Chapter 24 [VIP]
Chapter summary: "I thought you liked her."
The next morning, Su Wenjin arrived at the conference room on the 58th floor early.
The secretary brought over several documents, but Su Wenjin didn't even glance at them. He was eager to know what had happened last night.
Xu Tianzhou finally arrived.
He looked unwell, with bluish under-eyes and an extremely weary expression. He kept pressing his forehead after sitting down.
Su Wenjin said, "Yesterday..."
Xu Tianzhou turned around, put his hand down, and his face still looked tired.
Su Wenjin sighed inwardly and continued, "I had a meeting with the consulting firm yesterday."
He ultimately didn't ask the question.
Yesterday evening, Su Wenjin was in a meeting when she suddenly received a call from Xu Tianzhou. There was some noise on the other end of the line, but Xu Tianzhou's voice was calm and steady, like a clear spring flowing over her.
"Find a few people right away and have them have dinner with her at Yue Ding Xuan."
"Have a meal?"
Xu Tianzhou didn't explain why, but continued to instruct, "Make a note of this."
At the time, Su Wenjin was somewhat dismissive. He had an excellent memory, not quite a photographic memory, so what was it that he had to remember?
Su Wenjin stood up and gestured for the others to wait a moment.
He came out of the conference room, turned around and went into the empty conference room next door, locked the door, put on his headphones, and then said to Xu Tianzhou on the other end of the phone, "Ready."
Xu Tianzhou began to outline the requirements, from the number of people, time, location, and attire, to the entire dinner process, how to call people over, what to say after they sit down, and what to do in case of emergencies.
He spoke with extreme detail and precision, even down to the exact time and what to do, as if he had every speck of dust under his control.
Xu Tianzhou also emphasized several details, such as ensuring the density of the conversation and not giving Ni Zhenzhen any time to think.
What chilled Su Wenjin the most was his tone, indifferent and aloof, devoid of any emotion.
Su Wenjin took notes rapidly. The conference room was extremely quiet, but Xu Tianzhou's side was very noisy, sounding like he was in a convenience store because someone was asking, "Where are the instant noodles?"
This serious atmosphere, intertwined with the unique vibe of everyday life, creates an extremely bizarre and unreal feeling.
As more and more words appeared on the screen, Su Wenjin's heart sank to the bottom. The dense text was like a net, quietly swarming towards Ni Zhenzhen.
Xu Tianzhou finished speaking in one breath and asked him if there was anything he didn't understand.
Su Wenjin had too many questions, but all he could say was, "No."
"Okay, I'll contact you again if anything comes up."
The dial tone of the call ending came through the earpiece. Su Wenjin stared at the text messages, lost in thought. "What's going on?"
Without a second thought, he quickly found a few reliable friends, told them his requirements, and assigned them roles, adding, "Be careful not to give yourself away."
Su Wenjin gave some instructions on what to pay attention to, but he still felt it wasn't enough. He sighed worriedly, "It's a pity there's no time left, otherwise we could have done a rehearsal."
My friend scoffed, "What's there to rehearse? It's just a dinner party, it's a piece of cake. I'm just a little curious, who exactly is she that you're putting so much effort into?"
Su Wenjin pressed her temples, her voice weary, "A friend."
"Friend?" the person opposite chuckled. "I thought you liked her."
"..." Su Wenjin was suddenly stunned, her mind went blank for a moment, and she almost forgot where she was.
Seeing that Su Wenjin did not answer, the person opposite exclaimed, "I guessed right?"
Su Wenjin then realized that the other party had just said it casually.
He quickly steered the conversation back on track, his tone noticeably different from before. He told the other person to be serious and not to take it so casually.
But what really made the other side nervous was Su Wenjin's words, "We must be absolutely certain that everything will be perfect."
In his friends' memories, Su Wenjin had never said such a thing. On the contrary, he often said things like "mistakes should be allowed." It turns out that the so-called "allowing mistakes" depends on who and what happens. For things that are truly important, of course, there can be no mistakes.
The other person was clearly startled, and began to stammer, "I...I understand, what you said has made me very nervous."
Actually, Su Wenjin was a little nervous, not just because she was a friend.
After hanging up the phone, Su Wenjin was restless. He kept thinking about the situation on the other end, pacing back and forth in the empty conference room until his assistant reminded him that the consulting firm's people were still waiting for him. Only then did he remember that a meeting was still going on here.
He was too distracted to concentrate, so he had to end the meeting there, saying, "Let's go eat first."
At the dinner table, Su Wenjin was also absent-minded. Finally, he received a call from a friend.
Su Wenjin immediately left the group of guests and went outside.
Perhaps because he had been drinking, my friend was in a good mood and recounted the whole incident with great interest.
Su Wenjin listened with great interest, occasionally asking, "And then?"
When they got to the final, hilariously awkward scene, my friend was laughing so hard he was breathless. "It's a shame you weren't here, it was so funny! You have to call me next time something like this happens..."
Su Wenjin was also smiling, but there was a hint of melancholy in her smile.
Not only this friend, but several others also praised Ni Zhenzhen highly, and they even came to the conclusion, "No wonder you like her."
One sentence pulled Su Wenjin back to reality. Su Wenjin smiled bitterly. How could he possibly develop feelings for someone he had never met? If there was anything at all, it was only pity. Besides…
Su Wenjin said calmly, "She got married."
My friend fell silent. Even a seasoned social butterfly would struggle to find the right words at that moment.
The atmosphere became incredibly awkward, but fortunately Su Wenjin broke the silence in time.
He mustered his courage and asked, "Did you take a picture?"
"Of course." The person on the other end breathed a sigh of relief. What a coincidence! He said enthusiastically, "Wait a minute, I'll send it to you right away."
Su Wenjin held her phone, her eyes fixed, as if the person had sent her not a photo, but an incredibly precious, fleeting shooting star.
With a few notification sounds, several photos popped up on the screen.
Su Wenjin was somewhat surprised that there was more than one photo, including both panoramic and close-up shots, with excellent detail. However, she couldn't see any people in the photos because they were all pictures of vegetables!
Who the hell wants to see the food!
"How was it?" the man asked him in a tone that suggested he was about to be praised.
Su Wenjin gritted her teeth and said, "It's fine."
"Of course, my photography skills are always excellent; your friend even praised me." The person opposite continued enthusiastically, "This restaurant is really good, especially the roast goose, it was absolutely amazing..."
Su Wenjin didn't care at all about how the food at that restaurant was; he only wanted to know what happened to Ni Zhenzhen afterward, and only Xu Tianzhou knew about that.
After Su Wenjin reported the results of the meeting with the consulting firm to Xu Tianzhou, Xu Tianzhou nodded and asked, "Is there anything else?"
"..." Su Wenjin inevitably thought of Ni Zhenzhen. He smiled and said, "That's all."
Xu Tianzhou stood up, then turned around, as if he had something to say.
But no, he didn't say anything, but just smiled casually.
Su Wenjin found it strange and asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing." Xu Tianzhou decided not to say anything, because if he did, Su Wenjin would definitely take the opportunity to make fun of him.
In the elevator, the thought popped into his head again: he wanted to buy a house.
Last night, Ni Zhenzhen got very drunk and talked a lot of nonsense in her delirium.
He did remember one thing.
He was wiping Ni Zhenzhen's face when she stopped him, flailing her arms and slapping his face several times.
Xu Tianzhou was furious and muttered a rebuke.
Seemingly sensing his anger, Ni Zhenzhen immediately stopped moving. She became incredibly obedient, like a lazy kitten, her face beaming with a silly, adorable smile.
Ni Zhenzhen paused for a moment, then suddenly became incredibly excited again, "You know what? That restaurant has a view of Huijing Center!"
Xu Tianzhou thought to himself that Huijing Center could be seen from many places, so it was nothing special.
Ni Zhenzhen closed her eyes, her face full of longing, "The house we buy in the future should also have a view of Huijing Center, so that I can look at it when I miss you."
Remembering Ni Zhenzhen's words, Xu Tianzhou smiled once again.
He took out his phone; the screen showed a photo of Ni Zhenzhen posing with the Christmas tree in front of Rockefeller Center. Ni Zhenzhen had changed the photo; he always thought about changing it, but always forgot. Over time, he got used to it.
Xu Tianzhou looked at the photo, his thoughts drifting far away, wondering if Ni Zhenzhen was thinking of him now.
Before we knew it, it was the beginning of the month, and the branch manager called a meeting with everyone.
The director summarized the marketing situation last month, and he especially praised Qian Lina and Ni Zhenzhen, saying that they worked hard enough and it was not easy for them to achieve such results.
After the director finished speaking, he said to Rong Xiaodan with regret, "There's really nothing we can do this time."
At that moment, Qian Lina's heart unexpectedly jumped. Although she had expected it, she still felt a little sad when the time actually came.
The director announced his decision in front of everyone: "Although I really want to keep you, the credit department is even more short-staffed. Starting next week, Rong Xiaodan will be transferred to the credit department as an account manager."
"..."
Amidst the astonishment, applause began to ring out sparsely.
Qian Lina looked incredulous, and Rong Xiaodan herself was also very surprised. She asked several times, "Really?"
After receiving a definite answer, Rong Xiaodan said worriedly, "I'm afraid I won't do it well."
The director said, "It's okay, take your time to learn. Everyone has to learn step by step."
After the meeting ended, Ni Zhenzhen hugged Rong Xiaodan first and said, "Congratulations."
Qian Lina had tears in her eyes, but in the end she didn't say anything.
She later learned that Rong Xiaodan had never done any marketing at the counter, because she didn't need to.
Everyone who enters a bank is asked, "Do you have resources?"
Rong Xiaodan is the kind of person who comes with her own resources.
She is a local, and although she has a rural household registration, she has several relatives who are relocated due to land expropriation. Each of them can easily contribute several million yuan in savings. In addition, her parents know friends who own factories nearby. They are helping her complete her deposit-gathering tasks now, so that she can get some convenience in obtaining loans in the future. It's a win-win situation, and it will come in handy someday.
Qian Lina is different. Strictly speaking, she does have some resources, but they are completely useless here. In this new city, she has to start from scratch.
Qian Lina finally understood why her ex-boyfriend wanted to go back, and now she is also wondering if she made the wrong choice.
After get off work in the afternoon, Rong Xiaodan suggested treating everyone to dinner.
Qian Lina said she wasn't feeling well and wouldn't go.
Whether intentionally or not, Rong Xiaodan actually kept asking Qian Lina, "Where do you feel unwell?"
Qian Lina almost blurted out the words "I feel uncomfortable," but she maintained a semblance of professional decorum and deflected by saying, "I'm on my period."
Rong Xiaodan said with some regret, "Alright then."
She then said to Ni Zhenzhen, "You must come. Is your husband free? Invite him too."
Ni Zhenzhen hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and said, "Okay, I'll ask."
[Author's Note]
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 20220118 22:33:16 and 20220123 15:51:43!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: 6 bottles of grapefruit;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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