Chapter Twenty-One

Zuo Xutong quickly withdrew her hand, feeling guilty and sweating profusely.

In fact, Peng Kun knew Luan Mingfeng long before Chaoma New Energy was established. At that time, Luan's Group wanted to enter the new energy field through direct acquisition. Their first target was Polar Blue Sky. After being rejected by Peng Kun, they proposed to join Polar Blue Sky through equity financing. This time, Peng Kun considered it carefully for a long time and finally did not agree. On the one hand, he was afraid of losing control of the company, and on the other hand, he did not agree with the predatory business philosophy of Luan's Group.

Despite past grievances, Luan Mingfeng greeted him with a smile, "President Peng, what a coincidence!"

"You two know each other?" Peng Kun frowned, his expression turning somewhat unpleasant.

“We know each other, we are…” Before Luan Mingfeng could finish speaking, Zuo Xutong, fearing he might say something unpleasant, quickly interrupted, “We are classmates.”

“Yes, we were in the same class in high school and college.” Luan Mingfeng added, and Zuo Xutong felt a chill in her heart. Other people would cheat their parents and children, but he was cheating his ex-girlfriend. This time, she really had no way to defend herself.

Peng Kun glanced thoughtfully at Zuo Xutong, then forced a smile at Luan Mingfeng: "Then you two talk."

Zuo Xutong stared in the direction Peng Kun had left, a bad feeling creeping into her heart. He must have misunderstood something.

Peng Kun's misunderstanding went far beyond that. Upon returning to the company, he quickly ordered an investigation into Zuo Xutong's background and soon uncovered her entire resume: a doctoral student of a renowned hydrogen energy scientist, who had participated in membrane electrode research during her studies...

The results of the investigation shocked him, and he immediately halted the Shengguang project.

When Qin Zhenzhen informed Zuo Xutong that the project had been halted, the latter was devastated. When she pressed for the reason, Qin Zhenzhen only said, "I don't know either," and hung up the phone.

Zuo Xutong was extremely anxious and kept dialing Peng Kun's number. At first, the calls were rejected, and later the phone was simply turned off.

She was extremely frustrated. Recalling Peng Kun's expression before he left, she wondered if he thought she was a spy planted by Chao Ma in the company.

Meanwhile, a man named Pan Baozhong was also calling Peng Kun, but found that his phone was always switched off. He had no choice but to go to Nanshan Manor according to the address provided by the nursing home.

He followed the residents into the community, but without an access card, he couldn't get into the building. He could only stand downstairs and ask passersby for directions, but after asking several people, none of them recognized him.

He was somewhat disheartened; if he delayed any longer, the person would die.

As night fell and fewer and fewer people were around in the neighborhood, just as he was about to give up, a girl approached from a distance. Pan Baozhong, hoping for one last chance, went up to her and said, "Hello, I'd like to ask you about someone who also lives in this building. His name is Peng Kun. Do you know him?"

Zuo Xutong didn't answer immediately, but instead asked, "Who are you to him? Do you need something from him?"

Upon hearing that there was a chance, Pan Baozhong quickly said, "I'm a caregiver at Xiangning Nursing Home. Old Mrs. Zhang is dying and wanted to see him before she passed away, but I can't get through to him on the phone..."

"Huh?" Zuo Xutong heard that the person was about to die, and without bothering to find out who Zhang was, she led Pan Baozhong out without thinking twice. "He moved. Quick, I'll take you there."

Once she got in the car, she learned that this old lady Zhang was someone Peng Kun had picked up on the street, and the two had no relation whatsoever.

Six years ago, in the winter, Peng Kun finished eating at a restaurant near Tianyao Road and was about to walk home when he suddenly saw an old man standing in the cold wind, holding a chipped enamel mug in his hand, leaning on a cane and begging from passersby.

There are probably too many fraudulent beggars these days, and most people keep their distance from beggars. Peng Kun glanced at her a few times and deduced that this old woman was probably a genuine beggar, not because of her tattered clothes, but because of the Nike sneakers she was wearing.

The toes of the shoes were coming unglued, and the uppers were frayed, but they were the only part of the old lady's body that didn't look too shabby.

But the shoes were men's, size 42. Such large shoes on the feet of this petite old woman, barely 1.6 meters tall, looked like a Chihuahua wearing a husky harness. Therefore, Peng Kun guessed that she must have found the shoes. Looking further up, he noticed her old hand, which was holding the enamel mug; her nails were thick and long, covered in chilblains and cracks—this kind of poverty ingrained in her bones could never be faked.

Peng Kun opened his wallet, took out a few bills from the inner layer, and handed them to the old lady. He didn't look closely at how much money there was, but it was colorful and probably at least six or seven hundred yuan.

The old woman hesitated for a moment, not daring to reach out and take it, until Peng Kun stuffed the wad of money into her enamel mug and said, "Take this and buy a pair of shoes." Only then did the deep wrinkles on her face twitch, and her cloudy eyes welled up with tears. Then, she clasped her hands above her head and knelt down with a thud.

"What are you doing?" Peng Kun was shocked and quickly helped her up.

"Thank you, thank you..." the old lady said, wiping her eyes and choking back tears.

Only then did Peng Kun notice a large patch of blood on the old man's other palm, which had already congealed, and asked, "What happened to your hand?"

The old woman looked down at her hands, her expression indifferent, as if they were hands that belonged to someone else. She probably couldn't even feel the pain; compared to the cold and hunger, these superficial injuries were nothing. After a long pause, she finally answered in a heavily accented dialect, "I just tripped and fell."

"Let's go to a clinic to get it done."

"Ah." The old man opened his mouth blankly, his teeth almost all gone, leaving only two rows of shrunken, dark gums.

Where are your family members?

“They’re all gone. My child was hit by a car, and my husband died of illness.” As she said this, there was no trace of pain on her wrinkled face, only dullness and numbness.

"No pension either?"

The old woman shook her head blankly, quickly covering the enamel mug with her injured hand, as if afraid he might snatch back the money she had just stuffed in if he asked a few more questions. At the same time, she began to bow repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, thank you..."

Peng Kun felt a pang of sadness and walked away.

After walking about 180 meters, he suddenly stopped and stood motionless. After a moment, he resolutely turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

That winter, Old Lady Zhang almost thought she was going to freeze to death on the street. She never dreamed that someone would pay to send her to a nursing home, where she could live a life free from worries about food and clothing, and survive for another six years.