Chapter 66 Before New Year's Day, the FDA officially announced...
Before New Year's Day, the FDA officially announced the approval of FactHs' drug for heart failure, and FactHs' stock price surged to an all-time high before the close of trading at the end of December.
This also means that Gu Weihua withstood the pressure from public opinion and the board of directors throughout the year, thwarted Mingbaiquan's power grab plan, and delivered a satisfactory answer to the shareholders.
While a grand celebration banquet was being held domestically, Frasers' largest independent director was wearing work gloves, kneeling on one knee in the snow, braving the wind and snow to install snow chains on a car.
Music was playing from the passenger side window, which wasn't fully closed, as the girl ate chocolate and played a game with complete focus.
She was a pampered princess raised at home, beautiful and adorable, but not very useful for physical labor.
She even impatiently rolled down the car window, leaned out, and stared at him with wide eyes, asking, "What's wrong with you, Tan Su? Didn't the clerk say he only needed five minutes?"
It was clearly because she was too lazy to queue; she casually said a few simple words to urge Tan Su to come out and do it himself.
"Alright." Tan Su finally secured the last piece, tugged at it to check the tightness of the snow chain, and stood up to take off his gloves.
He reached out the window, pinched Li Li's face, and kissed her cheek, only to be met with her disgust as she said, "Ugh, it still smells like rubber."
Tan Su stayed longer this time than ever before, saying he was giving himself a winter break.
Li Li was initially worried about being discovered by Li Zhizi while running back and forth, but Li Zhizi hadn't asked a single question during this time. Perhaps she had been instructed by someone, and she was subtly reducing her surveillance on Li Li.
As long as it's safe, she could even go out with Tan Su to explore the surrounding area on the weekend.
They set off and drove towards the seaside town. Midway, Li Li looked out the car window at the lake view. The snow-covered shore was deserted, with only tall trees and scattered black stones. Li Li called for him to stop the car so she could get out and take pictures.
At this moment, Tan Su received a phone call from Gu Weihua. He gestured for Li Li to go downstairs first.
Gu Weihua laughed heartily on the phone: "Thanks to your help this past year, President Tan, we should have toasted you properly at the celebration banquet."
Tan Su said, "You can celebrate as you please."
Li Li had already opened the car door, but upon hearing a woman's voice on the phone, she closed it again and leaned over to listen in.
Tan Su teased her by switching his hand to answer the phone, which immediately triggered Li Li's rebellious nature. She mouthed threateningly, "Give it to me."
Tan Su completely grasped her childish and contrarian behavior pattern, and simply pretended not to see it.
Li Li cupped Tan Su's face in both hands, leaned in, and deliberately made a smacking sound as she kissed his lips.
After a long silence on the other end of the phone, Gu Weihua asked, "Mr. Tan? Are you still listening?"
Tan Su finally managed to pull Li Li off the suction cup-like grip, and smiled absentmindedly, "It's nothing, it's just my girlfriend teasing me."
Gu Weihua smiled knowingly: "Is it the person you mentioned back then, the one who suited your taste?"
“Of course,” he said cheerfully.
"Congratulations."
"Thanks."
Gu Weihua said, "Then you go ahead with your work."
The call was disconnected. Having caused trouble, Li Li pushed open the car door and ran away, screaming, "Who's your girlfriend? Tan Su, you're shameless!"
Tan Su got off the car from the other end, quickly caught up with her, grabbed her hat, and turned Li Li around.
Amidst screams, Tan Su lifted her by the thighs and held her high in his arms: "You took advantage and ran away, who taught you to turn your back on people like that?"
She argued, "Your cheapness is worthless."
Li Li, wearing a bulky light-colored down jacket, looked down at the surrounding wilderness, then pinched Tan Su's upturned face and said smugly, "You're really cheap, Tan Su. You don't need any money."
She's right, absolutely right.
It was always others who were willing to pay her, eagerly offering her gifts and trying to win her favor.
That's really annoying.
Tan Su slapped her waist and hip hard through her down jacket.
They spent an afternoon in the seaside town. There weren't many tourists in winter, and they had also avoided the Christmas tourist peak season.
Li Li encouraged Tan Su to risk fractures by tackling the extremely slippery cobblestone path after the snow, and then they walked hand in hand along a path lined with rows of beech trees.
It's not as fun as big cities here. Besides sightseeing, taking photos, and eating some local specialties, there aren't many other options.
After half a day, it's nothing special; it's like a retirement paradise.
But Tan Su seemed to really enjoy the relaxed atmosphere. He chatted with an old man by the roadside, asked him for directions, petted his 14-inch long-haired dog, and inquired about the prices of recently bought and sold houses and sailboats in the vicinity.
Li Li felt that Tan Su was more peaceful and integrated than ever before, without any trace of the ruthless decisiveness he displayed in S City. Perhaps it was because he was getting older and was slowly considering things after retirement.
Of course, she only thought that, without asking aloud.
From Tan Yi, Li Li learned one thing: don't interfere with other people's choices. Even if someone loves you deeply, they won't change their life's choices for you.
Just like back then, no matter how she tried to persuade Tan Yi, he wouldn't stop on his current path. Only after experiencing countless trials and tribulations would he want to turn back and reconcile with her.
But Li Li doesn't want such a second-rate relationship.
Not to mention Tan Su, who was inherently competitive and ambitious. His brain worked like a sophisticated supercomputer; he might take a short break to browse the web, but he would always return to calculations.
Li Li found her own imagination pointless, so she let go of Tan Su's hand and went ahead on her own.
Tan Su followed quietly behind her.
The two of them randomly chose a restaurant for dinner, and the food was surprisingly good. Li Li ordered an iced milk tea with bread, while Tan Su ordered a white sangria.
Li Li looked at the colorful and attractive contents of his cup, curiously took it, and took a sip. Then she exclaimed in surprise, "It contains alcohol!"
Tan Su raised an eyebrow.
Li Li solemnly reminded him, "Didn't we agree to a same-day round trip when we left?"
She strongly suspected that Tan Su had deliberately drunk alcohol to avoid driving, but it was getting late, and Li Li didn't have the guts to drive on unfamiliar snowy roads.
She reluctantly called Li Zhizi to report the situation, and Tan Su hugged her waist from behind.
They took off their down jackets, revealing their close-fitting undershirts, and sat in front of the fireplace kissing.
Tan Su's hand slipped under the hem of her clothes and caressed her, his eyes filled with intoxication. He looked at Li Li's face and said, "I love you."
Li Li felt a chill run down her spine. She thought that sweet talk at a time like this was just... nonsense!
She was speechless and said, "What...what love are you talking about?"
Tan Su pressed his ear against her neck and said calmly, "Yes. I love you."
His subsequent actions began to spiral out of control. In a room unfamiliar to both of them, in an old hotel room, amidst the crackling of burning firewood in the fireplace, they exchanged breaths, their sweat mingling with their own.
Li Li's fingernails dug into Tan Su's back flesh, pressed against his chest, listening to his deafening heartbeat.
She felt really strange.
——
With everything settled at Huisheng, TICC was now practically in their grasp. The year-end meeting of Yanqi's senior management was filled with joy. Tan Su still had the same face he hadn't shown in years, his gaze sweeping over familiar faces.
Listening to Chen Ya's rapid typing on the keyboard beside me.
The youngest executive in this room, Lü Dai, has been with the company for seven or eight years.
People's hearts are unfathomable; in private, ghosts and demons run rampant. Tan Su has indeed been in this position for far too long.
It wasn't just Tan Congxu who had been secretly colluding with him to poach his employees over the years; some people themselves also hoped to change the situation and take advantage of the chaos.
Li Zhoudu is a hundred times more dangerous than Tan Congxu. His confidence comes from his abundant capital pool. Wan Jing has accumulated immeasurable cash flow during the golden decade of shipping and transportation. Moreover, as a family business, its capital is far more flexible than Tan Su's, which is subject to the control of the board of directors.
TICC's complex funding sources, pieced together from various sources, using short-term leverage for long-term investments, will lead to a complete collapse when the debts cannot cover costs and loans upon maturity. It is not a cause for concern at all.
However, unlike TICC, a startup company with an imperfect system, Yan Qi's company bylaws already included measures to deal with hostile takeovers. He could drag things out with Li Zhoudu, but there was no peaceful solution.
Tan Su then recalled Li Li's extremely aggrieved words: "The Li family is mine. You dare to lay a hand on me?"
She and Li Zhoudu were of the same lineage and shared the same fate; their fortunes were intertwined. For the first time in his life, Tan Su felt unable to bring himself to do it.
Before the Lunar New Year, Tan Su met Li Zhoudu at a gathering of friends.
Their friend assumed they didn't know each other and introduced them, and the two tacitly refrained from revealing the truth.
The other party asked Tan Su, "What have you been doing these past few days? You couldn't get anyone to come to you."
Tan Su said, "I went to the United States."
The other party laughed and said, "Hong Kong stocks and A-shares aren't enough for you to play around with now. Why not expand your battlefield and play Nasdaq? Next time there's a good opportunity like buying the dip at Frosttech, you must tell me!"
Tan Su smiled but didn't say anything. Soon, other people took his friend's attention away, leaving only him and Li Zhoudu at the table.
Tan Su then spoke up: "We haven't seen each other since that incident in K Province."
Li Zhoudu said, "It seems like there's no need for us to meet."
“Li Li has been very worried about you,” Tan Su said. “She also asks me occasionally what you’re busy with in China.”
"Ask you?" Li Zhoudu lazily raised his eyes: "In what capacity are you speaking to me on her behalf?"
Tan Su did not answer.
Li Zhoudu smiled and said, "I think you're probably not even as good as Tan Yi back then. As you know, my family is well-off, and my sister has a lot of toys. Expensive ones, cheap ones, ordinary ones—she's only interested in them for a couple of days before forgetting about them."
"Don't take yourself too seriously."
Tan Su asked, "Do you still think that way now?"
He said earnestly, "Zhou Du, she won't be trapped in the Li family forever. Li Li's essence is freedom."
"Freedom?" Li Zhoudu found this amusing. He casually clinked his wine glass against Tan Su's. "Alright, when you and Tan Yi have some free time, take an indefinite long vacation together. That's freedom enough."
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Author's Note: By the way, it seems the career storyline will be almost finished in a few more chapters.
The following sections include a romance storyline, "what if" scenarios, and other short episodes.
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