Chapter 57: Those tears at the school anniversary finally spanned seven years
On the last day of National Day, they took a bus back to Guangdong together. Yuntan put his phone aside to charge, and used Lu Wangshan's phone to listen to music. They each had an earphone.
During this time, a phone call came in. Yun Tan saw the note "Dad" and wanted to return the headphones to him, but Lu Wangshan had already picked up the phone.
Lu Chengjun asked on the other end of the phone: "Wangshan, when will you return to Beijing?"
"Tomorrow, what's wrong?"
"Can you come tomorrow night? Yuan Siliu invited us to dinner."
Yun Tan was stunned for a moment, and Lu Wangshan frowned and asked, "What's wrong with him?"
"I don't know. They didn't say anything specific." Lu Chengjun paused and said, "There have been rumors recently that the Yuan family may be in trouble. I'm afraid it's because of this matter."
Lu Wangshan didn't ask much, but given the large-scale and disorderly expansion of the Yuan family in recent years, he had long anticipated that the group would encounter trouble.
"Okay, I got it. I'll be back on my flight tomorrow morning."
After hanging up the phone, Yun Tan asked, "What's wrong?"
"I suspect it's the Yuan family's debt problem caused by expansion. We won't know the details until tomorrow." Lu Wangshan squeezed her palm. "Don't worry."
…
The next day, Lu Wangshan changed his flight and returned to Beijing early. During this time, he sent people to secretly investigate the problems encountered by the Yuan family.
The third generation of the Yuan family are gradually reaching their early twenties. In recent years, Yuan Fang has encouraged these grandchildren to develop in multiple fields and has invested a lot of money in the technology and entertainment sectors, but there has been no return so far.
The Yuan family made their fortune in real estate. In recent years, the real estate market has been booming, and they have bought a lot of land and invested a lot of money in disorderly expansion. At the same time, due to market regulation and strengthened regulatory policies, and facing competition, their market share has been declining year by year, and their cash flow and profits have continued to shrink, resulting in the huge debt scale and debt structure gradually exposing increasingly serious problems.
The reason they took the initiative to approach the Lu family this time was probably because they were facing unprecedented financial difficulties.
At night, Lu Wangshan and Lu Chengjun arrived at the agreed location on time.
Yuan Fang and Yuan Siliu were waiting at the door to greet them.
They haven't met in private since the embarrassing incident at Mr. Yuan's birthday party.
"Wangshan, long time no see." Yuan Fang came forward with a cane. "I heard from your father that you were traveling during the National Day holiday?"
"Well, it's windy today, Mr. Yuan, please come inside."
Regardless of the purpose of today's meal, Lu Wangshan maintained basic etiquette, took Yuan Fang's arm and walked into the house.
"I haven't had time to apologize to you for what happened on my birthday. I'm an old man who spoke too much. You young people should make your own decisions."
Lu Wangshan remained calm and said, "Master Yuan, are you trying to embarrass me, the younger generation, by suddenly saying this?"
Yuan Fang smiled and patted the back of his hand: "This matter has nothing to do with elders and juniors, just don't take it to heart. You were in a car accident not long ago. You are all well now, right?"
"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Yuan. I'm all better now. It's just that the media is making scary reports."
Everyone took their seats in the box.
Lu Wangshan really didn't like this kind of Hongmen Banquet, but for Yuan Fang's sake, he had to drink a few glasses.
The two families first exchanged greetings and then talked about how difficult business is nowadays.
Yuan Fang introduced several of his younger generations and lamented how lucky Lu Chengjun was to have such an outstanding son, so he wouldn't have to worry about the succession issue in the future.
Lu Chengjun said modestly, "Wangshan is young and full of energy, and he still has a lot to learn."
After three rounds of drinks, Yuan Fang finally got to the point.
Naturally, he would not talk about the financial difficulties, but only used the introduction of project investment as an entry point, hoping to get investment from WH Group.
Lu Wangshan did not intend to take the initiative to wade into this muddy water. He used the excuse that Wanzhou had limited remaining investable funds this year, and his tone was full of regret.
After a few rounds of discussion, Yuan Fang could no longer put on airs. He said that it would take some time for the group's funds to be recovered and he hoped to get help from the Lu family. He also used his friendship with Lu Kun when they were young as a bargaining chip.
Lu Wangshan naturally knew that his grandfather was not on good terms with Yuan Fang, but the two families had inevitably had business dealings in the past, and there was some degree of friendship between them, whether it was true or false.
He and Lu Chengjun exchanged a glance, and Lu Chengjun asked first, "How much capital injection does Mr. Yuan need?"
Yuan Fang paused for a moment and said, "50 billion."
Even though he knew that the real estate industry was a highly leveraged industry, this amount still exceeded Lu Wangshan's expectations.
Lu Chengjun was also shocked: "So many?"
"As soon as we start pre-selling properties in various places at the end of the year, we will see a large amount of capital return, mainly because there was a few months' error in the initial capital investment and the profit time estimate."
Yuan Fang smiled and shook his head. "After all, I'm old, and my younger brother isn't very capable, so I need help from my old friend. Don't worry, Mr. Lu, I won't let you and Wangshan suffer any loss. We can discuss a satisfactory rate of return on this investment."
"The rate of return is a minor issue. You said it only takes a few months to turn around. If we demand a high rate of return at this time, wouldn't that be taking advantage of the situation?"
Lu Chengjun said, "Just as Wangshan said, WH Group's overall return on investment has not been high in recent years. Financially, 50 billion is simply impossible."
This is a lie.
Lu Wangshan has had an excellent return on investment in recent years. He has no shortage of money in his account, only good projects.
But now Yuan Fang dared to report 50 billion, and they had no way of knowing how big the real financial problems of the Yuan Group were. If it turned out to be a big hole, the 50 billion would be wasted.
But given the relationship between the two families, if we just sit back and watch the fire, we will be criticized.
The final amount agreed upon was 12 billion.
It is already the highest standard of this "friendship".
Of course, everything still needs to go through the review process to assess Yuan Group’s repayment ability.
…
On the way back, Lu Chengjun was still wondering about the 50 billion yuan debt.
Given Yuan Fang's personality, the actual debt would only be more than ten times higher than 50 billion. Such a debt scale is too unreasonable and too scary.
Yun Tan sent a message to Lu Wangshan: "Is it over?"
She was still worried that the Yuan family's pursuit of him might be related to her again.
Lu Wangshan sat in the back seat of the car, the light from his phone screen illuminating his tall nose. He lowered his head and replied, "The Yuan Group may be in big trouble."
Yuntan: "What's wrong?"
Lu Wangshan: "If the funds cannot be recovered in time due to the high debt, it may cause a chain reaction."
Yuntan didn't know much about finance: "What will happen in the chain reaction?"
Lu Wangshan: "Bankruptcy."
Yun Tan was working overtime at the moment, sitting at his computer desk. These two words startled him: "Could such a large group like theirs go bankrupt?"
Lu Wangshan: "The negative cycle brought about by the leverage of large groups will be even more terrifying, but this is only the worst-case scenario."
Lu Chengjun suddenly asked from the side: "Is your high school anniversary this week?"
"Yes, the day after tomorrow."
"Are you going with Ah Yue?"
"I don't know if he wants to train. I'll ask him tomorrow."
After arriving home, Lu Wangshan still called Yun Tan and told her about the decision for today's meal: "After the review process is passed, I may need to invest 12 billion in Yuan Group. Will you be angry?"
Yun Tan was initially shocked by the 12 billion, but laughed at the second half of the sentence: "How can I be related to this 12 billion?"
Lu Wangshan curled his lips, put his phone aside on speakerphone, and unbuttoned his shirt: "After all, this is the Yuan family's business, I'm afraid you won't be happy."
"I have nothing to be unhappy about. Don't worry about me. Just make your own decision."
Lu Wangshan changed the subject: "The school celebration is the day after tomorrow, are you really not going?"
"I can't go." Yun Tan looked around to make sure no one else was in the office, then dragged out the last line of his voice and acted coquettishly with Lu Wangshan, "I'm so busy, I'm still working overtime."
He smiled and asked, "What are you busy with?"
"I have a new interactive proposal to write."
Nowadays, car companies' designs are more closely linked to intelligence, emphasizing a more integrated user experience and visual effects. CMF design must also be linked to smart cockpit HMI design, integrating knowledge from multiple disciplines such as industry, computer science, and design.
As a project manager, Yuntan has to be involved in all aspects of design, but she doesn't really know much about computers. She has creative ideas, but it is difficult for her to assess the feasibility and difficulty of implementation.
She told Lu Wangshan about the difficulties she encountered.
Lu Wangshan: "Send me a copy of the proposal. Leave work first and I'll take a look at it for you."
Yun Tan originally wanted to say that the proposal was a company secret, but then he remembered that Lu Wangshan was a shareholder, so he immediately sent him the first draft that he had just written, which he was not satisfied with.
Turn off the phone and go home.
On the way home, I thought about what Lu Wangshan had just said, that the Yuan family might go bankrupt, and I still found it unbelievable.
When Yun Tan woke up the next day, there was a newly revised proposal from Lu Wangshan lying on his phone.
The sending time is 1:00 AM.
Yuntan clicked on it while brushing his teeth, and then was so shocked that he even forgot to brush his teeth.
If her previous proposal was a small thatched hut, then the one Lu Wangshan gave her was simply a skyscraper.
Yun Tan had originally written down some creative ideas, and now Lu Wangshan had marked the feasibility, technical difficulties, expected investment and quantification difficulty at the back. In addition, he even listed his own ideas at the end for Yun Tan to screen and consider.
He also loved playing with cars for a while when he was young. Doesn’t he know about interaction and smart cockpit?
Yun Tan always knew that Lu Wangshan was very capable, but he was still shocked to see such a perfect proposal.
It was almost time for work, so she walked out of the dormitory on time, holding her phone and sending a voice message to Lu Wangshan: "Mommy, you are really my treasure chest!"
Her voice was somewhat artificial, extremely flattering, and so tender that you could squeeze water out of it.
A colleague happened to be passing by and was startled when he heard this: "Manager Yun, it really is you! You have a really good relationship with your mother."
“…” Yun Tan smiled awkwardly.
Lu Wangshan also sent a voice message. Yun Tan didn't dare to play it, fearing that his colleagues would find out that he called a man "Mommy", so he transcribed the message - "Do you love me?"
Yun Tan once again held the phone close to his lips, and this time he only dared to whisper: "I love you, Mommy."
-
The next day is the school anniversary.
Lu Wangshan did not go with Lu Shiyue. Lu Shiyue begged Ruan Zhao for a long time and finally persuaded his girlfriend to accompany him, so he abandoned his brother and went with him.
Lu Shiyue and Yun Tan were not in the same class in high school. His class had many students with various special talents. They were a group of people who did not like studying but had a good relationship with each other. After so many years of graduation, they often organized class reunions.
It was the first time for everyone to see him bring his girlfriend, so naturally they surrounded them and asked them endless questions.
Ruan Zhao was never afraid of such occasions. He quickly became familiar with everyone and agreed to attend the next class reunion as a family member.
Everyone went to the gymnasium first to attend the school anniversary ceremony, and the teachers were also there.
Lu Shiyue's former class teacher naturally still remembered him. He had loved and hated him back then. He walked towards him, gesturing with his index finger. After a round of greetings, he complained to Ruan Zhao about how disobedient Lu Shiyue was in high school.
Although Lu Shiyue is a student with sports expertise, Xiang Yin has always recognized the importance of academic subjects and is against students with sports expertise not even being able to pass academic subjects. Therefore, Xiang Yin has always been very strict with Lu Shiyue, making his studies very painful and the class teacher also having a hard time managing him.
He often skipped classes to play basketball. The class teacher caught him countless times. Later, in his senior year, he finally became more obedient after his brother was called in for a talk.
As he was speaking, Lu Wangshan walked beside the principal and entered the museum together.
He was dressed in formal attire, with a gentle and calm smile on his face, and came in chatting and laughing with the principal.
The people around who noticed it all quieted down and gestured to each other to go and look.
When we were in school, we didn’t pay much attention to each other’s family background, but after graduation, the gap in family background became more and more obvious.
The ceremony host came on stage, and the principal spoke first, followed by representatives of outstanding graduates from all corners of the country and all walks of life. Lu Wangshan gave the final speech.
The host had a long list of titles to introduce him.
Lu Wangshan was already accustomed to this kind of speech and was very adept at it.
However, after the speech, a few people in the front row started to cheer and applaud at an inappropriate time - they were Lu Wangshan's good friends from high school.
He bowed to the audience, without looking back at his seat, but walked towards his former classmates.
Everyone is already in their thirties. One of my roommates is married with children, and he came here today with his wife and children.
Maybe it was because of Lu Wangshan's outfit today or something else, but Jin Bo's two-year-old daughter actually stretched out her arms and moved towards Lu Wangshan, as if wanting him to hold her.
Jin Bo said angrily: "You value women over your father!"
Lu Wangshan smiled and put the baby on his lap. Seeing that she was staring at his watch, he took it off and let her play with it.
Jin Bo said, "You're quite professional in holding the child, but don't tell me you've secretly had a child?"
He raised his eyebrows: "Does this require any skills?"
The little baby was very well behaved on his lap, not making any noise or fuss. From time to time, he would look up at Lu Wangshan and reach out to touch his eyebrows and nose bridge.
Jin Bo's wife joked, "My daughter is really good. She understands aesthetics at such a young age."
Jin Bo introduced him, "Chu Xi, my wife, also graduated from our school, in the same class as your brother."
Lu Wangshan nodded at her and said hello.
Chu Xi said: "But Lu Shiyue and I are not in the same class. I am in Class 3."
Lu Wangshan paused. Class 3, that was Yun Tan's classmates. "Are there many people from your class here today?"
"There are quite a lot of them. They sit next to Lu Shiyue's class." Chu Xi said, "We have the same teacher for both classes, so we sit with the teachers."
After the ceremony, Jin Bo accompanied Chu Xi to her class.
Lu Wangshan also went.
Their math teacher was Lu Wangshan’s former homeroom teacher.
Lu Wangshan was his favorite back then, and he had won countless competition awards.
Class 3 was organizing to take another group photo. Someone asked who was absent today. Lu Wangshan heard "Yun Tan" among several names and subconsciously turned his head to look.
"I haven't seen Yun Tan since graduation, and I don't know what she's doing now."
"I think he went abroad later?"
"Graduate school?"
"No, I went abroad for my undergraduate studies."
"How could that be? She did very well on the college entrance exam and got into a top university in China. Why did she suddenly go abroad to study?"
…
The teacher standing next to Lu Wangshan suddenly sighed and muttered to himself, "What a pity Yuntan was back then."
Lu Wangshan paused and frowned: "What's wrong with her?"
"You know him too?"
"Um."
Perhaps it was because Lu Wangshan's expression was too serious at the moment, the teacher was also stunned for a moment before saying, "She did very well in the college entrance examination that year, but she filled in the wrong application form. Alas, a girl who is usually very serious and careful, how could she make such a mistake at such a critical moment?"
He still remembers that the first batch of volunteers received their admission letters one after another, but Yuntan rushed to the school during a rainstorm one day.
The rain soaked her whole body, so much so that the tears on her face were no longer visible. She cried and asked her class teacher if there was any way to change her choice of major.
Lu Wangshan never knew those things.
Yuntan never mentioned it to him.
He had seen Yun Tan's tears during the summer after the college entrance examination, but he attributed it to her poor performance in the college entrance examination and her failure to be admitted to her target university, and Yun Tan also acquiesced to this.
But I never knew that she actually did very well in the college entrance examination that year.
But why did Yuntan never say it?
"Excuse me, is Yun Tan's former homeroom teacher still in school?" Lu Wangshan asked in a low voice.
"Yes, it's Teacher Li. He was rehired after retirement." The teacher looked around and finally pointed in a direction to Lu Wangshan, "Look, over there."
Perhaps because being a teacher brings many worries, Li Wenshuang already has a head full of white hair when she is over 60.
Lu Wangshan suddenly felt as if he had grasped Yun Tan's deep pain. He walked through the crowd and came to Li Wenshuang. He took him to an empty corridor before asking about Yun Tan.
"Yuntan..."
Li Wenshuang looked at the man in front of her in surprise, "Who are you?"
"I'm Lu Wangshan, Jun Ya's student, and Yun Tan's—" He paused for a second and said, "I'm her boyfriend."
Li Wenshuang smiled kindly: "Oh, my boyfriend, is Yuntan here today?"
"No, she's working in Guangdong now and is very busy, so she didn't come today. Let me give you her regards."
Lu Wangshan suppressed the turmoil in his heart and finally asked what had happened that year.
"That's good. I'm relieved to see that she's doing well now. I knew from the beginning that such a serious and smart girl would have a bright future."
Li Wenshuang lamented, but whenever she recalled the events of that year, she couldn't help but sigh. "It's such a pity for her. Her grades were always very stable, and she'd never been outside the top ten in her grade. Before the exam, I remember discussing her target colleges and majors with her. She excelled in science and also enjoyed painting, and at the time, she was leaning towards computer science or design. She felt the scores for top subjects at Peking University and Tsinghua University were too high, and she might not be able to make it, so she wanted to go to Shanghai, which was a safer option. I also suggested that if she had the energy, she could pursue a second degree. Nowadays, people need versatile talents, which will be beneficial for their future career development."
Li Wenshuang has taught thousands of students in his life, and he knows the story of each of them like the back of his hand.
Lu Wangshan received a call midway through the conversation. He hung up and asked, "And then?"
"Later, when the Gaokao results came out, she did very well, probably in the top five in her grade. I knew she had her own ideas and knew what she wanted to apply for. But I never expected that at the end of July, she would suddenly come to me in tears, asking if there was any way she could change her choice."
Li Wenshuang sighed again, "What a pity, such a high score."
Lu Wangshan's brows furrowed more and more tightly. "Why did you fill in the wrong application?"
"I asked her, but she was too emotional to elaborate. She just kept talking about her mother. I figured it was probably about her family."
At this point, Lu Wangshan had already vaguely guessed the reason.
Even if that was a reason he didn't want to believe.
He could understand that Yun Tan didn't want to stay in Beijing and wanted to go study abroad, just like when she later returned to China and shouted to Yuan Qinrong, "This is my life!"
She wanted a life of her own, so she decided to leave the family that bound her.
He suddenly remembered that July 2012 when he saw Yun Tan in the bar.
At that time, his impression of Yun Tan was still stuck on the rumors that he was a well-behaved, well-spoken, nerdy kid, which was very different from the girl in front of him who was drunk and squinting at people.
There were many people trying to chat with her, and Lu Wangshan was worried that she might be in danger, so he wanted to send her home.
Yuntan said he didn't want to go home.
He just casually asked, "Did you have a fight with your mother?"
Yun Tan paused for a moment, then suddenly spoke in a tearful voice: "She is not my mother."
At the same time, tears began to fall, in big drops.
Those tears finally crossed seven years of time and hit Lu Wangshan's heart at this moment, causing ripples and then suddenly setting off a terrifying wave.
…
When Lu Wangshan was walking out, he passed by the principal who had just finished the ceremony and was invited to have dinner together. Lu Wangshan couldn't even put on a proper smile. He found an excuse and left in a hurry.
-
Thanks to the proposal that Lu Wangshan revised for her, there was no need for any further revisions. Yun Tan got off work on time today and returned to the dormitory early after having lunch at the company.
I found a message from Lu Wangshan on my phone: "Where are you?"
Yun Tan replied bewilderedly, "The dormitory, what's going on?"
Her heart beat inexplicably faster, but Lu Wangshan did not reply to her.
A quarter of an hour later, when I came out of the shower, I suddenly heard a knock on the door.
Yun Tan's heart beat irregularly again, and she suddenly took a deep breath as if she sensed something. She slowly opened the door, and when she saw Lu Wangshan, she still felt incredible. Her heart rate became unbalanced and began to beat violently.
"How did you—"
Before she finished her words, Lu Wangshan suddenly held her face and kissed her, with a panic that had never appeared in him before, as if he wanted to urgently comfort her.
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