mutual benefit [gl]

seventeen months ago.

It was October, late autumn.

Chen Yuanzhen walked up and down in the mud with bare feet, holding his trouser legs.

She rolled up her sleeves, wearing rubber gloves on both hands, rummaging for something in the mud puddle.

Zhou Ming stood aside, with Chen Yuanzhen's coat on his arm, and the boots that Chen Yuanzhen took off in his hand.

He frowned and watched Chen Yuanzhen rummaging through the mud, and couldn't bear to say: "Boss...how about I look for it?"

Chen Yuanzhen bent over to dig through the mud, and finally, she narrowed her goggled eyes slightly.

She saw something that looked like a shrimp or a worm, slowly wriggling in the wet mud.

"Finally found you..." She said softly, stretched out her hand to carefully pinch the thing, waved her other hand, and Zhou Ming hurried forward to hand over a bucket.

Some mud from the quagmire was put in the bucket, and there are already several of these things that look like bugs and shrimps writhing around.

Chen Yuanzhen threw the one he had just caught into the bucket, and then straightened up.

She wanted to support her waist with her hands and twist her sore body, but she looked down at her dirty hands with gloves on.

Forget it or...

The corners of her mouth twitched, and she bent down again, rummaging through the mud.

Zhou Ming sighed: "Boss... If you want bait, I'll just go to the flower and bird market to buy it. You, why do you bother..."

Chen Yuanzhen didn't raise his head, and continued to turn over the mud and said: "Mr. Zhao used this kind of bait in his bucket when he was fishing last time. I asked someone who knew the tricks and they said it was mud from the stinky mud. Drilling worms, ordinary bait will not work."

"Boss... are you still thinking about old man Zhao? Before you stood behind him for a whole day, he only paid attention to fishing and even ignored you, obviously he didn't want to help you..."

Chen Yuanzhen flicked the mud from the gloves, and the mud spots directly landed on her shirt and pants. She curled her lips in disgust, but continued to dig the wet mud helplessly.

Finally, she pushed aside a piece of mud, and once again saw the mudborer writhing its body.

She looked at the worm wrapped in mud, wriggling slowly, and suddenly had an urge to vomit.

She suppressed her nausea and threw the worm out of the mud and into the bucket, then she raised her head and frowned and asked:

"How many?"

Zhou Ming counted in his heart and said, "There must be more than a dozen."

Chen Yuanzhen turned her head and looked at the large swamp behind her. She wrinkled her face, bit her lips and considered for a moment, and finally bent down and continued to dig the mud.

Zhou Ming couldn't stand it anymore, he turned back to the car and put down the clothes that Chen Yuanzhen was holding, and then took off his shirt and shoes.

He walked to the edge of the quagmire and stretched out his hand, saying, "Come up, I'll go down and look for it."

Chen Yuanzhen waved his hand and said, "Forget it, I'm already down, so you don't come. Otherwise, when we go back later, can we still smell it in the car?"

Although Chen Yuanzhen said so, she almost vomited several times when digging the mud.

After tossing all afternoon, Chen Yuanzhen finally got out of the quagmire. Fortunately, she prepared a change of clothes before she came. She could feel a little better after changing clothes, but the stench on her body still bothered her.

On the way back, Zhou Ming asked her why she came here to catch bugs herself.

"Mr. Zhao likes fishing. I'll give you expensive fishing rods. Isn't it too vulgar?"

Zhou Ming said while driving: "Why do you want to catch it yourself? Actually, I can help you."

Chen Yuanzhen didn't speak, just rolled up his sleeves.

Zhou Ming glanced at it, only to find that Chen Yuanzhen's fair-skinned arm unexpectedly had a series of red rashes at some point.

Zhou Ming was so frightened that he stepped on the brake and stopped the car. He asked in horror, "What's going on?"

Chen Yuanzhen put down his sleeves, waved his hands and said, "Go home first."

After returning home, Chen Yuanzhen took a hot bath, and then went to the hospital accompanied by Zhou Ming.

"It's hookworm dermatitis, also known as 'fecal poison'."

The doctor said while typing the medical records on the computer. After finishing speaking, he looked at Chen Yuanzhen and asked with a smile, "You don't look like a farmer who needs to work in the fields. How could you be infected with this disease? But..."

He looked at Chen Yuanzhen's rolled-up sleeves, and said, "It seems that you have already checked the information, and the emergency treatment you did was correct."

Zhou Ming looked at Chen Yuanzhen who was sitting in front of the doctor strangely.

She had known for a long time that she would be infected with this disease, so she insisted on going into the quagmire herself?

On the way home again, Zhou Ming finally couldn't restrain his curiosity and asked:

"Did you do it on purpose?"

Chen Yuanzhen just laughed, but did not deny it.

Zhou Ming glanced at her reproachfully, and said, "I heard from the doctor just now that this kind of disease will cause asthma if it gets worse. Boss, this is too risky for you."

"I know it in my heart." Chen Yuanzhen smiled, "You didn't see that I was still wearing gloves."

"When are you going to deliver the things in the bucket?"

"Of course it's tomorrow." Chen Yuanzhen said, "We have to send these rashes while they are still obvious."

Early the next morning, Chen Yuanzhen unbuttoned two buttons of her shirt and combed her hair into a high ponytail, so that people could see the rash on her neck at a glance.

She personally carried the bucket of mudworms and rang the doorbell of Zhao Zhizhen's house.

The person who opened the door for Chen Yuanzhen was Zhao Zhizhen's wife, who looked very kind. Compared to the status of the executive's wife, Chen Yuanzhen felt that she was like an ordinary housewife.

"You are Mr. Zhao's wife, right? Hello, I'm Chen Yuanzhen."

Chen Yuanzhen had already stretched out her hand, but she saw the rash on her hand again, so she took her hand back a little embarrassedly.

"List……"

Although Zhao Zhizhen never told his wife about his work, and never talked about his career at home, his wife also knew that the place where Zhao Zhizhen worked was called "Chen's Group".

Seeing Chen Yuanzhen's bright clothes, Zhao Zhizhen's wife knew that she was no one else, so she let her through the door and said, "Please come in...Old Zhao is playing with flowers and plants in the yard, I'll call him for you."

"No need." Chen Yuanzhen walked into the door and smiled, "I can wait for Mr. Zhao."

"Oh...then I'll make you a cup of tea." Zhao Zhizhen's wife led Chen Yuanzhen to the living room to sit down, while she went to make tea.

On the way to make tea, she passed the gate of the courtyard and called out to Zhao Zhizhen who was watering the flowers.

But Zhao Zhizhen just smiled and said: "Since the guest said he could wait, let her wait."

Chen Yuanzhen sat in the living room and waited for nearly an hour before Zhao Zhizhen walked into the living room with a shower.

Seeing Chen Yuanzhen, Zhao Zhizhen looked surprised and said, "Director Chen."

Chen Yuanzhen stood up and said with a smile, "Mr. Zhao, you really kept me waiting."

"Oh...look at this old lady, she didn't tell me that Director Chen is here." Zhao Zhizhen glanced at the direction his wife was leaving as he spoke.

The wife who was preparing snacks in the kitchen vaguely heard Zhao Zhizhen's accusation, and couldn't help curling her lips and slandering in her heart.

"The stinky old man pushed the blame on me again!"

"I didn't ask my wife to tell you, for fear of disturbing your pleasure in tending flowers and plants."

"Indecent..." Zhao Zhizhen lowered his eyes and smiled, "It's just a few pots of weeds."

As soon as he lowered his eyes, he saw an iron bucket at Chen Yuanzhen's feet.

"I visited you before and saw that you like fishing. When I went to the countryside to play, I heard from the villagers that if the bait for fishing is the 'mud borer' raised in the dirty mud, the effect will be very good."

In fact, Zhao Zhizhen had already discovered the rash on Chen Yuanzhen's neck. Now that Chen Yuanzhen said that he brought the bait, he knew it.

He smiled, but he didn't mention Chen Yuanzhen's illness, he just said politely, "I've made you hard."

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and said, "Since Director Chen has something to look for me, he might as well go to the study upstairs, and it will be cleaner."

Chen Yuanzhen nodded and said with a smile, "Then Mr. Zhao will lead the way."

The furnishings of Zhao Zhizhen's study room are very simple and unsophisticated. Upon entering the study room, the first thing that attracted Chen Yuanzhen's attention was a screen in the study room with "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" painted on it.

Zhao Zhizhen led Chen Yuanzhen into the inner room of the study and sat down. He did not close the door of the study, leaving it wide open.

The inner room is brighter than the outer room. Chen Yuanzhen looked around, but he didn't see any modern electrical appliances here.

There is not even a computer in the study, but there are several carved wooden bookcases.

This study is really just a study.

"There are no visitors to my house on weekdays, and the study room is usually just a place for me to read."

Zhao Zhizhen smiled apologetically, "It's for reading, so I don't care about standing and sitting properly. I usually just sit on a cushion. I don't have a table, chairs and coffee table. I'm neglecting Director Chen."

There is not even a desk in Zhao Zhizhen's study, let alone a chair.Chen Yuanzhen could only sit cross-legged on a soft cushion facing Zhao Zhizhen, with a small table in between, on which was the endgame of a game of Go.

"Mr. Zhao, do you still like Go?"

Zhao Zhizhen glanced at the chessboard and said, "I'm fine on weekdays, so I naturally have free time to play around."

"Mr. Zhao probably already knows why I came here today."

"What Director Chen wants to do is not what I, Zhao, can do." Zhao Zhizhen didn't point it out.

"Mr. Zhao is underestimating himself," Chen Yuanzhen said, "but if you underestimate yourself too much, it will lose its original meaning."

Zhao Zhizhen smiled lowly, he looked up at Chen Yuanzhen.

"Director Chen paid a price for coming here. If that's the case, you might as well speak up."

Chen Yuanzhen simply said: "Mr. Zhao has been with my father for the longest time, and now I need Mr. Zhao's help."

"help?"

Zhao Zhizhen spread his hands and looked himself up and down.

"As Director Chen has seen, I am no longer well-dressed. What can an old man who indulges in flowers and birds do for you?"

"My father practiced calligraphy and drank tea on weekdays, and it wasn't Special Assistant Xu who accompanied him."

"Does the chairman know that Director Chen has such bright eyes and good looks?"

"Father is busy with his career, so he can't take care of me."

Zhao Zhizhen narrowed his eyes slightly and said with a smile: "Then Director Chen wants me to mention something about the chairman?"

Chen Yuanzhen also smiled and said: "Mr. Zhao is obsessed with mountains and rivers. I'm afraid he will forget me completely before he comes to my father's side."

The two smiled at each other, and after a while, Zhao Zhizhen suddenly looked up to the sky and laughed.

"Director Chen really understands me. I'm indeed...a bit forgetful." Zhao Zhizhen pursed his lips, but suddenly, he changed the topic.

"But when I get older, I don't want to do things that consume energy."

"I came to visit today. I didn't want to ask my husband to help me, but I just hoped that my husband could show me a clear way." Chen Yuanzhen said earnestly.

"Ming Lu?" Zhao Zhizhen raised his eyebrows, his pupils shrank first, and then gradually eased.

"Does Director Chen know Jubanki ①?"

Chen Yuanzhen remained silent.

"If Director Chen insists on getting into this round, I'm afraid he won't even have the chance of ten rounds."

"I... don't want to compete with my father." Chen Yuanzhen said weakly with downcast eyes.

"Director Chen's purpose is as long as Director Chen knows it himself. It's just... such a dangerous situation, I'm already old, so I'm sorry I can't do anything."

"Could it be that Mr. Zhao won't even say a word to me?" Chen Yuanzhen raised his head and looked at Zhao Zhizhen rather unwillingly.

Zhao Zhizhen had already stood up to see off the guests, but seeing that Chen Yuanzhen was still struggling, he sighed secretly, and said slowly:

"The fight between the snipe and the clam is actually not a last resort. If the snipe and the clam cease fighting, what should the fisherman do? To win, the snipe and the clam must have to fight."

Chen Yuanzhen didn't fully understand the meaning of Zhao Zhizhen's words at that time.

Until she sent someone to turn Chen Yuanyang upside down and found out that he still had an illegitimate son, Ji Xu.

Only then did she understand the meaning of "had to fight".

When Chen Yuanshuo learned that Chen Yuanyang had a child, Chen Yuanshuo had no choice but to argue with Chen Yuanyang; and when Chen Yuanyang found out that he had a child, he would not accept his fate, but would fight fiercely with Chen Yuanshuo bite.

The fight between the snipe and the clam became a last resort.

Ji Xu has become a bargaining chip that she must grasp.

And now, she did exactly that.

But after that, when Chen Yuanzhen wanted to see Zhao Zhizhen again, he turned him away.

Zhao Zhizhen's unfathomable depth makes Chen Yuanzhen both respect and fear.

When Zhao Zhizhen returned home, he dawdled for nearly two hours before calling Chen Yuanshuo.

He listened to Chen Yuanshuo clarify the things he wanted to ask himself, and he just smiled.

"What the deputy general manager wants to do, just do it."

After hanging up the phone, his wife came over with a pot of winter dates and asked him who he was talking to just now. He smiled and grabbed a handful of dates from the pot.

"Idlers." He laughed.

That night, after dinner, Chen Yuanzhen was reading documents when the cell phone on the table rang suddenly.

Seeing that the caller was Ji Cixi, she laughed unconsciously.

"Why did Teacher Ji take the initiative to find me?"

Ji Cixi didn't make fun of her, and said directly:

"Someone wants to meet me."

Chen Yuanzhen's expression became serious in an instant.

finally come.

The author has something to say: ①: Wu Qingyuan said that "Ten Games of Chess Competition" is a hand-to-hand fight on a cliff.Especially in the competition for the top spot in the chess world, the winner will be famous all over the world, while the loser may be devastated.