Chapter 23
I left the hospital, suppressing
my excitement.
Back in the van, Dad raised the
partition between the driver's seat and the van and asked, "You were so
eager to see Grandpa Sheng, was it for that contract?"
"No," I denied
categorically, "I just wanted to see how Grandpa Sheng is doing."
"Tell the truth."
I then admitted, "Just
mentioned it and wanted to check on him."
"Why didn't you call
me?"
Who wanted to call you?
I replied evasively, "I
don't know what kind of exchange of benefits you have. What if you refuse
outright, leaving no room for negotiation? Besides, taking over would mean
touching on old contracts, which would give people something to say. This isn't
my request; Uncle Sheng wronged me, and I only spoke up because I was
angry."
Dad looked me up and down:
"Aren't you afraid Sheng Bokai will hold a grudge and make things
difficult for you later?"
"To resolve this matter,
he'll always be unhappy. Today is the most natural opportunity. As for the
future, he has many people to be wary of. We don't have any core conflicts of
interest with him; he won't waste his time."
"What do you mean, 'not?
That kid…' Dad reluctantly brought it up.
I didn't intend to tell him about
"that kid's" career change. "Then we can only let him be. We'll
talk about the future later. Do we really need to discuss long-term interests
with Uncle Sheng? Of course, the present is more important."
Dad listened, then suddenly
asked, "Did he tell you all these considerations?"
Why do they all think I can't
think for myself?
I said irritably, "Does he
really need to tell me something so small? He has no idea. I'll just surprise
him after it's done."
Dad suddenly laughed, which
confused me.
"Whether it's a big or small
matter, the principles of doing business are the same: seize the opportunity
and adapt to the situation. My daughter did it without being taught; she
inherited it from me."
"...If she did, it's from
her mother, not you."
Dad didn't seem to care about my
words, lost in his own calculations. "Sheng Bokai will probably be upset
for a while, but he can't blame anyone else for his son's lack of ambition.
What do you plan to do about the contract?"
"Grandpa Sheng knows, so we
can definitely terminate the contract without litigation. As for the
rest..." I thought seriously, "The initiative is in our hands, and
there are ways to use personal connections to ease the tension."
Dad became interested. "How
so?"
"Their product quality has
always been fine, their factory is close to us, and transportation costs are
low. If we can make some concessions in other areas, we can continue to
cooperate. Before, the shares were yours, so it wouldn't look good for us to
pursue the past, but in the future..."
How can we secure benefits for
the company in the future?
My mind raced. A price below
market value was difficult to negotiate, so…
“Let’s talk about payment terms!”
Finance’s Xiao Nie instantly chimed in. “Let’s negotiate a longer payment term.
We have the Sheng family’s connections anyway, they don’t need to worry about
us running away. A longer term is just support for our younger generation’s
entrepreneurial endeavor. Hmm, let the legal department communicate with them
first, and then I or Lin Yusen will handle it…”
“Sigh!”
A heavy sigh interrupted me. I
snapped back to reality and saw my father’s half-smile.
“My dear daughter…” he mumbled
something I didn’t catch, “Don’t go back today. I’ll be in Shanghai for the
next couple of days, with several banquets. You’ll come with me.”
My first instinct was to refuse,
but the phone call I had with my mother last month flashed through my mind, and
for some reason, I hesitated.
Seeing my silence, Dad remarked,
"Crossing the river and then burning the bridge, using it and then
throwing it away? Young Ms. Nie, you can't do things like that."
I felt a pang of sympathy, but
still insisted, "I need to ask Mom."
Finally, with Mom's permission, I
went with Dad to his dinner party. Most of the guests were Dad's business
associates, along with two renowned collectors. My arrival sparked curiosity,
and acquaintances joked about how Dad was reluctant to bring his well-hidden
daughter out.
Dad chuckled and said,
"Graduated, time to get out and do some work."
Being young and not pressured to
drink, I was quite relaxed, eating and drinking, occasionally texting Mom and
Lin Yusen, and chatting with people. Dad, judging by the amount, drank about
half a jin of Moutai, and for the latter half of the meal, he was drunkenly
fraternizing with everyone. But once the dinner party ended and we were back in
the van, he sobered up instantly.
...Mr. Nie seems to be quite the
actor.
Dad asked where I lived and
offered to take me home. I gave him my address and, as a courtesy, asked where
he lived. He said with a dark face, "A hotel. Your mother took all the
houses in Shanghai."
...Well done!
No wonder she's my mom!
When we arrived at the apartment
complex, I immediately jumped out of the car, making no attempt to invite him
for a tour. Dad was clearly a little disappointed, but ultimately didn't say
anything.
The van drove away.
I checked the time; it was almost
ten o'clock. What am I usually doing at this time?
Maybe I'm having a late-night
snack, maybe watching a movie, or perhaps working overtime at the office…
But I'm definitely with Lin
Yusen.
How strange, we just talked on
the phone this afternoon, and now I miss him terribly.
I should have known better than
to refuse Lin Yusen's suggestion to fly back. He only needs four or five hours
of sleep a day, so taking the early morning flight back to Chengdu tomorrow
would be perfectly reasonable…
This thought, incredibly
inconsiderate, popped into my head, but the next second it inexplicably
transformed into—should I fly to Chengdu to see him?
The thought startled me the
moment it popped into my head, and I shook my head vigorously, trying to shake
it away. But it seemed rooted to the spot, swirling around relentlessly, and my
heart started racing slightly.
A series of reasons kept popping
into my head.
Didn't he ask me to think about
where to go for the May Day holiday?
Chengdu has delicious food, fun
activities, and pandas to see—isn't it the perfect choice for a May Day trip?
Besides, he's there discussing
production lines; I could observe and learn from him.
The more I thought about it, the
more sense it made; I even felt like I could board a plane right now.
Calm down.
I have to go to D University
tomorrow to continue discussing cooperation, and there are definitely no
flights now.
I thought about it with extreme
rationality, but my walking pace quickened. Back home, I immediately turned on
my computer to check flight tickets. Luckily, I had brought my laptop for work.
Shanghai—Chengdu.
It was close to May Day, and all
flights were nearly sold out. There were only three tickets left for a flight
tomorrow afternoon around 1 PM. I only intended to check the tickets, but
seeing how scarce they were, I bought them immediately.
Uh…
Since I've already bought them…
Should I pack my luggage too?
So, I started packing. Lin Yusen
called in the middle of it all; I gave him a few perfunctory replies and hung
up, afraid of giving myself away.
After all this commotion, I
overslept the next day. I quickly washed up, grabbed my backpack, and rushed
out the door.
I only had time to reply to Lin
Yusen's good morning text message while standing in the elevator.
"Overslept, might be late,
luckily the big boss isn't here."
The big boss's text message came
back quickly: "Even if the boss were here, he wouldn't dare do anything to
Xiao Nie."
Liar, you dare?
Some strange images started
popping into my head…
Stop, stop, it's early in the
morning.
Although no one saw me, I quickly
composed myself and sent him a text to confirm: "You said you were coming
back tomorrow, right? What time?"
"My flight is at 11:00
AM."
That's good. It avoids the
tragedy of me going to Chengdu while he went back to Shanghai. But what if that
happens?
I thought for a second and
concluded—of course, I'd have him fly back to Chengdu.
I can mess around with Mr. Lin,
but I can't let Xiao Nie's trip be in vain.
The elevator doors opened. Having
just indulged in a little daydream in my head, I held my phone and skipped
lightly down the steps, humming a tune. But when I inadvertently caught sight
of someone at the bottom of the steps, my smile froze.
That person seemed to have seen
me all along, meeting my gaze directly.
After a moment, he said calmly,
"Why are you so surprised? I live here, didn't Jiang Rui say so?"
There was nothing to say. I
simply nodded and walked past him.
"Aren't you curious why I
ended up renting here?"
My steps involuntarily slowed.
"Because it's too expensive here," a light voice came from behind.
"This feeling of wanting something so badly but being unable to reach it
makes me especially sober. It constantly reminds me that if I don't give it my
all, I'll have to endure this pain forever."
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