Chapter 22 Matchmaking
That evening, at the Huo family's old residence.
Huo Jing is very efficient. After get off work, she organized a family dinner, invited Ye Mei and Huo Wenbo, and finally asked Huo Yanzhi to be present.
In the restaurant, the four people who had managed to gather together were sitting and eating dinner.
Huo Wenbo remained as quiet as ever, while Ye Mei kept serving her son food and showing concern for him at the dinner table.
Huo Jing put down her chopsticks and spoke lightly, first inquiring about some business matters.
"Yanzhi, things haven't been busy at the company lately, have they?"
Huo Yanzhi replied succinctly.
After several rounds of pleasantries, Huo Jing finally revealed her true intentions.
"Brother, sister-in-law, don't you think that our Yanzhi is at the age where he should get married?"
Huo Yanzhi, who was quietly drinking his soup, paused for a fleeting moment, almost imperceptibly.
He knew this meal wasn't going to be simple.
"That's right!" Ye Mei perked up immediately upon hearing this topic, putting down her chopsticks. "Look at you, almost thirty years old, all you do is work, work, work, and you don't even have anyone who cares about you. How many more years can your father and I be with you? What will you do all alone after we're gone?"
As Ye Mei spoke, her eyes reddened.
She patted her husband, signaling him to say a few words as well.
Huo Wenbo pushed up his glasses and spoke up, which was rare for him: "Work is never-ending, and personal matters should also be taken seriously."
Huo Yanzhi listened calmly and ate his meal slowly, as if they weren't discussing him.
After the three finished speaking, he raised his eyes, glanced at the expectant crowd, and parted his thin lips slightly.
"I have no intention of getting married."
He put down his cutlery, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and prepared to get up and leave.
"I'm done eating, but I have a meeting at the company."
"Wait!" Huo Jing called out to him.
She knew that a direct confrontation would be useless against this nephew.
Huo Yanzhi stopped and turned to look at her, his face saying, "Speak quickly if you have something to say."
She gestured with her chin toward Huo Yanzhi, "We can not talk about marriage. But tell your aunt what type you like. There has to be a standard, right? Otherwise, we won't know where to start if we want to find someone for you in the future."
This sounds like a compromise, but it actually brings the problem back to square one.
Ye Mei and Huo Wenbo also looked over curiously.
Huo Yanzhi stood with his back to the warm light of the restaurant, a hint of helplessness on his face.
He leaned back in his chair, his gaze unfocused on a spot on the table, as if recalling something, his voice flat and monotone.
"Kind, but not without principles or sharp edges."
"She looks well-behaved, but she is actually very opinionated and brave."
Speak softly.
"His eyes are clear, and he looks at people with great focus."
"Fingers should be slender and beautiful."
...
After he finished speaking concisely, before anyone could react, he left with the words "I'm leaving," turned around, and left the restaurant without looking back.
Huo Jing silently repeated Huo Yanzhi's descriptions in her mind, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong.
How can these be considered criteria for choosing a spouse?
This is clearly someone reading the instruction manual aloud.
It even comes with high-end interior decoration.
Huo Jing burst out laughing.
Her smile drew the attention of both Ye Mei and Huo Wenbo.
"What are you laughing at?" Ye Mei was still feeling disappointed by her son's cold attitude, but she asked with some curiosity.
"Brother, sister-in-law," Huo Jing lowered her arm, leaned forward, and lowered her voice, "Don't you think that Yanzhi's ideal type just now... is particularly specific?"
Ye Mei thought about it carefully and also felt something was strange.
"It's very specific. But where does he find someone like that around him?"
"Of course I have one." Huo Jing's smile grew even more meaningful. "Don't I have one right here in my office?"
"It's the one I mentioned to you before, the new graduate from our Happy Star Island, Ruan Yao."
"A recent graduate?" Ye Mei tried hard to recall. "Oh...you mean that 'lucky star' who helped you discover the project's loopholes and saved you from losing tens of millions?"
Ye Mei was deeply impressed by this incident.
Huo Jing has always been arrogant, and there are very few people she would praise so readily.
"It's her."
Huo Jing slapped her thigh and said, "That girl's name is Ruan Yao."
She began to enthusiastically recommend her sister-in-law, which completely piqued Ye Mei's curiosity.
She already had a good impression of this "lucky star" who had helped Huo Jing a lot, and now that Huo Jing praised her like this, she was even more satisfied.
"Oh my!" Ye Mei's interest was immediately piqued, her heart pounding like a cat's claws. "This girl is truly a treasure! Quick, do you have a picture? Let me see what she looks like!"
Huo Jing shrugged. "I don't have any photos. She just joined the company, how would I have any photos of her?"
Ye Mei's face showed a hint of regret.
“However…” Huo Jing deliberately dragged out her words, keeping everyone in suspense, “Isn’t Lexing Island going to hold an offline promotional event soon? Why don’t you go and join in the fun? Ruan Yao will be there too.”
Huo Jing smiled and continued, "When the time comes, you can watch it anytime you want, right?"
*
The first offline promotional event for a certain series of Lexingdao was held in a newly built art gallery in the city center.
As one of the staff members, Ruan Yao arrived at the scene with Huo Jing's team before dawn.
Today, she changed into a set of work pants that were easy to move in and a simple T-shirt. Her long hair was tied into a neat bun. She was holding a walkie-talkie and a flowchart, checking materials, directing the setup, and was so busy that she barely had time to breathe.
When the workers setting up the themed area encountered a small problem, she didn't hesitate to climb up the ladder and help fix a few decorative parts, not caring at all that there was dust on her skirt and trousers.
After Huo Jing finished communicating with the venue manager not far away, she turned around and saw Ruan Yao holding a rag, half-kneeling on the ground wiping the glass cover of a display stand. The profile of her face looked particularly serious under the light.
This girl, despite her delicate and pampered appearance, possesses an indomitable spirit when it comes to work, showing no fear of hardship or fatigue.
Huo Jing initially saw her as a subordinate with potential.
Looking at her now, she seems like someone looking at their own future junior; the mindset is completely different now.
For some reason, her heart softened, and she called out to Ruan Yao, who had just finished directing the workers to move the backdrop.
"Ruan Yao, come here for a moment."
Ruan Yao jogged over, "Director Huo, you wanted to see me?"
"Look at you, all sweaty." Huo Jing took out a pack of tissues from her pocket and handed it to her, her tone gentle without her even realizing it. "Go to the rest area, get some water, and rest for a while."
Ruan Yao was stunned for a moment.
She took the tissue, feeling somewhat flattered.
Is this still the same decisive and efficient Director Huo?
In her past life, Huo Jing was also very good to her, but that was because she married Huo Yanzhi and Huo Jing treated her as family.
But in this life, they were clearly just superiors and subordinates.
This sudden, familiar care gradually overlapped with the kindness Huo Jing had shown her in her past life, filling Ruan Yao's heart with warmth and causing her nose to sting for no apparent reason.
She nodded vigorously, her voice tinged with laughter: "Thank you, Director Huo."
Ruan Yao took a bottle of water and walked to a corner of the rest area.
She unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip, her gaze unconsciously following the scene inside.
Not far away, several workers were laboriously hoisting a huge backdrop shaped like a cartoon castle high up, preparing to hang it on the steel frame directly above the entrance.
The backdrop was brightly colored, dreamlike in design, and quite substantial.
Looking at the swaying castle, Ruan Yao couldn't help but recall something from her past life.
In her previous life, Huo Yanzhi's mother, Ye Mei, was always in poor health. She often felt dizzy, especially in her shoulders and neck, and her joints would ache when the weather changed.
Ruan Yao had overheard the maids in the house talking about how Ye Mei developed this problem when she attended an event organized by Huo Jing's company.
It is said that as soon as she entered the venue, she was hit on the shoulder by a falling object, which caused her to bleed on the spot and go to the hospital. She had to get several stitches and lay in bed for two months.
Fortunately, nothing serious happened, but it left him with a chronic illness.
Ruan Yao stared at the swaying backdrop, covered with a bunch of scattered decorations, and her heart skipped a beat.
Could Ye Mei be referring to this event?
The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt, and a layer of cold sweat seeped out from her back.
No, we can't afford that possibility.
She looked in Huo Jing's direction. Huo Jing was on an important phone call, her brows furrowed and her expression serious. It was clear that she was communicating with her business partner.
It wouldn't be appropriate to bother her now.
Ruan Yao bit her lip, put the water bottle aside, thought for a moment, stood up, and walked quickly toward the entrance of the exhibition hall.
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