Chapter 67
In the early morning, Yi Garden was so quiet that only the chirping of birds could be heard. Gu Chen and Li Tingqin finished their morning exercises and sat in the restaurant to eat breakfast.
The two sat opposite each other. Gu Chen, wearing home clothes, crossed his legs, listening to Assistant Chen report something.
After listening, Gu Chen simply instructed: "Tell Cheng Wenyao not to mention this matter again. Just continue to put pressure on the Cheng family. I believe they will make their own decision."
"As for the Gu family..." He raised his eyes and looked at Li Tingqin, "Since there is still something that Mr. Li wants, just give it to Mr. Li."
Then he said to Assistant Chen: "Thank you for your hard work during this period."
Assistant Chen was flattered and said, "Mr. Gu, you are too polite. President Li pays very generous overtime pay, and it is my honor to work for you." Working for Mr. Gu these days, he also had the same feeling as Vice President Xu. It would be great if Mr. Gu could become the vice president of the group.
Li Tingqin, dressed in a suit, sat opposite and slowly ate breakfast. He was going to work after the meal. He looked at Gu Chen's demeanor at the moment and said, "It's so rare to see you take action." Gu Chen at work is really charming, no wonder Ling Jiashu is so convinced.
Gu Chen sighed softly, "This is necessary. This matter has been explained."
Li Tingqin understood what Gu Chen meant and said, "It's been three months. It's time to put an end to it."
Looking at the two people's tacit eyes and the tone of voice that said everything, Assistant Chen felt that he could not keep up with the conversation between the two. Explanation? Explanation to whom?
While eating breakfast, Li Tingqin asked, "Do you need an assistant? It will be more convenient for you to handle things next time."
Gu Chen chuckled and shook his head, "I don't want it to happen again next time."
After finishing breakfast, Li Tingqin stood up and said, "Then Ah Chen, I'll go to work first."
Gu Chen rested his elbows on the armrests, held his chin in his hand and jokingly said, "Boss Li, if you work overtime again tonight, I'm going to doubt your work efficiency."
Li Tingqin passed by Gu Chen's chair, stopped, lifted Gu Chen's chin, stroked the corner of his lips with his thumb, and said meaningfully: "Don't worry."
Li Tingqin got into the car with Assistant Chen. Assistant Chen said, "Boss Li, if Mr. Gu really needs an assistant, can I recommend myself to work for Mr. Gu?"
Li Tingqin glanced at him and said, "Achen probably has no interest in working anymore."
…
Recently, the behavior of Gu Zhongmao and Qi Yajun can be described as clownish, and both people in the circle and outside the circle have laughed at them.
But it is not so easy for those who have interests related to them.
Every time Mr. Gu appeared in the past, he helped others, and everything he did was good for others and for society.
However, the absurd behavior of Gu Zhongmao and Qi Yajun actually angered even Mr. Gu, who was so good-tempered.
Now Mr. Gu's methods are so powerful that they can destroy everything. Gu Zhongmao's capital chain is broken, and the eldest son of the Cheng family is fighting with his stepmother...
Although it is a family business, shareholders, executives, and investors are not family members and simply cannot tolerate the insane behavior of these two people.
As for Gu Zhongmao, although the project he is promoting seems to have good prospects, the industry has mixed opinions on whether it can produce results.
Initially, he was able to attract some investment with the relevant feasibility study materials; now, the onlookers have heard Mr. Gu's simple two words of advice on the day of the birthday party. Since Mr. Gu is not optimistic, then forget it.
After being rejected by many investors, Gu Zhongmao has realized that this project will soon have a huge funding gap, but despite his lobbying, no one is willing to invest, and even some existing investors have begun to run away.
What he had imagined at the beginning was that after Gu Chen married into the Li family, he could rely on this relationship to get strong support from the Li family, and the technology of the Li family's subsidiary called Hua'an would also be very useful to him and could reduce a large amount of research and development investment.
However, his current relationship with Gu Chen...has backfired on him, and none of his relatives, friends, colleagues, and subordinates agree with it.
He even advised him: "Boss Gu, in fact, the reason why investors are unwilling to invest is not only because they are not optimistic about this project, but also because they think that you have offended Mr. Gu and the Li family, and the advancement of the project will be hindered."
"Otherwise, you should clarify the facts and apologize to Mr. Gu. As long as you gain Mr. Gu's forgiveness, the investors' worries will be reduced by half..."
Gu Zhongmao felt an unprecedented absurdity and said, "I apologized to him?! And I have to clarify myself that he is not my son? There is no such absurd thing in the world!"
"Don't mention it anymore. I'll think of a way..." There were too many sunk costs, and Gu Zhongmao had no intention of giving up. "As long as this project is successful, we won't have to rely on the Li family to survive..."
This project has a very broad prospect, and the difficulty of research and development is not high, not even half of that of the Yun family. But as long as it succeeds, he will be the next Yun family.
But without the support of the Li family... where should he find the money? He also needs to optimize some assets that have nothing to do with the main business direction of the Gu family...
On Qi Yajun's side, Vice President Qian, who has worked with her for many years, also advised her: "You are too obsessed with whether Mr. Gu is your child, but this is not important at all in the face of the company's interests."
"Mr. Gu and the Li family are putting pressure on us now. If you are not mentally ill due to your son's psychological trauma as Wen Yao said, you should go out and clarify this matter, apologize to Mr. Gu, and maintain your relationship with Mr. Gu."
Qi Yajun said sharply: "I told you, Cheng Wenyao is teaming up with the Li family to deal with me! You want me to apologize to Gu Chen?! I think you are crazy!" This is ridiculous. Asking her to admit in person that her son is not her son? !
Vice President Qian looked at her deeply and said, "Wen Yao only said that once. Do you think he has said anything bad about you now? He is Mr. Cheng's eldest son and should have joined the company a long time ago. You should not be so hostile to him."
"And I think Wen Yao is right to make such a public statement. This can only be nonsense from you. This matter can only be stopped at a minor business friction."
"These are all facts!" Qi Yajun felt a deep sense of powerlessness and despair at this moment. She knew that no matter what evidence she produced, she would not be able to convince anyone.
Everyone will simply ignore the facts that are clearly in front of them, because they will inevitably choose interests over facts.
Vice President Qian repeated one last time: "Go out and apologize and clarify."
Qi Yajun gritted her teeth and said, "No, absolutely not!"
Vice President Qian stood up and said, "It seems that we don't need a leader who is not in a clear mind."
…
Gu Zhongmao was in a hurry to "optimize" his assets, but Li Tingqin was not in a hurry to act.
Gu Zhongmao didn't think about selling this industrial chain at first. After all, it was left by his father. Although it was a bit backward, it could still bring him a lot of income every year.
He first found Li Tingqin and asked to increase the contract price. Such an unreasonable request was naturally rejected by Li Tingqin, and Li Tingqin never contacted him again.
It was not until Gu Zhongmao discovered that the scattered and low-quality assets he sold were worth very little money, which was simply a drop in the bucket for the research and development that was burning money every day.
Finally, he found Li Tingqin again.
Li Tingqin refused to see him, saying that they could continue to cooperate according to the contract price, and that the Li family did not need to take over such a large industrial chain. No matter how Gu Zhongmao lobbied, he remained unmoved.
But as the project progressed, Gu Zhongmao became more and more anxious.
Beside the artificial lake of Yi Garden, Gu Chen slowly scattered fish food to feed the koi while watching Li Tingqin fishing. He said, "Boss Li has been fishing for so long, it's time to collect the net."
"Hmm." Li Tingqin stared at the lake seriously and hummed.
Gu Chen said: "Boss Li is more cruel than me. I just had Qi Yajun dismissed from her position by the board of directors, but Boss Li wanted Gu Zhongmao to be sold out by you and help you count the money..."
Li Tingqin picked up the fishing rod, and a plump mandarin fish was pulled out of the lake with its tail swaying. He said, "Just think of it as helping him optimize his assets."
Gu Chen thought about it and said, "Yes, this industry chain does need some new development."
He took the bucket to catch the fish that Li Tingqin had taken down and said, "After so long, Mr. Li's skills have improved."
Li Tingqin glanced at him and said, "It's been so long, of course there should be progress."
Gu Chen looked at him and understood what he was saying in an instant. He said, "Ahem! That... is indeed unfair to Mr. Li."
…
After hitting many walls, Gu Zhongmao finally got in touch with the deputy general manager in charge of this matter at Li's company. He lowered the price again and again, reluctantly sold the industrial chain, and got a large sum of money.
He injected funds into the project again and just breathed a sigh of relief when he received a call from Gu Kang, who he hadn't contacted for a long time. Gu Kang's voice was very urgent: "Father, did you sell the industrial chain to Li Tingqin?"
Gu Zhongmao sighed: "Yes, this is really the only solution..."
Gu Kang said anxiously: "You haven't forgotten why we were qualified to cooperate with the Li family in the first place..."
At this point, Gu Kang suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Why did the Li family... cooperate with them...
He said: "Perhaps, all of this was planned by Li Tingqin from the beginning!"
All the past events flashed through Gu Zhongmao's mind, and his scalp suddenly went numb. He had been preoccupied with various problems recently, but he had ignored such a terrible problem...
However, the scary thing is that even if all this was Li Tingqin's conspiracy, he had to make a choice. He did not have that much money, and he had to choose between the industrial chain and this project.
After Gu Zhongmao remained silent for a long time, Gu Kang said, "Father, it's not too late for you to go and apologize to Gu Chen now."
"It's too late. I will die if I don't succeed." Gu Zhongmao said stubbornly, "But if I had done it back then..." But he still felt a wave of regret. He had made the wrong choices in many areas...
Gu Kang interrupted, "There are no ifs," and then hung up the phone.
The persuasion was fruitless, Qi Yajun was ruthlessly dismissed from her position by the board of directors, and the living environment of Cheng Siyi, who had just joined the company, was also squeezed.
Qi Yajun said unwillingly: "I have worked diligently for the Cheng family for so many years, but now they want to force us mother and daughter to leave..."
She sternly said to the secretary: "I'm going to sue him. I want everyone to see Gu Chen's true face! Go, prepare the information for me!"
The secretary had been working beside her and actually didn't believe that Mr. Gu was her son. She said, "I'm sorry, Ms. Qi, since you've resigned, I can't serve you anymore. Please find someone else."
Watching the secretary leave, she actually knew in her heart that she was not even old enough to need support, and there was no reason to sue Gu Chen at all...
Cheng Siyi, who had always been smooth sailing since childhood, felt such great pressure for the first time and couldn't help but whispered: "Mom, why don't we go and apologize to my brother..."
Qi Yajun interrupted sharply, "It's too late! If I go and apologize to Gu Chen now, will the board of directors let me go back?"
But when she realized her situation, she finally felt complete regret at this moment. Now, does she still have any strength to fight against her son?
…
"It's finally over." Gu Chen propped up his head, yawned, and watched Li Tingqin sign the last document. I don't know if he was talking about this or something else.
Li Tingqin closed the pen and said, "Yes, it's finally over."
Today is Friday. He brought his work home and worked overtime. He looked up at Gu Chen and said, "How about going back to the villa tomorrow?"
Gu Chen said, "Of course. We have been tired for such a long time. We should go to the mountains to rest for two days."
He added, "By the way, today Jingwei sent me the edited version of the movie I filmed before. Do you want to watch it together?"
Li Tingqin put his arm around his waist and said, "It's late. Let's see tomorrow. How about going to bed early today?"
It was only 9 o'clock. Gu Chen raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "Then go to bed early."
The next morning, Gu Chen woke up in Li Tingqin's arms. He looked into Li Tingqin's deep eyes and chuckled, "I hope you won't have to work hard today, Mr. Li."
Li Tingqin also smiled and said, "Ah Chen, I think so too."
After the two got up, they had breakfast, took some things and drove back to the villa.
In the morning, the two walked side by side in the mountains slowly. After lunch, Gu Chen looked at the yard outside the French window and said, "It would be nice to pick some cherries and make cherry wine at this time of year."
It is the last few days of early summer and the cherries in the yard are ripe.
Li Tingqin said, "Then go." He found a basket.
Gu Chen was already picking cherries under the tree. The bright summer sunshine shone through the shade of the tree, illuminating the young man in white clothes who was sitting under the tree with a leisurely look on his face. The red cherries on the tree were also illuminated by the sunshine, making them crystal clear.
He saw Gu Chen looking back and said, "Boss Li, come quickly."
Li Tingqin was a little absent-minded, and only after he came to his senses did he say, "Here I come."
Gu Chen put the cherries in his hand into the basket and reached out to continue picking them. He was tall enough to reach them even while standing.
However, many of the cherries on the tree were already ripe. If the branches were pulled down, the plump fruits would fall down and even fall into the collar of Gu Chen's shirt.
Gu Chen let go of the branch, and it bounced back and a few more fell on him. He couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Ah... really..."
Li Tingqin looked at him and said, "Don't move." Ah Chen's collarbone line was so obvious that even a cherry could be placed on it?
He reached out to pick the cherry and was about to put it in the basket, but Gu Chen grabbed his wrist, put the cherry to his lips and said, "Try it. Is it sweet?"
Li Tingqin subconsciously put the cherry in his mouth and said, "It's really sweet, Ah Chen, don't you want to try it?"
Gu Chen leaned over and touched Li Tingqin's lips, saying, "It's really good."
He shook the cherries out of his clothes, and just like that, the ripe cherries stained his white shirt, leaving obvious marks.
Gu Chen said, "Tsk, you have to change clothes after picking them."
Li Tingqin was picking cherries and soon filled his basket. He asked casually, "Ah Chen, what are we going to do?"
Gu Chen said in a normal tone: "The sun is quite strong this afternoon, let's watch a movie in the video room."
After picking the cherries, the two men returned to the room and gave the cherries to Master Xu to make cherry wine.
Gu Chen felt sweaty and there seemed to be some debris fallen from the tree on his body, so he took a quick shower.
When he came out wearing his home clothes, he saw Li Tingqin had also changed into home clothes and had already adjusted the equipment in the audio-visual room. He said to him, "Come on, Ah Chen, don't you want to watch the movie you made?"
Gu Chen plugged in the USB drive that Li Jingwei had brought him, then sat down next to Li Tingqin and said, "Let's watch it. It'll take more than two hours. You can have dinner after you finish watching it."
This movie is adapted from a fantasy online novel. The shooting style of the movie is consistent with the original novel. It is a light comedy with a brisk pace. Because the investment is not large, some newcomers in the circle were invited. But because of the good pace and laughs, Gu Chen and Li Tingqin leaned on the sofa and watched the parts without his appearance, and they did not feel bored.
However, when he appeared in a white robe and swept across the eight directions, Li Tingqin's eyes changed instantly. Although he had seen him before, the person was right next to him at this moment, and the contrast was so strong and direct.
The characters in the movie have a cold and aloof temperament, and they easily defeat everyone with indifference and disdain in their eyes.
However, the person in the video was leaning lazily and relaxed beside him at this moment. Through a thin layer of home clothes, against his arm, they could feel each other's warm body temperature.
Gu Chen's attention was not on the movie. He turned his head and looked at Li Tingqin's slightly tense jawline.
Li Tingqin turned his head, and in the dark audio-visual room, with light and shadow flickering, he met Gu Chen's eyes and instantly understood what he was thinking.
Li Tingqin moved closer, and Gu Chen blinked, like a drop of water falling on a calm lake, creating ripples and breaking the calm. Li Tingqin clasped his fingers, leaned over and kissed him.
The movie was still playing, and the Immortal Master Xie Jingyuan was teaching the male protagonist in a cold tone, full of distance.
However, the sound of the movie was recorded live, using Gu Chen's original voice. Surrounded by such sound, Li Tingqin's eyes became even darker.
Gu Chen's eyelashes trembled, and he opened his eyes, as if he was no different from the powerful immortal in the movie. He held Li Tingqin's hand tightly, not showing weakness. They fought back and forth, and the pillow on the sofa was soon swept to the ground...
The Immortal Lord was high and mighty, difficult to approach, and seemed to have never been tainted by worldly desires. Yet, at this moment, they continued to kiss madly in the dark audio-visual room.
Soon, their breathing became disordered. Li Tingqin stroked the collarbone that had just been stained with cherries and asked in a low voice: "Achen, is it okay..."
Gu Chen raised his eyebrows, his voice slightly hoarse, and pointed out: "Boss Li went to bed so early last night and asked me to come to the mountain today. Isn't it..."
Li Tingqin also raised his eyebrows slightly and said in a low voice, "Isn't it that Ah Chen asked me to watch a movie today? Isn't that also...?"
The looks in both of their eyes were somewhat subtle, and they both felt the undisguised emotions in the other's eyes.
"In that case..." Gu Chen played with the laces of Li Tingqin's home clothes and said with a smile, "Mr. Li, have you brought all your things?"
Li Tingqin said meaningfully: "Of course."
"But... I haven't asked yet, Ah Chen..."
Gu Chen chuckled and said, "Boss Li, I didn't come here for my own sake..."
Li Tingqin's eyes became even deeper, and he said, "Okay." Then he covered his lips again.
After a while, Gu Chen hissed softly, bit his shoulder, and murmured, "Boss Li, you... actually need to use XL..."
Li Tingqin whispered: "Ah Chen...are you feeling uncomfortable? Do you want me to help you first..."
"Don't... um..." Gu Chen lowered his eyes and looked at him, lost in thought for a moment, and lost his voice in an instant...
After a long time, Gu Chen stroked the crystal at the corner of his lips and said in a hoarse voice: "Boss Li, you are really..."
Glancing at the scene in the movie, Li Tingqin didn't know what he was thinking about, and whispered: "Ah Chen... I want to see you wear the costume from last time again, is that okay..."
Gu Chen was now in a lazy state, and said with a half-smile: "If you like, Mr. Li, you can come by yourself..."
Soon, the silk home clothes were replaced with a snow-white robe embroidered with silver thread. Similarly, in the movie, Xie Jingyuan wore this dress and slowly walked towards the Holy Throne in the Wuchen Palace, as if he was the uncrowned king of the fairy world, and everyone in the fairy gate bowed down to him...
However, at this moment, Gu Chen was lying lazily in his arms. Li Tingqin asked softly, "Achen, do you want to sit down..." In the picture, the immortal master was leaning elegantly and lazily on the throne.
Gu Chen's breathing was disordered, and he refused: "Well... No... It would take a lot of effort..."
I don’t know how long it took, but when the movie reached the second half, Gu Chen finally couldn’t stand it anymore. He bit his lips lightly, and turned his head away absent-mindedly, facing the screen.
In the movie, Xie Jingyuan's breathing became slightly rapid, his brows were slightly furrowed, a streak of blood stained his pale and cold lips, and his eyes seemed to be filled with long-lasting loneliness and pain.
The flickering light and shadow also reflected Gu Chen's expression at the moment. Although his brows were also furrowed, there was no loneliness of spending long years alone in his eyes, but a different kind of happiness.
Li Tingqin asked softly: "Ah Chen, are you okay?"
Gu Chen sighed softly: "Of course..." After all, he was still different from Xie Jingyuan...
…
Li Tingqin was not restrained at this moment. As the movie came to an end and the cast list rolled, Gu Chen reminded him, "Mr. Li, the movie is over..." His arrangement of the movie schedule... really... underestimated Mr. Li.
The movie ended and the room fell into darkness. The dim light of the setting sun could be seen from under the drawn curtains. Gu Chen reminded him, "Well... Mr. Li, skipping dinner is too unhealthy..."
Under the curtains, the last ray of summer dusk slipped away, and Gu Chen was almost speechless: "Li..."
Li Tingqin held his slender fingers and whispered, "Ah Chen, call my name..."
Gu Chen said: "Well... Li Tingqin, let go..."
Li Tingqin did not let go, and said in a deep voice: "No, Ah Chen, think about it again..."
"Tingqin...let go." Gu Chen frowned and began to be unable to bear it.
Li Tingqin finally let him go and whispered, "Ah Chen, let's go together..."
After an unknown number of times, Li Tingqin interlocked his fingers with his and sighed, "Ah Chen..."
Everything calmed down. Gu Chen leaned his head on Li Tingqin's shoulder, not wanting to move a hair. He looked at the costume that had fallen to the ground and was stained with something unknown, and sighed, "We can't keep this dress."
Li Tingqin kissed his temple and said, "It's okay, there are still many more."
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