Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

"Then I went to bed later than you; I didn't sleep until midnight," Zhang Chunxue laughed.

"That really won't do, won't do, won't do, let me give you a massage instead, Auntie!" Upon hearing that Auntie had slept for less than six hours, Xu Qingfan quickly got up and said.

Zhang Chunxue was startled by his sudden alarm, but after calming down, she mockingly smacked him lightly with a feigned anger.

"I think you just want to scare Auntie."

"Not at all, I clearly just care about Auntie, there's no scaring!" Xu Qingfan said with a "sycophantic" smile as he massaged Zhang Chunxue's shoulders, and Auntie forgave him soon after.

"That's more like it, hmm~ a little lighter..." Zhang Chunxue was guided to sit on a chair, and Xu Qingfan moved behind her to continue massaging her shoulders.

"Do you only sleep for six hours every day, Auntie?"

"With so little sleep, and yet your skin is still so good, even better than the girls in our class."

Xu Qingfan gently scraped Auntie's cheek with his thumb. Saying it was as smooth as a peeled egg might be an exaggeration, but it was genuinely smooth.

"Stop talking nonsense and focus on the massage," Zhang Chunxue playfully slapped his chest and spoke with a doting tone.

"Maybe it's just different people's constitutions. I've been sleeping only five to six hours since I started studying, and I'm energetic all day," she replied to Xu Qingfan's earlier question.

"Well, that's true. If I don't get a full eight hours, I'm without energy all day, and so is Yiyi."

"As long as Auntie doesn't feel tired, it's fine."

He looked down at Zhang Chunxue's features, and to say he wasn't concerned would be a lie.

"You care so much about Auntie; you should grow up fast so you don't have to act like an adult anymore." Even with her eyes closed, Xu Qingfan could still feel that Zhang Chunxue was smiling as she spoke.

"I guess that's not going to happen," Xu Qingfan said.

"Hm?"

"What do you mean?"

Zhang Chunxue grabbed Xu Qingfan's hand, which had been massaging her, and turned to look at him.

Xu Qingfan, having a cheeky comment in mind, suddenly felt embarrassed under her gaze.

Seeing his bashful smile, Zhang Chunxue knew that Xiao Fan was up to no good again.

"Say it," she commanded in a clear and concise manner.

"Because I have Auntie by my side, I'll always be a child," Xu Qingfan said, shifting his gaze away, his toes already tapping the ground.

"Pfft... Hm." Zhang Chunxue let out a laugh, then turned back around.

Even though his words were ambiguous, Xu Qingfan still felt shy from the brief smile Zhang Chunxue gave him.

To ease the awkwardness, he switched the topic to work: "Auntie, I think we can start preparing for rural e-commerce starting next year."

"Hmm, I had originally planned for 2013, but I underestimated the speed of mobile Internet development in our country, so let's make it the end of next year," she replied.

"Xiao Fan, that short-video platform you mentioned will have to wait until the end of 2013, after the 4G network is widespread and there's a market for it," Zhang Chunxue obviously had plans well thought out.

"Auntie, do you have any thoughts on the gaming industry? Should we get involved in games too?" Xu Qingfan thought of Honor of Kings and PUBG without knowing why; just one game could generate tens of billions in annual revenue.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew. Just tell me which game you're interested in, and we'll invest directly. Making our own game isn't cost-effective in terms of time," Zhang Chunxue patted his hand, signaling for him to keep massaging.

Zhang Chunxue left out a point: making games didn't fit into her envisioned corporate strategy. They didn't do social interaction, and Haowei Group didn't need a gaming division within its ecosystem.

"Mm-hm, then we won't do it," Xu Qingfan naturally listened to Aunt Zhang.

"Xiao Fan, do you really think WeChat will become the QQ of mobile devices? I looked at their company report; they still don't have as many users as another messaging app called MiTalk," Zhang Chunxue mentioned, still somewhat hesitant about Xu Qingfan's insistence on a full collaboration with WeChat.

If it were not for his proven historical track record, no matter how eloquent Xu Qingfan was, she would not take such a risk.

"Auntie, MiTalk is really not going to work; just the fact that they're implementing a 'read receipt' shows they lack the essence of a social app."

"What do you mean?" Zhang Chunxue reopened her eyes and looked back at him.

"If it's an app like Good Taste Takeout, having read receipts to improve communication efficiency is necessary."

"However, most of the time what we need isn't professional networking, but personal social interaction."

Although Xu Qingfan didn't spell it out, Zhang Chunxue, who could manage such a large company, was obviously no fool and quickly grasped his meaning.

"Alright, Auntie gets what you mean; by your reasoning, MiTalk is indeed doomed," Zhang Chunxue shook her head and chuckled.

"It's totally screwed!"

"Auntie, please sit still; I don't even know what step I'm on!"

Xu Qingfan pushed Zhang Chunxue's head back and took the opportunity to help her massage her scalp.

Today's negotiation with the WeChat team was mainly to deepen the cooperation between Good Taste Takeout and WeChat, especially the third-party payment system of Good Taste Takeout—Yi Pay—and its cooperation with the WeChat platform.

The two sides had reached a preliminary consensus on cooperation, and once Peng Cheng's Little Brother Ma gave the final nod, Yi Pay would transform into WeChat Pay, and he and Zhang Chunxue would become one of the major shareholders of WeChat.

"How have you guys been at school lately?" Instead of continuing to talk about work, Zhang Chunxue was concerned about Xu Qingfan's campus life.

In fact, she just wanted to slyly inquire about the progress of his relationship with her daughter.

"Ah?"

"We're doing pretty well, eating well, drinking well, studying well. Midterms are next week, and they're probably reviewing in the old house from junior high right now," Xu Qingfan responded without understanding the meaning behind Zhang Chunxue's question, simply saying whatever came to mind.

"No fights or arguments recently?" Zhang Chunxue remembered the last time they had a conflict was in the eighth grade.

"Uh...no...how could there be any conflict? We've grown up together and get along so well!" Xu Qingfan instantly thought of the scene that had happened at home last week, involving Wu Lingyu and Zhang Yiyi.

"Really not?" Zhang Chunxue always felt that Xiao Fan was lying to her.

"No, we get along so well, guaranteed!" Xu Qingfan declared decisively.

Last night's romp with Zhang Yiyi, and the subsequent catch by Wu Lingyu the next day—he dared not speak of such sensational news to Zhang Chunxue.

What Xu Qingfan feared more was that if Zhang Chunxue knew of his tricky actions, she would cease to like him.

Over the years, he had come to trust Zhang Chunxue completely, and so he never held back in his judgement for the future, almost completely revealing everything to the other party.

Zhang Chunxue didn't disappoint his trust either. She had given him half the shares in the investment company, and even though he had merely mentioned Good Taste Milk Tea without investing a penny, Auntie directly gifted him a 20% stake.

At this point, Zhang Chunxue could have easily kicked him to the curb and stopped involving Xu Qingfan in her plans.

But Auntie still chose to share equally with him, which was truly admirable.

Xu Qingfan wasn't afraid that Zhang Chunxue would exclude him; with his current shares and money, he was actually quite content.

Even if he did nothing from now on, it would be easy to become a billionaire once the companies they invested in went public.

Xu Qingfan simply feared that Zhang Chunxue would come to dislike him, and was afraid of that fact itself.

"By the way, Auntie..." Xu Qingfan began weakly.

"Yes?" Zhang Chunxue inquired.

"That... it's just... I don't want to upset you... but I don't know what I might do that could upset you.

So could you please tell me what things I might do that would make you unhappy? I'll make sure not to do them in the future."

Xu Qingfan stammered through his words.

"You're saying what?"

"Hahahaha..."

Zhang Chunxue was first startled, then burst into hearty laughter.

"Could you please not laugh? I'm being serious!" Xu Qingfan, now annoyed and embarrassed, ignored Zhang Chunxue's status and actually pinched her face.

"Hahaha... it's not... ah~ Xiao Fan!" Zhang Chunxue feigned anger, but because her face was being pinched, her voice didn't sound angry at all.

"Here, pinch back." Xu Qingfan slightly bowed and obediently pushed his face forward.

"Humph~ No respect for elders!"

After a pinch, Zhang Chunxue pushed his head away.

"Always overthinking things. In this world, Auntie cares about only you and Yiyi. So Xiao Fan, whatever you do, Auntie won't get mad."

"Auntie!"

"In this world, only aunties are good; a child who has an auntie is like a treasure..."

"Hahaha... shut up, will you!"

"In the embrace of Auntie...."

"I take it back, keep singing and I'll really get mad!"

...