late at night
As soon as Zhong Yunxi arrived at the office, Xue Meng hurriedly pushed the door open and entered without even knocking. "Boss, Sijian Traditional Chinese Medicine Division has a project that is a collaboration with Professor Wu's team from Yuegang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The person in charge is Ms. Bai Yi and an assistant researcher named He Cheng."
Zhong Yunxi stared at Xue Meng for a long time, but his expression was unreadable.
Xue Meng even became cautious in his breathing, and his forehead became hot.
He discovered this when he was estimating the expected losses from Sijian's elimination of the traditional Chinese medicine division. He guessed that the boss was completely unaware of it, otherwise, given how much the boss cared about Baiyi, it was impossible that he hadn't taken any action.
Zhong Yunxi loosened his tie.
From the beginning, when Sijian handed over management to M&K, Leading Innovation no longer paid much attention to the specific project operations because M&K signed a responsibility and rights commitment letter with the board of directors, promising benefits and profits.
As soon as he raised his hand, Xue Meng hurriedly handed him the document in his hand, which was a project overview of Sijian Traditional Chinese Medicine Business Unit.
He walked to his desk, pressed the edge of the desk, took a few deep breaths, controlled his heart rate, and spent more than ten minutes going through the project.
M&K's strategy of cutting the entire Chinese medicine division is supported by evaluation results and is not considered excessive.
Even if he were sitting in the board seat, faced with such an assessment result, he could not ignore the facts and insist on keeping the traditional Chinese medicine department.
It just hit his weak spot.
Several projects were fine, but not suitable for Sijian. M&K decided to let Sijian focus on biopharmaceuticals and chemical drugs, using limited resources where they were most needed. This is entirely in line with the logic of capital and the market, and with the development of pharmaceutical companies.
Unfortunately, during Sijian's integration, he came in and even selected foreign capital like M&K, with Wen Ying in charge.
"How does Sijian plan to handle these projects?" he asked.
When Xue Meng went to a meeting last week, he asked Wen Ying, and she said to start with the bidding process.
He replied, "It should be a bidding process to find a new buyer."
Has it started?
Xue Meng thought to himself, "How could it be so fast?"
The only answer was: "There is no information on the official website yet."
Zhong Yunxi swiped his phone and dialed Wen Ying's number.
Without any unnecessary pleasantries, Zhong Yunxi asked, "When did this start? Why go to all this trouble to put on this show for me?"
"When you took over Sijian in Beijing," Wen Ying said, fiddling with two PRADA crystal hair clips on her desk in her office.
The color scheme and style are both gentle and elegant, which is indeed not suitable for her.
Zhong Yunxi chuckled: "So M&K started researching Sijian earlier than me. And you started researching Baiyi earlier than me."
Wen Ying laughed and said, "Do I regret not paying more attention to my fiancée's work sooner?"
He casually scribbled something on the document with a pen. "I understand. You want to vent your anger, I'll accept that. Name your price. Eight projects, package or individual?"
Wen Ying's voice was light and cold, "Zhong Yunxi, it's quite boring to let you use something so casual to absorb damage. What's the difference between me and you not saying anything? The problem between you and Bai Yi is probably much more than just one project."
Zhong Yunxi frowned, his eyes instantly turning cold as he narrowed them. "What do you mean?"
"It doesn't mean anything. I just think physical attacks are pointless against you." After saying that, Wen Ying hung up the phone. This was the only time in her life that she had ever hung up on Zhong Yunxi.
He must have finally felt the guilt, unease, helplessness, and panic that followed being hung up on.
Xue Meng stood at the tea counter, made an iced Americano, and after the owner hung up the phone, he went over and placed the coffee on the corner of the table.
The central air conditioning was too hot. Even after finishing his coffee, Zhong Yunxi still felt hot and realized that he had forgotten to take off his coat after entering the room.
He took off his coat and threw it on the sofa, then took off his tie and threw it over as well.
Xue Meng reminded him, "Boss, there's an overseas video conference in five minutes."
He simply said, "You can go online. I'll review the meeting minutes when I have time. I'm going downstairs now."
**
When Bai Yi arrived at the coffee shop on the 88th floor of the East Tower early in the morning, Ren Xiao was holding a cup in a daze. He had almost finished his coffee, but hadn't touched the dessert on his plate.
"You didn't have breakfast?" Bai Yi asked her, and she didn't seem to be in a good mood.
Ren Xiao glanced at her, then lowered his head slightly, picked up the dessert, cut a spoonful, and put it in his mouth.
He couldn't taste anything; neither coffee nor dessert seemed to tantalize his taste buds. Perhaps it was the exhaustion and sleeplessness of the night that made Ren Xiao feel like all his senses had faded, and even his brain was dulled.
"Xiao Yi." Ren Xiao looked up.
Bai Yi took off his coat and draped it over the back of the sofa. He glanced at her and said, "You look terrible. Is it because of our project? Didn't you sleep well?"
Ren Xiao nodded, then shook her head. She had thought about it for a long time last night. From an adult's perspective, when encountering problems between friends and lovers, one should keep quiet.
Because in the adult world, everyone is patching up their own broken pieces.
Only children would expose the emperor's new clothes; adults simply ignore them.
If she had stumbled upon Zhong Yunxi and Wen Ying's ambiguous relationship, she would have chosen to turn a blind eye. But it was Wen Ying who took the initiative to bring it up. It seemed to be sending a signal: even if you don't tell Bai Yi, this matter will still erupt in some other form.
If she were to expose him, perhaps the harm to Bai Yi could be minimized.
Ren Xiao didn't understand why Wen Ying didn't just go to Bai Yi directly, leaving her stuck in this situation.
Was it simply because he happened to be in the conference room last night to question her? Or was it because Wen Ying wanted to choose a more dignified approach?
Ren Xiao reached out and pressed his hand on the phone screen.
“Xiaoyi, I went to see Sijian’s management yesterday. You know the executive who proposed cutting the traditional Chinese medicine business unit, Wen Ying.”
Bai Yi blinked rapidly, as if reacting to a dangerous object.
Ren Xiao added, "Perhaps her position forced her to make this decision."
“Another shareholder of Sijian is Zhong Yunxi, who approved of Sijian’s decision to cut the traditional Chinese medicine division. They are both professional financial capital and corporate managers.”
Bai Yi seemed not to understand at first, and made a slight tilting of her head and paused, like a small animal stunned when it heard a danger signal.
Soon, he was lost in thought again, unwilling to think, yet forced to. He needed to understand their behavior and psychology, his own role and situation, and what he should do.
Ren Xiao raised her hand to support her forehead. She frowned tightly. She hadn't finished speaking, but she didn't know how to continue.
Bai Yi asked first, "Ren Xiao, is there anything else you want to tell me?"
"Otherwise, you wouldn't have mentioned Zhong Yunxi and Wen Ying at the same time. Nor would you have emphasized that they are just work partners."
Ren Xiao was stunned by her analysis and questions. Sometimes she felt that Bai Yi was frighteningly sensitive.
She swiped her phone open and handed it over; the screen showed the screenshot Wen Ying had given her.
Bai Yi lowered his head to look.
She didn't know how long she had been looking at it, but she reached out and pulled her coat from the back of the sofa over her shoulders, and looked at it for a while longer.
She even stared at the date again and again; it was 8 a.m. on Christmas Day.
She and Zhong Yunxi made love in northern Xinjiang, almost all night long.
She suddenly looked up and said, "Send it to me."
After saying that, I long-pressed the image and prepared to share it.
Ren Xiao snatched it away and, in front of Bai Yi, deleted the picture, cleared the chat history, and even deleted it a second time, emptying the photo album's junk file. "I won't let you keep this kind of thing."
Bai Yi stared at her, "Then I'll call Wen Ying, she'll definitely give it to me."
Ren Xiao pressed her hand down: "If Wen Ying wanted to give it to you, why didn't she just come to you directly?"
Bai Yi felt annoyed and pressed her forehead with both hands.
He said, "I should call Senior Brother He and Teacher Wu, because I messed up this project."
Bai Yi's mind was racing, connecting Ren Xiao's words with the picture, and her deductions were spiraling out of control. After regaining her composure, she said to Ren Xiao again, "I'm sorry."
Ren Xiao's nerves snapped. She knew that although Bai Yi's logic was currently off, it was still in a closed loop.
She had just tried to persuade Bai Yi that cutting the project was due to objective factors and that it was a business decision, but it seems that it had no effect on or guided Bai Yi's thinking at all.
Bai Yi now believes that Wen Ying can easily crush her at work, while Zhong Yunxi and Wen Ying are bound together by interests, and their old love could rekindle at any time. He supports Wen Ying's career decisions without hesitation.
He was foolish enough to get caught up in the illusion of romance and even drag the research team down with him.
How can she still be so stupid?
Last time, she personally delivered herself into Zhong Yunxi's scheme, and now she's dragging in someone she cares about so much as well.
Ren Xiao knew Bai Yi's stubbornness and willfulness all too well, so he grabbed her hand and said, "Bai Yi, wake up."
Ren Xiao suddenly admired Zhong Yunxi. She didn't know how Zhong Yunxi dealt with Bai Yi when she was stuck on a rut, but she was already on the verge of a breakdown because of Bai Yi's two sentences.
Bai Yi was completely unreasonable and acted arbitrarily.
She is currently in a state of complete inability to communicate. No matter how reasonable and well-founded the analysis is, she just reads it and replies randomly.
When her brain analyzes things related to Zhong Yunxi, it follows a different path.
Because she loved him, reason and logic were trapped by love.
Bai Yi frowned: "Ren Xiao, I'm not delirious, I just feel a bit nauseous. Zhong Yunxi is on the 108th floor, you know that, right? I feel disgusted just being in this building."
She tried to tear away the reason and logic that were trapped by love, but she couldn't, to the point that her internal organs reacted.
Ren Xiao panicked too. She hadn't expected Bai Yi to be so stressed, and she was afraid something might happen to her.
"Shall I take you to the hospital?" She helped Bai Yi up, her face draining of color and her palms cold and clammy.
**
When Zhong Yunxi came downstairs, he didn't see Bai Yi. The waiter said that Bai Yi had just left not long ago and seemed to be feeling unwell.
He pulled up the coffee shop's surveillance footage and watched it every second. The footage didn't show many details, but he could still sense that Bai Yi wasn't in a good state.
He dialed the number, but no one answered; he tried several times without receiving a response.
He didn't know Ren Xiao very well, but Bai Yi had mentioned the name that morning. At this time, the only reason he could arrange to meet her was for work, either Runhe's work or Sijian's project.
After returning to his office, he asked Xue Meng, "Check if there is a person named Ren Xiao in Si Jian, and get her contact information for me."
Five minutes later, he called Ren Xiao. As soon as the call connected, Zhong Yunxi asked, "Are you with Xiao Yi? Where are you? The waiter at the coffee shop said she looked unwell just now."
Bai Yi took Ren Xiao's phone and hung up.
She replied to Zhong Yunxi, "Zhong Yunxi, I'm going to the park."
Her calmness made Zhong Yunxi feel terrified even on the phone.
Zhong Yunxi took a deep breath and said gently, "The weather forecast says it will rain today. Go home early at noon. I'll call your aunt and she'll make you some soup. Don't stay outside too long, or you'll catch a cold."
She just hummed in agreement.
When Ren Xiao arrived at the hospital entrance, Bai Yi seemed to realize where she was. "I want to go home."
"Why don't you get your stomach checked? You just threw up like that in the bathroom. I won't feel at ease if you don't get it checked," Ren Xiao gently advised her.
She shook her head: "There are so many people in the hospital, and it smells like disinfectant everywhere. I'll throw up."
Ren Xiao roughly understood that she probably only felt safe in familiar places.
"Okay, where is it? I'll take you back."
Bai Yi, his mind still a bit foggy, said, "The family compound of Yuegang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital."
Ren Xiao didn't recall her living there, but she didn't ask any further questions and went to the address she was given.
After arriving at the residential area, Bai Yi refused to let Ren Xiao escort her upstairs.
"Xiaoyi, I won't leave you alone until someone comes to keep you company." Ren Xiao's attitude was even more resolute.
Bai Yi lowered his eyes and didn't chase her away anymore.
After Li Jing went to England, the house has been empty for more than a month. The regular cleaning service should have just come in the last day or two. There are still lilies in full bloom in the living room.
She slowly draped the sofa and chairs with white gauze.
Then she went back to her bedroom to pack her luggage. She didn't have much to pack here, but she didn't bring much with her when she returned to Vietnam and Hong Kong.
She didn't want to go back to Qiwu Mountain Residence. Now, no matter where she went, Zhong Yunxi would know immediately.
Ren Xiao stood at the door watching and heard her talking on the phone. She was speaking in a southwestern dialect, which Ren Xiao couldn't understand very well.
At noon, Ren Xiao asked her what she wanted to eat, and she shook her head.
When Zhong Yunxi called, Ren Xiao felt flustered. After several calls, Bai Yi finally answered, "Zhong Yunxi, please stop calling me."
"Xiaoyi, where are you? Auntie said you didn't go back."
She said expressionlessly, "Shopping."
Zhong Yunxi sensed something was wrong, but couldn't pinpoint what it was, so he could only go along with her and say, "Then I'll come over this afternoon and go shopping with you."
"I have friends with me, I don't want to go shopping with you." Bai Yi often refused Zhong Yunxi like this, and there was nothing unusual in her voice.
Ren Xiao couldn't listen anymore and went downstairs to buy lunch. Once outside, Ren Xiao took a deep breath, the suffocating feeling subsided, and she felt tears welling up in her eyes.
The flight from Yuegang to Xiangcheng departs at 8 PM.
After six o'clock, Zhong Yunxi could no longer get through to Bai Yi on the phone.
He called Lu Xin to ask where he was, and Lu Xin said he was at Tingsongyuan.
He hung up the phone, went inside and saw Lu Xin at the card table. He took the cards from Lu Xin's hand and threw them down, then pulled Lu Xin out. "Call Xiao Yi now."
Lu Xin called him crazy: "What are you hitting? Didn't Xiao Yi go back to Xiangcheng?"
Zhong Yunxi asked, "When did she tell you that?"
Lu Xin looked at him, "You don't know?"
Zhong Yunxi didn't say anything, so Lu Xin patted his chest with the back of his hand: "What happened? You tell me first."
“Sijian has cut its Chinese medicine department. There are projects from Professor Wu’s team, Xiaoyi and He Cheng. Sijian just integrated them. I am a shareholder, and Wen Ying is in charge of management. They came up with the plan.”
Lu Xin: ...
"Didn't I remind you months ago that you should have given a heads-up about Wen Ying's matter earlier, or even filed a report? Why did you keep it a secret until now and let this bombshell drop?"
"That's not true, why would I file a report?" Zhong Yunxi still didn't think he had any reason to talk about Wen Ying in front of Bai Yi.
"You two spent five years abroad, and everyone in your friends' circles knew you were a perfect match and deeply in love. You made countless second-generation rich kids who were forced into arranged marriages extremely envious. And now you're saying it wasn't true?"
Zhong Yunxi: ...
How did the rumors start, and how did they spread so rapidly amidst Wen Ying's tacit approval and his lack of denial? He didn't have the energy for useless analysis right now.
Lu Xin told him, "This afternoon, Teacher Wu called and said that Xiao Yi was working in Yuegang, and I would take over first while she went back to Xiangcheng. I never imagined the problem was with you. It's obvious that she didn't want to see you at all and went to Teacher Wu for help."
Lu Xin felt increasingly sorry for Bai Yi. "What are you going to tell Teacher Wu and He Cheng when she goes back to Xiangcheng? Tell her she went back to Yuegang, got married, and ended up losing face and the project? You really deserve to die."
Zhong Yunxi said in a deep voice, "Give her a call."
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