ng quietly in mid-air. After completing their business, Tang Wu—who had no further connection with Su Cen—walked out with him. She turned around to look at the school's exterior and a rare sense of re...Chapter 51: A Ray of Hope

The family celebration dinner for Su Can's excellent mid-term grades was held at his eldest uncle, Zeng Quanming's house. Unexpectedly, Zeng Na avoided looking at Su Can, which was unlike her usual behavior. Throughout the meal, she did not see any sign that Su Can would bring up the matter of boys pursuing her at school as she had anticipated.

During the dinner, Zeng Na occasionally glanced at this brother sitting in front of her and suddenly felt a sense of unfamiliarity towards him. This feeling came out of nowhere, but when recalling how it started, it was several months ago. Within these few months, everyone in the family had come to accept Su Can's sudden rise from being one of the worst students in his class to among the top ten. Opening their store due to Su Ke and Su Licheng prevented Zeng Quanming from suffering a significant loss in the stock market, saving them millions. All these astonishing changes occurred within such a short period.

Zeng Quanming suddenly asked, "How is Zeng Na at school Is she dating anyone"

Zeng Na looked nervously towards Su Can with her lips pursed. She did not expect her father to turn to Su Can for confirmation of her recent situation.

Su Can shook his head and replied, "No, their class is very strict. I rarely see Big Sister during breaks; she's usually in the classroom working on problems."

Zeng Quanming nodded, seemingly quite satisfied. As the highest-ranking member of the family and currently serving as the Construction Bureau Director, he was also the most authoritative figure among them. His niece feared him greatly.

Zeng Na glanced at Su Can and found that his changes in recent times were significant. In the past, she used to irritate him by giving him a hard time or bullying him during meals, which often drew her brother's resentment.

Previously, if there had been boys pursuing her at school, Su Can would have seized upon this as an opportunity to nag relentlessly until she confessed. She often reported stories about Su Ke and herself teasing Su Can for liking girls, which led him to receive reprimands from their father. Hence, their relationship was somewhat strained.

However, now hearing the term "Big Sister" come out of Su Can's mouth, a word that had such warmth, she felt slightly startled. There was no nausea or goosebumps from it; instead, she sensed something she had been consciously avoiding opening up to her heart for a long time seemed to have its doors and windows unlocked, revealing some brightness.

When it came to the issue of his father being appointed as the deputy director of the engineering division, Uncle Da showed some disdain. "What good is your company It’s only now that you’re sitting in this position. Where were all these opportunities before Look at what Zhao Chengrong has done to the place; I can see how he’s going to clean up this mess! I won’t approve any projects for you, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t!"

Zeng Quanming mentioned the Fourth Engineering Division of Xia Hai with some frustration. He still held onto that arrogance common among intellectuals from his generation. Since he had come out of this engineering division and entered the Construction Bureau, it was hard to say how much sentiment he had left for this company; perhaps there were mixed feelings.

Firstly, this place held many memories of his youth when he was working hard. Secondly, here is where he lost a lot of his youth, and now that some people have messed up the company more than ever before, his emotions towards it are not gratitude but rather a strange resentment.

Zeng Quanming wasn’t an obstinate person; if Su Licheng were to take on this role as deputy director of Xia Hai’s Fourth Engineering Division, he would facilitate some matters. However, since the construction company is currently under criticism from people, with many eyes fixed upon it, every decision needs careful consideration. Moreover, Zeng Quanming isn’t as secure in his position as Construction Bureau Director as one might think; there are quite a few who have their eyes on this post. After the provincial authorities’ recognition of him has cooled down, carrying out work becomes very difficult, such as City Secretary Wang Jinrong having some reservations about him and considering him part of Hong Xiaotian’s faction.

Following several rounds of attracting investment and urban planning reform, Hong Xiaotian, who had been unusually low-key in the past, began to make moves. This caught the eye of the city Party secretary Liu Lan, who likely sensed the stirrings beneath her position and thought that Hong Xiaotian couldn’t hold back any longer; he was preparing to shake things up in this area. Therefore, Liu Lan believed she should also be moved, so several personnel adjustments proposed by Hong Xiaotian were put on hold. The Construction Bureau headed by Zeng Quanming felt the pressure as well. Projects related to Hong Xiaotian’s performance and municipal affairs faced varying degrees of restrictions.

If at this moment Zeng Quanming intervened in the Fourth Engineering Division, Liu Lan and Wang Jinrong could use this as an entry point if they wanted to maneuver something.

Zeng Quanming sighed. Su Licheng, who understood his father’s predicament, remained silent. When he got home, Zeng Ke comforted Su Licheng by saying, "It doesn’t matter; I can talk to my brother about it. He’s not an unreasonable person; if the engineering division is in trouble, even helping you secure a loan could allow you to get through this difficult period..."

Su Licheng waved his hand and said, "It’s not that simple. The problem with the engineering division isn’t about money. Director Tong managed to procure some funding from above during her recent visit, but the crux of the matter is credibility. Now, when people talk about our company, they all sigh..."

Hearing these matters, Su Cen didn’t say much. In the evening, as he lay in bed and gazed at the starry sky through his window, he pondered for a long time before falling into a sleepy state.

On Friday afternoon, after the first two classes, Su Can skipped his PE class and left school early with his backpack. As he passed by a small playground, Ma Xiaoshi and others shouted to Su Can, "Why not play some ball before heading home There's no rush!"

Su Can shook his head and said, "I have something to take care of; I'll leave now."

As Su Can’s figure grew smaller under the gaze of the crowd in the playground, Du Ting asked, "Is there really something going on at Su Can's house"

This question was clearly for Tang Wu next to her. Recently, Su Can seemed distracted during class and occasionally absent-minded when walking home with them after school. Today was no exception. Ma Xiaoshi and Xue Yi Yang were close to Su Can’s circle; from what Xue Yi Yang had let slip, many classmates had pieced together that Su Can's father recently became the vice president of a construction company, but this company, which used to be famous, was now on the brink of bankruptcy with major issues.

Xue Yi Yang also knew roughly what was going on from conversations between his parents; however, he did not mention the harsh criticisms directed at Su Licheng within the workplace, nor had he told Su Can about it.

"Ah What should we do then Could something bad have happened to the Su family" Many soft-hearted girls were concerned; Chen Lingshan felt uneasy as well.

Tang Wu glanced at Su Can's departing figure, her eyelashes fluttering. She fidgeted with her hands and was also worried.

"Construction Engineering Company Branch Four Ha ha, I'm not too familiar with that company either, but their former general manager is now working under my dad in materials management; it doesn’t seem like a great place!" Li Ai, among Zhang Xi’s group, wasn't deliberately belittling Su Can. In fact, they had been gradually leaning towards Xue Yi Yang lately and trying to build a rapport with Su Can, who challenged their usual views of him. Upon hearing such news, they decided to chime in, still maintaining their somewhat "tense" approach, though it wasn't the wisest choice.

Xue Yi Yang had also learned about his company’s recent developments from his parents; as a child with both parents working at the same company, he first-hand realized that life was not as simple as he imagined...

Su Can quietly walked down a side street and onto the main road. He then took a car to the Kerry Hotel on the outskirts of the city.

The entrance was already bustling, with a business attraction and investment conference organized by the municipal government going smoothly.

In the hall, there were over thirty tables filled with drinks. He found Zeng Quanming, Su Licheng, and Tong Jianjun seated at a table near the side.

Tong Jianjun was quite amiable towards Zeng Quanming, and he felt pleasantly surprised by his relationship with Su Licheng. This period of time had been somewhat hectic for him, but he could see that Zeng Quanming also had some difficulties. With a cup of alcohol in hand, he gave a bitter smile before not complaining further.

At this business attraction conference, Su Cang saw the city party secretary Liu Lan whom he had met at the Bayi Victory Hotel. He guessed that his son Liu Yiran was currently a student in the third year of junior high school in No. 1 Middle School and thus wasn’t here.

With the end of the year approaching, the municipal government’s business attraction efforts were quite successful, hence there were heads from various departments present at this conference. Several members of the city party committee also showed up.

"This kid insists on coming along, ah!" Su Licheng ruffled Su Cang's head.

Tong Jianjun said with an "Oh," "Doesn’t Su Cang like to attend adult gatherings"

Zeng Quanming, however, liked the precocious Su Cang. He was quite pleased talking about this nephew of his, saying, “It’s good for him to come and see more of the world."

Su Cang knew that his father's construction company currently had a very poor situation in the city, with its only hope being external development. Many people from other counties and cities were present at this business attraction conference as well. Since things were still chaotic in Xihaishan City, it would be better to break through this barrier first and seek opportunities externally, which could provide some hope.

Su Cang knew that even though he had gained some say within the family with his parents and maternal uncle, his suggestions would still receive attention. However, compared to major decisions, these were relatively minor. Although the influence of his involvement was slight, it was better than doing nothing at all.at in the future, their paths would be closely linked with Wang Weiwei's, forming a vast network."Stop!" When Wang Haoran suddenly intervened between the two parties engaged in combat and forcefully s...