Chapter 10. He held a wine glass, leaning against the boat...
He held a wine glass, leaning over the gunwale to look at the water, with an invisible, cloud-like negativity and self-mockery shrouding him behind him. Dai Zhe, fearing he would get caught in the crossfire, quietly retreated to the side.
On a day when families reunite, even being among a crowd cannot hide the fact that one is already alone.
Tan Yi misses the kitten.
But I can't be shameless and ask her to abandon all her family to accommodate me during the holidays. So I can't say anything, even if I want to.
He recalled when he had just bought the yacht, Li Li returned to Hong Kong to visit him. Although her family's business had long since dulled her fascination with boats, she still acted as if she really liked it.
She went up and down the stairs, and even rolled up her sleeves to cook for him.
Tan taught Li the rules of Texas Hold'em, and they played with chips instead of real money.
The kitten had no idea that it would get particularly sullen when playing cards.
A relaxed expression means you have a good hand; a bad hand will also make you look grumpy; a furrowed brow means you're in a limbo, debating whether to fold.
Tan Yi would coax her into winning by deliberately letting her win. After a few rounds, Li Li's confidence soared, and she proudly declared that she planned to go to Macau to try her luck.
Tan Yi smiled but remained silent.
In the final round, the community cards on the table were a mess. Li Li confidently went all in with three aces, but Tan Yi revealed a mixed straight of A2345 as the second player.
Li Li exclaimed in disbelief, "Ah! I've already lost everything!"
Tan Yi was amused by her dazed look and laughed out loud. He pulled out a club eight from his sleeve and said, "Don't play cards with others anymore, you cat. You really are something. You don't even know you've been sold out."
"You cheated!" Li Li grabbed his wrist and said angrily, "Quick! Someone bring me my knife!"
"Wow, that's so bloody."
He pretended to be scared and pulled Li Li into his arms, pressing her tightly against his chest.
Another time, Fang Xuan became infatuated with a part-time model from the same school who looked somewhat like a mixed-race person.
She was so captivated by his good looks that she couldn't extricate herself, and was completely charmed by his casual flirtatious advances. On Valentine's Day, she followed his schedule to Hong Kong.
Li Li happened to be visiting him for the holiday, so she strongly suggested that they arrange a double date to help her win over the handsome guy.
Tan Yi didn't care; he had always been very generous to Li Li's friends.
Upon seeing the model in person, Fang Xuan confirmed that what she had said was true. The person was extremely tall, very thin, with a high nose, gray eyes, curly hair, and a slightly shy smile.
After enjoying the view, Li Li said, "Not bad, not bad," and then asked somewhat hesitantly, "Is your crush straight?"
Fang Xuan honestly replied, "I don't know, I've never tried it."
The two looked at each other in bewilderment.
"If you don't try it yourself, who will?"
"Let Tan move there."
"If he becomes gay, how will you compensate me?"
"Doesn't this save you from your suffering? Shouldn't you thank me?"
After whispering and arguing for a while, Li Li finally decided that for the sake of her good friend's happiness, she should let Tan Yi go and take a look.
“No need to study it anymore,” Tan Yi said, lying in his room watching TV. “Money-seeking, can be straight or gay, the kind who decides their sexual orientation by looking at their bank account.”
It turned out that not long after boarding the boat, the model privately approached Tan Yi and asked him all sorts of questions. She asked him about the yacht club's berth fees, the annual labor and maintenance costs, and how much fuel it would cost to take the boat out for a single trip.
Tan Yi had no idea how much gas it would take to drive it once. Annoyed, he asked in return, "Are you asking so many questions because you're going to buy one? What's your budget? I have a friend who can help you get a discount."
The other party then awkwardly shut up.
“This kind of person has a huge appetite,” Tan Yi said lazily. “They won’t act until they see the benefits. If Fang Xuan isn’t planning to be a sucker and spend her whole life trying to tie someone down, then forget it.”
Li Li exclaimed "Wow!" and nestled against his chest, her eyes shining as she asked, "How do you know everything now?"
Tan Yi lowered his head and chuckled as he stroked her long hair: "You've seen it all, what don't you know?"
After disembarking, Fang Xuan also bowed to the model, but soon after returning home, she drew a clear line between them.
Later, as business on the boat increased, he found some of the conditions unpleasant and stopped letting Li Li come aboard.
When Li Li arrived home, the evening banquet had already ended, and her grandmother had asked the guests to stay in the living room to chat.
Li Li also recognized the grandmother surnamed Hu. Her son was the CEO of a securities company, and she had no worries about food and drink. Her biggest hobby was being a matchmaker.
Li Zhoudu had drunk some alcohol that evening. He was scrolling through his phone, propping his head up with his legs crossed while keeping company with his guests. He looked somewhat impatient.
Li Li tried to sneak up, but he spotted her and called out, "Little cat, come here."
Li Li could only walk over, call out "Grandma Hu," and sit down on Li Zhoudu's side.
He lifted his eyelids and asked lazily, "What did you have for dinner?"
Li Li counted on her fingers: "Crabs, spicy pork ribs, and fish with fermented black beans."
"Didn't eat any vegetables"
"You ate some lotus root slices."
"That means you didn't eat leafy green vegetables."
Their conversation was as childish as that of elementary school students, utterly devoid of any substance.
Hu Xiuhua then interjected, asking, "Are the two children dating anyone?"
"No," Wang Minjun smiled broadly. "We haven't talked about Zhou Du yet. If you know anyone suitable, you can introduce him to someone. I'm not in a hurry for my cat at home, but I'm going to keep her for a while."
Li Zhoudu said casually, "Well, keep it. Keep it until you can't get married and it becomes a burden."
"I will never be unable to get married!" Li Li retorted angrily.
Hu Xiuhua was actually very satisfied with Li Zhoudu. He was good-looking, his family background was excellent, his parents had a good relationship, and he was a suitable match for several girls in the family. She nodded and smiled, "Zhoudu and my sister have such a good relationship, I'm sure he will be very considerate to his future partner."
Li Zhoudu didn't respond: "Yes, that's why I have high standards for my brother-in-law."
Li Zhoudu's change of topic made Wenxi, who was standing to the side, a little embarrassed. She coughed twice and pretended to pat him lightly.
After seeing the guests off and getting into their cars, Li Li elbowed them from behind in the corridor: "Using me as a shield again!"
After being dealt this insignificant blow, Li Zhoudu asked, "Which friend's house are you going to for dinner tonight?"
Li Li initially considered lying and saying she went to Fang Xuan's place, but after thinking about it, she said quite confidently, "I went to deliver a gift to Tan Su, how was that?"
Li Zhoudu's face darkened: "Why are you praising him?"
Li Li said, "Didn't your aunt say that we should give gifts to leaders during holidays? You can give Xie Zongfang a gift, so why can't I give Tan Su a gift?"
“I’m giving this to Xie Zongfang because I’m acting as your superior and elder. Tan Su is my equal, so why are you trying to curry favor with him?”
Li Li felt a little guilty after hearing his words, and retorted, "Grandpa Tan has been a friend of our family for so many years, what's wrong with me sending him a basket of crabs! You're being stingy."
"What kind of good person do you think Tan Huiming is?" Li Zhoudu sneered. "He's cunning and treacherous, full of bad intentions. He'll sell you out and leave you with nothing, and you'll still be counting the money for him."
His words were absolutely awful.
“His family isn’t short of money,” Li Li asked, annoyed. “By your standards, who should I marry to avoid being left with nothing?”
“I’m still here,” Li Zhoudu said.
He looked down at Li Li, then looked away: "I can keep things under control, that's enough."
——
On the first day back to work after the holiday, Chen Ya was taking the elevator to deliver some materials. As soon as she pressed the number 32, she suddenly frowned, sniffed around sensitively, and called the office building's property management to ask them to check what was smelling like.
Shortly after, the property management called back: "We checked the surveillance footage. It was Ms. Li from the 28th floor who secretly took this elevator upstairs... She bought durian."
Chen Yasu criticized, "The office is a public place. How can you eat something with such a strong odor?"
The property management staff reluctantly replied, "Ms. Li, you now have your own private office."
The Strategic Investment Department holds a prestigious position within the group. With few staff members and occupying an entire floor, coupled with Xie Zongfang's special care, Li Li, despite still being treated as a mere mascot, was successfully assigned a private office and even asked the administration department for a refrigerator.
She took good care of herself, bought molds to freeze milk popsicles, and shared them with her old colleagues on the 13th floor when she had free time.
She can single-handedly arouse the hatred of ordinary employees to the maximum level just by going to work.
Chen Ya was speechless for a moment: "Go and remind her that she is not allowed to secretly use the private elevator in the future."
Upon receiving the call from the property management, Li Li readily agreed.
On her first day back at work after the holiday, she was afraid of being late for clocking in, so she temporarily used the unmanned elevator near A88. She never expected Tan Su to be so stingy! He even ate his own family's crabs.
Once Li Li got to work on the 28th floor, she felt that everything was no different from when she was at Moshi. Her colleagues weren't even as hardworking and competitive as You Chang and Ou Ning, except that the level of inside information they could get was indeed a bit higher.
For example, the HR director who had a conflict with Li Li was surnamed Lang and nicknamed "Big Pervert Lang". He especially preferred young and pretty girls during interviews and often groped them. People usually avoided him.
For example, the current CFO is Tan Su's college classmate. He was appointed to take over from his predecessor who was in jail for embezzlement. He is someone you can't easily offend.
There are also cases where companies can't reach someone, and when they call the police, they find out that the person was arrested for soliciting prostitution;
He was caught having an extramarital affair and was reported by his wife. He sent Tan Su chat logs and explicit private photos.
While enjoying the melon seeds, Li Li asked with great curiosity, "How do you all know this?"
A colleague covered her mouth and whispered, "Because ever since that incident, Chen Ya has come to the company at nine o'clock every day, and without fail, the first thing she does is to go through all the emails."
Li Li couldn't help but laugh when she thought about how serious Tan Su was every day, how he usually organized all sorts of high-level projects and meetings, but when he turned on his computer all he saw were these messy reports and complaints.
She was laughing so hard she was shaking, and you could see it clearly through the glass of the conference room.
Although not a sound could get in, Tan Su still found her carefree attitude annoying.
Tan Su asked Xie Zongfang, who was standing nearby, "Is she very free?"
Xie Zongfang hesitated for a moment, then said tactfully, "If she has been assigned work, she has probably finished it. I'll talk to her in a bit; she shouldn't wander around for non-work-related matters."
Tan Su tapped the table with his pen, and after a while said, "If you have any business trips to take recently, send her out."
A note from the author:
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I was on the road all day and was late, sorry! [heart emoji]
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