"I've never seen you so angry before," he said.
"Why? Does it not match my image?" Li Mengqing was back to being her shy self. She was a completely different person from a while ago.
"No, no." He chuckled. "You look cute. Even if you hadn't yelled at her, I would have. You did the right thing."
"Hahaha, then I guess I have vented anger from the both of us."
Li Mengqing picked up a piece of beef and nibbled at it. "She has always been like this from a young age. We lived in the same government compound. She always used to fight with me for everything. She would cry if I didn't give in. She is so annoying."
Cheng Xu nodded, expressing his empathy. "I agree. I find people like her annoying too. You can't scold them or hit them. They just start crying."
"Yes," she said. "When I called you on the phone, she heard me. She insisted on coming here."
Both of their chopsticks reached out for the same piece of meat, but they retreated at the same time. Cheng Xu's chopsticks reached out, picked up the piece of meat and placed it onto Li Mengqing's bowl.
"You should eat more meat to grow strong."
Li Mengqing pouted. "Do you know how old I am? I have got enough meat on my body."
The dishes were meant for three people. So, the two of them had more than enough. They were already full.
"Little orange?"
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"You didn't have to put so much effort in getting me a gift. It must be very expensive. You are still a student, so you have to be more frugal. Do you understand?"
"I did put an effort, but you don't need to worry about me spending too much money. Now people call me Mr. Cheng."
"Hahaha. Okay, Mr. Cheng. Remember to support me when you have money in the future."
He did not know why, but Li Mengqing's joking tone made his heart skip a beat. He then mumbled and stammered and did not know what to say.
"Why is your face so red? Are you worried that you can't afford to support me? It's okay! I will have my own money, too."
Cheng Xu smiled. "No way. I will raise more money for us to spend."
"You stinky Cheng! You're such a playboy! Let's see if I can hammer you to death."
...
After having the meal with Li Mengqing, he realized that summer vacation was over.
Cheng Xu studied at a university in the downtown area of Yixia City. Xiakou University was well-known in Yixia City, but not many people knew about it outside of the city.
Before school, there was one last thing to settle: the delivery of the gold.
However, there were some changes in Cheng Xu's plan to visit Mr. Wang.
"Mr. Cheng, I've really caused you an unexpected disaster this time." Wang Dahai apologized profusely the moment they met.
"Oh? What is it Mr. Wang?" Cheng Xu asked, feigning confusion.
"I can't get away from this." He led Cheng Xu into his office. This time, he did not ask Xiao Hu to pour him a glass of water. He personally made Cheng Xu a cup of top-quality Maojian tea.
"I've almost figured out the matter on my side. The quality of the goods you handed over was good, and I didn't think too much about it. The materials I gave were a lot, too." Wang Dahai sighed.
"So, is this because I did too much?" Cheng Xu smiled.
"No, that's not it. It's just that I didn't explain it clearly to them when I was in charge. They hated me for that and did… such a thing." Wang Dahai looked at Cheng Xu. "I know you are a powerful man, Mr. Cheng. Their lair was raided today. The Environmental Conservation Bureau found them very easily. I think that was your doing, Mr. Cheng."
Cheng Xu calmly took a sip of tea and did not say anything. They had been found because of the ID cards. Cheng Xu was, after all, only a scrap collector. What power would he have in this country?
"Their workshop was raided. Of course, they deserved it. But I still hope that Mr. Cheng can show mercy."
"I can't say I am very magnanimous. But if they don't cause me trouble, I have no reason to care about them, too."
"Of course. They told me about it, and I have made it clear. I believe they won't dare cause you trouble ever again."
Cheng Xu had not expected them to think so much about this, but it was a pleasant surprise that they had solved the problem.
In a small country like this, if anyone dared to offend someone in power, the result would be disastrous.
What Cheng Xu did not know was that the Mercedes-Benz C63 he had parked in the courtyard had also helped him a lot.
"Mr. Wang, I came here today to talk to you about something else."
"Of course, Mr. Cheng. Please go on."
"University resumes in two days, so it might not be easy to finish the gold refining here."
Wang Dahai understood what Cheng Xu meant. "If I remember correctly, you study in Xiakou University, right? Do you mean to say we can refine gold there?"
Cheng Xu gave him a confident smile. He did not want to give up on his income just yet. After all, it would be difficult for him to find other sources of income in a short period of time when he went back to his studies.
The university was not far from here. A distance of ten kilometers was really nothing.
"Of course. In fact, there's a professional laboratory there, so it might be more convenient to refine gold in the lab."
Wang Dahai was even more certain that Cheng Xu must have some deep, hidden background that no one knew about. After all, how would an ordinary student dare to use the laboratory for such a thing? It was as though he was working for someone else.
"Isn't that a coincidence, Mr. Cheng? It just so happens that my sister lives in the city, and she's also in the precious metal business, which is bigger than mine."
Wang Dahai was not really worried about his materials not being refined without Cheng Xu. In fact, if they were arrested, they would only have to seal up a batch of equipment and pay a large fine. Dongshan mountain would rise again immediately.
Even if they quit, if they had a source of gilded material, they would not have to worry about finding alchemists.
"Mr. Wang, are you saying you want to introduce me to your sister?" Cheng Xu did not know why but it sounded strange to him.
"Exactly. This way, we can save time instead of going back and forth all the time, right?"
Wang Dahai was not trying to be kind by introducing a new business to Cheng Xu. He was actually trying to help his sister.
His sister had helped him a lot since he was a child. She had helped him in his adulthood, too. It was her who had supported him and helped him to establish a firm foothold in the country.
He knew his sister's business was going very well, but they were in need of alchemy talents like Cheng Xu.
The monitoring of the environment in the city was not the same as it was here, so it was really difficult to find reliable and stable alchemy professionals.
Wang Dahai speculated. The alchemy method used by Cheng Xu seemed to be completely different from the mainstream one. Coupled with his relationship with Cheng Xu, there was almost no need to worry about any external problems.