Chapter 70: There are really no women out there who are...
Zhou Ci took the afternoon flight back to City B. After arriving in City B, he asked the driver to drive directly to Zhou's residence.
Because of his lukewarm attitude towards Su Yuecheng, Mr. Zhou scolded him bitterly over the phone. If he didn't go and explain the matter to Mr. Zhou, Mr. Zhou would probably drag his sick body to the company to block him tomorrow.
Zhou Ci had just arrived and hadn't even had his meal when he was called into the study by Old Man Zhou.
"Why is Su Yuecheng not doing well? Ah? You ignored her, and she even complained to me." As soon as Zhou Ci closed the door of the study, Grandpa Zhou said this.
Zhou Ci didn't reply. He let Old Man Zhou scold him as he pleased. He sat down at the tea table and poured a cup of tea for Old Man Zhou. "Grandpa, moisten your throat."
Old Master Zhou was furious and didn't respond. He sat down opposite Zhou Ci and asked, "What do you want to do? No, tell me, what kind of girl do you want to find?"
As he said this, Mr. Zhou suddenly remembered something. "You haven't had a girlfriend yet, have you?"
The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was amiss. Old Master Zhou looked Zhou Ci up and down. Then, realizing something, his eyes widened in surprise, "You don't dislike women, you like men?" He pointed at him tremblingly, his expression filled with disappointment. "I won't hand over the company to a gay man. My Zhou family can't afford to lose him."
"Grandpa, you are so old, but your imagination is still so rich." Zhou Ci finally spoke.
"Don't try to fool me," Old Man Zhou scolded. "If you're not gay, how come you haven't been in a relationship at your age? Don't tell me you're not interested in women. What normal man wouldn't be interested in women?"
"Grandpa, I don't like Su Yuecheng and don't have any feelings for her. Don't pair her up with me in the future. We are not suitable." Zhou Ci leaned back in his chair, his voice light and a little tired.
"Why not?" Old Master Zhou rolled his eyes at him. "Back then, your grandmother and I weren't compatible either, but it didn't affect our lives for decades."
"You want me to marry into the Su family because of Su Youyan's ability, but Su Youyan is unmarried and childless, and Su Yuecheng is not even his biological niece. What do you think a man like Su Youyan would do for Su Yuecheng, who is nothing? Don't let us end up losing more than we gain." Zhou Ci's words were very calm, without any ups and downs.
Mr. Zhou was also a little hesitant: "Although she is not a biological child, someone told me that Su Youyan is raising her as his own."
"Grandpa, you've been recuperating at home these past few years and haven't gone out much. The news others tell you isn't necessarily accurate. I've looked into the Su family's affairs. Su Youyan treats Su Yuecheng normally. Something happened in the Su family back then that alienated Su Youyan from the family. If you don't believe me, just look at how many Su family members he has helped over the years."
Mr. Zhou believed it a little, and finally looked up at the man. "Who told you this?"
"My uncle told me." Zhou Ci replaced Old Man Zhou's cup with a new one and placed it on the table in front of him. "When Su Youyan was young, he fell in love with a member of the Yan family. Based on seniority, I should call her cousin. The two dated for a while, but Su Youyan's mother disagreed, and I, his cousin, was also arrogant, so they broke up. Later, my cousin married someone else, and Su Youyan is in his fifties and still hasn't married. I wonder if he's still waiting for my cousin."
Old Master Zhou's eyes widened. Old men also liked to listen to this kind of gossip. He said cheerfully, "Since it's your uncle who said it, then it's almost certain. Your uncle is not the kind of person who would joke about such things."
Zhou Ci added, "Su Youyan really wants to raise my cousin's daughter as her own, but her husband disagrees. The child is only a teenager this year."
Mr. Zhou figured out something, "Are you in contact with your cousin?"
"No, but her husband is in the venture capital circle and has also cooperated with Zhou in recent years."
Mr. Zhou, who was becoming more and more like an old naughty boy as he got older, asked curiously, "Who is your cousin's husband? Do I know him?"
"You should have heard of his name, Mr. Xu Xingwei from Yinuo."
"Oh? Him? I heard that he was in a car accident and wanted to become a monk for a woman. It took years. His wife is indeed a member of the Yan family. She is your cousin? What's her name? Yan Song?"
Talking about other people's gossip always makes one happy. Mr. Zhou took a sip of tea and then asked with great interest, "Xu Xingwei hasn't been in charge of things for a long time, right? Isn't his company run by professional managers?"
Zhou Ci accompanied Mr. Zhou and took a sip of tea before saying, "Yes, that's right. Only when a professional manager can't solve a problem will we go to him to solve it."
"That being said, even if Su Youyan doesn't have a good relationship with the Su family, he's still a member of the Su family. Su Yuecheng has the Su family's backing, is beautiful, and is the right age for you. Tell grandpa why you don't like her?"
"Why so many reasons? If I don't like it, I just don't like it." Zhou Ci was quite single.
"You really don't like men?" Mr. Zhou still expressed deep doubt.
"Grandpa, can't you think of me a little better? I'm a straight person and I like women."
"So you have a woman you love?" Old Man Zhou asked again, "Is it because your family isn't well off and you're afraid Grandpa won't approve, so you've been hiding it?"
Zhou Ci stopped talking, picked up the teacup and took another sip of tea.
Seeing him like this, Mr. Zhou became anxious: "Is there really such a person? What's his name? Where is he from? What's his family situation like? What's his character like? Don't worry about whether Grandpa agrees or not, just bring him here for me to see."
Under Mr. Zhou's gaze, Zhou Ci drank two cups of tea slowly before putting the cup down. "Grandpa, you're overthinking it. I don't have a woman I like, not yet."
"Really? There really is no woman out there that you are hiding?" Old Master Zhou asked again without giving up.
Zhou Ci looked at Mr. Zhou with a firm gaze: "Why would I lie to you about something like this?"
"So what kind do you like? Tell me about it, and I'll keep an eye out for you."
"I will take care of these things. I won't let you be without a granddaughter-in-law. Don't worry about it. The doctor said you shouldn't worry about it. Just eat well and have fun at home."
"Don't worry, then you should find me one right away! If the Su family doesn't like it, you can find someone else. As long as it's not too outrageous, I, your grandfather, will accept it."
"Don't worry, I won't keep you waiting too long."
Mr. Zhou perked up, "Do you have someone in mind?"
"No, but I will solve this problem as soon as possible and won't let you guess that I have abnormal sexual orientation anymore."
Old Master Zhou snorted heavily and rolled his eyes at him.
Zhou Ci put down his teacup and asked, "Can I go downstairs to eat now?"
Mr. Zhou looked at him for a second longer, then waved his hand as if he found him annoying: "Go away! I'm tired of just looking at you."
Zhou Ci had dinner at Zhou's house before returning to his own home.
After taking a shower, he went into the study and worked until late at night.
The phone next to him suddenly started beeping non-stop, with multiple messages coming in at the same time. Zhou Ci took the phone and took a look at it. His eyes fixed, and he clicked on the video.
After reading it, he didn't reply to the other party, but simply deleted the chat history and continued working.
-
Song Yu received two pieces of bad news in succession these days.
First, there was a response from Ryan. Ryan said that the Song Group had conducted a risk assessment and was originally planning to discuss investment with the Song Group. However, his mother heard some rumors and suddenly intervened, saying that she did not agree to invest in the Song Group.
Another piece of bad news was that Li Minghan took the initiative to call Song Yu and said that the Song family's risk assessment was too high and the Rice family wanted to withdraw its proposal to invest in the Song family.
Simply put, after comprehensive consideration, these two overseas capitals decided not to give money to the Song family.
The Song family's roads were suddenly blocked, and Song Yuzheng was at a loss. Fang Hao called her and asked her to have dinner with him.
Song Yu didn't know what Fang Hao's purpose was in pushing her so hard when she and Zhou Ci were already in this state. However, there was no other way out now, so she had to reconsider the path of Zhou Ci. Fang Hao took the initiative to ask her out, so she could ask around.
Fang Hao hung up the phone with Song Yu and immediately reported to Zhou Ci: "Boss, I can't work overtime tonight."
Zhou Ci looked up at the document and asked, "What's the matter?"
Fang Hao said smugly, "I've made an appointment with Miss Song for dinner."
Zhou Ci lowered his head again and turned a page in the document in his hand. "Why did you ask her out for dinner? When did you two become so close?"
"Just some business. Isn't the Song Corporation short of money lately? I'm in charge of this business. Let's see if I can come up with something with Miss Song." Fang Hao was completely confident that his boss would approve the leave, but he still pretended to be hesitant and asked ingratiatingly, "Boss, can this leave be approved?"
"I don't care about your personal time. It's up to you as long as it doesn't interfere with the company's business." Zhou Ci flipped through the documents in his hand without raising his head.
"That will definitely not cause any delay." Fang Hao promised.
Zhou Ci didn't say anything else. He quickly read the last page of the document. He signed his name at the end, put it on his right hand side, and picked up a new one from his left hand to start reading.
Fang Hao understood that this meant that the boss had finished the topic and he could leave immediately and not bother him anymore.
"Boss, I'm off work now. Call me if you need anything."
Zhou Ci read quickly, turning another page of the new document in his hand, "Hmm!"
After getting a response from his boss, Fang Hao left Zhou Ci's office, packed up his things and left work.
He had such a strong desire to survive that when he asked Song Yu to have dinner with him, he didn't dare to look for a restaurant with a good atmosphere. Instead, he found a restaurant next to their company where he and his boss often had work meals.
Song Yu also worked in this area. When she received Fang Hao's call, she had just come out of the bank, so it was convenient for her to go to the place Fang Hao mentioned.
Fang Hao invited Song Yu to dinner, and it was just a simple meal. It felt too official, as if he was afraid that others would not know that they were innocent. They ordered a few home-cooked dishes and a bottle of refreshing drink for each of them, and then they started eating.
After taking a sip of his drink, Fang Hao officially started talking: "Ms. Song, I also know about the Song Corporation's situation. Director Song was rushed to the hospital for this matter, and our boss also went to the hospital to see him."
"I heard from my dad that I haven't thanked your boss in person yet. Could you please tell him?"
"Hey, I can't tell you that. You have to tell my boss in person." Fang Hao laughed. "Ms. Song, I have the Song Corporation's comprehensive assessment here. It's serious, but not serious. With help, you can get through it. I'm going to say something I shouldn't say. Why don't you ask our boss for help?"
Song Yu hesitated: "Your boss is willing to see me?"
But she heard that her father had asked Zhou Ci out several times, but Zhou Ci avoided him. Her father suspected that Zhou Ci had bad intentions and wanted to take the opportunity to swallow up the Song family just like he had swallowed up the Shen family.
Although Zhou Ci relaxed when he was in the hospital, so much time had passed and her father had been discharged from the hospital and had been recuperating at home for so many days, but Zhou Ci still hadn't made any movement. One had to suspect that his relaxation at that time was just an excuse to avoid a clear rejection.
"Yes, of course I do. Miss Song, who are you? You are my boss's sister. How could my boss listen to you back then? If you go to him for help, how could he not help you?"
"You also said that was back then, not now." Song Yu smiled bitterly.
She did feel a little regretful that she had handled things so simply and roughly back then. She just wanted to never see that embarrassing person again.
She hadn't expected that in just six years, she would be begging him for help. In a situation like this, any awkwardness or inconvenience could be put aside. But she had broken his heart so deeply, and they had been out of touch for so many years. Now she was asking for help, and now she was clinging to him. It was really shameless, and she was panicking.
"There's no difference between then and now." Fang Hao said this with great confidence. "Our boss may look cold on the outside, but he's actually very warm-hearted. Besides, what's your relationship with my boss? In our boss's heart, no one in the world is closer to him than you. If you run into trouble, who else can you turn to if not him? He's the only one who can help you. If you don't ask him, he'll be angry."
"Really?" Song Yu was still a little unconvinced.
After she came back, she met Zhou Ci twice, although they didn't talk both times. But if their relationship really remained the same as before, Zhou Ci should have come to see her a long time ago, there would not be no movement at all.
"How do you know if it works if you don't try? The Song family is in this state now and can't afford to delay any longer. If they delay any further, they will be doomed to fail."
How could Song Yu not know what Fang Hao said? The time left for the Song family was running out. She came back too late and couldn't find anyone to solve the problem in a short time, so she was anxious and worried.
Song Yu had to admit that she was tempted by Fang Hao's proposal.
She didn't know whether Zhou Ci was still thinking about her as his sister, just as Fang Hao said, but she was willing to give it a try for the Song family. Even if Zhou Ci was sarcastic and unwilling to help her in the end, she would accept it.
Having made up his mind, Song Yu went first and quickly said, "Then let's make an appointment? When is your boss free? I plan to visit him."
If it weren't for the fact that he had been with Zhou Ci through many storms and had seen many big scenes, Fang Hao would have been unable to suppress the joy on his face. He had to keep his face tense to speak in a tone similar to his usual one, "I'm sorry! Miss Song, I can't reply to you right now. I have to go back and check my boss's schedule to find out when he's free. I'll call you later."
"Okay, thank you so much!"
After the meal, the two parted ways. Fang Hao completely ignored his image as the number one special assistant and ran back to the company at the speed of burning out his CPU.
Without even catching his breath, he spoke to Zhou Ci, who was still working overtime: "Boss, I've checked and you don't have any other work arrangements the day after tomorrow afternoon except for a video conference."
Zhou Ci looked up, his face calm, "So?"
Fang Hao imitated Zhou Ci's manner and said calmly in a businesslike tone, "Then I will arrange Miss Song's visit for you the afternoon after tomorrow, after the video conference. Is that okay with you?"
His cultivation was still not up to par. No matter how much he wanted to imitate Zhou Ci's expressionless face, he couldn't suppress the boasting in his voice. He almost said to Zhou Ci directly, "Praise me quickly and give me a raise soon."
"Why did she visit me?" Zhou Ci leaned back in his office chair, a pen still in his right hand, a vague smile on his face. "Reminiscing about the past? Or is it about her company?"
Fang Hao immediately put away his tail, looked at Zhou Ci's expression, and said cautiously: "Is it for business? Or maybe to catch up with you? I'm not sure. Miss Song said she wanted to visit you, and I saw that you were free the day after tomorrow afternoon, so I arranged this trip for you..."
As he spoke, Fang Hao's voice became smaller and smaller. The main reason was that the boss's expression was too scary. He had no idea what he was thinking. Fang Hao once doubted whether he had done something wrong.
Finally, Zhou Ci spoke: "Got it, get out!"
Fang Hao breathed a sigh of relief and felt that he was alive again. He left the office without saying a word.
It was already time to get off work, and Fang Hao hadn't been sitting at his workstation for long when Zhou Ci came out.
Only after sending Zhou Ci home did Fang Hao officially get off work.
He went home and complained to his girlfriend, "Our boss is so hard to please. He's obviously happy inside, but he just keeps saying it. He's incredibly hard to guess what he's thinking. I suspect I'll be bald from overworking my brain before I'm 35."
His girlfriend patted his shoulders and legs: "But he pays a high salary."
Speaking of this, Fang Hao could only nod. He hadn't expected that following Zhou Ci would allow him to enjoy such a luxurious life. "For Mane, it's not that I can't stand it. Baldness is fine, baby, will you dislike me?"
"No, it means you have a high IQ. A man must be extremely smart."
The two of them burst into laughter and finally changed the topic from the boss to something else.
Zhou Ci is like a non-stop working machine. He doesn't have many entertainment activities and doesn't have high material desires. When he gets home, apart from exercising to burn energy and help him sleep, he works until very late.
What is Song Yu doing?
Fang Hao called her to arrange a time, and she was panicking, so she went to Xia Zhi to drink to calm her nerves. So, in the middle of the night, as expected, someone's phone received photos and videos of her drinking and reveling again. This time, there was even a male escort, which made anyone who saw it frown.
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