Chapter 147: Mr. Pan, you mean that you want to emulate the wealthy.
Chen Wengang was somewhat stunned: “What on earth is this?”
Looking closer, next to the roses lay a bag of candy and a card. He stepped out of his office, only to find that the colleagues’ desks were also a competitive display of color and glamour. Right at this moment, Pan Zhengyang arrived. Led by the foundation’s staff at the front, and accompanied by a secretary and a driver by his side, it looked like quite a grand spectacle at first glance.
Pan Zhengyang said with a smile, “Regarding that employment project for individuals with intellectual disabilities last time, I felt it was incredibly meaningful.”
Chen Wengang offered an “Oh,” adding, “President Pan is being far too generous. In truth, there’s no need for gifts—”
Pan Zhengyang said, “It’s hardly a splurge. These are candies and pastries from Dayang’s own proprietary brands. We brought some new products for everyone to try, which doubles as a good way to promote them.” He joked to the others, “If you taste them and find them decent, you’re welcome to support us and consume more!”
The crowd laughed cooperatively. Chen Wengang spared him a glance.
Pan Zhengyang continued to explain his purpose: “The previous collaborative project between our two parties in promoting employment for individuals with intellectual disabilities is something I personally believe is highly meaningful. Not to toot my own horn, but our Dayang Group has always been an enterprise with a relatively strong sense of social responsibility, and we deeply appreciate your foundation’s down-to-earth, stable, and prudent style. If there are suitable projects, why not give us an opportunity to provide additional financial funding?”
As business partners and potential donors, the foundation received them according to the mandated hospitality spending guidelines. The secretariat booked a private room at the Wanghai Restaurant.
Wanghai Restaurant was the Lu family’s establishment; speaking of it, it was a time-honored brand with over a hundred years of history. It wouldn’t look shabby in terms of appearances, yet the cost was actually not high, offering suitable value for money. To avoid any suspicion of conflict of interest, Chen Wengang had sold all his shares in the restaurant back to Lu Chenglong when the foundation was first established.
Downstairs, two black cars drove out—one belonging to Pan Zhengyang, and the other to the foundation. Chen Wengang found an excuse not to tag along.
Harley had come to work with him. Squatting by his feet, it was intently staring at the wall. The colleagues in the building were already very familiar with it; two people passing by burst into laughter and squatted down to play with it.
Unexpectedly, in the afternoon, Pan Zhengyang and his team dropped back by to discuss the project. He even found an opportunity to chat alone in the deputy secretary-general’s office.
Chen Wengang pushed the flowers forward: “Just perfect. I was just pondering how to call a courier, but now that’s saved. President Pan, please take them back yourself.”
Pan Zhengyang picked up the card inside and smiled, “Yellow roses represent friendship. There’s no need to be so overly paranoid, right?” He walked around the desk, intending to come over, only for a dog by the edge of the desk to block his path. Harley let out a resounding sneeze right against his trouser leg.
Chen Wengang looked at him and said, “Is that so? I wouldn’t know; usually, I don’t pay much attention to these things.”
Pan Zhengyang wanted to say something more, but Chen Wengang had already uncapped his fountain pen and lowered his head to write, signaling that he was busy. He kept his eyes cast down. Seen from the side, his aura was exceptionally quiet, gentle, and elegant. Pan Zhengyang paused for a moment, then suddenly smiled, taking his flowers along with the card back with him.
Yet Pan Zhengyang wasn’t discouraged in the least, and began delivering yellow roses and desserts over every few days. He didn’t just send them to one person; he sent them to everyone in the entire building with a massive flair, making it so that even the foundation colleagues knew that the boss of that partner enterprise fancied Deputy Secretary-General Chen. If that were all, it could be overlooked, but then a young young man even showed up at the door, explicitly demanding to see Chen Wengang.
The security guard felt his demeanor was suspicious and didn’t let him in. He then went to stake out the parking lot, finally intercepting the man himself. With his chin tilted upward, he warned Chen Wengang to keep his distance from Pan Zhengyang.
Chen Wengang sized him up; the other party wore an ordinary sweatshirt and jeans, looking somewhat like a male college student.
The day after this minor farce occurred, Pan Zhengyang came to the door to offer his apologies.
Chen Wengang asked out of curiosity, “What exactly is your relationship?”
Pan Zhengyang said, “To be honest, we’ve truly broken up. It’s just that the young boy is immature, a bit difficult to deal with, and somewhat unwilling to accept reality.”
Chen Wengang raised his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes at Pan Zhengyang, idly playing with the fountain pen in his hand. The sunlight illuminated his desk from the side, also splashing onto his cheek. His gentle and refined impression from that day seemed to vanish all at once, revealing an aura that possessed a much stronger edge of aggression. It made one suddenly realize that assuming he was mild-mannered and easy to provoke was entirely a piece of wishful thinking.
Pan Zhengyang, however, felt his heart stir even more. With a smile, he pulled over a swivel chair and sat down opposite his office desk.
Pan Zhengyang said, “This boy is a student my family used to sponsor in the past. Haha, to tell the truth, after my father made his fortune, he built bridges, paved roads, and sponsored students in our hometown; he has always been doing these charitable deeds. Later, I took over the company and continued doing it, which is how we met. This child could be considered ambitious and capable; he got into a university here. We were together for a while, but that’s as far as it went. As you know, not all relationships can necessarily make it to the very end. You can’t say that just because I broke up with him, I’ve wronged him, right?”
Chen Wengang set the fountain pen down on the paper: “But it sounds quite a pity. So why didn’t it make it to the end?”
Pan Zhengyang said, “After all, he’s young and has a relatively strong desire for possession. He would check my schedule and phone at every turn. If I went out for a social engagement, I’d be bombarded with a dozen or so phone calls in a single night. Over a long period, anyone would find it exhausting. That’s understandable, right?”
Chen Wengang noted, “Doesn’t that just show you didn’t give him a sense of security?”
Pan Zhengyang spread his hands: “I believe an adult’s sense of security is something they provide for themselves; relying on others to give it is useless. He has already graduated and is working now, yet he still hasn’t realized this point, even going so far as to immaturely look for you here. This precisely demonstrates that mental maturity doesn’t necessarily run in proportion to age.” He looked deeply at Chen Wengang, “For Xiao Qing’s actions, I apologize on his behalf once more. However, I truly admire a mature character like yours much more. Although I was unfortunately rejected before, when encountering someone one fancies, everyone should at least have the opportunity to make an effort, right?”
Chen Wengang offered a small smile: “I’m not entirely sure whether you fancy me, or if you actually fancy the Zheng family a bit more.”
Pan Zhengyang explained, “No offense intended, but I am indeed quite pragmatic—the kind of person who values both aspects. But first and foremost, I am naturally interested in you as a person. This time is also not with a casual attitude; I am seriously considering a long-term, stable relationship—”
Chen Wengang smiled, “No offense taken. I am actually completely used to seeing this. When wealthy families marry, they place great importance on matching social status, and everything else can be pushed to the back. President Pan, do you mean to emulate the elite families and pursue a low-tier version of a strategic marriage alliance?”
The moment he finished uttering the words “low-tier version,” Pan Zhengyang narrowed his eyes, staring at him without saying another word.
Harley couldn’t understand what they were talking about, lying there in utter boredom as it opened its mouth to let out a yawn. The door to Chen Wengang’s office had been left half-open throughout. A colleague poked their head in, wanting to hand over some documents. Harley got up on its paws and used its mouth to carry them to Chen Wengang. The colleague was already unsurprised by this, merely letting out a laugh, praising it with a “so good,” and pulling their head back out.
Pan Zhengyang also moved. He offered a smile, said nothing, but made a couple of clicking sounds with his mouth. Harley spared him a thoroughly bewildered glance before lying back down by Chen Wengang’s feet.
By the time Chen Wengang finished processing the pile of work on hand and returned to Jiangchao Street, it was roughly past four o’clock. He opened the car door, and Harley, wearing its harness, hopped down in high spirits.
Seeing that it was still early, Chen Wengang brought it to an open area by the riverbank to exercise. Harley grew quickly, changing its appearance every ten days to half a month. Chen Wengang was always worried about failing to meet its exercise needs; as long as the weather permitted, he wished he could come out to walk the dog three to five times a day, frequently bringing his work outdoors to do. The dog was happy, but it was quite a toll on the person.
With the Chen family’s frequency of walking the dog, within a radius of a few kilometers, very few people didn’t recognize Harley. A group of old men and ladies were enjoying the shade under the trees, and elementary school students were playing on the swings. Upon seeing it, they all called out for it to come over. Harley possessed a gentle temper, allowing both the elderly and children to pet and hug it as they pleased.
Several children fumbled around in their pockets for a long time before pulling out some candies to feed it: “Does the doggy want to eat? It’s really sweet.”
“Are you silly? Dogs don’t eat candy. Look at mine; I brought a ham sausage for it from home.”
Harley was exceptionally well-behaved; unless it was food fed by its owner, it didn’t even take a sniff.
With a smile, Chen Wengang stopped them: “It’s not hungry right now, so it doesn’t need to eat anything. Just run along and play with it.”
One of the children contributed his older brother’s skateboard, which he had specifically snitched out—this was a new skill Harley had recently learned. It would stand on it with three legs, leaving one leg on the ground to push a few times, and then ride the board, riding the waves all the way. Ever since it learned this skill, it had practically become a household celebrity in this neighborhood. Many adults and children going out for walks would specifically detour just to see if it was around.
Grandma Zhou was also there, gesturing for Chen Wengang to come over. After fumbling around in her cloth bag for a good while, she shared two lotus seedpods with him: “Someone was setting up a stall selling these just now, exceptionally fresh. Take them back to peel the lotus seeds; they’re good for boiling soup.”
Chen Wengang accepted them with a smile, only to hear Grandma Zhou say, “Your coursework hasn’t been busy lately?”
He said, “It’s alright, I can manage.”
Grandma Zhou thumped her legs: “Just now we were actually speaking of you. Recently, those few young brats from Old Uncle Fang’s family—who knows what’s wrong with them—insisted on claiming you are rich but stingy, saying that whenever they want to borrow money or ask for help from you, you refuse. I told Old Uncle Fang, ‘If your grandson thinks this way, you should scold him thoroughly when you go back. Is other people’s money blown in by the wind, that it’s your turn to constantly plot over it?'”
Chen Wengang let out a hearty laugh, saying it was no trouble.
Grandma Zhou said, “I know Niansheng is a big boss; I don’t usually mention it to others anyway, since you two are so low-key. These young lads, each and every one of them doesn’t work hard themselves, but only think about taking advantage and riding on other people’s coattails—they won’t amount to anything.”
Chen Wengang offered a small smile, sitting on the stone bench with the lotus seedpods cupped in his hands. Surrounded by a following of little kids, Harley was skateboarding with immense vigor. They ran further and further away. He waved his hand to Grandma Zhou, stood up, and gave chase.
When Huo Niansheng returned home, a rich aroma was wafting through the courtyard. A clay pot was sitting on the stove, but the kitchen was completely empty.
The clay pot was simmering soup. After two years of exercise, Chen Wengang could swing a spatula a couple of times; his cooking proficiency was entirely average—edible, but not as delicious as what Huo Niansheng made. Simmering soup was the only thing he excelled at most; it didn’t require any brilliant technique, merely a sufficient amount of patience.
Harley squatted at the kitchen doorway, appearing as if it were seriously watching the pot. Huo Niansheng lifted the lid to take a look, set it back down, and stroked its head. He came to the bedroom, where Chen Wengang was lying face down on the bed, perfectly straight, looking as if he were exhausted.
Huo Niansheng burst out laughing: “What’s going on here?”
Chen Wengang said, “The child is big now, hard to manage. If its energy gets any more boundless, I truly won’t be able to outrun it.”
A weight landed in his palm; it was Huo Niansheng placing a piece of chocolate in his hand.
Chen Wengang slowly crawled up. Thinking of the ones Pan Zhengyang delivered every single day, he subconsciously checked the brand. Naturally, it had nothing to do with any Dayang brand; it was imported dark chocolate. He peeled open the packaging and popped it into his mouth. Lifting his eyes, Huo Niansheng was sitting by the bedside, watching him with a smile.
Chen Wengang bit into the chocolate and leaned in to share it. Huo Niansheng naturally bit off half of it from his mouth.
Their lips and tongues intertwined smoothly with immense tenderness. Chen Wengang cradled his head, his fingers sliding into the strands of his hair, as they shared a deep, lingering kiss, their mouths filled with a bittersweet fragrance.
Halley gets double doses of dogfood free sfkafsgakdsjkfsi