Chapter 996 - 961: A Chance Encounter

Tang Jinglun also hadn’t fallen asleep, looking at the police opposite him and sighed, "How long are you going to keep bothering me? Although I was responsible for the construction of Jianjie Square back then, Duan Yuanhong was in charge of the actual engineering. I knew nothing about this matter. What’s wrong with me transferring money to him? Can that prove anything? Can’t he borrow money from me? I’ve been here for almost forty-eight hours, you’re already violating the regulations."

"Don’t talk to us about regulations; we wouldn’t keep you here without evidence. I’m telling you, Duan Yuanhong is already on his way back to the country."

Tang Jinglun laughed, trying to bluff him with such a low-level tactic, thinking it’s so easy: "Alright, when he comes, I’ll confront him face to face."

"Waiting for him to expose you and you taking the initiative to confess are two different things. You’d better understand the nature of it."

"How can I confess when I did nothing wrong?"

"Not seeing the coffin, not shedding tears, fine, then wait and see."

Xu Chunliang walked to the Marriott Hotel early in the morning. Today, he promised Ye Qingya to take her to tour Weishan Lake. Originally, he wanted to invite Ye Qingya to taste the local special breakfast, but Ye Qingya asked him not to bother and just come directly to the hotel restaurant to eat, after all, her room also comes with two breakfast vouchers.

When Xu Chunliang arrived at the restaurant, he saw Ye Qingya and Su Qing talking happily face to face.

Xu Chunliang first went to get some breakfast, then sat down beside Su Qing and smiled, "Chatting so happily?"

Su Qing said, "That’s right, we hit it off, talked from last night till now."

Ye Qingya nodded her head.

Xu Chunliang said, "Did you sleep together?"

Ye Qingya laughed, "You sure have a lot on your mind."

Su Qing explained, "I’ve been sleeping uneasily lately, but after talking with Sister Qingya, I feel much better."

Xu Chunliang said, "Why don’t you skip work and join us for a wander around Weishan Lake, facing the picturesque lake and mountains, all troubles will fade away."

Su Qing said, "I’d love to, but I have an interview assignment, I can’t skip it."

Colleagues kept sending messages urging her to go to the tunnel construction site early. Xu Chunliang heard that an ancient site was excavated again in Hidden Dragon Mountain Tunnel, and couldn’t help but sigh that Dongzhou is truly rich in history, wherever you dig there’s some ancient architectural site to be found.

Su Qing got up and said, "You guys take your time eating, I have to go to the interview, then I have to go to the Culture and Tourism Bureau, wherever the leadership points, that’s where I must go."

Xu Chunliang said, "The general is outside, military orders can be disobeyed."

Su Qing laughed, "I’m just a pawn, don’t have such grand airs." She walked a few steps, remembered that Xu Chunliang’s car keys were still with her, and returned to hand him the keys.

Ye Qingya watched Su Qing hastily walking away and quietly praised, "A really nice girl, she’s good to you."

Xu Chunliang casually said, "You’re good to me too."

Ye Qingya’s pretty face blushed; fortunately, Xu Chunliang was focusing on eating, not looking at her, and probably just said it offhand.

Ye Qingya got up to fetch two cups of coffee, placing one in front of Xu Chunliang, continuing the topic from earlier, "I must admit, you are quite likable in this aspect."

Xu Chunliang looked up at her, in the morning light, Ye Qingya’s skin was as white as jade, with a blush that made her appear exceptionally charming, making one tempted to kiss her. However, Xu Chunliang, in public, courteously smiled, "Which aspect?"

Ye Qingya said, "The aspect of having good rapport with women, anyway, all the girls I’ve seen seem to be really good to you."

Xu Chunliang said, "I’m focusing on cultivation now; women will only slow down my sword-drawing speed."

Ye Qingya scolded, "Talking nonsense again."

"I’m not talking nonsense, by the way, did you practice the self-defense techniques I taught you?"

Ye Qingya said, "I practice every day, especially the breathing techniques you taught me. Since I started practicing, my mental state has become much better, and my appetite has improved."

Xu Chunliang nodded, exercise requires energy, and what Ye Qingya mentioned is a normal reaction. He hadn’t told Ye Qingya about today’s coincidental meeting with Lin Sijin; Ye Qingya is actually an extremely intelligent woman, she just focuses on her own world, dismissing worldly affairs.

When she meets Lin Sijin, she’ll surely guess that he orchestrated the meeting. Will she be unhappy?

By nine o’clock in the morning, the two had already arrived at the Ancient Spring Town dock. With Secretary Zhou’s departure, the construction of the national-level Weishan Lake resort area has significantly slowed down.

Originally, Qin Zhengyang, the top leader of Hu Shan Town, was promoted to be Secretary next to Wang Jianming. The common folk of Weishan Island thought this time they would benefit as well, but reality and imagination have quite a distance between them. After Wang Jianming inspected Weishan Island, he did not propose heavily developing the resort area, nor did he offer new policy support.

Qin Zhengyang, an official who walked out from Weishan Island, seemed to have forgotten the place where he once worked and fought after leaving.

Xu Chunliang had already notified Wang Jinwu, and Wang Jinwu arranged the yacht to wait at Ancient Spring Town’s dock.

Ye Qingya was surprised to see the Xianhong Ship, not expecting such a luxurious yacht in a place like this.

According to Xu Chunliang’s plan, he would first take her around Weishan Lake to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

While Ye Qingya was holding a camera to take pictures, Wang Jinwu and Xu Chunliang stood on the deck chatting.

Xu Chunliang asked about the current situation of Weishan Island, and Wang Jinwu said: "No change. The new Secretary is clearly not as capable as Qin Zhengyang. By the way, the spa town over at Da Heng has stopped construction again."

Xu Chunliang said: "Mingde Group’s investment hasn’t come through?"

Wang Jinwu shook his head and said: "No, I heard things went wrong internally at Da Heng. Mingde Group is also on the lookout. I’ve heard Hua Nian Group ran into trouble too?"

Xu Chunliang said: "It’s so typical. This bunch in real estate is all about doing shady deals and speculating without real capital. Those seemingly shiny big shots are all in debt."

Wang Jinwu remarked: "My uncle was right. Agriculture is fundamental. These developers use connections to get land cheap from farmers, build houses, and resell them to the same farmers who have lost their land."

Xu Chunliang said: "You say that’s still considering the conscience. Most of them are selling without building anything, selling properties even before the house is built."

Wang Jinwu gritted his teeth and said: "These bastards should have been investigated long ago."

The boat sailed to the Underwater City, and they saw a research vessel belonging to Jizhou Cultural and Tourism Bureau. Wang Jinwu pointed to the vessel and said: "See that? Jizhou Culture and Tourism has started researching the Underwater City, heard they want to conduct archaeology."

Xu Chunliang said: "Not that easy, right?"

A diver emerged from the lake, and Xu Chunliang called out to the diver: "Hey pal? Found anything?"

The diver, with the help of teammates, climbed onto the deck and took off the helmet. Xu Chunliang realized his recklessness as the diver turned out to be a woman in her late twenties, with dark skin due to long-term outdoor work, and short hair. She looked at Xu Chunliang unhappily, as if saying, "Can’t you see?"

Luckily, after that incident, one worked in Jizhou and the other in Dongzhou. Later Xu Chunliang was reassigned to the health department, so their paths didn’t cross much. If it wasn’t for this chance encounter, Lu Yunqi would never actively seek out Xu Chunliang in this lifetime.

Xu Chunliang waved at him, saying: "Director Lu, what a coincidence, how come you’re in Dongzhou?"

Lu Yunqi said: "A task from the higher-ups... I... I have to obey orders and follow directions..." At the sight of Xu Chunliang, he got flustered, mistakenly thinking Xu Chunliang was there to interrogate them. Actually, the division of Weishan Lake’s waters was always unclear, especially the involvement with the Underwater City, where it belonged to Jizhou and Dongzhou was hard to tell even by the original delineator.

One thing that is clear is that Weishan Island belongs to Dongzhou, and most of Weishan Lake belongs to Jizhou, which counts as a balance from above for the two provinces and cities.

This investigation, although approved by Qilu Province, did not involve any prior communication between Jizhou and Dongzhou.

Xu Chunliang also noticed Lu Yunqi’s nervousness and laughed: "No need to be stressed, I’m not from the Culture and Tourism Bureau, today is purely for fun."

Lu Yunqi then remembered Xu Chunliang had left the Culture and Tourism Bureau, and he wasn’t clear about Xu Chunliang’s current situation, only hearing about his mistake and transfer from the bureau. Whether promoted or demoted was of no interest to him; he only wished to stay far from such troublemakers and desired never to have contact again.

Ye Qingya heard the commotion and came over to watch with interest because of the lighting today the water was not transparent, making it impossible to see the Underwater City with the naked eye.

The short-haired diving woman saw Ye Qingya and exclaimed joyfully: "Ye Qingya!"

Ye Qingya didn’t recognize her at first sight, but upon hearing her call her name, the voice was too familiar.

"Xue Anning!" Xue Anning was her college mate, though she studied Chinese language and literature, Xue Anning specialized in archaeology. Xue Anning was two years ahead in school, and they got to know each other through the school’s calligraphy club. Xue Anning’s small seal script was quite beautiful.

After leaving campus, their communication dwindled, though they would still greet each other during holidays. Xue Anning attended Ye Qingya’s wedding to offer congratulations.

After Ye Qingya’s marriage, she rarely went out, and Xue Anning was busy with her archaeological work all over the place, so they hadn’t seen each other for three years. They couldn’t have imagined meeting here.

Xue Anning asked Ye Qingya to wait while she went to the cabin to change clothes and crossed to the opposite yacht via a temporary wooden plank bridge. Though the lake’s waves weren’t big, ordinary people wouldn’t dare walk on such a bridge; Xue Anning effortlessly walked as if strolling, showing remarkable agility.

Having not seen each other for so long, Ye Qingya and Xue Anning appeared exceptionally close, holding hands, laughing and jumping, reminiscent of their university days.