Once she heard this, Mother Zhou immediately made him braised chicken with Chinese mushrooms. The old hen’s meat was braised until it was soft enough to almost melt in the mouth, and Mother Zhou added a lot of mushrooms to the stock, so the broth was thick and rich. Needless to say, the savory smell made all the neighbors’ mouths water.

Mother Zhou just took pity on a hard-working student—she had no idea Lin Jingzhe set up a company. Deng Mai wasn’t loose-lipped and had a sense of proportion; he knew what should and shouldn’t be said. Although he’d been living with the Zhou couple, he never mentioned Lin Jingzhe’s business. He kept it secret even from Gao Sheng and Zhou Haitang.

On their part, the Zhou couple also hadn’t found out that he didn’t attend school, since after New Beginnings Real Estate became well-known, Deng Mai had to deal with countless invitations. Lin Jingzhe wanted Deng Mai to learn and gain experience, so he intentionally didn’t pick through them and let Deng Mai socialize as much as possible. As such, the poor guy hardly spent any time at home, going out to attend various gatherings and parties every day.

In Mother Zhou’s eyes, he was the most pitiful of the boys—he had classes every day, not getting to rest even at weekends!

Fortunately, Mother Zhou only sighed over Deng Mai’s fate and didn’t think about it more. She also had been very busy recently. Last year, the food stall’s business had been very prosperous, letting the couple earn a lot of money. His ambition stirring, Father Zhou made up his mind to set up a proper store after they returned to Yan City after the Spring Festival. After searching all over the city for a suitable place, he finally found one that was acceptable both in terms of size and the amount of the rent and began preparing it for the business. Seeing that summer was coming and the renovation was about to be finished, he contacted Gao Sheng’s father who, as they’d agreed, quit his job at the construction site in Qunnan City and was about to leave for Yan City. These days, Father Zhou and his wife had no time to set up the food stall behind Wutong University, rushing back and forth between the new store to help and take care of the finishing touches.

Tables, chairs, and other furniture were going to be delivered today, so there had to be someone in the store to keep an eye on the delivery workers or they would definitely not be careful when carrying things in!

After the chicken stew was ready, Mother Zhou urged Lin Jingzhe to eat properly, then grabbed her bag and rushed out in a hurry. Deng Mai came back right after she left, saying that they had bumped into each other at the entrance downstairs.

The chicken and mushroom stew smell was rich and savory. After a whole day of running outside and drinking a lot of alcohol, a mere whiff made Deng Mai drool. He quickly served himself a bowl and drank the nearly scalding broth in small mouthfuls. Only after that did he get his mind back on the business.

Chewing on a mushroom, he took out an invitation letter from his bag and handed it to Lin Jingzhe. “Brother Lin, New Era Group is holding a gathering in Changqing Province. Are you going?”

Hearing the words “New Era Group,” Lin Jingzhe became a bit more serious. After taking a look at the invitation, he realized that rather than a gathering, it was actually alliance members meeting up to take a look at the situation and opportunities in Changqing Province.

In Yan City, there existed a small, elite alliance of real estate companies, headed by New Era Group, one of China’s leading enterprises. Many reputable companies joined in, sharing resources or connections for mutual benefit. Xiao Chi’s Flux Realty was one of them and in the future, after it grew and developed, it replaced New Era Group as the alliance’s unspoken leader. At present, though, Flux Realty was still a new member that was probably allowed to join relying on the success of the Dongtai Community project.