Chapter 87
Before receiving that ominous phone call from Su Ningna, Sun Pengfei was standing in front of the huge glass window of his spacious and bright office, gazing at the distant mountain scenery while brainstorming alone.
This period is actually a very important time for Sun Pengfei. Even Su Ningna, who repeatedly claimed that she would never interfere in the Sun family's affairs, told him to be on high alert in order to deal with any possible emergencies.
The story begins two months ago. The month before last, Sun Shujie, the head of the Sun family and Sun Pengfei's father, celebrated his 70th birthday. It's said that seventy is an old age, but for Sun Shujie, a man of exceptional talent—this energetic old man in both work and life, the founder of this company, this headstrong local tyrant—he felt he was at most middle-aged, and could still wield power at home and in public for another 10 years. However, Sun Shujie's age was undeniable, so after his 70th birthday, he finally began planning for the big issue of retirement and succession—perhaps in 10 years, perhaps 5 years, or even just 1 year.
Therefore, Sun Shujie, a father who had always only cared about giving birth but not raising his children, and who always used the excuse of being too busy with work to ever inquire about his children from his several wives, finally decided to take a proper look at his eldest son, Sun Pengfei, who was already over forty. The result was surprising: Sun Shujie discovered that his son looked exactly like him when he was young. This even brought back memories of the good qualities of Sun Pengfei's deceased mother, Professor Han: although Professor Han was eccentric and extremely controlling, it couldn't be denied that she was intelligent. After all, boys' intelligence often comes from their mothers, so Sun Pengfei's mind should be better than his three sisters who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun—a plus for becoming a business manager. Moreover, because of this, Sun Shujie felt a surge of fatherly affection for Sun Pengfei. So, for the past month or two, Sun Shujie would frequently invite Sun Pengfei out for meals, chats, and even play golf, creating a scene of paternal love and guidance. Of course, Sun Shujie was also trying to gauge Sun Pengfei's thoughts and see if he was truly capable of taking over the position.
However, in Sun Pengfei's view, as Sun Shujie's only son and having worked his way up in the business for so many years, he was naturally the most ideal and reliable successor. He didn't think anyone else was even on Sun Shujie's radar. But Su Ningna didn't think so. Besides Sun Pengfei, Sun Shujie, who had been married four times, had three daughters, and he also had a wife, Wang Bingbing, who was a few years younger than Sun Pengfei. Su Ningna saw Wang Bingbing as a two-faced and ruthless character, as she effectively controlled the family finances. Therefore, Su Ningna always felt that Sun Pengfei could be kicked out by Sun Shujie at any moment, and their situation might become even more dire than when they first returned to Beijing.
Su Ningna always said that she wasn't following Sun Pengfei for wealth and glory, but that life should go on as quickly as possible, and she didn't want to go back to square one.
Standing by the window, Sun Pengfei thought for a moment about his three good-for-nothing half-sisters and his "stepmother" Wang Bingbing. A contemptuous smile crept onto his lips. He felt victory was in sight, so there was no need to take those four women too seriously. As for Su Ningna… he didn't want to think about her right now.
Then, while gazing at the distant mountains, Sun Pengfei slowly rubbed his stiff lower back, sinking back into the mire of fantasy.
This time, Sun Shujie, Wang Bingbing, and Sun Pengfei's three half-sisters are no longer in the quagmire, and of course, Su Ningna is not there either, because this time, the only one in the quagmire is the goddess wearing a shimmering gold dress—Huang Ruoyu.
Since One Night in Starry, Sun Pengfei has been in a daze for the past week. He not only can't think about the imminent "palace intrigue," but he can't even take care of himself.
To put it simply, this is how Sun Pengfei spent the past week: On the first day, like any lovesick boy, after sending several unanswered WeChat messages to Huang Ruoyu, he waited until lunch break, then quickly closed his office door and called Huang Ruoyu from the office phone: "Little Fish, when can I see you again?" Caught off guard, Huang Ruoyu had to explain at length to Sun Pengfei that they could never meet again, and he should understand that. He shouldn't have been so delusional, asking such foolish questions and sending such meaningless WeChat messages.
Huang Ruoyu's bluntness and decisiveness hurt Sun Pengfei deeply. For the period after Monday until Tuesday morning, Sun Pengfei remained resentful, with only one thought echoing in his mind: "Damn it, what does she take me for? A stupid idiot who can be summoned and dismissed at will!"
So on Tuesday morning, Sun Pengfei spent several hours rehearsing a calm, mature, and reasonable explanation in his mind, preparing to find an opportunity to call Huang Ruoyu again and clarify things.
However, Sun Pengfei starts to panic whenever he picks up his phone or the office phone.
After struggling with his thoughts all afternoon, Sun Pengfei finally found an IP phone with no caller ID and stubbornly dialed Huang Ruoyu's number just before leaving work. However, to Sun Pengfei's surprise, Huang Ruoyu, whether out of sheer audacity or she was simply bored and lonely, actually answered a call from an IP phone with no caller ID.
But Huang Ruoyu's answering the phone made things worse. Sun Pengfei's carefully rehearsed words became jumbled and incoherent; more importantly, his voice trembled violently, and he spoke incoherently, not even knowing what he was saying. Left with no other option, Sun Pengfei finally resorted to saying into the phone, "I love you, I love you, I love you..."
This time, although Huang Ruoyu was clearly showing her impatience, she still cared about saving face, so she resolutely said into the phone, "Old Sun, I really don't want to hang up on you, but if you say that again, I'll have to hang up now. I'm sorry."
Then yesterday, Sun Pengfei finally met Huang Ruoyu, whom he had been longing to see. Huang Ruoyu dropped Cheng Yushan and Cheng Yusi off at No. 8 Palm Beach, saying that she was not feeling well and asked Su Ningna to take care of the two children for a day, and that she would come to pick them up in the evening.
As soon as Huang Ruoyu rang the doorbell of No. 8 Palm Beach, Sun Pengfei, trembling yet swift, hid in the second-floor bedroom, behind the pink beaded floor-length curtains. He secretly peeked through a crack in the curtains and watched Huang Ruoyu enter the courtyard of No. 8 Palm Beach—a pregnant woman with a weary face. Sun Pengfei couldn't calmly watch Huang Ruoyu, because his heart was pounding wildly, like a young boy who had just tasted the forbidden fruit.
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