196: Chapter 196 Yan Zheng: We're doomed, we've been tricked.

Apart from the first few sentences, they didn't discuss any serious business for the rest of the time, and after eating, the atmosphere had eased up quite a bit.

Su Yi slowly set down his wine glass, took a bite of food, and looked at Su Ye, asking, "Little Su, I've heard some rumors over the last couple of days. They say that the underground organization minister in Sichuan Province has taken a fancy to your business?"

Yu Chen and Chen Ze gently set down their glasses. Even their breathing quieted as they focused intently on their bowls, eyes cast downward.

Upon hearing his Fourth Uncle's words, Su Ye's hand paused mid-motion as he reached for food. Very few people should have known about this, and none of them were loose-lipped. For Su Yi to know this news, he must have been keeping an eye on him. Considering Su Yi had just taken office and was swamped with work, the fact that he could still pay attention to him made a wave of warmth rise in Su Ye's heart.

Su Ye put down his chopsticks, a gentle smile on his face, and winked at Su Yi: "Fourth Uncle, your sources are quite well-informed. It's true that President Liu might think highly of Future Technology under my name and wanted to inject capital, but I didn't agree."

Su Yi frowned slightly, then let out a long sigh and spoke openly: "Little Su, I don't think it's just that. Your Future Technology company has been having quite a bit of trouble lately."

After patting Su Ye on the shoulder, Su Yi continued: "I told you before to abide by the law and not go around causing trouble using my name, but that doesn't mean I'll just sit by and watch while others walk all over you. If your grandparents found out, wouldn't they kick me out of the house?"

After gathering his thoughts, Su Yi continued: "I won't interfere with normal commercial competition; if your skills are inferior, that's your own problem, but—"

That single word "but" almost made Yu Chen and Chen Ze's hearts jump into their throats.

"As the only male descendant of our Su Family in this generation, if anyone wants to use low-handed tactics against you, I, as your elder, am no Bodhisattva in a temple. Your Fourth Uncle still has some influence. This is the confidence I'm giving you. Go ahead and do what you need to do; if you need anything, just ask."

The hearts of Yu Chen and Chen Ze dropped back down from their throats. They then looked at Su Ye with complicated expressions. Su Yi's intention today was already very clear: he was wholeheartedly protecting Su Ye. In Sichuan Province and even across the country, if anyone wanted to use underhanded methods to deal with Su Ye, they would first have to consider the monstrous rage of a provincial leader, a big shot sent down from the capital.

Su Ye looked at Su Yi's determined eyes and the gentle hand resting on his shoulder. He nodded, picked up the wine glass beside him, filled it for Su Yi and himself, and said in a firm tone: "I understand, Fourth Uncle. We, the Su Family, don't go looking for trouble, but we aren't afraid of it either. Besides, your nephew isn't made of mud!"

Su Yi was very satisfied with Su Ye's reaction. He smiled and patted Su Ye's shoulder heavily twice more, laughing: "That's right. Come, let's have a drink, just the two of us."

Yu Chen and Chen Ze looked at Su Ye with envy; they also really wished they had a Fourth Uncle who was so protective.

Just then, Su Ye's phone rang. He opened the screen and saw it was Yan Zheng. This made Su Ye a bit puzzled. Hadn't Yan Zheng been sent away for training a while ago? Could he be back?

He glanced at his Fourth Uncle, then didn't answer immediately. Instead, he showed the screen to Su Yi and said softly: "Fourth Uncle, this is an older brother of mine, the secretary of the High-Tech Zone—what do you think?"

Upon hearing Su Ye's words, a storm instantly rose in Su Yi's mind. Yan Zheng was, after all, a department-level cadre in Sichuan Province, and in the provincial capital at that. Su Yi had naturally looked into this person. Yan Zheng was a die-hard confidant of the number one in Chengdu. They had formed a friendship when Zhu Zhiwen was still just a section-level cadre, and he had followed Zhu Zhiwen all the way to the present. It could even be said that he had the ability to influence Zhu Zhiwen's decisions.

Right now, on the entire Standing Committee, he held five votes, Secretary Yao held three, and the person from the provincial government held two. However, that person from the provincial government was getting a bit too close to Secretary Yao, making it too difficult to win them over. Secretary Zhu Zhiwen had been wavering, which meant he couldn't fully exercise his personnel authority. Couldn't this Yan Zheng be a breakthrough point?

In just a few seconds, Su Yi made his decision and nodded gently at Su Ye. Su Ye understood and immediately answered the phone.

From the other end came Yan Zheng's deep, resonant voice: "Little Su, what are you doing? Why did it take so long?"

Su Ye replied with a smile: "Nothing much, just having a meal outside with Brother Chen, Brother Ze, and an elder. Brother Yan, you're back?"

Yan Zheng paused for a moment before saying: "Just arrived in Chengdu. I was thinking of asking you out for a meal. Your sister-in-law took the kids to her parents' place and hasn't come back yet."

Su Ye extended a direct invitation: "Brother Yan, we only just started eating. Why don't you come over here? We can chat while we're at it. We're at Zhilan Restaurant, same old place."

Yan Zheng naturally wouldn't have guessed that Su Ye was dining with the provincial number one, so he readily agreed. "Alright, wait for me for half an hour."

After hanging up, Su Ye thought to himself: Brother Yan, don't blame me later; I'm doing this for your own good.

Su Yi would be working in Sichuan Province for at least one term, which meant several years. Moreover, Su Ye had some understanding of Su Yi's background. As long as no major problems arose, there was a high probability of him being promoted after this term. For Yan Zheng, being able to make this connection would be of immense benefit.

If not for Su Ye, to be honest, Yan Zheng wouldn't have been qualified enough to connect with the provincial number one; reaching the city level would have been about as far as he could go.

Over the next half hour, Yu Chen and Chen Ze found excuses to leave the table one after another. They knew that the matters, and perhaps even the conversation, that would follow were not suitable for them to hear.

Not long after Yu Chen left, Yan Zheng arrived. He pushed the door open directly, his square face still showing a hint of fatigue.

"Little Su, you—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Yan Zheng saw the person sitting in the main seat and instantly froze. Then, instinctively, he stood straight, looking quite energetic; there wasn't a trace of fatigue left.

Seeing Yan Zheng's expression, Su Yi waved his hand with a chuckle: "Comrade Yan, no need to be so formal. It's after work hours. Come, come, sit."

Yan Zheng replied in a loud, clear voice: "Yes."

He then walked over and sat opposite Su Ye, his eyes full of confusion as he looked at Su Ye, as if to say: You said it was an elder, but you didn't say your elder was the provincial number one.

Su Ye kept his head down, staring intently at his bowl. Feeling Yan Zheng's gaze, he didn't have the slightest intention of looking up. Although it was for Yan Zheng's own good, it had indeed caught him off guard.

Su Yi also saw Yan Zheng's confused look, so he simply spoke up: "Little Yan, I hope you don't mind me calling you that."

Yan Zheng hurriedly said: "It's fine, of course it's fine."

After nodding, Su Yi continued: "I am Little Su's Fourth Uncle. It was I who asked Little Su to have you come over just now."