Chapter 406: Unexpected Encounters in the Tea Room

“Hello, Uncle Cao!”

“Qingning, I have a young man here who wants to meet you. Can you come by for a bit?”

“Ah… When did you start playing matchmaker? Let me guess, my parents put you up to this?”

“Haha, men reach marrying age, women reach marrying age. It’s time to start thinking about your future. I’m with the young man in my tea room at home—hurry over!”

With that, Cao Zhengguo hung up immediately.

It was clear that Cao Zhengguo was not only close with the head of Rui Enterprises, they also shared a great friendship with her parents.

Zhou Can had already learned that the other party was a woman.

What surprised him was that the head of Rui Enterprises was still single—something he hadn’t heard until now. She probably wasn’t very old.

“That’s a dangerous way to phrase it. She’ll probably think I’m here for a blind date!”

Zhou Can could only give a wry smile.

He was here today to ask for a favor, so all he could do was voice a mild protest.

“Hehe, relax, relax, I know exactly what I’m doing. I’ve watched Qingning grow up—her father and I were comrades in arms, our families have always been close. She’s great in every way, just too picky. She’s twenty-eight and still single, and it’s making her parents anxious. Figured I’d use today to get a read on her. As long as she’s open to dating, this’ll be easy.”

Cao Zhengguo explained with a chuckle.

“You’ll have to help me put on a little act later. Don’t tell her you’re here about medicine, just pretend you’re here for the blind date.”

Zhou Can thought this was downright ridiculous.

He shook his head firmly. “No way, I already have a girlfriend, and I love her deeply. I’d never betray her. Besides, if she finds out we’re messing with her, asking her for medicine will be even harder.”

With his girlfriend’s kidney illness on the line, Zhou Can couldn’t afford to take any risks.

The head of Rui Enterprises was tough to meet in the first place—prank her and she’d be furious.

You didn’t need much imagination to know how that would go.

“Uh… fine, then just don’t say anything. Consider it doing me, an old man, a favor. We’ll call it even for today’s introduction. Sound good?”

Cao Zhengguo’s offer left Zhou Can with no way out.

He had no choice but to nod and agree.

About ten minutes later, Cao Zhengguo grinned. “She’s here!” Even at seventy, he was very tech-savvy with his smartphone.

He could open and close the villa’s main gate with his phone, and even check the security camera feed.

Cutting-edge technology everywhere.

“The front door’s open. The young man and I are in the tea room—just come on in.”

Cao Zhengguo showed no intention of getting up and greeting her.

It made sense; even in retirement, he held a prestigious status. Given his closeness with Rui Qingning and his role as an elder, formalities weren’t necessary.

Soon, the sharp click of high heels echoed, growing nearer.

A young woman in a crisp white pantsuit quickly strode into the tea room off the living room.

She wore tailored white ankle-length pants and sleek black heels that made her long legs and perfect figure pop. A pale yellow blouse under a white short jacket completed the look. On her wrist, a brown leather-banded watch. Her dark hair flowed to her shoulders—the very image of a powerful career woman.

She had a striking, commanding presence.

Her delicate, pretty face was lightly made up, and her deep, dark eyes carried a razor-sharp edge.

“Uncle Cao, it’s so late—did you really have to drag me here?”

The woman complained the moment she walked in.

“Haha, the young man had to work all day, he’s very busy. It wasn’t easy getting him here. Fate is about timing—you’re my old buddy’s daughter, and I promised him I’d see this through.”

Cao Zhengguo laughed it off.

“The tea’s ready, try some of this new oolong.”

He was inviting her to sit.

“Hello!”

Zhou Can could only brace himself, stand up, and greet the woman.

“It’s you!”

The moment Rui Qingning saw Zhou Can’s face, she gasped in surprise.

But as someone used to big moments, her surprise faded almost instantly.

Zhou Can also felt she looked familiar, but couldn’t recall from where.

If she recognized him, clearly he’d made quite an impression.

“I think we’ve met before!”

Zhou Can admitted, a bit embarrassed.

“Haha, so you two already know each other! That saves me an introduction.”

Cao Zhengguo burst out laughing once he realized they were acquainted.

“It was that day by the river—you saved someone, and my mom held your clothes. After she went home to take care of my dad, she called me over to help. Do you remember?”

Her words clicked for Zhou Can immediately.

No wonder he thought she looked familiar.

Back then, he thought he was just being too much of a flirt, thinking every pretty woman he saw looked familiar.

Now it all made sense—it was her.

She’d been so composed that day, which had left a strong impression.

“So it was you. Now I remember. Miss Rui, hello!”

Since Zhou Can needed her help, he made sure to be polite.

She shook hands with Zhou Can, her expression softening, no longer so distant.

“I didn’t expect you and Uncle Cao to know each other. So you’re my blind date tonight?”

She didn’t beat around the bush.

“Um… first, let me apologize. I’m not here for a date—Mr. Cao helped me get in touch because I wanted to meet the head of Rui Enterprises. But you’re so hard to reach. I tried to visit your company several times, but security always blocked me. Twice, I got in through connections, but your secretary still turned me away.”

Zhou Can decided to be honest and explained everything.

He couldn’t let the misunderstanding fester, or she’d only get angrier.

“Uncle Cao, so you were just testing me? I’m never trusting you again!” She paused, then glared at Cao Zhengguo, clearly embarrassed.

That was a perfectly normal reaction for a woman her age.

“Ahaha, don’t get mad, don’t get mad, I was just helping your parents feel things out. Now I’ve got a better idea.”

Cao Zhengguo showed no embarrassment at all, just laughed heartily.

“What do you mean, a better idea? Please, stop meddling in my business!” With someone like this mischievous elder around, she was thoroughly mortified.

“I noticed you weren’t put off when you saw it was Zhou Can. That means you’re not against marriage after all. Next time I set you up, I’ll just find someone like him.”

Cao Zhengguo’s eyes sparkled with shrewdness.

He hadn’t missed a single one of her subtle reactions.

“That’s not true!”

She stomped her foot, half out of embarrassment.

“Haha, you’ve always been competitive, but I’ll drop it now. Zhou’s an impressive young man—already accomplished in medicine at his age, with a kind heart. He’s well respected by the hospital’s older generation. He’s gone all out to cure his girlfriend’s illness, and that’s why he’s desperate to meet you tonight. Good men who are so loyal and devoted are rare these days.”

It was clear Cao Zhengguo knew a fair bit about Zhou Can’s work at the hospital.

He must have been keeping an eye on him discreetly.

Now, he didn’t hold back on the praise.

Zhou Can was almost embarrassed by all the compliments.

“So you’re here about medicine?”

Rui Qingning fixed Zhou Can with a penetrating gaze.

“Yes. My girlfriend was unlucky enough to develop kidney failure. It’s like Pandora’s box—once it starts, it almost never gets better, only worse. Thankfully, her case is unusual. With a famous traditional doctor and months of herbal medicine, she’s shown improvement. But to actually cure her, I need two rare main herbs that have all but disappeared.”

Zhou Can laid it all out, holding nothing back.

“My secretary mentioned a wealthy young businessman who wanted to buy our company’s purple-backed mayapple, but I thought it was just another pursuer trying to get close and ignored it.”

Her explanation left Zhou Can a bit vexed.

Why was this businesswoman so averse to romance?

She acted like it was a dangerous beast—just hearing about it made her bristle.

“Miss Rui, I’m glad we’ve cleared up the misunderstanding. Would you be willing to sell me a purple-backed mayapple? I only need one, at least three years old.”

Zhou Can asked sincerely.

“I wish I could help, but our research on the purple-backed mayapple hasn’t gotten very far. The only wild original we had died long ago. All our new plants come from tissue cultures of that original’s rootstock.”

Her answer chilled Zhou Can’s hopes.

The more he’d hoped, the bigger the letdown.

He assumed Rui Enterprises always had a few wild ones left.

Only now did he realize even the original was gone.

“Your devotion is touching. Our company has made decent progress with the regular mayapple, and the purple-backed variety is even more demanding, but we do have a few lab-grown seedlings. They’re fragile—if you take them out of the petri dish, they die quickly.”

The tissue-cultured seedlings, called ‘culture seedlings,’ can only be raised in sterile labs.

But no plant can spend its life in a sterile petri dish.

It eventually needs to be moved to soil to truly grow.

“Maybe once we solve the transplantation problem, we’ll finally succeed in cultivating the purple-backed mayapple.”

She must have noticed Zhou Can’s disappointment and spoke to comfort him.

Strictly speaking, all this was company confidential—she’d never usually tell an outsider.

“But your company mass-produces regular mayapple. Why is cultivating the purple-backed one so tough? They’re basically the same, aren’t they?”

Zhou Can didn’t know much about forestry or botany—he was simply curious.

He also knew wild plants rarely survived transplanting, and figuring out why took layers of technical breakthroughs before successful cultivation.

“They look similar, but research shows they contain different elements. The purple-backed version is a mutant—there are several unique compounds inside. Maybe that’s why regular growing methods fail.”

Rui Qingning sounded helpless discussing these technical headaches.

“Alright. Looks like I can only wait patiently for now. I’ll try other channels, but if your company ever figures out the breakthrough, could you let me know?”

Zhou Can sighed to himself.

Another avenue closed.

Who knew when Rui Enterprises would crack the code for laboratory propagation.

Su Qianqian’s illness couldn’t wait that long.

“No problem. Leave me your number—if we make any progress, you’ll be the first to know.”

Rui Qingning found Zhou Can’s responsible attitude admirable.

Back at the river, Zhou Can had jumped in to save someone, already earning her a good impression.

Now, witnessing his dedication to love, her opinion of Zhou Can rose even more.

They exchanged phone numbers.

“Mr. Zhou, I heard you’re the boss of some entertainment company—is that true?”

She asked offhandedly.

“Why does that interest you, Miss Rui?”

Zhou Can sensed that some of his secret identities simply couldn’t be kept hidden.

The reporter Mu Qing knew he was the owner of Jin Yu Interactive, and now the newly met Rui Qingning had found out too.

There really are no secrets in this world.

“Oh, don’t misunderstand, I’m just curious. Uncle Cao said you were a doctor, but I found out you’re also a major shareholder in Jin Yu Interactive. For someone so young to be worth over a hundred million, that’s rare even in this entire province.”

As a true businesswoman, she was deeply familiar with the province’s super-rich, the powerful, and the elite.

For someone from humble beginnings like Zhou Can to amass such wealth at his age was impressive.

Even Cao Zhengguo looked at Zhou Can in surprise.

“It was really just chance. Another shareholder at Jin Yu Interactive trusted and insisted I join in starting the company. I barely ever manage the place—I’m a doctor first and foremost.”

After a brief hesitation, Zhou Can shared part of the story.

There was no hiding anyway; anyone who wanted to know could find out.

Trying to conceal it would only make him look insincere.

“Heh, you must be the envy of the medical world. Most doctors work themselves to the bone just to scrape by, but you became a billionaire practically in your sleep—and you still prefer being on the front line, doctoring, instead of being the boss.”

She covered her mouth and giggled.

“Being a doctor is my passion and lifelong goal. Once you have enough money, it merely becomes a number.”

Zhou Can was firm in his beliefs.

“Wow, your outlook is amazing! ‘Seeing the world clearly’—some people spend their whole lives trying to understand that. I’m really glad to meet a friend like you. Let me introduce myself formally: I’m Rui Qingning, a Cambridge grad. I worked in the UK for less than two years before returning home to take over Rui Enterprises. I really enjoy meeting people like you.”

She extended a graceful hand to Zhou Can again.

“You flatter me, Miss Rui. I just love medicine—it’s not nearly as noble as you say.”

Zhou Can shook her hand.

This time, instead of a polite brush, she shook his hand warmly.

The desire to find like-minded friends is universal. Maybe she felt they were kindred spirits.