Chapter 8. Li Li was too young then, having grown up with Tan...
Li Li was too young at that time. She had grown up with Tan Yi since she was a child and couldn't distinguish between lovers and friends.
She liked Tan Yi, but she didn't know if that feeling was like the kind of love that's portrayed in idol dramas—a sudden, overwhelming attraction, a feeling that you can't live without someone else.
But at that time, Tan Yi was torn between hope and fear by Li Li's unpredictable behavior.
He was also in a stage of unclear self-awareness during adolescence, and her avoidance was extremely frustrating.
Tan Yi's ideal man is Tan Su. He hates that he is too young, not mature enough, not steady enough, and not serious enough.
He both admired and feared him.
Like a lion cub in a pride who is gradually becoming less troublesome, it fears the lion king who is about to take over, and has a natural tendency to avoid him, as well as the fear that it may be driven out or even killed one day.
During that period, Tan Su had already entered into a contract of succession, having given up studying abroad early in order to take over the position.
Because I often had to talk to my grandfather about work, I actually had more opportunities to go home than when I was a boarding student in junior and senior high school.
Once, he went back to his study to look up past project information. While he was intently flipping through the computer, he suddenly heard a soft "tsk" sound.
Tan Su doubted he had misheard, looked up and noticed the small shadow that had appeared behind the large vase.
That was Li Li sitting on the ground drawing, wearing white over-ear headphones.
She was wearing a blue skirt that barely reached her knees, dozens of colored pencils lay beside her, and she was holding a drawing board, angrily erasing an eraser.
Tan Su had heard from Tan Huiming that she had already decided to apply for an art and design major, and that she would go to study abroad with Tan Yi after graduating from high school.
Tan Huiming had a very good plan.
The two sons of the Li family divided the family property equally, each managing a portion domestically and internationally. Once the marriages of the younger generation of both families were settled, even if he himself couldn't give Tan Yi much, with the Li family's backing, Tan Yi could study, marry, have children, and live a carefree and fulfilling life.
This shows his good intentions towards his grandchildren.
A fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl is too young and naive to think about such profound things.
She was still troubled by teenage worries. In her spare time, she pondered trivial things like "Do I like him?", "Does Tan Yi really like me?", "Would it seem like I'm being too casual if I agreed?", and "Will he change his mind?"
But she has indeed grown up.
As a child, his thin and short body gradually grew taller, and his face changed from sickly pale to crystal clear and fair. His long black hair was like satin, but his eyes still stood out on his small face, sparkling like a cat's eyes.
The name "Little Cat" has always been truly fitting.
Tan Su watched her slender back lean against the vase painted with delicate flowers and birds, and recalled a line from a poem: "Graceful and slender, just over thirteen, like a budding cardamom flower in early February."
After thinking it over, he felt that the sentence was inappropriate. Li Li was already more than thirteen or fourteen years old. And since he considered himself an elder, using this sentence to describe her would seem somewhat frivolous.
Tan Yi woke up from his afternoon nap in the bedroom and found out that the kitten had come to find him.
The pain of being neglected these past few days vanished instantly, and he excitedly jumped out of bed and rushed to the study.
He suddenly pushed open the door, and the first thing he saw was Tan Su's gaze silently moving over from the window.
Tan Yi was immediately silenced.
Li Li was also disturbed by the loud opening of the door. She turned around and looked at Tan Yi in the doorway, and accused him righteously, "Why are you so clumsy? You ruined my drawing!"
But in fact, she had long been dissatisfied with this painting; the criticism was just a way to cover up her insecurity about not being able to face Tan Yi.
Later, Li Li only noticed the other person in the room after Tan Yi gave her a meaningful look.
She felt a little embarrassed for losing her temper, stood up and said, "I'm sorry, Brother Tan Su," then grabbed her drawing board and a few colored pencils and hurriedly ran out with Tan Yi.
Tan Su withdrew his gaze and continued searching for information. When he had almost finished, he copied everything and went downstairs to leave.
As she passed through the living room, she happened to run into Tan Yi, who was being petty. He asked Li Li quietly, with a hint of unease, "Don't you think my older brother is very handsome?"
For Li Li, people who are one or two years older than her are her peers, while those who are three or four years older are barely someone she can chat with.
The man, who was six years older than her, was far beyond her appreciation range; he belonged to the category of her father, uncles, and elders—the kind of elders she wouldn't even bother to look at closely.
Without considering where the problem came from, she put down her drawing board and focused on playing the game.
Li Li comfortably drank her iced soda from Tan Yi's hand, muttering with disdain, "How old is he? An old man—"
Twenty-two-year-old Tan Su was caught off guard and heard himself called an old man for the first time in his life.
His younger brother, who was always timid and submissive in front of him, actually smiled broadly and said, "That's good."
Tan Yi was truly moved: "Little kitten, it's so kind of you to say that."
——
Before the end of September, the Group's Strategic Development Department submitted a personnel supplementary list.
The strategic development department was established under Tan Su and directly managed by Xie Zongfang, and has been in operation for more than five years.
The number of staff is kept to around 20 to 30 people, who serve him personally and provide annual market analysis, policy research, business planning, and investment feasibility reports.
Xie Zongfang was unaware of Li Li and Tan Su's past. He only did so at her request, by presenting the documents during the department's monthly meeting and asking Tan Su for special approval.
The professional requirements and educational background were written in great detail, almost as if Li Li's name was printed on this insignificant job posting.
Tan Su flipped through the two thin pages and said calmly, "Uncle Xie, this company should still be owned by the Tan family, not the Li family."
Xie Zongfang's expression changed slightly. Tan Su had already signed his name with a pen and handed the form back to him, saying casually, "This is a one-time thing, don't do it again."
When Tan Su came out of the meeting room, he ran into Li Li, who had just finished moving her personal belongings and was chatting with other colleagues.
She didn't even need Tan Su's signature; she had already proactively moved her belongings up from her workstation on the 13th floor.
She greeted him politely, saying, "Brother Tan Su, are you here for the meeting?"
Tan Su stopped and glanced at her indifferently, saying, "The Li family has really put a lot of thought into you by entrusting you to Xie Zongfang."
Upon hearing this, Li Li knew that there was no surprise.
She has always been persistent and determined to achieve her goals. She felt that she had defeated the cunning Tan Su with her intelligence and achieved her objective, which was excellent and something to be very proud of.
Li Li, dressed in a black and white checkered tweed short suit, clasped her hands behind her back and said with a poised and confident air, "Brother Tan Su, like you said last time, I think I'm worth going up to the 28th floor."
Tan Su had no intention of wasting any more breath on a little girl. He said, "Now that you're up, sit down properly."
The elevator slowly ascended to the top floor, and Chen Ya checked the afternoon's schedule with him from behind.
Looking at the reflection of people in the elevator car, Tan Su suddenly remembered an old story.
Around his freshman year of college, Tan Huiming suddenly developed symptoms of coldness and numbness in his lower limbs, but no specific problems were found during his hospital visits.
Although he was still unwilling to admit he was getting old, he tacitly agreed to let the hospital send a wheelchair in advance, just in case.
This wheelchair boasts some advanced technology. It's made of a soft, comfortable material like a sofa, incredibly fast, and has deployable tracks underneath, making it easy to navigate stairs. It also features a sunshade that can be opened when going out.
This made Li Li stare wide-eyed.
She was eager to experience the feeling of traveling at lightning speed without breaking a sweat, but everyone felt that this thing had a bad connotation and that it was not allowed to be sat on casually.
However, Li Li had her eye on it.
Whether it was intentional or not, a few days later, Li Li and Tan Yi were playing with the neighbor's kitten that had crawled over in the garden under the midday sun when she suddenly felt dizzy and her chest tighten. Overjoyed, she said in a dramatic way, "I have heatstroke. Quick, quick, bring me Grandpa's wheelchair."
Who knew that the housekeeper didn't listen to her at all, and knocked her out with a bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi Water. The bitter taste made Li Li feel nauseous and she jumped around looking for water to rinse her mouth.
After taking a bottle of medicine, Li Li became listless. She went inside to rest, not forgetting to ask them to call home and say that she was tired today and would be staying overnight at Tan Yi's house.
When Tan Su returned home for dinner, she was still lying in the house resting and did not come out to eat.
Grandpa joked about it at the dinner table, saying that she was just like Old Li when he was young, a bit of a rascal.
Tan Su treated it as a joke and let it pass after hearing it once.
Late at night, he came out of his study and vaguely heard the sound of things being moved downstairs.
He originally intended to go downstairs to stop the aunt from disturbing others' rest in the middle of the night. When he reached the turn of the stairs between the first and second floors, he suddenly saw a wheelchair rushing past in front of him.
Tan Su stopped in his tracks, and after a while, the wheelchair came rushing back in front of him.
I had heard from my family before that this little cat in the Li family was as stubborn as a donkey.
Once a thought arises, I won't stop until I achieve my goal.
Even if she suffers from heatstroke, vomits after taking medicine, and is pale and ghost-like in her pajamas in the dead of night, she will still take this wheelchair out of the storage room and sit in it just to sit in it once.
He glimpsed a corner of Li Li's personality from this incident.
Tan Su watched her for a long time, and when he was sure she had had enough, he carried the wheelchair back to the storage room on his own without any help, and then went upstairs to rest.
Of course. Those were just a few instances where they crossed paths during those years.
——
Li Li's change of position freed up Mo Shi's place, and You Chang was successfully promoted to a permanent position. Everyone was very satisfied with this result.
They met for lunch at the cafeteria as usual. While You Chang was grateful, she didn't forget to gossip with her about the uproar Li Li had caused on the 13th floor. Now, everyone in the company probably knows about her, this well-known person who got promoted through connections.
You Chang clasped his hands in a fist and said, "So you're one of President Xie's men! That's amazing, my apologies for not recognizing you sooner."
Li Li replied modestly, "Not at all."
These days, she wears a simple business suit every day, drives a sports car to and from top-tier office buildings, and aside from the meager salary she actually receives, she certainly appears to outsiders as a glamorous and successful white-collar worker.
A note from the author:
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