Break out of the courtyard

"Volcanic eruption in the Philippines triggers extreme rainfall!"

The elderly man, wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, took off his reading glasses, rested his elbows on the desk, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and said to the male secretary next to him:

"If they hadn't submitted this extreme weather forecast report a month ago, which included the possibility and consequences of a volcanic eruption in the Philippines, I wouldn't have believed there would be such widespread torrential rain!"

"It's truly unbelievable!" the male secretary standing beside him echoed. "Even now, I still can't believe that this torrential rain has caused flooding in 18 provinces and autonomous regions!"

The old man put his reading glasses back on and carefully reviewed the extreme weather forecast report once again.

After looking at them for a while, the old man put down the few flimsy pieces of paper and said in a deep voice, "Pass the word down: respond actively according to the previously deployed flood prevention and control arrangements. We will definitely be able to overcome this natural disaster that was predicted a month ago!"

"By the way, what has Consultant Zhang been up to lately?"

After quickly jotting down a note in his notebook, the male secretary hurriedly replied, "He sent some experts to the Northwest to ask the aerospace group for assistance in recovering the small return capsule that contained the Lifespan 160 reagent."

Seeing that the leader remained silent, the male secretary continued, "In addition, they also transported the No. 3 Shouyuan space capsule and 12 Fengyun meteorological satellites to the Northwest and paid the aerospace group to launch them."

"Yesterday, he distributed 43 billion US dollars in management bonuses to his fund managers, which attracted a lot of attention!"

"Tonight, he plans to hold a birthday party for his twin sons, Zhang Long and Zhang Hu, at his home on Hong Kong Island, and has invited many Hong Kong celebrities and their families."

Upon hearing this, the old man suddenly asked, "Who from China went there?"

~
Yan Wo Yi Community, The Peak, Hong Kong Island.

To avoid crowding with others at the entrance of Renheyi Community and queuing for inspection, Chairman He, Bao Chuanwang, and others brought their families to Zhang's house in the morning.

This also has the advantage of allowing the family's nephews and nieces to spend more time with the Zhang family's children.

Of course, they also wanted to talk to Zhang Heping more and ask him where he planned to invest the funds he withdrew from Japan Island!

Most importantly, the Lifespan 160 drug is about to be recovered from space and then used in clinical trials.

As soon as Zhang Heping returned from outside, everyone took him to the flat area for tea.

"Mr. Zhang, I heard that the Nanpu Bridge connecting the two banks of the Huangpu River is about to be completed. Have you received an invitation to attend the ceremony?" Chairman Guo asked with a smile.

Chairman He chimed in from the side, "Mr. Zhang has invested so much in Shanghai, it's not enough to just invite him to attend the ceremony, we must invite him to cut the ribbon!"

“There’s a flood over there, so the ribbon-cutting ceremony has been cancelled!” Zhang Heping looked at Chairman He with a serious expression and said in a deep voice, “Old He, if the Chinese Chamber of Commerce wants to donate money and supplies to the disaster area, you can start preparing now.”

Upon hearing this, Chairman He immediately suppressed his smile and said seriously, "We have already donated 3000 million yuan worth of supplies to Jiangsu Province."

“Not enough!” Zhang Heping said with a heavy expression, frowning as he explained, “This rain covers a wide area, has a large amount of rainfall, and lasts for a long time. Even with the 20 billion magnesium dollars donated by the Peace Charitable Foundation in the early stage to support flood prevention and control, the losses in the mainland will still be significant.”

Did the people present not know how much money the Peace Charity Foundation had donated in the early stages?

Of course I know, because the Peace Charity Foundation's website publishes the destination and use of the funds.

However, that happened last month.

Although it attracted some attention at the time, as Hong Kong stocks were speculated on by foreign investors, most people in Hong Kong and Macau turned their attention to stocks.

Zhang Heping's re-bringing of this matter made everyone present think more deeply, wondering if Zhang Heping felt they had donated too little!
After all, when Zhang Heping led them to short the Japanese stock market, everyone made a lot of money.

Zhang Heping seemed to have guessed their complicated thoughts and continued, "Let me give you a heads-up, I plan to increase investment in the mainland after the floods, especially in the disaster-stricken areas."

When it comes to investing in mainland China, the first place that comes to mind for everyone present is not Shanghai, where Zhang Heping has invested the most, but Haicheng, where he has invested 50 billion US dollars.

Because land and housing prices in Haicheng have been driven up, families like Chairman He and Chairman Guo, who have real estate businesses, have made a lot of money there.

Following Zhang Heping's lead, the group chatted for a while about investing in mainland China, and then steered the conversation toward the Lifespan 160 potion, which they were most interested in.

The live broadcast from the World Internet Forum showed that the new Lifespan 160 drug has been loaded into a small return capsule and could return to Earth at any time.

Unfortunately, Zhang Heping did not elaborate further to the crowd, citing that the drug had not yet undergone clinical trials.

Even so, Chairman He, Chairman Guo, and others remained enthusiastic, because the efficacy of the Life 100 medicine was undeniable and tangible.

As an iteration of the Lifespan 100 potion, the development positioning of the Lifespan 160 potion is definitely better than that of the Lifespan 100 potion!
After everyone had a simple lunch at a table on the flat ground outside the villa, the security guards began setting up the venue for the evening party on the same flat ground.

In the afternoon, Qu Zhouping, the head of ATV Rediffusion Television, brought over a dozen beautiful female celebrities who had no scandals.

The female celebrities were dressed in their finest attire, claiming it was for rehearsals for the evening's program, but their true intentions were hard to discern.

The Aso couple, who had not received an invitation, shamelessly came over in the afternoon to deliver a gift.

Unfortunately, even though they had given their gifts, Zhang Heping didn't let them into the residential area, instructing his bodyguard to tell them that it was inconvenient today.

Similar to them were the uninvited representatives of the O.M. family.

"To be honest, Mr. Zhang, those foreigners did approach me before," Chairman Guo said with a smile, seeing Zhang Heping's firm rejection of the representatives from the O.M. family.

"They want me to pass on a message to you, saying they have a way to overturn those two joint statements."

"I asked them at the time, 'Why didn't you first withdraw the joint statement before going to Mr. Zhang?'" Chairman Guo looked at the others and asked with a smile.

"Guess what those foreigners said?"

Chairman He, the ship owner, and others smiled without saying a word, because they had also encountered similar situations, but they did not want to mention it in front of Zhang Heping to avoid misunderstandings.

Chairman Guo looked around and, seeing no one to chime in, wasn't annoyed. He continued, "Those foreigners are quite honest. They told me that if the restrictions in those two joint statements are lifted first, they'll have no bargaining chips!"

Director Wang, who had just arrived from Shenzhen that afternoon, asked in confusion, "What do they want to talk about?"

Chairman Guo replied with a smile, "Longevity Elixir!"

Director Wang suddenly realized, and then asked, "Didn't the United States launch a generic drug? Why don't they buy that drug from the United States?"

“Director Wang, you may not know this!” Mr. Rong from CITIC interjected to explain, “Less than six months after the release of the NMN100 drug from the United States, 13 users died from unknown causes.”

"On the other hand, among the participants in the Longevity 100 drug trials, apart from 5 who died in car accidents, 3 who died in drowning, and 2 who died in crimes of passion, we have not heard of any other causes of death."

Bao Chuanwang nodded and echoed, "Therefore, many people doubt the safety of the NMN100 drug from the United States." As everyone spoke, their eyes involuntarily fell on Zhang Heping.

"Why are you looking at me?" Zhang Heping said with a faint smile, "I didn't buy the NMN100 drug, so I can't comment on that drug."

"Mr. Zhang, how do you plan to deal with the joint statement from the foreigners?" Shen Bi, the American representative who came to deliver gifts on behalf of the Governor of Hong Kong, had been silent for a while, but now asked the question that many people wanted to ask but were not comfortable asking.

The Americans have participated in the Middle East conflict, but they did not participate in the two joint statements restricting the Peace Group's products.

Regardless of what those foreigners were thinking at the time, at least for now, they haven't completely blocked the communication channels between the British and Zhang Heping.

Otherwise, they would have absolutely no chance.

In response to Shen Bi's question, Zhang Heping simply smiled and said, "Heping Group's products have been sold only in Hong Kong for a long time."

Since the US imposed sanctions on the Peace Group, the Peace Group has cut off its external sales channels and only sells in Hong Kong.

As for where distributors who purchase large quantities of goods can sell the products of the Peace Group, the Peace Group generally does not interfere, but only provides free replacement for quality problems in after-sales service.

Everyone present was more or less aware of the Peace Group's sales model, and they secretly marveled at how competitive the Peace Group's products were, and how they had no trouble selling them!
Of course, there's no need to worry about those foreign restrictions.

The more stringent their restrictions, the more sought-after products from the Peace Group, such as tiger penis wine, Viagra delay spray, Tingmei slimming tea, and Taitai oral liquid, become, with many smugglers taking the risk for them.

This passive response was clearly not what Shen Bi wanted to hear, but he was also sensible enough not to press the matter further.

Zhang Heping dealt with the many married people in the living room, while Tang Xin and Chen Shuting dealt with the wives who were gossiping about family matters in the chess and card room of the apartment building behind.

The young people were scattered in twos and threes throughout the neighborhood, and very few of them were able to get close enough to talk to Zhang Bei, Zhang Nan, and their siblings.
All of Zhang Heping's arrangements were for nothing!
The next day, Zhang Heping and his family returned to Heping College in Shenzhen.

In the first half of the month, abnormal sandstorms occurred in Northwest China, which led to the suspension of the small return capsule recovery mission and the inability to carry out related launch missions.

However, as the rain cloud cover expands inland, humidity is spreading northwest, and sunny skies are expected in the northwest soon.

Within two days, Peace Aerospace and the Aerospace Group reached an agreement that the small return capsule of the No. 2 Lifetime Space Module could be recovered!
After confirmation from Zhang Heping, the much-anticipated small return capsule, under the live broadcast of the external camera of the spacecraft, finally detached from the No. 2 Shouyuan spacecraft at 10:01 am on June 18 and flew into Earth orbit.

After five orbital adjustments and seven hours, the small reentry capsule, which burned in the atmosphere for more than 50 minutes, finally landed in the Gobi Desert in Northwest China.

Thanks to satellite positioning, the convoy organized by the aerospace group, led by a helicopter, quickly recovered the small return capsule.

With the opening of the small return capsule and the dazed experimental monkey being retrieved, this monkey-carrying space experiment came to an end, accumulating valuable experience for subsequent manned experiments.

Of course, the Lifespan 160 potion, which has attracted the attention of various forces, has also been safely recovered and is currently undergoing secret transfer.

After the evening news broadcast reported the successful recovery of the small return capsule and the successful exit of the experimental monkey, Zhang Heping received many phone calls congratulating him on the matter.

Because of this, Tang Ming, Ma Xiuzhen, Tang Xin, Chen Shuting, Zhang Pandi, Zhang Bei and others also received many congratulatory calls, the intention of which is self-evident.

Unfortunately, at this critical juncture of widespread flooding, the joyous news of a major step forward in China's space program was overshadowed by the increasingly severe flooding.

Fortunately, Peace Aerospace issued an extreme weather forecast in advance, allowing various provinces to take precautions. Even though supplies such as tents and boats were in short supply, food, water, and medicine were prepared in advance.

As videos of flood relief efforts across mainland China were uploaded to global internet forums, the Americans reluctantly began to believe that the mainland's previous mobilization of troops and resources was indeed for flood prevention and control.

The reason they are unwilling to believe it is probably because they are unwilling to believe that there are no aliens in this world!
As for the floods that are currently occurring on the mainland, they are too far away from them, and they don't take them seriously at all.

Non-my family, its heart must be different.

In contrast, Chinese people in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and other places spontaneously organized donations of money and goods.

The charity concert for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan that Zhang Heping had heard about in his previous life was also being prepared. Qu Zhouping, the head of RTV, was even pushed forward by a group of Hong Kong stars to ask Zhang Heping to write a song for the charity concert.

After listening to the large-scale chorus prepared by the Hong Kong stars for the charity performance, Zhang Heping felt that their singing was too pessimistic. So he copied a song called "We Are a Loving Family" and gave it to his first wife, Tang Xin, who then passed it on to Qu Zhouping, and also represented the Zhang family in this charity performance.

Why let dark clouds obscure your vision!
Because we are a family, a loving family!

We should share happiness and hardship, and let our mutual understanding and companionship last forever!

……

Zhang Heping did not go to Hong Kong Island for two reasons: first, the Lifespan 160 serum, which was secretly transported back, had arrived; and second, the 4th Nobel Peace Prize was approaching.

During this time, he was also invited to the capital to attend the 70th anniversary celebration of the D.

After he returned to Shenzhen, he went to attend the official opening ceremony of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Crucially, after the Warsaw Pact dissolved on July 1, the Peace Group absorbed a group of North Soviet experts and their families.

In addition, a group of elderly people came to Shenzhen Peace Academy every day to inquire about the research and development of the Longevity Elixir.

All these things combined mean that Zhang Heping was able to take the time to copy a song to support the Hong Kong stars' charity performance, which is already a great show of support for them, especially since he also sent his first wife, Tang Xin, to donate money.

On the evening of July 5th, Zhang Heping was enjoying some peace and quiet in his study, not wanting to go downstairs to deal with the old men and women.

Tang Ming, the father-in-law, and Xu Jiefeng, the mother-in-law, had no choice. They were the ones who invited the people into the house. Zhang Heping could use being busy with work as an excuse to leave these old folks who needed his help, but Tang Ming and his family couldn't. Someone had to stay and entertain them.

The underground base of the Shenzhen Peace Academy was still working on military equipment models, and with the Life-Extending 160 serum just returned, Zhang Heping had no choice but to hold the 4th Peace Prize Award Ceremony at the Shenzhen International Trade Center Building in order to cooperate with the secrecy work.

Meanwhile, security work over there was also handed over to Shenzhen government.

The Shenzhen branch of Umbrella Security Company only sent four teams of security guards to assist with maintaining order at the venue.

Zhang Heping sat in front of the computer, looked at the stock market data of various countries for a while, and then asked Zhang Nian, the third girl who was massaging his shoulders behind him, "Speak! What is it?"

Zhang Nian changed her mind from pressing down to hammering, and said something that didn't match her true feelings: "It's nothing, hehe!"

"Take advantage of my free time now and get to the point quickly." Zhang Heping opened his email and began to check the recent feedback from the fund managers.

Zhang Nian hesitated for a moment before asking, "Dad, why don't you think the capital city agrees to let me register an insurance company?"

...(End of chapter)