“I played chess with my grandfather for two hours…” Lu Yunshen tucked a strand of hair from her forehead behind her ear.
Lin Ziyan closed her eyes and said softly, "Wake me up when it's time to eat, I'm so sleepy."
Lu Yun Shen responded, propped his head up with one hand, and watched her fall asleep again after a short while.
He slowly got up, quickly changed into his pajamas, and simply got into bed to sleep with her in his arms.
And the second-floor living room,
Lu Qiuying glanced at the door frequently, muttering to herself.
"Why did it take so long to get in?"
"Is my brother going to come into the house and watch his wife sleep?"
Xiao Jin's lips slowly curved upwards, but she remained silent.
He simply picked up the tea bag and brewed two cups of tea for the two of them while they waited.
After the two finished their cup of tea, they heard Grandma Lu's voice coming from downstairs.
The whole family gathered together for a lamb hot pot dinner.
Lin Ziyan ate only cabbage and radishes, without touching a single piece of mutton.
Lu Yunshen's dark eyes flickered, but he didn't ask anything.
After dinner, everyone chatted in the living room for a while before going to their rooms to sleep.
Lu Yunshen and his uncle Lu Tianqi chatted for a long time in the study. When they returned to their room, the bedside lamp was on, and Lin Ziyan was asleep again.
He stepped forward and gently touched her forehead, then breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that she did not have a fever.
Lu Yunshen simply assumed she was too tired today and didn't think much of it.
…
When Lin Ziyan woke up the next morning, there was no one beside her.
The sunlight outside the window shone on the snow on the treetops, reflecting a dazzling, blinding light.
She picked up the watch from the bedside table, glanced at it, and froze.
11 o'clock?
She slept until noon, why didn't anyone wake her up?
Lin Ziyan quickly got up to change her clothes and went into the bathroom to wash up when there was a knock on the door.
She opened the door and saw Lu Qiuying in a business suit, then blinked.
"What's going on?" Lin Ziyan asked suspiciously, since Lu Qiuying shouldn't be off work at this hour.
No, she's already on vacation, why is she still wearing a business suit?
"My brother said you were too tired this morning and told us not to disturb your sleep." Lu Qiuying leaned against the door and gave her a knowing look.
Lin Ziyan, "..."
She rolled her eyes inwardly. It was true that she was exhausted, but this kind of exhaustion was different from the kind she was used to describe.
Fortunately, the Lu family is very open-minded. Since everyone's work hours are different, whoever gets up eats breakfast, and there is no need to gather together to eat.
"I'm really tired. I felt weak all over yesterday and went to bed very early." Lin Ziyan quickly washed up, applied face cream, and put on some light makeup.
Lu Qiuying, "Do you know why I'm looking for you?"
She watched as Lin Ziyan applied simple, light makeup in less than five minutes, and she was secretly amazed.
It's currently fashionable to make eyebrows very thin, but Lin Ziyan didn't do that. Instead, she added a few strokes to her original eyebrow shape, making it look very natural, like her natural eyebrows.
Lu Qiuying: "I made an appointment with Minister Hai this morning. He's free this afternoon, so let's go to his office together to talk."
Lin Ziyan nodded, and the two went downstairs together.
The Lu family home was quiet; only the two of them were at home.
"Has everyone else gone out?" Lin Ziyan ate a small pumpkin bun, frowned slightly, picked up the warm water next to her, drank half a cup, and put it down.
Lu Qiuying: "Grandma and Grandpa went to Director Wen's house to discuss the layout of the exhibition hall."
"Jiaojiao and Xiaoxiao were taken out to play by my brother."
Lin Ziyan felt a surge of warmth in her heart and put the bun down after eating only one small steamed bun.
…
On the other side,
Office area of the Ministry of Commerce.
After finishing the meeting, Minister Hai leaned back in his office chair and rubbed his temples.
Before the Chinese New Year, various meetings are held all at once.
"Cancel all the afternoon's schedules. I'll only attend the afternoon's meeting tomorrow," Minister Hai said, waving to his secretary.
"Yes." The secretary left the office.
Minister Hai got up and walked to the tea table, slowly washing the teaware.
Previously, his office did not have tea sets, but ever since Commander Chu came to ask for tea last time, he had his secretary prepare a set.
Knock, knock,
"Please come in!" Minister Hai looked up at the doorway.
"It's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early," he said jokingly when he saw the two of them.
Lin Ziyan and Lu Qiuying exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with surprise.
"What are you standing there for? Come and sit down." Minister Hai poured two cups of tea and placed them on the table.
The two sat down and drank a cup of tea first.
Lin Ziyan's eyes flickered when she saw the Go set placed to the side.
Minister Hai didn't miss her gaze and said with a faint smile, "Interested in another round?"
"My chess skills are so-so." Lin Ziyan's eyes brightened a bit. She was itching to try it. She had never lost a game of Gomoku with her grandfather since she went to university.
Lu Qiuying felt a chill for Lin Ziyan. The scene was all too familiar. In the past, when she talked to Minister Hai about work plans, she had been tricked by him many times while playing Connect Four.
Minister Hai said, "I heard from your uncle that your chess skills are exceptional."
Lin Ziyan's lips twitched. Well, she'd been betrayed by her own uncle.
She knew her uncle and Minister Hai had a good relationship, but she didn't expect them to be so close that they could chat about everyday things.
Minister Hai put down the teapot. "Want to play a game?"
Lin Ziyan: "Okay."
The two chose black and white pieces and began to play.
Lu Qiuying poured tea for them.
Minister Hai's chess moves may seem random, but he is actually strategizing.
Lin Ziyan followed his plan with great interest, not in a hurry to break the deadlock.
The two players made their moves quickly, chatting as they played.
"Guangzhou's economic development has been accumulating strength and may surpass Fuzhou. Have you considered setting up a factory there?" Minister Hai asked directly without beating around the bush.
Lin Ziyan smiled faintly, "No, Fushi's economic development won't lag too much behind."
"Given the current economic situation in China, we must allow some people to get rich first."
Minister Hai observed her calmly, his expression serene, but inwardly he was in turmoil.
They do indeed have this plan, intending to let Guangzhou and Fuzhou get rich first.
Both are coastal cities with ports and have consistently shown upward development momentum, making them potential benchmarks.
"After Guangzhou, it will be a science and technology city, but Fuzhou has not yet had an industry to support it, which puts it in a rather passive position," Minister Hai lamented.
He strongly advocated for the establishment of a small commodity wholesale market, which would then generate various small commodity companies that would drive the rise of the entire industry.
However, while the idea is appealing, it's too difficult to put into practice.
"Why not?"
"Electrical appliances, aquaculture, and small commodity exports, etc." Lin Ziyan said casually.
Minister Hai said, "It's too fragmented, and all of these require technical support. We have to import the machines from abroad."
This is also why the small commodity wholesale market is being blocked.
Lin Ziyan disagreed, asking, "What if it's all exported?"
Lu Qiuying's pupils dilated in shock. All exports? How could that be?
Exporting small commodities is impractical because export taxes are too high and prices are not competitive.
“Export everything…” Minister Hai murmured, a thought flashing through his mind, but he couldn’t quite grasp it.
This idea is a bit... far-fetched.
Even with a port, it would be extremely difficult for Fukushima to sell its goods abroad.
Of course, it would be best if it didn't conflict with the development of Guangzhou.
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