Chapter 1642: Chapter 1463: Secret Burdens
"Actually, I still like drinking tea. The benefits of tea don’t need much elaboration. The main thing is that the aroma of the tea can make one forget oneself completely. In that moment, it feels as if the whole world only has oneself, and at this time, one seems to control everything in the world." Zhang Qiang poured you a small cup of tea and said with a smile, "Give it a try."
You are a rough person; he can’t handle such elegant things as tea tasting. You take the purple clay cup, just place it to your lips, and a scent rises gently. For a moment, you feel as if you really understand the feeling Zhang Qiang described.
Seeing you drink the tea, Zhang Qiang asked, "How is it, not bad, right?"
"Well, I can’t really say. From childhood to now, the tea I drank the most should be the homemade mountain tea, the kind made in a big basin."
Hearing this, a look of nostalgia appeared on Zhang Qiang’s face, and his smile gradually relaxed: "When I was a kid, every summer, my mom would make a big basin of mountain tea and put it on the favorite tea table by the door. At that time, I was very playful, whatever could fly or crawl, as long as it was edible, I had eaten."
"Well, personally I feel the beetle hind leg meat in the bamboo forest tastes good," you blurted out.
"Yes! Tender and a bit sweet!" Zhang Qiang immediately followed, seeming to reminisce.
"Huh? Director Zhang, you also ate?"
Zhang Qiang laughed, looking at you, "I really didn’t think that you, like me, also ate that kind of beetle."
"Couldn’t help it; when I was young, my family was poor, living by the mountain, so like you, I basically ate everything edible from the mountain. But when it comes down to it, the beetle hind leg in the bamboo forest is still the best."
"Yes, back then, there were many childhood friends playing with me, but they all didn’t dare to eat."
You nodded, smiling, "At first, I was also a bit scared. But then I heard the old folks say that of the beetle, only the hind leg meat is the most delicious, even though it’s thin and little."
"But when you eat it, it tastes like chicken, doesn’t it?"
"Exactly! And it even has the same flavor as white-cut chicken!"
The conversation between you and Zhang Qiang felt like two people who grew up together, even though you are twenty years apart in age. But now you are Li Jiu, and Li Jiu’s resume clearly states that you are 28 years old.
The more the two of you talked, the more in sync you became, almost like the feeling of meeting a kindred spirit too late.
Soon, three pots of tea were consumed.
Zhang Qiang looked at you with a smile, "I really didn’t expect that our childhoods would be so similar."
"I guess all kids who come from the mountains are similar."
You chuckled, though you didn’t actually grow up in the mountains; these experiences are mainly brought over from the real world.
Zhang Qiang kept staring at you, which made you a bit uneasy. You even shivered slightly and said to Zhang Qiang, "Um, Director Zhang, my sexual orientation is still quite normal."
"I’m not interested in men either!" Zhang Qiang was amused by your words and said to you, "Actually, when I first called you here, I was planning to give you one million US dollars and have you leave Eastern Sea Province permanently."
Hearing this condition, you couldn’t help but raise your eyebrows, smiling as you said, "That’s a pretty good proposal!"
"But I’ve changed my mind now."
"Why?"
Zhang Qiang looked you up and down, his expression gradually calming, "You know what, you remind me a lot of a friend from the past, no, you look extremely similar, as if you two were the same person. Your way of speaking and manners are almost identical."
"Where is he now?" you asked.
"He’s already dead," Zhang Qiang looked at you, "My intuition tells me, you might be him."
"No way?" you shuddered, pretending a spooky atmosphere, "Director Zhang, I have a small courage, don’t scare me."
"This is just a metaphor, you are still you, though you resemble him, you seem smarter than him."
"Oh, I love hearing that."
"But the thickness of your skin is different; yours is almost like a city wall." Zhang Qiang joked so casually, as if he really regarded you as a long-time friend.
You touched your nose and said to Zhang Qiang, "Director Zhang, what do you plan to do now?"
Zhang Qiang didn’t answer you, instead, he slowly closed his eyes, as if reminiscing or perhaps thinking.
Seeing this, you slowly yawned, found a familiar spot, and reclined on the sofa.
"Li Jiu." Zhang Qiang suddenly spoke.
"Hmm."
"Do you know why I haven’t married all these years?"
You shrugged.
"Because I have something on my mind. As long as it’s not resolved, I will never get married."
You were slightly surprised and said, "Rumor has it, Director Zhang, you are a womanizer and love being around women, yet unexpectedly you turned out to be a romantic."
"No, this isn’t about personal feelings, but rather the care of a brother for his sister."
"Sister?" Your mind turned quickly, immediately speaking, "Are you referring to CEO Cen, Director Zhang?"
"Yes."
Hearing this, you felt a headache coming on, for you already guessed what Zhang Qiang was about to say next.
"I mentioned earlier, you look a lot like someone. And this person is the only man my sister has ever loved."
You shrugged, "The world is vast, with nothing too strange to compare, and examples of two people looking alike aren’t rare. Just like Fang Zumeng and Zhang Mo, I’ve always been unable to tell apart, thought they might be half-brothers for a while."
"Don’t interrupt, let me finish what I’m saying."
"Fine, you continue."
Zhang Qiang began to tell the story of Cen Nong and the second man. He spoke slowly, unfolding the tale deliberately. But knowing the story already, you felt internally bored to death. After all, you had once been involved in it; to be precise, you were the one who actually saved Cen Nong. Although that man blocked a bullet for her, the enemy at the time was wielding a modified AK47!
Even if you use a person as a meat shield, within a few seconds, it would be like being riddled with bullets, and afterwards, Cen Nong would naturally be doomed.
Actually, most of what Zhang Qiang knew of the story was his own imagination. He had merely added his rich imagination to the few words Cen Nong had mentioned, then wove them into a tragic love story.
And the real fragment of the story is this, let’s see——
After the Wall Street financial crisis, economies around the world fell into a sluggish state. The major world companies that had invested and built factories in China began to withdraw, moving their factories to the neighboring countries south of China, where labor was cheaper and resources more abundant.
Moreover, the Chinese government was also preparing to shake off the label of "the world’s factory" completely, starting a transformation.
Cen Nong had originally planned to accompany Zhang Qiang to South Vietnam for a business survey. But Zhang Qiang caught a severe cold, and before leaving, he entrusted his assistant and good brother Yue Kang to Cen Nong.
All along, Cen Nong had been quite repulsed by Yue Kang, mainly because of his looks.
Actually, Cen Nong knew well that Yue Kang only looked like that man. Beyond that, the two of them had nothing in common.
Furthermore, in any aspect, Yue Kang could be considered a decent man.
It was only, due to preconceived notions, Cen Nong always rejected Yue Kang.
This time going abroad, as a woman, Cen Nong had to be accompanied by a man, and this person had to be someone Zhang Qiang trusted.
Actually, Zhang Qiang did this mainly to pair them up.