Chapter 667: The Eerie Yu Dongming

Xia Qing didn't let anyone escort her, didn't turn around to take a detour, didn't avoid the Zhonglian people through the south gate, but walked along the steps into the buffer forest and arrived at the northern isolation belt.

The wire-mesh wall along the section of the isolation belt north and east of Territory Seven was still under the responsibility of Deng Yuhui's squad. The supporting iron frames here had already been erected, and the team members were carrying wire mesh. Deng Yuhui was accompanying a leader on an inspection, introducing the project's progress.

The chairman of the Zhonglian Group, Yu Dongming, who was only about 1.7 meters tall, was surrounded and protected by a group of well-equipped bodyguards, listening attentively to Deng Yuhui.

Seeing Xia Qing come out, he turned his face toward her.

After seeing clearly the face beneath Yu Dongming's new protective mask—a face that didn't match his age—Xia Qing pressed her surprise beneath a calm expression.

When looking at the file, Xia Qing had assumed the photo was Yu Dongming's appearance before the catastrophe; she hadn't expected it to be what he looked like now.

The fifty-eight-year-old non-evolver Yu Dongming had a fair, clean complexion with not a single wrinkle on his face. This excessively youthful face formed a stark contrast with the aged bearing revealed in his movements and demeanor, making Xia Qing feel the man was very eerie.

Xia Qing wasn't the only one who thought so. Deng Yuhui, who was following Yu Dongming, also kept as far from him as possible, forcing a smile as she introduced them. "Chairman, this is the lord of Territory Three, Xia Qing, Miss Xia. Miss Xia, this is our Zhonglian Group's Chairman Yu."

Xia Qing's face was perfectly calm. She gave a slight nod. "Chairman Yu."

Yu Dongming struck the pose of an elder, amiably making small talk. "Miss Xia, I've finally met you. It's my fault for not managing my company's employees properly and causing you trouble. Xin Yu has already thrown several tantrums at me over this matter. This is the first time she's valued someone so highly—not only her cousins, but even her old uncle is getting jealous."

With three sentences out of his mouth, Yu Dongming seemed eager to dump out a truckload of information. It was clear his shrewdness was more than a little less than Tang Zhengpo's.

Facing Xin Yu's "dear uncle," Xia Qing, as Xin Yu's good friend, certainly couldn't be stiff. She returned the pleasantries:

"You're too kind. Zhonglian has over a hundred thousand employees. As chairman, you have to grasp the big picture; you can't possibly know the situation of every single employee."

Hearing Xia Qing be so sensible, Yu Dongming was very pleased. "Miss Xia is truly broad-minded and principled. No wonder Lord Zhang designated you as the manager of Mountain Fifty's experimental zone."

Xia Qing continued her polite nonsense. "Third Brother had me run errands because I'm the strongest around here, so moving and hauling supplies is most efficient with me."

Yu Dongming asked with concern again, "I heard the first Ravaging Snake was discovered within your territory. Is the situation in your territory all right?"

Xia Qing stated truthfully, "I lost a box of edible vegetable snakes I'd been raising for over a year."

Yu Dongming held himself back from showing an inappropriate expression, but several people beside him couldn't hide their reactions:

Just one box of snakes, and you have the nerve to bring it up in front of Chairman Yu?

After expressing his concern for his niece's good friend, Yu Dongming didn't waste any more time.

After walking more than twenty meters, Xia Qing heard an unfamiliar voice asking the Territory Seven guard, "Excuse me, does Lord Zhang have time now? Our chairman has prepared specialties from Hui Two and would like to invite Lord Zhang to dinner."

The guard solemnly contacted Ji Li through the walkie-talkie, then answered, "The lord is in the laboratory. No one is allowed in to disturb him."

Then, Xia Qing heard Yu Dongming speak up to ask, "I wouldn't dare disturb Lord Zhang's research. Could I trouble this young man to deliver a message to Miss Deng? I'd like to invite her to a casual meal."

Miss Deng?

Most people in Territory Seven have the surname Zhang; the only woman surnamed Deng should be Yanlong. Xia Qing's brow furrowed slightly, but she didn't slow her pace. She kept walking forward, and after a while heard the Territory Seven guard answer, "Captain Yan is on guard duty."

After returning to Territory Three, Xia Qing was inspecting her territory while pondering what connection Zhonglian could have with Yanlong, when her ally's phone call came in—she wanted to come to Xia Qing's place for dinner in the evening.

After Xin Yu arrived, she first stood under the eaves for a long time looking at the swallow's nest, then followed Xia Qing inside and sat on a small wooden block in the kitchen to pick chives. She worked very carefully and attentively, picking the chives one by one and placing them into the vegetable-washing basin.

Xia Qing stood beside her, looking at a recipe while preparing ingredients. Her good friend had come, so she planned to make a substantial dish—sweet and sour pork ribs. The main ingredient for sweet and sour pork ribs—white sugar—was brought from Hui Two base by Yu Dongming as an "apology gift" to Xia Qing.

Besides the sweet and sour pork ribs, there were also scrambled eggs with chives and cold-dressed lettuce stems, paired with green-light rice. The two ate their fill, then nestled in the second-floor living room to chat.

The furniture in the second-floor living room was also made by Xia Qing herself: a long wooden table and long wooden chairs, with cushions she had made herself laid on the chairs. Xin Yu nestled on them, sighing comfortably.

She had come to Xia Qing's place to get away from it all. After a year of living freely in the territory, having to deal with the Yu family again made her want to throw explosives every minute!

Xia Qing boiled a pot of filtered warm spring water from Mountain Fifty, tossed in a little tea leaves, and handed a cup to Xin Yu, asking, "This afternoon Yu Dongming went to Territory Three and asked if Miss Deng was there. Does he know Yanlong?"

Xin Yu nodded. "In the ninth year of the catastrophe, when Yanlong led her team through the Evolution Forest to Hui Two base on a mission, two of her team members were seriously injured. It was my grandfather who had the Zhonglian medical team step in to save them. Yu Dongming and his wife took a liking to Yanlong and wanted her to marry Yu Wen-chuang, to bear the Yu family a high-level evolver heir."

Xia Qing……

……

……

"What's your grandfather's attitude?"

Xin Yu's face was indifferent. "Yanlong has a military background, strong work ability, and is a high-level evolver. Marrying such a granddaughter-in-law would be of great benefit to the Yu family and to Zhonglian. So he says nothing, asks nothing, and pretends he doesn't know anything."

Which means tacit approval. Xia Qing frowned. "What about Yu Wen-chuang?"

Xin Yu sneered. "When Yanlong came to the Yu family's door with her seriously injured team members, Yu Wen-chuang looked down his nose at them and drove them away. Later, after learning his parents' plan, Yu Wen-chuang brought a large group of people to warn Yanlong, telling her not to daydream. Guess what happened after that?"

Xia Qing shook her head. "Sister Yan probably couldn't be bothered to deal with him."

Xin Yu watched the steam rising from the tea and said slowly, "Yanlong didn't lift a hand. A single glance from her shattered Yu Wen-chuang's courage. But because of this incident, the Yu family became even more fond of Yanlong."

Xia Qing……Does the whole Yu family know Yu Wen-chuang is useless and want to find someone to keep him in line?

Before Xia Qing could ask, Xin Yu continued, "The winter before last, Zhonglian took the initiative to contact Hui One base to discuss cooperation. Not long after that, Yanlong retired from the military. I only learned she was in Territory Seven after I came here."

Xin Yu blew on the steam rising from her teacup and looked at Xia Qing. "She's a peak-period high-level evolver at thirty-two, an underwater dragon of the Frogman Special Forces. Are the ditches in Territory Seven even three meters deep?"