1 The first encounter (1)

In Green Valley City of Valley Country.

"Why the sudden meeting?" The man in a neat tuxedo comfortably took his place in the majestic chair, Li Jianyu asked while smiling. In front of him was a huge monitor, displaying the split screens of his three personal assistants.

"The white house of Jewel Country contacted me. They want to buy all your lands in the southern part." As the initiator of this meeting, Vicki sounded the reason.

"Is that right? All of them?"

Her bob haircut moved as she nodded to confirm his assumption. "They're planning to build a new city there."

His slender fingers tapping on the chair handle, he tilted his head to a side while one of the corners of his lips curled up a little in amusement. "What do you guys think?"

All three of them stated their meticulous opinions on it with a conclusion that it would be a great deal.

After listening attentively to his subordinates, he decided while leaning back in his chair. "If they offer a fair price, we'll sell them. Vicki, you can handle it by yourself. Just make sure to join hands with our construction company." Vicki was the one in charge of trading and transaction of real estate. It was unnecessary for him to do the simple work like dealing with the contracts.

"Ah, the President invited you to have lunch in the name of negotiating the terms. I guess you should probably go personally. I'll follow you if you want me to."

Li Jianyu chuckled softly. "The President? Of course, I've got to go there myself to show respect."

One of his male assistants hurriedly added. "Instead of Vicki, I suggest Sifon accompany you." As a former gangster, Sifon normally acted as a bodyguard whenever he had something dangerous to face. He might be a perfect fit for a meeting with the President of another country.

Despite his innocent intention, Li Jianyu couldn't help but tease him. "So that you guys can have a romantic date? Marcus, I congratulate your marriage, but you need to separate work from personal life."

"Boss, although we're a newlywed couple, we cannot be together, all because of you. Let alone spending quality time with my girlfriend, all of your three assistants don't have enough sleeping hours or time to rest properly in order to handle your jobs." Marcus ranted with a blank face, but he was as handsome as ever.

Vicki came to assist her husband. "Boss, we have no clue what you normally do while delegating all your work to the three of us. I bet it would be a good idea to lend us a hand sometimes, no matter what status you hold."

Li Jianyu was enjoying the rather funny show unfolding before him, with a bright smile on his face. "Why do you have to be so talkative and retort to your boss? Show me some respect! As a matter of fact, I'm busy too."

"If it settles, I'm going to leave. Have a meeting to attend in our lovely boss's place later." Marcus had already given his opinion on the matter, so the meeting didn't need him to continue anymore. Although his poker face remained, he waited for his boss's permission before he left. His job was to handle the shares and to deal with the shareholders of various companies Li Jianyu invested in his place. Most of his time was spent in different meetings of different companies in different cities. He didn't have much spare time, so he was bargaining even a second more to have some rest. Marcus was certain his boss understood his situation.

"Boss!" Vicki narrowed her eyes in an interrogating manner. "Why are you giggling all the time? Are you on drugs? You seem so high."

He gave a feeble smile. Without a response to her inquiry, he adjourned the meeting.

Vicki sighed in worry. On her phone, her swift fingers typed fast to send a message. "Isn't today that day?"

With a chime, a notification popped up in a chat group of three assistants. Sifon replied. "Yes, it is." In contrast with his height, his reply was short.

It was the day when the two women he cherished the most perished in an untimely death. "I feel bad for him. He must be so lonely."

After a brief deliberation, she sent. "Should we arrange a blind date for him? He's been alone for a long time. I'm afraid it will affect his work."

"Admit what you worried the most about is it will affect your work." Sifon scoffed mentally but didn't send the text.

That idea had been in her mind for a long time. It was just that she hadn't executed it yet since she was also struggling with her own life. In addition, she didn't have enough time to pay extra attention to her boss, it didn't earn her anything anyway. However, this time she should be serious. Marcus and Vicki were trying to take part in the stock market and when it came to investing, Jianyu was the top-notch adviser they could ever get. And she owed a lot of gratitude to her boss and it was high time she made effort to express them.

Her message was seen by Sifon, but no reply was returned. What a snoozefest! She remarked. Sifon was boring as always. After a while, Marcus advised. "It's a great idea, sweetheart, do you have someone in mind?"

With a big fat smile, Vicki nodded her head vigorously although no one could see her reaction. "Just leave it to me."

***

At a remote graveyard in Green Valley.

Li Jianyu was communicating with a grave, on which a fresh bouquet rested peacefully.

"Mom, then have a nice day. I still have to visit Elora. Before I leave, I apologize to you again. I'll pay the debt back to that woman as soon as I find her. I promise."

He had made an indecent deal behind his mother's back when he was ten years old which literally helped him grow financially. If not for that deal, he would have ended up being a useless punching bag, stepped on and set aside by everyone. His mother had had enough of the tough situation for bearing such doom for his sake, he, as a son, had to stop that from happening and he did it. He succeeded in the end. No one had the audacity to challenge or belittle him at this point in time. As an illegitimate son who got mercilessly thrown out of his home country in destitution while his poor mother was pregnant with him, he doubted he would make it through without that surreptitious deal.

But what was the use of it while his mother was no longer alive to give him a warm smile? 

He always apologized to his mother whenever he visited her, once a year on the day she passed away because he accepted a huge amount of money his mother refused to take for unknown reasons. She died without realizing it. He felt mortified by his unruly action but he would never regret it. It changed his life in destitution to somewhat a better one.

Grabbing another bouquet of bewitching scarlet roses, he headed to the next destination, the grave of his ex-girlfriend. One-sidedly, he greeted and shot a breeze for a while. "Your daughter is so much like you, both appearance-wise and personality-wise. She reminds me of you so much." While he was voicing it out, a man approached from behind.

"Don't be such a drag! My younger sister wouldn't remember you at all if you behave so virtuously." Ryan's boring voice echoed in the quiet surroundings. What he said had its own meaning too.

Back in school, Li Jianyu was known as a prodigy, he was one of the top students, not that they had a clue about how hardworking he was. His high score on every test combined with his attractive looks helped him capture the youthful hearts of his classmates, seniors as well as juniors. He was known as a womanizer in the eyes of his professors. That was before he got together with Elora. 

Obviously, he was no teacher's favorite as he was often involved in gang fights. He had been caught red-handed several times for violating the school's rule of no underage smoking. Rumor had it that he used marijuana.

Overall his existence was despised by the male students as they envied him in every aspect. They provoked him to brawl with them and they didn't need to persuade him much before Li Jianyu's temper flared up and punched them mercilessly.

Yes, it was the biggest difference between the past him and the present him. The young Jianyu, the one Elora knew, was a delinquent, a drug dealer, the guy with high self-esteem who enjoyed a blaze of glory. Like a ticking bomb, he easily exploded. His belligerence couldn't be tamed by anyone. And if anyone interrupted his way or obstructed his track, he would strike that person without thinking twice.

After Elora had met her unfortunate end, Jianyu became more mature and calm. He no longer engaged in the situation where he needed to use his fist and his anger problem seemed to be under control. He failed to steer away from marijuana completely, but he was trying.

"Why are you here?" Li Jianyu asked in a lifeless voice.

"I'm at my sister's grave on the day she died. What do you think I'm doing here? Playing around?" Ryan scoffed.

Well, it made sense. Elora and Ryan held such a strong bond as siblings, the kind everyone was envious of. Her death must have been a huge blow to him.

Ryan continued. "How is she?"

"Who?"

"Your daughter."

"Your niece?"

Ryan rolled his eyes at Jianyu, "Seriously? Do you have to remind me of this right now? Tang Yaoyao is the reason my only sister has become like this."

"Come again? You can say Yaoyao is collateral damage, but logically thinking, you know better than anyone who is the one to blame for her death."

Ryan went quiet.

Jianyu sighed silently. "Maybe you can check her out by yourself. She is the only child of Elora. One and only niece you could ever have."

With a sarcastic smirk, Ryan shook his head slightly, "I'm sure she is fine. I believe you take good care of her."

"She looks so much like her mother. You'll like her."

"Then she must also be a stubborn badass."

"Don't say like that. She's a good girl. Well, and a little bit headstrong."

Both of them smiled nostalgically at the same time. Jianyu conjured the girl he had loved and cherished. Her lively smile, her determined eyes, and her lips which occasionally were pouted to show her protest. She might be dead, but she still lived in the heart of the people who loved her.

Silence reigned for a minute before Ryan broke it. "Stop devoting your time to her. She is not even your biological daughter. You should look out for yourself too."

"Don't let me hear you say that again. She is my daughter."

Ryan smirked. "I heard your lands in Jewel got a magnificent offer."

"Words spread fast."

"Leave me a yard there. It's time I took my first step into Jewel country."

***

To meet with the President of Jewel Country, Li Jianyu was on the plane to get there.

The honorable encounter concluded successfully as he profited handsomely from the enormous land which he sold with a big fat smile. It would be renovated to make a new city of Jewel county. Although he sold the land at a low price to build a good rapport with Jewel Country, he still made a huge profit. In addition to it, his construction company was to build one-half of the entire area which was a nice deal to accept.

In a private room at Quartz Hotel, Jianyu beamed brightly while having dinner with Sifon, accompanied in front of him.

"I'm in a good mood. Feel like attending that one event. Sifon, do you want to tag along?" There's a charity event being held at an orphan Li Jianyu donated and he was referring to it. He sometimes attended the charity whenever he felt like it. It didn't matter whether the charity was ostentatious or not.

"Okay. I'll book the airline tickets for two." The place was situated in the remote countryside of Jewel Country. There wasn't an airport, but they could land at the one nearby and continued the journey by car.

"Nah, let's take the train." His exciting lips curled up as he spoke. "Get me a full set of painting tools. I might need it tonight."