Wang Jing lamented, “Boss, I’m a human, not a deity.”

Yu Zi clicked his tongue, “Weren’t you running many liquor stores before? Don’t you have any connections?”

“Times have changed. Who would care about me, a rat crossing the street, now?!”

“You also know you’re a rat crossing the street? You don’t perform well even when given the chance?” Yu Zi hung up after saying this.

Although Wang Jing said that, five days later, he sent a message to Yu Zi.

It was a voice message. Yu Zi listened to it, hearing Wang Jing’s voice filled with vigor, “Send the winery’s information.”

Three days later, on the eve of the end of summer, Wang Jing sent Yu Zi the qualification letter for the CWS Association salon.

“You can do it, can’t you?” Yu Zi picked up the envelope and shook it, “What route did you take?”

“Selling sex appeal! Satisfied?” Wang Jing was already out of patience.

Yu Zi scrutinized him from head to toe. Wang Jing’s scalp began to tingle again.

“Alright, alright, I had to swallow my pride and go find my old friends in the wine business. Do you know how hard it is to get this qualification?”

“Okay, okay.” Yu Zi glanced at him, took out an envelope from behind the desk, and slapped it onto Wang Jing’s chest.

This time Wang Jing was puzzled, “What’s this mean?”

He touched the envelope; it didn’t feel empty.

“Your reward.”

“Then don’t I still owe you money…” Wang Jing was confused.

“Tit for tat.” Yu Zi finished and opened the glass door, ushering him out.

After Wang Jing left, the two of them carefully studied the requirements for this association salon competition. It required a lot of branded materials and information, and the standards for the submitted wine were also very high.

Xie Dongcheng pondered for a moment, “I need to make a trip to Bai Cheng.”

Yu Zi nodded, “I’ll go with you.”

“No need. You fainted last time we went.”

Yu Zi chuckled, “Are you sure you can leave for so long?”

Xie Dongcheng looked up, “How long do I need to go for?”

This time going to Bai Cheng, there was a lot of work to be done. Not only did they need to prepare for the association salon, but they also needed to discuss the collaborative production and sales process with Wei Yunli and plan the rhythm of the upcoming products.

“At least a month,” Yu Zi said, counting on his fingers.

Xie Dongcheng paused, not responding for a while.

Yu Zi patted his shoulder, “Pack your bags.”

Three days later, they were ready to fly to Bai Cheng again. Before departure, Xie Dongcheng paid for logistics in North City to have some miscellaneous matters temporarily taken care of.

Autumn arrived earlier in Bai Cheng than in North City, but it was just after the end of the hot season, and there was a chill in the mountains. The vineyards were entering their peak ripening period, and the scent of fruits permeated half of the mountains.

Mountain goats began to appear in groups, leaving footprints on the mountain roads.

This time, Wei Yunli arranged a room for them. She didn’t ask why these two grown men wanted to stay in the same room.

Yu Zi’s communication with her was always very quick. Wei Yunli only cared about the results, not the process. This made Yu Zi feel very straightforward.

The room was in a small building not far from the wine cellar, with a small terrace overlooking the mountain scenery of Baishan.

After settling their luggage, they followed Wei Yunli to the wine cellar.

Yu Zi brought a laptop and went through each restaurant’s future order plan with Wei Yunli. Wei Yunli acted quickly and soon planned the production and processing schedule, sending a document directly to Yu Zi’s email.

After nightfall, the workers in the wine cellar had all gone home, leaving only the three of them still there.

Wei Yunli finally relaxed, opened the wine cabinet, and took out two bottles of new wine, placing them on the table.

“What’s this?” Yu Zi asked.

“Brewed from a new variety. Want to try?” Wei Yunli asked.

“Sure,” Yu Zi nodded immediately.

Wei Yunli took out two glasses for them, then opened the bottles and poured a little for each.

“This wine doesn’t need to breathe. I think it suits the taste of young people. Since you two are young, try it for me,” Wei Yunli pushed the glasses towards them.

Yu Zi picked up the glass and took a sip. A few seconds later, his eyes lit up.

“It’s really good, not too sour, and not bitter. It’s more like a beverage wine.”

Wei Yunli showed a hint of satisfaction rarely seen, “Taking your money, naturally I have to work. Besides the Shandai, I’m also developing other products.”

After three rounds of drinking, Wei Yunli took off her coat and draped it over the back of the chair, relaxing her posture.

She asked casually, “How did you guys think of doing this? Being a wine merchant is quite tiring.”

Yu Zi smiled, “To be honest, I was swindled out of three hundred thousand by your family’s wine.”

Wei Yunli didn’t know about this, “What do you mean?”

Since Wang Jing didn’t come this time, Yu Zi directly told her the story.

Wei Yunli listened, sighed bitterly, and flicked the bottom of her glass with her index finger and thumb.

She sighed, “Ah. It’s already good enough that this winery can stay.”

“What do you mean?” Yu Zi only knew that she had fought for power with her father, but he hadn’t heard the other details.

Wei Yunli glanced at the roof of the wine cellar before continuing, “My dad is a compulsive gambler, buried in debts. Two years ago, he wanted to use the winery to clear his debts. I stopped him halfway. Then I put in over three million to get the winery back.”

This was clearly not a happy story, but Xie Dongcheng laughed after hearing it.

“Why are you laughing?” Wei Yunli was caught off guard by his sudden laughter, but she couldn’t help but laugh along, looking at the man who was usually silent.

Xie Dongcheng shook his head, “I was just thinking, the three of us can’t even make up one pair of normal parents.”

The three of them were half drunk, and upon hearing this, they burst into laughter.

Laughing to the end, Wei Yunli’s shoulders were trembling slightly. She wiped away the physiological tears from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, but the smile on her lips couldn’t be suppressed.

Yu Zi knew she was too tired. He stood up from his chair.

“Get some rest earlier,” he suggested.

Wei Yunli remained silent for a few seconds before nodding.

He watched her pick up her coat and walk into the dark night outside the vineyard.

They stayed in Bai Cheng for a month, enduring the last remnants of summer and embracing the golden autumn.

As time passed, it became colder in the mountains. Initially, Yu Zi only wore a thin shirt, but now he had to add a windbreaker to keep warm.

Although the old house in the mountains wasn’t trendy in terms of decoration, the building materials were solid. No matter how strong the wind outside was, as soon as you entered the house, it would immediately become warm.

The next day was the Mid-Autumn Festival. Yu Zi saw the news push notifications in the morning, but he simply closed the page without any plans.

It was just another Mid-Autumn Festival for him, a habit developed over many years.

Xie Dongcheng followed Wei Yunli to the logistics center down the mountain, and only returned from outside the winery at night.

However, when he entered the old house where they were staying, he found no one inside.

Xie Dongcheng looked around before realizing that Yu Zi was sitting on the wicker chair on the terrace, under the boundless night sky.

The deep blue starry sky resembled an ocean without whirlpools, calm yet awe-inspiring.

Yu Zi sat beneath the night sky, barefoot with no shoes on. His smooth ankles were exposed to the cold wind. The prolonged exposure to the cold made his joints slightly reddened.

Xie Dongcheng, upon seeing this, immediately walked back into the house and fetched his shoes, gently helping him put them on.

“Back?” Yu Zi shook himself out of his thoughts, only now noticing his presence.

Xie Dongcheng nodded, dragging another wicker chair to sit beside him.

It was August 14th, still a few days away from the full moon. But the moon in the mountains was different from that in the city; even the waning moon felt like a huge jade plate, seemingly closer to people.

Yu Zi stared at the waning moon, not speaking for a while. Xie Dongcheng sat beside him quietly.

They were thousands of kilometers away from home, doing a business that seemed endless. At this moment, the chilly wind rustled, occasionally carrying sporadic barks from the distant vineyard.

“What are you thinking?” Xie Dongcheng turned his head to ask.

Yu Zi’s Adam’s apple moved, his eyelids drooping as he avoided his gaze. After a while, he replied, “I’m thinking, why did my mother leave that year.”

Since they got together, Yu Zi had told him some fragments of his past with Shang Ping. But most of them were fragmented, like Shang Ping leaving their home in a black car, or her sudden death on the day Yu Ziheng was born.

Xie Dongcheng didn’t know whether the “leave” he mentioned now meant leaving or passing away. But regardless of which option it was, he didn’t have the answer.

“Some things may not have answers,” Xie Dongcheng gently raised his arm, rubbing his hair. The soft strands slipped through his fingers, filtering out much of the cold.

Yu Zi remained silent.

Xie Dongcheng sighed softly again, adding, “If someone wants to leave, you can’t stop them.”

Only then did Yu Zi gently smile, “When did you become so philosophical?”

Xie Dongcheng lowered his arm, hanging it on both sides of the wicker chair, and also looked up at the overly bright waning moon.

After a while, he looked back into Yu Zi’s eyes, “Because I have also wondered for many years.”

“But there are no answers,” he concluded.