Wang Cheng told Wang Ning’an everything over the phone. In big cities, underhanded competitive tactics like this were nothing unusual, but now that it had happened to his own family, Wang Ning’an would not tolerate it. He told Wang Cheng he would handle the matter, asked for the merchant’s name, then told them to wait for his call.
Wang Ning’an had some standing in the pharmaceutical industry, especially in Shanhai City, which had once been his home ground. He could not claim to know every medicinal-herb merchant there, but he knew at least eighty percent of them. Now that he had been transferred to headquarters in the capital and clearly had a bright future ahead of him, a minor matter like this only required a word from him before people would rush to help.
Wang Cheng had expected something to happen, but even he had not imagined his big brother would move so quickly. The very next morning, two people came to their door.
The man in front looked to be in his thirties. He had a small mustache and bright eyes, giving him an energetic appearance, and his manner was exceedingly polite. The younger man following him was his assistant. He wore large round glasses and looked vaguely dazed, making him seem rather unreliable.
“Hello. My name is Che Fan, and I’m a medicinal-herb merchant. Mr. Wang told me you have a batch of wild medicinal herbs you’re looking to sell. I’d like to take a look at them. Please forgive me if I’ve disturbed you,” the man said sincerely.
“The Mr. Wang you mean is my big brother, Wang Ning’an, right? He sent you here?” Wang Cheng wanted to confirm his identity first.
“Yes. Mr. Wang called me last night and asked whether I was interested in wild medicinal herbs. As everyone knows, many wild herbs are more effective than those grown under controlled conditions, so I was very interested. Mr. Wang gave me this address. If you’re willing to sell, please give me a chance.”
Che Fan knew even more about medicinal herbs than Papa Wang. After inspecting them, he immediately concluded that these herbs were more effective than ordinary ones and should therefore be priced roughly a third higher. He said he was willing to buy the entire batch.
With Wang Ning’an acting as the intermediary, Papa Wang and Mama Wang no longer worried that the man might be trying to cheat them. Che Fan was so straightforward that they stopped hesitating. They showed him all the herbs they had stored, then took him around North Mountain so he could see the conditions there. That very morning, they signed the contract.
With one problem settled, Wang Cheng felt much lighter. The next morning, when he went to the shop, he received an unexpected visitor, though he was not nervous.
“How did you find this place?” Wang Cheng poured Chu Yifeng a glass of water, privately grateful that Papa Wang and Mama Wang had not come over. If they saw him here, Wang Cheng would have no idea how to explain it. He certainly could not say his boss had made a special trip just to see him.
“I asked around.” Chu Yifeng sat in the armchair Papa Wang usually used. Since Wang Cheng would not go looking for him, he could only come over himself.
“Chengping isn’t huge, but it isn’t exactly tiny either, and you still managed to ask your way here.” Wang Cheng was impressed. The man had simply shown up without saying a word.
“Your family is pretty well known in Chengping.” Chu Yifeng gave him a faintly amused look. He still remembered asking for directions. He had barely said the words “Wang family” before the young woman he asked immediately wanted to know whether he meant the shop owned by that handsome guy named Wang Cheng. She had made several starry-eyed comments before finally pointing him in the right direction.
Wang Cheng immediately thought of all those neighborhood aunties who loved turning him into gossip. Even outside Guanjia Village, there was apparently no escaping them. “They’re just flattering me.”
“You seem to enjoy it.”
“Which eye of yours saw that?”
“You’re in a good mood today,” Chu Yifeng pointed out.
“I am in a good mood, but not because of that. My family solved a problem yesterday. An acquaintance of my dad’s tried to smear our medicinal herbs. Luckily my big brother was there. He found someone to help us settle it, and all the herbs piled up at home have now been sold. At least one of Dad’s worries is finally gone.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Chu Yifeng frowned.
“Isn’t that obvious? My big brother works for a pharmaceutical company. It’s much more natural for him to step in than for you to. If I asked you for help, I’d still have to explain you to my parents.” Wang Cheng certainly was not going to admit that asking Chu Yifeng had never crossed his mind in the first place.
A car horn sounded outside. In a busy commercial area it would not normally have stood out, but because it came from directly in front of the Wang Family Jam Shop, Wang Cheng instinctively looked over. He immediately recognized someone: Mr. Zheng, who had bought jam from him before. Zheng Jingen had called the previous night to say he would come collect the remaining jam, but Wang Cheng had assumed he would arrive in the afternoon. He had not expected him this early.
Zheng Jingen was wearing sunglasses. He took them off after stepping out of the passenger side, and his handsome face immediately drew covert glances from people passing by. He seemed long accustomed to such attention. The driver stayed inside the car. Zheng Jingen climbed the two steps into the Wang Family Jam Shop and was just about to speak when his eyes landed on Chu Yifeng and abruptly contracted.
Him?
“Mr. Zheng, you’re here early. The jam is in the back room. Sit for a while and I’ll bring it out. I’ll be done quickly.” As Wang Cheng passed Chu Yifeng, he even reminded him to wait there.
The small gesture did not escape Zheng Jingen. Seeing how naturally intimate they were, he frowned almost imperceptibly.
“I never expected to see Mr. Chu in a little country town like this. I’ve long heard of you. Are you here to buy jam too?”
Chu Yifeng rested one hand on the arm of the chair and looked back at him from his relaxed posture. “The dignified eldest young master of the Zheng family came all this way to a little place like this just to buy jam? Is there no jam anywhere else?”
“Of course there is, but none of it tastes as good as the Wang family’s. People like us have eaten every delicacy under the sun. Once in a while, it’s nice to have something simple and rustic. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Zheng Jingen was only a few years apart from Chu Yifeng in age and was another thoroughly seasoned smiling tiger. Naturally, he would not get angry over a remark like that. He simply could not quite determine why Chu Yifeng was here. He had investigated Wang Cheng, but since Wangjia Village no longer existed and the people of Guanjia Village knew less about the Wang family than Wangjia Village’s former residents had, he had not yet discovered that Wang Cheng had once worked at Huaying Real Estate.
When Wang Cheng came back out, the two men stopped talking.
Chu Yifeng naturally walked over to help him carry the jam, and Wang Cheng did not refuse. He had no idea the two men knew each other and even spoke quietly to Chu Yifeng while they worked. To Zheng Jingen, that looked even more unusual. The two were not merely acquainted. Their relationship was much closer than he had imagined. What he could not understand was how someone like Chu Yifeng had become so close to Wang Cheng.
By the time they finished loading all the jam, there was not even a bead of sweat on Wang Cheng’s forehead. He said to Zheng Jingen, “Mr. Zheng, count them if you’d like. There are forty-five sets in total, all loaded into your car.”
“No need. I trust you,” Zheng Jingen said.
Wang Cheng liked how straightforward he was. Zheng Jingen had even transferred the full payment before receiving all the jam, as though he were not worried Wang Cheng might go back on the deal. Being trusted always felt good. “If you don’t mind, Mr. Zheng, you can sit here for a while before leaving.”
“Then I’ll impose on you.” Zheng Jingen had been waiting for exactly that invitation.
Chu Yifeng glanced at him. Whatever the look meant, only the two of them probably understood.
“Wang Cheng, is he friends with Mr. Chu?”
Wang Cheng made a surprised sound. “Mr. Zheng, you know Boss Chu?”
“How could I not have heard of Mr. Chu? My family is also in the capital, and I’ve met Mr. Chu a few times,” Zheng Jingen said. There was nothing false in what he said. They both knew who the other was, but they had almost never interacted. His words did, however, subtly point out that Chu Yifeng’s identity was anything but ordinary, almost as if he wanted to warn Wang Cheng to be a little more careful when dealing with someone like him. What he did not know was that Wang Cheng already understood that Chu Yifeng’s background was even more complicated than he had once imagined.
“Well, you can at least count as acquaintances. Running into each other here is fate too.” Wang Cheng looked from one man to the other and smiled.
“It certainly is.”
Chu Yifeng’s expression remained indifferent, but Zheng Jingen knew he did not believe that explanation. He had never expected to fool Chu Yifeng anyway. In some ways, he and Chu Yifeng were the same kind of person, both deeply calculating and difficult to read. Still, as far as Zheng Jingen knew, Chu Yifeng had not yet learned the Zheng family’s secrets, so his presence here should not have anything to do with him.
Zheng Jingen could not stay long. He wanted to, but unlike Chu Yifeng, his relationship with Wang Cheng was only that of a shopkeeper and a customer. Before long, he said goodbye.
“How did you meet him?” Chu Yifeng watched the car leave, then turned to Wang Cheng, who was cleaning the table.
Without looking up, Wang Cheng said, “He came to buy jam a few days ago. Said someone he knew recommended our jam to him. Then he asked me to take him to the packaging factory so he could look at the production line. After that, he ordered more than a hundred sets. The reason there’s hardly anything left in the warehouse is him.”
“You believe that?”
Wang Cheng tied off the bag in the trash can and carried it outside. Someone came by with a cart every afternoon to collect the garbage. He went to the washroom to clean his hands before answering. “I half believed him at first. Now I don’t really care. Don’t you know him? A rich and powerful person can’t possibly be plotting to steal something from my family. Besides, I can tell he doesn’t mean me any harm. That’s enough.”
“You’re certainly broad-minded.” Chu Yifeng folded his arms and chuckled.
“Of course. Look who you’re talking about. Finding a boyfriend as broad-minded as me must be the good fortune you accumulated over three lifetimes. You’d better treat me well from now on. If I run away someday, it’ll be too late for regrets.” Taking a mile whenever he was given an inch was absolutely one of Wang Cheng’s greatest “virtues.”