Mayor Zhao of course needed to accompany Kerry all the way. If he could persuade Kerry to invest
here, that would be a big achievement.
Secretary Ma’s home was not far away. The courtyard was paved with bricks and the corner was
planted with vegetable. In order to meet the guests, it had been cleaned up.
They went into the living room and the table had been placed on a few dishes, local ones, seeming
very delicious.
Secretary Ma warmly greeted everyone and after everyone settled, he rubbed his big hand and said, “I
hope you’ll like it. The vegetables are produced by ourselves, with no pesticides. They are very fresh
and health. I hope you won’t mind.”
Venus could see that he was a little nervous and said with a smile, “I like it. Thank you for inviting us.”
Secretary Ma didn’t expect Venus to be so soft and grinned, “That’ s good. I’ll go to the kitchen and ask
them to be quicker. Excuse me.”
Venus drank the water she brought with her and asked Kerry with her eyes, “Can we eat now?”
Kerry said with a smile, “Well, let’s eat.”
Mayor Zhao and several other officials echoed, “Sure.”
Venus tried some beans, which was sweet and sour, plus its freshness, so it was really delicious.
Then Mayor Zhao brought a bottle of wine, but was directly refused by Kerry, “Sorry, I cannot drink.”
“Well…” He was a little embarrassed.
Kerry explained, “If you have anything to say, just tell me. I do not drink during the day, so as not to
influence my work. This is my principle.”
“Oh.” He then put the wine on the floor and said with a smile, “Mr. Ye, perhaps you also know that our
economy is not very developed, but the environment is very beautiful, and our government’s policy in
attracting investment is very good. If you have time, we welcome you to visit our county.”
As soon as it was about work, Kerry became serious, “OK. I’ll have a professional evaluation team
come in a few days. If it’s suitable for investment, I’ll consider it.”
“Ah, that’s really great. Thank you so much. I’ll toast to Mr. Ye with tea instead of wine.” Mayor Zhao
said excitedly.
Kerry clinked his glass.
Venus, however, just focused on eating. She tried every dish on the table, which were with fewer oil
and salt, tasting good.
When she was eating, a one-year-old child staggered in, with a floral dress and twin tails. She was very
cute, blinking her eyes, whose face was ruddy.
She looked at the table for a moment and then came over to Venus, stretching out her hand and
babbling as if she wanted her to hug her.
Venus was occupied by her big eyes and bent down to pick her up on her lap, asking softly, “What are
you talking about, little princess?”
“Food…” The little girl pointed to the food on the table.
“You wanna eat?” Venus asked patiently.
The little girl clumsily nodded her head.
Venus put a piece of tofu in her little mouth, whose cheeks immediately bulged up, eating happily.
The people at the table were quite surprised, because Miss Chu from Hong Kong basically didn’t speak
today, who looked indifferent, so they didn’t expect her to be so amicable.
Only Kerry was feeling a bit sad, maybe she was thinking of her son.
“Niuniu, why are you here? Come on.” Secretary Ma walked towards her and said.
The little girl smiled, and put her hands around Venus’s neck and refused to go.
Smelling the scent unique to babies, she instantly overflowed with mother love, patting her back lightly.
Secretary Ma was apologizing, “I’m really sorry. This is my little granddaughter. Her parents have gone
to work in the city and today I’m so busy that I haven’t kept an eye on her. I’m sorry to disturb you.”
Venus smiled and said, “It’s okay. I think this little girl is very cute. I like her, so just let me hold her.”
“Oh, it’s very kind of you. Thank you, Miss Chu.”
Kerry spoke up, “Secretary Ma, don’t worry. She always likes children. Please just let her hold her.”
Only then did Secretary Ma felt it was nothing, “Niuniu is not usually like this. She must be sticking to
you because you’re beautiful.”
The little girl let go of Venus’s neck, babbling, “You…are…pretty.”
As expected, people at the table laughed.
“Be good, OK?” Secretary Ma told his granddaughter.
“OK, grandfather.” Niuniu said adorably.
It was a pleasant meal. Venus was focused on helping Niuniu wat, while Kerry was afraid that Venus
would be hungry later for not eating too much. He added food to her bowl while chatting with Mayor
Zhao and others about the current news of post-disaster reconstruction.
The guests and hosts all enjoyed themselves.
When they were about to leave, Niuniu kept holding Venus’s hand tightly and sent her to the car. Venus
was also a little reluctant to leave, so she kissed her on her forehead, “Niuniu, goodbye.”
Niuniu waved goodbye to her with tears in eyes.
Kerry found there was something wrong with Venus, so he held her arms and supported her into the
car. As soon as the car started, Venus cried out.
Kerry held her into his arms, comforting in a low voice, “Well, don’t be sad. I’ll get our son back.”
The more he said, the sadder she was, whose tears moistened his shirt, directly flowing into his heart,
making it sore and painful.
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