37

At the Reception room,

Wiesen pushed his boss into the room. As soon as they stepped in, the two young men sitting on the sofa looked up simultaneously upon hearing the noise.

“You’re finally done. If you’d been any later, the dishes would’ve gone cold,” Zhao Xiaohui said, snapping the magazine in his hands shut with a pa and casually tossing it onto the sofa beside him.

“There was some trouble at the company.”

As for the specifics, the other party should’ve received the first-hand information already. Zhou Chaosheng didn’t elaborate further and got straight to the point: “Why did you two come all the way here?”

“Chaosheng, don’t act like you don’t know,” Gu Qingqiu said, glancing at Wiesen, who was standing behind Zhou Chaosheng. Wiesen, very tactfully, said, “Mr. Zhou, I’ll excuse myself now.” Once Wiesen left, only the three of them remained in the meeting room.

“Hey, what’s going on with you and Jiang Yuanye? Why did you suddenly say last night that he’s your...”

Zhao Xiaohui racked his brain to find an appropriate word to describe their relationship. He thought for a long time but couldn’t come up with anything concrete. Mainly because he really couldn’t bring himself to say the words “boyfriend.” It just felt too weird.

Zhou Chaosheng knew that his childhood friend had come all this way because of last night’s drama.

It wasn’t surprising that they found it hard to believe. If it were Zhou Chaosheng himself, he wouldn’t have imagined that in just a few short days, he and his arch-nemesis would become nominally romantic partners.

Calling each other by nicknames, having dinner together, frequent physical contact, these were already absurd enough. But on top of that, they’d even sacrificed their first kiss just to disgust each other.

Whenever Zhou Chaosheng thought of this now, his body would instinctively break out in goosebumps. He thought to himself, I must’ve been out of my mind back then. Otherwise, how could I have done something so ridiculous?

But no matter how much he regretted it, what’s done was done. All he could do now was grit his teeth and keep playing along with the act.

Until a winner was decided, the conflict between him and Jiang Yuanye would probably never end.

Zhou Chaosheng lowered his eyelashes, his fingers rhythmically tapping on his thigh, a little habit he often did when he was deep in thought.

He thought, Since Jiang Yuanye wants to make me feel disgusted for the rest of my life, then I’ll return the favor tenfold and use his own methods against him.

To be fair, trading a first kiss for Jiang Yuanye never appearing in front of him again wasn’t exactly a losing deal.

At the very least, he had left Jiang Yuanye with an indelible, nauseating memory.

“It’s nothing, just playing around with him,” Zhou Chaosheng said bluntly, not wanting to delve further into the topic. “If you came all the way here for this, then save it.”

Zhao Xiaohui and Gu Qingqiu had known Zhou Chaosheng for over twenty years. Their relationship was so close that they’d practically grown up sharing everything, even the same pair of pants. They were brothers who would take a knife for each other if needed. So even though Zhou Chaosheng didn’t explicitly say anything, just one look or a single action was enough for them to understand his thoughts.

Seeing that Zhou Chaosheng didn’t want to talk about Jiang Yuanye, the two tactfully dropped the subject and instead shifted the conversation to the U.S. trade restrictions on Hua Jie.

“This isn’t over yet, if you ask me,” Zhao Xiaohui said, crossing one leg over the other and analyzing the situation clearly. “They’ll definitely take further action to curb your influence and sales overseas.”

Zhou Chaosheng responded with a hum. “Then we’ll deal with it as it comes. If it gets too bad, we’ll just withdraw from the U.S. market.”

The moment he said this, Zhao Xiaohui and Gu Qingqiu were visibly shocked.

“Are you serious?” Zhao Xiaohui asked.

“Chaosheng, this isn’t a trivial matter. The U.S. market accounts for a significant portion of your revenue. If you withdraw, do you even know how much money you’d lose?” Gu Qingqiu tried to persuade him.

Gu Qingqiu clearly disagreed with Zhou Chaosheng’s decision. Although his family wasn’t in business, he had been exposed to it from a young age, often accompanying his elders to high-profile events and interacting with many influential figures in business and politics. While he wasn’t an expert, he knew enough to be concerned. His opposition now stemmed from the fact that he knew Zhou Chaosheng always followed through on what he said.

Zhou Chaosheng didn’t argue back but instead shifted his gaze to Zhao Xiaohui, who was sitting next to Gu Qingqiu. Unlike Gu Qingqiu’s family background in politics, Zhao Xiaohui had taken over his family’s business at an early age and had faced a similar situation a few years ago.

“It’s not entirely impossible,” Zhao Xiaohui said, rubbing his chin as he thought it over. “After all, your drones aren’t just for household use. They can also be applied to agriculture, firefighting, and industrial sectors. Even Jiang’s military can’t do without your products. If they want to monopolize the market, they’ll need a substitute for Hua Jie. Otherwise, they’re just being delusional sour grapes, complaining about what they can’t have.”

Zhou Chaosheng nodded. “That’s right. Hua Jie’s products are more systematized and internalized. If Jiang wants to suppress us, they can only impose sanctions through sales channels. But just because they won’t use our products doesn’t mean other countries won’t. So, in reality, withdrawing from the U.S. market won’t have much of an impact on us.”

Hearing this, Gu Qingqiu immediately understood.

He had to admit that he wasn’t as naturally gifted in business as his childhood friend, but when it came to matters related to politics, that was his area of expertise.

“I thought this situation was similar to what Hui encountered a few years ago.”

Both of them present knew what he was referring to—the sanctions Jiang imposed on Qilin in 2014.

That year, Jiang implemented a series of restrictive measures against Qilin, including banning American companies from supplying chips and other critical technologies to Qilin.

This meant that Qilin’s smartphones could no longer use Google’s Android system, and chip suppliers like Intel and Qualcomm were required to obtain approval from the U.S. Department of Commerce before supplying Qilin.

As a global leader in telecommunications equipment and a major driver of 5G technology, Qilin had relied heavily on the global supply chain for advanced chips and other key technologies.

However, after being placed on the U.S. “Entity List,” Qilin not only lost access to chips and technical support from American companies, but other companies collaborating with Qilin were also implicated, including those in the semiconductor, software, and cloud computing industries.

That same year, Zhou Chaosheng’s investments in the supply chain were significantly affected.

“Since you’ve already made up your mind, we won’t worry about it,” Zhao Xiaohui said, putting his arm around Gu Qingqiu’s shoulder. He grinned at Zhou Chaosheng and joked, “You owe us a meal, don’t forget. Consider it compensation for lying to us.”

Zhou Chaosheng smiled and nodded. “Alright, I’ll make it up to you later. I need to head home today.”

At the mention of this, Zhao Xiaohui chimed in. “Go home already. You don’t even know how much your grandmother has been worrying about you after your car accident. If she wasn’t too old to travel, she would’ve flown to Jinzhou to see you by now. Even the pigeon your grandfather always feeds hasn’t eaten in days. And my old man? He talks about you so much I’m about to grow calluses in my ears.”

Gu Qingqiu added, “My grandfather too. he’s been thinking about you every day and asked us to send his regards.”

Hearing this, Zhou Chaosheng smiled. “Thank you to Grandpa Zhao and Grandpa Gu for thinking of me. I’ll visit them tomorrow.”

Zhao Xiaohui said, “You can tell them that yourself.”

Gu Qingqiu took out his phone. “When are you planning to visit tomorrow? I’ll let them know to prepare a place for you.”

Zhao Xiaohui rolled his eyes and suggested, “How about this Chaosheng, you have lunch at Qingqiu’s place tomorrow, and then come to my place for dinner. We’re all in the same compound anyway it’s just a few steps away.”

“Sure. Qingqiu, will that be convenient for you?” Zhou Chaosheng asked.

Gu Qingqiu nodded with a smile. “Of course. No problem at all.”

Meanwhile, Zhao Xiaohui had already taken out his phone and dialed Grandpa Zhao’s number.

After two rings, the call connected. “Hello? Grandpa.

“I’m back in the capital… You mean Chaosheng?

“He’s right here with me. Me, him, and Qingqiu are all together right now.

“…It’s nothing. Just that Chaosheng will be having lunch at your place tomorrow. Don’t forget to prepare an extra pair of chopsticks for him. And for me too, of course. Oh, you want to invite Qingqiu too? Grandpa, are you all eating together?”

“Alright, alright. I’ll let them know.”

Zhao Xiaohui moved the phone away and turned to ask the others, “Grandpa wants us all to eat together. Do you want to split it up or go as a group?”

Zhou Chaosheng didn’t mind and left it up to the two grandfathers.

Gu Qingqiu said, “Hold on, let me call my grandpa first.”

Just as he was about to make the call, Zhao Xiaohui’s grandfather’s voice came through the receiver. With the booming volume honed from years in the military, he spoke with full energy, “No need to call. Your grandfather is right here with me, and he has no objections.”

As he finished speaking, another gentle and refined voice came through the receiver. “Qingqiu, all of you should just come together.”

Gu Qingqiu responded with an affirmative.

As soon as Zhao Xiaohui hung up the call, his grandfather instructed him to pass the phone to Zhou Chaosheng.

“Your grandfather seems to be there too. It sounds like they’re fishing together by the lake,” Zhao Xiaohui whispered while handing over the phone.

His gaze carried a hint of teasing sympathy, which left Zhou Chaosheng speechless.

Taking the phone, Zhou Chaosheng politely said, “Hello, Grandpa Zhao. This is Chaosheng.”

“Chaosheng! How’s your health? I heard from Xiaohui that your leg was injured and you couldn’t walk. Are you alright? The hospitals in Jinzhou aren’t as good as those in the capital. Now that you’re back, Grandpa Zhao will find you some better specialists to take a look at it. You absolutely can’t let your leg develop any lingering issues…”

Zhou Chaosheng was responding warmly to the concern when his own grandfather’s familiar, stern voice interrupted Grandpa Zhao’s rambling.

“Let me talk to him. …And don’t be so harsh! Chaosheng has lost his memory… Fine, fine. You two can talk.”

Zhou Chaosheng patiently waited for a moment.

After a few seconds, the phone was passed to his grandfather.

“Hello, Grandpa.”

“Hmm.”

“…Grandpa, I was wrong.”

The voice on the other end remained calm. “What did you do wrong?”

Zhou Chaosheng smiled slightly and said warmly, “I was wrong for not coming home after the car accident for such a long time.”

His grandfather snorted coldly.

“It’s good that you know.”

The smile on Zhou Chaosheng’s lips deepened. The feeling of being so cared for by everyone was like a warm current flowing through his heart.

He smiled as he coaxed, “Grandpa, I brought you your favorite Longjing tea from Jinzhou, as well as some collectibles. Please don’t stay mad at me, okay?”

His grandfather snorted again. “You think I care about those things?”

Helpless, Zhou Chaosheng decided to play the amnesia card. “Grandpa, I really didn’t mean to not come home. After losing my memory, I thought Jinzhou was my home. That’s why the doctors didn’t transfer me recklessly, they said staying there might help stimulate my memory.”

Hearing this, Grandpa Zhou’s tone finally softened. “…Alright then.”

Zhou Chaosheng chuckled lightly, but before he could say anything, his grandfather began asking about his health. Then, much like what Grandpa Zhao had said earlier, he spent several minutes nagging over similar concerns.

Even after the call ended, Zhou Chaosheng could still faintly hear Grandpa Zhao’s muttering.

“You old man, claiming you don’t care, but you clearly care the most.”

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