced red tea, jumped off the stool with a thump, trotted over, and placed them on the coffee table.

“Drink up.”

Then she ran back, climbed onto the stool again, picked up the opened Very Cola, and looked utterly dismayed.

“Sigh… they’re all opened now. It’d be such a waste not to drink them.”

Saying that, she hugged the Very Cola and guzzled it down in loud gulps.

Zhou Andong’s face darkened. Those two bottles of cola had clearly just been opened.

Jian Qiu burst out laughing, hurried over, snatched the cola from Lao Si’s hands, and saw half of it was already gone.

“Burp!”

Lao Si burped, then grinned foolishly at Jian Qiu.

“Drink the rest of this half-bottle tonight, or it’ll be wasted.”

Jian Qiu’s lip twitched as she pinched Lao Si’s chubby cheek.

“No drinking tonight either.”

Lao Si blinked her eyes. “But won’t that be a waste? So sad.”

She patted her round little belly. “Better to put it in my tummy—no waste.”

“Let it be wasted,” Zhou Andong snorted. “We produce it ourselves. A bottle or two doesn’t matter.”

“Burp!”

Lao Si burped again, climbed down from the stool with a sigh, and stared seriously at Zhou Andong.

“Wasting is such a shameful thing, Brother. You shouldn’t act like this. Even kids know this—why don’t you get it?”

“Hahaha…”

Jia Hongbin couldn’t hold back anymore and burst out laughing. “Director Zhou, the child’s right. You’ve got to learn to save—don’t waste.”

“Mm!” Lao Si nodded vigorously, her face serious. “Uncle’s right.”

Then she turned to Jian Qiu. “Sister-in-law, put it in the fridge quick—I’ll drink it tonight.”

Jian Qiu bit her lip, her eyes crinkling into crescents as she glanced at Zhou Andong.

“Wasting really is shameful. Maybe we should let her drink this half tonight?”

“Sigh…”

Zhou Andong let out a long breath. In his past life, Lao Si had always been clever at arguing—even when wrong, she could twist things into three parts reason.

But that had only started after middle school. Why was she already acting this way in this life?

“Fine,” Zhou Andong said helplessly. “But just this once. Next time, even if it’s wasted, you’re not drinking it.”

“Hehe!”

The little girl nodded eagerly. “Okay, next time I promise not to drink it.”

Zhou Andong glared at her hard. “She’s been spoiled rotten at home.”

Jia Hongbin smiled. “If I had a daughter this smart, cute, and quick-witted, I’d spoil her too.”

Zhou Andong joked, “Then take her. Adopt her as your daughter.”

“Done!” Jia Hongbin immediately agreed. “I’ll take her right now—she’s my daughter.”

“Huh?”

Lao Si’s eyes widened. She looked from her brother to Jia Hongbin, then turned and bolted into the inner room.

“Mom! Brother’s trying to give me away as someone else’s daughter—go beat him up!”

“Hahaha…”

Zhou Andong and Jia Hongbin laughed again, and Jian Qiu was gasping for breath.

After a while, they got down to business. Zhou Andong lit Jia Hongbin a cigarette.

“The headquarters building and urban complex project for Qiudong has been approved by the city.”

This was exactly what Zhou Andong had expected. “I’ll call Yuxi Real Estate right away and send a team over to negotiate with you.”

Jia Hongbin asked, “Won’t you be the one negotiating with us directly?”

Zhou Andong shook his head. “I’m going to Xiangjiang the day after tomorrow for something very important.”

Jia Hongbin was disappointed. Though he’d only met Zhou Andong twice, and for less than two hours total,

he still felt talking with him would be easy—after all, as the boss, he could make final decisions on the spot.

“What if we wait until you return from Xiangjiang?”

Zhou Andong smiled. “You can wait if you want.”

Jia Hongbin asked, “When will you be back?”

Zhou Andong thought. “I’ll return in October to attend an entrepreneur forum in Yue Province, then leave again. I won’t have time until the end of the year.”

“No way,” Jia Hongbin shook his head firmly. “Send someone else to negotiate.”

He figured waiting ten or twenty days was fine—but months? No way.

The longer it dragged, the more likely something would go wrong. Better to settle this quickly.

Zhou Andong said, “Then I’ll notify Jiangzhou and have them send a negotiation team to Beijing.”

“Alright!” Jia Hongbin agreed, and they chatted a bit longer.

Zhou Andong and Jian Qiu saw Jia Hongbin off, then called Gu Qing and told her to immediately assemble a negotiation team to come to Beijing.

After lunch, as it neared twelve, Zhang Shenghui still hadn’t called. Zhou Andong said:

“Old Zhang’s not coming.”

“Don’t wait,” Jian Qiu said. “Take the baby’s clothes and diapers over.”

“Let’s go,” Zhou Andong rose and went inside. “Mom, this bag is the baby’s clothes and diapers, right?”

“Yes,” Yuan Liying nodded. “There’s also a bottle and a can of formula.”

“Mom,” Jian Qiu said, “We’re taking the stuff over. We won’t be back tonight.”

“Go ahead,” Yuan Liying waved them off.

Zhou Andong picked up the bag and walked out with Jian Qiu to the elevator, pressing the button.

“Ding!”

The elevator doors opened. Zhou Andong and Jian Qiu froze at the sight of the person inside.

“Uncle An!”

An Congwen stepped out. “Where are you going?”

“To Compound Six,” Zhou Andong asked. “Do you have something?”

“Nothing important,” An Congwen stepped back into the elevator. “Come on, let’s talk as we go.”

The three left the hospital, and An Congwen said: “The Art Academy has invited you to attend the opening ceremony and give a speech.”