20 years of restarting life

Chapter 3715 Liu Mingjie's Indifference
In Zhao Chang'an's view, one nanometer can enter many fields to do business, such as lithography machines, mining, mobile phones and real estate. However, contracting fishery resources in reservoirs is a business that one nanometer dares not get involved in.

When this group of people saw that it was Liu Mingjie, they all seemed so harmless. But if it were an ordinary villager, today's matter would be far more complicated than simply waving and smiling and letting it go.

Most likely, a yacht will rush over, and a group of people will confiscate the fishing gear like wolves. The person will be taken to the inspection team and given a severe beating first. If they confess honestly, they will be beaten to death until they submit.

Then they lock them in a room with nothing but a chamber pot and starve them for two days, making them reflect on their behavior and sober up for a few days. They can only be released after paying a fine and writing a guarantee.

Such a thing would seem unbelievable in the future, but in this era that still retains a bit of a rough-and-tumble,江湖 (jianghu) feel, this method is considered a very mild form of education, serving as a warning to others.

Snakes have their own paths, turtles have their own routes; this kind of business is simply not something that can be done with just one nanometer.

Of course, this business is also a highly profitable industry that ordinary people are simply not qualified to get involved in.

Currently, four forces are intertwined in the Taohuahu Management Area. One is the cultural tourism group, which is responsible for the management and maintenance of the entire scenic area. The other is the fishery contracting company, which is responsible for releasing fish fry every spring and net fishing in winter.

The water company is responsible for water quality testing and water intake for purification, supplying urban water. The water conservancy department is responsible for releasing water from reservoir gates to ensure reservoir safety, as well as releasing water into irrigation canals to support agricultural water use in irrigation areas.

Everyone's sphere of influence is clearly defined; only a madman would be so foolish as to try and wade into someone else's pot.

Zhao Chang'an may seem to be making a quick buck here and there, but he always has a clear understanding that he should only get involved in businesses that he can control.

It seems that Liu Mingjie's words show he's spent too much time in academia and doesn't understand the harsh realities of life.

That's fine, though. He likes fishing and isn't a gloomy person, so he's quite suitable to be the deputy director of a scenic area. At least when people introduce him, they'll know that he used to be a professor in the Chinese Department of the Provincial Normal University.

As the water gradually calmed down, Liu Mingjie started catching fish again. This time, the bent carbon fiber fishing rod actually pulled up a bighead carp weighing more than three pounds.

"Let's make soup with this fish tonight. The ones raised in the pond aren't as good as this one."

Liu Mingjie was as excited as a child who had found a great toy; his eyes were shining.

Just then, Zhao Chang'an's phone rang again. He took the phone out of his bag; it was his mother calling.

"mom."

"Everyone said you're back?"

"Yes, in Wenjia Village, I accompanied an international friend back to his hometown to reunite with his relatives."

"He brought a group of girls to Zhou's restaurant for mutton soup in public?"

Zhao Chang'an noticed that his mother said "Zhou Ji" instead of "Old Zhou," which meant that his mother had always been aware of the coldness and indifference of human relationships, but just didn't say it.

"Mom, what you said is true, but it's a narrow-minded truth seen through tinted glasses." Liu Mingjie was right next to them, excitedly putting the bighead carp he had caught into the net. There were some things Zhao Chang'an didn't want to say too much, lest he hear them and feel embarrassed.

"I'm not going to chat with you anymore. Are you coming home for dinner tonight?"

Zhao Chang'an heard that his mother's tone wasn't very good, and he could understand it. She only found out that her son was back through someone else, so it was no wonder she was in a good mood.

"The time is too tight this time. After dinner, I will go home. In the evening, I will have dinner with Liu Cui, Uncle Liu, Aunt Su and others at the scenic area. I will probably drink a little. Tomorrow, I will go to Qiaojiashan Town to donate money to the local primary school. I will not go back to the city in the afternoon. I will take the expressway from Pengzhou to Jiangcheng. Tomorrow, I will have a business negotiation with Hubei Province and Ericsson Siemens."

Zhao Chang'an patiently explained, adding, "The First Construction team is planning a trip this year, and I suggest we go to Mingzhu. I'll take some time to go back to China and host them."

"I wouldn't dare bother you, Mr. Zhao. You're such a busy person, you pass by your home three times without even going in. How could I possibly go to Mingzhu and waste your time?"

Zhang Lishan was just grumbling, but she knew her son was indeed very busy. Her husband was only a division-level construction committee director in the mountain city, and he was so busy all day that she could only see him at night. Moreover, he would come home drunk for half the month, not to mention her son.

"Then how about I go back to sleep tonight?"

Now we've moved to the Construction Committee compound in the western part of the city, which isn't far from the Peach Blossom Lake scenic area. It's only a few minutes' drive from the scenic area.

"No need. Your dad has to stay with Qian Miao and the others tonight. I can't even take care of a drunkard like him. It's better for me to go to Qian Miao's place and sleep there so I can have peace of mind."

Zhao Chang'an overheard his mother's jealousy on the phone. Qian Miao was now the deputy manager of the First Construction Company, working alongside Fang Dongjin, who was the general manager. You Minghua was the manager of the sawmill and the deputy manager of the company. Xu Zefeng was in charge of the materials station, and Lu Baosan was the captain of the carpentry team. It could be said that the new First Construction Company, formed by the merger of the First Construction Company, the Second Construction Company, and the District Construction Company, was now controlled by the original sawmill team.

A new emperor brings a new court; this is generally true of things in this world, and it's impossible to escape the old ways.

Zhao Chang'an didn't want to go home that night either. Dinner was just a minor incident. The main thing was to have a meeting with the senior executives of the cultural tourism group to discuss the group's next steps in development. These were not things that could be discussed in a few words.

After making the call, Zhao Chang'an went back to the shore and into the house to get roasted sweet potatoes. He brushed aside the charcoal ash and found the sweet potatoes inside were charred black. Zhao Chang'an peeled off a charred skin, and the sweet potato inside emitted a sweet and fragrant aroma, as tempting as flowing honey.

Zhao Chang'an placed the sweet potatoes on the charcoal ash around the fire to keep them warm, then took two more sweet potatoes onto the yacht and handed one to Liu Mingjie: "Uncle, have a sweet potato, the red one."

"Don't eat."

Liu Mingjie quickly waved his hand: "I damaged my stomach when I was young, and I can't stand sweet potatoes anymore."

After saying all this, he couldn't help but sigh, "Back then, we were so poor! Sweet potatoes were a good thing, they could always fill you up, but you can't eat them all the time. I only had enough to eat when I went to university. Back then, Wanwan's mother and I were in the same boat, our family was extremely poor. You haven't experienced that kind of hardship, you'll know once you have. In that environment, no sense of propriety or shame was of any use, filling your stomach was the most practical thing. Wanwan's maternal grandfather is seventy years old this year. He has three wooden granaries at home, filled with wheat, millet, and soybeans, weighing a full six or seven hundred catties. Every year he exchanges new rice for old rice. He was so afraid of hunger back then, he wouldn't listen to anything we said. As he put it, having grain in hand means you don't have to panic."

Zhao Chang'an somewhat understood the implied meaning in Liu Mingjie's words. Perhaps he hadn't intended to tell him this implied meaning; it was more of his understanding of life's detachment.

Compared to these things, some things are really not that important, and there's no need to get to the bottom of them. Sometimes, it's better to be a little oblivious and live a more relaxed life.

(End of this chapter)