Extra 4

04

Li Yingqiao's life in Beijing remained monotonous, a repetitive cycle between the company and her apartment, with weekends mostly spent socializing. Upon her return, Xu Quyu had a brief conversation with her in the office before immediately reinstating her to her original position, taking over all the brand's public relations work from Villy. Villy was unhappy, and that very evening, Li Yingqiao saw her social media status: an incredibly arrogant eye-rolling emoji.

Zhang Zongxie and Lilith, worried that she wouldn't see it, took screenshots and forwarded them to her.

Li Yingqiao, of course, saw it too, and even left a comment: a "hehe" emoji. Villy, however, didn't recognize her. She clicked on her profile, saw a clip of an anime she'd posted, liked it, and commented: "Coincidentally, I also like Detective Conan." Li Yingqiao remembered that Villy shared some of her tastes.

In the workplace, competitors often share surprisingly similar aesthetic tastes, and even close friends sometimes need to have differing opinions.

For example, Miao Jia doesn't like watching Detective Conan. She can't stand seeing dead people; she cries whenever she sees one because she's actually seen a corpse. Her grandfather fell and died in a muddy ditch on his way to buy her sneakers because it was too dark. Of course, she wouldn't discuss the logically sound and exciting deaths in Detective Conan with Miao Jia. After Miao Jia's grandfather passed away, she rarely even watched Detective Conan in front of her.

Li Yingqiao often feels that the world might be more harmonious if people could be viewed from a more detached perspective. Like Villy's social media signature: Most people are as ordinary as a one-yuan coin, but thankfully, there are no counterfeit one-yuan coins.

Do you understand? At least I'm the real deal. Villy hates everyone equally, and likes every coin equally.

In short, Convey is a place where people compete, appreciate, fight, and yet live in equality.

She had a men's down jacket in her suitcase, which was convenient for quick trips downstairs to take out the trash or buy things. Yu Jinyang had specially bought her a new one, but when she left, she hesitated for a long time in front of Yu Jinyang's wardrobe, which didn't have many down jackets to begin with, before finally taking the one he usually wore.

The car in the WeChat message said sourly, "Wearing my clothes to meet other men again."

Zhang Zongxie has completely lost his name. However, Yu Jinyang is also nameless in Zhang Zongxie's eyes: "Why didn't my brother come with us? He's so clingy, how could we let you go? Tsk tsk, are you afraid to come to Beijing? Are you afraid that seeing such a dazzling person like you will make you feel even more insecure when you go back?"

Li Yingqiao didn't argue. Yu Jinyang had given up a high-paying job abroad in Chicago to come back for Si Yi Ge. If he came to Beijing, he would have to find a new job there. Jobs were so hard to find this year, and if he ran into trouble, he would definitely lose his composure. So she didn't urge him and waited for him to bring it up himself.

Two days later, Li Yingqiao returned just in time for Convey's annual meeting. This year was Xu Quyu's first year as CEO. Li Yingqiao wore a down jacket over her clothes and sat in the audience, listening attentively to Xu Quyu's speech, occasionally glancing at Xu Junfei's expression beside her.

Perhaps because her gaze was so undisguised, Xu Junfei noticed and retorted in his usual cheeky tone, "What are you looking at? Li Yingqiao, what's wrong with your eyes? Or is it because I've been gone so long that you think I've gotten more handsome?"

Before Li Yingqiao could retort, Zhang Zongxie, who was standing to the side, also looked over and glanced at Xu Junfei indifferently: "Mike, to be honest, you're very suitable to be an internet celebrity. You have a thick skin."

Li Yingqiao's eyes suddenly lit up. "Mike, the brand department recently received an invitation to a roundtable meeting. How about we arrange for you to attend?"

Xu Junfei scoffed, "Aren't you afraid that my straight-male remarks will worsen the company's already precarious image?"

Li Yingqiao calmly withdrew her gaze: "Don't worry, with Michael leading the way, Convey lives up to his reputation as a vicious dog."

Zhang Zongxie looked at her abruptly and said, "What are you doing back here? Did you come back to ruin Convey?"

Li Yingqiao smiled calmly: "To put it so harshly, it's like trying to revive a dead horse."

Xu Junfei's expression turned meaningful. He needed to reassess this woman. She used to use the brand department to pressure them at the drop of a hat, afraid that someone would get out of control and betray the hard work of the brand department. She was as stubborn as an ox, spoke directly without fear of offending anyone, and was inflexible. To put it nicely, she was an idealist; to put it bluntly, she was a radical.

At this moment, the woman seemed to have an indescribable calmness, the same calmness as her sister—calmness, not resignation.

He recalled that night in the hospital room when the old man, in a moment of lucidity, gave his will and made arrangements for his final days. The room was filled with people, each with their own thoughts, but he knew that everyone's desire for his death was remarkably unanimous.

The old man probably knew, but he still had to act, tearfully saying he owed his sister too much, so he finally decided to hand over the company to her. He found it laughable. Owes? This old man owed so many people. What about his mother? What about him? What was he going to do now? He'd agreed to the arranged marriage, married someone he didn't love, and couldn't get a divorce. He'd have to be subservient for the rest of his life. Didn't she owe him anything? The old man just walked away, leaving the company to his sister. What was he going to do? Would Xu Quyu tolerate him?

That old man is really stupid. He still doesn't know how to say nice things. On his way to the gates of hell, he managed to offend both of them with just a few words. Xu Quyu wasn't particularly happy either. The ability she was so proud of all her life, the position she earned through her own hard work, ended up being described as a debt of gratitude in the old man's eyes.

If it weren't for the airline's trust in her, granting her a price discount unmatched by any other OTA platform for five years, thus mitigating the significant losses incurred during the pandemic; if it weren't for the Rainbow Youli incident, which led to Li Yingqiao's suspension as project supervisor and the rest of the board vying for profit and passing the buck, giving Xu Quyu an opportunity, would the other board members have approved of her taking this position? They were originally all on his side.

He initially didn't realize the threat Xu Quyu posed to him. The old man only had him as a son, and the company would eventually be handed over to him. When did times begin to change? Probably from the moment Xu Quyu's report cards started showing perfect scores, her life trajectory almost flawless. She hadn't deviated from the slightest path; if she had made a single wrong move in those seventeen years, she wouldn't be where she is today, and she wouldn't have heard the old man utter the word "owe." Even he knew this, and Xu Quyu knew it even better: there was no one more selfish in the world than the old man.

Would she feel comforted by the old man's words of indebtedness? Of course not, so naturally, the old man didn't hear what he wanted to hear on his deathbed. When he closed his eyes, Xu Junfei saw the resentment and disappointment in the old man's eyes.

What made him feel desperate was that he seemed to see himself on his deathbed.

Following the annual meeting, Convey experienced another personnel change, with Xu Junfei resigning from his position as Executive Vice President. Frequent changes in Convey's senior management over the past six months have become commonplace among colleagues. However, Xu Junfei's departure caused Xu Quyu's reputation within the industry to decline, making it increasingly difficult for headhunters to recruit her. Outsiders speculated that if she couldn't even tolerate her own brother, how could she possibly treat her employees well?

Xu Quyu never cared about these rumors. She always took a very normal approach to maintaining her personal brand. Even Li Yingqiao once said that the development of a company and the reputation of its personal brand are closely related.

From a professional perspective, Li Yingqiao and Zhang Zongxie advised her, "President Xu, if you are willing to share your experiences with the outside world, it may have a profound impact on the brand culture. Your experiences will touch many people."

Xu Quyu is not good at speaking in front of the camera; she dislikes giving interviews and has also declined roundtable meetings.

She has only ever worn one type of shoes and walked one path in her life, and she only ever speaks one kind of language. Perhaps the audience at the moment will accept her, but times are always changing, and no one can be recognized forever. So how will she cope then?

Li Yingqiao agreed with her idea, acknowledging that the benefits of the times certainly have both advantages and disadvantages. However, Xu Quyu might have misunderstood her meaning. What she meant was that this spirit might resonate with many people, rather than being confined to gender stereotypes. And indeed, that is the case.

She felt that there was no future in the public relations industry these days, and she even started to think about philosophy, which she hated the most.

Yu Jinyang bluntly stated: "When a public relations manager starts contemplating philosophy, does that mean the company is about to go bankrupt?"

"Pah!"

"Li Yingqiao, spit on me again. It's only been a short time since we last met, and you've already spat on me?"

"I miss you."

"One slap followed by one kiss, right?"

Then, a loud kiss came from the other end of the phone: "Mwah!"

"vomit--"

Someone vomited.

"Who?" Li Yingqiao's ears were very sharp.

Yu Jinyang laughed out loud: "My dad."

"How could he do this? Turn on the speakerphone and see how I teach him a lesson."

Yu Jinyang had no choice but to laugh and do as she was told. However, fearing that Yu Renjie would actually start arguing with her through the phone, he kept his hand lightly covering the phone's microphone, as if he were covering Li Yingqiao's ears. Just like when Liang Mei and Li Yingqiao were arguing as children, Zhu Xiaoliang would cover Li Yingqiao's ears when he couldn't stop Liang Mei, so that she could hear less of what he said.

Tang Xiang thought Li Yingqiao was just joking, but she didn't expect the two of them to actually argue. Tang Xiang had just finished putting the ice cream cone to sleep and came out looking confused, glancing frequently at her son, "What happened?"

Yu Jinyang was laughing so hard that she was weak all over, laughing so hard that she was swaying from side to side. In the end, she could only lean back on the sofa with her neck tilted back, feeling utterly hopeless, unable to repeat herself. She held up the phone so that Yu Jinyang could hear it herself.

Li Yingqiao's voice suddenly became louder and came from the other end of the phone. She was obviously really anxious: "No, Uncle, how can you be so unreasonable? What else can we talk about if not this?"

Uncle shifted into a more comfortable position, took a sip of tea, and slowly replied, "Let's talk about philosophy, psychology, the end of the universe, the extinction of mankind, why Schopenhauer, who was such a believer in nihilism, didn't commit suicide. Or let's talk about whether you two will pull my oxygen tube in twenty years."

"..."

After a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, Li Yingqiao suddenly said out of the blue, "Uncle, are you putting your feet on the coffee table again?"

Yu Renjie's lips stiffened.

Yu Jinyang, who had been watching the commotion with an air of indifference, was taken aback by her sudden keen observation. He subconsciously adjusted his languid posture, sat up straight, and looked around for surveillance footage. He couldn't help but grab a handful of his messy hair. "...How did you know?"

Li Yingqiao explained logically: "Because when men's feet are off the ground, they always like to talk nonsense. That's why I had Uncle Shao study those philosophies and famous quotes. Who knows if Schopenhauer was standing or lying down when he talked about nihilism? Anyway, what people say when they're lying in bed is the least credible. When your feet are off the ground, your brain is more easily invaded by viruses. Do you know why so many people propose in hot air balloons—"

Yu Jinyang interrupted with a cold laugh, his face expressionless: "Li Yingqiao, so should I re-evaluate some of the things you say to me at night?"

Li Yingqiao finally understood what it meant to lift a rock only to drop it on one's own foot: "..."

Long-distance relationships are like this: without being able to see each other's facial expressions, even a small thing might require writing a self-criticism.

As a skilled public relations professional, Li Yingqiao reacted quickly and preemptively. Her expertise taught her that the golden 72 hours of public relations have been reduced to a mere 3 hours; delaying a statement risks being morally superior. Therefore, she immediately seized upon the other party's attitude to launch her attack.

"Yu Jinyang, what day is it today that you're yelling at me?"

"..."

With Yu Renjie, who loves watching the drama unfold, supervising from the sidelines, he helplessly patted his son's shoulder, skillfully and experiencedly stood up: "Write a self-criticism."

That evening.

After Yu Jinyang finished showering, the steam in the bathroom blurred the mirror, and he couldn't see his face clearly, only a vague outline. He haphazardly dried his hair, revealing an unprecedentedly taut abdominal muscle. After he was completely finished, he showered himself again before taking his phone off the wall-mounted bracket and ending the video call with Li Yingqiao.

Even though he wasn't there, the service couldn't be neglected. Li Yingqiao was already contentedly burying herself in her pillow, looking forward to the next day.

At this very moment, he sat at the desk that had accompanied him from childhood to adulthood, his long arms and legs squeezing him into the chair. He leaned back lazily, legs spread wide, and saw his shadow fall on the floor, now a whole size wider than when he was young.

He had done his homework and tests, written recommendation letters for Liang Mei, and maintained his daily, meticulously planned study schedule on this desk, but never written a self-criticism. He leaned against it, silently thinking for a while, when suddenly he remembered something. He bent down and pulled open the bottom drawer, pulling out a yellowed notebook. The cover still had the big turtle Li Yingqiao had drawn for him when she was jealous. Actually, he had forgotten why they had argued back then. After learning that she had never actually had conjunctivitis, Yu Jinyang assumed that all her inexplicable emotions stemmed from jealousy.

He turned to the last page from memory, and sure enough—

Yu Jinyang, 28 years old:

Dude, are you still alive?

Did she drive you crazy?

If you're alive, make a sound.

—From eighteen-year-old Yu Jinyang

"squeak."

"Good luck to Yu Jinyang, who is thirty-eight years old."

——2026.1.25

From 28-year-old Yu Jinyang