Cloud Girl Chapter 20
Ironically, the consequences of someone's neglect of Xu Xiaomeng came quickly.
It wasn't until the next day that Chen Nanyi learned that Chen Yiwen hadn't joined the company out of pity like her, nor was she liked by everyone because of her weakness.
The reason for all of that was her family, which was slightly above the middle class for most people—her father was indeed a high-ranking municipal official in Tulo, and her mother was indeed a famous writer—but what wasn't mentioned was that they had passed away.
Everyone liked her approachable nature, but no one saw through her true colors. They even thought that she didn't mention her parents because she wanted to start from the bottom, and that her current "exposure" was just because she accidentally let others see through her.
Moreover, Chen Yiwen and Lu Bo, the director of her department, were also very close. Their ambiguous and passionate relationship was unlike anything Chen Nanyi knew about traditional women.
Of course, there is also a rumor that Chen Yiwen has a powerful godfather. Although this seems to be true, given that Chen Yiwen is a good person, no one is willing to speculate about her life with such malice.
Chen Nanyi tried to talk to Chen Yiwen about this image issue.
However, Chen Yiwen felt that she had already sacrificed a lot, and if she had to accommodate Chen Nanyi in such matters, then she was going too far.
Chen Nanyi had nothing more to say and could only turn and leave.
Chen Nanyi did not eat in the cafeteria for any of her internship days after that.
Whether it was due to Chen Yiwen's suggestion or not, she always felt that she was the most shameful shadow in her family, and even a disgrace in Chen Yiwen's eyes.
Just as she once knew that her father had an illegitimate child with another woman, she was even glad that Chen Yijing would not grow up and would not be able to realize these things, thus avoiding that feeling of coldness and being disliked.
On the other hand, due to financial reasons, Chen Nanyi had initially agreed with Chen Yiwen that after receiving 200,000 yuan for surgery, she would take care of her own food.
Chen Nanyi decided to postpone the surgery until after their internship, because that would be during their vacation, giving them time to adjust.
However, after they made the agreement, Chen Yiwen only gave Chen Yijing the money, and stopped giving her living expenses.
The cost of sending Chen Yijing to a special school even exceeded her budget, forcing her to use her meager savings.
Although Chen Nanyi still had some living expenses saved up, it wasn't much. So, before she received her meager internship salary, she could only buy extra bread every morning, eat it for breakfast and lunch, and then find something else to eat in the evening.
On her second day of internship, she lost her temper with Xu Xiaomeng. A large part of the reason was that she was overwhelmed by the grief and anger that arose from her sister's unexpected disdain. Another part of the reason was the predicament caused by not having money - she couldn't even go out to buy something to eat!
If Chen Yiwen hadn't been so heartless, she might have been able to remain content with her poverty.
Based on her previous interactions with Xu Xiaomeng, she would even jokingly say things like she didn't want to go down to eat. But Chen Yiwen's attitude escalated everything—which is why she so despicably took her anger out on Xu Xiaomeng, who had always been trying to befriend her.
After she hid in the bathroom that day, what rose after her anger was a deep sadness from the bottom of her heart.
This profound realization after the shattering of what was once the only recognized bond of family in the world, and the disillusionment with her pride in her humanity, dealt a blow to her life, which was just beginning to take off.
She had almost returned to that previously untouchable state, because she had sealed herself off again.
If you observe closely, you'll notice that Chen Nanyi almost never looks people in the eye when she speaks.
This could be described as her habit, or as a form of indifference, but neither interpretation is pleasant.
Chen Nanyi admitted that her internship at the company was tough, but Xu Xiaomeng's situation seemed even more difficult.
Ever since that day when Chen Nanyi inexplicably said "But I don't want to," he has been somewhat absent-minded.
That night, he lay on his bedside table bathed in moonlight, and tears streamed down his face.
The tears flowed silently onto the pillow, leaving a trail of water droplets. There was blame for Chen Nanyi and reluctance to part with her. But in the end, what slept with him was his already fragile heart and unrequited love.
It's one thing to be unlucky in love; it can be attributed to incompatibility between the two of them or an unfavorable environment.
But the gains and losses in one's career are hard to say.
For some reason, after serving tea and water for only three days, Xu Xiaomeng gained the appreciation of the current chairman, Qin Se, for unknown reasons, and was directly promoted from an intern to one of the chairman's important assistants.
They faced some unusual forms of exclusion.
For Xu Xiaomeng, who is meticulous in engineering and medicine, this kind of office politics is either a source of pride or a more devastating setback for his career.
Most importantly, his original purpose for coming here can no longer be achieved.
Xu Xiaomeng sat in the packed conference room, and couldn't help but sigh.
"It seems like the one thing I can never do is make her fall in love with me..."
The predecessor of the Lu family business was a network of businesses that crisscrossed the area surrounding Tulo City.
However, it has only gradually transformed into a listed company in the last twenty years.
The former president of Lu's Company, Lu Ai, was named Ai because he was born posthumously.
His father's family business was so large that he was able to inherit it after he grew up, all thanks to his mother Qin Se's strong personality.
Unfortunately, Qin Se disliked the woman Lu Ai loved. So, Lu Ai, who was filial to his mother but unwilling to accept his fate, married Qi Rao, the woman Qin Se disliked the most, from among his limited choices.
Many years after their marriage, Lu Ai finally gave her a son, Lu Bo, who was much younger than the children born to his sisters.
Since Lu Ai passed away three years ago, Qin Se has always disliked Qi Rao's attitude that her son Lu Bo would naturally inherit the Lu Corporation.
Because Qi Rao was convinced that Lu Bo was the only heir, she lost her original respect for her mother-in-law—this especially displeased Qin Se.
After all, her son, Lu Ai, dedicated his life to whitewashing the Lu family's past, constantly investing in public welfare, building colleges, and focusing on public infrastructure construction, which enabled the Lu family, whose predecessor was a criminal gang, to completely clean up its image and come out into the public eye.
But Qi Rao is too vulgar and superficial. She has been a hindrance to Lu Ai a lot. If her son were to monopolize power, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Qin Se was afraid that Qi Rao would ruin everything, so she preferred to support her two daughters' children rather than let Qi Rao succeed.
And so, Qin Se raised her granddaughters Lu Mang and Lu Mian, and her grandsons Lu Ju and Lu Cen, and recruited them into the company to compete for power with Qi Rao's son, Lu Bo. This provided great assistance to Lu Ai's two older sisters, Lu Mi and Lu Ang, who originally wanted to take over Lu Ai's company.
Qin Se had a good plan, but that day, she accidentally saw Xu Xiaomeng, who looked very much like Lu Ai and had a similar surname. After DNA testing, she discovered that Xu Xiaomeng was actually Lu Ai's daughter with Xu Siyue, the woman he used to love.
The reason why Lu Ai has invested in Lu's Academy in Tu Luoshan for so many years is simply to provide Xu Siyue with a good place to live so that Xu Xiaomeng can grow up in peace.
However, all of that was a secret that even Xu Siyue was unaware of.
Therefore, in the increasingly heated battle for succession in the Lu family company, a "proper" grandson of Qin Se, Xu Xiaomeng, suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
In terms of age, Xu Xiaomeng is indeed older, but when it comes to vying for power, well, he's still a novice.
Qin Se has her reasons for doing all this.
After all, the biological mother of his nominal grandson is not someone he likes, and the grandson is not close to him. He will certainly not treat him well after he takes power in the future.
But a grandson is still an outsider. Even if he can be used to blackmail someone in the future, he is still not as good as the kind and innocent eldest grandson who is living away from home and is the one his son loves most.
Moreover, for Qin Se, who has been assertive her whole life, someone with Xu Xiaomeng's personality is the most suitable choice.
However, no one else, including Xu Xiaomeng, knew about this, except for the core high-level members of the Lu Group.
Therefore, Qin Se, who had remained silent on the issue of succession, showed such favor to the suddenly appearing Xu Xiaomeng—this was undoubtedly the worst news for Qin Se's other grandchildren who had been given opportunities but were about to be deprived of them.
Lu Bo already harbored resentment towards his grandmother for bringing her grandchildren into the company and competing with him for control. Coupled with his mother Qi Rao's constant admonitions, he became even more disgusted with the suddenly appearing Xu Xiaomeng.
With Qin Se watching them from above, they couldn't go too far, nor could they say anything; they could only unite against a common enemy.
They either intentionally or unintentionally mocked Xu Xiaomeng's brown pants, or criticized his way of doing things. They tried not to cause trouble but still stirred up trouble, living like kindergarten children.
This method worked on Xu Xiaomeng, who was at her current fighting level, so they were even more enthusiastic about it.
When someone is truly being targeted, even the smallest flaw can be used as an excuse.
Every time a meeting was held in the conference room, Xu Xiaomeng sat next to Qin Se. Looking at their predatory eyes and the cold words they said afterward, she felt as if ants were crawling all over her body.
The feeling of being condemned by everyone made Xu Xiaomeng, who longed for warmth and hoped to have someone to accompany her every day, somewhat resistant to contact with others.
The heavy non-engineering tasks also put him under great mental strain, and Chen Nanyi's sudden cold attitude made him frown even more and become somewhat silent.
He had asked Qin Se why she chose him, but Qin Se just smiled, her sharp eyes softening slightly.
You can take this as a test, a test for the company, or perhaps a test for me.
Xu Xiaomeng seemed to realize something, but then her expression changed as if she had misunderstood something.
He had a lot to say, but looking at Qin Se, a grandmother with white hair who was still charming, he remained silent.
I always feel that saying you've been chosen by a rich woman is a very narcissistic thing!
Qin Se could tell that he had misunderstood, but she didn't point it out.
Xu Xiaomeng's personality is like her mother's. Although she looks noble, she is somewhat gentle and mediocre, only suitable for a simple life of slow and steady progress, which is why she chose to become a doctor.
But in this situation, on the one hand, he lost his mind in order to get closer to Chen Nanyi, which is why he did something like interning at a company that wasn't his major, and on the other hand, his love life seemed to be making no progress at all...
Moreover, the stark reality shows that his personality is not suited to survive in such a treacherous environment, which is utterly disheartening.
All in all his life over the past twenty-odd years, he has never felt so frustrated.
Aside from a few initial moments of wavering in his youth, he has lived by this philosophy for almost a decade, living an ordinary yet steadfast life.
But after meeting Chen Nanyi, he often broke his own beliefs—which is not a good thing for someone who tries to stay rational no matter what, or for a future doctor.
Since nothing he did could affect Chen Nanyi, Xu Xiaomeng wanted to leave temporarily and then think carefully about what meaningful things he was going to do.
In other words, he surrendered.
Even if Chen Nanyi is not good at socializing, even if he fell in love with her first, he should bear these consequences.
But such a life is too agonizing and painful, as if he is the only one suffering.
He felt like a mouse being cornered and trembling by all the cats, and Chen Nanyi was the last one to completely crush him.
Xu Xiaomeng had witnessed her mother live such a miserable life.
She pursued the man she loved relentlessly, but in the end, because he got married, she remained steadfast in her principles and lived alone for the rest of her life—just like him now, trying her best to maintain her dignity.
The difference is that he himself is now unable to control his inner impulses and cannot suppress his thoughts like his mother, which is why he keeps following in Chen Nanyi's footsteps.
But no matter how unwilling he was, he was no longer willing to do it.
He couldn't bear to see his mother's tragic end happen to him.
He is his mother's precious child. His mother would not want her child to live in the pain of unrequited love forever. Therefore, he needs to make his life better for his mother so that she in heaven will not worry about him.
Xu Xiaomeng also vowed that this was his last excuse—an excuse to escape his weakness.
Unable to endure any longer, Xu Xiaomeng walked along the increasingly quiet road, in the stillness of a nightmare, barely managing to walk the path leading to her own heart.
He wanted to go back, to live on the land where he and his mother had lived, to rediscover his faith, and to protect his heart...
Small Theater
Years later, two elderly people with canes sat on a bench under the setting sun on Tulo Mountain.
Chen Nanyi, “Don’t you think life is really amazing? Just like right now, we are slowly growing old, but in this world, countless newborns are born, countless flowers bloom, countless lakes ripple… And maybe somewhere, a new movie is just starting out, someone is getting married, or the long-awaited sunlight is finally shining into the attic through the window.”
"It's strange, it seems like only when I'm with you do I really want to understand this world! My health isn't good, and I never thought about these things before. Some things are gone and that's it. If it weren't for Yijing, I wouldn't care what happened to me. But it seems that because you're here, I suddenly can't bear to leave the warmth you give me... It's a pity that there are so many beautiful sights in this world, but you can only stay with me in this place and grow old. I'm so sorry!"
Xu Xiaomeng: "What nonsense are you talking about! How could I have time to run around everywhere? Just looking at your face and taking care of you isn't enough, and there are a bunch of little grandchildren to look after... It's all our son's fault for going out there to do some research projects, making us two old bones tired, really."
"Actually, all I want is to grow old on this land, to have you and me share our memories—as long as I live in this world and have done my best with my hands and my heart, that's enough."
"Besides, aren't we raising the babies very well? Look at them when they go out; they're much more polite and friendly than you used to be. They're doing a good job at their jobs and raising their grandchildren very well..."
"Haha, if this continues generation after generation, and if there really is reincarnation, then when we return, there will be a beautiful world left to us by our past selves. You won't have to worry about others' hardships, you won't cry in the middle of the night, and you won't have to give them the cold shoulder for no reason. Then I won't have to work so hard to pursue you."
Xu Xiaomeng took a deep breath of the exceptionally fresh air, turned around and smiled at Chen Nanyi, "Look, thanks to you being by my side, I realized that I've done something so great!"
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