DLRAS Chapter 29

Chapter 29: “Do you know why Chen Wengang is leaving?”

Chen Wengang had already returned to normal from his memories. He also teased, “How come Young Master Huo has so much free time today?”

Huo Niansheng complained, “It’s been so many days, and you haven’t called even once. Is it always going to be me looking for you?”

Chen Wengang smiled, gently stroking the painted low wall outside the theater.

Under his hand was a naively cute clown; he traced its face with utmost tenderness.

Huo Niansheng genuinely missed him, though. He laughed softly, “Who are you wandering the amusement park with?”

Chen Wengang answered, “My younger sister. She’s still studying and revising is hard work, so I brought her out to relax.”

“That’s perfect. The first of next month is a public holiday. Do you want to bring her to the yacht club to hang out?”

“Relaxing for one day is enough; I can’t let her get too distracted. What’s the plan at the yacht club?”

“Just a get-together with a few friends. Remember? We agreed before to find some time to invite you out to play.” Huo Niansheng seemed to just remember and said apologetically, “Oh, my bad for not asking in advance. Will you have time then?”

Chen Wengang hesitated for two seconds. He himself didn’t have any plans, but unfortunately, that day happened to be Zheng Yucheng’s birthday.

Even if he wasn’t going to celebrate it for Zheng Yucheng, the Zheng family would be throwing a banquet for the eldest son, and his absence would probably look bad.

But Chen Wengang still said without hesitation, “I’ll try my best to clear my schedule.”

Huo Niansheng said, “It’s my fault for not considering your schedule beforehand.”

Both of them fell silent simultaneously for a moment.

To Chen Wengang, that vague, strange feeling slowly surfaced again.

He couldn’t quite pinpoint if it was the way of speaking or the tone, making it hard to distinguish, but he felt as if every word the other party said was testing his emotions.

Huo Niansheng was testing his emotions—what was he up to now?

At the same time, the other party spoke again, “By the way, there’s another thing. I heard you don’t want to stay at the Zheng family’s anymore?”

Chen Wengang burst out laughing. “How did that rumor reach you? It’s not accurate. I’m just considering changing jobs.”

Huo Niansheng also laughed. “No offense intended, I didn’t mean to pry. I just wanted to tell you that if you need help, whether with work or in your personal life, you can come to me… No need to be a stranger.”

Just then, someone called out behind Chen Wengang. It was Chen Xiangling returning from the roller coaster, finding her cousin wasn’t where she left him.

He said goodbye to Huo Niansheng, hung up the phone, and stared at it, his thoughts inevitably drifting.

Chen Xiangling ran over, her cheeks flushed red. “Wengang-ge, why are you running around?”

The girl had played herself into high spirits, grinning cheekily and acting chummy. “You made me think you’d gotten lost!”

Chen Wengang put his phone away, scolded her affectionately with a smile, and the two went to buy grilled sausages from a brightly colored food cart.

When they left the amusement park, the sky hadn’t yet turned dark, and Chen Wengang escorted Chen Xiangling home.

While the day had certainly been happy and fulfilling, Chen Xiangling was very self-aware, tactfully reminding Chen Wengang with a bit of scheming: “I asked the counselor last week. To process a leave of absence at the vocational school, it requires a parent’s signature. What do you think we should do?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll figure out a way to get it sorted for you,” Chen Wengang said. “Don’t tell your mom and dad.”

Otherwise, his uncle and aunt would almost certainly disagree, object, and drag things out. Finding it troublesome, Chen Wengang decided it was best to act first and report later.

For Chen Xiangling, the feeling of doing something bad was incredibly thrilling. Usually, she boarded at the vocational school and only came home on weekends. Her parents never stopped planning for her future, hoping she’d get a good internship next semester. Little did anyone know she was entirely intent on dropping out.

The two of them had conspired on this matter, and from the initial idea to putting it into action, it had actually been settled just like that.

Chen Xiangling was secretly proud. “I went over the high school curriculum myself and took a mock test; my score was higher than I thought. Is that pretty good? I feel like if I work hard, it’s very possible I could get in within a year.”

Chen Wengang smiled, detached from the struggles of the mortal realm. “See? Studying is the easiest thing in the world.”

On the way, he took an extra detour, bringing Chen Xiangling to see the prep school she would attend next semester in advance.

The campus environment was nice, and the management was sound, with security guards at the gate keeping outsiders from coming and going freely.

The two couldn’t get in, but fortunately, as they were about to leave, they ran into the admissions counselor Chen Wengang had contacted at the gate. The counselor enthusiastically invited them into the office, poured them tea, and brought out a form to check off, asking about the student’s learning progress to demonstrate their professionalism and responsibility.

Holding a disposable paper cup and sitting on the sofa, Chen Wengang felt a sense of what it was like to be a parent.

After dropping Chen Xiangling off at Chuntao Street, he instructed her to “study hard” as they parted, then felt he didn’t need to emphasize it further and changed his tune:

“You have your own money; don’t skimp on food. Buy the good stuff. Oh, and is your money enough? I’ll give you a little more.”

“It’s enough, it’s enough, I haven’t finished it yet.”

“Don’t stay up late after lights out in the dorm, be careful with your eyes.”

“Ge, you’re so nagging.”

“Alright, so you’re complaining about me now.” Chen Wengang said. “Especially remember… no puppy love allowed, it will affect your grades.”

This was a classic case of the magistrate being allowed to burn down houses while the commoners are forbidden even to light lamps. Actually, being of age meant it wasn’t considered puppy love anymore; he himself was already involved with Zheng Yucheng when he was eighteen. However, that result certainly hadn’t ended well. He decided to implement a blanket ban.

“I won’t!” Chen Xiangling declared. “The guys my age that I know—and not just my age, even some who are a few years older—are either arrogant or transparently stupid. I don’t think highly of them at all. Of course, Ge, you don’t count.”

As an older brother, he felt deeply gratified. “Mm, that’s my sister.”

Regarding the arrangements for Zheng Yucheng’s birthday, Huo Meijie brought it up on her own initiative at the dinner table the following evening.

She was discussing with Zheng Bingyi what scale the birthday party for his eldest son should be and which guests to invite.

But Zheng Yucheng just shot her a glance, unappreciative. “No need to throw one. I’ll be on a business trip then.”

Huo Meijie seamlessly switched to a smiling face. “Where are you going? What will you be doing?”

Zheng Yucheng couldn’t be bothered to entertain her, because Huo Meijie always got energized whenever she heard about these things—did Zheng Maoxun get to meet the clients he met? Did Zheng Maoxun get to be involved in the projects he was following? Her perspective was so narrow that eight out of ten things she said were laughable.

Undeterred, Huo Meijie turned her questions to Zheng Bingyi, and this time she got her answers from her husband.

Zheng Yucheng’s upcoming business trip was actually quite important; he was following several top executives to Singapore to negotiate a new shipping route.

This obviously didn’t sit well with Huo Meijie. The evidence was that when her smile looked ugly, the nasolabial folds at the corners of her mouth deepened.

Chen Wengang kept his head down, eyes focused on his nose and nose focused on his heart, picking up a piece of crispy roast goose from the plate in front of him.

This would be Zheng Yucheng’s twenty-first birthday.

In his past life, Chen Wengang had actually celebrated it with him in advance. They had driven far away to the seaside, a place filled with jagged reefs and roaring tides. They had hidden in a tent looking at the hazy sky, feeling as if they had fled to the ends of the earth and could discard their responsibilities then and there.

But after that night passed, the next day they still had to return to the secular world, and nothing in the mortal realm would have changed.

Suddenly, Mu Qing spoke up, asking Zheng Yucheng, “Are you going with Miss He?”

His voice wasn’t loud, but it stirred ripples across the table, each person having their own thoughts.

Huo Meijie turned and asked, “Which Miss He? He Wanxin? Are you saying she’s going with Yucheng?”

Zheng Yucheng glared at him. “Where did you hear that hearsay? I’m going for official business, it has absolutely nothing to do with her.”

“I see, then I misunderstood,” Mu Qing apologized. “It’s just that I happened to see her post on WeChat Moments, saying she had arranged to go on vacation to Singapore with a close friend, and also to celebrate a birthday… I thought she meant you. It seems like the two of you are very close.”

Huo Meijie scolded Mu Qing, “Without any proof, don’t speak nonsense next time. A girl’s reputation is important.”

On the matter of He Wanxin, Huo Meijie’s stance was clear. Naturally, she didn’t want Zheng Yucheng to get married this early; she would rather he continue in his ambiguous relationship with Chen Wengang. It would be disadvantageous to her if Zheng Yucheng found a good marriage alliance, and even more troublesome if he produced the eldest grandson first.

“Just focus on your business trip,” Zheng Bingyi tapped his glass. “Don’t mix public and private matters.”

His impatience was a signal to end the topic, and the servants opportunely served everyone a bowl of old duck soup with pickled bamboo shoots.

The duck soup had a rich, tangy, and appetizing broth. Making soups had always been the specialty of Zhang-jie in the kitchen.

The group lowered their heads to drink their soup, each with a different demeanor.

Zheng Baoqiu looked left and right, then asked, “Dad, since Dage isn’t having a birthday party for now, can I go hang out with my friends then?”

Zheng Bingyi’s expression softened a bit, and he asked amiably, “Where are you going, and which friends have you invited? Will you be staying overnight?”

“At the yacht club. Cousin booked the venue and invited a lot of friends, it’s just a normal vacation.”

“Which cousin of yours?”

“Who else, Huo Niansheng.”

Zheng Bingyi remained noncommittal, seemingly prejudiced against that playboy. “Oh, him.”

He neither approved nor disapproved.

Huo Meijie hurried to say, “Niansheng actually mentioned this to me too. Don’t worry, he invited Maoxun and Baoqiu to go together, and everyone invited are people they are close with. It’s just young people getting to know each other, like a mixer, there won’t be any shady characters.”

Zheng Bingyi pressed on, “Who else was invited?”

Chen Wengang interjected, “I’ll probably be going too.”

Zheng Yucheng—and not just Zheng Yucheng, but everyone at the table—turned to look at him for a moment.

Zheng Baoqiu was slightly surprised, with a hint of a guilty conscience. Huo Niansheng had told her to invite Chen Wengang, and she had originally planned to keep it a secret.

Seeing that he was going too, Zheng Bingyi finally nodded, advising his daughter: “You’re a girl; even if you go out with acquaintances, you can’t be without your guard. You are not allowed to drink too much alcohol, and you are not allowed to smoke cigarettes offered by others. Wengang, keep an eye on her.”

Zheng Baoqiu agreed, but muttered softly, “Who knows who’ll be keeping an eye on who.”

In reality, it was already nearing the end of the month. The holiday was right around the corner, and whether they were students or corporate slaves, everyone was catching the pre-holiday syndrome like a contagion. Whether Chen Wengang went to school for classes or to the company for work, wherever he went, a restless agitation of the soul hit him in the face.

This agitation reached its peak on the final day before the holiday.

Chen Wengang knocked on the door of Zheng Maoxun’s office. Zheng Maoxun was buried in documents, writing and highlighting with a pen, looking as if he was hard at work.

Although for modern college students, three minutes of fiery motivation followed by three minutes of slacking off was the norm, at least having those three minutes of motivation was an improvement.

Chen Wengang looked at him with the eyes of someone noticing his newfound diligence, but Zheng Maoxun glared back. “What?”

Chen Wengang brought him a sandwich. “Why didn’t you eat breakfast this morning?”

“Oh, so you still know how to care about me,” Zheng Maoxun said.

He hadn’t been very happy lately, vaguely throwing a tantrum for a few days. Chen Wengang had gotten used to it and didn’t pry deeper.

However, in the afternoon, Chen Wengang took a trip to the port. The moment he returned to headquarters, while still in the underground parking garage, he saw the departmental group chat (the no-managers version) secretly discussing how the Eldest Young Master and Second Young Master were going at it again, right inside Conference Room Three.

This was hardly a novel scene within the company, so when he went upstairs, only two interns were looking at each other in dismay.

The veteran employees, on the other hand, were completely unfazed. Since it was afternoon tea time, they were all gathered outside eating sandwiches and waiting to go on holiday.

Chen Wengang set down his briefcase and asked casually, “What’s it about this time?”

A colleague glanced inside. “Sigh, they rolled one of Director Xiang’s containers, and he’s not happy about it.”

The admin intern, who had only been there for a couple of days, didn’t understand many of the terms. “What does ‘rolling a container’ mean?”

Chen Wengang kindly explained it to him. A container refers to a shipping container. Normally, when clients book cargo space, there will always be various reasons causing cargo delays that result in missing the ship. To ensure a full load, shipping companies always release more slots than the actual capacity.

But if none of the clients end up canceling, they become overbooked, and some lucky winners have to be kicked out.

Generally, which containers a shipping company rolls doesn’t depend on a first-come, first-served basis; it only depends on the closeness of the relationship. They kick out whoever they want. To put it bluntly, the ones rolled are the unimportant clients. Those with low freight rates, small cargo volumes, or weak connections all have to obediently wait for the next voyage.

After hearing this, the intern asked hesitantly, “But didn’t the client do nothing wrong?”

The colleague threw their hands up. “Because we are the shipping company, and we are awesome. Every shipping company is a bastard like this. If the load rate isn’t high enough, who’s going to reimburse us? There’s even a disclaimer on our bills of lading. It’s called industry practice; if you don’t like it, don’t use ocean freight.”

It was indeed a very common occurrence. But on this day, Zheng Yucheng had received a call from his brother-in-law, Xiang Hao.

Since Zheng Dongqing had married, her husband Xiang Hao had built a freight forwarding company from scratch. To make a living, freight forwarders rely on clients on one hand, and the whims of shipping companies on the other. With Xiang Hao backed by his in-laws, what connection could be stronger? In the past, things had always been smooth sailing. However, this time Xiang Hao asked Zheng Yucheng why a batch of agricultural products his client was importing from the US—which had already cleared customs—was bumped off the ship when it had clearly already been loaded.

So Zheng Yucheng went to inquire about the details.

The result proved that Xiang Hao’s cargo was rolled because Novel Steel Company in the US had a batch of steel urgently needing to be shipped from the West Coast to China, and had booked space with the Zheng Group. This batch of steel that temporarily cut in line took up the majority of the cargo space, subsequently pushing his batch of agricultural products out.

As for Novel Steel Company, it was a connection Huo Meijie had pulled from her maiden family—a path she had intentionally paved for her son.

And so, the scene of everyone watching the drama outside the conference room unfolded.

After a long while, the two brothers emerged from the conference room one after the other, their faces dark. The onlookers hastily lowered their heads to do their own work.

Chen Wengang waited for a moment before going to Zheng Maoxun’s office to check on him, a smile on his lips. “So, who won the argument?”

According to international convention, someone had to play the peacemaker. Even if Chen Wengang didn’t go, colleagues would come looking for him one by one anyway.

Zheng Maoxun yelled at him, “You saw it too, right? Isn’t Zheng Yucheng being completely unreasonable? That crappy little company run by that guy named Xiang—how many benefits have they gotten from the Zheng family in the past? Why do they act like they’re entitled to it? What’s the big deal if we roll him once? Novel is a steel giant, and now is our chance to win over this major client. But look at Zheng Yucheng—just to help his relatives, he doesn’t even care about his own company’s interests!”

“Stop calling him ‘that guy named Xiang’; he’s your brother-in-law.” Chen Wengang smiled. “Negotiating with clients isn’t just up to you alone. There’s marketing and sales responsible for it, the general manager has the final say, and above that, your dad is in charge. Why are you getting so angry?”

“I’m not angry,” Zheng Maoxun said stiffly. “You didn’t come here to help Zheng Yucheng condemn me, did you?”

“Why wouldn’t I help you?” Chen Wengang teased. “That’s exactly why I came to ask who won.”

His cheerful smile carried a faint gentleness and a hint of teasing, but harbored no malice.

Meeting his gaze, Zheng Maoxun found his temper entirely stifled. He suddenly threw himself across the desk, burying his face in his arms.

“Don’t overthink it,” Chen Wengang consoled him. “Are you going to the yacht club with us tomorrow?”

“Not going. I’m going to watch the Formula racing with friends.”

“Alright then, be safe. Also, have a great holiday.”

“…You too.”

Chen Wengang left the folder in his hand on his desk and walked out. It was materials from colleagues outside meant for Zheng Maoxun.

After he left, Zheng Maoxun leaned over to grab it, flipped through it a couple of times, and upon realizing what it was, lost interest and listlessly tossed it back onto the desk.

At this moment, Zheng Maoxun began recalling how Zheng Baoqiu usually interacted with Chen Wengang. She was the family’s little darling, and whenever she spoke, it was sweet and whiny—Wengang-ge, I want this; Wengang-ge, I want that—and whatever she asked for, she got.

The problem was, he couldn’t bring himself to act like that. Zheng Maoxun found it sickening.

Having just argued for a momentary victory in words, he had been harboring pent-up frustration lately, and had almost yelled at Zheng Yucheng to vent his anger: Do you know why Chen Wengang wants to leave? It’s all because of you! He doesn’t want to see you at all anymore, and you don’t even deserve him!

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