CH 44.2

After the meal, Chen Qizhao didn’t go back to his room. He instead sat in the living room to watch the Spring Festival Gala with Zhang Yazhi.

The Spring Festival Gala was aired on TV and the funny crosstalk section didn’t leave any traces in Chen Qizhao’s mind. He sat in the living room and listened to Zhang Yazhi’s laughter from time to time while Chen Jianhong read financial newspapers and Chen Shiming read magazines. The whole family sat in the living room while busy with other things but Chen Qizhao felt that the atmosphere was extraordinarily lively. He didn’t feel bothered.

At midnight, Zhang Yazhi took out two red envelopes and handed them over along with the sounds of the new year.

Chen Qizhao’s eyes stayed on the red envelope for a long time before he finally took it.

The vibration of his social software didn’t stop. Chen Qizhao sent Shen Yuhuai a Happy New Year message and received repeated bombardments from Yan Kailin.

Chen Qizhao was in a good mood so he simply sent a red envelope to the little boy Yan Kailin.

[Zhao: [New Year’s Red Envelope]]

[Yan Kailin: I like you, who is so direct!]

[Zhao: Oh.]

[Yan Kailin: Brother, I hope you make a lot of money and make a fortune this year, your peach blossoms are prosperous and a noble son is born early on.]

[Zhao: ……]

There were footsteps in the corridor. Chen Qizhao was about to open the door when he saw Chen Shimng standing in front of him.

Chen Shiming was wearing pajamas and was holding a cup in his hand. “I heard Xiao Xu say yesterday that you went to Feihong’s Technology Department?”

He finished speaking and noticed that Chen Qizhao’s gaze was on his hand, so he showed the cup. “It is water.”

“I went,” Chen Qizhao replied. “Glory 2.0 is doing well so I went over there to take a look. I heard that they are planning to continue developing new products?”

The Glory project was very good and was likely to become a key project of the group in the new year.

Chen Shiming also received a lot of related proposals for the Glory series but these were only proposals. The specific plans and processes hadn’t begun yet. There were too many things at the end of the year so he put them on hold. As a result, he heard Xiao Xu say yesterday that Chen Qizhao ran to the Technology Department twice at the end of the year and made some comments.

“What do you mean by the Internet home appliances that you mentioned?” Chen Shiming asked bluntly.

There were currently too many electrical appliances on the market and many products had the same function. Feihong’s appliances were indeed doing quite well but they could be gradually eliminated in the later market.

“Oh, are you talking about that?” Chen Qizhao explained in a natural tone. “I’m talking about a smart home. This concept has been proposed a long time ago and many large companies abroad are trying it. Several of the major domestic brands are trying it out. Haven’t you noticed that the number of new products they have launched in the past few years has decreased?”

Chen Shiming paused slightly and paid attention to Chen Qizhao’s performance. “It is true that other large manufacturers are making technological innovations.”

“The functions of the products are developed to the same extent and many of them are simplified. Based on the current domestic development speed, they can only develop affordable electrical products. The smart concept proposed by the Glory project is good but it isn’t complete. You might as well build a Glory smart system…”

The Chen Group did indeed have the capital to develop smart homes. After all, it started in real estate and also owned construction companies and electrical appliances companies. It wasn’t difficult to create an integrated brand. In his previous life, the Chen Group was a step late. Feihong was dragged down by Yicheng and failed to embark on this road ahead of schedule. In the end, they could only watch other large manufacturers divide the market.

The situation in this life was good so it was a pity not to strike while it was hot.

Smart home appliances wouldn’t become popular in China until a few years later so it wasn’t too late.

Halfway through his words, Chen Qizhao noticed Chen Shiming’s scrutinizing gaze and suddenly stopped talking.

Chen Shiming wondered, “Why aren’t you continuing?”

“Wait a minute.” Chen Qizhao entered his room. He soon came out with a magazine and put it in Chen Shiming’s hand.

Chen Shiming: “?”

Chen Qizhao told him, “I won’t tell you the rest, I don’t remember it. It is written in the magazine. You can read it yourself when you go back.”

Chen Shiming: “……”

Chen Qizhao reminded him, “It is on Page 8. You can turn to it yourself.”

The conversation between the two brothers paused briefly. Chen Qizhao saw Chen Shiming standing there with the magazine and was about to go back to his room.

Suddenly, a red envelope was held out in front of him.

Chen Shiming handed him a red envelope. “Take it.”

Chen Qizhao took it after some time.

Chen Shiming wondered, “Aren’t you going to say something?”

“Oh.” Chen Qizhao paused. “Dad gave a card in the red envelope.”

“……” Chen Shiming told him, “Make less trouble this year.”

The corridor was quiet and the brothers returned to their rooms.

Chen Shiming knew that Chen Qizhao was interested in artificial intelligence and often read related things. It wasn’t surprising that this magazine appeared in his room. He put down his things and turned to Page 8 of the magazine. The article mentioned on the page was ‘artificial intelligence and a smart home.’

He hesitated. “He really read it in here?”

On the other side, Chen Qizhao returned to his room and didn’t move. He looked at the three heavy red envelopes in his hand and was silent.

A long time passed before he unlocked his desk cabinet and took out a pile of documents. Finally, he put the three red envelopes at the bottom.

By the time he lay on his bed and played with his phone, many messages had accumulated in his VX.

He clicked on Shen Yuhuai and saw that Shen Yuhuai had sent him a red envelope half an hour ago.

[You have received Shen Yuhuai’s red envelope.]

He had just finished receiving it and was about to express his thanks when a photo popped up on the chat interface.

It was a photo of brilliant fireworks that bloomed at night.

Chen Qizhao stopped and looked out the quiet window. There were no fireworks on his side.

[Zhao: It looks good. My side is quiet tonight.”

[Shen Yuhuai: Then I’ll show you the fireworks.]

Suddenly, a video request popped up.

Chen Qizhao sat up on the bed and straightened his pajamas before answering the video call. He had just connected it when he saw the camera facing the sky.

In the quiet bedroom, the sound of fireworks was accompanied by the whistling wind. The brilliant images were rich and beautiful.

The light on the mobile phone was reflected on Chen Qizhao’s face. His attention was attracted by the fireworks and he watched intently.

Shen Yuhuai stood on the balcony on the second floor and placed his hands on the railing, showing the fireworks in the distance to Chen Qizhao. “It was lively before midnight and it will probably stop after a while.”

Chen Qizhao stared at the fireworks for a while. Then he was attracted by Shen Yuhuai’s voice in the wind.

The other person didn’t appear in the video but his voice was extremely close, as if right next to his ears.

Suddenly, he felt that the fireworks were a bit boring.

He kind of wanted to see Shen Yuhuai’s face.

Chen Qizhao asked, “What’s over there?”

Shen Yuhuai’s voice stopped slightly. “Which side?”

“Left.”

Shen Yuhuai adjusted the camera to the left. “It is the exhibition tower in the west district. There is a light show on at night.”

Chen Qizhao asked for a few more places before suddenly saying, “Is it stuck? It seems like it hasn’t moved?”

A voice came from the other end of the video, “Can you see my hand?”

Shen Yuhuai’s hand appeared in the video range and waved. The slender hand was so close that Chen Qizhao could see the watch on the wrist.

“I can hear you but the image isn’t moving.” He lied without changing his expression. “Now the video is a bit broken. Is the camera stuck? Can you try switching the camera perspective?”

There was no action on the other side of the video. Then the next second, the video switched perspectives.

Shen Yuhuai appeared on the camera in his pajamas. Chen Qizhao instinctively stared and saw the other person’s jawline and Adam’s apple.

When speaking, the Adam’s apple seemed to move and the voice came through the earpiece.

“Can you see it now?”

In the darkness, Chen Qizhao stared into Shen Yuhuai’s eyes.

Shen Yuhuai wasn’t wearing glasses tonight and his eyes seemed to be dyed with ink.

“Qizhao?”

Inexplicably, Chen Qizhao’s eyes shifted to the other person’s Adam’s apple again and he realized that his heart was beating very quickly.

Suddenly, the other person hung up the video call.

Chen Qizhao paused for a moment but Shen Yuhuai had already sent a message.

[Shen Yuhuai: It should be that the signal on my side isn’t good.]

[Zhao: Yes.

[Shen Yuhuai: It is also late. Go to bed early.]

[Zhao: Brother Huai, good night.]

The night wind howled. Shen Yuhuai’s eyes stopped on the chat interface for a long time and he thought of the blurred face on the other side in night mode just now.

He typed: [Yes, good night.]

—

Chen Qizhao didn’t sleep well at night. He seemed to always see Shen Yuhuai’s face so he was half asleep and half awake.

By the time he woke up, it was already bright outside.

The weather was good on the first day of the new year. Chen Qizhao got up slowly, washed quickly and was about to go downstairs to eat.

He had just entered the dining room on the first floor when he saw that the housekeeper was busy in the kitchen.

The housekeeper saw Chen Qizhao, who looked annoyed from waking up, and waved the tea in his hand. “Second Young Master, we have guests.”

Chen Qizhao glanced at him and then at the cups on the counter. “Oh, it is okay to drink tea during the day.”

The housekeeper sighed with relief and continued to work.

Chen Qizhao thought about who would come to give a New Year’s greeting in the morning. He took a bottle of beer from the refrigerator and walked around the corner to the French window to look at the living room. Suddenly, he saw Shen Yuhuai sitting on the sofa not far away.

The beer can was just opened and the beer was frothing.

“Qizhao, you’ve woken up? Come here?” Zhang Yazhi beckoned.

Chen Qizhao instinctively took a step back and hid the cold beer behind him.

Shen Yuhuai looked at him and nodded at him.

The housekeeper was preparing tea in the kitchen when he saw the second young master hurriedly coming back. “Second Young Master?”

Chen Qizhao told him, “You can keep working.”

The housekeeper was a bit hesitant. Then he saw the other person put down the cold beer in his hand before turning around and taking out a bottle of milk from the refrigerator.