Chapter 14.1 Convenient, you can find me anytime.

Unfortunately, Shi Miao was going swimming and definitely wouldn’t be able to get back by 9:30.

“Why don’t you delay it by half an hour? I won’t be home until around 10.”

Min Ting: “Okay.”

He casually asked another question: “Going out tonight?”

“Yeah. Haven’t exercised in a long time, tonight is a good opportunity.”

The bus arrived and slowly approached the stop.

Shi Miao lined up with the crowd getting on the bus: “The bus is here, I’ll talk to you later.”

Noisy sounds came from the phone to Min Ting’s end. The next second, the call was disconnected, and his ears were instantly quiet again. The two of them were like in two different worlds.  He hadn’t had a chance to ask where her gym was.

Min Ting texted: Address? I’ll pick you up when I’m done.

Shi Miao: Might not be on the way.

Min Ting: It’s okay.

Shi Miao gave him the address of the swimming pool and added: Don’t come too early, I’ll swim for a while longer.

Min Ting: Okay.

Tonight’s dinner was at a private restaurant in a courtyard house, a gathering organized by his brother-in-law, Fu Yanzhou. He didn’t want to go, and Fu Yanzhou said gloomily, “Do you think my face isn’t big enough? Then I’ll have Min Xi personally invite you?”

From childhood to adulthood, his sister was his only emotional weakness. Now that she was pregnant and experiencing morning sickness, he couldn’t let her continue to be caught in the middle of them.

The car stopped at the entrance of the courtyard house. Min Ting got out of the car, and the waiter at the entrance led him inside.

The courtyard was quiet and elegant.  Passing through a patch of crabapples, he walked across a small bridge with running water, and koi were playing in the lotus pond under the bridge. The owner of the courtyard believed in Feng Shui and had spent a fortune creating the scenery.

His sister loved to come here. Others came to eat, but she came specifically to feed the fish.

She not only fed the fish but also made wishes, treating the lotus pond as a wishing well.

Once, he came out of the private room and happened to see Min Xi throwing a coin to make a wish. He said, “Why are you doing something so self-deceptive? You might as well make a wish to me.”

Min Xi glared at him angrily, and deliberately bumped into him as she walked past.

She hadn’t married Fu Yanzhou yet.

He wondered if the wish she made had anything to do with Fu Yanzhou.

Coming down from the bridge, he stepped onto the long, antique corridor.  He heard familiar laughter and banter coming from the lattice windows.

There were nine people at tonight’s dinner, and he was the last to arrive.

The waiter in front pushed open the door of the private room: “Mr. Min, please.”

“Fu Yanzhou, my brother is here, hurry up and kneel down to greet him.”

The others laughed and teased.

“Hurry up and call him brother.”

“Did you hear that?”

Fu Yanzhou was adjusting the menu, telling the manager which dishes to change and what to change them to.  The manager wrote it down.

Suddenly, they started teasing him at the mahjong table. He slowly raised his eyes, pointed to the door, and signaled for the person to leave.

Fu Yanzhou could stand up to greet anyone, but he would never greet Min Ting with a smile.

Min Ting didn’t expect his brother-in-law to speak politely. He had just handed his suit to the waiter when he saw the small robot, Xiao Xiao Shi, standing by the door, its deep blue eyes blinking.

Xiao Xiao Shi was the third-generation robot from Shengshi Technology. He also had one at home. He had won it in a lottery at the Shengshi Technology new product launch conference. Min Ting wasn’t sure if this one was brought here by Fu Yanzhou, so he asked the waiter: “Did Fu Yanzhou bring this?”

Waiter: “Oh, no, it was a gift from the boss of Shengshi Technology to our restaurant.”

Min Ting then noticed Sheng Jian Qi at the mahjong table. When this round of mahjong ended, Sheng Jian Qi stood up. He was the only one in the entire private room who wasn’t from their Beijing circle. He reached out: “Mr. Min, long time no see.”

The two exchanged greetings, and he offered his seat to Min Ting.

Min Ting wasn’t in the mood to play mahjong tonight: “You sit.”

Sheng Jian Qi sat back down, and the mahjong game continued.

The waiter brought over a chair, and Min Ting sat by the mahjong table to watch.

As soon as he sat down, the man in the dark blue shirt beside him looked sideways and said slowly, “Give me back my lighter.”

Min Ting looked at him: “What lighter?”

Sheng Jian Qi: “The lighter you played with on your wife’s birthday was mine.” He had been looking for it, and posted a “lost and found” notice in the group for a long time, but no one responded. It turned out to be taken by Min Ting.

“I have to thank your wife for her birthday, otherwise, if you didn’t post the photo, where would I find it?”

Min Ting ignored him because he didn’t intend to return it.

Sheng Jian Qi didn’t expect to get it back either. He planned to take another one back tonight, and he wondered who would be unlucky.

“Your wife is a cardiac surgeon?”

“Yeah.”

Sheng Jian Qi calculated his opponent’s cards, drew one and threw it out, continuing to chat with Min Ting: “Are you expanding into the medical sector because of your wife?”

Min Ting: “It has nothing to do with her, I didn’t know her at that time.”

“Did you two have an arranged marriage?”

“Or else?”

Sheng Jian Qi: “My mother said that your grandfather was very angry about your arranged marriage. I was going to smooth things over for you.”

He was in charge of the medical and pharmaceutical sector of the family business. He had been deeply involved in AI medical and artificial hearts for years, and Min Ting was one of his partners, only investing and not participating in project management. Since Min Ting’s expansion into the medical sector had nothing to do with Shi Miao, and their marriage was a transactional relationship, he couldn’t speak casually and smooth things over with the elders, lest he make things worse.

Min Ting said: “No need to smooth things over. My family knows that Shi Miao and I aren’t close.” He changed the subject, “What were you talking about just now, financing?”

Sheng Jian Qi took over: “Sheng Zong came to Beicheng this time to find you, the money god, for financing. The future research direction of Shengshi Technology is medical robots. As you know, the cost of training models is very high.”

Sheng Jian Qi added: “We lack money and relevant talents.”

For Min Ting, money wasn’t a problem. As for the AI large model R&D team, he didn’t have that much time to bridge the gap and introduce Sheng Jian Qi.

Sheng Jian Qi asked Min Ting: “Is Jinghe Group interested in investing?”

Min Ting asked with a smile: “Aren’t you investing? If you lead the investment, Jinghe will follow.”

Sheng Jian Qi smiled and played it cool: “Jinghe is the largest technology giant, if anyone leads the investment, it’s you, and I’ll follow.”

Such a major investment decision couldn’t be made directly at a dinner table. Min Ting’s intention to invest was a major development for Sheng Jian Qi. Tonight’s dinner was specifically for his financing. During the dinner, he toasted Min Ting twice.

Only if Jinghe Group led the investment would others follow suit.