By the time news of what had happened at the old mansion reached Cheng Zhaorui’s ears through various relatives, twisting and turning along the way, it was already noon the next day.

“Huanzhen had a fight with Grandfather,” “Huanzhen got into a physical fight with Grandfather,” “Huanzhen nearly demolished the old mansion”…

Cheng Zhaorui nearly choked to death on a mouthful of water. “Cough, cough, cough—where are these rumors even coming from? How could Huanzhen possibly do something like that!”

The relative on the phone sounded perfectly innocent. “I’d like to know too. So, aren’t I asking you, Big Brother, to check with Huanzhen?”

Cheng Zhaorui furiously hung up the phone.

But the more he thought about it, the more something felt wrong. He hurriedly asked the director for a few hours off and rushed home at lightning speed.

He didn’t look for Cheng Huanzhen. He went straight for Lin Chen, dragging him into the study.

The moment the door closed, Cheng Zhaorui immediately lowered his voice, anxiously grabbing Lin Chen. “What happened? Don’t tell me you two really had a falling out with my father? Did you… did you really piss him off?!”

Lin Chen gave him a strange look. “You’re not the one who provoked him. What are you panicking for?”

Cheng Zhaorui grabbed Lin Chen in despair. “But the one who argued with the old man was Huanzhen! Do you have any idea what my father means to the Cheng family?”

“If Huanzhen really angered Father, the consequences will be far more than just being kicked out of the Cheng family. It could even… even… Does our contract goal have to be achieved this way? Why don’t… why don’t we change the plan? We can’t anger the old man, no matter what! Otherwise, even if the ‘reform’ is successful, things will only get worse than before once you leave!”

Lin Chen smiled and pulled his arm out of Cheng Zhaorui’s grasp.

He said, “The goal is set and cannot be changed. Mr. Cheng, if you’re not the one taking the stage, then don’t borrow anxiety. You just need to watch. Watch carefully.”

…

Cheng Huanzhen felt that life seemed to have returned to how it was before.

Except for needing to attend classes during the day, which meant he had complete control over his time on weekdays, nothing had changed from before.

But as soon as he left school and returned home, Little Uncle’s lightning-fast, surprise knock on the door could come at any time.

Cheng Huanzhen felt like he had gotten to know the entire capital city all over again these past few days—he had never known that there were so many alleys and so many unique little shops hidden in the nooks and crannies of the capital.

But Little Uncle knew, and he didn’t miss a single one.

They spent three months running here and there, exploring the entire capital.

As a result, many new items also entered the house.

Of course, they were things “he liked.”

Grandfather did not freeze his bank card after the argument, nor did he kick him out of the company or find someone to replace him.

But Cheng Huanzhen found that ever since he had argued with his grandfather in April, the act of strictly following a plan and filling his entire day with work, for some reason, could no longer bring him the same sense of peace as before.

On the contrary, every time he was busy with company work during the day, he couldn’t help but think—

Since he had already told his grandfather that the position of heir was not what he wanted, why did he still have to do all this work for his grandfather’s past demands and expectations?

He didn’t know.

Such questions had never appeared in his mind before.

But now, these questions filled his work time every single day.

Little Uncle’s previously mentioned idea of “wanting to go traveling” was one of the rare things he had said in advance and not forgotten, and had actually decided to put into action.

A week before his vacation, Little Uncle would search for all kinds of famous domestic attractions on the Big Green Book every day.

Then he would excitedly point and say to him, “Big Nephew, I want to go here, here, and here… I want to go here too!”

Normally, the vacation period was when Cheng Huanzhen should be busiest.

But this time, he was somewhat unwilling to devote his entire vacation to company work.

Anyway—ever since that day he had argued with his grandfather, his grandfather had not once come to ask about his work situation. So why couldn’t he arrange his vacation according to his own wishes?

So he said, “Okay, Little Uncle. You decide the itinerary. We can go wherever you want. We can leave after I finish my exams next week.”

Little Uncle nodded emphatically and said, “Okay, don’t worry, Big Nephew. Focus on your exams. Just follow me when the time comes!”

Cheng Huanzhen was a little worried.

But Cheng Huanzhen chose to trust him.

So, on the afternoon after finishing his exams, Cheng Huanzhen went home, changed into clothes suitable for traveling, and got into the car to the airport with Little Uncle.

On the way, Cheng Huanzhen asked, “Little Uncle, what’s our itinerary?”

Little Uncle replied happily, “First stop, fly to City H!”

Cheng Huanzhen listened attentively, took notes, and nodded. He waited.

Three seconds passed, and there was no next sentence.

Cheng Huanzhen couldn’t help but ask, “And then?”

Little Uncle looked up at him in surprise. “And then? Then we’ll play in City H first. After we’re done with City H, we’ll consider the next location.”

Cheng Huanzhen: “…”

Cheng Huanzhen: “?”

Cheng Huanzhen numbly processed the meaning of this sentence.

He asked woodenly, “Little Uncle, in the travel plan you made… is there only this one flight for tonight?”

Little Uncle answered naturally, “That’s right!”

Cheng Huanzhen took a deep breath.

Yes. Okay. Right. He should understand. Little Uncle was just this kind of person.

He did as he pleased, had never made a plan, and it was already very good that he could decide on the first stop…

Good for what? How could this be okay!!

He didn’t know where they were going every day. He didn’t know which places to visit in each location. He didn’t know how much time to spend at each location. He didn’t even know what time he could squeeze in some work!!

Cheng Huanzhen tried to be patient, and failed. Cheng Huanzhen couldn’t bear it anymore!

Cheng Huanzhen asked Little Uncle in despair, “Little Uncle, why don’t I make the travel plan?”

Little Uncle muttered, “I think my plan is very free, flexible, and has room for adjustment… Alright, you do it then.”

Cheng Huanzhen sighed a long sigh and took out his tablet.

They didn’t bring the butler on this trip because his father was still at home. They also didn’t bring an assistant because Little Uncle was unwilling to travel with strangers.

Cheng Huanzhen could only rely on himself to prepare.

He had never made a travel plan before. He had never even traveled.

In the past twenty years, whenever he went out of the province or country, it was for work. Sightseeing, visiting historical sites?… Such choices had never appeared in his mind.

Fortunately, a travel plan was not too different from the daily schedules he usually made.

Check the schedule, set the route, estimate the time.

…It didn’t seem too difficult.

The plane landed, and Cheng Huanzhen also completed the first travel plan of his life.

The System was traveling with its host for the second time.

But this time it was a little worried. “Host, since you made an agreement with his grandfather about the performance of the new product in the second half of the year, shouldn’t you be having him spend more time on work?”

Lin Chen looked at it with disdain. “If performance is directly proportional to time, then you work so hard, 24/7 without a break, why hasn’t your system performance improved?”

The system wailed, “Host is forbidden from belittling the system!!”

Lin Chen said, “You see how I’ve disrupted his work rhythm these past few months. Has their company been affected by it? No.”

“He has delegated most of his work to his subordinates. The work is always being done, and nothing has been affected.”

The system thought about it and it seemed to be true. “That’s right! Just like what you did when you first disrupted his plan… But if you put it that way, doesn’t it mean that this job is the same with or without him?”

The system hesitated. “But the projects that Cheng Huanzhen led in the past were indeed quite successful, weren’t they?”

Lin Chen smiled. “So, he only delegated ‘most of the work’.”

“The remaining work, which accounts for less than 10% of his time, is the irreplaceable and truly effective thing he does.”

“And the reason why he was able to quickly identify these necessary tasks after I destroyed his plan is that he himself is aware of this. Question: Then why does he still use a large amount of time to fill his life with ineffective work?”

The system thought seriously and answered joyfully, “Because he wants his grandfather to think he is working hard!”

Lin Chen praised, “A satisfactory answer.”

Lin Chen: “So, his potential is great. Stimulating his work initiative, extending his effective work time, and then using the remaining time to learn about life and experience the world can be done at the same time.”

The system was excited. “Stimulating work initiative! Host, what are you going to do?”

Lin Chen said softly, “Let him strive for life, for his own goals, not—for his grandfather’s demands, for a number.”

Cheng Huanzhen felt that traveling was probably just an expanded version of their walk that night.

The only difference was that they were walking in different places (and they had hardly followed the travel plan he had set!).

Then he would listen to Little Uncle point at different things and say to him, “Look, this is very beautiful.”

Then he would be pulled by Little Uncle to touch the cold rock wall of a cave, be pulled to bend down and touch the clear lake water, and be posed by Little Uncle for photos in different scenery.

So this was traveling.

Traveling with Little Uncle.

Traveling didn’t seem to be a very useful thing.

But it was relaxed enough.

Because he only needed to follow, listen, do as Little Uncle said, and then record Little Uncle’s evaluation of various attractions, and listen to Little Uncle scold him, “What are you writing this down for? You should be feeling it, feeling it!”

Feel them?

Cheng Huanzhen thought to himself, it seemed a bit difficult to produce the same “feeling” effect as Little Uncle. It was difficult to comprehend. He could only write it down.

But no matter what, Cheng Huanzhen felt that traveling was indeed a very comfortable time. It wasn’t bad to have such a time fill his two-month vacation.

On the fifteenth day of the trip, they landed in City X.

This was a city that Little Uncle was very much looking forward to. He had listed seven or eight major attractions, and Little Uncle had even pointed out more than ten minor attractions in one go.

Little Uncle’s request was strong. Cheng Huanzhen had no choice but to list them all in the plan. Therefore, in the plan for the first day, they would get up at six in the morning and tour until nine at night before returning to the guesthouse.

At six o’clock, Cheng Huanzhen got up on time. After washing up, he went out and knocked on Little Uncle’s door. No response.

“Little Uncle?” he called.

No response.

He called him. Still no response.

Strange, was Little Uncle not awake yet?

Cheng Huanzhen was a little troubled, thinking that the travel plan probably needed to be redone.

He went back to his room, drastically reduced the day’s plan, and postponed the itinerary of many attractions.

Just like that, he waited until eight o’clock. Knocking on the door, calling, still no response.

At ten o’clock, Little Uncle was still not up.

At twelve o’clock…

Little Uncle’s voice finally came from the room.

“Ah… Big Nephew, I don’t really want to go out today. Why don’t… why don’t we rest today?”

Little Uncle’s voice was a bit slow, with a sense of daze as if he had just woken up, but it didn’t sound like he had really just woken up. His voice sounded a bit weak.

Cheng Huanzhen’s brow furrowed at once.

He asked Little Uncle, “Little Uncle, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well? Then we’ll go to the hospital today.”

After waiting for a second, a slow response came from the room. “I’m not unwell. Not going to the hospital.”

Cheng Huanzhen said, “Little Uncle, open the door first.”

But Little Uncle was unwilling to open the door. After a moment of silence, he said to him, “I… I had insomnia last night and couldn’t sleep. I still want to sleep now. Big Nephew, you go eat first. I’ll contact you after I’ve had enough sleep.”

Cheng Huanzhen said expressionlessly, “Little Uncle, open the door first.”

Little Uncle was quiet for another two seconds and said very unwillingly and slowly, “What for? I haven’t gotten up yet. Be a good boy, Big Nephew, go eat something. I’ll find you when I wake up.”

Cheng Huanzhen stood firmly at the door and said stiffly, “Little Uncle, open the door.”