Chapter 77 Ex-wife White Moonlight 10 Okay, can you take a walk with me?

"...Then we'll follow the original process. Once Xiao Li returns, we'll be ready to start work."

"Li, when will you come back? We all miss you."

"Li, tell us about where you live. How do you call it in Chinese?"

The voices of colleagues chattering could be heard from the other end of the computer. Ali walked around the tent holding the computer and gave them a brief explanation.

She returned to the table and said with a smile, "I'll be back in about four days. I miss you, too."

"Okay, let's not disturb her. Look, the sun hasn't even risen over there yet."

The enthusiastic faces and voices of my colleagues brought a bit of warmth to this freezing morning.

After hanging up the meeting, Ali turned off the camera. Suddenly, an email message popped up in the lower right corner. She clicked on it and then widened her eyes in disbelief.

She took out her cell phone and dialed a number. The call was quickly picked up, and Ji Zhengyang's voice rang out from the other end: "Did you see the email?"

Ali nodded excitedly: "I didn't expect it to go so smoothly. Thank you so much."

Ji Zhengyang smiled and said, "You're talking as if I helped you get in through a backdoor. I just made a few trips to the nursing home for you, and the staff reviewed the documents you prepared. You should be thanking yourself for getting approved so quickly."

"Anyway, I still want to thank you." Ali snuggled in the sofa, holding his phone.

Bringing Xiao's mother to her side to take care of her has always been Ali's wish. A year ago, she was looking for suitable nursing homes, preparing materials, and submitting applications. This month, she returned to China on a business trip, and had to ask Ji Zhengyang to submit the last few pieces of information.

These key pieces of information require the cooperation of this domestic nursing home.

The communication had not been smooth before, but now it has suddenly passed. It must be that Ji Zhengyang asked his friend to help.

Now that this wish has been fulfilled, Ali can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The two chatted for a while, and Ji Zhengyang said: "After taking Auntie to your side, her condition will definitely get better slowly."

Thinking of his mother's unconscious appearance, Ali remained silent.

When she was very young, her mother was not like this. She would coax Ali to sleep with gentle voice, teach Ali to read and write, and protect her when her gambling father beat her.

Although Ali's childhood was poor, he was not lacking in the love and care of his mother.

Until her mother divorced her father and moved out with her to live alone, the gentle smile on her mother's face became less and less common.

Later, the mother's mental state became worse and worse. She often took Ali to the wilderness or the door of the welfare home, wanting to get rid of her as a burden.

Although it wouldn't be long before her mother would cry and call her back, the next time, when Ali turned around on the busy street, her mother's figure disappeared again.

Young Ali couldn't understand the complexity in her mother's eyes. She only knew that her mother was angry, and she attributed it all to herself.

She didn't dare ask her mother for anything anymore and worked hard at housework, studying and doing odd jobs.

Because she didn't know what her mother's standards were, she could only ask herself to do better and better, so that when her mother came home every day, all she would see were full marks on the test papers, untouched wages, and prepared meals.

Even though she was bullied at school and discriminated against at her part-time job, she didn't dare say a word. She was afraid that her mother would abandon her if she said anything.

Cheerful, smart, hardworking, capable... She must be her mother's perfect daughter so as not to be thrown away again.

Later, his mother's illness became more and more serious, and she no longer had the ability to abandon her, but Ali still maintained his previous habits.

Ji Zhengyang once said to her angrily, Xiao Li, you don’t have to please everyone.

However, these things that are engraved in our bones cannot be changed overnight.

Despite this, Ali is still very grateful to his mother for her determination to leave her original marriage.

Seeing that Ali didn't speak for a long time, Ji Zhengyang suddenly asked her: "Have you really thought it through?"

Ali turned his head and looked outside the tent. A new sun rose from the sky, bringing endless light and hope.

People cannot change overnight, and people cannot dwell on the past.

*

6:50 am.

Ali carried his backpack and arrived at the meeting point that the leader had mentioned the day before. Song Yuqing and Chen Pei were already there.

Seeing her coming, Song Yuqing asked with concern: "Sister, are you okay?"

"It's okay." Ali said.

The team leader looked at his watch and asked, "Why hasn't Mr. Sheng arrived yet?"

Ali adjusted his coat and added, "Ms. Yan hasn't arrived yet."

"Ms. Yan is not feeling well and cannot join us for the next few days." The team leader sighed.

Ali paused, his eyes dimming slightly.

At exactly seven o'clock, Sheng Yu finally appeared at the meeting point. The team leader took them to the car without any further ado.

Ali brought a complete set of equipment today. The heavy bag made her not pay attention to her feet when getting in the car, and she almost tripped.

Sheng Yu behind him gave him a hand.

"Thank you..." Before she could finish her words, Sheng Yu had already passed by her.

Along the way, he leaned against the window in the last row with the brim of his hat pulled down low.

Since yesterday, the two haven't spoken a word to each other, not even a glance at each other.

Ali felt an uncontrollable sourness in his heart, but he quickly adjusted his mood and focused all his attention on the leader's explanation.

In the past, Sheng Yu also loved to sulk like this and unilaterally engage in the cold war with her. Ali could always notice his emotional changes at the first time and coax him with a smile.

But, that was in the past.

According to the team leader, there is a high chance that they will be able to observe snow leopards today.

Ali breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he had brought all the equipment with him today.

An hour later, everyone arrived at the observation point. Ali set up the telephoto equipment and aimed the lens at the mountains not far away.

As time passed, light snow began to fall from the sky and the temperature became lower and lower.

Ali took off his hat, brushed off the snow on it, and put it back on.

Song Yuqing and Chen Pei leaned against each other to keep each other warm.

Seeing everyone shivering with cold, the team leader leaned against a rock to encourage everyone: "Observing snow leopards is an activity with great uncertainty. I have led so many groups here, and not everyone can see one as they wish."

"It takes an average of 300 hours of field work for an international team to obtain a valid sighting. We are all ordinary people, so don't be too discouraged. There are still a few days left, and we will definitely see something."

Song Yuqing suppressed her chattering teeth and said, "But leader, this is too cold. It's even colder than yesterday."

As soon as she finished speaking, her hat was blown away by the cold wind and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Seeing this, Ali rummaged through his bag, walked over and handed her his other hat.

When he sat in front of his equipment again, Ali found that although it was the same hillside, the wind on his side was much weaker than that on Song Yuqing's side.

She turned her head and saw Sheng Yu sitting not far away. He didn't have a camera or a mobile phone, but just stared motionlessly at the distant mountain top. The fierce cold wind made his face pale.

Ali withdrew his gaze, took a breath, and refocused on the filming in front of him.

After an unknown amount of time, Ali felt like he was frozen to death.

In order not to make any noise and disturb the snow leopard, they could only stay where they were. Heat was quickly lost in the ice and snow. Song Yuqing could still say a word or two at first, but later she became completely quiet.

Suddenly, the leader paused holding the telescope and whispered, "There."

Ali heard this almost immediately.

She immediately stood up and adjusted the angle of the camera in the direction pointed by the leader, but the camera battery suddenly stopped working in such low temperature conditions.

This sudden change did not make Ali panic. She calmly took out the spare battery she had prepared early in the morning and quickly replaced it.

But in less than half a minute, the snow leopard discovered by the team leader had changed its location. Ali moved the camera but still could not find any trace of it.

Hot sweat appeared on the cold palms, and an anxious look gradually appeared in Ali's eyes.

"Glacier crack, two o'clock."

Sheng Yu's steady voice sounded beside her, and Ali immediately adjusted the direction, but there was still only a bare rock in the camera.

"It's right here." Sheng Yu stared at the camera and said in a strong and deep voice.

Upon hearing this, Ali adjusted the exposure and focus again.

Suddenly, a nimble figure flashed out from among the rugged rocks. Its fur was thick and fluffy, with dark stripes dotted on the grayish-white background, almost blending in with the rocks.

It stepped silently over the snow-covered rocks, its slender body full of strength, its light golden pupils contracted into a vertical line, and it glanced around vigilantly.

Ali couldn't help but hold her breath and gently pressed the shutter button with her finger. This was the first time she saw this mysterious and beautiful creature with her own eyes.

Judging from its size, this is a sub-adult snow leopard. Its face is beginning to show angles, but its fur has not yet lost the softness of its juvenile body.

As if it had sensed something, the snow leopard looked in the direction of Ali and the others. It paused for a few breaths, then turned around and jumped onto a higher rock wall. After a few jumps, it disappeared into the vast snow fog without a trace.

Only then did everyone dare to speak. Chen Pei, as if waking from a dream, spoke up: "It's so beautiful, so shocking... This is the first time I've seen a snow leopard in person. It's ten thousand times more shocking than the pictures and videos online."

Song Yuqing excitedly grabbed Chen Pei's hand: "Mom, I really want to rub its face..."

The team leader laughed and said, "I'm afraid this wish will never come true."

Ali was also unable to come back to her senses for a long time. She quietly looked through the photos she had just taken, and for the first time she felt what it meant to have a surging heart.

After everyone returned to the car, Ali still refused to put down the camera. She took out her mobile phone, took a picture and sent it to Ji Zhengyang.

Song Yuqing noticed her movements, lowered her voice, and leaned over the back of the chair to tease her: "Is this photo sent to your boyfriend?"

"Huh?" Ali didn't hear what she said before and looked up.

Song Yuqing pointed at her neck and said, "That's the person who gave me this necklace, right? He's my current boyfriend."

Ali was stunned for a moment and mumbled something.

Song Yuqing sat down and turned to talk to Ali in an awkward position: "It's a little sad to see this trip coming to an end, but we can get together more often in the future."

Ali put away the camera, feeling a little reluctant to dash the little girl's expectations, but he had to say, "...I may not return to China in the future."

Song Yuqing was stunned for a moment. Ali quickly said, "Sorry, if you want to see me, we can contact you online, or..."

Looking at her eyes gradually dimming, Ali was suddenly speechless.

Suddenly, Song Yuqing grabbed Ali's hand and patted it, saying soothingly, "Sister, why are you apologizing to me? We are friends, and friendship is mutual. If you can't return home, I can go abroad to see you."

"You've been taking care of me and tolerating me all along the way, and I can feel it. Now that you're having difficulties, of course I will understand you."

She shook Ali's hand and blinked, "I see you've been feeling down these past few days. Actually, you can tell me anything that's bothering you. I'm the best at comforting people, and I won't reveal a single word to anyone else."

Song Yuqing held up three fingers to her ears and assured her again and again.

This time it was Ali's turn to be stunned.

From childhood to adulthood, whether in school, marriage, workplace, or life, she has always been the emotionally stable and tolerant person, and she is used to accepting other people's emotions in this way.

She never thought that one day, a girl she had only known for a few days would say these words to her.

The tip of his nose felt strangely sore. Ali held Song Yuqing's hand and nodded, "Okay, I'll definitely tell you if I have anything that makes me unhappy in the future."

Song Yuqing laughed and made a face: "That's right, only those who give and take are friends, otherwise they will become vampires."

She took Ali's hand, interlocked their fingers, and deliberately said to Chen Pei beside her: "Wow, you seem redundant now."

Chen Pei knew his girlfriend's funny personality, so he matched her by making an expression of heartbreak and abandonment.

Song Yuqing suddenly became excited, pretending to be cold and speaking lines from a novel that she had learned from somewhere, and began to perform enthusiastically.

When I turned around, I saw Sheng Yu leaning against the window.

Song Yuqing looked at his face, then at her boyfriend who was acting so enthusiastically, and felt that the expression on Mr. Sheng's face was what it should look like when someone was abandoned.

In contrast, the boyfriend's acting was a bit exaggerated and lacked any heart-wrenching feeling.

She patted Chen Pei on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Read more novels and watch more TV dramas to learn."

*

At night, when Sheng Yu came out of Yan Xia's tent, he received a call from Grandpa Sheng.

The news that he was going to cancel the engagement was reported back to Qingzhou last night. The old man only found out about it now because he was out fishing with an old friend.

Sheng Yu picked up the phone and listened silently to the old man's lecture.

"You bastard!"

"You announced something as important as canceling the engagement without even consulting me! Do you still have me as your grandfather?"

"Unfilial thing! Are you trying to piss me off to death?"

Sheng Yu listened to his grandfather's scolding expressionlessly. After he finished venting, he said, "Marriage is a matter between Yan Xia and me. I explained it to her in detail last night. In a few days, the Yan family will announce this news first."

"I was the one who broke my promise first, and I will take all the blame."

Old Master Sheng sneered: "You're going to take responsibility? What can you take responsibility for?"

Sheng Yu looked at the blurred starry sky in the distance and spoke slowly, "The investment we previously made to the Yan family will not be withdrawn. Sheng Corporation will continue to maintain its cooperative relationship with the Yan family. They are also eligible to bid for the 10 million yuan project in March next year."

There is one more thing he didn't say.

As the sole major shareholder, he will make Yan Xia the next person in charge of the Yan family business, replacing her incompetent father and brother, and leading the cooperation with Sheng.

"What?!" Mr. Sheng was immediately furious. "You want to hand over such an important project to them?! Let them be partners?!"

Sheng Yu's voice was very calm: "It's not handed over to them. According to the regulations, the Yan family is qualified to compete, but whether they can win the bid in the end depends on them."

Old Master Sheng was furious and said, "I can ignore your marriage, but this matter is absolutely unacceptable! The Yan family is just a company that is borrowing money everywhere and is on the verge of bankruptcy. They are not qualified to cooperate with our Sheng family!"

Sheng Yu knew he would say this from the beginning: "I have conducted a thorough investigation and analysis of the Yan family and its related industries. Although they are in a difficult situation now, they possess core technologies that are exactly what the Sheng family lacks, and what none of our existing partner companies have."

"Cooperating with them will not only solve Sheng's urgent needs, but also get the most suitable price. I think there is nothing wrong with this decision."

With Yan Xia's promotion, Sheng Yu believes that this project can be completed beautifully and bring new revenue growth points to Sheng's company.

As Sheng Yu spoke, he slowly walked up to the observation deck near the camp.

The cold night wind blew against the corners of his clothes. There was no one around, and it really felt like "it's cold at high places".

His grandfather has always been a person who puts profit above all else. He says that he likes Yan Xia and doesn't care about her family background. He wants Yan Xia to marry into the Sheng family, but in fact, he is attracted by the last bit of value of the Yan family.

On the night of the birthday party, Sheng Yu met Yan Xia in the garden, and the old man called him into the study.

His words and deeds were all meant to bring him and Yan Xia together, and he was hinting that after Yan Xia married into the Sheng family, she would be able to take over the Yan family's core technology without any effort.

After hearing this, Sheng Yu felt a chill in his heart.

Ever since Ali left, he has devoted himself to the development of Sheng's company. However, after so many years of fighting in the business world, he still feels chilled by his grandfather's words.

Sheng Yu remembered that half an hour ago, Miss Yan put aside her pride, stood in front of him, and begged him to give her and the Yan family a chance.

At that moment, Sheng Yu seemed to see himself begging Ali not to leave many years ago.

Now that she has left, it doesn't matter who is around her.

It’s better to help others.

In this way, he promised Miss Yan that he would help her, but this promise never included the acquisition of the Yan family.

And now, Sheng Yu will neither marry Yan Xia nor acquire the Yan family.

Old Master Sheng understood what he meant and realized that the grandson he had personally raised was now disobeying him.

The sentence "Sheng family will maintain a cooperative relationship with Yan family" touched his sore spot.

The sound of breaking porcelain came from the other end of the phone: "You disappoint me so much! I thought you would be better than your father, but I didn't expect you to be such a disobedient and unfilial loser!"

"You think your decisions are perfect, but in my opinion, they are worthless. What do you know about the future development of Sheng Corporation? You know nothing!"

Sheng Yu twitched his lips, his eyes expressionless. "Grandpa, you're the one who really doesn't understand."

His voice was so calm that even Old Master Sheng seemed to calm down. "You thought that after I, the old man, gave up my power, the entire Sheng Group would be in your hands. Believe it or not, if I want to take it back, you will be nothing."

Old Master Sheng habitually used this as a threat, completely forgetting that the Sheng Group was now completely controlled by Sheng Yu, and there was no place for anyone else.

Sheng Yu leaned against the rusty and rotten railing, his tone full of fatigue: "Then please take it back now. If you hadn't used her to force me back then, I would not have returned to the Sheng family."

The secret that had been buried for many years was revealed by him. Even Mr. Sheng was stunned for a moment: "...How dare you say such a thing?"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Sheng Yu lowered his head, and the expression on his face could not be discerned.

"Back then, your only son had no interest in business, and your uncle's family was competing with you for power in the Sheng family. In order to prevent power from falling into someone else's hands, you had to push me to the top, didn't you?"

Without hearing the voice on the other end of the line, Sheng Yu suddenly smiled and said, "Now that father's sons have returned to recognize their ancestral home, since you have acknowledged them, you naturally have more choices. Perhaps if you had considered them as your heirs back then, you would have felt more at ease."

The two of them didn't speak for a long time, and the only sound in their ears was the crackling sound of electricity.

"Yu'er."

Old Master Sheng suddenly called him by his nickname, his tone like that of a loving grandfather: "Grandpa never thought of letting them replace you. Even if I close my eyes now, Sheng Group will only be handed over to you."

Sheng Yu's father is an out-and-out playboy. He has been having affairs with other women since he became an adult. Old Master Sheng has beaten him and imprisoned him, but he still does his own thing.

Seeing that the Sheng family was about to be snatched away by a group of cousins ​​with ulterior motives, Sheng Yu was born.

This is a smart and filial child. Old Master Sheng saw that he would become a great man in the future, so he brought him by his side and taught him carefully.

As for his son's illegitimate children outside, he looked down on none of them.

"Alas, I was furious when I heard the news. I wanted to call you to express my concern about your old injury, but who knew it would turn out like this..." Old Master Sheng softened his tone.

"Yu'er, Grandpa is old and confused, don't blame him..."

Sheng Yu's eyes were empty and distant, and he mechanically repeated the answer he had already said countless times.

His grandfather, the only one who had shown him love and care when he was a child, begged him in such a humble manner. Even though Sheng Yu hated him in his heart, he could not say anything harsh.

In front of the viewing platform is a patch of dead grass, swaying in the night wind, just like the family affection he has, which has long been withered and yellowed, but always entangled with him.

He hated his grandfather's hypocrisy, but he also learned this hypocrisy completely.

What he said just now was just a retreat to advance. He would never allow others to have a share of the Sheng Group, which he had spent so much effort to control.

Mr. Sheng finally calmed down and started talking about something else: "I heard from people down there that you've been investigating some things about your mother..."

Sheng Yu's brows suddenly turned cold.

"But Yu'er, you have to know that no matter what your mother did in the past, you can't hold it against her. After all, she is the mother who gave birth to you and raised you. You and I are a family."

Sheng Yu gazed into the distance and stated a fact in a calm tone: "Ever before I was born, they both already had families outside."

The old man on the other end of the phone was suddenly speechless.

When Sheng Yu hung up the phone, the moon was already high above his head, illuminating the world in a pale white.

He looked for a while and walked back aimlessly.

Before I knew it, I had walked outside Ali's tent.

He paused, thinking of what they said in the car today.

Ali had no idea that there was someone standing outside. She had just finished her work and was about to close the tent curtain to go to sleep. As soon as she opened it, she saw Sheng Yu turning around and leaving.

"You..." She stopped him but didn't know what to say.

Sheng Yu slowly turned around, hiding the harsh look he had just shown when arguing with Old Master Sheng, and asked for her opinion for the first time: "Okay, can you walk with me?"