Over at Ruilan, the most important new product had officially launched.

They had also reached an agreement with the regulatory agencies in America.

A settlement of sixty million dollars was paid, and Company Name completely delisted and went private.

This money was covered by the original shareholders, who were the ones actually responsible for the falsified accounts.

But at the end of the day, it was still Chen Cheng who paid the bill through the acquisition funds.

As for ZEN AI, the site for the data center had also been decided.

The construction team had already brought in hundreds of bulldozers to level the sand dunes.

Li Na had arranged for personnel to prepare the establishment of ZEN's branch in Beijing.

Chen Cheng, the hands-off boss, really had nothing else to do in Beijing other than chasing women.

"Master, the bathwater is ready," Ming Zhen said after the two had chatted for a while.

"Alright." Chen Cheng replied, scooped the two up by their waists, threw them over his shoulders, and headed into the bathroom.

...

The next day at noon.

Zou Yu, dressed in a simple t-shirt and long skirt, walked into Chen Cheng's courtyard with a brisk step.

She walked into the tea room, took a sip of the tea Chen Cheng handed her, and said:

"It's all arranged. Takeoff is at twelve, and we land at three-thirty in the afternoon."

As she spoke, Zou Yu raised her hand to check her watch. "We can leave just about now."

"The car is in the airport ground parking lot. I've already given instructions to Ma Yong."

"Good," Chen Cheng nodded. "Take this car over to Chaoyang."

"Then, once you've finished the tasks I gave you, take Eleven and Ming Zhen and head back."

This time, Chen Cheng was going to visit Qiao Jingjing on set and didn't bring anyone else except for a driver.

Qiao Jingjing was filming in the desert, and transportation was difficult; it would be too much trouble to bring a whole group of people.

"Alright." Zou Yu nodded in agreement.

She picked up the bag containing Chen Cheng's clothes and walked out of the courtyard.

Sun Xin stood up and threw herself into his arms. "Are you going to head back to Shanghai after this trip to the Western Regions?"

Sun Xin had come over to find Chen Cheng right after eating breakfast at home this morning.

She hadn't started work yet these past two days and was relatively free.

The two were in their honeymoon phase; if it weren't for her mother keeping an eye on her, she would have wanted to be glued to Chen Cheng 24 hours a day.

When she arrived in the morning, she had almost bumped into Zou Yu, Ming Zhen, and Eleven in the courtyard.

Fortunately, the hotel front desk was attentive and would call to inquire before letting visitors in.

Chen Cheng smiled, raised his hand to stroke the corner of her mouth, his eyes full of doting affection. "Yeah, there are quite a lot of things to handle at the company, and I've been in Beijing for a while now."

"It's time to go back to the company."

"..." Sun Xin pouted and didn't speak, looking downcast.

"While I'm away, please pay attention to the renovations. Try to make it so we can move in by the New Year," Chen Cheng said with a faint smile, continuing to comfort her.

Chen Cheng had left her a card with fifty million on it, claiming it was for the renovation budget, but in reality, it was for her to spend.

"Okay." Sun Xin replied, forcing a smile. "Let's go, I'll take you to the airport."

Chen Cheng was taken aback for a moment, then immediately smiled. There really wasn't any need to say too much to this girl.

He nodded. "Alright."

Sun Xin linked her arm with Chen Cheng's and walked out of the courtyard with him.

Neither spoke on the way.

After arriving at the airport, he shared a tender moment with Sun Xin before Chen Cheng entered the private jet terminal and boarded the plane.

Once he was seated in the plane, Chen Cheng called Sun Xiang.

"Huh? You're going to Tianfu?" Sun Xiang's eyes widened immediately upon hearing this news.

She had been thinking that she hadn't seen Chen Cheng for a few days and wanted to ask him to go to Shichahai to hang out tonight.

As it turned out, she hadn't even sent the text message yet, and he had already run off.

As for why he said Tianfu, it was purely a fabricated location because he was afraid that if the two sisters compared notes, they would figure out he was lying.

"Yeah." Chen Cheng replied. "There's some urgent business I need to handle."

"It's quite urgent, so I can only tell you over the phone."

Sun Xiang immediately became a bit unhappy, her tone sinking. "Then how long will you be gone?"

"Hmm..." Chen Cheng pondered for a moment. "I estimate it will be a month before I'm back."

"Ah?" Sun Xiang was stunned. "It's going to take that long?"

Chen Cheng hummed in agreement. "Yeah, there was a technical glitch over there, and I need to go fix it."

"..."

The two chatted for a while, and it wasn't until Chen Cheng said he was about to take off that Sun Xiang reluctantly hung up the phone.

Chen Cheng put down his phone, thought for a moment, and sent a message to Zou Yu.

[See if you can buy that coffee shop where Sun Xiang works.]

[Buy the building along with it.]

After sending the message, he chatted with Qiao Xichen on green bubble for a while.

Qiao Xichen was much easier to handle than that girl Sun Xiang.

She asked a few questions about when he would be back, then didn't ask anything else.

Although Chen Cheng had stood her up last night, Qiao Xichen still called Ji Nanjia and Xu Yan to help her move.

Ji Nanjia was a lone wolf; after finishing work at the company, she would just head home.

As for Xu Yan, after sleeping with Chen Cheng, she hadn't paid any attention to Shen Zichang yesterday and was feeling quite annoyed. It was perfect that Qiao Xichen was moving, so she could hide out.

Just as Chen Cheng was about to put down his phone and head to the rear cabin to sleep, his phone rang, which was rare.

He picked it up to look, and Chen Cheng was taken aback for a moment.

He frowned and pressed answer.

"Sister Ling, what happened?"

"Chairman Chen, well... you and Jingjing are trending on search," Hu Lingling teased.

"Huh? We were photographed?" Chen Cheng was stunned. "That's not right. Jingjing and I haven't seen each other for a while, have we?"

"It was from the second half of last year, when you and Jingjing were out shopping and were photographed."

"Something from last year..." Chen Cheng frowned.

"Did they get a clear shot of our faces?" Chen Cheng suddenly remembered eating hot pot with Qiao Jingjing in the middle of the night last year; he had shown his face that day.

"That, they didn't. You and Jingjing were photographed several times when you went out, but you were always wearing masks," Hu Lingling replied.

"Before, we acted promptly and quickly nipped it in the bud within the fan groups, which is why it didn't trend."

"This time, I don't know what happened, but the old photos were dug up by someone, and it suddenly got pushed to the top of the trending list. The PR team didn't even have time to handle it."

After speaking, Hu Lingling asked softly, "Do you think we should use a 'cold treatment' approach, or should we issue a statement?"

Chen Cheng smacked his lips and thought seriously. "Let's use a 'cold treatment' for now. I'm on a plane right now and should be able to see Jingjing by this evening. We'll discuss it and decide then."

On the other end of the line, Hu Lingling's eyes lit up. "Chairman Chen, are you going to visit Jingjing on set?"

"Yes," Chen Cheng replied.

"Then should I let Jingjing know, so I can have Little Zhu come to the airport to pick you up?" Hu Lingling asked.

"Don..." Chen Cheng immediately refused. "Just give Little Zhu a heads-up so she can be prepared, but don't let Jingjing know yet."

"You're trying to give Jingjing a surprise," Hu Lingling teased with a laugh.

"Yeah." Chen Cheng replied noncommittally.

Hu Lingling reported on the company's recent situation.

Chen Cheng listened but didn't offer any opinions.

The company belonged to Qiao Jingjing; Chen Cheng didn't want to interfere too much.

After flying for over three hours, at 3:30 in the afternoon, Chen Cheng landed in a county in the Western Regions near a large desert.

The Western Regions are vast and sparsely populated, and have the highest number of airports in the country.

Some counties and county-level cities even have their own airports.

In the Western Regions, without a plane, it could take a day and a night on the train to get from the capital to some of the southern cities.

After leaving the airport, Chen Cheng took Ma Yong and thirty sets of roast duck and drove to the desert where Qiao Jingjing was filming.