Chapter 141 — Old Buffon's Origins

"No, my back was to him at the time, and he was wearing a mask anyway." Of course Shu Ya would never tell her father about seeing Yang Juehuan. Yang Ce had told her to keep it secret, and she would naturally obey—this was her little secret with him, not to be shared with anyone.

Yet Shu Ya was dismissive of her father's words, and in her heart she even felt a measure of contempt for him. Incompetent, unable to protect her, unable to contend—hmph. The very man you once looked down on the most, Yang Ce, was the one who could protect me. That is a real man.

"Oh, so that's how it was," Shu Haikuo nodded and said. "Well, as long as you're all right, that's what matters."

"Dad, for my national tour, the first stop is going to be Songjiang," Shu Ya said suddenly and calmly.

"Songjiang? Didn't we agree the first stop would be Yanjing?" Shu Haikuo was taken aback. "The promotional reach there is nothing compared to Yanjing."

"I don't care. I'm definitely going," Shu Ya shook her head and said. "Besides, I've already discussed it with my manager. The schedule is all set; we're just waiting for a response from the Songjiang side."

"You child," Shu Haikuo sighed, then something seemed to occur to him. He raised his head and looked at Shu Ya. "Are you still thinking about that person?"

"So what if I am?" It was the first time Shu Ya had admitted her feelings so unreservedly in front of her father. Yes, the moment she saw Yang Juehuan again aboard the Alice, Shu Ya could no longer contain her emotions. She had to go to Songjiang—she had to find Yang Ce.

"Ah," Shu Haikuo sighed and said with some bitterness. "Just as I thought. You never said it, but I guessed long ago that he's still in your heart. Otherwise, why haven't you taken another boyfriend?"

"I must go find him," Shu Ya said with determination. "I've already missed one chance. I can't miss another. I'm very certain of my feelings now—I love him."

"You love him? Is that love?" Shu Haikuo sighed. "How many years has it been since you last saw him? What is he like now? What is he doing? Does he have a girlfriend? You know none of it."

"I—" Shu Ya wanted to say that she had already seen him, but remembering that she had to keep it secret, the words reached her lips and she swallowed them back down.

Shu Haikuo assumed his daughter had run out of things to say, so he hurried on. "See? You can't answer, can you? Xiaoya, you'd better come to your senses."

"I won't," Shu Ya shook her head. "I've grown up. I know what I'm doing."

That Shu Ya's tour would begin in Songjiang left many media reporters utterly dumbfounded. Songjiang was only a second-tier city—not even a provincial capital, to say nothing of comparing it to the capital or the municipalities. Yet the official letter from Shu Ya's company stated plainly that the first stop of the tour would be Songjiang, and moreover the stop where she would stay the longest.

This left many in the media baffled. Why was Shu Ya so partial to Songjiang? And there was no substantive explanation. Still, the local organizer in Songjiang was confirmed with remarkable smoothness—undoubtedly the Songjiang Mingyang Heavy Industry Group.

Songjiang was a prefecture-level city whose economy was not especially developed. The city's pillar enterprise had originally been Wang Pu's Wang Group Century Majestic Corporation, followed by Hou Lin's Mingyang Entertainment Company and security company. Later, the Wang Group was acquired by Mingyang—through improper means, of course—and after the merger it was renamed the Mingyang Entertainment Group.

As a result, the city's pillar enterprise was left with only Mingyang. And the only entity with the capacity to host a concert was Mingyang. If Mingyang didn't host it, the city really wouldn't know what to do.

"Songjiang Mingyang Heavy Industry Group?" Shu Ya stared strangely at the information on the organizer before her, and asked her assistant manager in confusion.

"Oh, it's a newly established group," Assistant Manager Li said. "Its predecessor was the Songjiang Bus Factory. It was recently reorganized into a heavy industry group. Probably they want to build momentum by riding on the concert's coattails."

"The Songjiang Bus Factory?" Shu Ya was stunned, sinking into an endless stream of memories. Wasn't Yang Juehuan's father an employee of the Songjiang Bus Factory? And her own father had blocked her and Jue from seeing each other precisely because he looked down on Yang Juehuan's father as a mere worker. Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, after all these years, the Songjiang Bus Factory would have grown so powerful?

Glancing over the introductory materials, it could even manufacture helicopters—that made it one of the few large-scale heavy industry groups in all of Asia.

"Xiaoya, what's wrong?" Assistant Manager Li asked, somewhat puzzled, seeing Shu Ya lost in thought.

"N-nothing," Shu Ya said, shaking her head. She thought to herself: if Yang Juehuan's father still worked here, then on this trip, if she could get in touch with the group's leadership, she absolutely must put in a good word for him.

"By the way, Mingyang Heavy Industry Group is also interested in having you as a spokesperson. If it's feasible, we can discuss it in detail once we're in Songjiang," Assistant Manager Li continued.

"All right, we'll talk about it when we get there," Shu Ya said, clearly somewhat distracted. Her primary purpose in going to Songjiang this time was to see whether she could find Yang Ce.

In recent years in Hong Kong, Shu Haikuo had been running foreign trade businesses, dealing in items such as automobiles and helicopters. Hong Kong had more than its share of wealthy people, so private aircraft was nothing unusual. For a long time, China had been unable to manufacture helicopters independently; even when it did, it was merely simple assembly, with all raw materials dependent on imports.

But in recent days, a bombshell piece of news had left Shu Haikuo astonished beyond measure: Songjiang Mingyang Heavy Industry Group had actually formed a strategic partnership with Laide Fictional Company, one of Europe's largest aircraft manufacturers, under which Laide would supply all the latest production lines to manufacture helicopters in Songjiang.

As a helicopter dealer, Shu Haikuo naturally understood the significance of this news. If it was true, then his future supply channels would be mainland Songjiang rather than Europe.

To be continued.

671. So It Was Him

Aircraft made in Songjiang would definitely have a far better edge in price and transportation than imports. So if one could secure the helicopter agency rights for Hong Kong, it would be tantamount to owning a gold mine.

Shu Haikuo of Laide Company naturally knew that it had always been a supplier of high-end helicopters, and its products sold exceptionally well. It had taken Shu Haikuo considerable effort to secure the operating rights for Laide Company in Hong Kong—mind you, not exclusive distribution rights, merely permission to sell.

Even so, it had made Shu Haikuo a fortune. Within a few short years, he had climbed onto Hong Kong's list of the wealthy, which was also the reason Shu Ya's performing career had always gone so smoothly.

Now, a heavy industry group had actually been built in Songjiang on the mainland, capable of manufacturing helicopters—and this set Shu Haikuo's mind racing at once.

Fortune favors the bold. He had not even secured exclusive operating rights for Hong Kong yet, and already Shu Haikuo was wondering what a fine thing it would be if he could obtain the general agency for all of Asia.

Or even the general agency for the entire world—then his wealth would leap to make him the richest man in Hong Kong.