I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

After sighing, the old man remained silent for a moment before speaking again, his tone much calmer: "Xiao Zhang, what do you think she's trying to do?"

Secretary Zhang observed the old man for a moment, pondered briefly, and said, "Isn't this what you told Sister Zhou? To have her fall in love, get married, and have a child within three years. Although her methods were a bit extreme, she did achieve her goal. And not in three years, but in just one week! Hey, incredibly fast!"

The old man laughed in anger again, then retorted, "Nonsense! Of course I know what she did. I'm asking you, does she think I'd acknowledge it? Let's not even talk about that so-called husband; those two children aren't from the Zhou family. Does she think I'd accept them?"

Secretary Zhang calmly retorted, "Why won't you admit it?"

The old man's smile faded, and he looked at Secretary Zhang with a serious expression and cold eyes.

Secretary Zhang ignored him and continued, "Mr. Zhou, now let's assume there are two people, A and B."

"You are not related to A by blood, but he has great potential to make the group great and will follow your lead and carry on your will."

"Yi is your direct blood relative, but his abilities are questionable. He may cause the group to decline, or even go against your will, turning the group into a comprador group of foreign capital."

"Mr. Jay, to whom will you hand over the group?"

The old man fell silent.

Reaching his level, the meaning of life is different from that of ordinary people. For the old man, the company is his true life, involving too many people and too much meaning.

Family ties, even his own life, had to take a backseat—in this respect, this old man, who once led a construction corps and braved the glaciers, was frighteningly rational and cold-blooded.

After a moment of silence, the old man gave his answer: "Young Zhang, can't you hope for something better about me? Can't you be a member of the Zhou family, capable, and aligned with my goals?"

Secretary Zhang chuckled but did not reply.

He understood the old man and knew that the old man had already made his choice.

"And what about what you're saying? Is that right...?" the old man began, then abruptly stopped.

Besides his daughter Zhou Man, the old man also had an eldest son.

His eldest son had a son and a daughter, so there was actually a third generation in the family, and there was no urgent need for Zhou Man to carry on the bloodline.

But his own grandchildren... the old man wasn't too optimistic about them. He was just joking when he asked Xiao Zhang if he also wasn't too optimistic about his grandchildren.

But after thinking about it, I realized that saying this would put Xiao Zhang in a difficult position, so I decided not to say it and let everyone understand.

Tap, tap, tap...

The old man's fingers tapped unconsciously on the handrail, then he suddenly stopped. "Xiao Zhang, you really think highly of these two orphans she adopted?"

Secretary Zhang shook his head: "I don't know these two children and don't know the situation. But I think we should meet them first; maybe there will be a pleasant surprise, or we'll hit the jackpot?"

Tap, tap, tap...

The old man's fingers began to tap unconsciously on the handrail again, and he stopped after a while.

"Then you can make the arrangements."

"it is good."

Afterward, the old man closed his eyes to rest and stopped talking.

Secretary Zhang remained calm, but inwardly she breathed a sigh of relief.

Two more days have passed.

He didn't actually think highly of the two children that Sister Zhou had adopted, because according to the background check, the two children were very ordinary, with average grades and no outstanding performance.

Aside from their appearance, those two kids were the kind you could find anywhere on the street, and they definitely wouldn't satisfy Jay Chou. After all, he knew very well just how high Jay Chou's standards were.

So everything he just said was just a delaying tactic.

We need to quickly come up with a way to get Jay Chou and his girlfriend to stop their conflict in the next couple of days...

"Oh, right."

The old man suddenly opened his eyes again. "She doesn't know I've come to Yangcheng, does she?"

Secretary Zhang looked surprised. "When did you come to Yangcheng? How come I didn't know? Everyone knows you're busy with the Olympics in Yanjing right now!"

The old man nodded slowly and seriously, "That's true, the Olympics are too important, I'm too busy..." Then, thinking of his daughter's current mess, he couldn't help but curse.

"That unlucky kid!"...

Over the next two days, under Secretary Zhang's arrangement, the old man met with his daughter Zhou Man's "husband" Xiao Bonian and "eldest daughter" He Qiuzhu, and had exchanges and observations with them.

Secretary Zhang is very capable. Both meetings were conducted without Xiao Bonian and He Qiuzhu knowing the old man's identity, which made it easier for the old man to investigate.

However, the results of the investigation were somewhat disappointing.

"...Xiao Xiao is a good person; you can tell he's an excellent researcher."

The old man strolled slowly down a small street in Yangcheng, talking as he went, as if he were talking to Secretary Zhang beside him, or as if he were talking to himself.

"Xiao He is a good girl, but she's a bit too introverted."

Secretary Zhang, who had been accompanying them the whole way, asked with a smile, "So, are you satisfied with the two of them?"

"They're all good people," the old man commented.

Secretary Zhang then understood; this was dissatisfaction.

"I've already made plans for the last 'youngest son,' scheduled for tomorrow. So, shall we still meet?"

The old man didn't say a word.

He's not in a good mood right now: if there had been no hope in the first place, he wouldn't have been disappointed. The problem is that this Xiao Zhang has stirred up his hopes, and as a result, he's met one person after another and become increasingly disappointed. Now he doesn't want to waste any more time.

"Forget it, it's gone."

The old man spoke calmly, then walked forward.

Secretary Zhang walked beside him, her face calm, but her mind was racing: it seemed her plan to stall for time had come to an end. Knowing Chairman Zhou as she did, his next move would likely be to order Young Master Zhou to sever these "husband" and "children" ties. But Young Master Zhou was also quite stubborn…

As Secretary Zhang was thinking, the old man suddenly stopped.

Turning my head, I saw the old man staring at an upward slope to his left. His eyes first showed doubt, then contemplation, and finally he suddenly realized, revealing a look of nostalgia.

"See that slope over there?" The old man raised his hand and pointed to the upward slope.

Secretary Zhang looked over and saw the slope, and on both sides were a small restaurant, a modern teahouse, and a small supermarket. Several children were playing and chasing each other as they slipped past the supermarket.

"I saw it."

"Decades ago, that place was the outskirts of Yangcheng, a desolate wilderness, where there was a very hidden bandit den. I was just a soldier at the time, following my platoon leader to scout and prepare to suppress the bandits."

The old man slowly recounted his story, as scenes from the past flashed before his eyes. "Those bandits were very well-equipped, with firepower even stronger than ours. They were also extremely cunning and cruel. One of our fellow villagers who came to warn us was wiped out by them. We didn't protect him well... After that incident, the villagers were too scared to send us any more messages. Our intelligence was severely lacking, and our platoon leader was ambushed and killed during that reconnaissance mission..."

Secretary Zhang listened silently as the old man recounted that past event, simply listening without interrupting, his eyes solemn.

"...When we captured those bandits before, apart from the ringleaders who were publicly tried and executed, we gave the others some travel expenses and let them go home. As a result, poor families heard that there was such a good thing as free money, so they all became bandits, and the number of bandits increased. There was no other way but to change the policy. The bandits we captured that time were all publicly tried. From then on, the number of bandits decreased, and soon they were all gone."

Looking at the almost unrecognizable slope, the old man sighed, "Decades have passed. I'm no longer a soldier, and this place has been incorporated into Yangcheng, becoming the High-tech Zone. I can hardly recognize what it used to look like. I'm lucky I didn't die back then, and I can still see what it looks like decades later..."

The old man's voice faded away, and he stood there silently for a long time.

Secretary Zhang, along with his bodyguards and assistants, stood behind him.

After an unknown amount of time, the old man finally took another step.

"I'll stay one more day; there are a few more places I want to visit. I'll also see that child tomorrow, so your work won't be in vain."

Secretary Zhang felt a chill run down his spine.

Jay Chou's words were pointed, indicating that he realized Jay Chou was stalling for time.

It seems the nature of the game has changed. This game has now become one where Jay Chou wants to see if his secretary, Zhang, can come up with a solution before the day after tomorrow.

As for tomorrow's meeting, it's no longer important, but the formalities still need to be followed; everyone understands this implicitly...

The next day, the sun shone brightly and the sky was cloudless.

The old man appeared at the entrance of Yangcheng Third Welfare Home, wearing a tattered old T-shirt, a pair of gray-black shorts, and old slippers. He had no decorations on his body.

Secretary Zhang stood to the side, wearing a navy blue cheap short-sleeved shirt and a pair of cheap suit pants that cost twenty-one yuan a day at a street stall, pulled up to her chest. Her belt was a plastic rope that tightly tied her pants, and she wore a pair of cheap leather shoes with a few specks of mud on her feet.

The two went inside.