Chapter 79: Get Out, Don’t You Dare Come Back, Don’t You Ever Come Back!!! Part 1

At the New Year’s dinner table, it was rare to sit down for a meal with the busy Village Secretary. Yue Chengqi wasted no time in discussing her plans with her.

“So, you’re saying you want to open an eco-friendly restaurant that sources directly from the origin?” Yang Mo recalled some of the high-end names she had heard in big cities during her college days. “Something like those ‘Hydro-Luxe Private Kitchens’?”

Yue Chengqi’s expression turned complicated. “…Which university did you go to in Ye City?”

“Ye Normal.”

Ah, I see. Another poor soul scammed by that terrible ‘Hydro-Luxe’ place.

Sharing the pain of someone who had also been burned by that brand, Yue Chengqi patted Yang Mo’s shoulder sympathetically. “I’m not planning to use ‘eco-friendly’ as a gimmick to hike prices. The vegetables here would be priced the same as the ones I’ll eventually source from Shan Province—standard restaurant prices.”

“But our volume is tiny,” Yang Mo countered. “Even though machine production is becoming more common here, we’re still in the mountains. Even if you contracted the entire county’s supply, it wouldn’t be enough for high-volume turnover. Besides, there’s quite a distance between Sichuan and Shan Province. I know you and Boss Su are both great people who love helping others, but the logistics costs are too high. To be honest, I can’t bring myself to fleece you like that.”

Yang Mo made a valid point. Logistics had improved significantly, but even the best cold-chain transport couldn’t change the fact that Sichuan’s endless mountain ranges stood between them and the deserts of Shan Province. The cost of a single shipment was so high that only high-end private kitchens could offset it. For a regular restaurant, it simply wasn’t cost-effective.

Yue Chengqi had been so focused on helping the village that her passion had momentarily clouded her judgment. Yang Mo didn’t blindly follow her lead; instead, she spoke from the heart, helping Yue Chengqi gradually calm down.

Once she was calm, however, she didn’t know what to do next.

Yue Chengqi rubbed her temples. “Let me think about it some more.”

Zhang Mingfang chuckled. “In the past, it was always little Su Ye and Ah Huan chatting about all this random stuff while I listened from the side. And here I am, still listening. Heh!”

Lin Wanjia ignored the jab. She pondered for a few minutes before speaking. “You have to go back eventually. Why not discuss it with Su Ye? You could introduce ‘city-exclusive’ fresh vegetables in the produce section. Unified sourcing, unified pricing—buy local, sell local.”

“She wanted to do this back in 2009,” Lin Wanjia continued. “But back then, Everguest was just beginning its outward expansion. Doing both expansion and a brand-tier upgrade at the same time would have risked losing our original customer base, so I stopped her.”

In truth, Lin Wanjia hadn’t yet figured out how to face Su Ye or how to initiate their first conversation in nearly a decade. But she watched the news every day. Seeing Su Ye negotiating partnerships with high-end conglomerates told her that Su Ye was getting impatient.

But back then, they couldn’t rush. The economy was sluggish; no one had truly recovered from the financial crisis, and overall consumption was poor. Everguest wasn’t ready to enter the purely fresh, high-end market. Lin Wanjia had decisively written a letter to stop Su Ye. Fortunately, that woman was still willing to listen to her, willing to forgive her, and willing to talk.

Looking back now, it had indeed been the right decision.

Lin Wanjia briefly explained the past to Yue Chengqi. “It’s feasible now. It’s not about going purely high-end, but utilizing the developed cold-chain logistics to open a Rural Assistance Zone. Yang Mo, what do you think?”

Yang Mo didn’t dare ask why this girl, who looked about her age, was being told to consult CEO Su. She didn’t dare say much at all, only whispering in a small, helpless voice, “Is my support enough?”

“You won’t need to worry about the rest,” Lin Wanjia smiled.

She had given Yue Chengqi a reason. Now it was up to Yue whether she would take it—to return to An City, to see the person who could actually make the decisions, to negotiate, to cooperate, and to restart the entrepreneurial journey they had shared once before.

Yue Chengqi remained silent, her fingers nervously pressing against her knuckles. After a long silence, she asked, “Does she have any invested shops in Sichuan?”

“She does.” Lin Wanjia tapped her chin. “Her investments in Sichuan also take the form of convenience stores. If you go into the county seat tomorrow, look for one called ‘Welcoming Joy.’ There’s one in Gu County.”

“…” Yue Chengqi let out a long sigh.

Su Ye was so powerful now—so powerful it was almost frightening.

She shook her head. “I won’t go tomorrow. I’m continuing my journey. There are still several places in Sichuan I haven’t visited. Then I’ll head west and north. I might spend the Lantern Festival in Xinjiang. As for discussing things with Su Ye…” She hesitated.

Zhang Mingfang shrugged helplessly, nudging Lin Wanjia’s bowl. “Should your Sister Wanjia go instead?”

“No,” Yue Chengqi softly declined. “I will go.”

After crossing Xinjiang, it would be time to return to An City.

She and Su Ye couldn’t run away forever. If they did, how much more beauty, like Lake Hill Village, would they miss?

At dawn the next day, Yue Chengqi packed her bags. She didn’t want to disturb everyone on the first day of the New Year; she intended to leave quietly. After all, saying goodbye on New Year’s Day felt a bit unlucky.

As she pulled open the door, a cat suddenly leaped into her arms, knocking her back several steps. She barely managed to catch the feline before a woman’s complaining voice reached her ears.

“You and Su Ye are exactly the same. Coming and going without a sound.”

“Leaving without taking anything? What are you going to do, drink air?” Lin Wanjia stood there with her arms crossed, giving her a pointed look.

Yue Chengqi opened her mouth, but her words were replaced by a look of sheer shock.

Zhang Mingfang arrived, carrying a bag of fried crispy pork in one hand and a bag of snacks in the other—weighing at least a kilogram or two. She set them casually on the hall table and brushed back her hair. “You didn’t get to eat this good stuff back then. Now’s your chance.”

“…” Perhaps when people reach a certain age, they become obsessed with packing things for departing juniors.

The person who intended to leave at the crack of dawn was forced to stand aside, holding the cat, watching helplessly as the two elder sisters stuffed things into her heavy travel backpack. They didn’t even ask her. The only saving grace was that they had already sealed her spare clothes, or else Yue Chengqi would have smelled like a walking spice rack within two days.

Once Zhang Mingfang contentedly stuffed the last bottle of water inside, she patted the pack. “Not bad. You should still be able to carry it.”

It was only an extra three or four kilograms. Not a big deal.

Between laughter and tears, Yue Chengqi walked over and hauled the bag up. She staggered a bit under the weight but managed to settle it firmly on her back. She buckled the straps, zipped her travel windbreaker up to her chin, and put on her helmet, leaving only her eyes visible.

Lin Wanjia looked at her with a trace of nostalgia, patting her shoulder. “Now this is our free-spirited Xiao Huan.”

“In the future, you have to bring Xiao Ye along on these trips, you hear me?”

Yue Chengqi smiled silently, hugged them both, and whispered, “Sisters, I’ll see you in An City.”

Lin Wanjia’s hand paused slightly. “Alright. See you in An City.”

The girl walked out and swung onto her bike. The black-and-red chassis had been washed spotless. With one hand, she flipped down her visor, then touched two fingers to her temple and flicked them outward in a cool salute.

She had truly cleared the congestion in her heart and found a general direction for her future. The next leg was the final part of her journey—and the road home.

She would never let go of Su Ye’s hand again.

But change came much faster than she expected. She had just left the borders of Sichuan when her headset rang while she was still on the highway.

She found a temporary stopping point and took the call while still sitting on the bike.

Lin Wanjia’s voice was incredibly fast: “Where are you? Can you get back to Chengdu immediately? I’ve booked a 5:00 PM flight from Chengdu to An City for you. Go back and find Su Ye. I’ll send you the details in a moment.”

Yue Chengqi’s pulse spiked. Before she could ask a question, another call came in. It was Yue Wenfeng.

Suppressing her rising panic, she answered.

Her mother’s voice sounded broken. “I was wrong… I was wrong. Please, just come back.”

“I shouldn’t have stopped you. I shouldn’t have… I shouldn’t have…”

“What exactly happened?”

As Yue Chengqi asked, she calculated her current distance. At maximum safe speed, the distance to return to Chengdu was roughly the same as riding directly to An City. Racing back to catch a flight might actually take longer…

Her calculations were cut short by her mother’s devastating words: “Su Ye is in the hospital. She had surgery. Please, just come back!”

Yue Wenfeng didn’t hate Su Ye. On the contrary, she admired her. Had Su Ye and Yue Chengqi been the same age, she might have accepted it. In truth, it wasn’t even about age; she simply couldn’t accept the reality that she, who thought she worked so hard for a good life, had actually made a mess of everything.

She hated herself.

She had tried so hard not to become the cold, heartless mother Yue Huan had described, but in the end, she had become that person anyway… Her breakdown was about her own failure, but she never imagined it would cause such consequences.

She was going mad with guilt.

Yue Chengqi pursed her lips. “Mom, it’s not your fault. Wait for me.”

She hung up on Yue Wenfeng, and Lin Wanjia continued, “I’ll send you the flight number. If you can’t make it, tell me and I’ll change it. If you have a faster way, take it—don’t worry about the money.”

“You two were destined to need each other.”

*

The person feeling most fortunate right now was Lin Youle. She was glad she had insisted on checking on Su Ye on New Year’s Eve, and even gladder she had a spare key. The sight of Su Ye collapsed on the carpet, covered in spilled snacks, had nearly scared her to death.

She had rushed Su Ye to the hospital. It was a severe gastric ulcer compounded by a minor stomach hemorrhage. The doctor kept saying it was lucky she was brought in early; otherwise, with such a rare blood type, a major hemorrhage would have been a death sentence. Especially during the Spring Festival, when mobilizing donors for rare blood types was incredibly difficult.

After emergency stabilization on the first night, they performed a gastroscopy under general anesthesia the next day to treat the bleeding points. Now, she needed to remain under observation to ensure no new bleeding occurred.

“And… I really didn’t mean to go through your phone,” the girl said, looking down at her fingers with a guilty expression. “The doctor said they needed a family member’s authorization for me to sign the papers. I had no choice, I…”

Su Ye’s face, already pale, was now almost translucent. She reached out to pat Lin Youle’s head. “It’s okay. I don’t blame you. Is there… anything you want to ask me?”

Going through the phone meant she must have seen Lin Wanjia’s name. Su Ye had already told Lin Youle that the company’s name was related to her mother, and that the entire business owed its existence to her mother’s support, so…