After the two of them separated in the cafeteria, An Songyu went back to the front desk to replace the colleagues who had come over to eat.
After that, she stayed busy all the way until getting off work at ten o’clock at night, barely managing to sort through the bulk of the tasks she was responsible for.
As for the finer details, she would still need the next two or three days to fully get everything clear.
Today, it was only because there weren’t many guests. Otherwise, given her current state,
An Songyu couldn’t even guarantee that her work would have gone smoothly.
When she stepped out of the hotel, the streetlights outside had already lit up, casting dim yellow halos of light.
An Songyu lifted her head and stared for quite a while, feeling somewhat unaccustomed.
“An Songyu, what are you spacing out for?” An Songxiang had propped her bicycle by the roadside and jogged over, pushing her sister lightly.
She had arrived right on time to pick her up.
She had clearly seen her sister come out, yet she stood at the hotel entrance staring upward at who knew what.
She hadn’t even heard her soft call!
If it weren’t for the imposing presence of the Xianquan Hotel, An Songxiang would have yelled long ago.
Pulled back to her senses, An Songyu smiled apologetically.
Even seeing the faintly resentful look on An Songxiang’s face, she found it especially cute because of her youthful, pretty appearance.
So she took her sister’s hand proactively and said with a hint of bold cheer,
“Come on, let’s go home right now!”
An Songxiang was completely helpless.
Had her sister’s mind been overstimulated by that demolition news?
Was that why her behavior today was so strange?
That’s what she thought—but her steps didn’t slow in the slightest.
The sisters took turns riding the bicycle. By the time they got home, it was even faster than their trip at noon.
At the An household, the moment An Songyu stepped inside, she saw that almost no one was missing from the living room.
She was initially a bit surprised.
But thinking of the bombshell she had dropped on the family at noon, her eyes couldn’t help lighting up.
Without even putting her canvas bag back in her room, she pulled out a chair and was about to sit down.
At that moment, An Songyue—who had just come back from evening self-study— finished washing up, briefly greeted the family, and drifted back into her room like a wandering soul.
With only a few months left until the college entrance exam, and having just endured the onslaught of two full exam papers that night, she really had no energy left for any extra curiosity.
The family also understood the situation of a student preparing for the gaokao.
And the topic they were about to discuss wasn’t suitable for her to overhear anyway.
So they simply called to each other and moved into the sisters’ small bedroom.
It was indeed getting late.
After An Jianping finished briefly explaining what he had seen in the village that day, he lowered his voice and said,
“Although we still can’t confirm the authenticity of the information, Jianmin and I went around the new district and felt that the possibility of building another logistics center is quite high.”
“The factories in the new district are mostly completed, but many office buildings, fencing, and other facilities still aren’t finished.”
“However… when we went today, we took a look around and saw that almost every factory was busy preparing.”
“Some factories even already have quite a few people moving around inside.”
“And the vehicles going in and out are basically all freight trucks.”
“When we went in, the newly built two-lane road felt especially wide, but as soon as even one truck came through, the road suddenly felt much narrower.”
And this was with most of the factories not yet officially in production.
If they really started operating…
Thinking of this, the family unconsciously looked at one another.
“Tomorrow, except for Xiaoyu, the rest of us are off work. Let’s ask around more from different angles,” An Songlin said. He pressed his lips together before continuing,
“I’ll also take Xuanying over there to have another look.”
“You all shouldn’t ask around casually,” An Jianping shook his head and directly rejected his son’s suggestion.
“I’ll go sound out Old Lu.”
“Things like this aren’t easy to get information on right now anyway.”
“And besides…”
At this point, An Jianping’s mood became a bit complicated.
When he first heard the news his daughter had brought back, he had naturally been extremely excited, focused solely on confirming whether the information was true.
But after cooling down over the course of the afternoon, he felt somewhat conflicted.
Using this information to accumulate family assets early on was certainly a good thing.
But strictly speaking, it wasn’t exactly an entirely righteous or commendable approach.
Yet seeing his whole family waiting expectantly for him to continue, An Jianping forced himself to rein in his tangled thoughts.
“No matter what is done, traces are always left behind.”
“If the demolition turns out to be false, so be it. But if it’s real, there will be no shortage of things for us to handle next.”
“Gaining wealth in this way—it’s better to keep things more low-key.”
An Jianping’s words left the rest of the family momentarily stunned.
Before they could think too deeply about it, he spoke again:
“Eldest, you… and Xuanying—forget it, just go ahead and do what you suggested.”
“As for A-Yu, A-Xiang, and Lizhu, you should all stick to your routines—go to work when you’re supposed to, take time off when it’s your day off.”
“Also, from what I saw, the factories in the new district should be put into operation soon.”
“I’ve already spoken with your younger uncle. He’ll continue keeping an eye on the situation over there.”
“Once most of the factories in the new district are running, whether a logistics distribution center is needed should become fairly clear.”
The people who were addressed exchanged glances and obediently nodded.
On An Songlin’s day off the next day, just as he had said, he first took his fiancée Xuanying to the new district once.
However, his main purpose was to take her back to his hometown.
He even took the opportunity to properly experience one of the well-run farmhouse resorts in the village.
As for An Songyu, she went on living and working honestly with everyone else.
It wasn’t until several days had passed, and it was finally her scheduled day off, that the family’s investigation yielded results.
When the family gathered together again, compared to the previous times, their excitement had only grown, not diminished.
An Jianping looked at his second daughter with satisfaction before speaking firmly to everyone:
“I confirmed it with Old Lu. Recently, there really has been a Hong Kong businessman staying on the top floor of your hotel.”
“I heard that his business in Hong Kong is quite massive.”
“After entering the mainland, he didn’t limit his development to just one city.”
“This time, he came to Shuncheng because the factories in Nancheng are no longer sufficient.”
“And since Shuncheng isn’t far from Nancheng, it’s convenient for him to establish new factories here.”
“In fact, he came here many times over the past year.”
“Recently, it’s because the new factory is almost ready to go into operation that he’s been staying at your hotel for half a month straight.”
“Oh, right—I also heard that he didn’t just build factories in the new district, but also some kind of design building?”
“It’s one of the tallest buildings in the new district.”
(End of this chapter)