After Ling Ruonan politely expressed her thanks, she voiced the dissatisfaction in her heart: "Mr. Fang, just now you said that whenever we need help, the Fang Family will definitely do their best to assist. But over this past period, the Fang Family has actually caused us quite a bit of trouble instead, and I can’t help feeling a bit upset about it."
Ling Ruonan being this blunt also caught Fang Xiang somewhat by surprise.
However, he did not show anything unusual. After laughing twice, he said, "I just talked over these matters with Luo and Ziling. I apologized to Luo and Ziling face to face. We will definitely get to the bottom of this. I’ll inform Wu Dongfang personally and have this matter completely resolved. We’re very sorry for the trouble we’ve caused you, and we will make it up to you."
"We don’t need compensation!" Ling Ruonan shook her head with a wry smile on her face. "I only hope that there won’t be such misunderstandings between our two families again. That would be very hurtful. Over the past year or so, Ziling and I have been through countless scares and worries. What we hope for the most going forward is just to live a peaceful life, for our family to enjoy those simple, happy days. I’ve always felt that our Luo Family and the Fang Family have been family friends for generations, and the two old gentlemen had an excellent relationship. I hope that the younger generation of both families can inherit your friendship, and that no flaws will appear because of some practical issues."
Ling Ruonan spoke very directly, even more bluntly than Luo Liansheng, which made Fang Xiang feel a bit uncomfortable.
Fang Zhonghua felt more or less the same; they both thought Ling Ruonan was going a bit too far.
But father and son, Fang Xiang and Fang Zhonghua, immediately understood Ling Ruonan’s intention.
Her tone in bringing up the last incident was nothing more than a bargaining tactic of "asking for the sky."
Ling Ruonan’s real goal was to have the Fang Family take a clear stand in the forthcoming "battle" against the Chen Family, and stand in the same trench as the Ling Family and the Luo Family. After pressing them so aggressively, she would definitely ease her tone and then clarify what she meant.
And it had to be said, this woman’s methods were quite impressive; she left you no choice but to move to her rhythm.
Fang Xiang and Fang Zhonghua both chose to "yield." They did not show any "dissatisfaction" with Ling Ruonan’s complaints, but instead apologized to them again and said that such things would never happen in the future.
Before major problems might arise, or if there is a possibility of a misunderstanding, they must communicate in time to avoid similar situations.
After hearing what Fang Xiang and Fang Zhonghua said, Ling Ruonan did not pursue the matter further.
Because Ling Ruonan and Luo Xusheng arrived late, it was almost dinner time, so after a short discussion, they all went to the table together.
The ones accompanying them were Fang Xiang, Fang Zhonghua, Fang Dongxun and Fang Qianqian, plus Luo Ziling’s whole family, making eight people in total.
Fang Zhonghua’s wife had gone abroad and had not yet returned.
Fang Xiang had prepared good liquor: a bottle of Moutai from the 1990s, and a rather rare twenty-year-old Yuezhou "Daughter Red."
Fang Xiang knew that Luo Liansheng liked to drink huangjiu, so besides a very old bottle of Moutai, he also prepared huangjiu.
Luo Liansheng had little interest in baijiu; if there was huangjiu, he would not choose baijiu.
Fang Xiang also liked huangjiu, and he said he would accompany Luo Liansheng in finishing that jar of Daughter Red.
"Ziling, let’s drink this one!" Fang Dongxun picked up the bottle of Moutai and said with a smile, "This is quite a pricey liquor. Let’s be extravagant for once today."
"If you drink a few-hundred-yuan-a-glass liquor, you’ll feel like you’re floating," Luo Ziling laughed. "If I drink too much later and start talking nonsense, please don’t take offense."
Luo Ziling’s words made Fang Dongxun’s smile freeze for a moment, but he quickly relaxed.
"When you’re young, what’s wrong with saying a few silly things after drinking too much?" As he said this, Fang Dongxun looked at Fang Xiang and chuckled, "Grandpa, if we get drunk and lose our composure later, don’t blame us."
"So many people sharing so little liquor—how could you possibly get drunk?" Fang Qianqian cut in. "I know this much: Ziling can really hold his liquor. He could finish all of it by himself."
Luo Ziling quickly shook his head. "I’m not that good. That one time when I seemed to have a huge capacity was only because I’d taken a hangover antidote. So please don’t think of me that way."
The joking between the three young people immediately lightened the atmosphere at the table.
They had a fairly relaxed meal.
During dinner, they did not talk about heavy topics, but rather some relatively light things.
Fang Xiang and Fang Zhonghua were very forthright and drank quite a lot.
Luo Liansheng and Luo Xusheng were forced to drink some along with them.
Luo Ziling and Fang Dongxun also drank a fair amount, while Ling Ruonan and Fang Qianqian did not drink much.
With more alcohol, their conversation opened up as well.
After dinner, Fang Xiang invited Luo Liansheng to play chess, and asked Fang Zhonghua to keep Luo Xusheng and Ling Ruonan company over tea and conversation.
Luo Ziling stayed with Fang Dongxun and Fang Qianqian, talking about topics among young people.
Fang Dongxun and Luo Ziling discussed many things, including Northern Film and Television, which they had invested in together, as well as other cooperative projects they already had.
Fang Dongxun told Luo Ziling that now Fang Xiang and Fang Zhonghua were giving him opportunities, allowing him to take charge of some things on his own. For certain investment projects, he wanted to bring in Luo Ziling, and asked whether Luo Ziling was interested in cooperating with him in other areas, such as real estate, finance, and logistics.
These areas require relatively large capital investment and also connections. Without connections, or without status and standing, even if you have money, you may not be able to find investment opportunities.
After hearing this, Luo Ziling was immediately interested, but he still cautiously said that he needed to go back and discuss it with Ling Ruonan before making a decision. "After all, for now I’m just working under my mom. I don’t have experience, let alone strength, so I need my mom’s support. If my mom also thinks it’s feasible, then we can certainly cooperate in these areas." After saying this, Luo Ziling also laid out some practical facts. "To be honest, I’ve never paid attention to the sectors you just mentioned, so I’m completely in the dark."
Fang Dongxun didn’t mind and said with a smile, "Then let’s talk more about these things in the future. If you’re not confident, we can start with a smaller amount of money and treat it as gaining experience."
Luo Ziling did not refuse.
He knew that what Fang Dongxun was proposing should be one way for the Fang Family to make amends, just that they wanted to realize it through cooperation between Fang Dongxun and him. If the two families reached cooperation in these areas, the Ling Family and the Luo Family would certainly gain substantial profits. Luo Ziling also believed that while Fang Zhonghua was chatting with Ling Ruonan, he would surely bring up similar matters, with compensation on a larger scale than the cooperative projects Fang Dongxun had mentioned.
Fang Xiang and Luo Liansheng would also talk about similar issues, but Luo Ziling couldn’t guess exactly what topics the two old men would discuss, or whether they would make some matters very explicit.
But what he was sure of was that today the Fang Family would definitely make a very generous gesture, and the compensation he and Ling Ruonan would get would certainly be quite substantial.