One meal later, Liu Fang was a little dejected, but she also vaguely knew that Chenchen had become more opinionated over the past two years. Since she had said so, she wouldn't change her mind according to her own wishes.
That's right, Liu Fang was very satisfied with Ren Yu as a son-in-law. To be honest, when she was carrying twins, watching her daughter's business grow step by step made Liu Fang proud, but at the same time, she was also worried.
After all, no matter how smart or capable Liu Chen was now, she was only a nineteen-year-old young girl, and such girls would always need to overcome emotional challenges.
Some girls, after overcoming emotional challenges, found their world suddenly opened up, while others were blocked by emotional challenges, fell into a quagmire, and struggled their whole lives without being able to get ashore.
Now that she knew Chenchen and Ren Yu were dating, while shocked, Liu Fang also felt a sense of relief.
After all… Ren Yu was someone she knew well.
-
Liu Chen could probably guess some of Liu Fang's thoughts. After all, they had been mother and daughter for two lifetimes, so she had some understanding.
If it were usual, she might have stayed to comfort her mother a bit, but now…
Looking at the message Shen Hong had sent her on QQ, Liu Chen frowned and glared at her phone, as if she had seen something unbelievable.
Since their relationship was now open, Ren Yu, who had followed Liu Chen back to her bedroom, looked at Liu Chen's expression with some confusion.
"What? Is Shunyang Group reneging on their deal? Or can the police do nothing about Cui Jian?"
As far as they could see, these were the only two things that could make Liu Chen show such an expression.
Hearing Ren Yu's words, Liu Chen hesitated and shook her head.
"No, it's Shen Hong ge who sent me a message."
Upon hearing Shen Hong's name, a flicker of confusion crossed Ren Yu's eyes, but he didn't ask further. He knew that if Chenchen wanted to tell him, she would have said it earlier.
Since she didn't, there must be a reason for it.
However, even though he understood, Ren Yu felt a little annoyed. Shen Hong sending messages to Chenchen behind his back… it seemed he wouldn't be too busy this holiday.
-
Liu Chen looked at the message on her phone, then glanced at Ren Yu, who had followed her into the bedroom.
Her face showed hesitation.
Seeing this, Ren Yu said he was going downstairs to talk to Grandpa.
"Okay, I also have some things to deal with here. I'll message you after I'm done, Ren Yu ge?"
"Alright."
After sending Ren Yu off, Liu Chen couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief as she closed the door.
Ren Yu heard her sigh and his eyes filled with a hint of melancholy. In fact, when his godmother had approached him today, asking him to date with the intention of marriage, Ren Yu's face had already been lit up with a smile as he answered the phone.
For some reason, even though Liu Chen had accepted his pursuit and they were now publicly dating, there were times when he looked at Liu Chen gazing into the distance with her chin propped on her hand, and he felt a vast distance between them at that moment.
So far, that he couldn't help but hold his breath, worried that if he exhaled, Liu Chen would disappear like a gust of wind.
-
Liu Chen was unaware of her boyfriend's melancholy thoughts. At this moment, she was opening her laptop and logging into a website Shen Hong had sent her, entering her username and password.
Soon, the computer began to prompt her.
Liu Chen stayed in her bedroom for the entire afternoon. Ren Yu went to play chess with Grandpa Chen. Everyone assumed that Liu Chen, being tired from her recent trip to Korea, was simply taking a long nap.
Only Ren Yu knew that Shen Hong, who usually bothered him with the smallest of matters, hadn't breathed a word to him about this.
Therefore, this must be something that Shen Hong needed her to keep secret, and keep strictly confidential.
Old Master Shen was still in good health, and many things were not suitable for him to know.
At dinner time, Liu Chen appeared in the dining room punctually. After playing chess with Ren Yu for an afternoon, Grandpa Chen, who had lost more games than he had won, quickly handed Ren Yu back to Liu Chen's side.
"Sit next to Chenchen. By the way, you should tell your mother and grandmother about your relationship. You need to tell them seriously, so your mom doesn't misunderstand, understand?"
Grandpa Chen's words seemed casual, but they were actually a way to make Ren Yu promise, in front of his son, daughter-in-law, and Chenchen, that he would handle the reactions at home after dating Chenchen.
Seeing Ren Yu agree, everyone in the family nodded with satisfaction. Liu Chen, however, seemed to hear nothing, completely absorbed in her own world.
Seeing Chenchen's reaction, Liu Fang couldn't help but nag again.
"Chenchen, don't space out while eating, or it will put too much pressure on your stomach and lead to indigestion."
Liu Chen, criticized by her mother, wasn't angry. She just smiled and nodded, then continued to space out while eating.
"What good news has this child encountered to be so happy?"
Liu Fang, being the one who knew Liu Chen best, felt her curiosity piqued by her daughter's behavior.
However, no matter how much Liu Fang asked, Liu Chen just smiled and shook her head. When pressed, Liu Chen would just say,
"It's a secret."
By the end of the meal, everyone's curiosity had been piqued.
After dinner, Liu Chen hurried back to her room to change into slightly more formal clothes, then called Xia Tian and Dong Tian and went out.
She completely forgot about her dear boyfriend, Ren Yu.
"Ren Yu, you know, Chenchen is impulsive. You played chess with Grandpa all afternoon today, so you must be tired. Go home early and rest. Godmother won't see you out."
Liu Fang said these words of excuse for her daughter, but her eyes held a hint of guilt.
For some reason, Liu Fang had a premonition that in this relationship between her Chenchen and Ren Yu, it seemed like Ren Yu was the one who loved more?
"Yes, Godmother, I'm fine. Then I'll be going now."
Ren Yu was unusually gentle with his future mother-in-law. He reassured Liu Fang before driving home.
-
Liu Chen was now sitting in an office at the military base, feeling her heart pounding in her chest.
Her palms were sweating from nervousness, so Liu Chen had to grab a tissue from the desk to wipe her hands.
Xia Tian and Dong Tian were stopped outside the office building. Because this conversation involved confidential matters, even their personal bodyguards were kept outside.
Liu Chen looked up at the desk in front of her chair. The desk looked very ordinary, dark brown, with a frosted black area near the user's position.
On the top left corner of the desk were the Five-Starred Red Flag and a red flag with "August 1st" written on it.
Then came a computer screen, which was currently off. Opposite the computer, behind the desk, was a bookshelf filled with history books, and faintly visible were some trophies and awards, indicating that the owner of this office had a rich resume.
Just as Liu Chen began to overthink, the office door was pushed open from the outside.
Liu Chen instinctively turned her head and saw a middle-aged man in camouflage short sleeves and pants, wearing military boots, leading three bald middle-aged men behind him.
The man's irritable mood inexplicably subsided upon seeing the well-behaved little girl sitting at the desk.
He then remembered the appointment he had with the little girl. He looked up at the wall clock and, as expected, he was late, and quite late at that – fourteen minutes.
If it were him, no matter who it was, if they were late, he would tell them to get out!
"Ahem, Miss Liu, I apologize. I had some urgent matters that caused a delay. Let me introduce myself, I am Zhuang Hongxing. These three gentlemen are biologists from the capital. Your Meimeiniu beverage was also tested by them before it was approved for experimental use within the military."
Liu Chen stood up the moment Zhuang Hongxing spoke.
Yes, this was what Shen Hong had contacted her about this afternoon.
Seeing Liu Chen, Zhuang Hongxing also found it somewhat miraculous. Three days ago.
Initially, a soldier on leave discovered the unique properties of Meimeiniu. Due to continuous breakthrough training, after drinking a bottle of the beverage, he could endure even more training. Then, the entire squad secretly bought a bottle to try.
Inexplicably, a squad in the military seemed to be injected with chicken blood; their endurance and stamina were longer than usual. The brigade commander praised them with a chuckle, and then someone secretly went to report it.
He claimed that the squad had secretly drunk a hormone-laced energy drink, and even specifically bought a bottle from outside, pointing out the "energy replenishment" claim on it to the brigade commander.
This infuriated the brigade commander. Drinking hormone-laced beverages for training was damaging one's body! He immediately flew into a rage and ordered the entire squad to report to him.
At this point, the squad knew someone had reported them, but they had drunk it, so there was nothing to argue about. Only the person who first discovered the beverage's effect had a different idea.
Recalling this, Zhuang Hongxing felt a headache. Yes, he was that unlucky brigade commander.
The day before yesterday, at the insistent demand of the big soldier, he had sent Meimeiniu for ingredient testing. The results came out yesterday.
Since the testing department was internal to the military, Zhuang Hongxing received the test report and hadn't figured out how to utilize this completely harmless energy-replenishing beverage when he was approached by these three biologists from the capital.
His lateness this time was also because of them.
These three believed that Meimeiniu could not be harmless to the human body. Any medicine would have some side effects; this was their ingrained philosophy.
However…
"Young and promising! Young and promising!"
One of the experts, completely bald, saw Liu Chen and his eyes lit up like a mouse spotting a rice barrel! He even pushed aside his two colleagues and hurried to Liu Chen, extending his hand:
"Comrade Liu Chen, your formula is excellent! We have conducted multiple experiments and found no issues with any of the ingredients. How did you achieve this?"
Before the completely bald middle-aged man could finish, he was pushed aside by the man with a receding hairline from behind. He was then shoved to the side, and he said with a wry smile,
"Comrade Liu Chen, please don't misunderstand, we're not trying to steal your formula, we're just a bit curious. Um, could you give us a research direction? Just a general idea?"
The last biologist, whose hair still managed to cover his head, quickly nodded upon hearing his colleague's words. As he nodded, the sparse hair covering his head began to flutter, and Liu Chen could even vaguely see the color of his scalp.
Is this what studying biology does to you? Is this the so-called, "I'm bald, but I've become stronger"?
Fortunately, Liu Chen's wandering thoughts were quickly brought back. She smiled slightly and nodded, saying,
"Actually, the formula for Meimeiniu was inspired by a book on herbal medicine. The book is called…"
The three biologists quickly scurried to the desk, tore off a piece of memo paper, and started taking notes with the ballpoint pen on the desk.
After Liu Chen finished speaking, the three of them showed expressions of satisfaction and eagerness.
Seeing them like this, Zhuang Hongxing quickly ushered them out of the office.
"Alright, alright! You've gotten what you wanted. Now, what I need to discuss is confidential, so you should leave quickly!"
Zhuang Hongxing's voice was loud, and he spoke as if he were scolding them, but the three biologists didn't mind at all.
"Heh heh, we've gained a lot this time. Those stubborn old guys back there will be so envious of us!"
"I've decided, I won't tell him the name of the book unless he helps me for a year."
"Me too!"
The three of them chatted and finally left the office. Zhuang Hongxing closed the office door, shutting out the noise, and then let out a long sigh through his nostrils.
These three people! They praised Meimeiniu to the heavens, how could he negotiate with Comrade Liu Chen now?
He had finally managed to secure a spot for an experimental class and intended to fight for the best welfare for the military, trying to keep the price as low as possible. But now, Zhuang Hongxing was stumped.
He sat back in his chair behind the desk and looked at the well-behaved, quiet-looking young girl sitting opposite him. Zhuang Hongxing opened his mouth but still didn't dare to state his target price.
How to put it? Before coming, he had thought it all through: this was for the development of the military, so what was the point of making money? Just covering the cost would be good enough! Ideally, the formula would be submitted for free!
But…
Looking at this girl who didn't even seem to be an adult, Zhuang Hongxing found it difficult to say these words…
Although she didn't know why Zhuang Hongxing suddenly fell silent, Liu Chen still wanted to finalize this matter quickly and sign a contract in black and white. After all, supplying the military with this product would provide significant backing for her future plans to expand the Meimei brand nationwide.
"Uncle Zhuang, our Meimeiniu can provide a special supply for the military with a version that has a higher concentration of energy-replenishing agents. The cost is three yuan. Of course, you can test it first, and after confirming its efficacy, you can adopt it. The ordinary version of Meimeiniu currently on the market can be supplied at a cost price of one yuan and ninety cents."
As for the formula?
It wasn't that Liu Chen wanted to keep it to herself and make money, but purely because…
Formulas were too easy to spread. Who could guarantee that there wouldn't be any black sheep in the military?
It was better to keep the production line in her hands. This way, the military would definitely consider the safety of her factory more.
This was Liu Chen's small plan.