Chapter 174 Parallel Lines
The secretary quickly drove the car to the underground parking lot of the hotel where Fu Shenyuan was staying. The secretary opened the door for Fu Hongkai, and Fu Hongkai straightened his clothes and got out of the car.
Led by his secretary, Fu Hongkai took the elevator to the door of the presidential suite upstairs in the hotel. Fu Hongkai gestured for his secretary to knock on the door.
Knock knock—
The secretary knocked on the door, waiting for the person inside to open it, but after waiting for a long time, no one seemed inclined to open it.
The secretary looked back at Fu Hongkai, who gestured for him to continue, but still no one came to open the door.
The secretary said to Fu Hongkai, "President, it seems Mr. Fu is not here? Have we come at the wrong time?"
Fu Hongkai was also a little confused. Could it be that his people were spreading false information, and that Fu Shenyuan didn't actually live here at all?
After knocking on the door for a while and seeing no one come, the secretary looked at Fu Hongkai, waiting for his instructions.
Fu Hongkai said somewhat helplessly, "Then let's go first, and come again next time."
Just as the two were about to leave, they saw someone walking out of the elevator.
The secretary stepped forward and said, "Assistant Tan, are you here to see President Fu? President Fu lives here, right?"
Tan Shen glanced at the person in front of him and naturally noticed Fu Hongkai as well. So he didn't say anything. Even if he lied and said that Fu Shenyuan wasn't here, Fu Hongkai probably wouldn't believe him.
So Tan Shen had no choice but to nod. He didn't know what Fu Hongkai wanted to do by coming to see President Fu, but he intuitively felt that it wasn't anything good.
Tan Shen swiped his room card to open the door and invited Fu Hongkai into the suite's living room to sit down.
"President, please rest for a bit. I'll go and ask President Fu to come out," Tan Shen said.
Tan Shen walked around the corridor to the bedroom at the end, knocked on the door, but there was still no sound from inside. After knocking a few more times, Tan Shen opened the bedroom door himself.
Sure enough, he saw Fu Shenyuan leaning against the curtains by the French windows, with wine glasses and bottles scattered around him. A strong smell of alcohol wafted over him. The bedroom was still pitch black—it seemed that President Fu had recently gotten used to this decadent state of letting himself sink into drunkenness in the darkness.
Tan Shen felt uneasy too, knowing that his boss was in a bad state and that his direct subordinate wouldn't have an easy time either.
This time, Tan Shen didn't go over to talk to Fu Shenyuan in the dark; instead, she turned on the light.
The bright light momentarily pierced Fu Shenyuan's tightly closed eyes, causing him to frown and reveal a clear displeasure on his face in the face of the glaring light.
Fu Shenyuan barely opened his eyes and looked towards the door. Upon seeing Tan Shen, his displeasure intensified.
"What are you doing?" Fu Shenyuan asked. "Is something the matter?"
He knew that if Tan Shen had nothing to do, he wouldn't bother him like this.
Tan Shen closed the bedroom door behind him before walking toward Fu Shenyuan and saying, "President Fu, please wash up and change your clothes. President Fu Hongkai is here and is in the living room over there. It seems he has something important to discuss with you, otherwise he wouldn't have come in person."
Fu Shenyuan raised his head upon hearing this, and seemed even less pleased with Fu Hongkai's arrival.
He didn't want to see Fu Hongkai, and he believed his second uncle didn't want to see him either.
"Is there any news?" Fu Shenyuan finally seemed more alert and asked.
Tan Shen shook his head, indicating that he did not know: "You did not attend the shareholders' meeting, and the shareholders have some complaints about it. I haven't heard much else. Perhaps there are other things we don't know about."
Just like Fu Hongkai, Fu Shenyuan also had his own informants within the group. The two sides were merely pretending to be harmonious on the surface, while secretly probing and testing each other.
It's just that Fu Shenyuan hasn't been in good condition lately, which has led him to pay less attention to things at the company, so naturally he hasn't been able to find out about some things in a timely manner.
Fu Shenyuan knew he couldn't afford to lose face in front of Fu Hongkai, so he stood up and staggered into the bathroom attached to the bedroom.
Tan Shen had been waiting outside. When he heard the sound of water coming from the bathroom, he found a set of clothes that Fu Shenyuan was going to wear and put them outside the bathroom.
After waiting for a long time, the sound of water in the bathroom finally stopped. Fu Shenyuan changed into a casual long-sleeved shirt and trousers and came out. He looked refreshingly harmless.
In fact, Fu Shenyuan is not that old, but he is not yet thirty. It's just that his usual elite attire makes him look more mature, but in his daily life he is still a young man.
After changing his clothes, Fu Shenyuan left the bedroom and headed towards the living room.
Fu Hongkai's secretary noticed Fu Shenyuan first and greeted him, "Mr. Fu, you've arrived."
Fu Hongkai then looked over upon hearing the sound and saw that Fu Shenyuan's demeanor was different from his usual three-piece suit; he looked more like he was on vacation.
Fu Shenyuan sat down opposite Fu Hongkai, his expression unchanged, and said calmly, "Second Uncle, did you come here in person today because you have something to discuss with me?"
Fu Shenyuan didn't address him by his title; he wasn't in the mood to talk about work with Fu Hongkai.
But Fu Hongkai clearly did not want to go along with Fu Shenyuan's wishes.
Instead of immediately turning hostile, Fu Hongkai spoke earnestly, like an elder.
“Shen Yuan, staying in hotels all the time isn’t a good thing. What are you planning to do by not going home? I went back to the old house to see your grandfather. He hasn’t been feeling well lately, but he keeps saying he misses you. Try to spend more time with him when you have time, so he doesn’t get upset.”
Fu Shenyuan simply nodded: "Yes, I'll go back when I have time."
Fu Hongkai chuckled inwardly and continued, "Yes, stop doing things that upset your grandfather. Why didn't you attend the shareholders' meeting the other day? Your grandfather's blood pressure went up because of it, you know that?"
Fu Shenyuan glanced at Fu Hongkai. He was unwilling to answer Fu Hongkai's question, which he already knew the answer to, but he could vaguely tell that Fu Hongkai's purpose in coming today was not simply to inquire about his recent situation, nor was their relationship as friendly uncle and nephew.
Fu Shenyuan said bluntly, "Second Uncle, I understand what you mean. You can just say what you came here for today. You wouldn't have come here just to see me for no reason, would you?"
Fu Shenyuan suddenly lost interest in beating around the bush and asked directly.
Fu Hongkai was speechless for a few seconds, but after realizing what Fu Shenyuan had said, he stopped hiding it.
He said, "I'm here today to tell you something, which is actually what your grandfather wanted to do. It's about your job arrangements."
Fu Shenyuan looked up at the cunning, old fox-like man in front of him.
Fu Hongkai said, "Your grandfather's idea is that since you're tired of working in China lately, why not go overseas to gain some experience? There are projects overseas right now that are in need of a leader. If you could take on that role, I believe it would be of great help to the Fu Group's overseas business."
Fu Shenyuan smiled after hearing this. His slightly long, wispy hair blocked the light from his forehead, and his deep eyes were hidden in the shadows, making it impossible to discern the truth.
Fu Shenyuan said in a low voice, "Does Second Uncle mean he wants to kick me out of the country?"
Fu Shenyuan's words were so direct that Fu Hongkai was momentarily at a loss for how to respond, and it took him a long time to react.
“Shen Yuan, you can’t say that. Your grandfather sent you abroad to gain experience because he thought about you. Otherwise, you would be so uninterested in your career every day. What would your grandfather do? Sending you abroad wasn’t just my idea. I’m just telling you this on behalf of your grandfather. I didn’t mean to kick you out of the country as you said.”
Fu Shenyuan laughed after hearing this; he had heard similar things when he was a teenager.
When Fu Hongkai wanted to send him away from the Fu family after he had just lost his parents, he said something similar.
The words of an elder who claimed to be doing it for your own good forced him to listen when he was a child. Even though he didn't want to listen, he was powerless to resist at that time and could only let Fu Hongkai decide his life and death.
But he is no longer the helpless boy he once was.
Fu Shenyuan looked up and said directly, "No matter whose idea this is, I have no interest in going to an overseas company. As for the leader, Uncle, you should find someone else."
He didn't want to leave the country at this time because he didn't know when Jiang Ranxing would appear or when she would come back.
Perhaps one day he will receive news of Jiang Ranxing, and he can immediately set off to find her.
But if he left, he feared he would never have the chance to find her again.
The fear of not being able to find Jiang Ranxing was like a sharp knife hanging over his head. No one knew when this knife would lose its rope or lose its gravity and fall. He couldn't bear the possibility of that blow.
He has already lost too much; he cannot lose any more.
He desperately wanted to give anything to get news of Jiang Ranxing, but it was as if fate was playing a cruel joke on him, making it impossible for him to find her no matter how hard he searched.
Fu Hongkai had anticipated that Fu Shenyuan would probably not agree, so he said without getting angry, "Shenyuan, your grandfather is doing this for your own good. Don't keep resisting his good intentions, or you will hurt his feelings."
Fu Shenyuan didn't answer this time. He just said, "I have no interest in working overseas. Second Uncle, go back and tell Grandpa that if you really can't stand me, you can stop all my work. I don't care."
After saying that, Fu Shenyuan stood up and said to Tan Shen, "See Uncle out. I have other things to do, so I won't see Uncle out. Please go ahead."
After Fu Shenyuan finished speaking, he turned and walked into the study in the suite. Tan Shen stood up and saw Fu Hongkai out: "President, Mr. Fu probably has something to take care of. Please go ahead."
Fu Hongkai glanced in the direction Fu Shenyuan had disappeared, chuckled softly, and then left with his secretary.
The door to the presidential suite was closed. Fu Hongkai walked to the elevator and then turned to his secretary, saying, "Tomorrow, the contact person should spread the word to the overseas company that Fu Shenyuan is taking office, and then send the overseas company's information to Fu Shenyuan's assistant."
The secretary hesitated for a moment and said, "But President Fu doesn't want to take up a post overseas. If we do this, won't President Fu have a rebellious attitude? What if President Fu insists on not giving in?"
“It’s even better if he refuses to give in,” Fu Hongkai said quietly as he stepped into the elevator. “The more he resists, the more it will escalate the conflict between him and the old man. If a rift develops between them, it will definitely be beneficial to me.”
Fu Hongkai was more than happy that Fu Shenyuan lost the favor of Old Master Fu, because that way, he would have a greater chance and a larger share of the shares held by Old Master Fu.
It all boils down to the shares held by Old Master Fu.
"Forty percent of the shares! If I can get more than Fu Shenyuan, I will have absolute control. At that time, Fu Shenyuan will no longer have any choice. Even if he refuses the choice, he will not be able to have it."
The secretary echoed, "The president is right; you are indeed very insightful."
Fu Hongkai snorted, the elevator descended to the basement level, and he left the hotel by car.
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foreign.
As promised to Jiang Ranxing, Wen Qingrang took her out for a stroll. The two walked along a long sidewalk lined with tall trees on both sides. The golden fallen leaves on the ground made the surrounding environment feel warm and cozy. Leaves that could not be held on the branches fell one by one. A cool breeze blew by, and Jiang Ranxing felt a refreshing coolness.
Wen Qingrang noticed her action and wrapped the cashmere scarf he was carrying around Jiang Ranxing's neck.
Jiang Ranxing was instantly enveloped in warmth. She smiled at Wen Qingrang and said, "Thank you. With you here, I don't feel cold at all."
Wen Qingrang returned the smile. Taking care of Jiang Ranxing had almost become his instinct. Instinct is something ingrained in one's bones, and he had gotten used to it.
Wen Qingrang led Jiang Ranxing to sit down on a wooden bench by the roadside: "Let's rest for a while, you've been walking for a long time too."
Jiang Ranxing said, "I'm fine, not very tired."
Wen Qingrang watched as she recovered better day by day, and couldn't help but feel genuinely happy.
"By the way, Ranxing, have you thought about your work? I've noticed you've been busy with these things lately."
Wen Qingrang asked, noting that Jiang Ranxing had gradually recovered recently and was becoming more and more enthusiastic about his work, spending his days either drawing design drafts or having video conferences with his colleagues in China to discuss projects.
Jiang Ranxing nodded and said, "Well, after staying here for so long, my hands and feet are tired. Besides, I don't know much else besides design, so it's better to go back to my old profession."
Wen Qingrang looked at her with some concern: "I'm worried that you're too tired. It would be good for you to rest a little longer."
"Alright, Qingrang, I know my body well, and besides, with you by my side, I won't feel any pressure."
As Jiang Ranxing spoke, as if she had thought of something, she said, "Qingrang, you've been with me for so long, are things alright at home? If you're very busy, I can manage on my own."
Wen Qingrang shook his head: "It's okay, I can handle my work remotely just like you."
Jiang Ranxing finally smiled. She turned her head to look at Wen Qingrang's calm and gentle profile. There were some words on the tip of her tongue, but she hesitated several times and still didn't ask them.
She actually wanted to ask Wen Qingrang why he was so good to her, but she was afraid that it would be awkward for both of them if she asked. After all, if she thought about it carefully, Wen Qingrang taking such good care of her must mean that he had feelings for her.
But they're just friends for now. If someone were to break the ice, things might get awkward, and they might not even be able to stay friends anymore.
Jiang Ranxing didn't want to lose Wen Qingrang as a friend.
In her mind, Wen Qingrang and Fu Shenyuan were different. They had separated, so what? Anyway, there was no affection between them during that marriage, and they couldn't even be considered friends, so there was nothing to regret.
But Wen Qingrang is different. They have a lot in common, and having such a person by your side is a wonderful thing.
Jiang Ranxing had been thinking recently that if Wen Qingrang didn't bring up developing a romantic relationship, she wouldn't bring it up either, because she now felt that friendship might be stronger than romance.
It's probably better not to bring it up. They should be quite comfortable with each other like this.
So Jiang Ranxing said nothing and continued her walk with Wen Qingrang.
After returning home, Jiang Ranxing received another call from Mia. This time, in addition to Mia, Manager Shen was also present in the video call.
"Sis, we're at the studio. We wanted to talk to you about work. Did you just get back?" Mia asked.
Jiang Ranxing had just hung up his coat when he sat down at his desk and turned on a video call on his computer.
"I just came back from a walk, and since I have some time, let's chat."
Jiang Ranxing saw that Manager Shen was also there and greeted him.
Manager Shen spoke only after Jiang Ranxing was seated: "Ember, I've contacted a new overseas project that I think is quite good and suitable for you. See if you're interested. I'll send you the project proposal to take a look."
"Okay, send it over." Jiang Ranxing replied, and then saw a document sent by Manager Shen that was entirely in English.
Jiang Ranxing looked at it carefully, while Manager Shen explained it to him.
"This overseas company is in its early stages and is still a new company. However, we have done background checks and the capital behind it is a purely foreign investment company, which should have nothing to do with China. If this overseas company is going to succeed, it will definitely invest the most effort and money in its first project."
“We had considered established fashion companies with a strong foundation, but the conditions they offered were somewhat lacking. They don’t lack excellent designers, but they rely more on your reputation to drive the business. So, after careful consideration, this new company will focus entirely on you in our collaboration, which will give you more freedom and fewer restrictions, and will be more suitable for your style.”
As Jiang Ranxing read the documents, she listened to what Manager Shen was saying and inwardly agreed with him.
"Sure, actually I don't care much about this. I trust your choice and will listen to you. You're the professional in this area, and I'm only a bit more professional in design."
Each profession has its own expertise. Manager Shen is suitable for business planning and coordination, while she is also a more skilled and meticulous professional designer.
Manager Shen replied, "Okay, then I'll contact them. It just so happens that you're in the same country. Why don't you go there sometime and meet with their manager?"
Jiang Ranxing nodded and said, "Alright, you contact them first. Once you've made contact, I'll go visit them. If it's suitable, we can cooperate."
Jiang Ranxing is now eager to return to the workplace. They chatted about some design matters before hanging up the phone.
Manager Shen acted quickly, and by the next day, he had already finalized the meeting arrangements with the other company.
After receiving the news, Jiang Ranxing decided to go and visit the other company.
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