At the end of the runway at West Flow Bay Airport, the top executives of the Jiang Tail Shipbuilding Group gathered to wele the Temasek pany iigation team.

  Qin Deg stood at the front in a navy blue wool coat with a gray scarf, followed by the group's general manager Yin Yohird-level managers, ay directors.

  The group had been tinuously losing money and was deeply i, surviving only by the slimmest margin. The lower-level workers were unaware of the situation, like frogs in warm water unaware of the impending crisis. These leaders uood that the group's survival depended on this order.

  The airport was windy, blowing the trs of the chief engineer ay general manager, Gao Ming, who was the you and most promising didate to succeed as chairman. He deliberately stood slightly apart from the others, looking down on those fat, old guys as if they were cy chis and tile dogs.

  Standing behind Gao Ming was deputy chief engineer Ma Xiaowei, even younger and more educated, but only five years youhan Gao Ming, destio forever remain his right-hand man.

  Watg the business jet slowly desding, Ma Xiaowei felt a surge of ambition. pared to the private jets of super-rich people, the Hummer, Range Rover, and ne of these nouveau riche shipyard workers were nothing. A real man should travel the world in a private jet.

  The pabilized, a red carpet was rolled out, and group leaders stepped forward to wele it. As the door opened and the stairs lowered, the first to emerge was a refined, well-fed middle-aged man - Ou Jinhua, a director of Temasek Holdings and head of the Singapore Ou Family sortium.

  Ou had a legendary background. The Ou family was inally a Shanghai aristocratic family, split into four branches after liberation, spreading to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. The st branch, the you son, remained on the mainnd. While the first three branches developed well in the previous decades, the mainnd braually surpassed them, growing rapidly in the past ten years, even acquiring the Singapore Ou family and reanizing a rge iional shipping group.

  Just based on this order, calling Ou Jinhua the "Ship King" would not be an exaggeration.

  Following Ou Jinhua was a tall girl wearing colorful down clothing and snow boots, not looking like a business professional. Some of the less sophisticated old men in the weling party were secretly speg whether she might be Ou's third child.

  Qin Deg was already shaking hands with Ou Jinhua and his ente. The girl remained detached, not participating in the handshake line, instead looking around with great i.

  After the wele ceremony, the shipyard prepared a otorcycles from the security department led, followed by Toyota Coasters and a long line of bck Audi sedans, with a graion rivaling national-level hospitality.

  VIP guests were arranged in the shipyard's internal, non-public guest house, with a separate rge garden, a standalone sea-view vil, and dedicated chefs and security. The shipyard had goo great lengths to ehh hospitality.

  Ou Jinhua ractical man who, after a brief rest, proposed visiting the ship produ workshop. Qin Deg and others apanied him fully. With dozens of people and propaganda department cameras, it was chaotio oiced Ah Li slipping out of the guest house.

  ...

  On Coal Port Road, there was a hardware shop mainly dealing with anti-theft doors and windows, also doing some welding work. The owner was a id-off welder from the factory. Yi Leng had eaten at Yu Mei Restaurant, approached him, offered a cigarette, and expined his purpose. The owner found him some angle irons and a roll of iro, and Yi Leng picked up the welding gun and started w himself.

  "You're quite skilled. Where did you learn this?" the owner asked, curious about his proficy.

  "I graduated from a teical school," Yi Leng said, reminisg about his time at the Iional Retions Academy. To maintain cover, trainees would learn some basic skills. He had chosen cooking and engineering csses, being profit in various teical skills including welding.

  Yi Leng was making a simple water heater. He bought a slightly better electric kettle from a nearby grocery store, repced the plug, made a water tank, and installed a shower head. With just a few dozen yuan, he could achieve hot water freedom.

  While welding, sparks flying, Yi Leng wore a protective mask and noticed a pair of slender legs in snow boots. He said, "Move aside, don't get hurt."

  The snow boots shifted slightly but didn't move away. When Yi Leng looked up, his heart uedly stirred, remi of his first sight of Xiang Mo.

  This girl didn't belong to the shipyard area. She was too sophisticated, not just in her clothing, but in her demeanor - the kind of quality only someone who had seen the world would possess.

  The girl we sungsses and smiled sweetly: "Master, I'm just watg. Am I disturbing you?"

  "Oh, wele to observe," Yi Leng tinued w. From the er of his eye, he saw the snow boots excitedly stomping.

  Ah Li reized this man - wasn't he the oing bread in the snow at the Jinjiang High-Speed Railway South Station pza? She was genuinely happy for him, finding a job he was good at, with life ahead of him.

  "What are you doing?" Ah Li asked. She liked iing with people, especially strangers in unfamiliar cities. The more she met and ied, the more she felt she had truly traveled the world.

  "Making a water heater," Yi Leng said. "This way, you have a hot shower for very little money."

  " I take a photo?" Ah Li pulled out the test iPhone 5.

  "Don't photograph my face," Yi Leng maintained his spy's instinct, always avoiding photographs.

  "Click click click" - Ah Li took a series of photos. She thought men w seriously were most attractive, worth capturing this moment.

  After photographing, she tinued expl. It was Ah Li's first time in Jiang Tail, but everythi strangely familiar. She wahe streets, taking photos, chatting with vegetable vendors, enjoying herself until noon wheomach started growling.

  Since her heart transpnt, Ah Li's tastes had ged. Raised in Shanghai audying in the US, she had always loved light foods. Now she craved spid sweet dishes, fortunately maintaining her figure.

  For lunch, she naturally chose a local small restaurant. Ah Li disliked restaurants with trally distributed semi-prepared dishes. To her, the best restaurants were family-run shops that had beeing for years, bustling with ers - only then could you taste the true local fvor.

  Coal Port Road had dozens of restaurants. Ah Li walked around and stopped at Yu Mei Restaurant's entrance because the man elding earlier was there.

  "Master, are you here to eat?" Ah Li asked.

  "I'm the chef here," Yi Leng said.

  "Great! Reend something for me," Ah Li ehe restaurant.

  It was early, and the restaurant was empty. Wu Yumei had just anized ingredients from the market when she saw a beautiful girl in a red and white down jacket walk in, chatting with Old Huang. She couldn't help feeling displeased. Old Huang might bring in business, but he was also attrag women.

  "What would you like, sister?" Wu Yumei pushed Huang Peihu into the back kit and handed over the menu, strongly reending the spicy stir-fried sesame chi.

  "I might not be able to finish that much," Ah Li said.

  Just then, Yi Bing brought Yi Nuannuan to help with business. Wu Yumei said, "Why don't you two share a dish? I'll split e portion into two. It'll be more eical than two small portions."

  Both being girls with small appetites, they were naturally happy to agree.

  Huang Peihu bustled i and personally brought out twe bowls of Dahongpao spicy chi. Xiao Hong followed with two ptes of fried ice cream - a sister bo dish.

  "Spicy dishes o be eaten with sweet dishes," Yi Leng lit a cigarette and said cheerfully. He loved cooking for his daughter.

  With few ers in the restaurant, Yi Nuannuan heard this and was moved. Her father had said something simir before, and they had eveed it.

  Ah Li tasted the Dahongpao, closing her eyes to experiehe rich yers - numbing, spicy, fragrant, sweet, and crisp. Though extremely spicy, she found herself increasingly addicted. Eating the fried ice cream afterward helped reduce the spiess, making her even more satisfied.

  At the able, Xiang Bing was asking about his niece's studies. Nuannuan pined about her plish grades, saying their English teacher wao transfer and wasn't itted to teag.

  Ah Li took the initiative to chat with the middle school girl.

  A LCD television hung on the wall, broadcasting the factory TV station's news about fire rescue heroes. Yin Bingsong's face appeared on s, pompously telling the camera this was the responsibility of an old factory worker.

  Xiang Bing smmed the table: "How shameless! It was clearly this uncle who rescued people! By the way, what's your name, uncle?"

  Yi Leng said: "Just call me Old Huang."

  Ah Li curiously asked about what happened. Xiang Bing vividly expined, with Xiao Hong adding dramatic details, saying the man on TV was a bad guy.

  "Wow, just like Spider-Man," Ah Li excimed.

  "Fet it, resg people isn't about seeking reition," Old Huang ughed. At that moment, Ah Li felt a light in his eyes.

  Suddenly, the door opened. Several uniformed personered, asking Wu Yumei to show her business lise. They were from the district health bureau, dug a routine iion.

  Wu Yumei cooperated. After cheg the lise without issues, they ehe kit and were disappoihey then demao see everyone's food hygieificates.

  This caused trouble. Huang Peihu had h certificate. The health bureau staff immediately pulled out a seal, closing the kit and fining them 2000 yuan. They asked the two tables of ers to leave, g the restaurant was unsanitary and needed rectification.

  Wu Yumei had nothing to say. It was indeed her fault.

  The two tables of ers had to leave before finishing. Wu Yumei packed their food, saw them out, and watched as the health bureau staff also sealed the front door.

  Ah Li saw the light disappear from Old Huang's eyes and inexplicably felt a pain in her heart.

  Wu Yumei said it was no problem, they could quickly get the certificates and reopen tomorrow.

  She didn't know this was arranged by Yin Bingsong. Today was the health bureau, tomorrow would be market supervision, the day after city ma - ensuring they couldn't tinue operating.

  Ah Li paid and took her packed food, tinuing to wander. She reached the middle school gate. It was Sunday, with only high school seniors taking supplementary csses. The campus was quiet. The gate guard said, "Are you a newly assigned college graduate? e baorrow. The principal is resting today."

  As if possessed, Ah Li asked, "Uncle, does our school eachers?"

  The gate guard said, "Of course. There's always a she. Capable teachers have been transferred, leaving behind those who tio harm the geion."

  Ah Li said, "I wonder if I'm qualified."

  The gate guard asked, "Whiiversity did you graduate from? Do you have a teag qualificatioificate?"

  Ah Li said, "I graduated from Prion Uy's parative Literature, but I don't have a teag certificate."

  The gate guard said, "Sounds like a fn uy. What's ylish level?"

  Ah Li sweated, "I don't seem to have a level."

  The gate guard said, "No way. First, get a domestic bachelor's degree through self-study, then pass the English level 6 exam, get a teag qualificatioificate, then e apply."

  "Okay, thank you," Ah Li said disappointedly, leaving the middle school and tinuing to wahis time she arrived at a residential area and saw the four faded characters "Shipyard New Vilge".

  The unity was rge, with six-story old buildings from the 1980s. Aspidistra grew i pnters, dirty snow piled on both sides. Domestic brand small cars and more electric bikes were parked, each handlebar decorated with colorful cotton wind guards.

  Ah Li had lived in a standaloern-style house in Shanghai's Jingan District since childhood and studied abroad as a teenager. She had never entered such a workers' vilge before. Yet now, she uedly felt a sense of home, a strong impulse to stay and apaain people.

  After sitting in the shipyard new vilge for a long time, Ah Li finally returned. Walki from the dipidated vilge, she saw a high-end unity pleted four years ago, looking much more pleasant. Called "Hawaii Style Coastal Residence", it had high-rise buildings, row houses, and the best location being a batch of standalone vils. The exterior wall was an iron fence, with mostly joiure vehicles parked in the spaces, mid-to-low-end Mercedes and BMWs everywhere.

  The shipyard guesthouse was built by the sea, with fifty years of history. Rumored to have hosted national leaders in the 1960s, it underwent renovation and expansion two years ago, adding a main building. It was one of the few five-star hotels in Jiang Tail, with a VIP building used only for internal reception, a separate courtyard with experienced old guards.

  So even without a pass, the guards let Ah Li in, reizing she wasn't a local.

  Returning to the sea-view vil, Ah Li hahe packed Dahongpao to the service staff, asking them to reheat it. Just as the leftover dish was warmed, Ou Jinhua returned after pleting his iigations, ing back to rest and ge before the evening ba.

  "Dad, try this," Ah Li fed a piece of chi into her father's mouth, making Ou Jinhua sweat from the spiess. Yet he still praised, "Mm, good. Very tasty. Where did you buy it?"

  Ah Li said, "At Yu Mei Restaurant. By the way, Dad, I want to do volueag here."

  "What?" Ou Jinhua didn't uand.

  "I want to work here for a while. Wasn't the pn to go to Africa for social practice? I think here is good too," Ah Li said.

  Ou Jinhua didn't dare object. His daughter had been delicate since childhood, fragile as a gss flower with a sensitive temperament. Since her heart transpnt, she seemed like a different person - braver, with ged tastes. Previously, she wouldn't even look at suhealthy, oily, and spicy food.

  However, his daughter had beore sunny and positive. As a father, he was gratified and supportive. He didn't seek great achievements for her, just wantio be happy. Whatever choice she made, he would fully support her.

  The inal pn was for Ah Li to be a volunteer in Kenya for six months, serve in a local medical institution, write a thesis, and then go to Harvard. But pns ge - volueag in Jiang Tail could work too. But does Jiang Tail have Hope Primary School?

  A service staff in the VIP building called the group's chief engineer's office, whispering for a while.

  Pg an inside line in the VIP building was arranged by Chief Engineer Gao Ming and personally implemented by Deputy Chief Engineer Ma Xiaowei. This staff member was responsible for colleg all information about the iigation team, with meticulous detail - what they ate, what they drank, any special preferences.

  Ma Xiaowei took the call and immediately reported to Gao Ming that the Ou family really enjoyed a chi dish from Yu Mei Restaurant, very spid bright red.

  Gao Ming immediately instructed: "I don't care how you do it, but this dish must appear at tonight's reception ba."

  [--------------------------------------------]

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