Xu Chunliang’s heart skipped a beat at the words, recalling the previous trip to Hu Hai. He couldn’t rule out this possibility.

Tang Mingmei said, "Actually, I later thought that even if he hadn’t left suddenly, we still wouldn’t have ended up together."

Xu Chunliang asked, "Have you met my mother?"

Tang Mingmei replied, "After he left, we lost contact. I didn’t even know he got married. The last time I saw him was at Yifu Residence; you were there that day too."

After so many years, Tang Mingmei had long since come to terms with that innocent affection from the past.

Xu Chunliang nodded; Tang Mingmei shouldn’t be lying to him, and her understanding of Xu Jiaxuan wasn’t too deep.

Tang Mingmei said, "Xiaoxu, there’s something I’m unsure if I should say or not."

Xu Chunliang laughed, "Go ahead, don’t worry about it."

Tang Mingmei said, "Are you holding a grudge about leaving Changxing?"

Xu Chunliang laughed, "Do you think I’m seeking revenge on Changxing?"

Tang Mingmei said, "Well, anyone in your situation would feel uncomfortable. Changxing isn’t peaceful nowadays. Back then, they invited private capital and set up a joint-stock hospital, painting a rosy picture of the future. But in reality, not much has changed. You saw tonight’s situation; outsiders always seem more convincing. The hired management like Wu Fajun is paid an annual salary, reportedly seventy thousand a year."

Xu Chunliang said, "As long as Huanyan is willing to pay, it has nothing to do with you, right?"

"How can it have nothing to do with us? Huanyan bought shares in Changxing, claiming to invest billions, but that money was all spent on building projects. Our hospital staff didn’t gain any benefits. The hospital keeps saying, old ways for the old, new ways for the new. To support the joint-stock hospital, they heavily recruited talent and brought in a bunch of experts with high salaries. But those so-called experts, many of them are just theorists. Recently, a newly recruited urology doctor couldn’t even perform a basic circumcision properly. Isn’t that ridiculous?"

Xu Chunliang didn’t find it funny. Having been in the hospital for a long time, he’s seen all sorts of characters. In the surgical department alone, there are many doctors who can’t operate.

A certain director in the orthopedic department is skilled at drinking, gambling, and womanizing, but not at surgery. Yet, he’s acquired a bunch of flashy titles. Uninformed patients who approach him still hand over red envelopes. During surgery, he’ll make a round in the operating room, then exit to say a few formulaic words to the patient’s family, and he still manages to get by with these antics for a lifetime.

The current batch of medical PhDs mostly have a better grasp of theory over practice. It’s an issue related to the current medical education system, not something that can be changed overnight.

Moreover, they aren’t completely without merit. At the very least, they can write articles. If the hospital wants to rise in the ranks and gain influence, research papers are indispensable. So a batch of medical experts who can only write has emerged, the kind Tang Mingmei refers to as mere theorists.

Xu Chunliang said, "Sister Tang, you should go back. I’ll walk the rest of the way myself."

Tang Mingmei still had some lingering fears about the security on Weishan Island. During her last work inspection visit, it was Xu Chunliang who helped her get justice after Xu Daqing was caught peeping on her while she was showering.

Wu Fajun had initially thought he could easily obtain the permit to resume work, but now encountered obstacles. Xu Chunliang’s words tonight hinted at hidden danger, indicating their proposed rectification measures were not accepted. Xu Chunliang had pointed out unequivocally that Wu Fajun was out of his depth.

After the banquet ended, Wu Fajun immediately called Pei Lin to inform her of the events that had transpired.

Pei Lin and Zhao Feiyang were in the midst of drafting a guest list for their upcoming wedding banquet. They intended to keep the event simple, but some formalities, like hosting family and friends, were unavoidable.

Pei Lin insisted they could forgo inviting colleagues from their workplace, but relatives and friends must be invited. At the very least, they needed to make it clear that Zhao Feiyang was marrying her properly. Without this formality, others might think they were merely cohabiting.

Considering it was Pei Lin’s first marriage, Zhao Feiyang agreed to compromise. They managed to whittle down the wedding guest list to around ten tables, and mostly didn’t invite hospital colleagues to prevent people from using the occasion to give gifts to Zhao Feiyang.

Pei Lin was in a good mood initially, but Wu Fajun’s call quickly ruined it.

"This Xu Chunliang is too much. We keep backing down, yet he keeps pressing harder."

Zhao Feiyang gently patted her delicate face, calming her. Lately, Pei Lin had been irritable, clearly restless. Zhao Feiyang believed it was a physiological response to pregnancy.

Pei Lin recounted the situation quickly, her emotions somewhat agitated.

Zhao Feiyang said, "That kid really isn’t one to mess with."

Pei Lin said, "How have we treated him poorly? Isn’t this just biting the hand that feeds him?"

Zhao Feiyang laughed, "Calm down, calm down; we already know what he’s like."

Pei Lin said, "He was fighting outside, causing such a huge fuss, affecting Huanyan’s reputation. If we don’t deal with him, how can public opinion be quickly quelled? His actions have already caused a significant impact on Huanyan. Did we hold him accountable? Did we demand compensation from him? If it were someone else, you would have dealt with it long ago. Isn’t it because of the mutual friendship that you’re being lenient with him?"

Zhao Feiyang felt a pang of guilt. Initially, he was also ready to issue a disciplinary decision to Xu Chunliang. However, the kid played the ’temporary transfer’ card, and Zhao Feiyang promptly retracted the punishment. If the disciplinary action were issued, their relationship might become even more strained.

Zhao Feiyang said, "He might have feelings about leaving Changxing."

Pei Lin said, "Feelings? Why should he have any feelings? He hasn’t suffered any substantial punishment. Does he really think we can’t manage him just because he went to Hu Shan Town? He’s only temporarily transferred, his position is still here with us, and he relies on us for his salary. Isn’t this eating our food and breaking our pot?"

Pei Lin kept saying ’us’, which made Zhao Feiyang a bit uncomfortable to hear. Changxing wasn’t their joint business; he had emphasized this point to Pei Lin multiple times, but Pei Lin’s sense of ownership grew stronger. Initially, she said she went to Huanyan Health as a firefighter, appearing quite reluctant.

Zhao Feiyang quickly realized that Pei Lin’s obsession with power exceeded his expectations. After becoming the general manager of Huanyan Health, she noticeably changed. Once Tang Jingwei nominated her to become a director of Jiayue Department Store, she never mentioned leaving soon again.

Zhao Feiyang also had to accept this reality. Although he knew Tang Jingwei’s motive for giving Pei Lin such benefits was to bind him more securely to the big ship of Huanyan, he had struggled before but ultimately couldn’t escape, avoiding Tang Jinglun but not Tang Jingwei.

Zhao Feiyang said, "I looked into the reason behind the incident. The situation at that time was that Secretary Gao’s daughter had a dispute with an outsider over a vehicle issue, and Xu Chunliang acted bravely for a just cause."

Pei Lin snorted and said, "Hero rescuing a beauty, this isn’t the first time he’s played this trick."

Zhao Feiyang looked at Pei Lin in surprise, not understanding why she was so emotional.

Pei Lin also seemed to realize she was overreacting, sighed softly, and said, "I’m not saying he was wrong, but that incident was caused by himself. We don’t want to deal with him either, but with pressure from above, what can we do?"

Zhao Feiyang was somewhat displeased with Pei Lin’s phrasing, but it was inconvenient to say, so he softly said, "As far as I know, the fight broke out that day because Wu Fajun was the first to rush up, which escalated the conflict."

Pei Lin said, "That’s not what I heard."

Zhao Feiyang said, "I thought about it afterward, Xu Chunliang took responsibility on this matter, he shouldered all the consequences alone and did not implicate Wu Fajun."

Pei Lin said, "Even if he suffered some injustice in that matter, he shouldn’t take it out on us, saying the person in charge of Huanyan Health didn’t show up? Who else could he be targeting if not me?"

Zhao Feiyang said, "What are you planning to do?"

Pei Lin said, "At worst, I’ll make a trip to Weishan Island."

Zhao Feiyang shook his head, looking at the list on the table, "He probably isn’t targeting you. Don’t worry about it, I’ll go talk to him."

Zhao Feiyang decided to make a personal trip to Weishan Island, intuition told him that a phone call wouldn’t solve the problem. He thought it through thoroughly and even contacted Gao Xinhua specially.

Gao Xinhua’s whole family went on a trip, originally planning to return on the fourth, but after hearing about the recent incidents, Gao Xinhua extended the trip. He had no interest in being Zhao Feiyang’s pawn, especially avoiding being used to gain favors from Xu Chunliang.

Ding Si’s construction site was suspended, but Xu Chunliang helped him start anew, with the Weishan Island Wine Culture Park officially commencing construction on the fifth day of the new year.

The first step in construction was to enclose the area and install surveillance.

Xu Chunliang specially brought Secretary Qin Zhengyang to cut the ribbon on-site. This wine culture sightseeing park was his first achievement in charge of investment promotion.

After the ribbon-cutting, Qin Zhengyang took a quick look around the dilapidated yard inside and left immediately. He didn’t believe that this sightseeing park had any practical significance.

After Qin Zhengyang left, Mo Han and Xu Chunliang went to check by the ancient cellar pool, where Pu Jian was crouched, gathering something.

Xu Chunliang said, "Brother Pu, have you found anything?"

Pu Jian said, "What could there be to find? If you want to find anything, you have to dig deep..." He straightened up and saw Mo Han, smiled, and said, "President Mo is here too."

Mo Han ignored him, thinking it was obvious. Today was the ribbon-cutting; how could she, as an investor, not come?

According to the agreement between her and Xu Chunliang, she wouldn’t interfere with what happens here after acquiring the place. Xu Chunliang had entrusted this place to Pu Jian.

Xu Chunliang told her there were dragon bones underneath, but Mo Han highly doubted the truth of his words. However, even if there were no dragon bones, there must be other artifacts. Anyway, wherever Pu Jian was, there was bound to be a scheme.

Asking for monthly ticket support.