20 years of restarting life

Chapter 3529 Liu Yihui's Phone Call
The next morning, Zhao Chang'an and Shan Cai drove back to Zhengzhou. The three or four kilometers from the hotel to the national highway were still difficult to drive on. However, the sun at around 10 a.m. melted the ice that had formed on the road overnight and reduced the thickness of the snow layer. They were able to drive onto the national highway without any major incidents.

After careful consideration, Zhao Chang'an decided to attend the banquet at the Ke family's house. He would either entrust other matters to Wen Ye, such as the final negotiations with Luo Yi, and contact with Ji Zhenqian, Shao Shouyi, and Pei Pingjiang, or make up for them later through friendly exchanges with Yu Yuanming and the others.

As for the choice between him and Shan Qiang, Zhao Chang'an doesn't know yet and can only wait until he meets Liu Cui in the evening to decide.

Of course, from another perspective, Zhao Chang'an has been very obsequious to Shan Qiang over the years, to the point that she's become a bit arrogant. After what happened before and after the New Year, it would be beneficial for him to be cold to her for a while so that she could wake up properly.

Zhao Chang'an gave Shan Cai a pure gold ring as a New Year's gift. It wasn't expensive; the price of gold jewelry in jewelry stores fluctuates between 80 and 90 yuan per gram. Zhao Chang'an bought the ring near Shan Cai's neighborhood for less than 600 yuan.

The gifts given to Yanna and Jiang Xian were much more valuable: a pair of gold and ruby ​​earrings and a gold and ruby ​​pendant.

In terms of price, both of these gifts are worth more than ten times the price of the ring Zhao Chang'an gave to Shan Cai.

However, Shan Cai preferred the ring Zhao Chang'an gave her, because the position on which a ring is worn carries different meanings, while earrings and pendants are just earrings and pendants no matter how they are worn.

Moreover, in her opinion, Zhao Chang'an gave Yan Na and Jiang Xian such expensive gifts to shut them up and prevent them from talking nonsense.

Because they didn't need to guess to know that they were with Zhao Chang'an.

The car entered Zhengzhou and stopped at a bus stop. Zhao Chang'an reached out and touched Shan Cai's thigh. Still not quite done playing with her, he got out of the car, wanting to give her a wet kiss, but there were too many people outside. He could only smile and say, "After we get to Lin'an, I'll take you sightseeing."

Shan Cai nodded shyly yet eagerly.

He was too lazy to go back to the hotel to drive, so he decided to take the bus directly to Ke Yaqing's house.

The snow on the city roads has been cleared and piled up on the roadside. With the bright sunshine and the fact that we'll be back to work on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year tomorrow, the streets are bustling with activity. Everywhere is filled with the atmosphere of the New Year. It's clear that everyone is taking advantage of the sunny weather and the last day of the Lunar New Year holiday to have a good time.

Zhao Chang'an waited for a while, and then the bus arrived. He boarded the bus with the crowd, which was packed with people and there were no seats available.

Although it was a bit crowded and the air inside the vehicle was a bit unpleasant, Zhao Chang'an still found it amusing. He wasn't some important figure; a few years ago in Chongqing, he was even happy to be able to ride in such a crowded vehicle.

Because bus tickets were too expensive for him at that time, he would ride bicycles to visit relatives and go back to his hometown with his parents during the first month of the lunar year. It was a long and tiring journey of dozens of miles in the cold weather, and he especially envied the people sitting in the buses that rushed by.

However, he only envied his parents during the winter breaks of his first and second years of high school. By the time he reached his third year of high school, his parents had stopped going back to their hometown and visiting relatives there, because they would be looked down upon if they went back, and these relatives no longer came back for the New Year.

Of course, in the last two years, more and more relatives from his hometown have flocked to his house to pay New Year's visits. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, his house was so crowded that there was not even a place to stay.

These relatives weren't so much after Zhao Chang'an, but more after Director Zhao and Chief Zhao. There was plenty of timber in the mountains. Although it was forbidden to cut down large trees, it wasn't prohibited to cut down ordinary, not-too-thick miscellaneous trees. These timber furniture and craft factories had been buying them up and even working on construction sites, contracting out some small jobs. As long as Director Zhao let slip a little something, they could become rich.

It's true what they say about the fickleness of human relationships. But so-called relatives are really just relatives; there's no deep affection between them. Without any mutual benefit, there's no reason to expect others to treat your family any better.

As the bus approached the theater troupe compound where Ke Yaqing lived, Zhao Chang'an's phone rang while he was reminiscing about the past. He thought it was Liu Cui calling, but upon closer inspection, it was Liu Yihui. At that moment, the bus stopped at a station, and another group of people surged on and off the bus.

The next stop is near the residential area where Ke Yaqing lives.

Zhao Chang'an didn't intend to visit empty-handed for the New Year, so he got out of the car to buy some gifts.

"Old Liu."

Zhao Chang'an guessed that the call was about Sui Xuemeng. He figured that yesterday he had only casually asked Sui Xuemeng about her parents' situation and then said nothing, which disappointed Sui Xuemeng, who wanted him to help her parents. So she called Liu Yihui for help.

It's not that we can't help them. Even if Sui Xuemeng's parents are greedy, they can only embezzle a small amount of money. If they voluntarily hand it over, actively report any wrongdoings they know about, and then plead guilty, Zhao Chang'an can try to pull some strings and get them a suspended sentence.

However, Sui Xuemeng and her parents didn't have that kind of relationship with Zhao Chang'an. Liu Yihui could suffer such a loss for the sake of that one yuan back then and his admiration for Sui Xuemeng, but Zhao Chang'an wasn't so bored and didn't care.

"Boss An, Ai Qiuqiu said that Sui Xuemeng has been taken away."

Liu Yihui sounded a bit anxious on the phone, and his speech was slightly slurred.

"Took them away, who?"

Zhao Chang'an asked in surprise, then realized he had asked a pointless question and said to Liu Yihui, "You're not wearing dentures?"

"I was planning to rest at home today and sleep in. Ai Qiuqiu said she was the one who reported it; she found a roll of deposit slips in the lining of Sui Xuemeng's down jacket."

As Liu Yihui spoke, his voice became clearer at a certain moment, clearly indicating that he was wearing dentures.

Zhao Chang'an on the other end of the phone was also a bit confused, and asked in surprise, "Why?"

“Boss An, that’s what I asked too. Why? If she’s really so righteous, why can’t she persuade Sui Xuemeng to hand over these deposit certificates herself instead of using this method?”

Liu Yihui was furious: "She's the best friend she keeps calling herself!"

"That deposit slip, Ai Qiuqiu saw it with her own eyes, how much is it?"

Zhao Chang'an was a little confused about what Ai Qiuqiu was trying to do. Logically speaking, she wasn't such a stupid person. Besides ruining Sui Xuemeng's parents by making them lose this very important opportunity to confess and receive leniency, she also implicated Sui Xuemeng as an accomplice.

So what will she get?