Chapter 21 Chapter 21
Start the engine, release the parking brake, and start. The unicorn-gray car trudged through the half-man-high reed path and drove onto the right road in one go.
The sky was gloomy, with gray clouds crumbling and raindrops hitting the window.
"Close the window."
After being silent for a long time, Lu Ye finally spoke calmly, as if he was an old friend who was kind enough to give her a ride.
"Okay." An Jiuyue responded blankly and mechanically raised the passenger window that he had just lowered.
She couldn't quite tell whether this was a dream or reality. From the moment Lu Ye appeared, everything seemed to become confusing and strange. She felt like a detached spectator, struggling to follow the plot.
If it was someone else, she might have shouted to stop. But the person who suddenly broke in was Lu Ye.
She still had the muscle memory of unconditional obedience to him. She didn't even ask why he suddenly appeared and why he blocked her and her car behind him.
An Jiyue hated herself for not being ambitious enough, but she couldn't hate the man who was concentrating on driving beside her.
She did the same in the past. In order to save herself some brainpower, she gave all the decision-making power of giving orders to Lu Ye, and she just felt at ease being a loyal soldier who followed his orders.
The car swerved at an intersection, Lu Ye's palm expertly rubbing the steering wheel. An Jiyue glanced away, her gaze fixed on his rolled-up sleeves. The black onyx dial on his wrist was tilted towards her, and two dark letters seemed to be hidden in the base.
She tilted her head, staring intently. The edges of the velvet writing, usually imperceptible, were remarkably clear in the soft, plain light of the rainy day.
"JY" was quietly protected under the diamond glass, lying safely on the black onyx dial. The mud on his cuffs had now dried into a pile of broken dirt stains.
She was stunned for a moment, not knowing what was going on. A dull shudder passed through her heart. JY, was that her name?
After a while, she finally remembered to ask, "Where are we going?"
Lu Ye's voice was cold, "Didn't I just say it was Sea Breeze Restaurant?"
"It's a dinner party between you and the two bosses. Should I go too?"
Lu Ye didn't answer immediately. He took advantage of the last few seconds of the red light to give her a deep glance. His lips were pale, his face was haggard, and his slightly sunken eye sockets couldn't hide his fatigue. Seeing that she was still waiting for an answer, he raised his eyebrows.
"Of course you have to go, and you have to close Zhan Nianqing's business. Otherwise, why do you think I would set up this game for you?"
An Jiyue flinched as she recalled the scene, feeling a sudden pang of regret for her smart suit. Even Lu Ye, concentrating on driving, could hear her apprehension in the silence. He rolled his Adam's apple and sneered.
"In a place like G City where there are all sorts of people, Mr. An has the guts to personally go to the factory and find fault. Isn't that quite courageous?"
"If I hadn't arrived, you were really going to get out of the car and confront a group of men head-on, right?"
His lips were as thin as a crease, and his sharp words didn't give An Jiyue any face at all, as if he had found her heart and stabbed her hard. His pupils were shining, but his expression was as cold as an ice sculpture.
At that moment just now, he was also terrified.
After speeding through the night, the driver finally gave up as soon as he reached City G. He didn't dare stop for even a second, so he hailed a random car and headed straight for Xinfeng Garment.
During this time, he was still trying to contact people everywhere, trying to establish a connection with the owner of Xinfeng Garment. His two spare phones died of battery.
The call to An Jiyue never went through. For a moment, he stared angrily at the row of unanswered call records, and even thought of beating Zhan Nianqing until he couldn't stand up after returning.
Zhan Nianqing actually dared to ask her to do such a thing.
When they were doing on-site internship together, Lu Ye didn't even allow her to stay in a hotel near the project factory.
The rain grew heavier, the waving wipers stirring up a hazy mist. An Jiyue's face was gloomy. She reached out to wipe the glass, scribbling on the passenger window, her fingers unconsciously writing "LY".
After realizing what was happening, he quickly wiped it off and looked at Lu Ye's profile with a guilty conscience. Only then did he realize that he had lowered the left window by a quarter, and the raindrops rushed in, soaking his arms and sleeves.
"How can I open the windows when it's raining so hard? If you're worried about fogging, just turn on the air conditioner."
He casually raised his hand to wipe away the water droplets on his forehead, and replied in a muffled voice: "It's okay, just some fresh air."
Not only his hair, but even his eyebrows and eyelashes were covered in tiny drops of water, making his eyes look as cold and clear as ink. Over the years, his profile had lost all trace of the student-like charm of his youth, instead becoming even more stern, even revealing a hint of sharpness when angry.
The fresh wind mixed with moisture blew in her face and rushed into her mouth and nose. An Jiyue's mind suddenly became clear, and she suddenly remembered her past experience of severe motion sickness.
At that time, they were on an internship and business trip for research, taking a long-distance bus to a remote factory. Her face always turned purple, and she suppressed her nausea and whispered to others to open more windows.
She would always face the window crack, welcoming the hard-earned fresh air. Lu Ye would hold her on his shoulders, whispering anecdotes and miscellaneous stories to her in his clear voice, and they would spend the whole journey in a daze like this.
It seemed that no matter how arduous the journey was, with him by her side, she could go to the end without any worries.
An Jiyue quietly studied his determined, focused expression. Lu Ye's soaked left arm remained as resolute as a statue. As she watched, even her own vision seemed to become hazy and misty, and her nose grew sore.
She suppressed her sobs and announced her decision loudly, "I'll go."
Lu Ye was surprised to hear her sudden declaration. Just as he was about to speak, she stopped him.
"Just close the window and I'll go."
He turned to look at her in surprise, as if to confirm her expression, but she wrinkled her nose in dissatisfaction and whispered, "I can drive, so why do I still get carsick..."
Yes. On the other side of the continent, private cars are the most important means of daily transportation. After five years, she had naturally overcome this problem.
This is not the time to be sad. Lu Ye dispelled the sadness in his heart and led her to talk about the main topic.
"Liao Xiong's substitution is almost certain. Are you here just to find some evidence?"
An Jiyue curled her pink lips, straightened her back inexplicably, and sat upright with the air of a young lady.
Naturally, she wouldn't fight an unprepared battle. She already had a purchase contract in her bag, and the amount offered was more than enough to buy the entire factory.
"You are still so overbearing in giving alms without even asking whether others are willing to accept it."
Lu Ye's voice was light and delicate, and his slender fingers tapped the steering wheel casually.
An Jiyue felt a chill down her spine, and suddenly felt as if the sincerity she had given with such passion was being held in mid-air, swaying from side to side, being scrutinized and judged.
Back then, she was so arrogant and strong that Lu Ye had to build a clear wall between them, isolating them from each other.
She lowered her eyes, afraid that if she said one more word, the warmth they had just shared would be shattered. When she looked up timidly, Lu Ye was looking at her with a smile in his eyes, as if it was just an ordinary teasing.
It seemed as if she was holding a grudge.
Lu Ye leaned back in his seat, deliberately slowed down the car, scanned the road conditions, and chatted with her frankly, his voice relaxed and lazy.
"Xinfeng Garments' workmanship is flawless, and the flexible production line has been debugged for a long time. Zhan Nianqing has just created some brand effect, and orders will be booming as soon as the show starts. How can we guarantee production and delivery if we change the OEM factory at this time?"
"Besides, do you know why I asked Liao Feng to come? Because Liao Feng's logistics channels have been established all over the country, and all of his brother Liao Xiong's goods rely on their own logistics. Other factories simply can't offer such a bonus."
"You want to solve the problem through acquisition, spending money and people to buy peace of mind, but you're destined not to be able to buy this factory. Even if you did, it would no longer have the logistics advantages. In fact, it's not just in G City. The domestic business world is mostly intricately connected, and one move often affects the entire system. It's not your fault for not thinking about it—you always examine projects through the eyes of a capital group, accustomed to selecting the best from the best. You want beautifully written roadshow materials and ambitious startup teams, so naturally you don't understand grassroots businesses that well."
Every word he said made sense, and even though he tried to soothe her emotions, An Jiyue still felt a great discomfort in her heart.
What grassroots, what corporate? They were sitting in the same car discussing the same project, how could he have so cleanly separated them both? It was as if she was born to be associated with glamor, while he was destined to be deeply involved in the grassroots team.
Should he support her or draw a line between them? Her eyes flickered from the tips of her spotless lambskin high heels to the muddy cuffs of his shirt.
"So, what should we do this time?"
She asked softly, her breathing trembling, just like the hardworking team member who used to obey his orders.
Lu Ye smiled faintly, not taking it seriously. "Let's have a drink and build some friendship. If you're really worried, you can bribe a senior executive in charge of production at the factory. If you do business for a long time, you'll become long-term partners. These are all trivial matters."
He looked experienced and mature, his expression unchanged, and his tone as calm as if he was teaching her how to cook a dish. In the space of a few words, he even overtook a slow-moving car in front.
"Let's have a drink?" she asked in a lost voice, her eyebrows raised.
Lu Ye glanced at her sideways, and his thin lips, which had gradually regained their color, curled up, "I'll drink. Just talk."
After thinking for a moment, he added worriedly, "Don't talk anymore. Just eat your food."
An Jiyue shook her head blankly. She didn't want to ask who was drinking and talking, but she wanted to ask why he could go to the bar so easily now.
She also wanted to ask when he, who was so noble and low-key back then, became so worldly-wise and able to speak politely with ease.
Isn't his reputation that he "doesn't rely on drinking but on ability" a powerful person? She had already read all the old news about him.
Lu Ye sensed her thoughts and smiled helplessly, thinking she was naive: "You're just using me as a front. In this line of work, how could that be possible?"
An Jiyue was in a state of dismay. Suddenly, she found a sentence from her memory and repeated it unconsciously.
“I do this to make the impossible possible.”
The man driving the car looked frozen, as if he had met an old friend who had traveled through time by chance. He was stiff and awkward, not knowing how to greet him.
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