CH 25

Ch25 - Consideration

The plane flew 10,000 metres into the air, dragging out a long trail of clouds.

Unlike flying to other regions, the sky in Hanas was clear, and through the windows of the plane, one could vaguely see the Altai Mountains.

Ning You was so absorbed in looking at the scenery outside. After the most chaotic moments lost in thought, he has now completely calmed down.

“Ning You?” Li Zhao, sitting next to him, interrupted Ning You’s wandering thoughts, “The flight attendant asked what drink you’d like.” 

“Fruit juice, thanks.” Ning You replied.

When the flight attendant pushed the small cart away, Li Zhao put down the coffee in his hand and said to Ning You, “You seem very tired.”

Ning You lowered his eyes whilst sipping the fruit juice quietly. The desire to chat was very difficult. But out of courtesy, he still put down the cup and said to Li Zhao: “I haven’t slept well these days.”

“I can see that.” Li Zhao said, “If I had known it was Li Mu, I would have instructed him to take care of you.”

The name of the person in Ning You’s heart suddenly appeared in their dialogue, and the urge to converse now rushed out like a floodgate opening.

In fact, Li Mu took too good care of him, but it was inappropriate for him to reveal that much to Li Zhao.

Obviously, Li Mu didn’t want Li Zhao to notice any flaws, so when Li Zhao proposed that the three of them go to a hotel outside the scenic area for dinner, he drove back to the mountain on grounds that something was wrong.

The most chaotic moment for Ning You was watching Li Mu leave. 

According to the initial plan, Li Mu should indeed leave successfully, but now the situation has changed drastically. Ning You’s fiance is Li Mu’s brother. He has countless reasons to stay, and even put forward his own views on the marriage contract between the two.

But he didn’t.

Just this one incident made Ning You realise that despite the difference in the two brothers’ business philosophy, there was no rift in their relationship.

In the short ten minute meeting between the three of them, Li Mu couldn’t fully digest the shock from this situation, and had no idea about what to do next, so he chose to avoid it. 

In fact, Ning You is the same.

He avoided discussing his relationship with Li Mu in front of Li Zhao, which was also a kind of avoidance, or an escape.

It’s difficult to make rational decisions immediately when in shock. What’s more, the current situation is so complicated, both for Ning You and Li Mu, it takes a little time to digest.

After it is thoroughly digested, we can figure out how to deal with it. 

Although avoidance is a subconscious move by the two, they must always be prepared to speakout, otherwise it will also be disrespectful to Li Zhao.

Calming down his turbulent mood, Ning You looked at Li Zhao and asked, “Didn’t you know that Li Mu was working as a forest ranger in Xinjiang?”

“I didn’t know.” Li Zhao smiled helplessly, picked up the coffee and took a sip, “That brat is so elusive, sometimes at home, sometimes abroad.”

“I heard,” Ning You paused, “that he is a person who doesn’t do his job properly.” 

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“It depends on how you define ‘Zhengye’.” Li Zhao shrugged,

“Lf lr lcvffv cba lcnbinfv lc atf bqfgjalbc bo atf mbwqjcs, yea P jvwlgf tlw obg tlr vfvlmjalbc ab atf mjerf bo fcnlgbcwfcaji qgbafmalbc.”

Hearing this, Ning You is almost certain that the two brothers have a good relationship. 

“You admire, but…” Ning You hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to speak bluntly, “You don’t agree.”

Li Zhao put down the cup, raised his eyebrows to look at Ning You, and asked, “Did he tell you about the family?”

Li Zhao is indeed very sharp. He can decipher deeper meaning from Ning You’s words, and doesn’t require Ning You to say it clearly.

“Probably talked.” Ning You replied, “But I didn’t know it was your family.” 

Li Zhao nodded, crossed his fingers with both hands, and placed them on his overlapping thighs.

Ning You could see that he was buying time and thinking about how to answer.

Although the appearance of the two brothers is somewhat similar, there are obvious differences between them.

Li Zhao treats Ning You as he treats his business partners. He always pays attention to polite language. When he answers, the matter concerns the company, so he will definitely think carefully about it first. 

As for Li Mu, don’t count on polite language. It’s good that he didn’t make Ning You urinate and defecate anywhere.

Ning You couldn’t help but think of an issue. From the perspective of the company, Li Zhao was indeed the best candidate for marriage.

Because marriage is not only business cooperation, but also in-depth cooperation between the two families. After Li Zhao and Ning You get married, they will gradually come into contact with the affairs of the Ning Clan. For the enterprise, they really needed a mature and steady “son-in-law” like Li Zhao.

Thinking of maturity and stability, Ning You developed a headache again. He actually called Li Mu ‘Gege’ honestly. He simply deleted this memory from his life. 

“Environmental protection is a double-edged sword, both good and bad for companies.” Li Zhao weighed his thoughts unhurriedly, “Doing a good job of environmental protection can enhance the corporate image, but at the same time, more benefits have to be sacrificed. Which approach do you prefer more?”

The topic was thrown to Ning You again, and it really felt familiar——the routines of people in the city.

Between the two of them, Ning You is in an advantageous position. He doesn’t need to speak carefully, so he answered bluntly: “I support environmental protection.”

Li Zhao’s expression did not change in any way, but his eyes became distinctly enigmatic. 

Ning You deliberately brought up the topic of environmental protection. Of course, he didn’t want to discuss the future development of the company with Li Zhao, but wanted to secretly reveal his attitude——he was on Li Mu’s side.

He knew that Li Zhao was a sensible person, so he believed that with this little information, Li Zhao could decipher a deeper meaning——between the two brothers, Ning You and Li Mu were more familiar.

After thinking deeply, this is actually an inevitable and right thing.

Counting today, Ning You and Li Zhao only met three times, but Ning You and Li Mu stayed together for five days. 

In terms of time, Li Mu has more advantages.

If you dig deeper, what has happened between Ning You and Li Mu in the past few days, is also a thought-provoking question.

Ning You couldn’t tell Li Zhao that he slept with his younger brother, but he could use this hint to make Li Zhao understand that the relationship with Li Mu isn’t simple, so that he can test his attitude through Li Zhao’s reaction.

Returning to the city from the mountain forests is not only a change in the atmosphere, but also achange in Ning You’s social methods. 

Although he doesn’t like this kind of dataiji-like conversation, as a qualified social person, he must consider that some unpleasant things cannot be laid on the table.

Judging from Li Zhao’s eyes, it was clear that he received Ning You’s message.

He touched his chin and countered thoughtfully: “But neither of our companies have taken the environmentally friendly route.”

“I know.” Ning You said, “So what do you think next?” 

“Instead of talking about my thoughts, it’s better to talk about your thoughts.” Li Zhao hit the ball straight back at him, “In fact, before Li Mu left home, the company seriously discussed whether to let him participate in core affairs, but the result was that all shareholders didn’t agree with his environmentally friendly route.”

“Is that so.” Ning You wasn’t surprised, he heard Li Zhao’s subtext – it was not about his own thoughts, it was the decision of all the shareholders of the company.

After thinking about it deeply, the marriage of the two is not only a matter of the Li family, but also of the Ning family. Even if Ning You wants the company to take an environmental protection route, in his capacity as——the chief engineer, he cannot make this decision, and it is likely that it will be rejected by all shareholders like Li Mu’s case.

After thinking about it further, perhaps the shareholders of the Ning family wouldn’t agree to let the “politically incorrect” Li Mu come to be the son-in-law of the Ning family. 

Both Li Zhao and Ning You were trying to imply something. They had a few rounds of dataiji, but Ning You had to admit that his standpoint was indeed weaker.

“Ning You, this is a world that looks at money.” After testing each other to the end, Li Zhao finally said what he thought, “I like my brother very much, but I won’t let him take my place.”

Ning You took a deep breath and finished all his drink.

Perhaps feeling that the atmosphere was a little heavy, Li Zhao changed to a relaxed topic: “Do you know why that brat Li Mu loves environmental protection?” 

Ning You shook his head. Although he didn’t want to continue the conversation, this was a topic of interest to him.

“Because he studied abroad, he accepted some ideas that he thought were advanced.” Li Zhao simply stated.

“You don’t think it’s advanced.” Ning You said.

“No, I said I admire him very much, but everything has a good and bad.” Li Zhao said. 

This statement is very objective, and Ning You cannot refute it. He found that the two brothers were very thoughtful, they valued different things, so they had differences in ideas, but they respected each other and did not interfere with each other.

“Perhaps,” Ning You thought, “You can set up a special environmental protection department.”

“Do you mean an adornment?” Li Zhao said, “The priority of this department would be very low.”

“It’s not impossible.” It’s better than nothing. 

“Ning You, I know him better than you.” Li Zhao said, “He won’t like these empty-headedthings.”

“…indeed.”

Ning You also knew this. He had mentioned donations to Li Mu, but Li Mu wanted him to takecare of the environment starting from himself.

The atmosphere seemed to become stiff again, Ning You suddenly thought of another thing andasked, “By the way, how old is he?” 

“Twenty-five.” Li Zhao said, “But many people think he is about my age.”

Twenty-five……This brat actually asked me to call him gege.

Ning You simply didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but this mood soon passed, and only loneliness remained in his heart.

He looked out the window, the sky had gradually darkened, perhaps his expression was not sohidden, Li Zhao looked at him and probed, “You seem to be very reluctant to go back.” 

Ning You was indeed reluctant, as he didn’t want to go back. Because regarding the marriage contract, he can only make specific plans after he goes back.

“No.” He looked at the winding and endless mountains under his feet, and whispered in a low voice, “I just fell in love with this land.”

—————————————————————————————————————–

The plane landed in Jin City, and Li Zhao returned to his home after sending Ning You home. It was almost late at night. 

He ignored the fatigue of the past few days, turned on the music in the living room, and poured himself a glass of red wine.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows is the black and gold night view of the city. No matter how deep the night is, there are always vehicles speeding on the golden light belt, forming one stream of light after another.

It’s rare to have time to relax during the day. Li Zhao sipped the red wine while taking in the night view. At this time, the phone on the sofa suddenly rang.

He looked at the caller ID and couldn’t help but let out a laugh. 

“What’s the matter?” Li Zhao picked up the phone.

“Are you home yet?” A familiar voice sounded on the other end of the phone.

“I arrived.” Li Zhao replied.

“How is Mom and Dad’s health?” 

“Come on, brat.” Li Zhao said, “Just say what you have to say.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone, and after a while, Li Mu’s calm voice sounded:

“I want Ning You.”

Li Zhao was not surprised. He shook his red wine glass and made no statement: “I’ll think about it.” 

Editor’s note – {my heart nearly stopped here}