Zhang Yu was the first person to arrive.
However, since the other Hong Kong businessmen had not yet arrived, Zhao Qinglan did not emphasize Zhang Yu and Yaohua to Cheng's father and the others at the beginning. Therefore, after Zhang Yu and the others arrived, they did not go directly to Cheng's father and the other staff members, but went to Zhao Qinglan's house first.
It was still the first month of the lunar calendar, and as soon as Zhang Yu saw the eldest child and the others, he took out a large red envelope and gave one to each child.
Zhao Qinglan naturally gave the twins red envelopes as well.
After a long time apart, Zhang Yu and Li Huai exchanged a few pleasantries before Zhang Yu went to talk, while Zhao Qinglan chatted with Song Yi.
As for the twins, Song Yi didn't need to worry about them; Xiao Duo and Erwa took care of them.
The twins were at their cutest and most playful age, and Xiaoduo and her friends didn't mind that they were small, so they found some toys at home and started playing with them.
With her husband not around, Song Yi started complaining to Zhao Qinglan.
Her parents-in-law are now retired. During the Spring Festival, the family did not go back to Beijing. The elderly couple missed their grandchildren, so they came to Shenzhen.
Perhaps it's a case of "familiarity breeds contempt," or perhaps it's because she's too idle and going through menopause; in any case, during the Chinese New Year, Song Yi had many unpleasant experiences with her in-laws, mostly revolving around their two children.
She thought her in-laws wouldn't stay long and kept telling herself to be patient, which helped her avoid several arguments.
Zhao Qinglan immediately recognized that it was a difference in the two generations' views on raising twins.
Even an upright official finds it difficult to settle family disputes. Aside from listening and offering a few words of comfort, Zhao Qinglan couldn't really help Song Yi much.
Fortunately, Song Yi just needed someone to vent to; otherwise, it wouldn't be appropriate for her to keep speaking ill of the elders in front of her husband.
Her insistence on coming out with her husband this time was perhaps to avoid her in-laws.
Originally, if Zhang Yu had only gone on a long trip, the Zhang family couple would have stayed a few more days because of their grandchildren. However, because Song Yi was also going out with the children, they returned to the capital.
Zhang Yu and Li Huai also had a lot to talk about.
However, Zhang Yu didn't talk about his family matters. He only chatted with his friends about their work and news about some old acquaintances.
“My dad told me a lot of things when he came this time. He said that Uncle Li is seriously ill and it is unknown how long he can hold on.”
The "Uncle Li" he was referring to was Li Zhenhua.
Upon hearing the news about his father, Li Huai fell silent for a moment.
Ever since he went to the capital to settle things, he had never paid attention to news about his father or the rest of the Li family, treating them as if he had no relatives left.
But when he suddenly heard that Li Zhenhua was seriously ill, he still felt a little uneasy.
“Li Huai, we’re good brothers, so of course I’m on your side. I know Uncle Li has let you and Auntie down, but you’ll be walking this path from now on.”
“Uncle Li has done many wrong things, and I don’t think you should forgive him. It’s just that since Uncle Li has fallen seriously ill, many of his uncles and elders have gone to visit him out of consideration for past friendships. If you, his own son, don’t show up, you understand what I mean.”
“I understand,” Li Huai sighed.
"Anyway, think it over carefully." Zhang Yu patted his shoulder.
The joy of the brothers reuniting was somewhat diminished when Zhang Yu mentioned Li Zhenhua.
When Zhao Qinglan came to call them for dinner, the two of them stubbed out their cigarettes and went out.
Four adults and six children, they were incredibly noisy even while eating.
Song Yi was full of praise for Zhao Qinglan's cooking skills when she tasted them again.
When Zhao Qinglan was cooking, Song Yi went to help. Seeing that Zhao Qinglan's business is quite successful now, she still personally cooks every meal, which Song Yi finds a bit hard to understand.
“You’re not short of money, why don’t you hire a housekeeper or something? That would make things easier for you.”
Zhao Qinglan wasn't being stingy with the money; she simply smiled and said, "Even if I'm busy, how many more years can I keep up? These kids are all growing up so fast. By the time they all go to university and start working, I won't have anyone to keep me busy anymore."
Song Yi thought about it and agreed, so she didn't say anything.
Zhang Yu and his family stayed at Zhao Qinglan's place for two days. Zhang Yu even accompanied Zhao Qinglan to her company and shop before the two Hong Kong businessmen arrived.
The government had already made a series of arrangements for receiving Hong Kong businessmen who were investing, and specially arranged cars picked them up and took them to the provincial government's guesthouse for accommodation.
Since two Hong Kong businessmen had arrived, Zhao Qinglan also went over to make an appearance.
Seeing Zhang Yu and Zhao Qinglan together, the two Hong Kong businessmen felt much more at ease.
Zhang Yu could stay a few more days to wait for others, but these two Hong Kong businessmen were unwilling to wait for the last one to arrive, since they might be competitors. Now that everyone was here, they could start doing what they needed to do.
The provincial leaders were overjoyed that the two Hong Kong businessmen were getting down to business, so they didn't stop them and immediately led a group on a tour.
Several large state-owned factories in the provincial capital are currently performing poorly. These are the factories that the provincial leaders first took the Hong Kong businessmen to visit. They especially hope that the Hong Kong businessmen can invest in these struggling state-owned factories.
However, the leaders weren't stupid; they didn't reveal all of this at the beginning, but only introduced the history and various advantages of a few state-owned factories.
In fact, Zhao Qinglan knew that most of these leaders had good intentions, but simply selling off a few large state-owned factories in a package might not be a good thing.
Such problems are now being faced in various places, and there will be more and more cases of public-private partnerships and the direct privatization of state-owned factories in the future.
Only a few were brought back to life; many others were sold off cheaply or had state-owned assets annexed.
She's been through it all; she's seen many tragedies like this in her past life, but she can't very well say anything now.
Because no one is willing to take over, these state-owned factories won't last much longer.
After visiting several large factories, the two Hong Kong businessmen didn't express any significant opinions, only occasionally asking some questions.
After they escorted the two Hong Kong businessmen back to their guesthouse to rest, Zhao Qinglan witnessed a scene that shocked her.
Knowing that two prominent businessmen from the port city had arrived, factory managers from various factories rushed to make their mark.
Everyone is eager for Hong Kong businessmen to take a liking to their factories and invest in them.
Although the provincial leaders had considered it, they did not expect so many people to come. It took a lot of staff to stop these excited factory directors.
However, none of the factory managers were willing to leave, so the leaders had no choice but to take them all away and hold a meeting to express their opinions.
Only after attending the meeting and listening to the complaints of the factory managers did Zhao Qinglan realize that the operating conditions of each factory were worse than she had imagined.
To be honest, she felt really bad.
However, she was powerless to turn the tide and could only discuss with Zhang Yu how much they could help in the future.
She wasn't doing charity work; she was just looking at which factories still had a chance to survive so she and Zhang Yu could invest. In short, she wanted to save as many as possible. Every laid-off worker less meant one less family suffering.
Just as Zhao Qinglan and Zhang Yu left to go home, Wang Dazhi and the last Hong Kong businessman finally arrived in the provincial capital after changing modes of transportation several times.
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