Chapter 84

"Speak of the devil, and he will appear." Zhang Xiaoshan greeted as he put away the hospital dining table.

Zhang Xiaoshan's tone was noticeably softer than in Xia Zhongqin's ward, and Lian Yijian naturally heard it.

Lian Yijian first placed the nutritional supplements and fruit basket he had bought in the ward cabinet. After the items were safely stored, he responded, "No wonder I sneezed while walking down the hallway just now. It turned out to be you, Xiaoshan, who was gossiping about me behind my back."

"Boss Lian, I was too impulsive in Xia Zhongqin's ward just now. I shouldn't have hit you. I apologize to you here."

Lian Yijian and Zhang Xiaoshan have worked together in Southern Jiangsu District for more than two years. Lian Yijian has a clear understanding of Zhang Xiaoshan's personality. He has never seen him lower his head to anyone. Looking at Ji Yue, who was currently in his arms, Lian Yijian already understood everything.

"Xiaoshan, Jiyue, what happened tonight was not what we wanted to happen. Zhong Qin is very worried about you, Jiyue. She blames herself and feels guilty. She really wants to come and see you, but she is also seriously injured and can't move at all. The doctor said she needs to stay in bed for two weeks to rest. I came to see you on her behalf. Right now, the most important thing is that you two get well."

As soon as Lian Yijian finished speaking, Zhang Xiaoshan received a call on his mobile phone. It was Chen Yangyang, the new project manager of the Wujiang Rural Commercial Bank project.

Zhang Xiaoshan just took a glance and turned off his phone.

"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Lian. Please tell my sister that I don't blame her. It was me who got her into trouble. I will visit her when I get better. Tell her not to worry about me and to focus on recovering." Ji Yue responded.

Just as Zhang Xiaoshan was about to speak, Lian Yijian's phone rang. It was not a new call, but a WeChat voice message.

This WeChat voice message was from Xia Cheng.

Lian Yijian didn't answer, nor did he press the hang-up button. The phone rang for more than a minute, and the WeChat voice call from Xia Cheng was automatically hung up by the system.

"Boss Lian, this guy just called you. I guess the new project manager he assigned to the Wujiang Rural Commercial Bank project can't handle it. He called my cell phone, but I didn't answer."

Lian Yijian had already learned from Xia Zhongqin what happened in the Wujiang Rural Commercial Bank project. He no longer cared about all the projects under construction in Sucheng District except the Sucheng Metro project. If there was anything he had to pay attention to, it would only be the century-old project that Xia Zhongqin was working on.

"Xiaoshan, since Xia Cheng has arranged a project manager of his own choice for the Wujiang Rural Commercial Bank project, let's let him handle it himself. Aside from the Sucheng Metro project, all other ongoing projects in Sucheng District will be managed by Xia Cheng."

Lian Yijian didn't stay in Ji Yue's ward for too long. After chatting for a few words, he left.

Back in Xia Zhongqin's ward, Lian Yijian got on the bed in slippers. He helped Xia Zhongqin up from the bed and leaned her in his arms. Then he opened the medical dining table. He took the Lvyang Wonton Stew he had just bought from the bedside table and placed it on the medical dining table.

He had just opened the lunch box containing wonton stew when his cell phone rang again, this time it was a phone call.

The person who called him was Wang Cangpeng, the implementation consultant for the Wujiang Rural Commercial Bank project.

Lian Yijian and Wang Cangpeng don't have much direct communication. They only see each other at the Sucheng project inventory meeting every Monday. Occasionally, when they meet in the company or he goes to the project team where Wang Cangpeng is, Wang Cangpeng will say hello to him.

As the delivery director of the Southern Jiangsu region, he has the phone numbers of every implementation supervisor, project manager, implementation consultant and independent outsourced consultant saved in his mobile phone, and has basically added all of them on WeChat.

If Xia Cheng hadn't caused this series of troubles, Wang Cangpeng would definitely have answered the call, but now, he let the phone ring for a long time without answering it.

Xia Zhongqin waited until the phone stopped ringing. She ate a bowl of wonton stew that Lian Yijian had fed her and said, "Brother Yijian, I heard earlier that you wanted to start your own business. I'd like to ask, are you planning to be an agent for Beijing Smart Internet, an outsourcing partner, or something else?"

"Be good, the wonton stew is almost cold. After dinner, I will tell you about my business plan."

There was a big bowl of shepherd's purse wonton stew, but there were only two left at the end. Xia Zhongqin really couldn't eat any more, and they all ended up in Lian Yijian's stomach.

After clearing away the tableware on the medical table, Lian Yijian told Xia Zhongqin about his business plan, including the start time, location selection, and the type of industry to be entered.

After hearing Lian Yijian say that the acceptance of the Suzhou Metro project would have to wait until June next year, which was almost a year away, Xia Zhongqin told Lian Yijian about the business opportunity that Wang Xuesheng had recommended to him yesterday, namely, the office project that the Suzhou Refrigeration Association was going to do.

"Brother Yi Jian, with the current state of Southern Jiangsu District and President Wang constantly backstabbing you, I really feel bad for you. If President Wang continues to toss around like this, Southern Jiangsu District will only go downhill sooner or later. The Suzhou Metro project and your business venture can go hand in hand. We can deliver the business opportunity that President Wang is promoting as an agent for Beijing Smart Interconnection Company. Don't worry about the startup capital. Mother Wang left me some money when she passed away."

Xia Cheng was quietly recruited and parachuted into the position of head of the Sucheng Delivery Department. He was also assigned to the Zhongtian Internet project in Tongzhou District. This series of actions were all done by Wang Dayu. Xia Zhongqin's logic was very clear, and his analysis of the current situation was also correct. Not only was the Southern Jiangsu District going downhill again, but the entire Beijing Smart Internet had only been falsely prosperous for less than two years since its successful listing in 2019. The stock price has been falling, and it is also going downhill again. The root has been rotten for a long time. From the president to the district general manager, there is no one who is not greedy, and the phenomenon of dog-biting-dog is often staged. It's just that a lean camel is bigger than a horse, and it can barely maintain the prosperity on the surface.

"Okay, listen to my Zhong Qin. I'll start looking for an office tomorrow. I've saved some money over the years, so I have enough for the start-up capital. If my business fails, Zhong Qin, you can take me in."

In Xia Zhongqin's eyes, Lian Yijian possesses technical skills, connections, and strong personal abilities. As long as he can secure projects, there's no way he'll fail in his business. "Brother Yijian, at first, we don't need to rent an office. We can just use my house. Once we've established a certain scale, we can rent an office in an office building. What do you think?"

Xia Zhongqin planned to not spend any money that could be avoided in the early stages of starting a business, so that they could have more cash flow on hand.

Lian Yijian gave her a big thumbs up, then gently held her right hand and kissed the back of her hand. "I am so lucky to have met you, Zhong Qin. It's great to have you."

The two chatted for a while, and Lian Yijian slept on the accompanying bed at night.

Time flies, and half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Several major events happened during the half month that Xia Zhongqin was in the hospital. Wujiang Rural Commercial Bank was unable to advance the project progress at all because Chen Yangyang, the project manager arranged by Xia Cheng, was unable to do so, and Zhang Xiaoshan took a long vacation, so the entire project was stopped by the client; Lian Yijian registered a new company in the name of his mother Huang Caihua. The company's name was "Sucheng Youxin Technology Co., Ltd.". This name was jointly discussed by Xia Zhongqin and Lian Yijian. Lian Yijian went to the Sucheng Refrigeration Association, and he and General Manager Jiang signed the contract for the office project in the name of the new company. The contract amount was 800,000.

In September, the Southern Jiangsu District organized a two-day and one-night trip to Lianyungang. Except for Xia Cheng, no other staff from the Sucheng Delivery Department went. Wang Dayu was so angry that he cursed in the Southern Jiangsu group.

The National Day coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the holiday lasted for eight days. Lian Yijian had not been back to his home in Qingpu for almost five months. Every week he called his mother Huang Caihua or Huang Caihua called him. The question Huang Caihua asked most often was when he would go back, and his response was always "after I'm done with this busy period." In the end, Huang Caihua no longer asked him when he would go home, but only asked him to pay more attention to his health and take good care of himself.

When setting up a new company in Suzhou, he asked his second brother-in-law to help with the procedures. He was really busy.

During the half month that Xia Zhongqin was hospitalized in the hospital, although he hired a professional caregiver, he still made four trips back and forth from the Sucheng Metro Project Team to the hospital in the morning, noon and evening, and stayed with her all night. If there was a need to work overtime at night on the project, he would arrange dinner for the project team members and then drive to the hospital in a hurry to accompany Xia Zhongqin for an hour. Then he would rush back to the project team to work overtime with them. No matter how late the overtime was, he would rush back to the hospital to stay with Xia Zhongqin.

In the past half month, he has become visibly thinner, and the originally clearly visible cheek lines now look smoother. In addition to the 800,000 yuan large project contract from Mr. Jiang of the Sucheng Refrigeration Association, his new company has taken on a small project with a contract value of 200,000 yuan with the help of Xia Kaiqun. In addition, Zhang Xiaoshan and Ji Yue are holding their wedding on National Day, and he and Xia Zhongqin have both received invitations. He is destined not to be able to return to Qingpu this National Day.

A week before Ji Yue's wedding, Xia Zhongqin had already sent the gift in advance.

Ji Yue is her best friend. In addition to giving her a big red envelope with the auspicious number of 6,666 yuan, Xia Zhongqin also gave her three golds (a gold necklace, gold earrings, and a gold bracelet). The combination of the red envelope and the gold jewelry is the highest standard even among Ji Yue's closest relatives.

Ji Yue got married in Sucheng. Only Ji's father, Ji's mother and her younger brother came from Xuancheng, Anhui. No other relatives came. Those who came were Zhang Xiaoshan's relatives and friends in Sucheng. Ji's mother only bought three new quilts for Ji Yue and no other dowry.

After Ji Yue finished her confinement, Zhang Xiaoshan took out a loan to buy a second-hand two-bedroom, one-living-room house in Donghuan New Village. When he divorced Lu Xiaojuan, he gave all his savings and the house to Lu Xiaojuan and her son, and he had little money on hand. The down payment for this two-bedroom, one-living-room house was borrowed from ICBC Rong Ejie, and the money for the wedding banquet was also borrowed from him. In such a tight situation, he and Lian Yijian borrowed money to buy Ji Yue a domestic diamond ring worth 8,000 yuan, and he had no money to buy San Jin anymore.

Originally, Lian Yijian took out 50,000 yuan and asked Zhang Xiaoshan to use it first, but Zhang Xiaoshan only took out 8,000 yuan, which was enough to buy a diamond ring, and did not take the rest of the money.

Marriage may only happen once in a lifetime. In Suzhou, it is a custom to wear rings and three golds when getting married, otherwise it would be too shabby. As a member of Ji Yue's family, Xia Zhongqin couldn't bear to see Ji Yue's ears and wrists bald when she got married. Although Zhang Xiaoshan once gave Ji Yue a colored gold necklace, it was not gold after all. She had prepared everything for Ji Yue.