Chapter 401: Pleading for Mercy

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Chao headed to the bathroom, preparing to take a shower to freshen up.

“So refreshing!” After a cold shower, he felt much more awake. He patted his growling stomach and headed straight for the kitchen.

He grilled two pieces of steak for himself, took out two boxes of caviar, and a piece of Iberian ham. Just as he was about to enjoy his meal, the phone on the table rang again.

With no other choice, he put down his knife and fork, and picked up the ringing phone. It turned out to be a call from Qin Qingchun.

“Director Qin!” Zhou Chao greeted as soon as he answered the call.

“Young MasterZhou, I hope 1 didn’t disturb you.”

“No problem, 1 was just preparing some food after getting up. What’s the matter?” Zhou Chao knew exactly why Qin Qingchun was calling, but he didn’t want to bring up the topic himself to avoid giving Qin Qingchun the impression of his discontent.

“Young Master Zhou, I’m calling to apologize. It’s my lack of strict supervision that led to this situation.” Qin Qingchun immediately lowered his tone, and Zhou Chao knew he was here to request a favor for Liu Zhiwei.

“Well, you can’t put it that way. After all, Sany Group is so vast that there are bound to be some oversights. It’s quite normal,” Zhou Chao replied diplomatically. He then continued, “How do you plan to handle this matter?” “Young Master Zhou, I may have to put my faith in your hands this time,” Qin Qingchun said somewhat embarrassed.

“Lao Qin, I can’t afford to take that responsibility. Tell me what happened directly,” Zhou Chao said, shaking his head. It seemed that Liu Zhiwei had some connections with him.

“Ahem, to be honest, Liu Zhiwei’s sister is my secretary, and you know I’m a bit soft-hearted. I agreed to her request, and now I have to ask for a favor from you,” Qin Qingchun explained.

He had already lowered his pride to ask for this favor, and Zhou Chao knew there was no way he could refuse.

Zhou Chao pondered for a moment and said, “Lao Qin, if it were someone else, I wouldn’t even consider it. Let’s do this: Liu Zhiwei’s project can’t continue here. Recall him and find a less busy department for him to start fresh. As for his relatives, it’s your call. The company shouldn’t tolerate incompetence.” “Thank you, Young Master Zhou. I’ve already transferred him to a remote location, and I’ve made him confess to embezzlement and kickbacks. I’ll take responsibility for the materials for the later construction phase,” Qin Qingchun explained. Zhou Chao had given him a chance, and he had to deliver.

Zhou Chao smiled and said, “Director Qin, I trust you to handle it.”

“Then 1 won’t disturb your meal any longer. I’ll hang up now.”

“Alright,” Zhou Chao replied before ending the call.

Qin Qingchun looked at the disconnected phone, his smile fading. He glanced at Liu Zhiwei, who was standing in front of him, nervously awaiting the verdict.

“Director Qin, how did Zhou Chao respond? He won’t let me go in, will he?” Liu Zhiwei asked anxiously.

“You dare to call him Zhou Chao? Did he ever address you like that? You have no sense of propriety. How could I have entrusted you with the second phase of the Canghai project? I must have been blind!” Qin Qingchun’s anger flared up as he scolded Liu Zhiwei.

At this moment, a pair of delicate hands rested on Qin Qingchun’s shoulders, gently massaging them.

“Director Qin, don’t be angry with my dad. He didn’t expect Zhou Chao to personally visit the construction site,” the beautiful woman said, her charming eyes and flawless face carrying a hint of seduction.

“It’s a case of incompetence. Tomorrow, you’ll go to Inner Mongolia immediately. If there’s nothing else, just stay there.”

“Director Qin, please spare my father this time!” the beautiful woman exclaimed upon hearing this.

But as soon as these words were spoken, Qin Qingchun angrily slammed the table. “Spare your father? Who will spare me? Are you saying I’ve been in this position for too long? Enough of this discussion; you pack your things immediately and head to the airport!”

Qin Qingchun didn’t want to see Liu Zhiwei for even a moment longer. If it weren’t for the fact that his daughter was following him and was pregnant, he wouldn’t have resorted to fabricating stories and seeking sympathy from Zhou Chao.

Hearing this, Liu Zhiwei’s face turned pale, realizing that Qin Qingchun was genuinely furious. He quickly opened the office door and walked out.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Chao quickly finished his meal, although the steak’s texture had changed a bit due to the delay. However, he didn’t mind it as he was hungry.

Once he finished cleaning up and lay on the couch, he took out his phone to browse some short videos. Just as he was about to start, the phone rang again. Seeing the caller ID, he sat up straight away.

“Hello, Uncle Ye, what made you call me?”

“Why can’t I call you, young man?” came Ye Zhengfeng’s cheerful laughter from the other end of the line.

“Of course, you can call anytime!”

“You, young man, are getting more and more immersed in games. It’s a pity that someone from the Jiang family managed to snatch a treasure. Otherwise, you would be my son-in-law by now!”

Zhou Chao could only smile at that, feeling that it was all a bit off.

“I received the items, and your aunt really liked them. These past few years, taking care of Little Mango has been quite tiring for her. She’s been a bit weak, and these gifts will help her. Thank you for your trouble,” Ye Zhengfeng sighed, considering their age; they didn’t have the same vitality as the younger generation.

“Uncle Ye, you’re too polite. We’re all family here. Don’t be so formal. Give me a call after you’ve had your meal. I’ve got everything covered here.”

“Hahaha, alright, I’ll remember that. If I run out of things to do later, I won’t hesitate to call you. You better not refuse!”

“Don’t worry, 1 won’t.”

“Well, I won’t keep you any longer. I have a meeting to attend shortly. I just called during my break.”

“Sure, Uncle Ye, you’re busy!” After hanging up the phone, Zhou Chao began to ponder what Ye Zhengfeng had said.

He quickly opened his system’s inventory and started examining it. He hadn’t properly explored the definitions of these ingredients, searching for any medicinal or nutritious properties among them.

After all, he still had to send some to others. If it weren’t for Ye Zhengfeng’s call today, he might not have thought about this issue so soon.

He began to explore the inventory.

Looking at the wide array of ingredients in the inventory, Zhou Chao felt a bit overwhelmed after a while.

“Hmm? This is the Yangtze River’s Chinese knife fish, and it’s still alive! I didn’t expect the system inventory to be so amazing! And this…wild mountain ginseng.”

Zhou Chao cautiously selected a piece from the inventory. Examining its intricate roots, he felt about 90% confident that it was wild mountain ginseng. After all, the items generated by the system were of top quality. The only uncertainty was regarding its age; he couldn’t determine how many years it had been growing.

He quickly took out his phone to search for information on how to determine the age of wild mountain ginseng.

He found the information quickly: “To determine the age, look at the number of ‘bowls’ on the stem, with each ‘bowl’ representing one year. Additionally, examine the color of the outer skin and the spiral patterns.”

Zhou Chao looked at the densely packed “bowls” on the stem and the clear spiral patterns. He couldn’t help but feel nervous. If it was really confirmed as a hundred-year-old wild mountain ginseng, he would have a whole ton of it. Just thinking about it made him feel much more spirited.

He quickly started counting.

“One, two, three… ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred, one hundred and one!”

“A total of one hundred and one!” Zhou Chao stood up in excitement.

After all, this thing, if used in the right way, could save lives.

He quickly took out several more pieces of wild mountain ginseng from the inventory, finding that they were all quite similar, almost identical. After examining them for a while, he quickly returned them to the inventory.

Zhou Chao did some more research and found that apart from ginseng, the inventory also contained top-grade medicinal herbs like hundred-year-old Lingzhi mushrooms, snow clam, and others that could be used as ingredients. This left Zhou Chao a bit stunned. He now realized that the sign-in rewards from this system were not inferior to those from a publicly-listed company.

Just the Yellow-Lipped Fish Maw alone was worth tens of billions. Of course, if there were suddenly so many on the market, they wouldn’t be as expensive, but it still indicated their considerable value. And this was just one item. When added up, the total value of the items in the inventory was at least several hundred billion, some of which couldn’t even be bought with money.

After some thought, he went into the wine cellar and took out six wooden boxes. These boxes had been used to store red wine before.

Each box could hold about three pieces of wild mountain ginseng, so six boxes meant 18 pieces.

He carefully placed them inside the boxes, which were lined with soft velvet cushions.

After searching his home for more boxes to store items like fish maw, saffron, or hundred-year-old Lingzhi mushrooms, he couldn’t find any suitable ones.

So, he had no choice but to call Lin Wu.

“Boss, good afternoon!”

“Uh, Lin Wu, go find a shop that specializes in gift boxes and buy about… 30 of them,” Zhou Chao thought for a moment about what he needed to pack. “Alright, boss!” Zhou Chao hung up the phone and took out the items from the inventory, placing each one separately.

In no time, the table was piled up like a small mountain. Satisfied with his work, Zhou Chao waited for Lin Wu to bring the gift boxes.

Lin Wu arrived quickly; it didn’t take him even an hour to return with the gift boxes.

While carrying the boxes, he muttered, “Boss, why did you buy so many gift boxes?”

It wasn’t until he put the gift boxes down and saw the various medicinal and nutritious ingredients piled up on the table that he realized what they were for. “Don’t just stand there, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and bring the rest!” Zhou Chao said to Lin Wu, who seemed a bit dazed.

“Oh, okay, okay!” A now-awake Lin Wu quickly turned and headed for the elevator.

After making four trips back and forth, he had brought all 30 boxes up.

Once Lin Wu had finished bringing up the boxes, Zhou Chao had also nearly finished packing. He placed the last bit into the boxes, clapped his hands, and looked at his masterpiece with a pleased expression..