Chapter 272 Just a Bit Clueless
In the end, Su Yuanshan didn't get to go strolling around the streets.
After all, he was a company president — and he had brought his secretary along.
The four of them sat around the courtyard under the open sky, drinking tea and chatting, while Zhou Xiaohui and An Siying walked out arm in arm, happily heading to the shopping streets.
Watching them leave so cheerfully, Su Yuanshan suddenly sighed. "I feel like I've lost the ability to live a normal life."
Chen Jing turned her head to look at him, smiling. "You're only realizing that now?"
Su Yuanshan was taken aback. Seeing Pan Xiaojun and Zhu Yuanxin both smiling knowingly at him, he laughed at himself. "Looks like I really should give myself a vacation."
"Yes, President Shan. No offense," Pan Xiaojun said with a laugh, "but if I were you, I would've already bought luxury cars, yachts, private jets, and a private island."
"That's about as vulgar as it gets," Su Yuanshan shot him a glance, although inwardly he knew that Pan Xiaojun had a stubborn pride in him — as long as he had goals and pursuits, all that talk of luxury goods was just empty boasting.
Leaning back with his hands behind his head, Pan Xiaojun crossed his legs and said lazily, "Life needs to have something beyond work. If your entire existence is just work, of course you won't have a normal life — who works like you, non-stop?"
Perhaps inspired by Su Yuanshan's sudden melancholy, the three of them avoided talking about work any further. Eventually, Pan Xiaojun even pulled out a deck of cards from his car, and they passed the afternoon playing until Zhou Xiaohui and An Siying returned loaded with shopping bags.
Dinner was at a small hotpot place just outside the alley. Afterward, it was already 8 p.m.
"We didn't have any conflicts with those people, did we?"
Walking at the front with Chen Jing, Su Yuanshan lowered his voice as they passed by the homes of the "nail households" — the few residents refusing to relocate.
Chen Jing looked a bit surprised. "Hmm? Why would there be any conflict?"
"Uh... maybe I'm overthinking it," Su Yuanshan said with a chuckle.
He was indeed overthinking. At this point in time, residents resisting relocation weren't dreaming of becoming rich through demolition — courtyard houses weren't yet astronomically valuable. Their resistance was mainly bargaining tactics, like haggling at a market.
There was even a classic joke about someone selling a courtyard house for two million yuan in 1998 to start a business overseas, becoming a billionaire, and then twenty years later wanting to buy the house back — only to be told it would cost one hundred million.
"But honestly, those people do need to be moved," Chen Jing said, glancing back at the streetlamps. "Several households have already signed agreements and received keys to their new homes, but they're using the excuse that they need time to renovate — just stalling without moving. They think we're outsiders and easy to bully."
"And with them staying, all those illegally built shacks stay too. Honestly, some of these courtyards were lovely. Now they're a mess, and it would almost be better to tear them down."
Su Yuanshan nodded in agreement. "Get back in touch with the government tomorrow. We'll have the construction company move excavators on-site. If someone moves out, we demolish immediately. And build the wall while we're at it — no more delays."
"Okay."
The moonlight blanketed the alleyway, casting silvery shadows as the two walked side by side.
Hands stuffed into the pockets of her jeans, Chen Jing lazily kicked at her own shadow as she walked.
"You said this afternoon you felt like you lost your normal life," she said quietly. "Do you know why?"
"Isn't it because I love work?" Su Yuanshan laughed. "Sounds like a very pretentious excuse though."
"No, it's because you chose work, not because you love it," Chen Jing said seriously, looking up at him. "Work carries your interests, so you think you love working — but really, you just love your interests. Who really loves working itself?"
Su Yuanshan was stunned for a moment, then smiled. "Hey, that actually makes sense.
But since I've already chosen this path, I might as well pretend I love it."
Chen Jing turned under the moonlight so her face was hidden in shadow, smiling softly. "No, it should be that you choose what you love."
She paused, then glanced back at Su Yuanshan. "It's still early. Want to catch a movie? Otherwise, if we go back, we'll just end up talking about work again."
"A movie?" Su Yuanshan hesitated.
"You complained about losing your normal life — so let me treat you to a movie," Chen Jing said, looking at his increasingly mature face under the moonlight.
She knew that inside this outwardly composed man was a genius with a vibrant, fascinating soul.
Just... sometimes a little clueless.
Chen Jing smiled. "Think of it as stealing a moment of leisure."
Su Yuanshan hesitated for just a second before grinning. "Alright! But you really have to pay — I didn't bring any money."
"Typical young master behavior," Chen Jing said with a laugh, stepping out of the shadows so the moonlight shone on her smiling face. "But honestly, I'm not familiar with the capital either."
"Doesn't matter," Su Yuanshan said casually. "Taxi drivers know everything."
...
The movie they watched was Shaolin Popey (笑林小子乌龙院), which had only recently been released. Chen Jing hadn't seen it yet because of work, and Su Yuanshan barely remembered it from his previous life.
Both of them ended up laughing and thoroughly enjoying it.
Over the next few days, Su Yuanshan helped Chen Jing coordinate with various departments handling the demolition and resettlement work. Finally, they persuaded the government to assign a working group to assist. Once the first excavator bucket hit the ground, Su Yuanshan and Chen Jing returned to the provincial capital.
The Second Software Expo was about to begin.
As the IT giant of the province, Yuanxin was naturally a headliner.
But this time, Yuanxin wasn't showcasing the upgraded YXLAB, nor were they revealing the long-anticipated mobile microkernel operating system.
Instead, the focus would be on internet products.
Beyond EM and the official launch of client-side software like Foxmail, the internet center would unveil a project called 163 — an email portal that would evolve into a large, comprehensive portal site.
That's right — it would be the first portal site in the world supporting Chinese, Japanese, and English simultaneously.
To make it happen, Ding Lei had spent the last month flying across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, pulling every string Yuanxin had, scraping together enough content to make the portal resemble a proper website.
Meanwhile, other domestic exhibitors would mainly be showcasing games.
After tasting success last year, China had seen an explosion of independent studios, each bringing their own unique talents. A flood of games poured into overseas markets, becoming a massive phenomenon.
Of course, thanks to the usual stigma surrounding video games, the domestic media barely covered this positive trend.
...
Sitting in front of his computer, Su Yuanshan opened the client and began downloading the last few days' worth of emails.
There were six new messages.
The one at the very top was from Nature.
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