I hide the white roses behind me

Chapter 229 Hospitality
As the night deepens, the rain gets heavier.

Saito Yui, dressed in a black business suit, stood at the entrance of the alley with others. Her hands holding the umbrella were cold and her fingertips were a little numb.

As a branch of the family, she was transferred from the countryside to the main family only in the past two years. Saito Makoto was also transferred to the main family with her.

So, when the head of the family asked her to pick up Lin Zengxian and said that they wanted to entertain this distinguished guest, Saito Yui imagined a very grand scene.

The result was unexpected. Is this what they call "hospitality"?

Behind her, there was an old-fashioned ramen cart stall parked in the alley, which was stubbornly operating despite the fact that it was already late at night and it was raining heavily.

Inside the curtain, Lin Zengxian and an old man with white hair and beard were sitting on the only two round chairs. In front of them were steaming bowls of braised pork belly ramen and soy sauce ramen. Between the two bowls were a white porcelain bottle and two small wine glasses.

"You don't have to say that about yourself. When I first met you, I thought you were an interesting young man. I even wondered if you and Mayaya would be destined to be together. Hahahaha."

Wearing an old but cleanly washed white chef's uniform, Saito Nobushige, with his face full of wrinkles, laughed with his head raised, as if he was talking about something very happy.

As the head of the Saito family, although Saito Nobushige is already an old man, he is always energetic, clear-headed and sharp-minded, and as agile as young people. It is very appropriate for his opponents to describe him as "old and immortal".

"The successful purchase of the ship was mainly due to my connections and insider information. This just proves that I can get started, which is equivalent to getting the test answers in advance. I won't think highly of myself because of this."

Putting down his chopsticks, he turned his head and stared into Saito Nobuharu's eyes, with a forced smile, as if he had not finished speaking.

Saito Nobushige usually looks like an optimistic old man, but in fact few people are willing to look directly into his eyes for a long time, especially inside the Saito family, which would feel like being stared at by a snake.

"As for Mayaya, she and I are close friends. We have never had any thoughts beyond friendship. You only need to say these words once in front of me, otherwise I will suspect that you are trying to sow discord between me and the Uesugi family."

Uesugi Natsuhiko and Lin Zengxian are good friends and have a very good relationship, they can be called die-hard friends.

However, the reason why Lin Zengxian knew Uesugi Natsuhiko in the first place was entirely because Uesugi Natsuhiko was Saito Maaya's boyfriend.

In terms of friendship, he and Saito Maaya are no worse than each other.

"It's boring, not funny at all."

Waving his hands, Saito Nobuyuki drooped his eyelids and sighed with a bored look on his face.

As expected of father and daughter, Uesugi Maaya has the same style as him.

"Let's get down to business. According to the agreement, I will give you priority in providing all the information in Osaka Bay, especially the actions of Mitsubishi and Sumitomo. I will ensure that you get the most timely information, but I am a little curious about how you operate this route between Asia and Europe."

Putting aside the joking tone, Saito Nobuyuki picked up the spoon and took a sip of the steaming hot soup, but it felt like he had ice in his mouth and there was no sense of enjoyment at all.

Lin Zengxian is not a genius in business, and his current power is not strong. It is even more unknown whether he can inherit Great Wall Heavy Industry in the future. As Lin Zengxian himself said, taking over those large ships only proved that he could get started.

Therefore, since he had decided to board Lin Zengxian's ship, Saito Nobufusa had to make sure that Lin Zengxian had reliable plans for the future.

In other words, he wants to see security.

Before its collapse, Hanjin Shipping had already shut down its container business from Asia to the Black Sea. Its sudden collapse can be considered a major shock.

"The Duchess of Danzig and Prince Karl are the capital of their two countries. At least I can get stable orders from Central and Western Europe. Don't tell me you don't know I have these two people around me. I will despise you, old man."

Lin Zengxian picked up a piece of noodles with chopsticks and put it into his mouth, making a slurping sound on purpose. His face was expressionless, but his tone was not at all awkward.

For Lin Zengxian, Saito Nobufusa, an old man who is greedy for money but knows how to abide by the rules just right, is not only the father of Uesugi Maya, but also a major creditor of the Hanyu family.

"After Hanjin Shipping goes bankrupt, shipping companies from all over the world will rush to carve up its corpse, but the market will first enter a cold winter period, and the gap in world shipping cannot be filled in a short period of time."

Knowing what Saito Nobuyuki wanted to know, Lin Zengxian had no intention of hiding things that were or would soon be revealed.

"In my country, the old people often say, 'Go with the flow.' Regarding this route, thanks to our country's strong manufacturing industry, as long as I can get my ship running, I can make money. My company is registered in Qingdao, so I have a natural home advantage in operating this route, and I will definitely get some benefits."

He picked up a small piece of the braised pork belly in the bowl and slowly put it into Saito Nobuyuki's bowl. Lin Zengxian picked up the white porcelain bottle and poured wine into his own glass, but found that the color was purple.

"What have you done? You put grape juice in this? Are you crazy?"

Lin Zengxian picked up the cup, smelled it, and then took a sip, staring at Saito Nobuharu in disbelief. "Don't look at me like that, my daughter won't let me drink."

Raising his hand to scratch his neck, Saito Nobufusa pouted and reluctantly poured grape juice into his own glass. His voice sounded very aggrieved.

"Hapag-Lloyd also bought Hanjin Shipping's ships at a low price. They also want to operate this route, but they don't have the same advantages as me. The route approval process takes time, so I will ask Hapag-Lloyd to rent their ships through Prince Carl. On the one hand, I improve my shipping capacity and increase shipping income, and on the other hand, they receive rent, and we all make money together."

Knowing that the "daughter" that Saito Nobufusa was referring to was his eldest daughter Saito Rei, and not his youngest daughter Uesugi Mayaya, Lin Zengxian was too lazy to discuss the grape juice with him anymore.

"As for how to operate the ship specifically and how to make the ship earn more money, Mr. Song from Putuo Shipping will help me solve the follow-up matters. I don't need to worry about it. I just need to handle these early matters and set the stage for him."

This was all he could tell Saito Nobuyuki, so Lin Zengxian stopped talking. With a spoon in one hand and chopsticks in the other, he really started to enjoy his dinner.

"Putuo Shipping is just a minor player in your group and has not made any progress in recent years. Do you trust Manager Song so much?"

Knowing that Lin Zengxian would not reveal any more information, Saito Nobuharu calmed down and put the soft-boiled egg in his bowl into Lin Zengxian's bowl.

"Manager Song is an expert in business, but he is not used to the factional struggles in the group, and he does not know how to effectively protect himself."

After eating the extra soft-boiled egg without hesitation, Lin Zengxian pointed at himself with his free hand.

"Actually, I don't understand either. I have even less experience than Manager Song. It's just that because I'm Lin Yishan's son, I have the opportunity to avoid certain things."

Lin Zengxian buried his head in eating noodles and stopped talking.

"Forty-seven years ago, I rode this ramen cart and sold ramen on this street. I never thought that I would become the head of the Saito family. When my wife had her birthday, I bought a wooden comb and placed it carefully against my heart. I gave it to her as a birthday present when I got home. I also never thought that I would have so much money to spend on my wife's birthday now."

Saito Nobuyuki buried his head in eating noodles and stopped talking.

At the entrance of the alley, Saito Yui stood straight, without any slackness.

She knew that her current opportunity was hard-won.

She knew that there were many pairs of malicious eyes staring at her from behind, and there was no way to avoid them.

She didn't know how much money she would have on her birthday in the future.

Thinking of this, the hand holding the umbrella trembled slightly, and the smell of rain, blood, mud and sugar water mixed together and rushed straight to the brain. An irrepressible impulse surged in her heart. Saito Yui turned around abruptly, staring at the ramen cart in the heavy rain, staring at the light from the old light bulb on the stall.

Under that light, there was a surgeon who voluntarily "exiled" himself away from his native family when he was young, lived alone abroad for more than ten years, and knew nothing about business.

Under that light, there was an illegitimate son of the family who could only make ramen when he was young, and who would only hold his head, protect his face, and remain silent when beaten.

These two people now come together to do a big business.

After a moment's silence, under the puzzled gaze of her companions, Saito Yui turned around and stood up again.

Listening to the sound of rain, she thought of Uesugi Mayaya.

Before setting out to pick up Lin Zengxian, he heard Saito Nobufusa say that his little daughter must be angry.

That's quite a proud woman.

That woman should be surrounded by people who are as proud as she is, right?

Just like the two people in the alley behind me...

around?

The image of Saito Makoto, the girl who came here with her from the countryside, flashed through Saito Yui's mind.

Yes, Makoto was sent out by the head of the family to be that person's temporary assistant.

Maaya Uesugi's junior.