Chapter 953: Arriving in Xiangjiang

Gu Zengquan smiled: “Ah, Director Yi, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to worry about winter heating. And thank you for your relative too—but no need to trouble him to come over.”

Yi Li’s face instantly darkened. Why didn’t lightning strike this old bastard dead?

“Vice President Gu!” Yi Li stressed the words “Vice President Gu” with heavy emphasis.

“What do you mean? Is it wrong for me to do something practical for the school?”

“Director Yi!” Gu Zengquan said irritably, “I said I’m very grateful—when did I say you did anything wrong?”

“Then what exactly do you mean?” Yi Li glared at Gu Zengquan, wishing he could bite the old man to death.

“Heh!” Gu Zengquan laughed again. “Because the school has free coal donated by charitable individuals.”

“Huh?” Yi Li stared blankly between Gu Zengquan, Zhao Qi, and An Congwen, as if watching cash bills fluttering out of his pockets.

“Director Yi!” Gu Zengquan grinned like an old fox. “Why not try harder? Talk to your relative again—see if he can donate coal to our school too.”

“Then our academy’s leadership and all our teachers and students will be eternally grateful to you, Director Yi. Your name will be recorded in our school’s ledger of merit.”

Yi Li forced a thin smile: “If someone’s already donating coal for free, why make him donate more? We can’t burn it all.”

“No problem!” Gu Zengquan said. “If you can’t burn it all, sell the rest—generate income for the school.”

You old bastard, why don’t you just drop dead right here?

Yi Li hated Gu Zengquan with every fiber of his being, yet still had to force a casual smile.

“Vice President Gu speaks very reasonably. I’ll go back and talk to my relative—see if he can donate some coal to the school.”

He turned and walked away. In that instant, his face turned ashen, his heart bleeding.

Money already in his pocket had flown away. He cursed Gu Zengquan to hell, and also cursed the idiot who donated the coal: You idiot, if you’ve got money, just donate money—why the hell donate coal?

Seeing Yi Li leave defeated, An Congwen felt much better: “Nothing else to do? I’ve got work to attend to.”

“Wait!” Zhao Qi still had questions. “Congwen, why did you stop us from seeing off President Tang just now?”

An Congwen hesitated. “Let’s discuss it in the office.”

Zhao Qi nodded and walked into the office. An Congwen and Gu Zengquan followed him in.

“This matter is a bit complicated.”

An Congwen explained how Song Ziyi, to get close to Zhou Anqin, donated twenty million U.S. dollars, and through Zhao Hongxing, president of Coca-Cola China, contacted Yi Li to arrange for his sister and Zhou Anqin to share a dorm room.

“Coca-Cola and Xuri Sheng are competitors, and Song Ziyi is a so-called overseas Chinese businessman. The fact that both are scheming so deliberately to get close to Zhou Anqin—I suspect their intentions are not pure.”

“As for whether Yi Li took bribes or played some role in this, I currently know very little and have no evidence. It’s not that I didn’t want to see off President Tang—I wanted to prevent Yi Li from further contact with him, since President Tang is backed by Zhou Andong.”

“That’s indeed complicated,” Zhao Qi said gravely, then shook his head. “All we might be able to do is transfer Song Zihui away from Zhou Anqin’s dorm.”

In Dorm 408, Song Zihui returned in the morning to find no one there—no one knew where they’d gone.

She assumed that after yesterday’s incident, her mission would end early.

But unexpectedly, her older brother hadn’t given up—he ordered her to return, continue befriending Zhou Anqin, and even apologize to her.

This filled her with fury yet left her powerless. On the way back, just thinking about having to apologize to Zhou Anqin filled her with unprecedented humiliation.

Having already eaten breakfast, she went to the cafeteria again—just to avoid the situation.

She dawdled in the cafeteria for nearly two hours, knowing she couldn’t escape forever, and finally returned to the dorm with silent resentment.

When she discovered the dorm was empty and Zhou Anqin wasn’t there, she was overjoyed—and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Though the apology couldn’t be avoided, delaying it even a little was better.

Huh!

Song Zihui exhaled deeply, lay on her bed, then heard a knock at the dorm door.

Song Zihui frowned and snapped: “What’s with the knocking? If you forgot your key, don’t come in!”

The door creaked open. The dorm supervisor walked in. “Song Zihui!”

Song Zihui froze, sat up, and coldly asked: “What do you want?”

The supervisor frowned. This girl was so rude: “Pack up. You’ve been reassigned to Dorm 439.”

“What?” Song Zihui exclaimed excitedly. “I’m fine here—why move me?”

The supervisor said: “I don’t know the reason—it’s the school’s decision. Hurry up and pack. Dorm 439 is different.”

Song Zihui was about to argue, then suddenly laughed. I’ve been reassigned by the school—I won’t have to apologize to Zhou Anqin anymore.

And since it’s the school’s decision, it has nothing to do with me—my brother won’t blame me.

“Fine!”

Song Zihui cheerfully packed her belongings and followed the dorm supervisor to Dorm 439.

At the new dorm, Song Zihui didn’t speak to any of the other roommates. After making her bed, she called Song Ziyi to tell him she’d been reassigned.

………………

The private jet landed at Xiangjiang Airport. Zhou Andong, Jian Qiu, Wu Hongkang, and Zhang Shenghui disembarked and exited the terminal.

Far off, they saw a middle-aged man holding a sign with Zhou Andong’s name on it.

“Over there!”

The group hurried over. Clearly, the man recognized Zhou Andong: “Young Master Zhou, the car is this way—please follow me.”

They reached the parking lot, entered a business vehicle, and after more than an hour, arrived at the underground parking of Xiangjiang Baohua Tower.

They took the elevator to the eighth floor, where they met Jin Hui, general manager of Huarun Wufenghang, and his deputy, Sun Zhinong.

Huarun’s predecessor was an underground transit station established by our Party in Xiangjiang in 1938, originally named Lianhehang.

In 1948, it was reorganized and renamed Huarun Company; in 1952, it became Zhongmaoyi Department.

In 1973, it became the Hong Kong branch of China National Cereals, Oils, and Foodstuffs Import-Export Corporation.

After Wufenghang was established, it was transferred to Huarun Company in 1954, primarily engaged in agricultural trade.

“Young Master Zhou, Director Jian, you’ve traveled far!” Jin Hui extended his hand to shake Zhou Andong’s and Jian Qiu’s.

Zhou Andong had already reviewed the files on Jin Hui and Sun Zhinong.

“General Manager Jin, General Manager Sun, let me introduce you: this is Wu Hongkang, factory director of Hongxing Distillery. This is Zhang Shenghui, general manager of Qinchi Liquor.”

“Nice to meet you!” Jin Hui and Sun Zhinong shook hands with Wu Hongkang and Zhang Shenghui.

Zhou Andong said: “No need for formalities. When will Guo Tangwang arrive?”