ageous things he did, someone would always come to fix it for him, and he inevitably faced a scolding from his parents. He enjoyed seeing them get angry, as it gave him a rebellious thrill, a retaliat...Chapter 114: Reunion Dinner

Su Can's uncle-in-law, Zeng Cangming, hosted a banquet four days after Su Can returned home. The venue was the Soul Locking Restaurant located on Linjiang Road, by the Jin River. At this time, the river water was still clear, and green trees provided shade along the roadside where elderly men played chess at tables set up near the banks, creating an atmosphere that echoed the grandeur of ancient Shu culture.

Two tall ginkgo trees stood in front of the restaurant entrance, complementing its bustling scene. Though this establishment would later become a well-known restaurant in Chengdu, it was still considered a new place at present and attracted many influential figures from society. Today alone, numerous familiar license plates could be seen parked outside, some belonging to government departments at both city and provincial levels. However, given Zeng Quanming's current status, he easily recognized which high-level organization these seemingly ordinary plates belonged to.

Su Can chatted on the phone with Tang Wu for a while from his balcony before returning inside; telephone had been their primary mode of communication since Su Can came back home.

Behind him, relatives were gradually arriving and taking seats. As things grew more lively, even Su Can's older sister Zeng Na brought along one of her close friends, while his younger brother Zeng Yuan was also there to welcome guests. Hearing the commotion over the phone, Tang Wu smiled and said, "You should get back to what you're doing, you busy person."

Upon hanging up, Su Can opened the door and walked in. His uncle-in-law, Zeng Quanming, gestured for him to come over and introduced a middle-aged man standing beside him, who appeared to be quite solid: "Su Can, this is Lu Zhonghua, the director of the municipal news publishing bureau; you can call him Uncle Lu. He graduated from Chengdu University's Electrical Engineering Department with a master’s degree in engineering and was previously a researcher at the Southwestern Institute of Physics under China National Nuclear Corporation." Zeng Quanming added proudly, "This is an actual engineer who handles matters concerning literary figures—a true testament to his capability. Let Uncle Lu give you some guidance on areas where you can improve."

Before his rebirth, Su Cen knew that his uncle was greedy for wealth and respected authority. However, after his rebirth, Su Cen's perspective on things changed; he understood that many people had misinterpreted Zeng Quanming. To a certain extent, the latter merely respects those who are dedicated to their studies, have cultural attainments, and have achieved results. He despises those who work in government agencies day after day, only focusing on how rigid and outdated the system is without understanding or pursuing self-improvement, seeking shortcuts for effortless success, and expecting promotions just by sitting around.

This attitude earned him admiration from some people who understood him but also made him many enemies. The political arena isn't filled with oily and worldly-wise individuals; there are those who have their own principles in office-holding and personal conduct, and despite having sharp edges, such qualities can be excellent assets that earn the trust of superiors and allow them to fully implement their political ideals.

Just like Wang Bo, who dealt with Liu Cheng's major shake-up, or Zeng Quanming, someone with a somewhat quirky personality but visible determination. Conversely, those overly oily individuals who only study human relations won't be heavily relied upon. The simplest reason being that leaders either can't see through them or see too clearly into them, hence not trusting them.

Lou Zhonghua noticed a detail: when Zeng Quanming introduced himself to Su Cen, he first said his full name before respectfully addressing him as "Lu Uncle." Generally speaking, elders shouldn’t address juniors this way. However, considering that the young man in front of him was an outstanding student from East China Normal University in Shanghai and had published 'Fashion Culture' during his freshman year, it wasn't surprising for Zeng Quanming to treat Su Cen with such respect. Lou Zhonghua had met Lin Guangdong from Pola Media; he is very graceful and surely attracts women. Sometimes his conversation is also forceful, making it hard to believe that he would be controlled by Su Cen. Therefore, it's understandable that Lou Zhonghua promptly changed his conversational strategy towards Su Cen, maintaining a warm tone typical of an elder talking to a younger person but no longer treating him as a child; instead, discussing some substantive issues including potential national policies and regulatory factors.

Su Cen knew this was his uncle building networks for him. It was quite valuable since he wasn't like Wang Weiwei or Lin Genran from families with deep backgrounds who could squander resources at will and still have more connections come to them without having to seek them out themselves, feeling no regret for ignoring such opportunities.

Diligent people always manage to have bread on the table; sometimes, Su Cen has to work hard as well.

After chatting with Lu Zhonghua for a short while before the meal, although their conversation time was brief, it still touched upon some practical matters. Lin Guangdong naturally wouldn't be able to obtain such useful information from the new head of the Publishing Bureau's Party Committee, so when Su Cen passed this information on to him, it would undoubtedly benefit him greatly and help avoid certain issues, allowing the magazine to become healthier and more successful.

Just before the meal began, Lu Zhonghua excused himself, for he had received invitations to two dinners today. He was going to attend one of them but didn't want to offend Zeng Quanming, so he came over beforehand to make a brief appearance and promised to come back later for a drink before leaving.

Lu Zhonghua's departure quickly led other officials dining at the restaurant that day to connect the dots. The fact that Zeng Quanming’s family was having a meal here wasn't exactly secret either.

Soon, people started rotating in; some had loud voices and left a deep impression on Su Cen even before they arrived. Others spoke quietly but arrogantly, resembling university professors during the day who turned into something else at night. Despite this, they were already deputy department-level officials of a provincial government agency. They came and went casually, with two or three beautiful female cadres among them who could talk eloquently. Yet, Zeng Quanming frowned; he found their behavior distasteful, which made his aunt-in-law, Yin Shuying, unhappy as she repeatedly urged everyone to start eating.

Only then did the family dinner begin.

The sinuous crime dance bounces on the silver ginkgo, non-gate how to descend aunt "vegetables' life is not responsible for valet parking. Moreover, standing in front of them are merely welcoming staff. The two beautiful girls look up with sparkling eyes.

The silver Ferrari has a conceptual curve design that attracts attention when seen in Rongcheng today. Even someone like Su Cen, who possesses the discerning eye from the future and finds most contemporary cars unremarkable, can't help but admire this one. The broad and flat lines of the front end embody the traditional technical excellence of Ferrari. This slightly futuristic design has remained timeless throughout the '80s, '90s, and 2000s, with only minor adjustments to its details.

Inside the Ferrari are two men; one around thirty-five or thirty-six years old, and another who appears twenty-eight but is actually only twenty-two, named Zaozi.

"That's Zeng Quanming's car," said the middle-aged man, accurately identifying the Buick parked between two street trees as belonging to Zeng Quanming.

The young man in his twenties narrowed his eyes slightly. The reflection of light in his gaze seemed somewhat ominous.e charming than ever, with hints of womanly allure.When she saw Su Can, she gave a faint smile that was natural and unconstrained, just like nothing happened yesterday.The more injured you were, the m...