"Why is the Shen family here today?" Chen Qizhao stood aside after getting the milk and asked the housekeeper hesitantly.

"Mr. Shen talked to Mr. Shen on the phone last night. Mr. Shen originally wanted to go to the Shen family, but Mr. Shen came here today." The housekeeper explained: "The Shen family has not spent the New Year in S City for many years. This year, they came here when they have time. In the past, Mr. Shen often came here to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the New Year."

The Shen family has its roots in City S, but with Shen Xuelan's vigorous and decisive business style, they boarded the Internet ship early on and carved out their own market. In fact, their business territory has expanded to other cities, City B being one of them. Shen Yuhuai studies abroad all year round, and the Shen family has few relatives around them, so they basically go to City B for the New Year every year. This year, Shen Yuhuai happens to be in City S, so the Shen family stayed there to celebrate the New Year.

Chen Qizhao's memories of his childhood are a bit vague. He has the impression that Uncle Shen and his father got along well, but later on they had less communication, which was partly due to the Shen family itself.

There were three people from the Shen family today, except Shen Yuhuai, the others were Uncle Shen and Shen Xuelan.

Chen Qizhao glanced at the available seats on the sofa, and finally chose to sit down at a seat near the outside, next to Shen Yuhuai.

After he sat down, he greeted Shen Yuhuai: “Brother Huai.”

Shen Yuhuai's gaze lingered on the other person's slightly curled hair for a moment, and he smiled slightly, "Just woke up?"

"Yeah." Chen Qizhao drank a sip of milk, "You didn't tell me yesterday."

Shen Yuhuai: “I also heard from my dad this morning.”

Chen Qizhao was a little uneasy. He glanced at Shen Yuhuai's outfit today, and finally stopped at Shen Yuhuai's glasses.

Noticing Chen Qizhao's gaze, Shen Yuhuai asked, "What's wrong?"

"No." Chen Qizhao asked, "Did Brother Huai change his glasses today?"

"Yeah." Shen Yuhuai said, "The previous frame had some problems, so I sent it for repair."

He asked, “Is this weird?”

“No, it’s quite suitable.” Chen Qizhao’s mind flashed back to Shen Yuhuai’s eyes last night, as if they were brighter in reality, and Shen Yuhuai’s eyes were not that dark.

It’s strange, why do I keep thinking about this?

Chen Qizhao shifted his attention and was soon attracted by a female voice.

Sitting opposite him were Shen Xuelan and Chen Shiming. The two were talking, and Chen Shiming's usually tense face relaxed a lot and no longer had a sullen look on his face. Chen Qizhao's eyes moved away from Chen Shiming's face and finally stopped on Shen Xuelan.

Suddenly I remembered the figure of Shen Xuelan standing in front of the tombstone in a black suit in my previous life. It was a cloudy day and many people came to the ceremony, but Shen Xuelan stood in front of the tombstone for a long time. She put down the bouquet and left only when most people had left.

In this life, he had only seen Shen Xuelan from afar at the Lin family charity dinner, but in fact, Chen Qizhao had quite a lot of communication with Shen Xuelan. After the Chen family went bankrupt in later generations, he received help from the Shen family, and he often met Shen Xuelan on certain occasions. When Chen Qizhao supported the Chen family and re-entered the social circle of S City, he faced ridicule and embarrassment from all sides. Shen Xuelan once helped him out.

Shen Xuelan liked to wear suits all year round. Chen Qizhao's most vivid impression of her was that she would clink glasses with others with a smile on her face at certain parties. She was strong and self-controlled, and her eyes could always see into other people's hearts. Even though the two of them didn't communicate much, and she rarely initiated communication, she helped him a lot.

Chen Shiming was chatting with Shen Xuelan about the recently popular e-commerce sector, but they didn't talk for long before he noticed the gaze of Chen Qizhao across from him. He caught a glimpse of the milk that the other person had placed on the table and looked at Chen Qizhao in surprise.

"Chen Qizhao, you haven't had breakfast yet, right?" Chen Shiming suddenly asked.

After he finished speaking, he paid attention to the person and saw Chen Qizhao frowning, thinking that the other party was going to argue back.

Chen Qizhao stopped talking: "…I just woke up and I'm not too hungry. I'll go later."

"I heard from Xue Lan that Feihong's project is really good." Father Shen looked at Chen Qizhao: "I heard that Xiaozhao made great contributions to this project."

When they heard Father Shen mention the non-major project, the faces of the Chen family members were different. The Feihong Rongguang project was indeed done well, but Chen Qizhao didn't like to mention it very much. Every time he mentioned the project, Chen Qizhao always had to say a few more words.

Chen Qizhao: “Not bad.”

Chen Jianhong glanced sideways and saw Chen Qizhao sitting there honestly. "This kid likes to play a lot. He really put his heart into this project and submitted a good answer."

Chen Qizhao: “Yeah.”

Chen Jianhong: “…”

Why is this child so quiet today?

Not only that, compared to Chen Qizhao's eloquence when there were guests last night, Chen Qizhao was much quieter this morning. Even when Shen's father mentioned Feihong's matter, he just responded with a few simple words, without saying anything sarcastic, and his behavior was very abnormal.

He looked so abnormal that he seemed to be still asleep. After the three people from the Shen family left, Chen Shiming looked at Chen Qizhao holding the half-finished bottle of milk and preparing to leave. He couldn't help but frowned: "You didn't wake up today?"

Chen Qizhao turned around: "Oh, more sober than you."

Chen Shiming saw Chen Qizhao walking towards the stairs and said, "...Where are you going? There's porridge in the kitchen."

Chen Qizhao didn't even turn his head: "No, I'll have lunch later."

Chen Shiming: “…”

He ignored Chen Qizhao and turned his head to look at Chen Jianhong's position. "There may be other things after the New Year. You said you wanted to go to Uncle Lin's house. When is that?"

Chen Jianhong stopped Chen Shiming and said, "Let's do it in the afternoon. We really need to go over and take a look."

Chen Shiming nodded. There were still some doubts about Feihong's affairs. For example, why the relationship between Lin and Yicheng suddenly deteriorated. The rumors seemed to be due to project conflicts, but the timing was too coincidental... What's more, the drug problems found at last year's charity dinner made it hard not to be suspicious.

Does Uncle Lin really have nothing to do with this matter?

He seemed to be thinking about something, and just as he was about to walk out, he suddenly saw Chen Qizhao standing at the stairs looking at him.

Chen Shiming: "...didn't you go upstairs?"

"Are you going to pay New Year's greetings to Uncle Lin?" Chen Qizhao said with a smile: "Brother, I want to go too, take me with you."

In the moving car, Father Shen praised: "Today, the youngest son of the Chen family seems to be different from the rumors outside. Isn't he still a good child? It seems that it is a good idea for Old Chen to let his children go to the company to gain experience."

Shen Yuhuai responded: “Yeah.”

“Why do I feel like my younger brother has been paying a lot of attention to that kid from the Chen family recently?” Shen Xuelan looked at Shen Yuhuai and asked, “Do they have a good relationship?”

"Isn't this normal? Our two families have a good relationship. Didn't Yu Huai have a good relationship with Xiao Zhao when they were young?"

Father Shen said: "Xiao Zhao has been doing well recently, Lao Chen should be very happy."

Shen Xuelan recalled the quiet Chen Qizhao in the living room and was indeed surprised. She knew a little more than Father Shen. She had also heard a little about the uproar at Feihong. There were still some rumors about Chen Qizhao's impulsive choice of Nie Chenxiao and his quarrel with Chen Shiming over marketing. "It could be that he restrained himself today. Chen Shiming just told me that Feihong might want an intelligent system and wanted to discuss cooperation with me."

Shen Yuhuai looked sideways when he heard this, “Cooperation?”

"It's just Chen Qizhao's previous project Rongguang. After all, the Chen family didn't start out in the Internet industry, and they didn't focus on intelligence, so many of their technologies are not mature yet."

On the contrary, the Shen family occupies most of the Internet market, and its development focus is also on science and technology intelligence. In the past two years, there have been breakthroughs in core technologies, and it can almost be said that the business is booming. For the Chen family, who have shortcomings in this area, the Shen family can just make up for this shortcoming. If they really want to build a smart home system, they do need the support of external media.

Shen Xuelan was also tempted. This was a win-win cooperation after all. "The only thing that is a little uncertain is the partner. Uncle Chen seems to be planning to give Feihong to Chen Qizhao for training. If it is to cooperate with Chen Shiming, I will not hesitate..." As she spoke, she paid attention to Shen Yuhuai's reaction beside her, and noticed the other party's subtle expression when he mentioned Chen Qizhao.

She suddenly changed her tone and said, "But we'll have to wait and see about this matter. Let's talk about it after the new year."

-*

How can I miss myself when wishing Lin Shizhong a happy new year?

When Chen Jianhong and Chen Shiming went out, Chen Qizhao followed them.

The Lin family and the Chen family are not far from each other, only half an hour's drive away. This was the first time in Chen Qizhao's life that he came to Lin Shizhong's territory. Looking at the familiar scenes, he couldn't help but think of his previous life. He came to this place as many times as he had asked Lin Shizhong for help.

Soon, under the guidance of the servant, the three members of the Chen family entered the living room and saw Lin Shizhong sitting on the sofa. Chen Qizhao's eyes stayed on the table for a moment, noticing the cigarette butts in the ashtray, and he looked at the cigar box next to Lin Shizhong...

Before them, did Lin Shizhong have guests?

"Are you all here?" Lin Shizhong said with a smile, "Come and sit down. Xiao Zhao is here too?"

Compared to Lin Shizhong at the charity dinner, Lin Shizhong now seems to be a little older. It seems that he had a "good" year.

Chen Qizhao felt happier and said, "Happy New Year, Uncle Lin. You should take care of your health in the new year."

Lin Shizhong looked a little unnatural, but soon returned to his friendly and amiable face: "Happy New Year! I will help my family more as I grow older."

Chen Jianhong glanced at Chen Qizhao and explained, "He happened to be at home, so I brought him here. Sister-in-law isn't here today?"

"I went to her parents' house with Xiaoxu." Lin Shizhong explained, "I didn't plan to go over. I heard you were coming over so I waited at home. I was too busy this year and didn't go over to have tea and chat with you."

Lin Shizhong said: "I heard that Shi Ming did a good job this time. Give your father more help. The group needs young blood like you to support it now."

Chen Shiming nodded slightly: "Yes."

Chen Jianhong started chatting with Lin Shizhong, and inevitably talked about the Lin family and Yicheng. Lin Shizhong cleared himself of all charges in a few words. "It was indeed my subordinates who did something wrong. Some things were not handled properly and they ran into the Yicheng market. Adding to the conflicts that had accumulated before, Yicheng targeted us."

"If you need help..." Chen Jianhong said.

Lin Shizhong smiled and said, "Of course I will find you, don't worry. I heard that Shi Ming has found a lot of problems in the group recently?"

"They are all traitors." Chen Qizhao looked at Lin Shizhong and continued, "Uncle Lin, you don't know that Chen Shiming recently picked out two of my father's assistants. One of them, Yu Jie, followed me for a while."

Lin Shizhong's voice sank: "Really?"

"Really?" Chen Qizhao sighed, looking straight at Lin Shizhong, and said, "Uncle Lin, my dad treated him well. You said that man looked decent, who would have thought that he was so evil at heart?"

"In the business world, it's all about interests." Lin Shizhong glanced at Chen Qizhao, then turned to Chen Jianhong and said, "This business has exposed a lot of problems. You have to be careful about things on your side, especially the people on the board of directors. They might target Shi Ming. You have to pay more attention to this."

"Okay." Chen Jianhong said again: "Shi Ming, did you hear what your uncle Lin said?"

Chen Shiming was watching from the side. He couldn't help but look sideways when he heard Chen Qizhao's words. Seeing Chen Jianhong asking questions, he said, "Well, I know about this matter. I will also pay attention to the board of directors."

Chen Qizhao listened, looking at Lin Shizhong's sanctimonious appearance and the board of directors he mentioned briefly. The Chen family is facing internal and external troubles. The biggest internal problems are the obstruction of the board of directors and the overall situation set up by Lin Shizhong. The former is in the open, while the latter is in secret.

Chen Qizhao was very clear about Lin Shizhong's plan. From the details he had found out bit by bit in his previous life, it was basically clear who was at fault. However, some things had not happened yet, so there was a lack of evidence to implicate Lin Shizhong.

After the Feihong incident, Chen Shiming mainly targeted various major projects and personnel deployments within the group. This was obviously very unfavorable to Lin Shizhong because many of Lin Shizhong's arrangements were in these projects.

For example, this time two people were caught in the assistant group, and it was also said that they were Yu Jie and others who were buried deeper.

Obviously, Lin Shizhong's plan has been disrupted.

For Lin Shizhong, decades of planning had loopholes, and several core pieces were exposed ahead of time. In addition, with Yicheng causing trouble for Lin Shizhong outside, it was impossible for him to have a smooth year. He even had to find ways to make up for the gaps in the plan.

Lin Shizhong is an old fox. He has been able to prepare for a big situation for decades. It is impossible for him to be thrown into disarray by the suddenness of this incident. It is very likely that he will recuperate and wait for the next opportunity. Therefore, the most urgent thing for him to do now is to stabilize the internal layout of Chen Group, find ways to divert Chen Shiming's attention, bring the conflict to the board of directors, and seek opportunities for adjustment for himself.

It was impossible for Chen Qizhao to let Lin Shizhong get his way. Since the other party didn't want to move, he had to find a way to make Lin Shizhong move.

"What are you thinking about?" Chen Shiming suddenly asked.

Chen Qizhao came to his senses and saw that Lin Shizhong was talking to Chen Jianhong and didn't notice what was happening here.

He met Chen Shiming's puzzled look and said casually, "I'm thinking of finding an assistant."

Chen Shiming looked slightly surprised and said directly: "If you need someone, I will send someone to you."

"I don't want that. If I run into another Yu Jie, I'll be at a disadvantage."

Chen Qizhao didn't want Chen Shiming's assistant. Chen Shiming had a lot of things to do. If he assigned someone to him, it would be a bigger problem if he assigned some unreliable person to join Chen Shiming's assistant team.

There will definitely be some action after the New Year. Chen Shiming has too many things to deal with, and Special Assistant Xu may not have the time to run back and forth. Although Special Assistant Xu is indeed very good, he cannot touch Chen Shiming's people at this time.

So Chen Qizhao wanted to find a trustworthy assistant to help him...but when it comes to someone trustworthy and capable, he already has a candidate in mind.

They talked for more than an hour, and Chen Qizhao listened for more than an hour.

When leaving the Lin family, Chen Qizhao looked towards the garage behind the villa. If he remembered correctly, there should be several spare parking lots behind the Lin family. He was doubtful and had just taken two steps in that direction when Chen Shiming behind him called him.

"Where are you going?" Chen Shiming: "Our car is here."

Lin Shizhong looked at Chen Qizhao.

"Uncle Lin's garden is quite big." Chen Qizhao seemed to be thinking about something and asked, "I'll just take a look."

Lin Shizhong said: "If you have time after the New Year, you can come to my house and play."

As soon as the Chen family left, Lin Shizhong's face immediately darkened. He returned to the living room, and Jiang Yuze had already come out of the study.

"Why did the Chen family come here suddenly?" Jiang Yuze frowned: "We were almost discovered."

"Don't worry, your whereabouts haven't been exposed." Lin Shizhong lit up a cigar. "Chen Jianhong said he was coming to pay New Year's greetings. I thought he would be two hours late, but he didn't expect him to come so soon."

Lin Shizhong asked again: "How is Yicheng doing?"

"There's no way to deal with it." Jiang Yuze frowned. "We've thought of many ways to divert Yicheng's attention, but their top management is now determined by our actions. With Yicheng's current behavior, they will probably forcefully snatch the two bids related to us after the new year. We suggest giving up."

Lin Shizhong didn't move, looking at the tea tray in front of him with a gloomy face.

Everything was planned well... As long as the Chen family and Yicheng quarreled, they could either sit back and watch the fight or reap the benefits. The two projects that Jiang Yuze mentioned were projects that they had prepared long ago and they had invested a lot of money in them. Originally, when Yicheng started fighting with the Chen family, Yicheng would have no time to take care of other things, and these two projects should have been in his pocket.

But now everything is a mess. Because of the Chen family, the project that Lin's company has been preparing for half a year may have to cost more to get back. And with Yi Cheng, the mad dog, keeping a close eye on them all the time, they are restricted in every way.

After a long while, Lin Shizhong spoke up: "Last time I asked you to investigate Chen Qizhao, how was the investigation going?"

Jiang Yuze: "We have checked his group of friends. Chen Qizhao goes out drinking with them almost every week. His personality is just like that. He occasionally gets angry when drinking. On the surface, it seems that there is no difference from the results of our previous investigation... At the end of the year, he often expressed his dissatisfaction with Yicheng's treatment of Yanyu in front of Cheng Rong and others."

"There is a suspicious point, but it is not a suspicious point. Chen Qizhao has been very concerned about the health of Chen Jianhong and Zhang Yazhi recently." Jiang Yuze thought for a moment and said, "It happened in the middle of last year. Chen Qizhao and Zhang Yazhi went to the hospital for a checkup. Zhang Yazhi was found to have a minor problem. Chen Qizhao's attitude was a bit extreme."

"Suddenly concerned..." Lin Shizhong frowned: "Did he find the problem?"

"Chen Qizhao has the best relationship with Zhang Yazhi in the Chen family, so it's natural for him to care about Zhang Yazhi's health. Chen Jianhong's three highs problem was discovered after that, and he even made me an appointment for a full body checkup after the New Year." Jiang Yuze said, "Because Chen Qizhao didn't do anything extra except showing concern, it's not a suspicious point."

"You should be careful about this matter and don't expose it in the near future."

Lin Shizhong asked again: "Where is his school?"

Jiang Yuze continued, "Nothing else was gained. Chen Qizhao's social circle in school is limited. We checked the people he was with, and the only one he was closest to was Shen Yuhuai from the Shen family. The two seemed to have become close because of the previous incident at the institute. And I received news that the Shen family also went to the Chen family to pay New Year's greetings this morning."

The Shen family... Lin Shizhong was a little confused. He had heard a little about Shen Yuhuai from the Shen family. He didn't seem like someone Chen Qizhao would make friends with. Why did these two suddenly become closer? "Pay attention to the Shen family during this period of time and don't let them do anything bad."

"The most important thing is to keep an eye on Chen Shiming, if he finds any problems."

Lin Shizhong sneered, "I don't need to tell you the rest."

-*

During the Chinese New Year, the Chen family was quite lively, with people coming to visit one after another. Chen Qizhao was still able to listen in the first two days, but later he really lost interest. He stayed in the room except for eating, and was even dragged by Yan Kailin to play games.

Chen Qizhao did love playing games when he was young, and he thought he was pretty good at it, but he hadn’t played for so long that he lost his touch. After playing a few rounds of fishing in troubled waters, Chen Qizhao found it difficult to regain the interest he had in his youth, so he simply went downstairs to find Zhang Yazhi.

Zhang Yazhi was drawing in the small garden. She hadn't reacted when Chen Qizhao walked over.

"You kid, you came here without even telling your mother." Zhang Yazhi stepped aside and said, "Your father and brother are playing chess over there."

Chen Qizhao asked: "Did you measure your blood pressure today?"

"Measured." Zhang Yazhi glanced at him and put down the things in her hand. "Why are you here? Didn't you say you were going to play games with Xiaoyan?"

"You draw yours, I just came over to take a look." Chen Qizhao sat down on the chair next to her. He had no intention of disturbing Zhang Yazhi. After asking about the matter, he picked up his phone to check the messages.

I found out it was a message from Special Assistant Xu.

[-Zhao: So fast? ]

[- Special Assistant Xu: There is information on the parking lot from the last inspection, so it is not difficult to check. ]

Special Assistant Xu had a pretty good year. For a job like theirs, they are used to their boss being available at all times, but this year during the Chinese New Year, his family was doing pretty well. At least there were no quarrels like the year before, and at least he didn't have to go out on an emergency trip during the holiday.

For this reason, when Special Assistant Xu prayed for the New Year, he also said something for his boss, wishing him a harmonious family.

But his boss didn't look for him, but Chen Ershao did.

He was told to check with the maintenance and technical masters in the suburban parking lots and have the information sent to him after the New Year. It just so happened that he had the information for the year-end review of his parking lot, so he sorted it out temporarily and sent it to Chen Ershao.

He was just curious about why the second young master suddenly started checking the parking lot. This had nothing to do with Feihong!

[- Special Assistant Xu: Why does the Second Young Master suddenly want to check the parking lot? ]

[-Zhao: Oh, Chen Shiming asked me to take the driving test, let me see which skills I can use. ]

Special Assistant Xu: “…”

You are here to choose a concubine, and you need so much information to find a driving instructor! ?

[-Special Assistant Xu: ...What about the maintenance man? ]

[-Zhao: I want to get a modified car. ]

Special Assistant Xu: “…”

The vehicle license hasn’t come down yet, and you’re already planning to modify the car!

While Special Assistant Xu was struggling with whether or not to report the matter to his superior, Chen Qizhao had already clicked on the information of the parking lot and started checking it one by one.

The information is very detailed, including all the employees of the parking lot, from managers at the management level to workers at the parking lot. The parking lot had no problems during the year-end inspection, Chen Jianhong's fleet was also in operation, and a cursory look at the information of these people also seemed to show no problems. On the surface, this was a parking lot that seemed to have no problems at all.

Hiring personnel, parking equipment, cooperating parts suppliers, etc.

If you want to check the parking lot in detail, the issues involved are all aspects.

Chen Qizhao hesitated for a moment and swiped to the maintenance master's information page.

He couldn't be sure whether Chen Shiming's car accident that year was a complete accident or man-made. After all, the cause of the accident was speeding in the city and a turning truck. Later, Chen Qizhao did suspect that there were human factors, but the driver died, and Chen Shiming also admitted that he had a problem.

So the car accident in the previous life was handled as a traffic accident.

If it was man-made, the problem was most likely with the truck. When Chen Shiming had the accident, Yu Jie had already joined Chen Shiming's assistant team under the arrangement of Jiang Yuze. As an assistant, it is entirely possible that Yu Jie got hold of Chen Shiming's schedule, so the appearance of the truck might not be an accident, but might have been done by Lin Shizhong.

But besides the truck, there is another possibility.

This is the car that Chen Shiming had an accident with. The driver, Lao Lin, has worked for the Chen family for many years. His driving skills are recognized by many people. He can drive steadily even in heavy rain. Even if speeding occurs while driving, as an experienced driver, when a special situation occurs, even if you don’t react, it is impossible for you not to take any action...

The car accident was very tragic. When checking the surveillance footage afterwards, the traffic police investigators said that the steering wheel must have been changed before the vehicle hit the truck. So in that major car accident, Lao Lin died on the spot and Chen Shiming lost both legs but survived. Due to the serious damage to the vehicle and a small-scale fire at the scene, the progress of the vehicle investigation has been very slow and no results were produced in the end.

But if they could do it again, and since they couldn't determine whether it was a human error or an accident, Chen Qizhao would never let Chen Shiming make the same mistake again. If the problem with the truck was caused by the assistant leaking the information and arranging the itinerary in advance, then it could also be a human error that the vehicle was tampered with... There could be a problem with the driver Lao Lin, but isn't it more likely that it was due to the regular maintenance of the parking lot?

Then the parking lot must be checked.

Zhang Yazhi's paintbrush did not move. It seemed that her attention was on the painting, but in fact her attention was on Chen Qizhao who was sitting diagonally in front of her.

Chen Qizhao was sitting right in front of her, his eyes fixed on his phone.

But his fingers hadn't moved for a long time.

The child did look thinner, and her previously fleshy face became more angular. Even though she was wearing a thick cotton coat, she felt that her body underneath the clothes was much thinner than before.

In addition, there are changes in the child. He is silent much more often than before and does not express his needs as directly and clearly as before. Sometimes she looks at the child and watches his subtle changes in expression, but she has no idea what the child is thinking.

Chen Qizhao suddenly noticed Zhang Yazhi's gaze, "Mom?"

Zhang Yazhi came back to her senses, "Why don't you wear more clothes when you go out? Is it cold? Mom will get you some clothes?"

"It's not cold." Chen Qizhao noticed what Zhang Yazhi was wearing, "I'll go get you one."

"Oh, no need..."

Chen Qizhao had already walked away.

Zhang Yazhi pursed her lips slightly and swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth, with a thousand thoughts in her mind.

She felt as if a mountain was pressing down on her child.