Back to the teenage years

Chapter 609 Seat Change
It was a clear morning in June.

The thin mist in Yuelu Mountain had not yet dissipated, and forest birds were singing.

As usual, Zhang Yunqi got up early and changed into his sportswear before heading out. Jin Shengze was already stretching and warming up by the roadside. He was wearing a white Nike tracksuit, with earplugs in his ears. At 1.78 meters tall, his handsome face looked almost devastatingly good-looking in the sunlight.

Without a word, the two brothers started running along the tree-lined path behind the courtyard. They ran from the South Gate Villa all the way through Aiwan Pavilion until they reached Lushan Ancient Temple before stopping. While doing static exercises, they watched the gradually awakening Lijin City below the mountain gate, where rows of houses were slowly gilded in the morning light.

After running around, Jin Shengze returned to his dorm, while Zhang Yunqi went home, took a shower, and felt refreshed.

He turned on the TV, and the morning news on Rijin TV was still broadcasting the same old content: "Regarding the controversy surrounding the Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street project on Huangxing South Road, the city's joint investigation team stated today that it will conduct a comprehensive investigation in accordance with laws and regulations..."

Zhang Yunqi changed the music channel, and Sally Yeh's "Walk Away with Style" sounded particularly beautiful. When he put down the remote control and was about to make breakfast, he heard footsteps coming downstairs. He looked up and saw Li Yufei walking down the stairs. She was wearing a loose white shirt, her long hair was loosely draped over her shoulders, and her eyes were still blurry from just waking up.

Zhang Yunqi casually asked, "What would you like to eat?"

Li Yufei casually replied, "Noodles."

Breakfast was very simple: plain noodles with two soft-boiled eggs, some chopped green onions, and a drizzle of sesame oil.

The two sat facing each other in front of the restaurant's floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside the windows was a small front garden, which, under Zhao Yihan's meticulous care, was lush and vibrant with life. It was already the Grain in Ear season, and several rose bushes were in full bloom, their pink and white petals adorned with last night's dewdrops—it was absolutely beautiful.

While having breakfast, the two talked about Li Xiaoman organizing a trip to Black Elk Peak.

Li Xiaoman is the vice president of the student union of the School of Political Science and Public Administration at the university. This girl has strong organizational and practical skills. She was the student union president when she was at Jiangshi No. 1 Middle School. This semester, she spearheaded a school-enterprise cooperation project in the school, and then managed to get Jianlibao Lijin Branch to do the same, which led to the Black Deer Peak Cycling Environmental Protection Charity Event.

To put it bluntly, Jianlibao paid for these students to run wild outside, take photos, and do some publicity.

Zhang Yunqi figured that apart from Li Yufei and Li Xiaoman, he didn't know anyone else from the university, so going out like this would be a bit boring. So he said to Li Yufei, "How about I invite my roommates? We'll pay for it ourselves."

Li Yufei said, "Okay, I'll talk to Xiaoman."

Zhang Yun nodded, took a couple of bites of noodles, then suddenly remembered something and said, "I have a feeling that Lu Yuanzhou will be there today too."

Li Yufei was taken aback: "Why? I've never told him about this."

Zhang Yunqi smiled and said, "The romance of the rich doesn't need to be announced."

Li Yufei rolled her eyes: "Then I'm ignoring him."

"That's not necessary."

As he spoke, Zhang Yunqi finished his breakfast in a few bites.

He saw Li Yufei slowly eating her noodles and opened the newspaper that Ma Shi had brought him.

Zhang Yunqi had a pile of newspapers, but he mainly read the *Xiaoxiang Evening News*, *Xingcheng Morning Post*, *Xiangnan Daily*, *People's Daily*, and *Economic Daily*. When he turned to the second page of the *Economic Daily*, a particularly eye-catching news item popped up: the State Administration of Taxation would be investigating Jinzhao Industrial! The main focus of the investigation was the tax evasion he had uncovered, including Jinzhao Industrial's use of related companies to conduct low-price housing transactions to avoid tax obligations.

Zhang Yunqi also knew that the incident at Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street had a greater impact on public opinion than on the actual situation. As a shareholder of Jinzhao Industrial, he did have the right to take temporary preservation measures, but he did not have law enforcement power. Several of his company's employees who participated in the fight and the employees of Jinzhao Industrial had already been detained for 15 days.

According to Ma Shi, these guys went in all beaming, like they'd won the lottery.

Because there will be substantial compensation during the United Era.

Zhang Yunqi felt this phenomenon was not good. He should pay the hard-earned money, but it was a bit too much for the employees to act as excitedly as if they were going to their wedding night while they were in jail. They should not lose their discipline and awareness. He really did not intend for it to turn into a street fight. He had specifically emphasized this point to Wang Guibing before the incident. It was just that the scene became chaotic and no one took care of it.

However, no matter what, this incident has been reported in newspapers and on television by the city, the province, and even CCTV. It has now attracted the attention of the tax authorities, and the nature of the matter has escalated from a shareholder dispute to a tax evasion case.

Zhang Yunqi roughly estimated that Jinzhao Industrial had evaded at least 80 million yuan in taxes by using related companies to lower transaction prices.

He immediately realized that since the case had escalated to this point and attracted attention from all sides, the State Taxation Administration would definitely push the Provincial Public Security Department to open an investigation.

In this scenario, following the normal procedure, Xu Kai, who wanted to save himself, would likely communicate with the provincial department on behalf of the city, requesting that the case be transferred to the municipal bureau for investigation. Then, by stalling for time, once the storm had passed and ordinary people had forgotten about it, this serious tax evasion case would transform from a reported case into a self-investigated case, a criminal case into a civil case, and a major case into a minor one. In the end, Jinzhao Industrial would pay some back taxes, and the matter would be dropped without any further incident.

Zhang Yunqi had seen this kind of thing far too many times.

This is the best self-rescue strategy for Xu Kai and Lu Yuanzhou, but the difference now is that Xu Kai can't get past the disciplinary hurdle of the Municipal Bureau.

Therefore, Xu Kai's room for maneuver is limited to the provincial department!

Zhang Yunqi put down the newspaper. He wasn't sure how much influence Xu Kai had over the case in the provincial department. Another thing that surprised him was that since the Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street incident, Lu Yuanzhou seemed to have remained silent, but had been making frequent moves regarding the restructuring of Xiangtai Pharmaceutical. Wang Guibing had informed him that the audit team's entry into Xiangtai Pharmaceutical on July 1st was confirmed, and the provincial discipline inspection commission would issue a formal notice next Wednesday. This meant Xie Yun should be extremely nervous and would cooperate with Lu Yuanzhou without any scruples in manipulating Xiangtai Pharmaceutical's stock price.

Just then, Li Yufei's phone rang.

It was Li Xiaoman calling. She said it was almost nine o'clock, and we should meet at Dongfanghong Square to depart for Heimi Peak on time. Li Yufei then asked Li Xiaoman if a few more people could join us.

Li Xiaoman said, "Zhang Yunqi is definitely in there."

Li Yufei glanced at Zhang Yunqi across from her and softly hummed in agreement.

Li Xiaoman sighed on the other end: "The man is heartless, the beauty is kind, like a reflection in a mirror, empty and meaningless. My dear aunt, since I can't live without him, then I'll fight back with the same determination I have for him!"

Li Yufei's heart started pounding. She glanced at Zhang Yunqi again, her stunningly beautiful face slightly flushed, and said, "I'll hang up now, Xiaoman. We'll be there in a bit."

Zhang Yunqi didn't hear Li Xiaoman's voice, but he felt that Li Yufei's gaze was strange, so he asked, "What's wrong?" Li Yufei said, "Nothing." After a pause, she added, "Xiaoman agreed that we can bring a few more people."

Zhang Yunqi nodded, then took out his phone and called Ma Rulong, Jin Shengze, He Lin, Song Junxian, and Zhou Dingchuan. The other end of the line erupted in excitement; Ma Rulong was howling with excitement in the dormitory, probably scaring every female dog within a kilometer radius into running wild again.

After Li Yufei finished eating her noodles, the two tidied up briefly, changed into sportswear, and went directly to the Dongfanghong Square in the center of Yuelu University Town to meet up.

When the two arrived, the bus that Li Xiaoman had rented was already there. There were about twenty students from the Student Union of the School of Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Technology, plus Zhang Yunqi and Li Yufei's group, making a total of about thirty people.

There were a lot of people, it was lively, and things were chaotic.

The event's chief coordinator, Li Xiaoman, was organizing everyone to board the bus. She was wearing a tight-fitting sportswear outfit, with her ponytail tied high, looking exceptionally beautiful and refreshing. In the university, where everyone was running around, she was definitely a flower among flowers.

Besides Li Xiaoman, the only person Zhang Yunqi recognized in this group was Zhao Chengming. He hadn't seen this clown in a long time; he was still as carefree as ever, waving and calling from afar, "Yufei! Yufei! Over here!"

A hint of embarrassment appeared on Li Yufei's face, especially since her calls had attracted the attention of the male students from the surrounding university. However, she still smiled and greeted them.

Zhao Chengming was completely unaware. He came over and used his buttocks to push Zhang Yunqi away, then showered Li Yufei with concern and care.

Seeing that Zhang Yunqi had some free time, Li Xiaoman glanced at Li Yufei, who was being pestered by Zhao Chengming, and said with a smile, "Mr. Zhang, now that your business is so successful, when will you sponsor our student council's activities?"

Zhang Yunqi spoke frankly: "That's not impossible, but going on outings and eating and drinking doesn't seem to fit Aihua Electronics' positioning. How about you organize some movie-related activities in the university town? For example, a 'campus open-air film festival' or a 'VCD error correction technology experience week' or something. We'll provide the VCDs. If the proposal is practical and creative enough, we can not only provide the equipment, but also discuss the sponsorship fee."

Li Xiaoman shook her head and said, "I've realized that bosses like you are the most shrewd."

Zhang Yunqi laughed and said, "Don't say that. As a successor of socialism who has risen from the ranks of poor peasants to become wealthy step by step, I have the lofty ideal of helping others to get rich first. Of course, I also have great confidence in your abilities, Chairman Li."

Li Xiaoman said, "Your idea sounds alright. I'll get the student council to study it and come up with a decent plan that will make you feel the money was well spent."

Zhang Yunqi smiled and nodded: "Okay."

At this moment, Ma Rulong, Jin Shengze, and their two brothers arrived from the direction of the dormitory building. Jin Shengze carried a guitar on his back, He Lin had the Book of Changes tucked under his arm, and Song Junxian followed silently behind. Ma Rulong, wearing a bright pink Elvis T-shirt, waved and shouted from afar, "Boss Zhang! We're here!"

Zhang Yunqi responded and then they got into the car together.

All participants have arrived. Because the journey involves crossing mountains and valleys and will be very bumpy, the students from the university who boarded the bus first occupied the relatively stable front and middle rows, leaving the back seats open.

Zhang Yunqi and Li Yufei went to the back to find a spot.

Li Yufei walked ahead and chose two seats in the second-to-last row. She glanced at Zhang Yunqi and then sat down.

Zhao Chengming has been inseparable from Li Yufei ever since he saw her, always staying between Li Yufei and Zhang Yunqi. When he saw Li Yufei sit down, he stuck out his butt and sat down in the empty seat next to her, handing her a bottle of Wahaha: "Here you go, Yufei."

Seeing this, Zhang Yunqi smiled and walked directly to an empty seat at the back. He took out his earphones and was about to put them on to listen to music when he heard Li Yufei's voice: "Chengming, please move aside."

Zhao Chengming paused for a moment, then moved his legs apart.

Li Yufei said thank you, walked out, sat down next to Zhang Yunqi, took an earphone from Zhang Yunqi's hand, and put it in her ear: "Play some music."

Everyone was watching this scene, and it was quite awkward.

The laughter and chatter in the carriage subsided. Li Xiaoman, sitting in the front row, turned around, frowned, and then looked out the window. Ma Rulong and He Lin were smiling silently beside her.

Zhao Chengming's face turned bright red.

His hand, holding the Wahaha bottle, froze in mid-air for a few seconds before he pulled it back, unscrewed it, took a swig, and wiped his mouth. Zhang Yunqi, sitting behind him, heard him grit his teeth.

He knew this guy hated him even more now.

To be honest, he genuinely wanted to comfort this guy.

This guy has been pursuing Li Yufei for two whole years, trekking all the way from Jiangchuan to Lijin. How rare is such a devoted and innocent young man? What's more, he and Zhao Chengming are related by blood. He and Zhao Chengming's biological father, Zhao Jianqiang, have always been like brothers, their relationship is incredibly close. As an elder, as an uncle, he seems to have an obligation to find some time to properly educate this younger generation.

It was already nine o'clock.

The driver departs.

The group set off from Dongfanghong Square in a grand procession.

Black Elk Peak is quite far away; it takes two hours by car.

Bathed in the early summer sun, the convoy turned from Lushan South Road onto Yinshan North Road and sped along, leaving the city of Lijin and heading north on National Highway 107. After passing through Wangcheng, the road became dilapidated, but the sky grew ever higher and the fields on both sides were vast and boundless, with majestic mountains.

It was the busy farming season, and the lush green crops covered the earth like a thick blanket. Everyone looked out at the rural world outside the window with great interest, and drove towards Black Deer Peak amidst laughter and chatter.

Just then, a song started playing in my headphones—Little Tigers' "The Stars Still Shine":
The starlight is still brilliant
My true feelings remain unchanged.
With tears and sweat

Only then can the joys and sorrows of separation and reunion be washed away.
I wouldn't be where I am today without you.

Only with promises can we have a tomorrow.

*******
PS: Brothers, dear readers, please vote with monthly tickets, please subscribe, please recommend! I've been working incredibly hard lately, and I estimate I can keep up with the daily quota this month and write at least 27 chapters.