Chapter 301 May the New Year Be Better Than the Old

[The land ends here and the sea begins here. ]

When Xie Jingxing saw Yu Nianfa’s updates on WeChat Moments, it was already the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Cape Roca, a 40-minute drive from Lisbon, is located at the westernmost tip of the Eurasian continent. The Atlantic Ocean is right in front of it. A poet in the Age of Exploration wrote this sentence.

"She won't be so depressed that she jumps into the sea, right?" Xie Jingxing complained in a petty and mean way.

Yu Tong's face was flushed from the heat in her bulky down jacket. She glanced at him coquettishly. The young wife was very happy and delighted as she returned to her hometown in Northeast China for the first time to celebrate the New Year.

So looking back, we can understand why Yu Nian was so crazy. She went to a foreign country alone for vacation during the Chinese New Year. Xie Jingxing also wished her a happy new year and a happy vacation and to be safe alone.

If someone else had given her such a blessing, she wouldn't have been so broken down as to become hysterical.

"In the end, it's still because your husband is too good." Xie Jingxing boasted to himself.

Yu Tong just smiled and stroked her eight-month pregnant belly. She felt more and more at ease as the due date got closer. No matter how far the kite flew, as long as there was a string connecting it, it would eventually return to her hands.

Xie Jingxing bored himself and introduced the landscape design outside the car window in a sullen manner. The artificial lake was covered with thick ice, the dead branches of green plants in the garden were covered with snow, and the main building in medieval neoclassical style was hung with bright red lanterns.

The couplets with the word "Fu" will be posted on the morning of New Year's Eve tomorrow, and the nannies will put on festive clothes in advance to welcome the new daughter-in-law.

Yu Tong found the New Year atmosphere full of Northeastern folk customs quite novel. He waved his little hand and handed out red envelopes while greeting people. Everyone got one.

"Call me sister. I have prepared gifts for you."

After working for a while and the crowd left, she began to focus on getting to know the younger brother and sister.

Aunt Jie Qing listened quietly to the subtle address with a smile on her face. She had endured ten years, and it wouldn't be a big deal to endure another ten years. It wouldn't be too late to tell whether she was a sister or a sister-in-law later.

This year, the new daughter-in-law came to visit, and Old Xie’s children from other families were unable to come back, so her children were content to receive the gifts.

Old Xie himself is not at home either. The scenery along the Belt and Road is beautiful. Foreign friends will perform on the Spring Festival Gala stage tomorrow to greet the people of the whole country. He has to attend the celebration banquet and go to the Spring Festival Gala to applaud and cheer.

"We don't have to wait tomorrow. We can have the New Year's Eve dinner on time. He will be back in the late night." Aunt Jie Qing peeled an orange and handed it to Yu Tong.

"It's too tiring to come back overnight, husband, why don't you call dad and ask him to come back the day after tomorrow so we can stay home for a few more days."

Yu Tong acted like a good wife and mother: "If it doesn't work out, we can go to Beijing tomorrow. As long as the family is together, it doesn't matter where we celebrate the New Year."

"Don't bother with that, I'll call him." Xie Jingxing suppressed his smile and stopped talking.

Jie Qing felt sorry for Old Xie for running around all night but had to resist the urge to show respect to his new wife. Yu Tong was not to be outdone and was quite capable of making things happen, even saying such corny words.

Xiyou Taihe has a normal holiday, Xinda E and Meituan continue their Spring Festival battle, and Baidu gives annual leave and reimburses travel expenses to a large number of front-line food delivery riders, intending to use brand sentiment marketing.

As it turns out, consumers are good at voting with their feet. They may praise conscientious companies, but they will never accept their takeaway food being delayed due to insufficient transportation capacity.

By the time Baidu realized something was wrong and wanted to urgently recall its front-line employees, everyone had already returned home with the travel expenses provided by the conscientious company, and it would be good enough for them to return to work after the New Year holiday.

Some employees in remote areas may have to take a few days off to spend more time with their 80-year-old mother and three-year-old child. As a result, in just a few days, Baidu Takeout, which was already at a disadvantage, saw its market share plummet, falling behind completely and losing its competitiveness, a decline that is difficult to reverse.

The group-buying business is also not doing well. The ambition to be the second in the market has turned into a bubble. Its head is probably thinking about how to take back the boasts he made at the beginning of the year.

Except for the takeaway group buying business, all other projects operated smoothly during the New Year period.

After carefully calculating the schedule, Xie Jingxing could indeed stay at home for a few more days to accompany his wife, and have an in-depth communication with Old Xie.

The next few years will be a period of rapid development for agricultural and animal husbandry enterprises. Muyuan and New Hope Group have taken advantage of this opportunity to double their growth. Yunshan Group has the Belt and Road Initiative outside and animal husbandry breeding inside, and it started its M&A expansion strategy last year. There is no reason to miss this opportunity.

There isn't much that Xie Jingxing can help Old Xie with, except funding and macro-strategic planning.

"Why didn't you say anything just now? You just watched me and Aunt Jie Qing being embarrassed with each other."

The pregnant woman was exhausted, so Yu Tong finished the job briefly and went back to the bedroom to rest, pouting and complaining.

Xie Jing Xing bent his legs and sat on the ground: "Aunt Jie Qing is a good person."

"I didn't say anything bad about her."

"I'm afraid you think she's too good."

Yu Tong was speechless. He pretended to be angry, flattened the pillow, turned his back and lay on his side to hide his guilty conscience. After waiting for a while but no one came to comfort him, he got really angry and closed his eyes tightly and pretended to be asleep.

Xie Jing Xing stared at her back for a long time, and all he had to say turned into a futile sigh as he tiptoed out of the bedroom.

He didn't mind Yu Tong fighting with his old mother who was far away in New Zealand, but he didn't want Aunt Jie Qing to be cheated because of her little tricks.

…………

Song Anli went home to celebrate the New Year, Yuan Jin stayed in Beijing to serve Zhou Fenglan, and Concubine Pei went to the local TV station to announce the Spring Festival Gala.

Xie Jingxing wandered aimlessly in the manor for a long time, and suddenly realized that he had lost all his daily life and was only left with playing with women, and he could play with them anytime.

"Hello, Director Yang, Happy New Year. I know you'll be busy tomorrow, so I'd like to wish you a happy new year in advance." He returned to his study, picked up his cell phone and started working.

Director Yang on the other end of the phone thanked him warmly: "Speak of the devil, my wife is worried about what to do with the seafood you sent. Mr. Xie, you are really too polite."

"It's my duty. Thank you very much for hosting me last month." Xie Jingxing was very hypocritical and polite.

Having sent out hundreds of New Year gifts, he had no idea which gift list Director Yang received, but this did not affect the sincere feelings between the two at all.

"On behalf of the people of Luzhou, I wish General Xie a happy new year. We welcome you to come again at any time." Sure enough, Director Yang also thought so.

Xie Jingxing made up his mind and coughed lightly: "Then let's do it after the New Year. After the New Year holiday, I will go to Luzhou to wish you a happy new year."

"..."

Director Yang's breathing was slightly stagnant, and after half a minute he responded, "It's a deal. I and the comrades from the Development Zone Management Committee and the Investment Management Committee are waiting for Mr. Xie's arrival!"

"Okay, then you go ahead and do your thing. I won't bother you anymore. Also, I'd like to wish everyone a happy new year. May the new year be better than the old one."

Xie Jingxing hung up the phone and called Tang Man to inform her to form a corresponding negotiation team.

He had originally planned to make a decision after the New Year, which overlapped with the expected delivery dates of Yu Tong and Zhou Fenglan. However, at this moment he inexplicably felt a slight sense of panic about the two upcoming children.

Last year, he took the Xiyou Taihe employees to a small island in Maldives for skydiving and diving. This year, he brought his wife home to celebrate the New Year and they went through all kinds of trivial family matters. So what about next year?

Xie Jingxing returned to the bedroom and lay on the bed, gently hugging the sleeping Yu Tong from behind.

He was going to be a father anyway.

(End of this chapter)