Chapter 744
An Invitation from an Old Classmate
Mr. Ji looked at Yan Shouyi and nodded, deeply moved.
Xu Bo'an was quite pleased to see that Mr. Ji was so polite.
Now that the big misunderstanding has been completely cleared up, Yan Shouyi, Suo Bazong, and Mr. Ji are no longer as tense as before. Instead, they feel a sense of closeness and shared ideals among themselves.
Now that Xu Bo'an had learned that the deaths of Chen Shishi and Yan Xiaojiu's parents were inextricably linked to the Youying Poison Sect, and that Yan Xiaojiu was currently with Yan Shouyi, Xu Bo'an instructed Yan Shouyi: "Yan Shouyi, go and call Yan Xiaojiu here. I have some instructions for him!"
"Yes!" Upon hearing the Mountain God's instructions, Yan Shouyi immediately ordered his guards to summon Yan Xiaojiu.
Upon hearing that it was the Mountain God Grandpa looking for him, Yan Xiaojiu naturally took it to heart and soon arrived after running all the way.
Upon seeing Yan Xiaojiu approach, before Yan Xiaojiu could even kneel before him, Xu Bo'an spoke up, "Yan Xiaojiu, I summoned you here because I have discovered some information related to the cause of your parents' deaths!"
Upon hearing the words of the Mountain God, Yan Xiaojiu's eyes lit up instantly, and he anxiously asked, "May I ask the Mountain God where those bastards are now? I must kill them with my own hands to avenge my parents and let them rest in peace in the afterlife!"
Seeing Yan Xiaojiu's agitated reaction, Xu Bo'an first calmly advised him, "Yan Xiaojiu, don't be anxious. The matter has only just begun to unfold. Your parents were probably harmed by the Youying Poison Sect. They are extremely secretive, and finding their whereabouts will depend on your abilities!"
Yan Xiaojiu said, "Thank you for your guidance, Grandpa Mountain God. I will do everything in my power to avenge the murder of my parents. Now that we have a direction, I will do everything in my power to find those bastards!"
Xu Bo'an then instructed Mr. Ji, "Mr. Ji, I need you to cooperate with Yan Xiaojiu to find out the whereabouts of the Shadow Spider Poison Sect. Notify him as soon as you have any news!"
Upon hearing this, Yan Shouyi, who was standing to the side, immediately said, "Grandpa Mountain God, count me in too. I have heard of the Shadow Poison Cult before. I have heard that they are extremely cruel and vicious, and often harm the loyal and good. If they are left alive, they will only cause trouble sooner or later. I am willing to use the full strength of the army to annihilate them in one fell swoop!"
Xu Bo'an, as the mountain god grandfather of the bonsai world, although he governs a region, must abide by the principle of "going with the flow". When facing key matters in the bonsai world, he only needs to offer guidance and give them a general direction, but he cannot control the bonsai to directly defy fate.
Just as spring buds must endure frost and snow before they can sprout, and autumn fruits must wait until midsummer to be sweet, Xu Bo'an deeply understands that the cycle of the land has its own destiny, and even with extraordinary abilities, one cannot forcibly reverse the laws of nature.
Forcibly reversing the laws of nature can only provide temporary relief. Guiding is wiser than doing things for them. In the long run, true protection means cultivating their self-reliance so that they can independently overcome difficulties and thrive in the face of adversity.
Therefore, Xu Bo'an left this matter at that; the rest was up to fate.
Xu Bo'an then said to Yan Shouyi, "Yan Shouyi, the matter concerning the Shadow Poison Cult is of great importance, and we must be extremely careful! I have some antidotes here; take them for self-defense. That's all the advice I can give you. You can decide what to do next!"
After Xu Bo'an finished speaking, he placed some incense ash on the incense table in front of the mountain god and Buddha statue.
Yan Shouyi was used to the Mountain God's actions and was not surprised when he saw them. However, Suo Bazong and Mr. Ji were deeply shocked when they saw the Mountain God do this for the first time.
The Mountain God was omnipotent, which instilled in them both fear and reverence, and strengthened their resolve to follow in his footsteps.
Yan Shouyi said, "Shouyi understands! Thank you, Grandpa Mountain God!"
Xu Bo'an said, "Alright, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now!"
Yan Shouyi and the others knelt on the ground and said in unison, "Respectfully bidding farewell to the Mountain God!"
After a while, when they no longer heard the voice of the Mountain God, they knew that the Mountain God had left. Yan Shouyi and the others then got up, took down the antidote given by the Mountain God from the incense table, and after keeping it safe, they discussed what to do next.
It was almost noon when Xu Bo'an left the bonsai world, which was lunchtime.
Xu Bo'an was just thinking of finding a small restaurant to grab a quick bite when his phone suddenly rang.
Xu Bo'an glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was a senior classmate from his graduate school days. He immediately frowned slightly.
When Xu Bo'an was pursuing his master's degree, he got along quite well with this senior.
However, after they started working, this senior colleague and Xu Bo'an both worked at Dongjiang No. 2 Construction Company. At first, they had a close relationship and their relationship continued to warm up. But later, when it came to competing for a position, this senior colleague actually used underhanded methods to cheat Xu Bo'an.
At the time, there was a skills competition. Xu Bo'an's technical team and this senior's technical team were competing at the same time. Whoever won the competition would have a significant advantage in the subsequent job competition.
Unexpectedly, this senior brother had the audacity to secretly tamper with the materials used in Xu Bo'an's competition by adding a lot of fly ash to the cement!
Anyone who has worked on a construction site knows that fly ash and cement are very difficult to distinguish without careful observation.
It is especially difficult to distinguish when the two ingredients are mixed together.
Therefore, Xu Bo'an and his team, whose materials had problems, naturally suffered a regrettable defeat in the competition.
Fortunately, one of the invited judges was a professional testing engineer who immediately noticed that there was a problem with the concrete mix proportions used by Xu Bo'an and his team.
Further investigation revealed that the cement used by Xu Bo'an and his team had been tampered with. Further investigation revealed that the culprit was actually Xu Bo'an's senior brother.
Even Xu Bo'an found the result hard to believe. Although he knew that some people were afraid that their brothers would suffer, they were also afraid that their brothers would drive a Land Rover, Xu Bo'an still found it hard to imagine that they would actively sabotage their brothers.
After his misconduct was exposed, this senior colleague felt ashamed to stay at Dongjiang No. 2 Construction Company, so he switched to another company.
The two had no contact after that, but for some reason, he received a call from this person today.
After thinking for a moment, Xu Bo'an answered the phone.
He is a kind-hearted person who tends to think about things from the perspective of what he subconsciously believes to be the best side. What if the other party is calling to apologize for what happened back then, and has an unavoidable excuse or hardship?
He had been wanting a reasonable explanation, so Xu Bo'an answered the phone.
But to Xu Bo'an's surprise, as soon as the call connected, before he could even say hello, the other party's familiar voice came through the receiver.
"Hey, Lao Xu! What's going on? Why aren't you here yet!"
The familiarity in the other person's tone took Xu Bo'an by surprise. Why was the other person acting like nothing had happened, as if the events of that year had never occurred?
Xu Bo'an was taken aback upon hearing this, and subconsciously took the phone off his ear again to look at the words and phone number on the caller ID screen.
No problem, it's the phone number of my senior from my graduate school days.
But his tone made me feel like I'd traveled back in time. Could it be that I remembered wrong, and that disgusting thing hadn't happened?
No, no, I'm still young, and my memory is excellent. How could I possibly be wrong?
Xu Bo'an thought for a moment, then ignored the other person's words and pretended to be confused, saying, "Hello? Hello! Can you hear me? Hello! Is the signal bad? Can you hear me?"
The person on the other end of the phone said rather helplessly, "I can hear you, Lao Xu, it's me, Chen Qinzhi! My signal is fine, is your signal bad? Can you hear me clearly?"
Xu Bo'an then responded normally, "Oh! I heard you clearly, it's okay now. Old Chen, what's up? What did you say just now?"
Chen Qinzhi then continued, "I'm asking where you are. All our fellow disciples have arrived, why aren't you here yet? You haven't forgotten about my son's first birthday, have you?"
Xu Bo'an was taken aback; his son was turning one year old!
what's the situation?
He's not your own son, so why are you talking about forgetting him?
The main problem is that I had no idea about this at all, and the other party didn't tell me either, so how could I possibly know?
Xu Bo'an frowned and said, "A first birthday? When did you tell me that? I don't remember at all!"
Chen Qinzhi said nonchalantly, "Oh dear! I remember saying that, could you have forgotten? That's possible, I've been making so many phone calls these past few days that I'm dizzy. I might have really been too busy to remember. But luckily it's not too late! We're at the Dongjiang Hotel, hurry up and come over, all of us are here, and Boss Zhao will be here soon."
Boss Zhao was actually the professor that Xu Bo'an and his classmates studied under during their graduate studies. Calling someone "boss" is just a way to elevate their status, so many people call their mentors or professors that.
Xu Bo'an originally didn't want to go, but he remembered that when he got married, Chen Qinzhi, who had a good relationship with him, had given him a gift of 500 yuan. He felt he had to return that gift, since Xu Bo'an was a man of principle.
Thinking of this, Xu Bo'an agreed and said, "Alright, I'll set off as soon as possible. It should only take twenty or thirty minutes."
Chen Qinzhi said with a smile, "That's great. Mr. Zhao will probably need about twenty minutes, and my banquet will start around the same time. I'll be waiting here for my old classmate to arrive."
Hearing Chen Qinzhi's cheerful tone on the phone, Xu Bo'an didn't say anything more. He simply replied with a few more words before hanging up.
Since he was going to accept the money from the banquet, Xu Bo'an specially found a red envelope and put in 1,000 yuan, which was a very thoughtful gesture.
After speeding along the city expressway, Xu Bo'an arrived at the Dongjiang Hotel in just over twenty minutes.
After parking the car, Xu Bo'an walked quickly towards the hotel entrance.
As soon as I got closer, I saw Chen Qinzhi standing at the hotel entrance, looking around expectantly.
Was it waiting for him? As this thought flashed through Xu Bo'an's mind, he sighed softly.
The fact that they showed such respect shows their good intentions; what happened back then is in the past.
Xu Bo'an thought the other party was waiting for him, so he left in a hurry. However, before Xu Bo'an could give the other party a chance, he heard Chen Qinzhi say in a somewhat complaining tone, "Hey old classmate, why are you so late!"
Even though she had clearly forgotten to make an appointment in advance, the way she said it made it seem like she was in the wrong.
Xu Bo'an bowed slightly and said, "There was some traffic on the way, so I was a little late."
Xu Bo'an thought he was saving face for the other party, but he didn't expect that the other party would not give him any face at all.
Chen Qinzhi pointed impatiently into the hotel and said casually, "Fine, you go in and find our fellow disciples. I'll wait for the guests outside."
Xu Bo'an then realized that the other person wasn't waiting for him there on purpose, but rather for someone more important.
After Xu Bo'an went inside, he quickly spotted some of his former classmates.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Xu Bo'an had just sat down when the person next to him picked up a bottle of wine and poured wine into the glass in front of him. Then, someone even egged Xu Bo'an on because he was late and needed to drink three glasses first!
Xu Bo'an was not intimidated. He immediately picked up a glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp amidst the laughter and merriment of his former classmates.
Amidst the admiring exclamations of his classmates, Xu Bo'an's eyes flickered slightly.
Something's not right. This liquor is packaged as Dongjiang aged for thirty years, but the taste is slightly different.
Dongjiang Chenniang is a local winery in Dongjiang City, which only has two series of wines: Dongjiang Chenniang 10-year, 20-year and 30-year.
The ten-year aged wine is the cheapest, at around 100 yuan a bottle, while the thirty-year aged wine is the most expensive, costing over 500 yuan a bottle.
When Xu Bo'an was a project manager on a construction site, he drank a lot of this wine, so he was very familiar with the taste of a normal Dongjiang aged wine for thirty years.
It is definitely not the so-called "Dongjiang Aged Wine Thirty Years" that I just drank.
Xu Bo'an was thinking that Chen Qinzhi had been deceived, and whether he should remind her.
While they were still struggling with their decision, they suddenly heard a slightly balding man slam his hand on the table next to them and say in a sharp voice, "Chen Qinzhi, what are you doing? Our brothers have come all this way to celebrate with you, and you're just messing with us with this stuff? Is this even drinkable? You're really stingy."
Immediately, someone tugged at the other person's clothes and said, "Alright, sit down first. What's wrong with this auspicious day?"
"What's wrong! This stuff isn't some 30-year-old Dongjiang aged liquor at all! Chen Qinzhi is trying to fool us with fake wine!" the man said indignantly. (End of Chapter)