Chapter 55 (End of Text…)
The cross-border brand community platform successfully secured its first round of financing, which greatly boosted the morale within Xingyao, which had been low due to the turbulent relationship between shareholders.
At the celebration banquet that night, everyone came over to toast. Nanjiu accepted all the toasts and drank heartily.
Ding Jun had attended so many dinners with Nanjiu, but he'd rarely seen her drunk. She always raised her glass with a firm, decisive gesture, and there had been partners in the past who, attracted by her beauty, had tried to get her drunk. Usually, she'd get them drunk and then arrange for a car to get them safely away.
Ding Jun was once curious about the upper limit of her alcohol tolerance, and she simply responded that it depended on whether she really wanted to sober up.
Ding Jun walked over with a glass of wine in hand and sat down next to Nan Jiu. "Is it my turn?"
Nanjiu picked up the newly filled glass of wine and clinked glasses with him: "It's my turn to toast you. Everyone still has to rely on you for follow-up."
Ding Jun smiled bitterly and drank it all.
Nanjiu put down his empty glass and asked, "Didn't you invite him?"
"I called him, but he couldn't come and ruined everyone's fun." Ding Jun sighed. "I really miss the time when the flagship store was first built. The three of us often worked overtime until midnight, and you always ordered us to do the rough work. Yaozi smiled in your face with a worthless look, and then turned around and called you a witch. Any man who married you would be skinned or broken. Sigh... Sometimes I think about it, although it was a bit tiring back then, it was still very happy, right?"
Nan Jiu lowered her eyes, her fingertips unconsciously caressing the rim of the cup, a faint touch of warmth in her memory. In the bone-chilling hospital corridor, she was completely turned away by her grandfather. Just as the chill threatened to engulf her, he draped his coat over her shoulders, accompanying her through that shattered night. His mother's bowl of hot porridge brought her a feeling of almost luxurious warmth amidst the crevice of despair.
Human nature is always complex. It's like a flowing river, colliding with the reefs of self-interest and surging through the torrents of emotion. Countless intersections, explorations, and diversions unfold, carrying all the turbidity and clarity to the next stop.
After the celebration banquet, Nan Jiu sat in the back seat of the car. Before he knew it, the driver had parked the car downstairs of Xingyao Building.
Nan Jiu looked out the window and looked at Ding Jun.
Ding Jun, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned around and said to her, "He's waiting for you upstairs."
......
The stars shine brightly at night, and the workstations are hidden in the darkness. Only the long-vacant office at the innermost part has the light on.
Nanjiu stepped towards the bright light in her high heels. The sound of her heels hitting the ground echoed in the empty office area, each one like a countdown.
The office door was ajar. Nan Jiu knocked twice and pushed the door open.
Lin Songyao slumped in his office chair, his shirt collar loosely unbuttoned, a pile of documents spread across his desk. When he looked up, his eyes revealed an undisguised weariness. His gaze followed her as she approached, pulled out a chair, and sat down. Her meticulously styled curls swayed slightly as she moved, caressing the side of her face, adding a touch of charm and allure. A faint, tipsy flush tinged her face, but her eyes remained clear and bright.
"How much did you drink?" He said in a low voice, with subtle concern.
"Quite a lot." Her eyes lightly swept over the equity transfer document on the table.
Lin Songyao pushed the documents aside, stood up, and grabbed a clean teacup. Hot water poured into the cup, creating a hazy white mist. He placed the cup in front of her and said, "Wake up."
The lingering aroma of tea seemed to transport them back to a scene many years ago. Back then, his father had arranged for his eldest brother to return to China to take over the core business. Several cousins were entrenched in various business operations, eyeing them covetously, while an illegitimate child lurked in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to strike. That year, she was still a junior in college. She gently placed the cup of tea in front of him, and the scent of tea quietly entered his field of vision.
"To be honest, I still can't understand why you would give up this path."
She picked up the teacup and blew away the tea leaves floating on the surface. "Who said I was giving up?" After taking a sip of hot tea, she put the cup down. "All roads lead to Rome. I'm just taking a different route."
The implication was clear. She was leaving Xingyao simply to divest herself of profits, not to leave the industry. Given Nanjiu's familiarity with Xingyao's business and the team's support, she could easily take away Xingyao's resources, business, and even its core members. Competing in the same market, Xingyao might soon become a hollow shell.
Lin Songyao's fingertips drummed unconsciously on the table. Xingyao was his first career after graduation, one he'd pursued without relying on family connections or resources. It held the purest dreams of his youth. Before Nanjiu acquired a stake, many of its stores had already become leaders among their local peers. Although he hadn't invested much energy in Xingyao over the years, watching it decline, even to the point of war with Nanjiu, was the last thing he wanted to envision.
After some thought, he offered, "I have only one condition." He shoved the signed agreement and supplementary terms in front of Nanjiu and said, "Leave Feng City."
His slender fingers tapped lightly on the lines of "Supplementary Terms." "You built Xingyao single-handedly. You don't expect that one day we'll be fighting tooth and nail in the same market, do you?"
Nan Jiu lowered her eyes, flipping through the documents page by page. Lin Songyao was willing to buy out all of her shares at a price above market value, even including projects and businesses not yet included in the shareholder exit agreement as compensation. This generous offer was both a recognition of Nan Jiu's years of dedication and the price he had to pay to eliminate a major competitor for Xingyao's future development.
Nanjiu's eyes wandered over the clauses, and he suddenly raised his eyes and narrowed them slightly: "Are you so sure that I will sign?"
"I'm not sure." Lin Songyao met her scrutiny with a complicated look in his eyes. "But I know you. You can't bear to see Xingyao fall, and you can't bear to destroy the team you've cultivated with your own hands."
Leaving behind the familiar homeland and market, and leaving behind the family and friends in this city, is undoubtedly a heavy decision for Nanjiu. However, as a businessman, Lin Songyao, having lost Nanjiu, his most cherished life partner, can only do his utmost to preserve his business empire.
Time flowed in silence. Finally, she closed all the documents and said, "Once Gao Lu confirms the terms, I will sign and send them to you as soon as possible."
She accepted his offer, the only optimal solution available at the moment. She would give up her local market and resources, leaving with dignity, in exchange for the stability of Xingyao, the safety of her former colleagues, and the well-being of all her partners.
Nan Jiu raised his eyes, and the moment their eyes met, the tense atmosphere finally came to an end as both parties reached an agreement.
Lin Songyao leaned back in his chair and tried to make his tone lighter: "Are you ready to go back and wash your hands and make soup?"
"If I leave Feng City, I have to give up my career?" She raised her eyebrows and asked.
"That's right. The man who can let you cook for yourself has probably not been born yet." He stared at her and smiled, with unconcealable nostalgia in his eyes.
She drank her tea quietly until it was empty. As she put the cup down, she looked up, a genuine smile in her eyes. It wasn't a pretense, a fake smile, but a smile that came from the bottom of her heart.
"Old Lin, sometimes it's not a bad thing to take small steps." She advised an old friend, "Take each step carefully, and what is yours will eventually fall upon you."
Lin Songyao's eyes were as deep as the night, his Adam's apple rolled slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just pursed his lips.
Nan Jiu picked up the document that belonged to him and said to him, "Just because I'm out of town doesn't mean I won't pose a threat to Xingyao. No matter how busy you are with your business, you still have to make some time to come over. You know how Ding Jun works, he needs someone to whip him up."
Nanjiu stood up and said goodbye to him: "You should go back early too."
She turned and walked towards the door. The sound of her high heels rang out again, but this time, it was getting farther and farther away. Lin Songyao suddenly stood up, walked around the desk and called to her, "Nanjiu."
She turned around and saw him standing there with his arms open to her.
She paused for a few seconds, then turned and walked to him, also opening her arms.
He closed his arms, rubbing everything he had experienced over the years into this embrace. Her hair still held a faint scent of alcohol and familiar perfume, lingering in his nostrils, and he couldn't help but tighten his white knuckles.
"If you're not happy in the future..." His voice rang in her ears, with a barely perceptible tremor, "Remember, my arms are always open to you."
Nan Jiu patted his back heavily, her tone full of her unique teasing towards him: "Say less scumbag quotes, at least appear more sincere."
He let go of her with a smile, his eyes greedily following her every move. She closed the door with the same decisiveness, without dragging her feet. However, this was the last time he would watch her leave like this.
The door closed again, and he was the only one left in the office, with the faint scent of tea in the air.
Nanjiu left Xingyao, bidding farewell to the battlefield where she had fought for eight years. To say she had no regrets would be a lie; Xingyao carried so much of her sweat and unfulfilled dreams.
But she didn't return empty-handed. She took with her mature operational experience, years of industry experience, the broad vision and holistic thinking of a business operator, and, of course, a substantial sum of money.
This time, she wanted both.
......
The midday sun lazily filtered through the densely packed commercial buildings of Shenghua's central business district. Nan Jiu sat in front of a coffee shop beneath an office building and looked toward his childhood home. That old neighborhood had long since been swallowed by the towering skyscrapers surrounding it, leaving no trace.
She still remembers Shenghua's many ponds. In the summer, she and her friends would go to the ponds to catch tadpoles and skip stones. Fast forward a decade, and the modern city has long erased the Shenghua she remembered. Everything seems so new and unfamiliar.
The figure in front of her swayed for a moment. Xia Yanran tore off her work badge and casually threw it on the table. She pulled the chair across from Nan Jiu and complained, "I'm getting fed up with that Jason. I told him I had a lunch date, and he dragged me along with him, nagging me with all sorts of nonsense."
Nanjiu ordered a cup of coffee for her and asked casually, "Is that your supervisor?"
"Yeah, he even asked me if I was dating a man or a woman, and what my relationship was to him. He asked everything. Last month," Xia Yanran pulled her chair, probably afraid of running into colleagues. She glanced around, making sure she didn't recognize anyone before lowering her voice. "Jason called me on a business trip and insisted on coming to my room in the middle of the night to discuss a plan. I ignored him, but he shamelessly came and knocked on my door."
Nanjiu picked up his coffee and raised his eyebrows: "How did you solve it?"
"I called the front desk directly and said there was a man outside the door harassing me, and he was taken away."
"You're making such a scene, aren't you afraid that he'll make things difficult for you?"
"I've already put it on. He assigned me a lot of things to do when I got back. I've been working overtime for half a month straight. Look at me..." Xia Yanran straightened up and showed off her clothes. "Now I don't even dare to wear a skirt. I wrap myself up tightly all day long, for fear that he will find some excuse to come and touch me while talking to me."
Xia Yanran took a big sip of coffee with a dry mouth and said indignantly, "It's not my fault that I'm pretty."
Nanjiu smiled and said, "Have you ever thought about changing jobs?"
Xia Yanran sighed, "I've thought about it, but if I change companies, I'll have to start over from the probation period, and I can't stop paying the rent. When I was in school, I imagined that after graduation I would be working in a 5A-level office building, becoming a glamorous white-collar worker, holding a cup of coffee and discussing projects with colleagues every day. In reality, all I did was copy and print, order takeout, and post invoices. I worked overtime until midnight and didn't dare to tell my parents the truth..."
"It's a bit of a waste of talent," Nanjiu took over. "You later led the club to great success. Weren't you the one who negotiated several large-scale commercial performances? With your ability, this shouldn't be the case."
Xia Yanran's eyes dropped. "Sometimes job opportunities depend on luck. Now that I think about it, the work in the school clubs is more valuable than what I'm doing now."
Nan Jiu restrained his smile a little, and his tone became serious, with a meaningful weight: "You came to me in the library during your freshman year, and I told you that the four years of college will pass by in a flash. After graduation, you can move to a new city and start all over again."
Xia Yanran paused for a moment, slowly placing the cup back on the table. The fatigue and compromises accumulated over the years followed her like a shadow. When she graduated, she had considered moving to a new city to make a living. But her motherland was so vast, with countless mountains and rivers, and she had no idea where to go.
"Do you want to change places with me?" Nanjiu's eyes were calm and scorching. "Let's work together again."
These words were like a spark that fell into the darkness in Xia Yanran's eyes that was suppressed by reality, and the glimmer of light that was almost burned out began to burn again.
......
After the plum rain season arrives, Maoerxiang is shrouded in humidity. Even sitting still can make you sweat.
Song Ting had removed the air conditioner filter and cleaned it in advance, and told the old man to keep the air conditioner in the teahouse on during the day so as not to save a few kilowatt-hours of electricity by turning it on and off from time to time.
The elderly still believe in the idea that if you keep calm, you will feel cooler. If no one comes to the teahouse, Mr. Nan would rather sit at the door and enjoy the breeze than turn on the air conditioner.
Lately, Old Man Nan has been feeling listless. With Old Qin gone, and the people he'd known his whole life in this alley gradually departing, for Old Man Nan, his era is slowly being erased. Sometimes, he sits at the entrance of a teahouse, watching the unfamiliar faces come and go, unable to recall a single name for ages.
Song Ting noticed that the old man had a poor appetite in recent days, so he asked Aunt Wu to go home early. He cooked some meals that suited the old man's taste.
As evening approached, the fish that the old man loved to eat was stewing in the pot, and the rice cooker switched from cooking to keeping warm.
The several pots of green plants at the entrance of the teahouse looked wilted with the changing weather. Before dinner, Song Ting moved the potted plants back into the teahouse one by one, intending to trim them again after dinner.
He bent over and picked up the last clay pot. His forearm muscles were tense and bulging. The wound on his arm had healed, but a scar remained.
The sound of the rollers sliding across the bluestone bricks came from far away and finally stopped behind him.
"Boss, you're closing so early? Can I still have tea?"
His back stiffened, he stood up, and slowly turned his head.
In the sunset, she tied her hair into a high ponytail, and the sunset dyed the ends of her hair a light golden color. She had two suitcases, one large and one small, at her side.
She stood in front of the teahouse with all her luggage against the light, her smile so bright that it made the sunset pale in comparison.
Staying together in this world is like a cup of strong hot tea, which is destined to go through a long brewing process before the most mellow aftertaste can be precipitated.
The main text is over.
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The author has something to say: Please collect the pre-collected article "Mirror in the Astringency"
Copywriter: Before leaving Sangou Village, Zhou Xingzhi walked ten miles in the dark, handed the mirror to Cheng Wenlan, and told her: "Grow up quickly and wait for me to marry you."
Five years passed in a flash. When they met again, Zhou Xingzhi stood with his hands behind his back, his tone revealing a hint of sarcasm that others could not detect: "What should I call you, sister-in-law?"
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