Break out of the courtyard

"Director Chen, our preliminary investigation has revealed something about that father and son..."

“No need to explain to me!” Secretary Chen stood on the empty playground, holding the phone, and said, “This matter will be handled according to the pilot program for the Life 120 drug. Tell those two people they can go back.”

"No, Director Chen!" The person on the other end of the phone said anxiously, "The imposter's wife and children all have intellectual disabilities, and the whole family depends on him, a 70-year-old man, to earn money."

"Besides, his father agreed to his taking the place this time..."

"Secretary Guo, do I need to spell out how those two elderly people got to Guangdong Province, and who's pulling the strings behind the scenes?" Secretary Chen said coldly.

"I just told Consultant Zhang about this, and his exact words were, 'Until this is resolved, the Lifespan 120 potion will not be shipped to the public!'"

After hanging up the phone, Secretary Chen stood there for a while, then waved to the car waiting in the distance.

If Old Master Hua were here, upon hearing what Secretary Chen said on the phone just now, he would immediately realize that this kid was faking it!

Secretary Chen has been here for so many years, how could he not know Zhang Heping's temperament?

Before reporting to Zhang Heping, he did not make a decision on whether to blacklist the father and son, simply because he did not want to offend those who were making underhanded moves behind his back.

Zhang Heping understood this point, which is why he had Secretary Chen say to the outside world that it was Zhang Heping who said it!

The next morning, this failed case of identity theft was reported in the newspaper.

At Secretary Chen's instruction, the newspaper did not mention the reason why the father and son cooperated in the substitution, but only reported their convincing substitution method and the punishment.

From that day on, during the pilot program for the Shouyuan 120 medication in all hospitals in Guangdong Province, accompanying family members were required to stay at least two meters away from the injection window and wait until the Shouyuan 120 medication had been administered before approaching.

……

Jingcheng, Xishuangbanna Airport.

As soon as a plane from Shenzhen landed, a convoy of black cars and two minibuses that had been waiting nearby drove over.

Before the plane doors even opened, a group of children holding flowers lined up on both sides, shouting "Welcome! Welcome! A warm welcome!"

Not long after, the cabin door opened, and a middle-aged man wearing a gray suit, white shirt, and striped tie came out first, followed by several men and women in black suits who walked down the passenger stairs.

"Manager Duan, welcome back to Jingcheng!" A middle-aged man dressed in ethnic clothing greeted the inspection team sent by Heping Group with a smile as he waited at the bottom of the gangway.

"Director Yan, we meet again!" Duan Yu, the investment manager of Heping Group, extended his right hand and shook hands with the director of Jingfu's office.

After a brief introduction of their respective entourages, both sides quickly got into their vehicles and left the airport.

Director Yan, sitting in the passenger seat, turned to look at Duan Yu, the person in charge of the inspection team, in the back seat. "Manager Duan, we'll take you to the hotel first. A welcome dinner and some performances are arranged for tonight, tomorrow..."

"Director Yan, we don't do that kind of formality!" Investment Department Manager Duan Yu waved his right hand. "You see, when we got off the plane, we didn't bring any luggage except for briefcases. That means we're here to do business, just like before!"

"Manager Duan, I got a lot of criticism after you left last time!" Director Yan from the office looked frightened. "This time, I'm insisting that you stay a couple more days to learn about the local development."

"Director Yan, I really can't make this decision!" Duan Yu, the investment manager, said with a hint of helplessness. "I even went to see Mr. Zhang before I left today."

"Mr. Zhang told us to keep a low profile, not to be extravagant, and to go back as soon as we finished our business."

"In addition, our investment department has sent many employees to other cities to investigate the possibility of building factories for biodegradable biomaterial products."

"After inspecting the site for the Peace Materials branch plant here, I need to go back and coordinate investment projects in other regions. If you really want to stay, you'll have to leave my secretary with you as a hostage!"

"Haha! It's good that beautiful Xishuangbanna can't keep Manager Duan, but it's good that it can keep Secretary He. We will definitely treat her well!" Director Yan from the office said, then changed the subject, "Manager Duan, how about we go to that factory site we've chosen now?"

After receiving confirmation from the investment manager, the convoy drove directly to the outskirts of the city.

At the same time, Director Yan took out his phone and reported the changes in the itinerary in front of Manager Duan.

"Sigh! I got criticized by our boss again!" Director Yan from the office said with a bitter face, looking at the big spender in the back row. "Manager Duan, we've finished inspecting the venue. You absolutely must attend the welcome banquet tonight!"

"Otherwise, our leader won't send me to receive you next time!"

Investment manager Duan Yu glanced at his watch and smiled, "We'll try to finish inspecting the site before 15 PM, then go to Nanla Town to check out the tea factory there. If we come back early, we can make it to the welcome banquet."

The office director's expression hardened. "Manager Duan, may I ask what brings you to the tea factory in Nanla Town?"

Manager Duan keenly noticed the change in the other party's expression and smiled, "Director Yan, we're practically acquaintances, so I won't beat around the bush with you."

"Mr. Zhang is taking care of the Peace Materials branch factory. As long as the site is not a problem, this investment is settled."

"I came here on the instructions of our General Manager Chen. She said that Mr. Zhang drank the Pu'er tea sent from Nanla Town this year and felt that the taste had changed. General Manager Chen asked me to come and find out what happened."

"You know a lot of people around here, could you help me find out what happened?"

"Okay, just a moment! I'll call and ask right now." After saying that, Director Yan from the office started making a phone call.

Don't be fooled by how many calls this person makes and how enthusiastic they seem; they're just putting on an act.

The Nanla Town Tea Factory was originally managed by Li Niu, but last December someone found a pretext to demote him to deputy head of the sales department, effectively stripping him of his power.

Immediately afterwards, a new factory manager was parachuted in.

Who is Li Niu?

When Zhang Heping was the director of Nanla Town Health Center and the principal of Jingcheng College, the cook Xiao Niu's culinary skills were all taught by Zhang Heping, whom he called his master!

Li Niu was naturally unhappy about being demoted for no apparent reason.

He originally wanted to call his mentor Zhang Heping to complain, but Director Zhao and Factory Director He both told him to wait.

Then trouble ensued. The new factory manager actually changed the tea factory's tea-making process, wanting to learn from other foreign tea-making techniques and then export the tea to earn foreign exchange!
For many years, the Nanla Town Tea Factory has been supplying tea leaves to the Heping Health Products Factory for the production of the globally renowned Tingmei slimming tea. Therefore, the Nanla Town Tea Factory's profits have remained stable and quite good!
The only drawback is that it doesn't generate a single penny of foreign exchange revenue.

Seeing that Director Yan had been making phone calls and sending out a lot of text messages for a long time, Secretary He in the back row couldn't stand it anymore. "Director Yan, if you can't find out, then forget it. I've made an appointment with Li Niu, the former director of the Nanla Town Tea Factory. We'll find out when we meet."

"The tea-making process at the Nanla Town Tea Factory was determined by Mr. Zhang earlier. The fermentation process, in particular, is crucial to the efficacy of our Tingmei slimming tea."

“If the Nanla Town Tea Factory cannot deliver qualified tea as agreed, paying the penalty for breach of contract is a minor issue; it will also force us to find a new tea factory to cooperate with.”

Director Yan turned around and replied, "Manager Duan, Secretary He, please wait a moment. I have already inquired about the general situation and am investigating the responsibilities of the relevant personnel. I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer later."

As soon as the convoy stopped near Jingcheng, the door to Manager Duan's car was opened by someone outside.

The leaders in Jingcheng were in a meeting, but when they heard that the Peace Group's inspection team wanted to see the factory site first, they immediately suspended their meeting and arrived at the site ahead of time to wait, showing their sincerity.

As Manager Duan just said, the site is fine, so the investment project for the Heping Materials Branch Plant is settled. The rest are some signing procedures, which are matters for later.

With this matter settled, the person in charge of Jingcheng, seeing that he couldn't stop Manager Duan and his group from going to Nanla Town, sent his secretary and Director Yan to accompany them there to quickly resolve the problems at the tea factory and restore things to normal.

……

That evening, while Zhang Heping was having dinner at home, he received a cheerful phone call from Li Niu.

"Master, I asked Manager Duan to bring you some tea. It's homemade, and it tastes just like before."

"Next time you need something, just call. Don't make it so complicated!" Zhang Heping said, holding his phone with slight dissatisfaction, "Because of what you did, the Tingmei slimming tea produced in the last two months has lost 30% of its effectiveness!"

"Hehe! Master, I'll definitely call you first next time!" Li Niu said with a smile, "I've already sent a portion of the mountain produce that the villagers prepared to your hometown in the capital."

"However, they heard today that I asked Manager Duan to bring you tea, so they gathered a bunch of mountain products and also wanted Manager Duan to bring them to you. Manager Duan is now unsure whether to accept them or not. Would you like to say something to Manager Duan?"

"No need!" Zhang Heping smiled and said, "Tell the villagers that we have received their goodwill this year, and I will come to collect their mountain products myself next time. Tell them not to make things difficult for Manager Duan and the others."

"Okay, Master! You go ahead with your work, I won't bother you any longer!" Li Niu said, but instead of hanging up, he shouted loudly to the person next to him:
"Don't make things difficult for Manager Duan. My master said he'll come to buy your mountain produce next time, so you can take it home and store it!"

Zhang Heping smiled and shook his head before hanging up the phone.

While picking up some food, Chen Shuting, the concubine, casually asked, "Has the matter of the tea factory in Nanla Town been resolved?"

"Hmm!" Zhang Heping laughed, "Manager Duan was surrounded by those villagers over there, wanting him to bring us some local products, but I didn't agree."

Tang Xin, the first wife, chimed in, "When we went to Xishuangbanna last time, the villagers were very hospitable. It's been many years since we last went there. I wonder how things are developing there?"

On the other side of the table, Ma Xiuzhen, the mother, said, "Every year, our fellow villagers send us New Year's gifts. Lili called me yesterday to say that the New Year's gifts sent from Xishuangbanna this year have arrived."

"I'm thinking of going to see those villagers sometime and bringing them some gifts."

Zhang Heping smiled and picked up a piece of braised pork. "After hearing what you've said, it would be a real shame if I didn't take some free time to accompany you to Xishuangbanna!"

“Honey, we haven’t gone on a trip in ages!” Tang Xin chimed in at the right moment, placing a piece of roast goose into Zhang Heping’s bowl before smiling at him.

"I'll try to go there this summer!" Zhang Heping promised with a smile. "Shuting has someone keep an eye on the construction of the materials branch factory over there, and we'll try to get it completed this summer so our whole family can go and inspect the factory!"

"Great!" Chen Shuting laughed, "I'll personally oversee their construction progress!"

"Yay!" Zhang Nuo, the seventh girl, exclaimed happily, "No more summer classes!"

Zhang Nan laughed and said, "I'll call Xiao Nian later and tell her to prepare for her vacation in advance, so she won't use being busy with work as an excuse not to come with us."

"I want to ride an elephant with Atom!" Nine-year-old Zhang Hao shouted, and began to paint a picture for his five-and-a-half-year-old nephew Zhang Bo, talking about how wonderful elephants are.

"Dad, when should we try using the brains of creatures like elephants or killer whales?" Zhang Bei suddenly thought of an experimental project.

Just as the family was engrossed in their conversation, Old Zhang inappropriately stood up and walked towards the figure moving at the door, saying, "I'm going to the lecture hall!"

Ma Xiuzhen glanced at the villa entrance and knew that her husband had arranged to play virtual dream games in the lecture hall, so she didn't stop him. Anyway, her son had arranged for medical staff to watch over them.

Zhang Hu laughed from the side, "Seeing Grandpa's huge gaming addiction suddenly reminded me of when we were in high school, playing computer games every day."

Zhang Long chimed in, "The virtual reality game that Dad told us about has already achieved limited online connectivity, but we're not really addicted to it anymore!"

Xie Wan chimed in from the side, "This shows that you've matured and won't waste your time on meaningless things!"

"Xie Wan, are you trying to say that our grandfather is immature?" Zhang Feng asked jokingly.

Xie Wan's expression froze, then she quickly explained, "I didn't mean to mention Grandpa Zhang... Um, I didn't mean it!"

“Immature is immature. Xiao Wan is right. That old man isn’t as mature as my grandson and granddaughter!” Ma Xiuzhen said, and put a piece of pork trotter on each of the Xie Wan and Xie Ting sisters’ plates. “Eat more, so your family won’t blame us for not taking good care of you sisters.”

"Oh! You're still eating!" When Grandma Zheng entered the villa and saw that everyone was in the dining room, she led her grandniece Zhou Xirou over without any hesitation.

When Old Mrs. Zheng came over, the Zhang family members all stood up to show their respect.

At the warm invitation of the Zhang family, Grandma Zheng and her grandniece Zhou Xirou, who had already eaten dinner, sat down and tasted a bowl of pig's trotter soup.

"Every time I come to your house, I always want to see what you're eating," said Grandma Zheng, putting down her bowl with a smile. "If you're eating delicacies, well, there are some things I can't say!"

“Look at what you’re saying!” Ma Xiuzhen replied, “If we’re going to eat some delicacies, we’ll definitely treat you, Director Wang, and Elder Hua.”

"It's just some home-style dishes, that's why we didn't invite you over."

Ma Xiuzhen clearly did not understand the purpose of Old Mrs. Zheng's visit. Tang Xin, who was in charge of donations to the Peace Charity Foundation, smiled and said, "Old Mrs. Zheng, please have some soup first. We will go upstairs to the study to talk later."

...(End of this chapter)