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Chapter 139: Nian Gang Foundation.
After dinner, Jiang Cai was once again ordered by Huo Niansheng to wash the dishes.
She was huffing and puffing at the sink, scrubbing pots and pans, when Chen Wengang came over after feeding the dog, and asked, “Why don’t you use the dishwasher?”
She was also taken aback—Jiang Cai glared resentfully into the house: “He didn’t tell me! He must have done it on purpose!”
Chen Wengang chuckled, “I’ll do it.”
But Jiang Cai didn’t dare to outsource the task. After complaining a bit, she went to figure out how to use the dishwasher.
Chen Wengang cut up some fruit and placed it in several glass bowls.
When Jiang Cai returned to the living room, she saw him taking one of the bowls to the inner room. She glanced over and saw Huo Niansheng leisurely leaning on a recliner like a big boss, with Chen Wengang leaning in close, almost forehead to forehead, affectionately smiling and talking to him.
He picked up a piece of white peach with a fork and fed it to Huo Niansheng.
Jiang Cai clicked her tongue twice, made a face that no one noticed, and turned back to seize the watermelon bowl for herself.
She ate while carefully examining the photo wall—just like an ordinary family, it was filled with bits and pieces of life.
There was a photo of Chen Wengang in his graduation gown, a snapshot of the two taken by a passerby in front of a waterfall, a commemorative picture of their wedding in Las Vegas, and even a candid shot of Huo Niansheng lying on a bedsheet, looking unintentionally at the camera—a close-up from his forehead to his neck, a shot that surely no one else could have captured.
Someone came up behind her, and before they could speak, Jiang Cai called out, “I’m being careful! I won’t drop the watermelon on the floor!”
Chen Wengang’s voice said, “It’s okay, I can just mop the floor.”
She turned and realized it wasn’t Huo Niansheng.
Chen Wengang came over, slightly tilting his head, and looked at the photo wall with her.
A well-fed and well-played Halley ran into the house, stepping all over his owner’s feet in high spirits.
Jiang Cai’s gaze moved to the group photo at the bottom, where she had a spot in a corner—
It was taken when Chen Wengang graduated from his undergraduate program, and as an outstanding graduate, he gave a speech on stage. Jiang Cai had nothing better to do and went along to watch the excitement. She remembered the high and grand ceiling of the auditorium, and Huo Niansheng sitting in the audience, holding a camera, looking at him tenderly.
After the graduation ceremony, they took a stroll around the campus. Chen Wengang was holding a bouquet of flowers, and many similarly dressed classmates greeted him. Yu Shanding, Lu Chenlong, Chen Xiangling, and Zheng Baoqiu were all there, and they all took a lively group photo in front of the artificial lake.
Jiang Cai asked, “How did you even think of pursuing a Ph.D.? Aren’t you tired of studying for so many years?”
Chen Wengang smiled and touched the edge of the photo frame, “No, I find it very interesting.”
Jiang Cai thought to herself, Of course you find staying in school interesting.
Last time she saw it with her own eyes, she didn’t know how Chen Wengang managed it, but he was practically a celebrity on campus, getting recognized every now and then while walking around. There were even people discussing whether the one giving the speech today was the campus heartthrob or the department heartthrob. With all the attention he received, who wouldn’t enjoy it?
She sighed, “I can’t do it. I get a headache as soon as I look at books. I just want to sleep.”
Chen Wengang couldn’t be fooled and glanced at her, “You still need to study well. Remember what you said yourself, ‘Don’t like bird language; don’t want to go abroad.’ Now you’ve got what you wanted; you got into school on your own. At least learn a skill to rely on.”
Jiang Cai covered her ears, “What? I can’t hear you!”
The two chatted and laughed for a while. Later, she would take a taxi home by herself. Chen Wengang didn’t insist on accompanying her, knowing she didn’t like being supervised. On the first day of the holiday, she was probably going to a nightclub with friends.
Halley rolled around on the floor, then chased its own tail for fun.
Chen Wengang glanced at his books, then at the dog, but couldn’t resist going to play with it. He went to the bedroom to play with Halley together with Huo Niansheng.
Huo Niansheng had dozed off for a while but was awake now. He touched Chen Wengang’s hair and asked, “Where do you want to go?”
Chen Wengang sat on the armrest of the recliner, teasing Halley with a tennis ball, “Just the two of us?”
Huo Niansheng murmured in agreement, and Halley immediately stopped moving, as if listening.
Chen Wengang immediately decided, “The dog is still young, it’s better not to over-exert it. Let’s forget about it.”
After saying this, Huo Niansheng stared at him, his eyes scanning from his forehead to his chin.
“Do you know what I’m going to say next?”
“What?” Chen Wengang asked with a smile.
Huo Niansheng leaned in close to his ear and said, “A doting mother spoils her child.”
As he spoke, his hand was already mischievously slipping into Chen Wengang’s clothes.
Chen Wengang chuckled lightly, pushed his face away, and pretended to throw the ball far away.
Halley immediately rushed over in excitement, but the ball was still in Chen Wengang’s hand. He hid his hand behind his back, and as Huo Niansheng understood the situation, he withdrew his hand, sneakily concealing the evidence of his crime.
After searching for the ball for a while, Halley turned back in suspicion, looking at this and that.
Chen Wengang stretched out both hands to show it, “It’s not in my hands. Hey, where’s your ball?”
Halley hesitated for a moment, then came over to sniff his hand, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally believed it. It sniffed around for the ball.
Chen Wengang chuckled and slid from the armrest to Huo Niansheng’s lap, almost half of his body lying in his arms, still leaning forward to watch Halley.
Huo Niansheng, with a lazy demeanor, had one arm around Chen Wengang’s waist and stifled a yawn.
For the past two months, Huo Niansheng’s days have been quite leisurely.
Unlike Huo Zhenfei, who had a strong spirit of enterprise for the family business and liked to challenge himself with intense work, Huo Niansheng, when there was serious business, could be relied upon to work hard, but without anything urgent, it was difficult to keep him focused on family matters.
Especially since Halley came back, it was as if they had adopted a child for real. Chen Wengang’s enthusiasm for Halley continued to rise, and instead of stopping him, Huo Niansheng indulged him. He even took on the role of a family cook, much to Huo Zhenfei’s occasional disapproval. However, his wife persuaded him to look at it from another angle, at least indicating that his cousin’s family was harmonious and had a respectable appearance, better than spending every day in nightclubs causing trouble for others. They could just turn a blind eye to the rest.
Chen Wengang, on the other hand, had a lot of work to do during the summer vacation.
He was no longer working at the Huo Foundation; as discussed before, Huo Niansheng had privately established a new charitable foundation—although it was not named after him anymore but instead named “Nian Gang Foundation”. Its office was located in an old building in the old city area, where they formulated standardized statutes and hired full-time staff to start their work.
It was a young foundation, and since its establishment, it hadn’t created any sensational headlines through the media or advertised extensively. They quietly carried out their projects steadily and surely. Only in the past two years have they slowly gained some recognition, but the external evaluations were quite positive.
Chen Wengang entered the red-brick building and went straight to the third floor, into the office of the Deputy Secretary-General.
Throughout his master’s program, he had been working here because it wasn’t a full-time position. He started from an ordinary position and had only moved here last month. As for the origin of the foundation’s name, because he felt embarrassed to promote it, he had never mentioned it.
Until now, most of his colleagues, unless specifically asked, still didn’t know the connection between the foundation’s name and him.
A colleague came to inform him that there was a dinner tonight, with government representatives and several senior executives from key partner companies attending.
Chen Wengang said he knew.
Since last year, the foundation has been collaborating with the government welfare bureau to carry out a volunteer assistance project for intellectually disabled people’s employment. They provided funding for special schools while also cooperating with social enterprises to help students from special education schools find suitable job positions.
The dinner went smoothly, with agreements reached on signing labor contracts. But it couldn’t avoid using official language, networking, and discussing personal relationships.
Chen Wengang held a cup with some pear juice, pretending to be champagne. From his previous life to this one, he was no stranger to such occasions. Even in charity projects, there were always similar troubles and unavoidable “relationship building” involved. One couldn’t solely rely on their own preferences when dealing with people; sometimes, one had to endure a bit.
This time, unfortunately, he encountered a senior executive who liked to put on airs and had sharp eyes, who noticed that he was holding juice instead of champagne.
The other party probably thought of him as a greenhorn student, thinking that he didn’t understand the ways of the world and suddenly wanted to teach him a lesson, or perhaps, accustomed to being flattered in business circles, he felt disrespected and made a joke, causing a commotion as if he couldn’t get off the stage without drinking a glass.
Chen Wengang couldn’t be bothered to argue, so he switched to champagne, cooperatively drank a glass, and then got up to hide in the restroom.
He bent over to wash his face, and someone pushed the door open behind him, but didn’t enter further, standing there for a moment before coming over to wash their hands.
Chen Wengang glanced at the mirror and recognized the person as one of the corporate representatives attending tonight, someone named Pan Zhengyang.
They had just exchanged business cards; he was the chairman of Dayang Industrial Group.
Compared to the other two fat corporate bosses, Pan Zhengyang could be considered young and promising—between thirty and forty years old, with a well-maintained figure, paying attention to personal appearance, wearing a branded suit, shiny leather shoes, well-groomed hair, and a Rolex on his wrist, which Chen Wengang had seen several times during dinner. Now, standing face to face, it was hard to ignore the Hermes belt around the other’s waist. Chen Wengang had heard at dinner that this person was still single, and someone joked that he was a diamond bachelor.
Chen Wengang nodded at him.
Afterward, Chen Wengang still didn’t return to the private room but went to the outdoor smoking area, although he didn’t smoke, just standing outside to enjoy the breeze.
After a while, someone pushed the door behind him again, and it was Pan Zhengyang who followed him out. He came out to smoke properly, taking out a cigarette case with foreign writing all over it, taking one out and holding it in his mouth, then pulling out a shiny metal lighter.
He glanced at Chen Wengang and asked, “Mind if I smoke?”
Chen Wengang gestured to the sign above, indicating it was a smoking area, indicating he was welcome to.
Pan Zhengyang lit his cigarette, took a puff, then offered one to Chen Wengang, but was refused.
He smiled and asked, “Don’t smoke? Or are you avoiding the alcohol? Really won’t have one?”
Chen Wengang politely declined, “I’ve quit already.”
Pan Zhengyang looked him over and chuckled, “I couldn’t tell; you’re really keeping it well hidden.”
Chen Wengang really looked like a student, showing a somewhat embarrassed smile, “There’s nothing to hide, just foolishness during adolescence, sneaking cigarettes behind my parents’ back. Later, I realized it wasn’t worth it and stopped touching them.”
Without waiting for Pan Zhengyang to speak again, he turned around and went back in.
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