Chapter 65: Choose your own

Robert's business, no matter how much of an impact it will have in the future, but in terms of time, it will only delay for a short while. Soon, Zhou Ming returned to the Harvard dormitory.

In the past, whenever Ming returned to the dormitory, Ning would be the first to greet him at the door as long as she was free. However, today, when Ming returned, he only saw the monitor, Shu Chen, who told Ming that Ning didn't seem to feel well and had not yet woken up.

Ming noticed that Chen used the word 'seemed' and thought that Chen understood that Ning was not really sick, but because of her relationship with Qing.

Zhou Ming understood and patted Chen Shu on the shoulder, telling him to go about his business. Then Zhou Ming went upstairs to Ye Ning's room. Ye Ning, wearing pajamas, came to open the door and apologised, saying, 'Teacher, I'm very sorry. I feel very weak today, probably because I didn't sleep well and caught a cold, so I probably won't be able to do any work today, but I will make it up in the future.'

Zhou Ming smiled gently, pulled Ye Ning and let her lie down on the bed. Zhou Ming sat by the bed, touched her forehead first to make sure she didn't have a fever, and then said to her, 'Ye Ning, although you called me teacher, in reality, there is not really a two-year age difference between us, so you don't need to hide anything from me.'

Ye Ning looked up at Zhou Ming, confused. Zhou Ming then said to her, 'Do you know that a few years ago when I was in college, the English teacher in my class was a senior sister who had just stayed on at the university? She was very beautiful, and I really liked her a lot. So do you think I should have gone after her, and if she had a boyfriend I should have been depressed and never recovered?'

'Of course not,' Ye Ning said, shaking her head desperately. "You are a very capable person, and if you were to lose heart, it would be a great loss to the country...'

Before Ye Ning could finish speaking, Zhou Ming said to her, "But Ye Ning is also a very capable financial talent! The country has placed great expectations on you by entrusting you to me and sending you abroad. If you lose heart because of this, then I would be a sinner to the country!'

'I understand what you're saying, but I just feel so bad,' Ye Ning said with her head down and a depressed expression. "I understand that I'm not good enough for you, and only a woman as outstanding as Mu Qing is worthy of you...'

Zhou Ming shook his head and interrupted Ye Ning once again: "No, what you're thinking is still wrong.'

Ye Ning looked at Zhou Ming blankly. After a moment's thought, Zhou Ming said to her, 'I'll tell you a story, and maybe you'll understand.'

'I'm sure you've heard the story of the ugly duckling. Once upon a time, there was an ugly duckling. He was ugly because he was a swan that hadn't grown up yet. He saw everything as amazing. He admired the rooster's crowing, the hunting dog's running, or the hawk's soaring through the sky, and the farmer's dominance over everything.

Zhou Ming paused for a moment, then continued, 'But no matter how good or outstanding these things are, they will never belong to him. His partner can only be a white swan.'

'Of course, I'm not emphasising on matching social status, but only a white swan of the same kind will share your aspirations, the same interests and goals, and you can go through life together,' Zhou Ming said, 'As for other worship, that is just a momentary excitement. It is best to keep it as a memory. If you force it, the end result can only be being pecked by roosters, bitten by hunting dogs, or thrown down by eagles and falcons, as well as being killed by farmers.'

'I won't tell you too many big truths, I believe you can understand,' Zhou Ming said.

Ye Ning nodded silently, and finally looked up and said, 'I understand, Teacher. Perhaps I will also find a husband who shares my goals and interests in the future, but I will never forget you, because you are a memory of my youth and an idol for life, the person I love most!'

Zhou Ming felt a little helpless at these words. He had come to enlighten her, but he never expected that in the end she would have even more favourable feelings towards him. Isn't this just asking for trouble?

Zhou Ming was at his wits' end. He wanted to say something else, but then his phone rang. Ye Ning happily ran off the bed to wash up. Zhou Ming had no choice but to answer the phone first. It was lawyer Alan calling. Alan said on the phone that he had carefully studied the contract over and over again. There were no problems with the other terms, but the division of responsibility for overseas fund transfers and management terms was a bit too general.

'I personally have a trusting attitude towards your collaborators, Mr. Zhou Ming, but the terms related to funds are very important because this is also the area where disputes are most likely to arise. Therefore, my advice is that no matter what the relationship between the two parties is, they should remain cautious in such key areas and seek clarification from the other party,' said Alan.

'That's fine, I can contact them at any time to highlight this point. But there's another question I need to ask you. If I'm stopped for no reason on the road and the other person gets out of the car and tries to use violence against me, but my bodyguard is even stronger and injures the other person, will there be a problem if a dispute arises in this situation?' Zhou Ming asked.

'If you can provide evidence to prove that the other party started the fight, I can guarantee that you will not have any problems. Even if you cannot provide evidence, I can at least guarantee that you will not be held criminally responsible,' Alan said, and then asked, 'I'm sorry, Mr. Zhou Ming, can I ask a question out of curiosity? Did you encounter any problems on your way back to the dormitory today?'

Zhou Ming replied, 'It wasn't a big problem, but the identity of the other party was a headache. It was that Robert Adams.'

Upon hearing Zhou Ming's answer, Allen let out a gasp and said, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, forgive me for being blunt, but if it was someone from the Adams family, I'm afraid the outcome won't be so good, because they will resort to other means outside the law at any time.'

...

After Zhou Ming returned to the dormitory, Robert Adams also returned to the family's beach house. Almost at the same time, Will Adams and Old Brook also returned.

Will saw that Robert was in a furious mood and asked him, 'Brother Robert, where have you been? Why are you in such a state? And Nien, if I remember correctly, he should have gone out with you.'

Facing Will's questioning, Robert looked a little embarrassed. Seeing that Brook was also there, he said, 'Senator Brook is here too, so it seems that today's party is going to be even more lively, right?'

Will shook his head and told Robert, 'Senator Brook is not here to attend a party today, but to discuss how to deal with the Chinese. Then looking at Will, he said, 'You're not going to go to the Chinese behind our backs, have you? You want him to do you a favour, but the Chinese obviously don't want to.'

'That's right, the Chinese are such jerks!'

Robert angrily scolded Zhou Ming, but he stopped after saying that because he suddenly thought of something and asked, 'Will, you know so much about this, so you weren't following me, were you?'

'I wasn't following you or anything, I was just guessing...'

Will subconsciously answered, but was interrupted by Old Brook, who answered Robert, 'Yes, we were following you because we knew you would definitely go to the Chinese...'

Before Brooke could finish his sentence, Robert immediately yelled at him, 'Since you all saw it, why didn't you come help me? Are you all hiding behind me and laughing at me?'

'Laughing? I'm sorry, Mr. Robert, I'm not interested in that, but there are some things that you may not experience as strongly if you don't experience them yourself, just as Mr. Robert did just now. You would think that the Chinese man would talk to you, but you don't know the other person's greed and savagery, so how would he talk to you?' Brooke said.

Robert snorted, 'I was just giving him a chance. Since he chose not to, don't blame me for being rude!'

Robert then took Old Brook and Will to another family villa. Compared to the previous beachfront villa, this villa in the mountains had a more medieval castle feel. Robert said to Will and Old Brook, 'This is an important family castle and the central hub of this Bay Project. There is a very important figure helping us operate it.'

'Brother Robert, when you say an important person, you don't mean her, do you?' Will asked.

Old Brook didn't ask along with Will, but he frowned, as if he had thought of something.

Robert replied complacently, 'Yes, it's the person you think of. She is a descendant of a famous European royal family, a rare financial genius in the world, and a treasure that all consortia want to possess, Her Royal Highness Princess Teresa.'

Although they had long expected this, they still involuntarily gasped when they heard this answer. The reason was that this identity was truly too shocking.

Robert led Will and Old Brook through the villa and into the backyard, where a delicate girl like a doll was sitting on a garden chair. When she saw Robert and the others enter, the girl involuntarily frowned, and the black bodyguard guarding her immediately stepped forward to stop them.

Robert was prepared for this. He clasped his right hand over his chest, gave the girl a not-quite-standard knight's salute and said, 'Your Royal Highness Princess Teresa, I'm very sorry to disturb your peace, but I'd like to make a small change to the arrangements for the Future Bay project.'

The girl looked up at Robert with disgust and said, 'I'm sorry, Mr. Robert, but the entire Bay project was decided a long time ago, and no changes are allowed for any little thing.'

'But I just want to make a small change, because someone just pissed me off, and I need to use the bay plan to teach that guy a lesson. I'm sure Your Highness will be able to do this. What do you say? If you help me this once, I can consider helping you again in the future. You know I'm a direct member of the Adams family, and I can keep my word.'

Robert said very confidently, but the girl obviously didn't care about this. She still shook her head and said, 'I'm sorry, this is very bad behavior, and I won't allow it.'

Faced with the girl's obstinate reply, Robert finally became angry. He pushed the female bodyguard's hand away, walked up to the girl, and pointed at her, saying, 'Teresa, I called you your highness out of respect. If I don't respect you, you're nothing. Don't you think about it. Your dynasty no longer exists. It is our Adams family that supports your royal family so that it will not end up on the streets. Now you dare to disobey me even when I ask you to do something?

Robert pointed at the girl and yelled, 'I'm telling you, your dynasty has long gone to hell. It's our Adams family that's supporting you now. You owe us everything, and yet you dare to disobey me? Do you believe I will unplug your father's tubes in a minute?'

At Robert's tirade, the girl's crystal tears swirled in her eyes, but in the end they did not fall. She endured them with great strength, or perhaps she had become accustomed to them over time.

The girl wiped the corner of her eye and finally asked, 'You're dealing with a Chinese person, right?'

Robert grinned, 'That's right, I want you to fix him good on the Gulf project!'