Auntie's worries were unknown to Liu Chen. After all, in Liu Chen's opinion, his cousin Jiang Di had a good life and was preparing for his dream job, so there was no rush to find a partner!
Within minutes of Liu Chen arriving at the private room, he received a message from his cousin Jiang Di: they had parked the car.
Jiang Di led He Siyu and her parents into the private room, then helped pull out chairs for the elderly couple before sitting down in the seat next to Liu Chen.
He Long frowned slightly as he watched the young man named Jiang Di pull out a chair for him and then sit down himself. He opened his mouth to say something, but his wife Zhen Yu tugged at his sleeve with such force that it almost tore off.
Following his wife's gaze, he saw Si Yu pulling out a stool and sitting down, then picking up the glass of lemonade in front of her and taking a sip.
Liu Chen also saw this and took out the last Meimei sausage from his pocket, handing it to He Siyu.
"Sister Siyu, have a sausage to tide you over."
He Siyu, as usual, took the Meimei sausage handed to her by Liu Chen, then tore it open in front of everyone and ate it.
When He Siyu finished the last bite of the Meimei sausage, the system's voice sounded in Liu Chen's mind:
'Daily task completed. Gained He Long's favorability +20. Current He Long favorability: 80.'
Eighty?
Liu Chen was stunned by the favorability score. Wait, was this a percentage?
Before Liu Chen could recover from the shock of the eighty-point score, he heard He Long's doctoral supervisor speak:
"Regarding the matter you brought up earlier, I've already made a suggestion to the university. It would be best if your new factory could be completed before June next year, so you can start production during the summer."
Liu Chen heard this and even thought he was hallucinating. His eyes were fixed on He Long, his doctoral supervisor, who was speaking.
"Of course, that's on the condition that your new factory runs smoothly. I saw what happened on Weibo today. Do you know why I chose additives as the direction for the experiment?"
Liu Chen slowly shook his head. In fact, Liu Chen thought that if He Long, his doctoral supervisor, truly wanted to conduct a profitable experiment for the university, developing new food products directly, like he was, would be faster and yield greater profits.
"Because there's no leader in the additive business. The only issues to solve are research and development, followed by confidential production."
With He Long's words, Liu Chen immediately snapped out of his daze from the unexpected good fortune.
His eyes became sharp. He understood that He Long, his doctoral supervisor, was guiding him, hinting that the quality issue that occurred this morning was the work of industry insiders.
"Teacher, please rest assured. I will resolve this matter as soon as possible."
He Long looked at Liu Chen, who was not at all intimidated and spoke with great confidence about resolving the issue, and couldn't help but nod. He was truly his student, as formidable as he was in his youth!
Zhen Yu, standing by, couldn't help but roll her eyes at He Long's proud nod. This guy was probably boasting to himself again.
"Alright, it's rare to have a meal with young Liu Chen. The tripe we just put in the pot has been stewing for a while, hurry up and take it out to eat."
Jiang Di, sitting beside them, listened to Liu Chen and his classmate's father talking. His mind raced, and only then did he understand that He Siyu was not only Liu Chen's senior but also that He Siyu's parents were professors at Tsinghua University.
Thinking of this, and recalling his mother's hints over the past few days, Jiang Di buried his head in his rice bowl, feeling as if a hole had been poked in his heart with a broomstick, and cold wind was blowing through it.
His hand, holding the chopsticks, trembled slightly from the cold.
After the hot pot meal was finished, Liu Chen and Jiang Di accompanied He Long's family to the airport. It was probably the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, so the road to the airport was very smooth.
After seeing He Long's family into the security check, Liu Chen blew on his hands, rubbing them together, and walked out with Jiang Di.
"Brother Jiang Di, you seem a bit quiet after dinner today?"
Liu Chen asked as he sat in the passenger seat and fastened his seatbelt.
"Maybe I'm a bit tired. I'll be fine after a good night's sleep when we get back," Jiang Di said, starting the car and paying attention to his surroundings.
"Oh, okay. Brother Jiang Di, you know my new factory is under construction, right?"
"Yes, I passed by there a few days ago. They've already started building the factory buildings."
"Dr. He Long has a patent for an additive technology, and I have shares in it. Of course, the majority belongs to Tsinghua University. The university previously hoped I would sell a production line to Beijing."
"I heard you talking just now..."
"Yes, I politely refused the university's proposal and instead suggested they could find me for contract manufacturing. After all, I have my own shares in it. However, Dr. He Long didn't take this suggestion to heart at the time. Now, he must have considered the scale of my new factory and deemed it feasible. Of course, Senior He Siyu's involvement is also indispensable."
Hearing He Siyu's name, Jiang Di became distracted.
Liu Chen looked out the window at the quickly receding green belt and said hesitantly, "Brother Jiang Di, are you driving a bit too fast?"
"Sorry, Chenchen, the brakes have failed. Brace yourself!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Chen immediately covered his head with his hands and quickly placed another lucky charm on himself and Jiang Di.
Jiang Di began to frantically turn the steering wheel, the car making a C-shaped turn and then plunging into the green belt on the right side of the road.
Whether it was Liu Chen's lucky charm that worked, or because there were fewer people on the road as the Lunar New Year approached, there were no rear-end collisions during this process. Thus, only the green belt was damaged, along with scratches on the car body.
And...
The surge of adrenaline Liu Chen experienced in that moment, and the anger he felt now, having survived a brush with death.
Yes, anger!
"Brother Jiang Di, let's get out of the car. I'll call someone to tow it and have it inspected to find out why the brakes failed."
Liu Chen pushed the car door open with trembling hands, stepping on the knee-high green plants at an angle with his boots, and quickly walked onto the auxiliary road.
Jiang Di also walked onto the auxiliary road. The two supported each other and walked onto the sidewalk. Jiang Di's legs were so weak that he wouldn't have been able to stand without Liu Chen's help.
Liu Chen unzipped his jacket, took out his phone from his pocket, and unlocked it with slightly shaking fingers, then called Chen Long.
"Hello, Uncle Chen, are you free to talk now?"