phase and
It was more than a month before she saw Su Yao again. According to Su Yao, he was about to take the college entrance examination, so it was better for them to see each other less. In this way, more than a month passed, and she had the heart to abandon him and break her promise to him.
The bright red alcohol swirled in the wine glass, evaporating into the air. A strange light flickered in his eyes. The last time Su had wanted to drink in front of him was…
The flowers in bloom recently are roses, bright red, still glistening with dew. Aunt Hong must have sprinkled some water on them before she left. The aroma is rich and mellow, a complex blend of floral and wine scents.
The balcony was shrouded in a thin white veil, and the faint lights of the buildings outside shone dimly, like a garment covering a fox.
"You're back from school?"
"Hmm, staying here tonight?" he asked tentatively.
Slender fingertips caressed the transparent glass, projecting more fingers, long and narrow, one after another.
He took a sip of his drink. "Hmm, let me stay for one night. Number 23553807."
"What?" An Chi didn't react.
"It would take about 2,355,3806 people to circle the Earth, and you are number 2,355,3807."
He didn't expect that she still remembered their last conversation.
Stepping forward and bending down, An Chi couldn't resist the urge to get closer to her, "Today—"
"Get out of here. Stop thinking all day that I come here to stay and sleep with you." She stepped directly on the diaphragm where the chest and abdomen meet, gently but annoyingly.
Su was about to enter the room he had discovered earlier, the one that stood out from the other rooms. Before stepping in, she turned to him and said, "Prepare well for the college entrance exam recently. Feel free to ask for anything—except for doing it."
She seemed to have come back only to put his college entrance exam in peace, but An Chi understood that everything Su was doing was traceable and profitable.
As night fell, and all things slept in harmony with nature, all that was before him was darkness. An Chi had guessed wrong.
Su returned this time solely so that he could focus on his exams.
A month ago, she calmed down the board meeting here, but things were still not stable elsewhere. The constant running around made her smile even wider, and even more fake.
One month ago, in the United States.
With fluent English, Su Yao remained unfazed when facing these foreigners who were more difficult to deal with and less familiar to him than his domestic counterparts. "I believe you all already know that I am going to re-elect the CEO. Su's welcomes any ambitious and capable person to compete, and we will certainly not be stingy with your talents."
"Su, what you're saying seems like you're doing us a favor, but in reality, the Su Group's headquarters are in China, and our reach can't extend that far at all," a blond, blue-eyed young man said sarcastically.
Pick up the phone, "PaiPai, can you pick up some takeout for me on the first floor?"
"Please wait a moment, everyone." She smiled slightly at the ambitious people at the conference table.
A short while later, Tang called, "Mr. Su, there are no takeout orders for you on the first floor."
"Oh, maybe I remembered wrong. You can go back to your office on the second floor."
"Um... my office is on the thirty-first floor, Ms. Su."
"I made a mistake again, sorry."
"It's fine."
The call was answered again in less than two seconds. "Could you pick up my takeout this time? Please."
"President Su, please stop teasing me. I've already told the front desk that they'll notify me as soon as your takeout arrives, and I'll pick it up promptly. Besides, you're not even in the company, so why would you order takeout? Did you really not order it from the US?" Tang Pai finished speaking in one breath. Su Yao wasn't angry at all; on the contrary, his smile was even brighter than before.
She opened her mouth and said, "Well done, everyone. But I really did order takeout. I ordered afternoon tea for you in advance, and it will arrive this afternoon."
"Everyone, I'm currently in the United States, but the people at headquarters will still follow my instructions and make sound judgments based on them." Su paused, raised his hand to signal everyone present not to rush, then snapped his fingers, and five people entered with Ge Jin. "Marketing, HR, R&D, and the remaining two—I don't need to introduce them much, we're all acquaintances. I've been in China for many years, and my reach isn't that long, but truly intelligent people choose to follow the strong. If you're not suited to be a leader but blame various conditions, I think you can try starting from the bottom, at least to learn interpersonal skills."
Su glanced sideways, waved his left index finger backward, and the five of them left with Ge Jin. "Think it over carefully, friends."
The hot coffee that was originally meant for beginners has now become milder, less stinging and more mellow. Su Yao is still sitting at the head of the conference table, which is also to give face to these foreigners. Otherwise, if she angered these people, they would be even more difficult to deal with than the group in China. She took a sip of coffee, but it was too bitter. She didn't like it. Unfortunately, Ge Jin was outside appeasing the group of people who came in to take the blame, so she could only endure the bitterness in her mouth.
The menacing gazes turned into awkward silences as almost simultaneously someone said they had to leave first. Su didn't stop them, and one after another, until finally she was left alone.
Ge Jin appeared behind them unnoticed. Su Yao instructed, "Book them plane tickets to attend the shareholders' meeting."
The money slipped away from my pocket again.
"President Su, how come there's such a large expenditure on transportation?"
Tang Pai was the first to become restless, and she began to express her concern with good intentions.
"It was set up for the shareholders on the American side."
“We can have a video conference, Mr. Su.”
"Are you questioning me?" Su Yao's eyes narrowed slightly, his tone authoritative without being angry.
Tang paused for a long time, then said, "The accounts can't hold up anymore, President Su. The Su Group has already spent a large sum of money, and we don't have that many funds to divert."
After a long silence, Su sighed, "Tang Pai, rules are rules, but people are flexible. Even if you embezzled this little bit of money from my account, I would turn a blind eye. But why are you being so honest? If I couldn't benefit from it, why would I fill this bottomless pit? Just do as I say, and you'll understand, Pai Pai."
They will always grow, just like Ge Jin did back then.
If Su Yao's relationship with Tang Pai was like a warm yet impatient romance, then her working-age relationship with Ge Jin was more like that of a mother and son, clumsy yet resolute.
"You came to the Su family, you don't want to be with me, do you?" Those were the words Su Yao said to Ge Jin when they first met. At that time, everyone looked down on Su Yao, this inexperienced girl.
She was naive and displayed an innocence that was different from others, yet she deceived everyone.
Back then, Su Yao was still in a relationship with the only son of the Bai family.
The Bai family has a political background spanning three generations, making them a force to be reckoned with. Although they are not as wealthy as the Su family in business, their words always carry a more noble tone.
A young woman who has just graduated from university and is in a relationship enters a company for training, which everyone would think is a joke.
This put Su Yao in a very awkward position. She had to start from the bottom, but she couldn't be allowed to "suffer." Many people were gossiping behind her back. Su Yao knew everything. When she got home, she proposed to Su Wensheng that she wanted to join the leadership.
As a newcomer to the workforce, Su Wensheng did not recommend that Su do this, and the older employees in the company would not agree to it either.
She was never one to compromise easily, and it took her persistent efforts to persuade Su Wensheng to place her in a project team manager position, but that also dealt her a heavy blow.
A group of lazy, good-for-nothing playboys and rich girls who just drift through life.
"Tsk, this is quite interesting." Su Yao smiled as he looked at the group of children playing on their phones.
Without any discussion, Su gave the group of young people a thorough scolding, which even alarmed Su Wensheng.
At that moment, he stood condescendingly in front of her, his face full of kindness, yet fraught with thorns. "You shouldn't have done that. These are all our friends."
“Your friend is not mine. I wouldn’t have such a useless friend.” Her arrogance was evident, and Su Yao showed signs of anger. She didn’t want to waste any more words. “I’ll show you within a month.”
After disciplining the person, what she needed most was people.
It was at this time that Ge Jin, who was also a fresh graduate and full of ambition, was led into Su Wensheng's door.
This left Su both amused and exasperated. A top student, selected through multiple rounds of screening, had hoped to make a name for herself at Su's company, but was suddenly condescended to be given a lowly assistant position as a minor leader who had gotten in through connections. If it were her, she would probably be furious.
"You came to the Su family because you don't want to be with me, right?"
"I don't want to." Ge Jin's straightforwardness was something Su Yao hadn't expected.
She pondered what to say next, but then heard, "Can you really achieve results within a month?"
"Yes, I can." She said confidently.
"Then I'll go with you."
"You believe that easily?"
"No, I believe I can also produce an excellent project within a month."
Ge Jin's eyes were full of pride and ambition, no less than hers, which led to all sorts of friction between them afterward.
From that day on, the two of them became the busiest people in the entire Su family, arriving earlier and leaving later than others.
The capitalists who stand atop their high-rise buildings, looking down on the masses, can only laugh and say, "My daughter is no less impressive than President Su was back in her prime."
The most ironic thing at this moment was Su Wensheng's statement, "Girls don't have to work so hard."
Whenever Su looked up at the gleaming glass, Ge Jin would remain silent. On one occasion, the day before their fate was sealed, he asked, "Do you really want to be like them?"
“I wasn’t looking at them; I was looking at the towering trees outside the glass—the glass-polishing workers.”
After saying that, Su turned back to Ge Jin and smiled, "From now on, I will never have the leisure I have now again."
Back then, Ge Jin didn't understand the hidden meaning in Su Yao's words. But by the time he did, the people looking down from the high-rise building had already changed.
In just one month, Su Yao acquired the land in the south of the city. She did a brilliant job, plunging the entire Su family into silence. The long-rumored Bai family was also brought into the spotlight, because the official in charge of the southern part of the city was the current head of the Bai family, Su Yao's boyfriend's father—Bai Lining.
Just as Su was about to touch the edge of the new table, Ge Jin suddenly burst in with a dark expression. "Aren't you going to clarify what's being said in the company?"
“What’s there to clarify? What did Nietzsche say again? People only want to see what they want to see.” Su leaned back.
Ge Jin pointed outside, "Then what about all our hard work day and night? Is it all thanks to you sleeping with us?"
"Okay, don't worry too much about it. I know you've put in a lot of effort, and I'll pay you accordingly."
His chest heaved violently, and Ge Jin bit down on the soft flesh in his mouth, "How...how could you do this..."
Almost instantly, the man who slammed the door and left disappeared from Su Yao's sight.
Even Su Yao was stunned. In the month that they had spent together, Ge Jin had always been cooperative and consultative. Even when they disagreed, they would argue their points and then decide on the direction of their cooperation.
Furthermore, Ge Jin is extremely capable. From buying Su Yao's favorite coffee to independently perfecting an entire project plan, Su Yao doesn't have to worry about anything. Even Su Yao is amazed that Su Wensheng himself probably didn't expect to have given her such a treasure.
The situation today is truly baffling.
After that, seemingly out of spite, Ge Jin rarely consulted with her or offered his own opinions. Originally, after accomplishing this, both of their offices were upgraded and were not close to each other.
He walked in again, asking, "What are you planning to do this time? Why hasn't the project in the south of the city been approved?"
"I was the one who negotiated the deal, why should those old geezers benefit from it?" She smiled, crossing her legs. "Aren't you angry? Here you go, Chengnan."
Ge Jin remained silent, but kept staring at her as if trying to determine the truth of the matter. "Weren't all the documents approved?"
“I beat them to it, do you think I’m stupid? But you can’t build houses over there now, so you can’t be a landlord anymore. What do you want to build?” Su Yao was still in the mood to joke with him.
His brows furrowed, and he opened his lips, but hesitated to speak.
"Are you stupid? We agreed that after I give it to you, you can't be angry with me anymore."
"No need, I wasn't even angry with you..."
"Not angry yet? Your lips are practically pouting to the heavens."
“I don’t want the land in the south of the city,” he refused.
Su opened her eyes wide, looking incredulous, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you don't want it, I'll take it and play with it myself."
"No, you've already done what I wanted."
Because the project in the south of the city failed and ended up in the hands of an "unknown buyer" after being acquired by Su, the rumors in the company were dispelled, and Ge Jin could no longer hear those gossips.
Finally, Su used that piece of land in the south of the city to build an amusement park.
As for how Ge Jin became so taciturn, even Su Yao didn't know, but he remained as pleased as ever.
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