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At some point, Cen Rubai had come to stand beside Su Ziji. He, too, watched the figure recede and sighed. "Zeng Nianzhen has always been stubborn. Even back in Capital City, plenty of people tried to recruit him, but he turned them all down."

"We may be friends, but in this respect, I fall far short of him."

Su Ziji listened, staring at the departing figure until it faded from sight. Only then did he look away.

A small part of what Cen Rubai had said might have been genuine admiration, but mostly, he was putting in a good word for Zeng Nianzhen.

With Zeng Nianzhen leaving like this, a patron who held grudges would likely mark it against him.

Su Ziji was generous and forgiving toward his own people, but with enemies, he was as swift and decisive as an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. Cen Rubai was probably worried that Zeng Nianzhen's actions had angered him.

Cen Rubai thought highly of Su Ziji's prospects. Making an enemy of someone like him would be no good thing.

Of course, he might also have been trying to put Su Ziji's mind at ease.

"What brings you here, Mr. Cen?" Su Ziji asked, unwilling to continue the subject.

Cen Rubai replied, "I reckoned it was about time you returned, and I'd just finished my work. Everything's fine at the construction site, so I came to meet you."

That was no lie. The most hectic stretch was over, and the project was going more smoothly by the day.

Cen Rubai had gone from being so busy that even meals felt like eating with a dog snapping at his heels to having enough leisure to take a stroll and meet someone.

Su Ziji nodded. "Then let's head back together."

On the way,