Chapter 14 The setting sun slowly spreads across the sea...

The setting sun, which had been casting its last rays across the sea, slowly receded, and a chilly wind brought the coldness of the water.

After seeing the guests off the ship, Qiao Zhijie deliberately turned back and blocked the room door with a questioning tone: "What's going on today?"

Tan Yi took a shower in the bathroom, dried himself with a towel, and his expression was calm.

"Li Zhoudu didn't come aboard to do business with you, so don't even think about it."

Qiao Zhijie said "Oh," and asked, "You two have a grudge against each other, don't you?"

Seeing that he was still unwilling to give up and eager to try, Tan Yi smiled strangely: "Then go find someone else to try."

——

Before the Lunar New Year, Yan Qi expressed a fairly good intention to cooperate with Huisheng, and General Manager Ming also quickly completed the relevant content rectification and experimental data supplementation within a few months, in accordance with Tan Su's instructions.

But when he extended another invitation to Yan Qi to visit, the other party's attitude suddenly turned cold.

He was unsure of the situation and was anxious, so he often invited Li Li to dinner to ask her for advice.

For example, what other similar companies has Yanqi been in contact with recently?

Or did Tan Su have any personal hobbies?

Li Li had no idea what Tan Su's hobbies were. She only cared about eating and drinking well, and every day she would open her eyes wide and make empty promises to President Ming to reassure him: "I don't think you have any problems."

In March, Li Li returned to S City to celebrate her grandmother's birthday, and the whole family went to Jingxuan Restaurant for a family banquet.

The table was covered with food. She sat down next to Li Zhoudu and suddenly became interested in his watch, asking, "Brother, have you had this watch for many years?"

Li Zhoudu subconsciously raised his wrist to look at it and asked, "Are you going to give me a new one?"

Li Li said with a fawning smile, "It's Fang Xuan. She wants to start a business and open a luxury store in S City."

Li Zhoudu raised an eyebrow and asked, "So? You want to invest?"

Li Li immediately made her stance clear: "I won't invest any money."

She never had any particular fondness for luxury goods; she usually bought things she liked, knowing that Li Zhoudu would pay off her credit card bills anyway.

But besides buying them for herself, she also receives many gifts every year.

Gifts from my parents, Li Zhoudu, Tan Yi, and other family members and strangers often ended up being duplicates or things I didn't really like, so they were left unused for five or six years at most.

Upon hearing about Fang Xuan's business plan, she wanted to support her, so she decided to take pictures of the unused items piled up at home and have Fang Xuan put them up for sale to make a good impression. Once a buyer was found, she would deduct a handling fee and give Fang Xuan the money.

This way, Fang Xuan doesn't have to spend money to hold inventory, and she can sell secondhand goods herself, all cleanly.

So she's become a bit addicted to it these past two days since she came back, taking photos every day to get Fang Xuan's valuation, feeling overjoyed and really rich.

Li Zhoudu's face darkened when he saw her smug look: "Does the family need the little money you make from selling things?"

He asked, "How do you know what others will do with your photos? What if they pretend to be a rich and beautiful woman to commit fraud, or collude with others to steal your things at a low price?"

Li Li said unhappily, "Li Zhoudu, you're such a treacherous person! Fang Xuan and I have been friends for so many years, would she really betray me for something like this?"

"You call me 'brother' when you need something, and you call me by my full name when you're angry," Li Zhoudu pinched the kitten's cheek. "And that's all you've got. You don't know the value of money until you're in charge. I'll cut off your credit card tomorrow!"

This was quite a surprise! The little kitten immediately jumped up and ran to Wang Minjun to complain: "Grandma! My brother wants to suspend my card!"

Wang Minjun smiled and hugged her. Wenxi also took her side, glaring at Li Zhoudu and saying, "Little Cat has finally come back. Do you want to bully your sister again?"

In the next private room, Tan Su was having dinner with his mother. She had been a vegetarian for many years, and the dishes on the table were mostly simple vegetarian dishes such as mushrooms and bamboo shoots.

Faced with such a meal, Tan Su didn't have a very good appetite; he only ate a little to show his filial piety.

Xinxi used serving chopsticks to put two slices of yam into his bowl: "You look like you haven't been resting well. Are you still very busy lately?"

Tan Su said, "It's nothing more than the same old things. Grandpa, the company, nothing special."

Xinxi put down her serving chopsticks and said slowly, "You're twenty-eight now. Perhaps, if you had a girlfriend, Grandpa would like her."

Tan Su's parents had a distant relationship, and before Tan Hewen's incident, they were practically just figureheads.

Her husband's death did not cause Xinxi any lasting pain.

She was an artist, living a solitary yet self-satisfied life. Her love found its home in the fields and mountains, and in all living things, but not in any particular person.

Even with her own biological son, she didn't necessarily put more effort into him than anyone else.

Tan Su felt very uncomfortable hearing the suggestion from Xin Xi, but when he looked up and met his mother's melancholy eyes, he could only say, "I don't have time to think about personal matters yet."

As the family finished their meal and came out of the private room, the door next door opened to bring in food. Li Li saw Chen Ya passing by a waiter and heading to the other side, and she immediately realized that Tan Su must be there.

He came to Jingxuan to meet someone?

Whom did you meet?

What business were they discussing?

Li Li's radar went off immediately, and she pretended to have a stomachache and needed to use the restroom, telling them to go downstairs first.

A moment later, she came out of the restroom and, with her slender figure, quietly hid behind a pillar by the door to keep watch.

About ten minutes later, the waiter pushed the food and opened the door. Li Li stood on tiptoe and tried to see who was inside through the gap in the light.

Suddenly a voice asked from behind, "What are you doing?"

Li Li was startled when she saw Li Zhoudu returning to find her.

Tan Su also heard this sound, and he immediately got up, pushed open the door and went outside.

Just then, they saw Li Li standing on tiptoe, struggling to cover Li Zhoudu's mouth.

The three looked at each other in bewilderment. Li Li slowly lowered her hand, patted Li Zhoudu's shoulder as if straightening clothes, and said awkwardly, "Ah... what a coincidence! What a coincidence, Brother Tan Su."

No one tried to smooth things over with her words, so Li Li laughed awkwardly, "I came back to N City to celebrate my grandma's birthday. I really didn't expect to run into you here..."

She was at a loss for words, while Tan Su, as if he hadn't seen her, nodded to Li Zhoudu: "Zhoudu, long time no see."

"Long time no see, Tan Su."

Li Zhoudu had always been extremely dissatisfied with Li Li's assignment to an overseas post, and now he said directly to her face: "We did come to celebrate Grandma's birthday. But I have to thank you for training my little cat so hard, sending her to such a godforsaken place. When I come home and see you, she feels guilty like she's doing something wrong."

Li Li secretly pinched Li Zhoudu's hand from below, while feigning sincerity to Tan Su: "No, no! I'm actually very happy."

Tan Su kept one hand in his pocket, ignoring the siblings' mutual sabotage.

"This matter should have been communicated by Xie Zongfang. But Li Li, since your brother is not very satisfied either, I will formally inform you now."

The Frasers project is suspended; you don't need to go anymore.

Upon hearing this, Li Li's eyes widened in shock, and then she asked in confusion, "Why?"

Tan Su did not explain, but only said, "Take a week off and go back to bring back all your personal belongings."

Only Li Zhoudu nodded in satisfaction: "Thank you."

——

Although she got a week off, Wenxi asked the housekeeper to go to N City to pack her things.

Li Li thought this was for the best, otherwise she wouldn't know how to explain herself to President Ming.

She spent a few days in bed feeling bored after returning home. Shortly after returning to work, she was interviewed by Xie Zongfang and promoted because of her outstanding performance during her overseas assignment.

It's still two levels!

At the company's quarterly meeting, she sat next to Xie Zongfang as his trusted lieutenant, head held high, exuding confidence and pride.

The executives in the room all glanced at the well-known nepotism who had been given an unusual seat, while only the HR director sitting opposite seemed somewhat uneasy.

Everyone else thought Li Li was Xie Zongfang's person, but Lang Jie had seen her call Tan Su "brother".

He privately approached Xie Zongfang several times to subtly inquire about the background of Li Li, one of his subordinates.

However, the other party kept making excuses and never gave a direct answer.

Actually, Lang Jie was also tricked by Chen Ya at the time. When he was called to fire the outsourced intern, he didn't know that she was such a tough nut to crack.

Chen Ya was clever; she recognized Li Li, so she made Lang Jie the one to take the fall.

Because of the haircut incident, he has held the top spot on Li Li's hate list for years, an unshakeable position.

Li Li is also a very vengeful person; in her mind, the matter isn't over until she gets her revenge.

Now that they're on the same stage, she's relying on Xie Zongfang's influence and Tan Su's backing to retaliate against Lang Jie.

She deliberately used the tactic of flattery to her advantage, clapping loudly during Director Lang's speech, making a huge commotion and causing Lang Jie to blush red on stage, looking like a laughingstock.

Tan Su thought that she was being a bit too domineering, leaving a director speechless.

He then instructed Chen Ya, "Tell her to wait on the 32nd floor."

Li Li waited in Tan Su's office for two hours before he came out of the conference room.

She had only played half of the game when she put her phone away; the music from the match-3 game was still playing in her pocket.

Tan Su didn't care about these things. After sitting down, he tossed her a document: "This is from the HR department. Normally, a promotion would result in a 12% salary increase, but Lang Jie has applied for a 50% increase for you."

Li Li was unwilling to accept such a small favor. She rolled her eyes dismissively: "It's not like I'm taking money out of his pocket, what's with the attitude?"

Tan Su asked, "You have such a big problem with him?"

To show that she was upholding justice, Li Li stood up and moved closer to Tan Su's desk, adding fuel to the fire, saying, "That CEO Lang is a lecher. He gropes girls at the company, and he does the same to me."

She imitated the greasy man, making a lecherous face.

But she has big eyes and is very pretty, and the expressions she makes with that face are just too cute to be dangerous.

Tan Su tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

He knew Lang Jie had a bad reputation, but he was too powerful and timid to actually do anything drastic.

He's avoiding Li Li like the plague right now, so there's no way he'd bother her; that would be suicide.

It's likely that Li Li disliked his greasy appearance, and since he had offended her before, she's now seizing the opportunity to badmouth him relentlessly.

Tan Su scoffed, "If a lowly employee like you has such opinions about the director, why don't you take my place?"

Li Li retorted, "How do you know I can't sit?"

Tan Su was actually pleased to hear her audacious words.

"Oh?" he said, somewhat amused. "How do I sit? Like you did when you were in a wheelchair, and I sneak up after get off work to try it out?"

Li Li looked blank and didn't understand what he was saying.

Tan Su's smile faded slightly.

He admonished her, saying, "Don't target Director Lang anymore. Go back and stay put."

Li Li: Huh? This sentence sounds familiar. Have I heard it before?

A note from the author:

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After revising the text, several paragraph comments are no longer visible [crying emoji].