Chapter 1422 Hearts as Cold as Ice (Part 1)

How cold is Northeast China in February?

A decade or so later, there might be talk of warm winters in the Northeast, but in 2006, the word 'warm' had nothing to do with the region. At the very least, Zhao Fusheng couldn't feel any warmth at all.

Even walking down the street in a thick down jacket, Zhao Fusheng could still feel the bone-piercing cold.

"Don't you think it's colder here than in the capital?" Fan Baobao said softly, linking arms with Zhao Fusheng as they walked.

Zhao Fusheng smiled. "It is a bit cold."

Neither of them had anything to do today. Zhao Fusheng was fine, but Fan Baobao was nearly driven crazy by Zhao's mother and Li Yuan's constant urgings to have a child, so she simply escaped.

Anyway, with a group of bodyguards around, nothing could go wrong.

In recent years, the economic development gap between the Northeast and the South, even the capital, had grown increasingly vast. Many Northeasterners had simply headed south to make a living.

So during the Spring Festival, the Northeast became especially lively, as if people who were usually invisible suddenly appeared in droves.

"Do you think it'll end up with only old people staying here?" Fan Baobao said casually, looking at the crowd around her.

Zhao Fusheng smiled. "It's not a matter of 'if'; it's bound to happen."

The Northeast had major problems now. Whether in terms of mindset or the overall environment, the decline of the Northeast's economy was inevitable, and it would become even more severe a decade or so later.

As an ordinary person, Zhao Fusheng was powerless to change it. It was a historical inevitability. Not even the authorities could do anything about it, otherwise there wouldn't be so many news stories in later years.

"But our hometown is clearly..."

Fan Baobao felt a bit unwilling. She had grown up here, and seeing the Northeast gradually fall behind made her uncomfortable inside.

Zhao Fusheng sighed silently. There were some things he couldn't explain to Fan Baobao.

The decline of the Northeast's economy had shown signs as early as the beginning of reform and opening up.

At that time, reform and opening up was in full swing across the country, but the Northeast had basically seen no change. Whether it was the will of the higher-ups or a decision-making error by local leaders at the time, in short, after twenty years of reform and opening up, the Northeast hadn't even managed to stay stagnant—it had actually regressed.

Take Heilongjiang, for example. Compared to its two neighboring provinces, although it had fertile black soil for agriculture, its industrial base was weak, and agricultural output was supplied to meet domestic demand in other regions. Moreover, apart from a few large state-owned enterprises like the Forest Industry Bureau, Beidahuang, and the Petroleum Administration, there were hardly any other enterprises that could hold their own.

In short, they couldn't achieve scale.

Coupled with an aging workforce and a large number of unrelated employees drawing salaries without doing any work, it would be strange if problems didn't arise.

Before his rebirth, Zhao Fusheng had read an online report that described the situation in the Northeast, and he found it worth pondering.

The article's content wasn't much, but one sentence left a deep impression on Zhao Fusheng.

It mentioned that mining the same amount of raw coal under the same conditions required only two workers in coal mines in the South and other regions, but eight in the Northeast.

And of those eight, at least five had nothing to do with production.

The waters here ran deep—so deep that many people dared not even touch them.

Zhao Fusheng certainly didn't dare, either, even though he saw things more clearly than anyone.

Things in this world aren't simply black and white. Children see right and wrong; adults see only pros and cons. At Zhao Fusheng's age, he had long passed the stage of making decisions based on momentary courage. Even if he wanted to do something, he would weigh it carefully before deciding.

Moreover, Zhao Fusheng knew well that his abilities were limited, and he could only change the fate of those within his reach.

A small person must have the awareness of a small person. Those who always think they can change the whole world are either geniuses or madmen.

...

...

Compared to the capital's shopping malls, those in Ninghai were naturally far less prosperous—that was beyond doubt.

Although it was Spring Festival and the mall had a fair number of customers, the variety and prices of goods couldn't compare with those in the capital.

Fortunately, Fan Baobao wasn't after these things; she simply enjoyed the feeling of shopping with Zhao Fusheng.

"What do you think of this one?"

"This one, this one—how does it look?"

Along the way, Fan Baobao kept dragging Zhao Fusheng to try on clothes. To be honest, she usually didn't buy clothes worth a hundred or two hundred yuan. As a celebrity, she had to pay attention to her attire, and the company had a stylist to handle that.

But now, she was acting like a child.

"Nice, nice. You look good in everything." Zhao Fusheng looked at Fan Baobao with doting affection, a smile on his face.

A wife is meant to be cherished—Zhao Fusheng had always believed that was true.

Hu Donghai and the others followed behind Zhao Fusheng, looking relaxed. After all, they were in Ninghai, which could be considered Zhao Fusheng's home base.

"Do you think the boss is getting a feel for the public sentiment?" a companion beside Hu Donghai asked quietly.

Hu Donghai thought for a moment and shook his head. "He's always seen himself as an ordinary person. What public sentiment does he need to gauge?"

The few of them exchanged glances but had to nod in agreement. Hu Donghai was right—their boss had never had that arrogant air.

They say the rich are incredibly proud, but that flaw was nowhere to be seen in Zhao Fusheng.

Perhaps that was the reason for his success.

"Honey, buy this for me, okay?"

Fan Baobao held up a piece of clothing and acted coy with Zhao Fusheng.

Logically, she earned enough money to buy a hundred such outfits herself, but she wanted Zhao Fusheng to buy it for her—that was the fun of being a couple.

Zhao Fusheng was about to pay with a smile when suddenly a commotion broke out not far away.

"Someone's going to jump!"

"Quick, go see! Someone's going to jump!"

The bustling area around them emptied out in an instant. Fan Baobao and Zhao Fusheng looked at each other in surprise.

"What's going on?"

Zhao Fusheng turned to Hu Donghai and the others, who could no longer hide as the crowd dispersed, and asked in confusion.

Hu Donghai said solemnly, "It seems someone is about to jump over there..."

"Let's go take a look."

Frowning, Zhao Fusheng led Fan Baobao and the others toward the scene.

There was a large crowd there, clearly the site of the incident.

Though he found the situation puzzling, Zhao Fusheng decided to check it out—maybe he could help.

Chinese people love to watch a spectacle. As Zhao Fusheng and his group approached the crowd, more and more people gathered, clearly onlookers.

The incident was inside the mall. Though it was far away, Zhao Fusheng spotted a girl standing by the railing on the fourth floor at a glance.

Clearly, she was the one threatening to jump.

"What's going on? Why would someone want to jump?"

"I don't know. Heard it's some relationship trouble."

"The girl seems to be a college student. She came to see her boyfriend and found he had another girl..."

Overhearing the murmurs, Zhao Fusheng frowned but said nothing.

To be honest, he wasn't very interested in such matters. He was past the age of caring about gossip. But regardless, life was precious. Throwing it away casually was not only irresponsible to oneself but also to one's family.

With that thought, Zhao Fusheng glanced at Hu Donghai. "Call the police."

Hu Donghai nodded and was about to make the call when a few police officers ran over from not far away. Apparently, someone had already called them.

Since that was the case, Zhao Fusheng lost interest in watching and turned to leave.

But the next moment, a few voices made him stop in his tracks.