Zheng Ronghua was simply considering things from a purely business perspective. He invested a lot in Xu Zhengyang but didn't reap any corresponding benefits; Xu Zhengyang then fell ill, making it a completely unprofitable deal. Therefore, Zheng Ronghua didn't object to his son's decision.
“Zheng Yaokai, you say you did everything and your father bears no responsibility, then…” Xu Zhengyang sneered, “I can let your father live now, but you have to die in his place. Are you willing?”
"Huh?" Zheng Yaokai was immediately stunned.
Xu Zhengyang ignored Zheng Yaokai's current state of mind. The answer was almost certain: Zheng Yaokai definitely couldn't make the decision to die in his father's place. However, this wasn't a huge mistake; it was human nature and could be understood.
“I know what you’re thinking.” Xu Zhengyang looked at Zheng Ronghua and said calmly, “It’s impossible for you to get back some of the Ronghua Group’s shares for your family… However, I can rescind some of the punishment imposed on the Zheng family. As long as they work diligently and are good people like you, Zheng Ronghua, their efforts will be rewarded accordingly… As for what happens after you die, I will naturally make arrangements.”
Zheng Ronghua felt a sense of relief. This was good; it was a blessing. He was so moved that tears streamed down his face as he repeatedly said, "Thank you, thank you so much."
“Zheng Yaokai, it’s quite good that you have the courage to take responsibility for your father in front of me.” Xu Zhengyang patted Zheng Yaokai’s shoulder as he knelt on the ground and said, “Do your job well, do more good deeds for the younger generation, and also accumulate more merit for yourself.”
"Yes, yes, thank you, thank you."
Zheng Yaokai had already come to his senses. When he heard Xu Zhengyang say that he would arrange things after Zheng Ronghua's death, Zheng Yaokai was naturally very excited.
"You'll continue to manage Ronghua Group, do a good job!" Xu Zhengyang turned to leave, but then turned back at the door and said, "By the way, after the New Year, make arrangements for Ronghua Group to partner with Jinghui Logistics to establish an international logistics company..."
"Yes, yes, definitely!" Zheng Yaokai nodded repeatedly.
Xu Zhengyang thought for a moment, and finally, his kindness prevailed. He said, "How about this, Ronghua Group will set up a charity, and every year 80% of the profits from my shares will be used for charity. The rest... is yours."
"ah!"
Zheng Ronghua and Zheng Yaokai were both stunned. This was an incredible blessing!
At this moment, both Zheng Yaokai and Zheng Ronghua had long since put the terrifying thought of death behind them.
As Xu Zhengyang left the ward, the Zheng family members outside gave him a few suspicious and hateful glances before cursing him inwardly as they entered. Xu Zhengyang curled his lip. These pathetic fellows, all they thought about was resentment and jealousy that he, an outsider, had taken away the Zheng family's wealth. Wasn't it because they believed that without Xu Zhengyang, they could have gotten even more?
Little did they know that for Xu Zhengyang, a special person, whoever stared at him, hated him, and cursed him would be doomed.
Xu Zhengyang could simply ignore them and not bother with them.
However, the two great divine artifacts, Heavenly Law and Underworld Law, do not care about any measure. They directly follow the established laws, and anyone who dares to blaspheme the gods will have their lifespan shortened!
They probably never imagined that, until their deaths, each of them had shortened their own lives by several years because of their resentment and hatred towards Xu Zhengyang…
"Master Gu, what brings you here?" Xu Zhengyang walked up to Yao Chushun, who was standing not far away, and asked with a smile.
“Zheng Yaokai called to inform me that Zheng Ronghua had asked me to come over…” Yao Chushun sighed and said, “Zheng Ronghua and his son are still afraid of you and don’t dare to call you directly to ask you to come over, so this… well, of course, Zheng Ronghua also expressed his apologies to me, sigh.”
Xu Zhengyang nodded and asked with a smile, "You don't hate him anymore?"
“What is there to hate?” Yao Chushun shook his head, a weary expression on his face. “A dying man’s words are kind. In the end, we went from friends to enemies, and I held a grudge against him. I was even gloating when you dealt with him, but the root of it all was profit… Now that he’s about to leave, let bygones be bygones. Thinking back, when I was down on my luck, although Zheng Ronghua helped me every time, it was all for his own benefit. But in the end, he still considered me a friend. He only asked me to help him appraise antiques and find antique collectors so that I could make a living.”
"That's true." Xu Zhengyang was quite moved when he heard this.
"Damn it!" Yao Chushun suddenly cursed to himself, without specifying who he was cursing, perhaps himself. He pursed his lips and sighed, "Getting old, getting old, who knows when I'll kick the bucket and die..."
Xu Zhengyang said, "Everyone must die eventually."
"You, as a deity, will you die?" Yao Chushun asked, his eyes wide.
Xu Zhengyang smiled but remained silent.
"Ah, Zhengyang, I have a favor to ask of you, please?" Yao Chushun asked with a hint of sadness in his eyes.
“No need to say anything more. I knew you would react this way. I already said everything I needed to say in the ward earlier…” Xu Zhengyang patted Yao Chushun’s shoulder, then casually put his arm around Gu Ye’s thin shoulder and walked out without saying another word, saying, “Your Gu Ye and I are both good people, soft-hearted, and even more easily influenced…”
"Pah, are you a good person? Zheng Ronghua is about to die, and you still have a smile on your face."
Xu Zhengyang said indifferently, "Do you expect me to cry?"
"Shall we go for a drink?" Yao Chushun suddenly changed the subject and suggested.
"OK!"
After leaving the hospital, Xu Zhengyang and Yao Chushun got into the car together, and Xu instructed Zhu Jun to find a decent hotel.
Sitting in the car, Xu Zhengyang looked out at the city's night view through the car window while pondering what kind of things Zheng Ronghua, with his talent, would be suitable to do for him after his death.
Xu Zhengyang didn't really care about the huge profits brought by the vast Ronghua Group shares; he figured it was better to use them for charity. Besides, thinking back, he realized he had made Zheng Ronghua and Zheng Yaokai pay a thousand times the price for their actions.
If there are standards to measure money and wealth, then how do we calculate the twenty years of life that Zheng Ronghua lost? And how do we calculate Zheng Yaokai's fate of not living a long life?
So...
We should be magnanimous and not hold it against them.
Besides, Xu Zhengyang is not short of money right now! The huge sum of money Ding Changri gave him is enough for him to squander. Can he even spend it all? Moreover, the upcoming joint venture between Ronghua Group and Jinghui Logistics Company to establish an international logistics company is another profitable business.
There's also Huatong Company. Although it's my wife's money, she's family, so the money is still mine.
Therefore, Xu Zhengyang, who is usually stingy with small amounts of money, is now completely unmoved by huge sums of money.
That night, Yao Chushun got drunk, completely drunk.
When Xu Zhengyang dropped Yao Chushun off at Guxiangxuan, it was already past 1 a.m. Xu Zhengyang thought for a moment and decided that since it was so late, he shouldn't go back and wake up his family. Instead, he decided to stay at the house he had bought in Fuhe City for the night.
That house wasn't usually left vacant; Chen Chaojiang and Ye Wan lived there.
Speaking of this, Xu Zhengyang felt a little guilty. Chen Chaojiang and Ye Wan were supposed to get married this winter. However, after Chen Chaojiang was deified, considering that he would be busy during this period and needed to familiarize himself with the relevant work, he decided to get married next Labor Day.
Ye Wan had no objection to this; she was the kind of person who didn't care about the marriage certificate at all.
Besides, the wedding date hadn't even been set in the first place; it was just something in the planning stages.
Today is the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month. A week ago, Ye Wan went to see Li Bingjie and said that she would go home for the New Year the next day. Chen Chaojiang was there at the time, and Xu Zhengyang even jokingly said that he would ask Chen Chaojiang to take Ye Wan home.
Therefore, Xu Zhengyang never expected that Chen Chaojiang and Ye Wan would still be living in this house tonight.
Yes, Ye Wan did go home, but after returning, she suddenly had a whim to come here and spend the New Year at her mother-in-law's rural home. The reason was that she remembered Jiang Lan mentioning in casual conversation what it was like to spend the New Year in the countryside, so Ye Wan wanted to experience it too.
It's safe to say that Ye Wan, with her personality, wouldn't sense anything.
At this time, Chen Chaojiang had brought Ye Wan back to the room less than two hours ago, and the two had just finished their passionate lovemaking.
After thoroughly exploiting Chen Chaojiang, Ye Wan, while teasing Chen Chaojiang's briefly subdued member, suddenly had a novel idea. So Ye Wan said, "Chaojiang, Bingjie is already several months pregnant, aren't you worried?"
"Hmm?" Chen Chaojiang shook his head. "No rush."
“I want to get pregnant too…” Ye Wan chuckled, flipped over and straddled Chen Chaojiang like a queen, and said arrogantly, “Come on, let’s not use contraception anymore.”
"Again?" Chen Chaojiang said with concern, "You've been traveling all day, you must be tired."
"What's there to be tired about? It's only once, absence makes the heart grow fonder..."
"It's not good to get pregnant now, since we're not married yet," Chen Chaojiang quickly said.
Ye Wan said smugly, "Wouldn't it be too late by the time we get married? What we want is to get pregnant before the wedding, do you know what that's called?"
"What?" Chen Chaojiang asked, puzzled.
"This is called a shotgun wedding!"
"Oh, is it popular?"
"certainly……"
...
The door clicked open, and Xu Zhengyang turned on the light as he said, "You can sleep on the sofa tonight. The couple who live in Chaojiang's room often stay there, so it's not convenient..."
Xu Zhengyang suddenly stopped talking. Something was wrong! There was some noise! And there was a suitcase next to the sofa in the living room.
At this moment, Chen Chaojiang and Ye Wan also stopped their strenuous exercise and looked at each other in surprise.
The two, naked and sweetly in love, were in a tense situation because... the bedroom door wasn't locked.
"Cough cough!" Xu Zhengyang hated his own divine eyes and his own curiosity. Almost instinctively, he glanced into the bedroom and saw two people entangled together, seemingly able to see through the walls. Fortunately... Xu Zhengyang hadn't deliberately used his divine power, otherwise, how could that thin blanket have concealed his lightning-fast eyes?
After coughing twice to remind them, Xu Zhengyang said awkwardly, "Well, you guys get some rest. I... I just happened to be passing by. I didn't expect you to be here. Um, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I disturbed you..."
Before he could finish speaking, Xu Zhengyang hurriedly pushed the still dazed Zhu Jun toward the door.
"Oh, take care!"
Chen Chaojiang said this in an extremely awkward manner.
What could he say in this situation? He really couldn't believe it when Ye Wan burst into unrestrained laughter.
This seemingly insignificant incident served as a major reminder for Xu Zhengyang!
On his way home, Xu Zhengyang couldn't help but feel secretly glad that he had been wary of hypocrisy and selfishness and hadn't made Chen Chaojiang a true god. Otherwise... wouldn't he have suffered the same fate as him, constantly being struck by lightning, given his relationship with Ye Wan?
No, no, that's not right!
Even if they are not officially recognized deities, doing this with ordinary mortals is still a violation of the heavenly rules.
Thank goodness, they weren't married yet; thank goodness, Chen Chaojiang had already done *that* with Ye Wan before he was deified... Otherwise, would Chen Chaojiang, who was just a false god, have been able to withstand the baptism of heavenly tribulation?
If Chen Chaojiang dies immediately after the marriage, wouldn't that leave Ye Wan to live a life of widowhood?
Even if Xu Zhengyang could make them stage a love story between a human and a ghost, it would still be a devastating blow to their marriage.
This is a huge no-no!
Therefore, Xu Zhengyang had to worry again about what kind of... monstrous thing his love child with his wife Li Bingjie would be, since he was a legitimate god officially listed in the Heavenly Laws.
What should we do?
Xu Zhengyang hurriedly inquired about the Nine Provinces Record.
The answer is, there is no answer.
Volume Six, Chapter 322: Even a Bear Can Pass the Beauty Test
Zheng Ronghua passed away peacefully four hours after Xu Zhengyang left the hospital.
Even he himself hadn't expected that his death wasn't the end of the world. Looking at his family members weeping in the room, Zheng Ronghua was once again convinced that ghosts existed after the dead. This reassured him somewhat, and he wanted to go over and say a few words, but found that no one paid him any attention.
Yes, humans and ghosts are different, and cannot communicate with each other.
Just as he was reminiscing, a ghost messenger dressed in black ancient official attire appeared before him, and barked imposingly, "Zheng Ronghua, come with me!"
"You are..." Zheng Ronghua felt a sense of panic and hurriedly said, "I know Xu Zhengyang."
Wang Yonggan chuckled. "Oh ho, this old guy actually thinks about socializing like people do, first establishing his connections and backers to avoid unnecessary trouble."
"Nonsense! If it weren't for the order from the lord, would I have come to arrest you?" Wang Yonggan's smile vanished. He shouted angrily, then stopped arguing and took Zheng Ronghua away. Instead, he raised the ghost messenger token and muttered "Take him away."
Before Zheng Ronghua could say anything, he transformed into a streak of light and entered the ghost messenger token.
When he reappeared, he was in front of a solemn and imposing government office courtyard. Before he could even see the plaque and the couplets beside it clearly, the ghost messenger dragged him into the government office, through the halls, and into the courtyard. Looking at the ancient-style buildings around him and the hazy, pale sky, Zheng Ronghua wondered where he was. Beside him, besides the ghost messenger who had taken him in earlier, there was another ghost messenger standing nearby.
Just then, an old man dressed in ancient official robes appeared out of thin air in front of him and said in a deep voice: "Zheng Ronghua, in his lifetime, blasphemed the gods and had his lifespan shortened by several years. After his death, he should have been immediately sent to hell to be punished. However, the gods are as merciful as the sea and, considering his considerable talent, have appointed him as a ghost messenger of the City God's Palace after the City God's Palace has given him some punishment."