As the Spring Festival approached, Director Meng of Jinxing Media had already gone home early, and Vice President Qian of the Qi Yuan Branch also planned to leave two days early, while Yao Shaolan had returned from Nanhua.

The final tasks related to the Huiming Shi Family were not yet complete, and after the New Year, Yao Shaolan would have to go over there again, bringing a few more assistants from the firm.

This was both a deployment from the Magic Sect and an official hiring; the firm essentially secured a big contract.

He Kao specially invited Qian Guran and Yao Shaolan for a meal, held at the large house in Guanliu District, with all cooking utensils ready, easily serving as a private mini-club.

Regarding Yang Lingxi and the Huiming Shi Family matters, He Kao still needed to properly thank Old Qian and take the opportunity to thank Lawyer Yao, while also inquiring about the latest situation of the Shi Family.

Many specific trivial details varied from the elders' perspective to Yao Shaolan's; Elder Jiang and Elder Li might not know more than Lawyer Yao.

Last time, when treating the two Elders to a meal, He Kao learned a new dish called steamed knife fish. This time, he kept it simple, making two dishes and a soup: steamed knife fish, stewed roe deer, and water shield egg drop soup, still following the previous menu.

The steamed knife fish was fine, but why stewed roe deer? Because Qian Guran once ate it at He Kao's home and couldn't stop praising it, making Lawyer Yao very eager to taste it.

Qian Guran and Yao Shaolan happily ate, asking He Kao where he learned the culinary skills from. Of course, He Kao couldn't say it was the dish ordered by the two Elders earlier, so he just replied it was ancestral.

Yao Shaolan: "Ancestral steamed knife fish, what kind of family is this?"

Qian Guran chuckled and said: "His family ancestors weren't chefs, they were carpenters."

Yao Shaolan: "I'm not referring to the skill, but the family recipe. What kind of family regularly eats this?"

Qian Guran: "Going back two hundred years, the knife fish wasn't so rare. Local fishermen sold whatever they caught."

During the meal, Qian Guran mentioned that he would leave tomorrow afternoon to go to the Sect Ancestral Hall for a secondary law-giving ceremony. The location of the Ancestral Hall, including the existence of the Qi Observation Sect's Cloud Ascension Grotto Heaven, wouldn't be disclosed casually by Qian Guran.

He wouldn't say a word he shouldn't, not even in front of Yao Shaolan and He Kao.

He Kao reminded him: "Old Qian, do you enjoy outdoor adventures as a hobby?"

The question seemed a bit out of the blue, but Qian Guran answered: "I'm from Qi Observation Sect, not Heart Plate Sect; I usually don't have this hobby."

He Kao: "I suggest you fully prepare, maybe bring outdoor adventure equipment, like for camping, climbing, insect and wolf protection..."

Yao Shaolan laughed: "Why, Old Qian is a Tier Four Sorcerer now, couldn't he handle a wolf? Besides, he's going to the Sect Ancestral Hall, not playing a game raid."

He Kao scratched his head and laughed sheepishly: "I suppose it's just my assumption. I always feel that such places are either in deep mountains or high cliffs, requiring lots of climbing and hardships to reach."

In fact, He Kao had insider information; he heard from Wei Luo that when sorcerers advance to a high tier and visit the Sect Ancestral Hall for the first time, they must start from Cai Ping Village, without using modern tunnels, but instead through the ancient paths used for thousands of years.

From Phoenix Tail Town to Cloud Ascension Plateau, where the Cloud Ascension Grotto Heaven is located, they have to cross four mountain ranges, all in pristine wilderness where even outdoor adventure enthusiasts usually wouldn't venture.

He had done his best to remind Old Qian; further discussion was not needed.

Qian Guran and Yao Shaolan exchanged glances, seemingly realizing something. They didn't delay further; after the meal, they bade farewell, most likely off to purchase various supplies, and still having enough time.

There is a direct flight from Qi Yuan to Han Ning City, but it's not a hot route, with a flight every other day, on odd-numbered dates, departing at 5:30 PM, with a travel time of two hours.

As the leaders left one after another, it signaled the start of the employees' fun. The next day, Gao Xue'e also went home, and quite a few supervisors from other departments also returned home.

President E mentioned she was busy and wouldn't stay home long, planning to return to work on the second day of the new year.

The project group, being between the front-end and back-end departments, needed to have people on duty during the Spring Festival to provide technical support services as needed, mainly to help resolve front-end failures... Huang Si unexpectedly volunteered to be on duty!

This baffled He Kao a bit since Xiaopang usually didn't want to be on duty in previous years, reportedly even quarreling with President E over it. Even when he wanted to avoid matchmaking, he would go play elsewhere. When did his work attitude become this positive?

He Kao asked him why he wouldn't stay home for the New Year. Xiaopang said it was still due to the previous incident; recently, things at home were a bit troubling and complicated, and he wanted to avoid it.

What exactly was complicated, Xiaopang was unwilling to elaborate.

He Kao sighed, as what originally was simply between Xiaopang and He Shan had dragged both their parents into it, making the situation complicated.

He had already told his uncle that he was willing to lend 150,000 first to Xiaopang, but needed a formal IOU from his uncle, who said he would go back and discuss it with his aunt, and then there was no follow-up.

Now Xiaopang wasn't willing to say more, leaving He Kao without any source of information. He could actually call Mrs. Chen to ask, but after some thought, he decided not to get involved for the time being.

On the day before New Year's Eve, Xiaopang became the highest-ranking leader in the department. Xiaopang waved his hand, allowing anyone without tasks to leave early, so He Kao left the office by car right after lunch.

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