Chapter 29
The weather in August is unpredictable, with wind and rain coming unexpectedly. Zhuge Xiaoxiang drove her three-year-old Audi A8L through the congested roads in the rain.
The bad weather and poor traffic didn't dampen his spirits; he enthusiastically shared his plans and visions along the way. Yan Qing, sitting in the passenger seat, responded only half-heartedly, her mind already wandering elsewhere.
The agreed meeting place was Binjiang Jiuli.
Just as Zhuge Xiaoxiang was about to park her car, she received a phone call.
"What? Okay, I'm coming right away." He frowned, his tone tense.
Yan Qing asked, "What's wrong?"
"Ruoting had an asthma attack and was admitted to the hospital."
"Shall I go with you to take a look?"
Zhuge Xiaoxiang pondered, "President Shen's invitation to come over shows his sincerity. If we stand him up this time, we may not have such an opportunity again."
"What should we do then?"
"I'd like to trouble you to make a trip for me. My proposal is all ready, and there's also a PPT on this USB drive. You just need to give it to Mr. Shen and explain my situation to him. If he asks you questions and you don't know the answers, don't worry, I'll explain it to him later. I don't think he'll make things difficult for you."
Zhuge Xiaoxiang spoke in a consultative tone, but Yan Qing could tell that he attached great importance to today's meeting.
“Okay.” She took the file bag containing the proposal and USB drive.
As she opened the car door, Zhuge Xiaoxiang called out to her, "I'll come pick you up as soon as I'm done with my work."
Yan Qing only said, "Take good care of Ruoting."
When she knocked on the door of the Shen family's house, the first person to rush over to greet her was Cheng Jiaming.
Yan Qing asked, "Where's Dad?"
"That loner, he went out to pick someone up..."
As they were talking, the door opened, and laughter from men and women poured in. The most prominent among them was the familiar Secretary Gao: "Welcome, please come in." She held the door open with one hand, stepping aside to let people in, her posture humble, yet inexplicably exuding an air of ownership.
The first person to enter was a man in his fifties or sixties, with a simple and honest appearance, accompanied by a woman of similar age. They were dressed identically, their dark skin lined with deep wrinkles, a typical image of a rural couple.
The uncle kept saying, "I'm so sorry to have bothered you!"
Shen Hanyang then entered and replied calmly and politely, "Secretary Guo, you don't need to be so polite. We're all family here."
Among the visitors were two teenagers who bore a striking resemblance to Secretary Guo.
Wu Yanying was the last to come in.
The once quiet living room became lively as servants served tea, water, and fruit.
Yan Qing stood up and moved to the side of the sofa.
Secretary Guo asked, "And who is this young lady?"
“Jiaming’s math teacher, a top student in the math department at L University,” Shen Hanyang replied.
Upon hearing this, Secretary Guo exclaimed in admiration, "L University, you're truly remarkable! Heroes have always emerged from among the young!"
Yan Qing responded to Secretary Guo's somewhat inappropriate quote with a humble smile.
Shen Hanyang then introduced Guo to Yan Qing: "Secretary Guo is the top official in Xiangyu Village, Guizhou."
Secretary Guo waved his hand: "What do you mean by 'top leader'? We serve the people."
Secretary Gao said, "Come, come, sit down and let's talk."
After everyone took their seats, Shen Hanyang glanced at Yan Qing, who was still standing, and said, "Teacher Yan, please sit down as well."
Yan Qing hesitated for a moment. Each part of the split sofa was occupied—Secretary Guo and his family of four sat in one, Cheng Jiaming, Secretary Gao and Wu Yanying sat in another, and Shen Hanyang sat alone in the third.
Shen Hanyang gestured with his eyes to the empty seat next to him. She didn't move.
Shen Hanyang moved to the side and said, "Come here, there's room."
Yan Qing had no choice but to sit down next to him.
Secretary Guo took a sip of tea: "It's fragrant, no worse than the tea from our mountain."
Secretary Gao smiled and said, "Even the best tea needs advertising. Our place suffers from its remote location, and our good things are buried. Mr. Shen, please help us promote it so that our hometown's tea can leave the mountains and reach the world!"
"Over the years, the village has relied heavily on Mr. Shen's help," Secretary Guo said with emotion. "Take Xiao Wu for example. Mr. Shen has provided her with tremendous support all the way, which has given her the opportunity to go from the mountains to one of the top cities in the country, becoming the second college student from Xiangyu Village after Xiao Gao, completely changing her destiny. This kindness is remembered not only by Xiao Wu herself, but also by all of us villagers." Secretary Guo glanced at Wu Yanying, "Xiao Wu, Mr. Shen has provided you with such good conditions, you must work hard and not let him down!"
Shen Hanyang smiled indifferently and remained silent.
Wu Yanying tugged at the corners of her mouth, revealing a perfunctory smile.
Only Yan Qing was rapidly processing this overwhelming amount of information in her mind.
All the seemingly independent events of the past began to connect. She recalled Wu Yanying's affectionate gaze always following Shen Hanyang, her undisguised affection for him. She also remembered Secretary Gao's hostility towards her, how even wearing a slightly shorter skirt would make her feel like she was facing a formidable enemy. Now that Secretary Guo had revealed the relationship between the three, all her doubts were resolved—Secretary Gao and Wu Yanying, these fellow townsmen and strategic allies, must have been treating her as a hypothetical rival.
As her mind raced, she heard Secretary Guo's wife say, "That girl is pretty; is she President Shen's girlfriend?"
Secretary Guo scolded, "Old woman, don't talk nonsense. She just said she's a tutor. Can't you hear me?"
"Yes, yes, I made a mistake," the woman said timidly.
Yan Qing looked up, and Wu Yanying's resentful gaze had just moved from Secretary Guo to her. The moment their eyes met, Wu Yanying turned her head away.
Secretary Gao didn't seem to care this time. She seemed to be in high spirits and didn't have time to pay attention to Yan Qing, who was practically invisible.
Shen Hanyang said to Secretary Gao, "This is Secretary Guo's first visit. Please show them around. There are gifts for Haowen and Haoyu in the cabinet. Don't forget to give them to Secretary Guo."
Secretary Guo beamed from ear to ear, but outwardly he still declined, saying, "No, no, no. President Shen has already gone to so much trouble, how can I possibly accept more food and gifts?"
Shen Hanyang was very polite: "I was going to send it to you anyway."
Secretary Gao led the group upstairs for a tour, but Wu Yanying seemed uninterested and followed slowly behind.
Cheng Jiaming, who had been engrossed in playing on his iPad, rolled his eyes and muttered, "Stubborn tagalong. This isn't her house, why is she refusing to leave?"
The sound was neither too loud nor too soft, and Wu Yanying paused for a moment as she went upstairs.
Shen Hanyang spoke up: "Jiaming, go back to your room."
Cheng Jiaming was unhappy: "She was eavesdropping on my recordings, and you won't even stand up for her, you little dog."
With a single glance from Shen Hanyang, Cheng Jiaming stuck out his tongue and ran upstairs.
The living room fell silent again. Shen Hanyang glanced at Yan Qing, who was all alone: "Just you? Where is he?"
Yan Qing explained, "He had something come up and couldn't make it, so he asked me to apologize to you. We have guests here anyway, so perhaps we should reschedule..."
Shen Hanyang interrupted her: "Come in with me." Then he turned and walked away.
This was Yan Qing's second time entering Shen Hanyang's study. During her job interview, she had briefly stayed here for more than ten minutes. For some reason, this time, returning felt strangely familiar, like revisiting a familiar place.
Yan Qing placed the proposal on the desk: "Please take a look."
Shen Hanyang glanced at it indifferently.
That's all?
Yan Qing hesitated for a moment, then took out a USB drive from her bag: "There's also a PPT, but... I didn't bring my computer, so I can't show it to you in person."
Zhuge Xiaoxiang was in a hurry and forgot to hand her her laptop. She only realized it after getting out of the car, but Zhuge's car had already driven far away.
This kind of basic mistake was unbearable for her, who was always meticulous in her work. At this moment, she was carrying an empty canvas bag and habitually fiddling with the tassel on the pendant.
Shen Hanyang stared at her hand movements, then suddenly frowned: "How much is this tattered cloth bag worth? You hold it in your arms like a treasure every day?"
Yan Qing was puzzled by his sudden outburst of anger and hesitated before saying, "It's not worth much, it's just... convenient for carrying things."
Shen Hanyang paused for a moment, then opened a closed cabinet door and took out three items: an iPhone, a Chanel shopping bag, and a velvet box with "HW" written on it.
"for you."
Yan Qing glanced at it briefly and immediately refused. "I don't want it."
"These are all things you can use."
"I've made it very clear, no."
"You're asking me for a favor, shouldn't you obediently listen to me?"
"I'm asking you for a favor, not for charity."
Shen Hanyang chuckled: "What I give you is charity? You broke your phone because of Jiaming, this phone is compensation for you." He pulled over the Chanel shopping bag: "This bag..." He glanced at the canvas bag on Yan Qing's body, the FANTLAND artistic lettering was flamboyant and exaggerated.
“I hate your tattered bag, and I hate it even more when you carry it around in front of me to show off your love,” he said.
Yan Qing moved her lips, but in the end, she turned the canvas bag with the printed words inside and hid it close to her body.
"As for these earrings..." Shen Hanyang picked up the HW velvet box, opened the lid, and revealed two sparkling maple leaf-shaped earrings, the leaves of which were made of huge diamonds that were beyond Yan Qing's comprehension.
"I love seeing you wearing earrings, they look beautiful on you."
Shen Hanyang held the earrings up to her eyelids. The dazzling light of the white diamond stung her eyes like a cold arrow, and her eyelashes trembled involuntarily.
She glanced at Shen Hanyang; he smiled calmly, his outstretched palm holding a sparkling diamond. If it weren't an earring but a ring, his gesture would have resembled a marriage proposal.
"I don't want it, please return it."
"I can't return it. The earrings are custom-made, and your name is on them." Shen Hanyang took out the earrings, turned them slightly to reveal two letters engraved on the inside with fine, wolf-hair-like strokes: YQ.
“This is just for you,” he said.
Yan Qing remained unmoved: "No matter what you say, I will not accept it."
The two earrings rested quietly in Shen Hanyang's palm, gleaming with a lonely light.
Shen Hanyang stared at her for a moment, then relaxed and put the earrings back in the box.
"If you don't accept it, I'll ask Zhuge Xiaoxiang to pass it on."
"You..." Yan Qing was dumbfounded, unable to understand how there could be such a shameless person.
When she first came to the Shen family as a tutor, Gu Feimeng said, "You have to be extremely careful when dealing with these kinds of people. There are no good people in the business world. Their moral standards are extremely low, especially when it comes to relationships between men and women." In Gu Feimeng's words, doing business is like drinking and carousing; you push, I block, and before you know it, you're in bed. That's why this line of work is full of scoundrels.
Shen Hanyang perfectly matched Gu Feimeng's description: ruthless and unscrupulous in achieving his goals. And she herself was no match for him.
She tried to change the subject: "Let's talk about serious matters."
He didn't respond: "We were just talking about serious business."
Yan Qing frowned: "You called me here just to talk about this?"
Shen Hanyang retorted, "Otherwise what?"
"I am here on behalf of Zhuge Xiaoxiang to deliver his proposal for establishing an education foundation."
Shen Hanyang looked at the neglected project proposal and USB drive on the table, pinched his brows slightly, as if trying to smooth out his impatient nerves.
“You’re really stupid. What kind of ridiculous proposal is worth wasting my time? I hate people like this who are just trying to gain fame and fortune. They pretend to be doing charity work, but actually they just want a big company to endorse them. They’re just using charity as a pretext to get close to high-ranking people in politics, business, academia, and media. I’m only allowing him to waste my time today for one reason.” He looked at her intently. “I need to see you.”
Shen Hanyang had exceptionally beautiful eyes; his jet-black pupils seemed to contain the depths of the entire universe. Yan Qing guessed that it was with that kind of gaze that he could make a woman like Zhang Linjing lose her mind.
But beauty is often also evil.
Yan Qing began to plead with him in a gentle voice: "President Shen, you are already a winner in life, you have everything you want, why are you so fixated on a weed like me?"
Before Shen Hanyang could reply, Yan Qing's phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and quickly answered, "Teacher... um... don't worry... okay, I'll be right there... don't worry, I'll talk to her..."
After hanging up the phone, Yan Qing said, "Sorry, I have to go." Then she hurriedly walked out the door.
Shen Hanyang blocked her way: "Huang Qian's matter is escalating, and all those involved are in the eye of the storm. It's not a smart thing to step forward at this time."
Yan Qing didn't expect the news to spread so quickly, even reaching him.
She didn't show her surprise, but instead smiled jokingly: "Okay, Mr. Shen, I know what to do."
"How do we do it?"
"Driven by self-interest, in line with human nature, prioritizing self-preservation, and resorting to betrayal and kicking someone when they're down when necessary."
"Are you going to misinterpret me? It's an undeniable fact that Huang Qian made a mistake. Even if she's your mentor, you don't need to make her a target too."
“Because she is my teacher, I know what kind of person she is. I will not make excuses for her mistakes, but I will not abandon her.”
"This deal is not worthwhile."
"Not everyone puts a price tag on everything like you do. Excuse me, I need to pick up my child."
Shen Hanyang stood firmly in the doorway, unmoved.
Yan Qing looked at him in disbelief: "What exactly do you want to do?"
“I want you to stay by my side.” He looked at her, his expression and tone carrying his signature rationality and calmness.
What makes you think I would agree to your unreasonable demands?
"Aren't you dedicated? You're willing to help Qiao Yi and Teacher Huang. Now that there's an opportunity to help your boyfriend, you wouldn't be unhappy, would you? As long as you're willing, I don't even need to look at the proposal. I can agree to whatever cooperation he wants."
"Then go talk to him directly!" Yan Qing lost her patience.
"I don't care about his attitude, I want your attitude."
Yan Qing remained silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Fine, as long as you let me pass now, I'll agree to all your conditions. Let me be your mistress? No problem." She sneered, "But I have a piece of advice: things obtained through dishonest means won't last. What you get, you'll lose."
The warning, though not spoken harshly, was sharp and pierced through the situation that Shen Hanyang had been controlling. Yan Qing's face was as cold as ice, her gentle yet resolute expression conveying an air of indifference. Even when facing Shen Hanyang's imposing eyes at close range, she showed no sign of backing down.
Shen Hanyang didn't speak. He stepped aside.
Yan Qing felt as if she had been granted a pardon and did not linger for another second.
Walking into the courtyard, Wu Yanying stood under a rose tree, lost in thought. The sounds of Secretary Gao and Secretary Guo chatting and laughing drifted from behind the flower wall not far away.
Wu Yanying snapped out of her daze, glanced at Yan Qing whose face was flushed, and immediately saw through her: "Did you two have another unpleasant encounter?"
Yan Qing said, "Your CEO Shen's thought process is hard for normal people to understand."
Wu Yanying disagreed: "You're quite individualistic. If I were you, I wouldn't have fallen out with them."
Yan Qing asked doubtfully, "Do you have to compromise when you're with them?"
Wu Yanying shrugged honestly: "No, you saw it, they are all very nice to me."
Yan Qing fell into a brief moment of contemplation.
Wu Yanying noticed her silence: "You mean Cheng Jiaming, right? He keeps repeating the same thing, 'This isn't your home.'" She chuckled coldly, her tone clearly showing suppressed displeasure, "This place might become my home, but it will never be his."
Upon hearing this, Yan Qing recalled the secret that Cheng Jiaming and Shen Hanyang were not biological father and son. Looking at Wu Yanying's young, pretty, and seemingly harmless face, as well as the ambitious nature revealed in her words, Yan Qing felt a chill run down her spine.
"I wish you good luck," Yan Qing said.
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