"Um."
In reality, right and wrong are often difficult to define between people. Take this conflict with Guan Jie, for example. Strictly speaking, Xu Zhengyang's side was at fault first. Xu Rouyue and Ouyang Ying were gossiping about Guan Jie's negative news, and Huang Xiaoyun, displeased, made sarcastic remarks, which is understandable. Guan Jie, already hurt over the past two years, also became somewhat annoyed and spoke rudely, which wasn't a major mistake.
On the contrary, Yuan Suqin's protective instincts and fierce displays of power also contributed to the sudden escalation of the incident.
However, as a public figure, Guan Jie really shouldn't have been so tactless as to argue with gossips. So, the mistake lies with him.
Thinking about this, Xu Zhengyang felt that he was really reasonable, fair, and great.
This incident was like a minor, accidental episode in life, and it didn't affect Xu Zhengyang's and his family's or Ouyang Ying's joyful mood. They continued to play and go to school as usual. Under the serious attitude of the three powerful figures, Xu Neng, Yuan Suqin, and Xu Zhengyang, Ouyang Ying and Xu Rouyue obediently went to school and didn't need to accompany them on sightseeing tours in the capital. They could only go out with them to various tourist attractions on weekends and holidays.
Beijing is a large city with many famous tourist attractions, and Xu Neng and Yuan Suqin would leisurely stroll through each one at a leisurely pace. In Yuan Suqin's words, "We bought tickets, we spent the money, wouldn't it be a waste not to take a good look around?"
Xu Zhengyang thought to himself: This logical analysis seems... to make sense.
However, if Xu Zhengyang were to travel around Beijing with this mindset, he roughly estimated that it would take at least a month to visit all the places he had planned to see, and the expenses would definitely be much higher than if he had just rushed through. But Xu Zhengyang wasn't worried at all. He lacked many things, but he certainly didn't lack time and money…
Soon, Yuan Suqin and Xu Neng also realized that this kind of travel seemed to be... a waste of money.
So after staying in the capital for more than a week, Xu Neng suggested, "That's enough, let's go back."
"Yes, we should go back. The wheat is almost ripe, and it's time to plant the rice seedlings," Yuan Suqin nodded and said.
Xu Zhengyang was both amused and exasperated. He said, "Dad, Mom, can we lease out those few acres of land? It seems like our family doesn't need to farm anymore, right?"
"Not farming? What else would you do if you didn't farm? Farmers, farmers, if you don't farm, are you still farmers?" Xu Neng immediately put on a stern face.
Yuan Suqin, unusually, stood on the same side as her husband. However, out of love for her son, she spoke much more gently than her husband. She said, "Zhengyang, you've become successful and made a lot of money, which allows your parents to live a good life. But your parents aren't that old yet, not so old that they can't move around. If we don't do some work, life isn't very meaningful. We want to help you, but your parents don't know anything and would only cause you trouble. Besides, if we do other odd jobs, you'd feel bad, wouldn't you?"
Xu Zhengyang remained silent, feeling guilty. Yet he had to admit that his mother was right.
"So, we still have to keep planting this land. It's not about making money or harvesting grain, it's just about feeling at ease. It would be a shame to throw away the land we've been farming for most of our lives," Yuan Suqin said with a touch of melancholy.
Xu Neng said in a low voice, "Farming is our duty; we must not forget our roots."
Xu Zhengyang smiled wryly. How did this get back to his duty? But he didn't care. That was just his father's nature; he was always honest and simple to the point of being stubborn.
"Zhengyang, relatives from all around, and neighbors in the village, if you can lend a hand, then lend a hand..." Xu Neng said hesitantly.
"You dead man, how can Zhengyang possibly take care of everything? Help, help, help what? What do we owe them?" Yuan Suqin glared and complained, then turned to Xu Zhengyang, her face gentle and kind, and said, "Zhengyang, don't listen to your father's nonsense, just do your own thing. Okay!"
Xu Neng stubbornly said, "I didn't say I had to help. I'll help if I can..."
"Dad, haven't I already sent a few people to work at the company?" Xu Zhengyang said with a smile.
"Only three people, sigh..." Xu Neng sighed, "It's not easy for any of them."
Yuan Suqin retorted angrily, "Everyone else has it tough, but you think it's easy? You think it's amazing that your son is doing so well? Then go and give money to others."
Xu Neng was used to this, so he didn't care how harsh his wife's words were. That was just her personality—sharp-tongued but soft-hearted. So Xu Neng chuckled a few times and said to his son, "Zhengyang, you know so many people in Fuhe City and Beijing. It would be good to find some work on construction sites. See if you can get some jobs for the construction teams around here. Once you're out in the open, you'll need more people, right?"
Xu Zhengyang was slightly taken aback, a thought flashing through his mind. Just as he was about to speak, his mother interrupted, "Zhengyang, don't pay attention to your father. Zhang Zhong has approached him several times, urging him to become a foreman. He's already got interested? Doesn't he even know if he's cut out for it?"
"Hmm, China Mobile, I think it'll work." Xu Zhengyang said with a smile, using an advertising slogan. "Dad, I'll ask around for you these days. It's okay to get a group of people to work, but we're not going to set up a construction team. If we're going to do it, let's do it big, a construction company!"
"ah?"
Xu Neng and Yuan Suqin were both stunned.
This wasn't just Xu Zhengyang making things up; his father's words had reminded him that the reason the village's construction teams couldn't expand beyond the village and secure large projects—even those who worked in Fuhe City or other cities for a while—was still employed by construction companies. This was primarily due to their small scale, lack of financial strength, inadequate management, and insufficient equipment, among other reasons. Ultimately, ordinary construction teams weren't qualified to undertake projects.
The only person in the village who made a name for himself in this field and started a construction company was Zhao Laoguang, but unfortunately that guy passed away last summer.
As a result, construction teams in Shuanghe Village and several nearby villages suddenly found themselves with much less work.
Xu Zhengyang believed this path was viable. He had the resources to establish a construction company, both in terms of financial investment and future business connections. In Beijing, Huang Chen's father's Yongcheng Group was a real estate development company, wasn't it? And then there was the Ronghua Group in Fuhe City, which also had real estate development capabilities and was renowned nationwide.
Even just from these two conglomerates, a little bit of profit slipping through their fingers is enough to make a small construction company rich.
Xu Zhengyang seemed to think he had found a way to get rich...
Before he could think about it carefully, his phone rang.
Take it out and look; it's a call from Chen Chaojiang:
"Where is Zhengyang?"
"Ah, they're with Rouyue and the others."
"Didn't you go out today?"
"Yeah, we've been traveling for several days and we're all tired. We're taking a break and were just saying we wanted to go home."
"oh."
"Is something the matter?"
"Um."
"Damn..." Xu Zhengyang couldn't help but laugh, and said, "Just say what you want to say, stop rambling!"
Chen Chaojiang hesitated for a moment, then said, "Could you come with me to see someone?"
"who?"
"...Ye, Ye Wan."
"Dating?"
"I guess so."
"Well done, kid, you actually hooked her up?"
"What do you mean by 'flirting'..." Chen Chaojiang was a little embarrassed.
Xu Zhengyang's eyes crinkled with laughter as he said, "You're embarrassed to be alone? Don't you mind me being a third wheel?"
“No, it’s just…” Chen Chaojiang didn’t know how to say it.
Actually, Xu Zhengyang knew what was going on without Chen Chaojiang saying anything, and said with a laugh, "Alright, alright, where to?"
"World Park"
"Hanyuan?"
"Um."
Xu Zhengyang checked the time; it was a little past nine in the morning. He then said, "Alright, I'll head over there now. You should prepare a bouquet of flowers. Oh no, it's not appropriate to buy flowers for the first time. I don't know much about this either, so you figure it out."
"Um."
After hanging up the phone, Xu Zhengyang couldn't help but purse his lips, muttering to himself: "Brother, in this respect, we're like two birds, exactly the same..."
Yeah, two complete novices when it comes to dating.
After saying goodbye to his parents and telling them he was going out for a while, Xu Zhengyang went downstairs and drove to World Park.
Chen Chaojiang was at the branch office, not far from World Park, so he wasn't in a hurry to get there. He just sat on the sofa, somewhat dazed, clutching his phone and scrolling through the text messages. It all felt unreal, like a dream. In truth, he and Ye Wan had only exchanged a few text messages; they hadn't even discussed anything romantic. He'd just presumptuously mistaken a meeting for a date…
They acted all nervous and took it really seriously.
I really don't know what Ye Wan was thinking, with his personality. How did she even get in touch with him?
Could it be that this remarkable person has some unique skill?
Volume Four, City God Chapter 177: One pair, yet another pair
It was early summer, and the sun already felt scorching hot. It hung arrogantly in the sky, angrily surveying everything around it. Many tourists used umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun, or stood in the shade, taking off their coats and enjoying the occasional, relatively cool breeze.
Xu Zhengyang bought a ticket and entered the World Park. Instead of calling Chen Chaojiang, he leisurely walked along the park's paths toward Hanyuan.
He was still wearing a white shirt, black trousers, and black leather shoes, looking simple and unassuming.
Xu Zhengyang has never cared much about his clothes and appearance, and given his aesthetic sense, mindset, and understanding of these aspects, he really can't pull off any so-called "trendy" or fashionable outfits.
Because of the slightly warm weather, Xu Zhengyang had double-stitched the sleeves of his shirt, rolled them up to expose his forearms, and casually strolled around the park with one hand in his pocket, browsing the various attractions. Occasionally, when he passed through areas without shade, the strong sunlight made him squint.
Perhaps he himself didn't realize that compared to the beginning of the year, his skin was much fairer, and he looked better than before. Well, to exaggerate a little, he could be considered handsome.
As they passed a lotus pond with a few new leaves sprouting, several young foreign tourists smiled and waved to Xu Zhengyang, chattering away. At the same time, one of the tourists ran over with a camera, gesturing and speaking to Xu Zhengyang to take a picture for him.
Xu Zhengyang naturally wouldn't refuse, and nodded with a smile in agreement.
Several foreign tourists gathered together, laughing and joking, striking various poses. Xu Zhengyang took a few photos of them with his camera.
Xu Zhengyang didn't pay much attention to it, as it was a small favor.
After the photo was taken, two blonde, blue-eyed girls approached him and kindly invited him to take a picture with them. Xu Zhengyang smiled and agreed; this was quite interesting. However, perhaps due to his curiosity about foreigners, Xu Zhengyang inadvertently used his divine sense to enter the consciousness of one of the girls, who was even more advanced than him. To his surprise, he discovered that he could actually understand what she was saying.
This was definitely not because Xu Zhengyang, being a deity, had acquired supernatural powers and thus learned a foreign language without instruction or formal training. Rather, it was purely the power of thought to perceive the human mind. This was an unexpected surprise; without needing to exert excessive divine power to probe into the other person's deeper thoughts, he could understand what the other person was saying at the surface level of consciousness.
Hmm, Xu Zhengyang seemed to have grasped something, but he couldn't quite understand it for the time being.
He tried to spread his divine sense. As a result, he was able to clearly "hear" the conversation between the other foreign tourists.
"Hey, what's wrong?" the tall girl asked in surprise, waving her hand in front of Xu Zhengyang, who was in a daze.
Xu Zhengyang snapped out of his daze and smiled, "It's nothing."
Another girl asked in broken Chinese, "Are you feeling unwell?"
"No, no, I was just a little distracted," Xu Zhengyang said with a smile and a shake of his head. He was slightly surprised that the other person could speak Chinese, so he gave up his idea of trying to communicate with the other person using his divine sense.
After taking photos with several foreign tourists, Xu Zhengyang politely said goodbye and headed towards Hanyuan.
Although he didn't attempt to communicate with foreigners using his divine sense, Xu Zhengyang felt that it was highly likely to succeed. The reason was simple: thoughts seemed unbound by language, much like how people often say the eyes are the windows to the soul, and how people can often guess your inner thoughts just by looking at your eyes or expressions.
Admittedly, when people try to understand someone's character through their eyes and expressions, they only have a superficial understanding and are prone to making mistakes. Moreover, people subconsciously use familiar language to talk to themselves in their minds when they speak and think.
However, for a god, none of this is a problem. Since divine power can easily comprehend thoughts within the surface consciousness, communicating with such beings is not difficult.
Xu Zhengyang was quite pleased. Well, this was a chance to learn all the languages in the world at once.
However, he probably won't need to use this ability on a daily basis, since he doesn't need to deal with foreigners now.
As for the ability to read minds, Xu Zhengyang has never liked exploring the deep thoughts of others since he acquired his supernatural powers. If you know what everyone around you is thinking all the time, firstly, it's disrespectful and a terrible act of invading their privacy; secondly, knowing too much about other people's thoughts will make your life more tiring and repressive.
Besides, mosquitoes are small, but they're still food; they all require some effort to kill.
That would be a bit of a loss, right? So Xu Zhengyang would never be so bored as to do something that, in his opinion, would be entirely harmful and without any benefit.
Of course, special cases should be handled in a special way, and that's another story.
Lost in thought, Xu Zhengyang spotted Chen Chaojiang standing outside the gate of Hanyuan Garden in the distance.
It has to be said that Chen Chaojiang and Xu Zhengyang shared a striking resemblance in their attire; both wore white shirts with the sleeves rolled up, black trousers, and black leather shoes…
However, their expressions were completely different. Xu Zhengyang's was calm and gentle, as if anyone who looked at him would feel that he was smiling at them; while Chen Chaojiang remained unchanged. His expression was cold and stern, and his slender, icy eyes were devoid of any warmth, keeping everyone at a distance.