I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

Dengzhou Foreign Affairs Office, Building No. 1.

Li Jing'an was sitting in the small living room, humming along to the model opera on TV, tapping the armrest with his hand, feeling quite relaxed. After all, the matter had basically been settled, leaving only the trial and follow-up work.

He was engrossed in watching when a woman came out of the inner room. It was Xiao Juan from the Shandong Provincial Metallurgical Bureau. "Minister, I've made the bed. Shall I run you a bath?" Xiao Juan asked obediently by the door, her face flushed with desire.

Li Jing'an looked her up and down, a smile playing on his lips. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Alright, go ahead. Remember to give me a good rub later."

Xiao Juan pursed her lips, turned around, and went into the bedroom. A moment later, the sound of running water could be heard. Li Jing'an, annoyed by the noise, couldn't watch TV anymore and got up to go to the bedroom. Before he even reached the door, there was a knock.

Li Jing'an was taken aback. He was about to open the door when he suddenly seemed to remember something. He sat back down on the sofa and called out to the inner room, "Xiao Juan, go see who's here."

Xiao Juan obediently came out of her bedroom and went downstairs. A moment later, she stood in the living room and called up, "Minister, people from Japan have arrived!"

Li Jing'an then stepped out of the suite, looked down through the open space, straightened his expression, and snorted.

Standing downstairs were President Furukawa and his entourage from Furukawa Corporation. Upon seeing Li Jing'an upstairs, Furukawa and the others quickly bowed ninety degrees: "Your Excellency, Minister!"

President Furukawa straightened up and said respectfully, "I'm sorry, Minister. I am deeply sorry for what happened. I came here specifically to apologize and explain the situation to you. I hope to be granted an audience and given us a chance." He then bowed ninety degrees again.

Li Jing'an glanced at them, snorted, and said, "Come on up." He then turned and went back to the small living room. He didn't intend to talk to them in the large living room downstairs, as there were too many people around.

Old Hu stood at the door watching the situation, but Li Jing'an ignored him and didn't call him to join them.

Li Jing'an sat on the sofa and casually lit a cigarette. Xiao Juan was leading Gu He and Ye Ze into the small living room when Li Jing'an interrupted her, saying, "There's no need for so many people to come in."

Guhe awkwardly waved to the outside, entering only with his translator, Nozawa. After receiving a signal from Li Jing'an, Xiaojuan poured a cup of tea for the two of them, then was also dismissed. A silence fell over the small living room.

"You guys didn't come here just to stare at each other, did you?" Li Jing'an broke the silence first.

"Minister Li, I am aware of what happened here, and I am very sorry and ashamed. After all, the trigger was our company's employee's loose tongue, so we must bear some responsibility. Rest assured, we have already dealt with that employee. He has learned his lesson and will not speak again in the future; he will remain silent." President Furukawa replied respectfully.

Li Jing'an stood to the side, smoking a cigarette, remaining noncommittal.

Seeing Li Jing'an's indifferent attitude, Guhe and Nozawa exchanged a glance, and Guhe gritted his teeth and said, "To express our apology, we have prepared $20 as compensation, hoping to give you and Dongda some compensation as a token of our company's apology."

Li Jing'an's eyes lit up, then he coughed and said, "I see your sincerity, and I'm quite satisfied with how you handled it. Besides, it was probably just an unintentional mistake on their part, caught by a small group of people, which led to what happened later. The responsibility certainly can't be entirely placed on you. Don't worry, I won't treat you differently because of this, and our friendship isn't diminished by something like this. Haha, come on, have a smoke."

As Li Jing'an spoke, he stood up from the sofa, picked up a cigarette from the coffee table, and offered one to each of Nozawa and Furukawa. The two were flattered and stood up, accepting the cigarettes with both hands. Regardless of whether they smoked or not, they had to keep him company.

Li Jing'an chuckled and lit cigarettes for the two of them, instantly easing the atmosphere in the room. He turned back to the sofa and suddenly asked, "By the way, Ye Ze, has your female subordinate arrived yet?"

"Ah? Minister, she's here. Didn't you see her just now? She's outside." Nozawa hadn't expected Li Jing'an to turn the topic to Yoko, so he could only answer honestly.

Upon hearing Li Jing'an and Nozawa's conversation, Furukawa, after receiving a translator, chuckled and said, "Minister, you may not know, but Furukawa and Yoko are engaged. They'll be officially husband and wife soon."

"Oh? Really? Congratulations!" Li Jing'an smiled and congratulated Nozawa.

Nozawa lowered his head shyly: "Thank you, thank you president, thank you department head."

Li Jing'an then pressed for more details, wanting to know when the two of them had gotten together. Upon learning that it was during his business trip to Japan, Li Jing'an was taken aback, looked at Nozawa, and thought to himself: Wow, this kid has quite the appetite, he's got something there.

"Haha, then Nozawa, you and that Yoko should thank me, right?" Li Jing'an then said with a smile.

Nozawa quickly stood up from the sofa and bowed in gratitude, but Li Jing'an waved his hand to stop him: "Haha, no need, no need. Go and call Yoko up here, I have to celebrate for you guys."

Not long after, Nozawa led Yoko into the room.

Looking at Yoko bowing to him, Li Jing'an felt as if a day apart had been an eternity. His status had changed; from an ordinary female employee to someone else's fiancée, and his feelings had instantly transformed.

He congratulated Yoko again, and seeing the engagement ring on her finger, Li Jing'an's smile widened. He gave the couple a meaningful look, his gaze lingering on Yoko for a moment, before suddenly calling out, "Old Hu! Old Hu!"

Old Hu immediately opened the door: "Minister, what are your orders?"

"Well, it's like this. They're suppliers from Japan. I heard they've come all this way, so we can't neglect them. Go and make the arrangements. Arrange rooms for them according to the standards set by the liaison office, and let them stay."

President Furukawa was flattered and quickly bowed again. Li Jing'an accepted it all with a smile.

Just as they were following Lao Hu, Li Jing'an suddenly spoke up: "Yangzi, stay here, let's catch up."

President Furukawa was taken aback upon hearing this, but his face immediately broke into an even more obsequious smile as he nodded and bowed repeatedly, seemingly overwhelmed with gratitude for Li Jing'an's "care." He gently patted Nozawa's shoulder and whispered a few words of advice in Japanese.

Although a moment of stiffness flashed across Nozawa's face, he quickly regained his respect, bowed deeply, and followed President Furukawa out of the room, closing the door behind him.

With a soft click of the door, the small living room fell silent instantly, save for the faint sound of the television. Li Jing'an's smile remained.

He slowly flicked off his cigarette ash, his gaze falling on Yoko, and said gently, "Come on, do it."