Chapter 49 Meeting

"Well, Mr. Huo, since you've run into some friends, why don't I go over and see if they're ready? You can chat with your friends for a bit?"

"Yes, thank you."

"You're too kind, aren't you? I'll go over first then."

With Xie Ling standing there, Lian Yi heard a few words of conversation coming from the other side, followed by the sound of leather shoes moving from the paving stones to the lawn, gradually getting closer.

He walked to the long table, stood still, and quietly looked at her with his peach blossom eyes, which should have been sparkling and affectionate but were now calm as water.

Lian Yi looked back defiantly.

The man in front of me was tall and straight, with a calm expression. The tailor-made suit he wore fit him perfectly, highlighting his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs.

Whether it's his handsome face or the temperament he exudes, his eyes, nose, and lips all seem to radiate an innate nobility.

Lian Yi looked at him now. The real person standing here overlapped with the face in her memory. He seemed unchanged, yet he also seemed different.

In his youth, he was always full of brilliance and high spirits, but now, his brilliance was restrained, and his eyes and face were calm, giving people a sense of composure in the face of adversity.

"Huo Zhiyun, what I do is none of your business!" Lian Yi's initial slight guilty conscience quickly dissipated, and she immediately said with righteous indignation, "My boyfriend and I are hugging and cuddling here, can't you even see that?"

To prove the point, Lian Yi supported Xie Ling, then with her other hand, she pinched his waist hard.

Xie Ling's senses were hazy, but she still felt a slight pain. She frowned, groaned softly, and leaned back slightly.

"Behave yourself!" Lian Yi grabbed his waist and quickly warned him in a low voice, not caring whether Xie Ling could still listen.

Fortunately, although he was drunk, he was surprisingly quiet, just looking at her with his head down and letting her do as she pleased.

"Your boyfriend?"

Huo Zhiyun's expression turned complicated for a moment, then he frowned slightly and glanced at the scene that seemed to be a chaotic dance of demons not far away.

"Do your uncle and aunt know that you have a boyfriend?"

Lian Yi snorted, "Mind your own business. We're not related, so you don't seem to have the right to ask me these questions. You're President Huo now, so you don't need to put up with me anymore. Anyway, we haven't been in touch for so many years, so I thought we all just assumed we weren't close."

As Huo Zhiyun's brows furrowed slightly, a hint of disbelief and sadness seemed to appear in his beautiful eyes.

"You...that's what you think?"

"Otherwise what!"

Lian Yi felt that he was acting strangely.

Huo Zhiyun was a name that the spoiled rich kids in the second-generation circle hated to hear since childhood, but he was also admired and respected by many.

Back then, who didn't get a scolding from their parents after making a mistake?

"If you have even a fraction of Huo Zhiyun's talent, I'll have to sculpt a golden statue for the Buddha at Jingshan Temple as an offering!"

This is the kind of person who, in Lianyi's life of being disliked by cats and dogs, forms a stark contrast to her.

Unfortunately, the Lian and Huo families were old friends, and no matter how annoyed Lian Yi was with him, she could not avoid being monitored by him whenever the two families had frequent interactions.

Adults are happy to implement the policy of children's self-governance.

So whenever Lian Yi acted recklessly, he would always appear at the right time, with a slight frown, his young age but calm demeanor.

'Xiaoyi, don't be silly.' 'Xiaoyi, you can't bully others.' 'Xiaoyi, you have to do your own homework.'

Such remarks permeated almost Lian Yi's entire childhood and even most of her adolescence.

No matter how much Lian Yi provoked or argued with him, he always seemed about to get angry, but he held back. Eventually, he didn't even look angry anymore; he just had no choice but to apologize to others for her sake.

Fortunately, for a while, Lian Yi stopped running around outside and only made a fuss with him.

She neglected her childhood sweetheart for quite some time because of this.

Lian Yi was used to being unreasonable. Knowing that Huo Zhiyun was a germaphobe, she used her hands, which were covered in cream and chocolate smeared from eating ice cream, to wipe his clothes black and white under the guise of being coquettish.

They even forced him not to change, and designated this day as the anniversary of not wiping his hands clean with a towel after getting them dirty.

There were countless similar incidents, big and small, that even Yi herself couldn't remember them all.

When she was fifteen, Huo Zhiyun took a leave of absence from school, supposedly to take over some of the Huo family's core businesses. After that, their contact was quickly severed.

Lian Yi knew that the other party was just being responsible and had been tolerating and accommodating her because of the relationship between the two families and her young age.

Having a legitimate reason to leave, of course one will leave faster than anyone else.

So even when someone told her that Huo Zhiyun had returned to Yunhai as the Huo family's strategic focus shifted, she had no intention of contacting him again.

After all, this guy is also one of the male lead candidates, and he's the kind of helpful guy who doesn't need her to do much to make people dislike him.

At that time, Huo Zhiyun, who had already taken control of the entire Huo family, treated 'her', a child from a family he had known since childhood, with complete indifference and disregard in the plot outline.

Lian Yi couldn't understand where the complex emotions in his eyes came from.

But then I thought, people are ultimately emotional, and he wasn't the kind of shrewd and calculating leader he would become in the future. He was gone for no more than three years.

It's normal for him to still have some memories of their past relationship, but it seems that it was more like the way an older brother disciplines his younger siblings.

Thinking of this, Lian Yi became even more self-righteous, "I'm an adult, I'm free to fall in love, it's none of your business."

Huo Zhiyun was slightly taken aback as he looked at her still arrogant face.

The girl in my memory had grown up quite a bit, but the moment I saw her, after three years, my initial thought that she would feel apprehensive about returning home or feel unfamiliar with her vanished almost entirely, along with her unchanged personality.

He looked somewhat helpless, pursed his thin lips, and explained, "I couldn't attend your birthday party back then because of an emergency. I know you're unhappy, but after being angry for so long, can't you forgive me yet?"

"...?" Lian Yi looked completely bewildered.

Huo Zhiyun sighed inwardly; three years was both a long and a short time.

Even if one enters the core industries of the Huo family group as an heir, it is not an easy task to completely take control and achieve success.

He was appointed temporarily, without even having time to say a proper goodbye.

However, as soon as the plane landed, he could no longer get through to Lian Yi. Every call he made to the Lian family to inquire only resulted in her replying that she did not want to answer.

Huo Zhiyun knew Lian Yi's temperament all too well, so all he could do over these three years was to remember all the strange anniversaries she had mentioned and find gifts that she might like to send to Yunhai.

Fortunately, she never refused to accept it.

But after three years of trying to make that call, Huo Zhiyun still couldn't hear her voice, and she was blocked on all his social media accounts.

During his time back in Yunhai, he was constantly faced with unavoidable social engagements, endless official duties, and countless meetings. He had originally planned to formally reunite with Lian Yi before his grandfather's birthday banquet.

But I never expected that we would meet under such circumstances.

Lian Yi blinked, somewhat surprised.

Is this what Huo Zhiyun has grown up in the past few years? Before, even though he was six years older than her, he could only nod in agreement helplessly when faced with her twisted logic.

But now, they've even learned to turn the tables.

"...Don't make it sound like I'm still immature. Anyway, as you can see," Lian Yi sneered, "He's not only my boyfriend, I've also introduced him to my parents, and next week I'll be taking him to my grandfather's birthday banquet."

"You can't control me now."

Because of her words, Huo Zhiyun finally paid some attention to the boy that Lian Yi was half-hugging, and his brows furrowed slightly.

“You shouldn’t have made such a hasty decision. Considering how many celebrities were at Grandpa’s birthday banquet, the fact that you brought him along, even without any explicit statement, meant that you had already made your stance clear to them.”

He paused for a moment, stepped forward, and reached out to help support the boy, at least keeping a certain distance from Lian Yi.

"You're still young, and many things shouldn't be judged too early, besides..."

Huo Zhiyun glanced at Xie Ling, feeling the need to scrutinize him as Lian Yi's brother.

She's not very old, yet she's already learned how to drink, and Lian Yi has to take care of her. This kind of unsteady personality is simply not suitable for her.

However, the next moment, his outstretched hand was slapped away by Lian Yi.

A faint red mark appeared on the back of her beautiful hand, and she stood there stunned in mid-air.

"Huo Zhiyun, you're really annoying. I've said it more than once: we're not close now. If you want to act like an older brother, don't do it to me."

Huo Zhiyun stared at her with his beautiful peach blossom eyes slightly stunned. Lian Yi's round eyes sparkled, but she met his gaze impatiently, her red lips uttering words that mirrored the impatience in her eyes.

“Before, you were already annoyed to death by me because of those elders, but you still had to put up with being with me.”

"Now that you're President Huo, who's going to keep you in check? There's really no need for that. And please stop disturbing my time with him."

Lian Yi didn't intend to speak to him so directly, even though they had completely lost contact for three years.

But Huo Zhiyun was the first to make her clearly understand that the direction of the plot outline could not be defied.

In my memory, that figure in white, from boyhood to youth, always showed her endless patience and tolerance, whether serious or helpless.

But his departure and 'disappearance' only made Lian Yi completely calm down in that instant.

Because she is a villainous female supporting character, she doesn't even deserve to have a 'brother'.

The way Huo Zhiyun was behaving in front of her now only made Lian Yi laugh. People's habits always change with their environment, so she had long been used to it.

Everything she possesses is nothing but a fleeting illusion, destined to be completely squandered in the end.

Just like the man before me.

Huo Zhiyun slowly lowered his hand, only then realizing that a strange distance had grown between him and Lian Yi over the past three years.

“He’s drunk, and it’s not convenient for you to take care of him alone. I’ll call someone to come and take him home, and you can stay here and have fun with your friends… or I can have the driver take you home with us, okay?”

His brows and eyes, usually composed and serene, were now slightly lowered.

Huo Zhiyun knew that once Lian Yi got angry, she was impossible to appease. He habitually followed her questions and told her his plans, as if he were comforting a child.

"No need, just find someone to come and lend a hand. I'll book a room for him here." Lian Yi glanced at him.

Since the friendship has faded, there's no need to rekindle it.

Moreover, for someone as busy as him, the distance between him and her, if it was just a ditch before, is now a chasm.

She still dared to wipe her hands on his clothes, but nowadays, as long as he frowned, there were plenty of people who would prepare clean clothes for him and clean them up in the blink of an eye.

Although she was somewhat surprised that Huo Zhiyun's attitude was no different from before, Lian Yi was not so presumptuous as to think that he had something special for her.

It's only because of the friendship between the two families.

After losing her identity as a daughter of the Lian family, Lian Yi was nothing more than a stranger to him, someone he would never even have the chance to meet by chance.

Huo Zhiyun wanted to sigh. He had practically watched Lian Yi grow up. Although she always liked to cause trouble, she was simple-minded and not malicious.

His gaze shifted to the boy who remained quiet despite being drunk, and Huo Zhiyun frowned slightly, his expression turning indifferent.

Lian Yi was pure of heart and sincere in her dealings with others, unaware of the wickedness in people's hearts.

It's obvious who benefits more from such intimate and ambiguous behavior in public. He subconsciously attributed the problem to this seemingly well-behaved boy.

Huo Zhiyun will not interfere with Lian Yi's choice, but—

In the past, he was, after all, an older brother of the same generation, so it was only natural for him to care about Lian Yi and not want her to be taken advantage of or deceived.

Perhaps the boy is not the problem, but it's always good to take precautions.

Huo Zhiyun looked away and gestured to his secretary who was waiting outside the lawn.

"I have some business to discuss with a client later, and it might end very late, so it won't be convenient for me to come and see you."

While waiting for his secretary to come over, Huo Zhiyun said, "I'll have someone send over some soup dumplings from Xiaoyuanju tomorrow. After you've eaten, I'll have the driver take you to the Huo family, okay?"

His schedule was packed, and he was almost constantly busy during the month he returned to Yunhai.

Lian Yi raised her eyebrows slightly and narrowed her eyes, looking like she was about to lose her temper again.

"No, why should I listen to your arrangements?"

"good……"

Huo Zhiyun paused for a moment, as if this was not the right time or place to speak, and it was not appropriate to explain to Lian Yi why he had not returned to Yunhai to see her in the past few years while he was at the company.

He turned his head and whispered a few words to the secretary who was walking towards him.

The secretary nodded and went over to take Xie Ling's hand, trying to pull him away from Lian Yi. However, with a slight exertion, the clean-cut and handsome young man suddenly raised his face and glanced at him.

He then withdrew his hand and quietly leaned against Miss Lian.

The secretary turned to look at Huo Zhiyun with a puzzled expression.

"..."

"Alright, I'll help him up. Have your secretary tell the people at the manor." Lian Yi said, looking up at Xie Ling with some suspicion.

His eyes were still the same, but much brighter than usual.

His clear black and white eyes stared at her intently, his thin lips slightly pursed. It was impossible to tell how drunk he was, as he would occasionally murmur a word or two.

Lian Yi silently withdrew her gaze, blinking her eyes which had almost met his.

She supported Xie Ling, placing one hand unceremoniously and without hesitation on his lean waist. With a little effort, he obediently followed along.

Now Lian Yi finally understood how consistent Xie Ling was inside and out. She couldn't help but frown, wondering why others were so ambiguous under the influence of alcohol.

When it comes to her, she's treated like she's carrying a piece of wood.

"Xiao Yi—"

She was annoyed, partly because Xie Ling was giving her trouble, and partly because of Huo Zhiyun's appearance. She was still venting her anger by pinching Xie Ling's waist when she heard a man's slightly low voice behind her.

"Could you please remove me from the blacklist first?"

Huo Zhiyun didn't expect Lian Yi to be so resolute, but this also made him realize how unhappy she was because he had broken his promise.

On many occasions when he was working late into the night, he almost lost control and wanted to temporarily put down everything he was doing to explain things to her, so that she wouldn't be angry because of him.

But bearing the heavy responsibility of being the future leader of the Huo family, Huo Zhiyun knew he didn't have the right to be willful.

Upon hearing this, Lian Yi froze on the spot. If she hadn't been holding onto the wooden figure, she would have gone back, grabbed Huo Zhiyun by the collar, and given him a thorough dressing-down.

You've gotten addicted to turning the tables on him, haven't you? When did she ever block him?

Without responding, he took another step, dragging the semi-automatic Xie Ling towards the shuttle bus.

The secretary followed closely behind with great professionalism, always ready to lend a hand, but her eyes kept sneaking glances back.

He had never seen Young Master Huo ever be so humble and subservient to anyone.

Not to mention now, even in the past, when faced with those senior executives of the group who showed him no respect for his status, Young Master Huo could always respond with a calm smile and composure, leaving no room for criticism. He used both soft and hard tactics.

Even when he was in front of Mr. Huo, Mr. Huo still maintained a calm and composed demeanor.

A secretary who has been tested in the workplace for a long time has mastered the ability to keep a straight face despite having countless gossipy thoughts in her mind. She can even keep her eyes straight by quickly looking around and returning to the center of her gaze.

Seeing the haughty young lady supporting a boy her own age, the secretary couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Although Mr. Huo isn't exactly an old tree, it seems like his flowers are blooming at the wrong time.

...

When Xie Ling woke up, her first reaction was that she felt like she had been through a lifetime.

The unfamiliar environment and smells, the bright sunlight shining through the thin gauze of the window, gild the spacious interior with a layer of white-gold light.

He shook his head, which felt like it was filled with paste, raised his hand to press against his throbbing forehead, and closed his eyes.

As his consciousness gradually returned, Xie Ling felt a moment of panic. After drinking that glass of wine last night, his consciousness quickly fell into a strange state where, although he was awake, he felt as if he were detached from his body.

The words you want to say, the things you want to do, the thoughts that arise in your brain, become sluggish and disordered when they are put into practice.

Later, he became increasingly confused, only able to vaguely remember some sounds, which were not clear, and some unpleasant feelings, but now he can't remember what they were.

Xie Ling frowned uncomfortably, lifted the blanket to find some water, and didn't realize it at first, until his feet touched the carpet, he suddenly realized something was wrong.

"..."

She had changed into a bathrobe, the belt loosely tied, the open neckline revealing almost half of her chest.

Xie Ling rubbed his forehead and let out a soft sigh of relief. It was probably because Lian Yi had asked the staff to change his clothes after he got drunk last night.

Wow.

A familiar voice suddenly rang out in the room, its tone a mixture of surprise and a slightly drawn-out tone, tinged with laughter.

"Xie Ling, you're so fair-skinned."

"..."

"Lian Yi, you..."

Xie Ling then noticed that, at some point, Lian Yi's upper face and her fingers gripping the edge of the semi-circular chaise lounge facing the floor-to-ceiling window were visible.

Its amber eyes were incredibly bright, blinking constantly, just like a camera that kept pressing the shutter.

He seemed to be burned by the gaze, momentarily stunned before quickly pulling his collar shut, his ears turning bright red. "Why are you here?"

"The water is at the bar outside. Go get some water first; your voice is hoarse."

With nothing left to watch, Lian Yi immediately lost interest, snorted softly, turned over and continued lying down, lazily saying, "How did I end up here? That's an interesting question. Last night you kept crying and clinging to me. When I tried to leave, you cried too."

"I felt so sorry for her when I saw her like that."

"...Impossible." Xie Ling pursed her lips, lowered her eyes insecurity, and blushed almost to the corners of her eyes.

He breathed a sigh of relief, walked out of the room to the suite's living room, found a pot of water, and drank several glasses in a row.

Even after placing the cup on the table, Xie Ling did not let go, but gripped the cup tightly, her clear eyes still filled with complex emotions.

Did he really do what Lian Yi said last night after he got drunk...?

Xie Ling didn't believe it, but thinking about all the thoughts that had crossed his mind before he drank, he helplessly let go of his hand and remained silent for a long time while leaning on the table.

"I was just kidding. When you're drunk, you're like a block of wood. You don't cry, make a fuss, or laugh, but you'll do whatever I ask. It's a pity I didn't bring my test paper last night, otherwise I could have had you finish it for me."

Lian Yi leaned against the door frame, lazily observing his inexplicably dejected figure. He was just drunk, yet he acted as if she had done something to him.

"I'm going to take a shower first. I'm sorry for causing you trouble last night." Startled back to reality by her voice, Xie Ling turned her head to look at her with a slightly complicated expression.

There were some things he couldn't say at the time, and even alcohol couldn't help. Looking at Lian Yi's calm eyes, he felt even more at a loss for words.

"No trouble at all. I've prepared a change of clothes for you. They might be a little too big, but you'll have to make do with them." Lian Yi, unusually, didn't argue with him, and her gaze shifted slightly upwards guiltily.

I pinched him quite easily last night, but when I had someone change Xie Ling's clothes later, I realized, well... she's quite strong.

"There's something I'm really curious about..."

As Xie Ling whispered her thanks and was about to walk past her into the room, Lian Yi suddenly spoke up curiously.

Xie Ling paused slightly, her cool eyes looking at her with a hint of doubt.

"I kept hearing you say what you like last night. What do you like? It's not math, is it?" Lian Yi couldn't help but chuckle, covering her mouth and her eyes crinkling into crescents.

She watched as the boy in front of her, after a moment of stunned silence, blushed with anger, then ignored her completely and walked into the room, picked up his clothes, and went into the bathroom.

The whole process was extremely fast; with his long arms and legs, he disappeared from Lian Yi's sight in just a few moves.

Lian Yi tilted her head in surprise.

Wait, could it be that she was right?

In the bathroom, water sprayed from the showerhead. Xie Ling stared at it absentmindedly, then pursed her lips, loosened the belt holding her bathrobe, and the robe fell down.

His gaze paused for a moment.

When she woke up, her lower back was indeed aching slightly, which Xie Ling initially thought was a side effect of being drunk.

But looking at the bruises of varying depths on his waist, even though it was his first time being drunk, he knew very well that no alcohol would cause such a hangover.

Xie Ling closed her eyes helplessly, stepped into the area where the hot water had splashed, and let her hair get wet.

He no longer wanted to recall or figure out what exactly happened last night, and became even more determined to never touch alcohol again.

But I'm also glad that I didn't say anything to Lian Yi under the influence of alcohol.

Xie Ling opened her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. Water droplets clung to her long eyelashes, only to be quickly knocked off by other splashes of water, or condensed and slid into her eyes.

Fortunately, I didn't act impulsively.

She shouldn't have been treated so carelessly.

...

“Zhiyun, although the other party has temporarily changed the main person in charge, according to the information I received, that young man is no ordinary person.”

The office is bright and clean, with a simple yet sophisticated decor.

A slightly balding middle-aged man sat on the sofa and said to the young man beside him in a slightly mysterious tone, "You know the Li family in Qingbei, right?"

"Jingqin, right? Although the current chairman's surname isn't Li, Jingqin's is. As for our project this time, they brought in that young master partly to enhance his resume..."

"But on the other hand, it also shows the Li family's attitude. If they didn't value this project, how could the Crown Prince have condescended to do so?"

Even in private, the middle-aged man avoided discussing the Li family's background, but he believed Huo Zhiyun understood what he meant.

Huo Zhiyun sat on the sofa, his right leg crossed over his left, his posture relaxed yet not slumped, exuding a charm that was both casual and dignified.

"The previous person in charge of the shopping mall project had already discussed most of the details with us, and the subsequent details will not affect the progress of the project."

His expression was indifferent, and his peach blossom eyes calmly looked at the palm-sized gift box on the coffee table.

"No one within the Jingqin government objects to this kind of self-serving behavior, so we outsiders don't need to comment too much."

That makes sense...

The middle-aged man noticed that the man's gaze had been fixed on the gift box on the coffee table ever since he entered. He coughed lightly and asked with some curiosity, "What's wrong? Who sent you this gift that you're staring at so intently?"

"It's nothing." Huo Zhiyun snapped out of his reverie, his peach blossom eyes instantly brightening at the faint smile on his face. "The meeting is about to start, why don't you go and greet the client?"

The middle-aged man regretfully suppressed his curiosity, nodded, stood up, and couldn't help but mutter to himself that he hoped the young master wouldn't be difficult to deal with.

If someone with a bad temper shows up, acting like they're the best and arriving an hour or two late, naively trying to intimidate them, then things will get interesting.

After the office door closed, Huo Zhiyun lowered his legs, leaned slightly forward, clasped his hands together to his lips, and looked at the milky white gift box with a faint gaze.

His peach blossom eyes seemed very focused, as if he were gazing affectionately at his lover, tender and lingering, even though what he was looking at was just a square gift box decorated with dark patterns.

A moment later, Huo Zhiyun opened the gift box.

A South Sea gold bead and a pale pink conch bead lay quietly in a velvet cushion. They were quite large, and would have looked out of place even if used to set a pendant. Under the indoor light, they shimmered with a unique luster.

Huo Zhiyun looked at them, a slight smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.

When Lian Yi was fourteen, in order to avoid his tutoring, she took Lian Suhe to the artificial hill to take a nap. When they woke up in a daze, Lian Suhe had forgotten about this incident and bumped her head.

When he found them, Huo Zhiyun was both anxious and angry, and he lost his composure for once. While waiting for the family doctor to arrive, he couldn't help but give her a lecture.

As always, Lian Yi was self-righteous and pointed at Lian Suhe, who was wailing, and said to him that no matter how fierce she was, she would also drop her little pearls like Lian Suhe.

As a result, when Lian Suhe realized that she had failed to cry out the little pearl, she cried even harder.

Lian Yi not only didn't care, but also insisted that he remember that day was Pearl Memorial Day.

This was the fourth year he had collected pearls, and the first time he had failed to give them to Lian Yi.

Huo Zhiyun's smile faded. He didn't have a sister, and Lian Yi's existence seemed to fill that void. He thought that in this world, there was probably no brother who wouldn't feel sad because of his sister's estrangement.

Huo Zhiyun closed the gift box, got up, locked it in the safe, glanced at the time, and temporarily suppressed the turbulent emotions in his heart.

Now that he's back in Yunhai, he'll have a chance to appease Lianyi and, as her older brother, protect her future.

The moment Huo Zhiyun raised his eyelids, his slightly complicated expression returned to normal.

He walked out of the general manager's office and met the secretary who was about to come and remind him. The two then walked together to the elevator and went to the floor where the conference room was located.

"The new person in charge is named Li Jingxing, and he is 21 years old." The secretary paused slightly. "Last month, on December 18th, he was appointed as the deputy general manager of Jingqin. This is the first project he has taken over since taking office."

"From what I can see, Mr. Li's resume is very clean, but according to what Mr. Zhao just told me, his opinion of Mr. Li is as a person—"

The elevator doors opened, and the secretary lowered her voice, "Young and promising."

A single word can convey a great deal of information.

Changing the project manager at the last minute is actually quite detrimental to the cooperation between the two companies.

For the Huo family, if it weren't for some concessions from Kinchin, they would probably have reconsidered the necessity of cooperating with Kinchin.

When negotiations reached the final stage of signing the contract, the decision to parachute in the young master to reap the rewards naturally raised doubts about Jing Qin's attitude and professionalism among the Huo family.

Huo Zhiyun nodded slightly. "Later, please inform General Manager Zhao to review the contract again with the colleagues in charge of the project and the legal department, and to prepare for the signing ceremony."

"Yes." The secretary nodded. Of course, these things had been prepared long ago, and all that was waiting for the approval from above.

Huo Zhiyun walked to the door of the conference room, and his secretary quickly stepped forward and opened the door. A perfectly timed smile appeared on his face, neither overly enthusiastic nor cold.

Different people naturally require different attitudes.

His sharpness lies in his methods, not in interpersonal relationships. He has been tempered by various real-world experiences and is already adept at these.

"Haha, Mr. Li! You're a wonderful person. Tonight it's my treat, you must do me the honor of attending, hey—"

"Our CEO Huo has arrived too!"

The atmosphere in the conference room was relaxed and harmonious. General Manager Zhao was beaming, and his smile even seemed somewhat genuine. When he saw Huo Zhiyun walk into the conference room, he stood up with a smile.

"President Huo, this is President Li from Jingqin. We had a very pleasant conversation! I'm sure our cooperation will go very smoothly this time."

He said to the young man sitting in the chair with his back to Huo Zhiyun, "President Li, this is President Huo of our Huo Group. You two are both young and outstanding, so I suppose you'll have more in common with this old man like me."

With just a few words, Old Zhao seemed to have closed the distance between the two young men who held considerable power, and they chatted happily with him, just like he had with them.

Huo Zhiyun smiled politely, and the young man stood up from his chair. His posture was upright, and even his back view conveyed a calm and composed demeanor.

"Mr. Huo, it's been a long time. How have you been?"

His voice was mellow, not overly deep, and his slightly amused tone made him very likable.

He turned around as he spoke.

The young man's features were exquisitely beautiful, almost otherworldly. Two faint red beauty marks at the corners of his eyes added to his captivating charm, making him seem more suited to appearing on television than in this business conference room.

However, his gaze was gentle and upright, and whether he was looking at someone or just glancing at them, everyone could feel his focus and seriousness.

Huo Zhiyun's gaze turned cold the moment he saw the young man's face clearly.

"Li Jingxing?"

The young man smiled slightly, his eyes as dark and deep as crushed black jade. "Yes, it seems that President Huo has no memory of me anymore."

Everyone else in the meeting room felt the atmosphere suddenly freeze.

Mr. Zhao looked at the two of them with a hint of surprise and doubt, then quickly laughed to smooth things over, "I didn't expect that you, Mr. Li, and our Mr. Huo are old acquaintances? What do you call that? It's true that outstanding people always gather together."

"Compared to Mr. Huo, I still have many shortcomings." He said humbly, "I hope to learn more from Mr. Huo in this project."

"..."

These words were too polite, which made one feel that something was off, but the young man's gentle face was serious and sincere, so much so that one should not have the slightest doubt.

President Zhao gave Huo Zhiyun a sharp look, unsure if there was any friction between the two.

But surely the usually reliable CEO Huo can't let things fall apart at this time?

Huo Zhiyun paused for a moment, then smiled politely, "I was a little surprised to see an old friend. Mr. Li, please have a seat."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and invited each other to sit down.

This meeting was not as formal as before; the two sides even argued heatedly over a minor clause.

With all the major and minor aspects already discussed and agreed upon, this time the main task is to review the contract again.

Mr. Zhao was still worried about the reactions of the two leaders, but as the meeting proceeded smoothly, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and watched the two young men communicate and talk back and forth with a smile.

After a moment of contemplation, the young general manager of Jingqin stood up, extended his hand to Huo Zhiyun, and said with a warm smile, "President Huo, it's a pleasure to cooperate with you."

The others breathed a sigh of relief and were also excited that the nearly two-month-long tug-of-war was finally coming to an end.

The performance bonus seems to be just around the corner.

"President Li, would you be interested in visiting our Huo Group?" President Zhao always played the role of a lubricant, and the signing ceremony was not to be carried out immediately. Before that, they were in a honeymoon period.

Although it is a win-win cooperation, as the host, he naturally has to show his hospitality.

The young man smiled faintly, and the beauty mark at the corner of his eye twitched slightly with the smile.

Mr. Zhao took a silent breath, subconsciously avoiding eye contact, and couldn't help but marvel inwardly, thinking, "This person is truly... incredibly enchanting."

"Thank you for your kind offer, Mr. Zhao, but I would still like to catch up with Mr. Huo. I think Mr. Huo feels the same way."

Following his words, President Zhao looked at Huo Zhiyun.

"Since Mr. Li is in such a good mood, why don't we chat here?" Huo Zhiyun's eyes were deep and thoughtful, but his handsome face still wore a polite smile.

The exchange of glances between the two was a silent battle unseen by others.

The meeting room was quickly cleared out. General Manager Zhao personally closed the door, stood a couple of steps back, and called a secretary to wait outside. Although he had many doubts, he still needed to oversee the follow-up preparations and the reception arrangements.

“Li Jingxing…”

Huo Zhiyun's expression was indifferent, his peach blossom eyes revealing a sense of aloofness and distance, the friendliness he had shown just now was gone.

"This name is not quite the one I remember, so how should I address you? Are you General Manager Li of Jingqin, or Jiang Yu, who used to be by Lian Yi's side?"

Jiang Yu looked at him calmly with a gentle gaze and a faint smile on her lips.

“I used to take my mother’s surname. She named me Yu. Mr. Huo can use whichever name he prefers. A name is just a label.”

Huo Zhiyun looked at him with a slightly scrutinizing gaze, and after a while, he slightly parted his lips, "Whether you are Jiang Yu or Li Jingxing, it doesn't matter, but... Lian Yi probably doesn't know about your identity yet."

"Mr. Huo, we were just catching up." Jiang Yu frowned slightly, as if he was somewhat troubled.

"But what happened between me and Yi-yi is a private matter between us, and I don't think it's appropriate to bring it up casually in front of outsiders."

outsider?

Huo Zhiyun wanted to sneer. He had long known that Jiang Yu was a cunning and scheming person, not as simple as he appeared on the surface. Now it seemed that his intuition was indeed correct.

"As for Xiaoyi, who is the outsider? I'm afraid the answer will make your confidence misplaced." His expression was calm.

"Does Mr. Huo have some misunderstanding about me?"

Jiang Yu smiled slightly, unmoved by the sharp edge in Huo Zhiyun's words.

"I'm not confident."

"It's just because of my relationship with Yi-Yi for over ten years that I have this confidence."

Huo Zhiyun narrowed his eyes as he looked at him, a slightly cold smile curving his lips.

A complex background and deep scheming.

He chuckled. "Is this confidence because you disappeared for two years without a trace?"

Jiang Yu's eyelashes trembled slightly, and her dark, warm eyes immediately turned to Huo Zhiyun with a smile.

"We haven't been in touch for three years—not even once. What gives you the audacity to question me here, Mr. Huo?"

A long, wide conference table separated the two.

The smiles on the handsome faces of different temperaments varied in depth, and beneath the seemingly friendly atmosphere of conversation, there seemed to be an undercurrent that was hard to detect.