Chapter 356 - 63_5

Words : 1093 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

Chapter 356: Chapter 63_5There’s a project currently in the exploratory site selection phase, and he is going to join and learn, and Luo Tingrui also instructed him to take his junior brother along. When Li Zhiyuan first heard the term "junior brother", he was a bit unused to it, especially since Xue Liangliang even described him as Mr. Luo’s "final disciple". The boy knew this was a choice between two options: if he couldn’t get used to having a "master", then he would have to get used to the dull university life. Xue Liangliang exaggerated in jest: Look at you, you can’t even date in university. Li Zhiyuan retorted: Did you date while you were in university? Just like that, they walked and chatted, not intentionally looking for them, but coincidentally bumped into Tan Wenbin and Run Sheng, who were both very excited and happy. Xue Liangliang found a barbecue stall on the roadside, ordered three bottles of beer and one bottle of soy milk, and the four of them ate and chatted, learning about what Tan Wenbin and Run Sheng had been up to since the afternoon. In the afternoon, after leaving the hotel, they strolled around near Guanyin Bridge; Nantong also has an urban area, but its population is nowhere near as large as Mountain City, and not nearly as lively. When they were tired of strolling, it had gotten dark, they ate something at a roadside stall to fill their bellies, and asked the owner about fun places nearby. Following the owner’s suggestion, they came to a building, and from afar, they could hear the sound of pool balls colliding; Tan Wenbin then proposed teaching Run Sheng how to play pool. They entered the building, and saw the sign for the pool hall—"Midnight Collision." They started playing and noticed people frequently going up to the second floor of the pool hall, while they could hear singing from the staircase area. Driven by curiosity, they also went up to see. There was a ticket booth at the entrance, not expensive, after buying two tickets and entering, there were a lot of people inside. A large group of men and women were dancing on the dance floor, not scattered, but each closely hugging their dance partners and continuously squeezing into the crowd. When one song ended, the light would brighten for a moment, those who did not continue dancing came out, then the men would pay the women, the women would stand in the outer circle, and men would wander looking for and selecting a desirable dance partner. When the next song started, the lights went out again. Xue Liangliang asked them if they went down to dance, but both shook their heads. They were both too shy, just sat on chairs against the wall throughout the entire scene, the only expenditure beyond the entry fee was two cups of tea; they also refilled two bottles of water at the bar. Xue Liangliang bent over laughing when he heard this. After the chat, everyone returned to the hotel to rest. In the following two days, Xue Liangliang took them around to tour several scenic spots in Mountain City, they ate hot pot and rabbit meat, and even purposefully rode the Yangtze River cable car. When the river churned under his feet, Li Zhiyuan felt a sense of mystery and awe. However, what made the four of them the happiest over those two nights was that after work each evening, Xue Liangliang would go to his office building and leveraging his relationships, borrow a car to take them all for a drive around Mountain City. Xue Liangliang drove while sticking his hand out the window, pointing out future planning at each spot, saying what new bridges would be built here, what developments would happen there, and how Mountain City would become bustling in the future. He must have seen government planning materials, but among the things he mentioned, many were his own "conjectures". He truly saw himself as the future designer of the city, sharing his inner blueprint with friends. Whenever this happened, Xue Liangliang seemed to possess a certain special charm, and everyone would easily immerse themselves in his "perspective", where the still objects sped forward rapidly; bridges were built, roads were laid, skyscrapers rose from the ground, the entire city visibly transforming "day by day, month by month." After the drive, Xue Liangliang would always return the car with a full tank of gas. Before leaving Mountain City, the four went to Jiefangbei and had another round of hot pot nearby. Li Zhiyuan initially thought he was not fond of spicy food, including Tan Wenbin, but after eating it several times, he found it addictive, as if the spiciness was just the facade of Mountain City hot pot; its core was aromatic. The car to Wanzhou was also dispatched by the unit, still driven by Xue Liangliang himself, the difference being that this time the fuel costs could be reimbursed. Once out of Mountain City urban area, the scenic view along the way was extremely beautiful, though the road was a bit challenging to drive, and the destination was not in Wanzhou’s urban area but even further below Wanzhou, and the final stretch of road, due to rain the previous night, had the car wheels stuck in a mud pit. Fortunately, with Run Sheng’s help, they pushed the car out and continued driving. Arriving at the work site deep in the night, the conditions at the town’s guesthouse were rather simple, but the rooms were quite spacious. Li Zhiyuan opened the window, directly below was the river, although Nantong also has houses built along the river, those were gentle streams, nothing as rapid as this. People who enjoyed fishing could sit inside the house, cast a line, and then drink tea and listen to the radio while waiting for a bite. After going down, Xue Liangliang came back up, mentioning that the meeting was still going on, asking if he wanted to join in and listen; Li Zhiyuan of course agreed, accompanying Xue Liangliang to the conference hall located on the first floor of the guesthouse. Here, the tables and walls were covered with blueprints, a group of people were split into two factions, engaging in a heated debate, so intense that the table was repeatedly struck, the already faded table surface now peeling off even more red paint. Sёarᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Chapter 356 - 63_5

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