At nearly eight o'clock in the morning, each car carrying the group of customers from country B left the airport one after another and headed along the national highway towards province J.
During Hubert's recent business trip, he was fortunate to have a relationship with the deputy general director of Wine Life Group, a multi-industry business group.
It is worth mentioning that the famous hotels, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs in country B with a huge annual wine consumption are all owned by the Wine Life Group, accounting for sixty percent of country B's market share. Therefore, Hubert is looking forward to the results of today's meeting.
Watching the city gradually recede through the car window, Clement felt an indescribable joy in his heart, feeling exactly like someone who had been in exile for decades returning to visit the old place.
It wasn't that he missed that land that held so much loss and pain, but because there was a girl he loved dearly.
When they arrived at J province, it was already past lunchtime. After talking with the head of the customer group, Clement told the driver to drive straight to the Kingdom restaurant as Hubert had arranged in advance.
Kingdom Restaurant is not only luxurious but also very convenient for the tourist group's accommodation, so Hubert chose this place because the hotel is located right next to the restaurant.
As soon as they arrived at the main door, Clement saw Hubert and Charles solemnly waiting to welcome them. The face of the top leader of Young Market company showed a happy look.
“Hello Mr. Michael, I am honored to welcome you and your associates.”
“Hello chairman, I also hope we can reach a good agreement.” Michael happily shook hands with Hubert.
“Ah. Let me introduce you, this is the deputy general director of Young Market company, Mr. Charles.” Hubert turned to Charles, speaking solemnly.
Just waiting for that, Michael politely stepped forward and warmly greeted the deputy general director. Although Michael had known Charles in the press, this was the first time he had the opportunity to meet the second most powerful man of the Young Market company.
“Please come in and have a friendly meal with us.” Hubert stepped aside, smiling.
Michael nodded happily and walked through the revolving door with the entourage. The reception team quickly led the way, leading the distinguished guests to the large room on the second floor.
Seeing Clement lingering, Hubert signaled Charles to go ahead and then turned to him, frowning slightly.
“What's wrong?”
“President, please allow me to eat alone. I will be at the headquarters at exactly 2 o'clock.” Clement begged in a low voice.
“You are the representative to welcome them, how can you escape? I know you don't like these places, but you should get used to them from now on. The industry you are studying and your future job will inevitably involve parties and entertaining guests. Are you planning to take them to a roadside barbecue restaurant? Who will sign the contract with you?”
After listening to Hubert's lecture for a while, Clement had no choice but to obey and follow him to the banquet hall.
At first, he had intended to take advantage of the few hours of free time to go up the mountain to visit Erina for a bit, but it seemed impossible.
As the two of them passed the reception desk, Hubert's steps slowed down a bit, glancing at the beautiful girl who was busy consulting the guests. Suddenly turning around and meeting his eyes, Isa politely bowed.
Clement, who was walking behind, also stopped following Hubert. The girl's face reminded him of something in the past that he hadn't yet realized, he only knew that it seemed like he had seen her somewhere, very familiar.
Seeing the man staring at her, Isa didn't know what to do, so she bowed a little lower. When she looked up, they had already left together.
Throughout the meal, Clement kept watching the clock. The long and short hands kept moving forward, and when it struck one thirty, the meal ended. Everyone went to the hotel next door to rest.
There was only half an hour left, so there wasn't enough time for Clement to carry out his intention of climbing the mountain. He couldn't do anything, so he lay down and took a nap.
At exactly two o'clock, the group quickly moved to the headquarters of Young Market Company, not far from the Kingdom Restaurant.
After walking around the departments, Michael nodded because he saw that the working style of the staff was quite professional and serious.
Next, they got in the car and headed straight to the winery and vineyard at the foot of the mountain. Throughout the journey, Michael kept praising the beautiful scenery here.
Young Market Company owns more than ten wineries located in many different provinces, but province J is the place with the largest winery with three automatic production lines with a capacity of nine thousand bottles per hour.
And because it is an automatic production model, the number of workers on duty is not much, each stage has only two people in charge.
Charles walked next to Michael, introducing the general process of making wine, from transporting the grapes here to processing through the stages of cleaning, grinding, fermenting, storing, filtering, and quality control.
The tour group stopped for a long time at the filling stage, which is also the final step in producing the finished product. Witnessing the strict control process, the managers as well as Michael nodded in satisfaction.
Leaving the winery, everyone continued to the grape farm next door. At this time, the grape flowers were gathering into clusters of small green fruits.
The gardeners were diligently pruning the leaves so that the sunlight would shine directly on the grape clusters, helping them grow quickly.
“How long will it take to harvest?” Michael turned to Clement and asked.
“Sir, around September or October, we can harvest.” He answered.
“Mr. Clement is a student but it seems he has had a lot of practical experience. I see that you know a lot of things.” One person in the customer group spoke up.
“You praise me too much.”
As soon as Clement finished speaking, Michael patted his shoulder. Michael was very impressed by such a young, studious, and especially humble person.
At the end of the tour, Michael firmly committed to cooperating with Young Market Company soon, helping the company develop the Young Market wine brand in the bustling market of country B.
Because Michael still had an appointment with other partners, he and his associates said goodbye to everyone here and got in the car to leave.
Hubert told the director of the city branch a few things and then returned to the headquarters.
“You guys go ahead, I'll visit Mrs. Nelly for a while and then follow you guys.” Clement turned to the management group and said softly.
The convoy of cars left the gate one after another, leaving only one car waiting for Clement. As soon as he lifted his foot, he heard Mei's shrill voice calling out, making him stop.
“Dad, are you here too?”
Mei ran to Charles, her eyes swept over Clement with disdain. Clement didn't say anything, just bowed his head and walked towards the house.
Mei saw her father also bow his head in respect, she frowned in surprise.
“Dad, you're the deputy general director, why do you have to do that to him?”
“He's very much loved by the chairman.” Charles glared.
“He's not Mr. Hubert's son.” She pouted.
“If you say any more, I will sew your mouth shut now. But...what are you doing here?”
“I came here to take pictures. The vineyard is blooming and fruiting, so beautiful.”
“Uh, are you ready to go home now?”
“Yes. Dad, let's go out to eat tonight.”
Mei clung to her father's arm, swaying and pleading. Charles looked up at the sky and lamented. Doesn't this daughter of his know that he's tired of restaurant food? He only likes to eat at home.
Seeing Clement appear at the door, Nelly happily ran to hug his shoulders. Although they were not related by blood, living together for so many years, she considered him as her son.
He only lived in the city for a few months but he was so skinny that she couldn't hold back her tears.
“Why are you so pale? Can't you eat?”
“Yes, I guess it's because I'm not used to the food in the city so...”
“There's still rice, let me get some for you to eat.” She hurriedly pulled Clement's hand.
“No need, I'm just visiting you for a moment and then I have to go. Everyone is waiting for me.”
“Oh. Wait for me a moment.”
After saying that, Nelly hurried back into the kitchen, scooped food into several plastic boxes, and quickly came back out, giving them to him.
Both of them looked at each other, their eyes filled with tears but their lips still smiling. He couldn't tell her that he was like this because he missed Erina, he didn't want her to be sad anymore.
“I'm leaving now. Please take care of your health. I'll be back at the end of next month.” He suppressed his emotions and said.
“Yes, hurry up or they'll wait too long.”
Nelly waved her hand to signal Clement to go quickly. When he turned his back, tears suddenly flowed from her eyes. It would be better if he didn't come home, but when he came home and left in such a hurry, she felt that he was very pitiful.
The afternoon shadows gradually spread over the tops of the trees and grass, the last rays of the day had not yet fallen when they were covered by the dark clouds from afar.
The image of a thin man walking along the deserted path separating the rows of grapevines made the sunset picture even more desolate and sad.
The setting sun hidden behind the clouds reflected brilliant rainbow colors. Clement looked up at the top of the mountain above and saw only vast green.
He suppressed his sadness, his face showing no emotion, and got back into the car. He never expected that one day, a distance of only a few hours of climbing the mountain would prevent him from being by her side.