Sail across the sea

Chapter 489 Who Can Be Blamed for This?
The procedures for celebrations are all the same, consisting of speeches by leaders, speeches by guests, expressions of determination from company leaders, and a launch ceremony.

The leaders and guests were all adults, so they naturally wouldn't say anything inappropriate in this setting. They all highly praised the project, describing it as a major project related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and expressing their belief that it would definitely make a significant contribution to [the project's goals].

After the ceremony, the newly established Fanlin Group prepared a sumptuous luncheon for the leaders and guests, and the various toasts and banquets during the meal need not be elaborated upon.

Gao Fan was seated at a rather secluded table. A junior section chief from the Muyang Provincial Planning Commission clinked glasses with him and offered some platitudes welcoming Gao to invest in Muyang. Beyond that, no one paid him any attention. Gao Fan didn't seem to care about the cold reception. Canghai Chemical was a large company in Maolin Province, but not particularly significant nationally.

After all the activities concluded, everyone returned to Jiangcheng, the provincial capital. Wu Zhefu went directly from Jiangcheng to Beijing, while Gao Fan returned to Maolin.

"How's your sister doing? How's Little Lamb talking?"

At Rui Zhang's home, his biological mother, Ran Yuying, prepared food for Gao Fan while inquiring about the situation of the third generation.

Since the birth of his sister Gao Min's child, Gao Fan's status in the family has declined.

Gao Min and Yang Kai's child is a boy named Yang Chengxiang, a name chosen by his grandfather, which everyone thought was quite nice. In this era, the character "翔" (Xiang) hadn't yet been tainted with negative connotations, so Gao Fan naturally wouldn't use a later-era meme to criticize contemporary aesthetics.

According to Yang Kai's quirky sense of humor, the original intention was to name the child Yang Gao, which was a combination of both parents' surnames, a common practice in the era of one-child families. Later, this alternative name became the child's nickname, and through misinterpretation, it became "Little Lamb."

"He can already say several words in a row, but his pronunciation is still a bit unclear. However, he pronounces 'uncle' quite accurately," Gao Fan reported to his mother with a smile.

Ran Yuying complained, "I haven't seen him for months. Your dad is very busy here. I asked him to take a few days off to go to Beijing with me, but he always makes excuses."

“It’s good to be busy. My dad is still in his prime, the time to build his career,” Gao Fan said.

"What do you mean 'in the prime of life'? I'm already 52, and I've even turned 50. It's amazing how fast time flies. In the past, people would say that someone was 'extremely old' when they were over 50. In the blink of an eye, I'm already over 50!"

Ran Yuying began to sigh. This is what it means to get older; people become more and more concerned about their age.

Gao Fan laughed and said, "Mom, that's an old-fashioned idea. People used to say that being over fifty was old because life expectancy was short back then, and not many people lived to be 50. Now, living conditions have improved, nutrition is better, and living to 8 or 90 is not a problem. You do the math, how many years do you have left until you're 90?"

"I'd be content if I lived to 70, if I could live to 90," Ran Yuying said.

“I’m telling the truth. The age limit for evaluating young scientists in schools now is 45. My mom is only 50, and she’s full of energy, with beautiful features. People would believe she’s 30 if she walked down the street.”

"You think your mother's a demon?!"

Ran Yuying scolded him, but the corners of her mouth clearly curved upwards. Her son was the best; even his compliments were so heartwarming.

"By the way, how many days will you be able to stay in Ruizhang this time?"

After chatting for a while, Ran Yuying asked about her son's plans. Gao Fan was now like a rabbit with three burrows: his parents were in Ruizhang, his girlfriend was in Beijing, his company was in Cangtang, and sometimes he had to go to Zeshan or other places. He could spend less and less time with his parents.

Fortunately, Gao Yiping and Ran Yuying are still relatively young. They have many daily tasks and don't feel lonely even though their children aren't around.

Gao Fan said, "I'm not sure. I came back this time because Director Xu had some things to take care of. She didn't explain in detail on the phone, so I don't know if it will be troublesome." "Your future mother-in-law has been working like crazy ever since she was promoted to director two years ago. She's really eager to make a big impact. I think she's only just over 30 years old," Ran Yuying said, pursing her lips.

After the children of the two families got married, the prospective in-laws visited each other quite a bit, and Ran Yuying and Xu Ying got along quite well. However, it's only natural for a mother to subtly criticize her son's mother-in-law in front of her son.

“Our province is a poor province. The economies of the neighboring provinces are much better than ours. Director Xu probably wants to boost the province’s economy,” Gao Fan said.

“She was very proactive when she was in the Chemical Industry Bureau. Your dad told me that the previous deputy directors of the Economic Commission were not as capable as her, so she was promoted to director. I heard that several leaders in the province admire her.”

"She was able to get promoted to director thanks in no small part to the help of the Gao family. My father's fertilizer company is now one of the top-ranked fertilizer companies in the country, and our Canghai Chemical Company also brings her a lot of honor."

"They've already given you their daughter, what are you still saying? I think it's time to make some arrangements for you and Ruoyi. Ruoyi is 24 years old now, and I was only 22 when I gave birth to your sister..."

"..."

The mother and son's casual conversation, unsurprisingly, veered off-topic into the topic of urging each other to get married, leaving Gao Fan speechless. Fortunately, Gao Yiping returned home from get off work at that moment, and Gao Fan quickly went to help his father take his briefcase and then made him some tea.

"When did you come back?"

Gao Yiping sat down in the living room, enjoying his son's service, while asking questions in a leader's tone. He had been the general manager of the fertilizer company for seven or eight years, and his airs were growing stronger with each passing year.

"I came back in the afternoon, taking the train from Jiangcheng to Ruizhang."

"You're going to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Fanjiawan Mining and Fertilizer Integration Project, right?"

"Yes."

"They also sent invitations to our fertilizer company for that ceremony. I sent Qiao Jiaxi there. Did you run into him?"

"Oh, there are a lot of people here, I didn't see Uncle Qiao."

"Our relationship with the Provincial Planning Commission of Muyang has never been good. This time, they launched a large phosphate fertilizer project, and one of their section chiefs spoke to us in a sarcastic tone, saying that they would take over the phosphate fertilizer supply for our province from now on, and we could get as much as we wanted."

Gao Yiping said, a hint of resentment on his face.

Gao Fan laughed and said, "Are they still blaming us for not giving them urea a few years ago?"

"Whose fault is this?" Gao Yiping said. "It's all the ammonium to urine conversion work arranged by the Ministry of Chemical Industry. We completed it ahead of schedule, while they haven't even completed half of it yet. They're only thinking about getting the state to invest in them to expand their fertilizer business."

"The farmers over there need urea, but the province can't provide it, so they're thinking of buying it from us. We don't even have enough urea for ourselves, let alone any extra for them. That's how the conflict started."

(End of this chapter)