A Touch of Tenderness Amidst the Ups and Downs of Business

Chapter One: The Night of Gilding

Crystal chandeliers cast dappled light across the dome. Chen Yanzhi, holding a champagne glass, leaned against an ornate pillar, the cufflinks of his suit reflecting a cold light. This business reception, hosted by the Zhou Group, was ostensibly a new product launch, but in reality, it was a stage for undercurrents in the capital world. He glanced at the guests, his gaze lingering on a figure in a smoky purple cheongsam by the floor-to-ceiling window.

Mu Hongyan was holding a wine glass and talking with a foreign businessman. Her ankles, exposed by the slit in her cheongsam, gleamed like pearls under the light. She suddenly turned around, the beauty mark at the corner of her eye lifting slightly with a smile: "Mr. Chen, have you been waiting for me to come and say hello?"

The champagne glasses clinked, producing a clear, melodious sound. Shen Yanzhi noticed the thin callus at the base of her ring finger—a mark left from years of handling a scalpel. As the executive director of Su's Medical, Mu Hongyan had just returned from Germany, and their "Smart Medical Community" project, which they had been planning for six months, needed the overseas resources she possessed.

"Director Mu's sensitivity to data is as astonishing as the rumors suggest." Shen Yanzhi pulled a document from his suit pocket, his fingertips tracing the fluctuating financial curves on the screen. "Su's supply chain layout in Southeast Asia can perfectly fill the gap in our distribution of medical equipment to grassroots levels."

Mu Hongyan's fingertips brushed against the jade bracelet on her wrist, a keepsake from her grandmother: "Mr. Shen, don't you want to know why I turned down the cooperation summit in Singapore?" She suddenly leaned closer, the scent of Chanel No. 5 mixed with the faint smell of disinfectant wafting into Shen Yanzhi's nostrils. "The land that Zhou's acquired on the West Coast last week, the underground fiber optic cable route... I happen to have a complete survey report."

The crystal chandelier suddenly dimmed for a beat, eliciting a low gasp from the audience. In the flickering light, Shen Yanzhi saw the cunning in her eyes and suddenly remembered three years ago at the Munich Medical Exhibition, when this woman had done the same thing, handing him a crucial patent license when he was about to lose the acquisition deal.

"It's a pleasure to work with you." He reached out his hand, his palm touching the thin calluses on hers, like touching the mark of an alliance on the battlefield of business.

Chapter Two: A Chance Encounter on a Street Corner

The glass window reflected the May sunset as Ruan Yu stood in front of the luxury store, clutching a paper bag. The cufflink box at the bottom of the bag pressed against her palm; it was a handmade custom piece that Shen Yanzhi had mentioned last year, which she had searched three streets to find.

In the coffee shop across the street, a woman in a smoky purple cheongsam was leaning over, flipping through documents. Shen Yanzhi's fingers swiped across his tablet, and occasionally, a glint of light flashed in his eyes as he looked up. Ruan Yu recognized that expression—it was the look on his face when he solved the last function problem in his Stanford thesis.

"Miss, do you need any help?" The shop assistant's voice startled her. As Ruan Yu turned around, she knocked over a perfume bottle on the display shelf. The clear liquid meandered across the marble floor, much like the water droplets that had dripped from Shen Yanzhi's suit when he rushed over in the rain that rainy night.

"Ayu?"

Shen Yanzhi's voice mingled with car horns. Ruan Yu looked up and saw him striding across the street, his suit and tie slightly askew, followed by Mu Hongyan carrying a file bag. In the twilight, the jade bracelet on Mu Hongyan's wrist gleamed with a soft light, creating a strange echo with the silver ring on Ruan Yu's left ring finger.

"This is Director Mu from the Su family. We're discussing a collaborative project." Shen Yanzhi's fingertips gently rubbed the seam of his trousers. Only Ruan Yu knew that this unconscious little gesture was a habit he had when he was nervous.

Mu Hongyan stretched out her hand, her nails neatly trimmed: "So this is the...girl next door that President Shen always talks about?" Her gaze fell on the red marks on Ruan Yu's wrist, scratches she'd gotten this morning while bandaging a stray cat. "President Shen was just saying last week that the roses he grows at home have bloomed and he wants to bring some to the company."

Ruan Yu suddenly remembered that Shen Yanzhi had indeed cut three red roses from the balcony this morning and placed them in a celadon vase in the study. At this moment, the small diamonds on Mu Hongyan's earrings were sparkling with her smile, just like the bouquet of champagne roses adorned with crystals that Shen Yanzhi had brought her on her birthday that year.

"Yanzhi's stomach isn't good," Ruan Yu suddenly said, shoving the paper bag into Shen Yanzhi's hand. "Drink less iced champagne." As she turned around, she smelled the perfume on Mu Hongyan, which was exactly the same as the scent lingering on Shen Yanzhi's shirt—it was a cool-toned perfume he bought in Paris last year, supposedly suitable for business negotiations.

The streetlights suddenly came on. Mu Hongyan watched Ruan Yu's hurried departure, her fingertips tracing the jade bracelet on her wrist. "President Shen," she said, "the underground fiber optic cable upgrade for the new land Zhou's Group acquired will take three months." She chuckled softly, "and Miss Ruan's silver ring is on her index finger."

Shen Yanzhi stared at the cufflinks in the paper bag. Underneath the box was a note in Ruan Yuqing's neat handwriting: "Next week is Grandma's death anniversary. Remember to come home for dinner." The siren of an ambulance came from afar. He suddenly remembered that Mu Hongyan's birthday and his grandmother's death anniversary were on the same day.

Chapter Three: Overlapping Memories

The study was filled with the scent of cedarwood essential oil late at night. Shen Yanzhi stared at the project plan on the computer screen, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the cufflinks in the paper bag. A rainy night three years ago suddenly resurfaced—Ruan Yu held him, who had a fever, and cried uncontrollably, saying, "Brother Yanzhi, don't go to America. I'll brew you some Chinese medicine."

His phone vibrated; Mu Hongyan had sent an encrypted email with a fiber optic cable survey map, in which the hot spring rock layer three meters underground was circled in red. He suddenly remembered that Ruan Yu had once said that his grandmother's greatest wish before she passed away was to build a hot spring sanatorium next to the old house.

"Knock knock."

The study door was gently pushed open, and Ruan Yu entered carrying a cup of hot milk, her hair still damp with the coolness of the night breeze. Shen Yanzhi noticed that she had changed to a new silver ring, this time worn on her middle finger—just like Mu Hongyan's jade bracelet, it gleamed warmly under the floor lamp.

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