The elevator arrived at the designated floor.
As soon as the elevator door opened, they found two familiar figures standing at the front desk of the company. They were Bo Yueming and Pei Yi, whom they met at the Bo family banquet that day.
Yan Cen went out first. Li Yu'an and Louyang looked at each other and tactfully reduced their presence.
Speaking of which, GM was jointly funded by Yan Cen and Bo Yueming.
However, the latter has been working in his own group in recent years. Because he suffered a car accident and injured his eyes some time ago, he was suppressed by his relatives and temporarily withdrew from the management of the Bo Group.
However, it happened to be a critical period for GM to return to China for development. Although Bo Yueming had difficulty with his eyes, his decision-making ability was still there.
Naturally, he had to attend this business investment meeting.
As for Pei Yi who followed him, although the Bo family publicized that they were marriage candidates, in Li Yu'an's opinion, the two seemed like a real couple who had turned their fake relationship into reality.
Yan Cen's assistant spoke, "Hello, Mr. Yan."
His eyes turned to Li Yu'an who came with him, "And Mr. Li, did you come here together?"
"..."
Came here together?
Li Yu'an's heartbeat was accelerated by this word, and he didn't know why he was feeling guilty, "No, no, I happened to meet Mr. Yan in the elevator."
Whether it was his most secret feelings or the game investment, Li Yu'an wanted to rely on his own real ability to obtain it.
Especially in terms of work communication, it was not easy for their Dawn Game to bring "End of Fog" into the final round, and he didn't want others to have any unnecessary misunderstandings about the relationship between Yan Cen and himself.
So as not to cause trouble to Yan Cen, and also to disrespect Will who created the game behind the scenes.
Li Yu'an's thoughts moved sensitively, and suddenly met Pei Yi's gaze.
Their eyes met and then separated.
You know, the other party is a well-known "little fool" in the Imperial Capital circle.
But for some reason, Li Yu'an inexplicably developed a sense of embarrassment as if his thoughts were "seen through", and subconsciously lowered his eyes.
Fortunately, Yan Cen on the side quickly took up his topic, "Well, I came up from the underground parking lot, and I met Mr. Li when the elevator stopped on the first floor..."
Everyone stood and chatted for a while, and the door of the elevator opened for the third time - another group of game work managers who participated in the bidding also arrived.
Ke Ming, the boss of Youming Studio, saw a group of people gathered at the door. After a brief surprise, he smiled politely.
"What a coincidence, why are you all gathered here?"
Ke Ming recognized Yan Cen's identity and took the initiative to greet him, "Mr. Yan, I am Ke Ming, the head of Youming Studio. I have heard of you for a long time."
Yan Cen pushed his glasses lightly and responded politely, "Mr. Ke."
Compared with Li Yu'an's coldness and restraint, Ke Ming obviously knows how to build interpersonal relationships. He took the initiative to introduce, "Mr. Yan, these two are our "Alien" project's program technical director, Xiang Nansheng."
"And project operation, Pei Huan."
"..."
The moment these words came out, Li Yu'an saw Pei Huan coming up from the end of the team.
The other party still had the image of a bright and beautiful young master. Although he didn't dress in a high-profile manner, anyone with a discerning eye could tell the high price at once.
Facing Pei Huan who suddenly appeared, Yan Cen was still a little surprised, "Pei Huan? Are you related to the project of Youming Studio? Why wasn't it stated in the advance materials?"
You know, the list of people participating in the competition needs to be reported in advance, even if the GM is not strict in controlling the accompanying personnel.
Ke Ming explained, "Mr. Yan, you don't know that Pei Huan is a new member, but I have been lobbying him since the beginning of the project, and I finally managed to pry him in two days ago."
Pei Huan heard Ke Ming's hypothetical words on the surface, smiled and did not refute.
In fact, he has no substantial relationship with the "Alien" project, and the so-called "project operation" is just a temporary figurehead.
Pei Huan and Ke Ming met at the "Excellent Students Exchange Meeting" organized during college. Although they came from different schools, they became friends over time because of their similar hobbies and interests.
A week ago, Ke Ming suddenly contacted Pei Huan and put the "Alien" project in front of him, and said that
if Pei Huan was interested in this project, he could give part of his personal shares to the other party.
Although the initial investment waiting time is long, once the subsequent game is successfully released, it will definitely make a lot of money.
After some consideration, Pei Huan had the idea.
Ke Ming continued to speak, "Mr. Yan, Pei Huan and I met during college. The original script of "Alien" and the prototype of the creatures were also discussed by us after drinking."
When making up this lie, a brief gleam of light flashed in the depths
of Ke Ming's pupils. I heard that Yan Cen had a special appreciation for Pei Huan on the eve of graduation. So, he was counting on the other party to secretly favor them in this competition and give them special treatment because of this "fellow teacher and student from the same school".
Just thinking about it, Ke Ming smiled and glanced at Li Yu'an who was silent beside him.
As both are game companies, "Youming" and "Liming" naturally have open and secret struggles. Ke Ming had a quarrel with Li Yu'an a while ago, and he couldn't stand the other party's arrogant attitude. He
has fallen into such a miserable state, who is he still trying to show off to? This time he must trample Li Yu'an and his shabby company under his feet!
How could Li Yu'an not see Ke Ming's competitiveness and malice?
Before he could say anything, he saw Pei Huan, who was originally a little distance away from Yan Cen, suddenly stepped forward, "Senior, no..."
He paused slightly, smiled and stopped in front of Yan Cen, "It's President Yan, I look forward to the next communication with your company."
"..."
Communication?
Is the result of this competition already set in stone?
They were both seniors and juniors, so why could Pei Huan stand in front of Yan Cen so confidently and calmly?
He could only stand in the corner secretly, and even had to be careful to look at him, telling himself again and again not to cross the line.
"..."
Suddenly, a trace of sadness that did not belong to work filled the tip of his heart.
Li Yu'an involuntarily took a half step back. He had to admit that Ke Ming's trick had indeed defeated him unintentionally.
Fortunately, Bo Yueming, who was also a senior executive, ignored Ke Ming's implicit suggestion of an "alumni" relationship and said in a deep voice, "GM always values strength. As for things outside of work, there is no need to communicate too much."
In one sentence, those secret thoughts were almost exposed. Ke Ming and Pei Huan's expressions showed embarrassment at the same time, and their smiles were stiff.
Yan Cen, who was always gentle to others, did not try to smooth things over at this moment. He just told his assistant, "Shen Na, please ask the responsible persons of both parties to go to the lounge and sit down. We will start on time in the conference room at 2 o'clock."
One thing is another.
Their GM values character and strength. It is definitely not a company that can get through the back door by relying on relationships.
Yan Cen's attitude was revealed invisibly. He patted his friend Bo Yueming on the shoulder, but his eyes unconsciously glanced at Li Yu'an.
Since just now, the other party seemed to be particularly silent. I don't know what he was thinking or what he was thinking. Did he really think he was the kind of person who couldn't distinguish between public and private?
--
The executive director's office, there was still some time before the formal bidding meeting at 2 o'clock.
Yan Cen watched Pei Yi leave to go to the bathroom, and personally delivered the brewed coffee to Bo Yueming, who had difficulty seeing, and asked in a low voice, "Yueming, I said you are serious?"
Bo Yueming held the coffee cup tightly, "What?" Now
that the door was closed, Yan Cen did not beat around the bush, "Are you serious about Pei Yi? Have you ever thought that with his current... current intelligence, you have to take care of him for the rest of his life?"
The two young masters of the Pei family are cousins, one is Pei Huan, and the other is Pei Yi. If the former is famous for his glory, then the latter is a famous fool who is hated by everyone.
This marriage was originally an exchange of commercial interests between the two families, and Bo Yueming and Pei Yi were both pawns who were helplessly involved.
When Bo Yueming heard his friend's question, a hint of an obvious smile flashed across his slightly unfocused eyes, "You don't understand, Pei Yi knows very well, whoever treats him as a fool is the real fool."
"..."
Yan Cen, who was silenced, pushed his glasses without any dissatisfaction of being "treated as a fool".
Bo Yueming continued, "If he allows in the future, it's not impossible for me to live with him like this for the rest of my life."
Yan Cen laughed, not expecting that friendship had reached this point. "I thought you were cold-hearted and would never be able to find love in your life."
Bo Yueming fumbled and took a sip of coffee, then asked him, "What about you? Have you really not met anyone suitable in all these years abroad? You don't really have any thoughts about your junior fellow student, do you?"
Yan Cen was stunned. "Junior fellow student?"
Bo Yueming pointed out, "Pei Huan."
Yan Cen immediately retorted, "What's the connection?"
"Yes, I don't deny that I admired Pei Huan's operational ability in the investment simulation competition in college, but that's all. I don't have any thoughts about him in that regard."
Bo Yueming pressed on, "What about the others?"
"Boss Bo, when did you change your job to become a gossip reporter? I..." Yan Cen hadn't finished his complaints when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
"Boss Yan, sorry to bother you."
The employee in charge of logistics came in and explained briefly, "The parking system of our building has collapsed and needs to be replaced. The property management called and said that the internal license plate needs to be re-entered."
The employee looked at Bo Yueming, "Assistant Lin has already told me the license plate number that Boss Bo often uses. Please report it again, Boss Yan."
"Beijing A8A168."
Yan Cen reported his own license plate number.
The employee took his tablet and took notes. He seemed to have discovered something new and said casually, "Boss Yan, the last five digits of your license plate are the same as Boss Li's."
Yan Cen was stunned while drinking coffee. "What?"
A scene suddenly appeared in his mind, and he took the tablet from the employee's hand.
The employee was shaken by his boss's action and hurriedly explained, "Assistant Shen asked me to write down the license plate numbers of the heads of the two companies so that I can reimburse the parking fees for today."
"I just happened to meet Boss Li asking about the location of the restroom, so I wrote it down."
"Beijing Q, 8A168."
Yan Cen focused his eyes on the license plate number on the tablet, and for the first time ever, he smiled.
No wonder he felt that Li Yu'an's eyebrows were so familiar, and he always felt that he had seen him somewhere before?
Seeing this almost identical license plate number, Yan Cen finally came to his senses and remembered!
The employees were confused, "Yan, President Yan?"
Yan Cen restrained himself and gestured, "It's okay, you go down first."
The office door closed again.
Bo Yueming, who was sitting quietly on the sofa, asked, "What's wrong?"
Yan Cen suppressed the wonder in his heart, but an uncontrollable impulse broke out again.
He looked secretly at his friend who was temporarily blind, picked up the pen beside him and deliberately left a few ink streaks on his right hand.
"My hand was stained by the pen, I'm going to the bathroom."
"..."
Bo Yueming closed his eyes and said nothing.
Yan Cen walked a few steps outside, and when he passed by the tea bar at the door of the office, he suddenly remembered something and took away a piece of milk candy for making coffee.
--Outside
the empty men's restroom, Li Yu'an stood alone in front of the sink separated by a wall.
He turned on the induction faucet and splashed two handfuls of cold water on his face, trying to wash away the anxiety and uneasiness in his heart. A
cold look appeared on
his face. Li Yu'an looked up at himself. The loose hair on his forehead, which had been well-groomed, was now wet and looked a little untidy.
From the moment he saw Pei Huan, he felt indescribable discomfort. When the two parties were invited by the company assistant to the rest room to prepare, Ke Ming started his weird temper again.
Although Li Yu'an did not show any disturbance on the surface, he was still so angry that he felt dizzy and had to go out to get some fresh air under the pretext of "going to the toilet".
Li Yu'an thought of Pei Huan who suddenly appeared just now, and his emotions were still up and down.
He had always known Pei Huan, from occasionally hearing about him at various banquets in his early years, to being admitted to the same school and the same major in college. A little inquiry would reveal that their family backgrounds were almost the same.
No one needs to envy anyone, and no one needs to be jealous of anyone.
Until something happened to the Li family, Li Yu'an lost the identity of the so-called "rich young master", until Pei Huan replaced his title and became the second place in the "online anonymous investment simulation competition" -
from then on, Li Yu'an had an indescribable sourness towards Pei Huan.
Yes.
He envied Pei Huan for having a stable living environment and not being forced to change his college major.
He was jealous that Pei Huan could be flattered as "Little Pei" as soon as he graduated, instead of having to support the company like he did. Most people who called him "Little Li" looked down on him.
But what made him sour and sad was that
Pei Huan could call Yan Cen "senior" so freely and intimately, and Yan Cen still had "admiration" for Pei Huan after nearly five years.
If, if it weren't for the sudden change in his family's circumstances, would he have lived as carefree as Pei Huan?
Li Yu'an chuckled self-deprecatingly.
He knew that he shouldn't be jealous of others casually, but human hearts are very selfish. He always felt that he and Pei Huan were like a contrast in life. They had
similar starting points and similar growth experiences, but because of an "accident", they led completely different lives.
The winner in this life experiment is Pei Huan, and the loser is himself.
The sound of footsteps was heard.
Li Yuanan saw through the mirror the figure coming from the corner, it was Pei Yi.
The other party stopped and observed him silently.
That look was not like the so-called stupidity, but seemed to be clear enough to see through human nature.
Li Yuanan was afraid of losing face in front of outsiders, so he quickly pulled out a tissue from the side to wipe his face, trying to restore the cold and arrogant appearance to the outside world, "Young Master Pei, I didn't expect to meet you here today?"
Pei Yi nodded half a beat late, without saying anything, turned around and walked into the bathroom inside the wall.
"..."
The small door of the inner bathroom was lightly locked.
Li Yu'an heard the noise and breathed a sigh of relief. The watch on his wrist reminded him of the upcoming investment meeting. The feeling of lack of confidence and anxiety returned.
Facing the junior who he was more familiar with and admired, and facing Pei Huan who was always excellent and confident, it was normal for Yan Cen to be biased, right?
But if this investment competition failed, he would be sorry for Will, his partner who trusted him, and Louyang who returned to China to join their team. To put it bluntly, it would be great if he could become better.
Li Yu'an lowered his eyes and habitually attributed all the problems to himself.
He took out the cigarette box he carried with him from his pocket, took out a cigarette, rubbed it on the tip of his nose, and inhaled it lightly, trying to suppress the panic and frustration in his heart.
The footsteps outside sounded again, and another tall figure walked in.
Li Yu'an turned around subconsciously, and met Yan Cen's eyes unexpectedly, "Yan, President Yan."
"Little President Li."
Yan Cen's eyes lingered on the cigarette for a moment.
Li Yu'an noticed his gaze, and subconsciously held the cigarette in his palm and hid it behind him, "I... I know you can't smoke indoors, I just picked it up and smelled it."
After saying that, he felt that his explanation was stupid and fell silent.
Li Yu'an didn't smoke when he first went to college, but later, under the pressure of life, he could only relax by smoking.
At the worst time, he was a little addicted to smoking, but he has been trying to quit.
The silence lasted only three seconds, but Li Yu'an wanted to find a hole to crawl into, and didn't dare to look at the expression of the person in front of him.
He had heard others mention that the other party hated the smell of cigarettes the most, and now the impression points that he had worked so hard to improve were estimated to be deducted again.
"...It's okay."
Yan Cen seemed to see his nervousness and raised his right hand without intention. "There is some ink on my hand. Let me wash it."
He walked to the sink and rinsed his hands slowly.
Li Yu'an looked at Yan Cen who was so close to him with his peripheral vision. For a moment, he didn't know whether to leave or stay.
"Mr. Li, are you nervous or lacking confidence?"
"Ah?"
Yan Cen put some hand sanitizer on his hands, rubbed them, and took the initiative to say, "I have read the basic information of Dawn Games and the game "End of Fog". In fact, your plot settings are very good and the structure is very complete."
"GM has always valued the strength of the partners. All "backdoors" and "favors" will not work with me."
The implication is that he will not make random decisions on investment targets just because of the "brother-in-law" relationship mentioned by Ke Ming and Pei Huan.
Yan Cen couldn't say why. For both public and private reasons, he didn't want Li Yu'an to misunderstand him as such an unreliable person.
Li Yu'an was stunned, "I..."
"I thought you were worried that You Ming would use the relationship between Pei Huan and me as my senior brothers in college to reduce the score." Yan Cen smiled at him through the reflection of the mirror, "If that's the case, should we also be considered senior brothers in college?"
Pei Huan thought that the favor he could use, Li Yu'an could also use on him.
"..."
Li Yu'an tightly grasped the cigarette in his palm, not knowing how to respond.
Are we considered senior brothers?
The two of them had almost no extra contact in college. The only time they could be considered face to face communication was actually just that one time.
Yan Cen wiped his hands clean, turned sideways and gestured to him, "Spread your hands."
"What?"
Li Yu'an was stunned.
But his body was more aware than his mind, and he stretched out his right hand uncertainly. His usually cold eyes blinked twice unconsciously, still unable to hide his panic well.
He looked like a cute kid who was caught doing something bad.
Yan Cen saw it all and confirmed it in his heart -
yes.
This feeling of déjà vu, plus the familiar and almost identical license plate number, he and Li Yu'an had met each other when they were at Imperial University.
It's just that the time and place of the meeting were a bit special, and the other party was wearing a mask and a duckbill cap, covering most of his face, except for his eyes.
Li Yu'an still held out his hands obediently, not daring to take them back, "Boss Yan?"
Yan Cen stretched out his hand and pushed his glasses, suppressing the smile in his heart, "You are right, the GM has a rule that smoking is not allowed indoors in the company, so I took it away on behalf of the company, is that okay?"
Li Yu'an's cheeks were slightly hot, "Yes, yes."
Yan Cen took away the wrinkled cigarette, and put a candy in Li Yu'an's palm, "Your lips look a little pale, if it is hypoglycemia, it will be better to hold one."
Li Yu'an's eyes lit up slightly, he did not expect the other party to be aware of his physical condition.
He really hadn't had any proper meals today, and he was feeling a little dizzy and uncomfortable at the moment, but he could just endure it.
Yan Cen looked at the hesitant expression of the person in front of him, and wanted to say something more, but due to the occasion, he could only express it briefly.
"Pay attention to the time. You can't be late for the bidding."
It's working hours now. There's no need to bring up the brief personal relationship many years ago. It won't be good if it's misunderstood by employees passing by.
In the work meeting involving investment later, Yan Cen will be impartial with both bidding representatives.
The footsteps gradually faded away.
Li Yu'an came to his senses belatedly. He looked at the candy that suddenly appeared in his palm, and his silent heart suddenly beat violently -
all the anxiety, uneasiness, and frustration were completely suppressed by the weight in his palm.
Li Yu'an had an indescribable joy, but his eyes were sad.
He was not dreaming, but more dazed than dreaming.
After many years, he received the second candy from Yan Cen. It turns out that secret love can also get an unexpected delayed reward.