434: Chapter 428: Things Remain the Same, But People Have Changed 434: Chapter 428: Things Remain the Same, But People Have Changed Capital City, West Mountain, within a certain courtyard.
After touring several countries in East Asia and concluding a visit that lasted nearly a month, Vice President Li and his wife, Ye Qingqing, had finally returned to their homeland and to their own home.
In front of others, the couple appeared to treat each other with great respect, but their manner of interaction at home seemed rather strange.
Inside the living room, on a large sofa, the two sitting together were oddly distant from each other, separated by two or three seats’ worth of space.
“It’s getting late, Brother Feng, I’m going to sleep first.
You should rest early too!”
Ye Qingqing, who had just taken a bath and washed away her fatigue, had merely exchanged a few idle words with Li Feng before she stood up.
After giving Li Feng a nod, she got up and walked away.
“Are you going to sleep in the west wing again?
After all these years of marriage, do you still refuse to sleep here?”
Watching Ye Qingqing’s retreating figure, Li Feng’s face was bitter as he sighed deeply and tentatively spoke, trying to retain her.
“I’m very sorry, Brother Feng!” After a slight hesitation, Ye Qingqing turned back and gave Li Feng an apologetic smile.
Just after a brief pause, she spoke again, “Before we got married, we had agreed upon certain terms.”
“Our marriage is merely a title; in public, I acknowledge myself as your wife, but in private, we lead separate lives and do not interfere with each other.”
“If it were not for this agreement, I would never have considered marrying you!”
“After all, we both know that you married me for the status of being the Ye Family’s son-in-law, in order to gain political resources and support.”
“And I agreed to marry you out of pressure and helplessness!”
“I know you have other women outside, even illegitimate children, but I have always pretended not to know about these things!”
“After all these years, we have become accustomed to this arrangement, isn’t it quite good?
Why must you hope for anything more?”
…
After this speech, Li Feng fell silent.
As he watched Ye Qingqing turn back and continue walking away, he finally spoke again, “After all these years, can you truly not forget that man?”
“It’s hard for a noble child to emerge from a humble family; I admit, without the support of the Ye Family, a person like me from a peasant family could never have come this far.”
“But undeniably, I do have the capability and courage.
Someone as outstanding as myself, having been with you for over a decade, do I still not compare to someone who has been missing for nearly thirty years in your heart?”
“Knowing my temperament, do you think I am content with this, that I will be convinced in my heart?”
Li Feng seemed somewhat resentful as he spoke these words through clenched teeth, his face clearly showing deep resentment.
“I’m very sorry, Brother Feng!” Expressing her apology once more, Ye Qingqing left the living room.
Her figure quickly disappeared beyond the gate.
Leaving only Li Feng behind, his expression changing and seething with frustration in the solitude of the living room.
…
Erguang Highway, Xiangnan Province section.
After buying that Mazda sports car from Nana for half a million, Chen Hai sped all the way, and after more than ten hours, he finally entered the territory of Xiangnan Province.
So-called fatigued driving was simply non-existent for him!
Even fasting, sleepless, and staying in the Dog Cave for twenty or thirty years, he remained spirited and energetic.
Driving for just a dozen hours was nothing; as long as the car didn’t break down, he would never feel a trace of fatigue.
It must be said, this sports car purchased from Nana really was of good quality.
Compared to the Jeep Cherokee he used to drive, this sports car was much easier to handle.
According to Nana, this was one of the best-selling sports cars globally; in Yanhuang Country, only five hundred were sold as a limited edition.
Sentiment was something Chen Hai didn’t understand.
However, driving this car did feel incredibly responsive and easy to handle; Nana’s comment about man and machine being in unity didn’t seem too exaggerated.
For these fifty thousand, he felt the purchase was well worth it!
Whether the transfer of fifty thousand from his account would attract the attention of the interested parties seemed unlikely.
After all, his bank account was not with the few firms called ‘vulnerable groups’ domestically, but with HSBC in Xiangjiang.
When he had opened the account, he had directly transferred one hundred million into it, becoming a high-level VIP customer of the bank with a dedicated account manager.
Over the years, with shareholder dividends pouring in, the total had accumulated to over thirty billion.
Compared to domestic banks, foreign banks like HSBC were more focused on the spirit of contract.
For super-clients like Chen Hai, HSBC might keep an internal watch, but it was unlikely that outsiders could monitor such an account all the time.
The car raced along the highway, and aside from the possibility of accumulating some speeding tickets, the journey was smooth.
By three o’clock in the afternoon, Chen Hai finally arrived in Liuyuan County.
Over those two or three decades, the once small county town seemed to have completely changed its appearance.
The old residential areas had all but disappeared, replaced by towering high-rises and large buildings.
Chen Hai’s family home in Wenchang Pavilion Community had vanished, replaced by a high-end residential area known as Eastern Pearl.
This residential area, with its first and second phases complete, still had the third phase under construction.
His family’s small shop, their house, naturally could no longer be found.
After roaming the area for a while without any findings, Chen Hai got into his sports car and headed straight to the winery.
When he had left for Japan, Peach Blossom Wine Industry should have been thriving.
He vividly remembered setting a modest goal for Sun Jinzhong, Qiu Dazhi, and a few others that year: to hit a total annual revenue of one billion.
But now, as he arrived at the original site of the winery based on his memory.
The once flourishing Peach Blossom Wine Industry had disappeared, and the whole area had transformed into Yujing Garden, a large comprehensive community that combined residential and leisure entertainment.
Getting out of his car and using buying cigarettes as a pretext, Chen Hai intentionally found a small shop and inquired with the owner.
It was then that he learned the once-popular Peach Blossom Wine Industry had gone bankrupt due to poor management twenty years ago.
The current liquor market was dominated by Moutai and Five Grain Liquid.
The renowned name of Peach Blossom Immortal Brew might still ring a bell for the older generation, but the younger folks might be completely unaware that such a famous liquor brand ever existed in the country.
After asking the shopkeeper to help him and offering a hefty commission, Chen Hai got a room at the nearby Yujing Garden Hotel, planning to stay there temporarily.
After some thought, Chen Hai decided to make a trip to Sun Jinzhong’s Yanbei Village.
Where could his parents have moved to?
His cousin Sun Jinzhong would definitely know!
Finding him would naturally reveal the current whereabouts of his parents.
To Chen Hai’s frustration, the formerly suburban Yanbei Village in the county had turned into an industrial park.
Electronics factories, shoe factories, packaging factories, concrete plants…
The number of factories established within the industrial park wasn’t small, but where had all the original residents gone?
For the moment, he truly didn’t know where to start looking!
What does it mean for seas to change into mulberry fields and for people to be all but ghosts?
Originally, Chen Hai had a shallow understanding of this, but now, he finally grasped what this feeling really was.
Driving for over ten hours, he hadn’t felt the slightest bit tired.
But now, having just returned to Liuyuan County and after only a few rounds, he felt a peculiar sense of physical and mental exhaustion.
Aside from Sun Jinzhong’s family, he had no other relatives in the county.
Should he continue to the towns below to look for other relatives to inquire about his parents’ whereabouts?
After some consideration, Chen Hai abandoned the idea.
“It’s getting dark soon.
I should head back to Yujing Garden Hotel and rest for a bit.”
“If I really can’t find my parents, I’ll have to resort to divination to seek out their whereabouts!”
Chen Hai muttered to himself after pondering for a while.
With his Divine Soul shattered and fully integrated into his Physical Body, his greatest strength now was his incredibly formidable body.
Even so, his skills in Geomancy and divination remained intact.
He hadn’t used divination to look into his parents’ current situation before because he feared divining an unfortunate outcome!
But now that he had arrived in Liuyuan County.
Since he couldn’t find his parents, it seemed reasonable to try using divination to locate them.
After parking his sports car in the parking area beneath Yujing Garden, Chen Hai browsed a nearby mobile phone shop.
He spent over ten thousand to buy the most expensive Huawei phone in the store.
Hesitating for a moment to close the deal, the shop owner used his own identity to obtain a SIM card and completed the real-name registration.
Obviously, the price of the phone might have been a bit higher, but Chen Hai certainly didn’t mind.
When he returned to the hotel room, it was already past seven o’clock in the evening.
Having left home and returned to Liuyuan County once again, he had a strange feeling as if centuries had passed.
Everything in this once familiar small city now felt somewhat alien to him.
In the country, having a mobile phone made many things much more convenient.
Although he had practiced Fasting, he still had desires for food.
The flavor of his hometown’s beef noodles was something he always missed.
After downloading Meituan and registering a new account with his phone number, he placed an order for beef noodles delivery.
After taking a shower and cooling off, he hadn’t finished a single cigarette when the doorbell in his room rang.
“Sir, good evening, your delivery!” Chen Hai took a few steps to the door and opened it.
The delivery guy, clad in a Yellow Robe, handed over the delivery box as soon as he saw Chen Hai.
He accepted the delivery, said thank you, and as he was about to close the door, he suddenly realized that the delivery guy in front of him looked somewhat familiar.