Chapter 7 On Honorary Alumni
Shao Mengdong stubbed out his cigarette in an ashtray filled with water. "If you don't intend to take care of me until the end of my life, then leave me alone."
"Don't think I can't hear you. You're taking advantage of me, aren't you? You want me to take care of you in your old age? I'm counting on you." Lu Cheng patted his shoulder with a smile, "My mentor is your boss's health care doctor. When you can become a shareholder and director, it's not too much for me to be your health care doctor. Master and apprentice, father and son, we are of the same lineage."
"You should graduate with your doctorate first."
Shao Mengdong's tone was quite calm, but his blow was fatal, piercing Lu Cheng's heart without mercy. He sighed and fell back on the chair.
Xunmei sat on the other side of him, glanced at him faintly, and smiled: "Is it deflated?"
Lu Cheng covered his face, "Auntie, please stop bullying me!"
He struggled to sit up again, lowered his voice, and sincerely listed the advantages of Dr. Song. He felt like a pharmaceutical representative who blocked the door of the department every day to sell his products.
"Really? Doctor Song has a good family background, is good-looking, and may not have the best academic credentials, but his job is leisurely and respectable, and he's lively and unassuming, which complements you perfectly. Your title is CEO now, but it's also called "Deputy." You don't own any shares, but you're still working hard for someone like that—Meng Dong, because of our relationship, I can only speak so openly to you. I'm not pushing you to get married out of boredom. I'm really worried about you. The intensity of your work isn't human. A relationship, or anything else, will do. You need to relax and get some attention. Your boss, Sun, just had his liver removed last week and is still in the hospital. If you keep working like this, you'll end up worse off than him."
Shao Mengdong was too lazy to look at him, and didn't know how much he had heard, so he finally asked a question.
"How has he been these past two days?"
"who?"
"Old Sun."
"...You're a stubborn person, aren't you?"
Lu Cheng also knew that Shao Mengdong had been under a lot of pressure recently.
Although Ancheng Technology is under the name of Intime Group, it is actually a subsidiary relationship. It wants to rely on the big tree to bid for provincial resources. At the same time, its revenue also accounts for 30% of Intime Group's total revenue.
It is so important, but it operates independently and is not part of the Intime system. The headquarters has long been eyeing this piece of fat.
Ancheng Technology's president, Sun Mingqing, had been hospitalized for liver cancer surgery two months prior, temporarily delegating the reins to Shao Mengdong. The company was facing internal and external challenges, its future uncertain. Any decision he made could jeopardize the future relationship and position of Ancheng and Intime.
How could Intime miss this good opportunity to take advantage of the situation?
There are rumors that the recent high-profile patent dispute was the result of the headquarters' behind-the-scenes conspiracy; and his sister came back to cause him trouble: why did she marry the son of Intime's second-in-command when she could have married anyone else? That old fox publicly announced this relationship at the general manager's office meeting, obviously trying to muddy the waters and make a fortune.
Because Lu Cheng's mentor happened to be Sun Qing's personal physician, he had heard something about these interests and felt sorry for Shao Mengdong.
Someone knocked on the door, and Lu Cheng stopped talking immediately. Unexpectedly, it was Lao Hu who came in again.
There was a girl following behind him.
Lu Cheng was stunned for a moment: "You're here? Didn't you say last time that you were busy today?"
The other two men looked even more surprised.
Xunmei, however, stood up to greet him, saying gently, "It's Xiaolingling. You're really different after getting married." She sighed imperceptibly and smiled, "...your brother is really rude. He called you here without even telling us first."
Cheng Ti curled her hair today, wore a champagne-colored silk dress, and had light makeup on her face, except for her lips painted a rosy red. Her dressing style was completely different from her previous style, and her temperament had also changed a lot. She no longer looked like a child or student.
She smiled and said, "No, I happened to be having dinner here too. I just came out to get some fresh air and ran into Uncle Hu in the front hall. I just learned that Chef Hu is now Boss Hu. Uncle Hu said you were here, so he brought me here to say hello."
After saying that, he greeted everyone present.
They all knew Shao Mengdong's sister and had heard about her happy event, so they all wished her a happy wedding.
Finally, Cheng Ti called him brother.
They hadn't seen each other since that night when they returned from the bar.
The man remained motionless, even colder than before. He just glanced at her lightly, took a sip of wine, and may or may not have responded. It was like a small stone thrown into the water, with a dull gurgling sound and not even a ripple.
Everyone knew that the relationship between this brother and sister was not very good, so no one knew what to say. Just at this moment, Doctor Song came back, and Lu Cheng quickly introduced him to them solemnly: "This is Song Chuxia, your brother's physical examination doctor." Then he winked at Cheng Ti: This is the girl I want to introduce to your brother.
Then he said to Xiao Song, "This is Mr. Shao's sister. Just call her Little Bell."
"Oh?" Doctor Song looked at Cheng Ti seriously and curiously. "Sister, are you siblings?"
Cheng Ti seemed to have gotten used to it and just smiled faintly: "It doesn't seem like it."
Lu Cheng's tone became even more exaggerated: "You don't know that Comrade Xiao Lingdang is not only the sister of an outstanding graduate of S University, but also an honorary alumnus of our S University."
Everyone present burst into laughter, even Lao Hu laughed.
I still remember that when they were in college, Shao Mengdong's sister was still in high school and usually lived on campus. But during the winter and summer vacations or weekends, you could always see her hanging out at S University, eating and drinking for free, studying in the air-conditioned library, eating all three meals in the subsidized student cafeteria, and always participating in activities such as filling out questionnaires to get daily necessities. She was more familiar with the various hidden benefits of the school than the students of S University.
Fortunately, she is a high school girl, diligent and studious, sensible and well-behaved. When she runs into Shao Mengdong's friends while trying to make money, she will shyly ask them not to tell her brother. Sometimes she will ask a few questions from the exercise book, and she will feel apologetic to them and treat them to snacks. It must be said that she is quite likable.
She is a bit chattering and whenever she meets Shao Mengdong, she keeps calling him "Brother".
"elder brother."
"elder brother!"
"elder brother……"
Someone later mentioned her, saying that she was about to become a non-staff member of the school, just like the kittens wandering around the campus. Upon hearing this, one of Shao Mengdong's roommates shook his head and sneered, "She's not a cat at all, she's just a bell hanging around a cat's neck."
Although it was a joke, it had a fresh and lively atmosphere and was easy to remember, so "Little Bell" became popular.
Shao Mengdong never paid any attention to this.
He had always been a popular figure at school, outstanding in every way and yet cold as ice. Perhaps he felt that his sister's freeloading behavior had made him lose face, so he also treated her badly. Every time someone saw them together, he would either scold her with a stern face or send her away with her money.
Something unexpected happened to the Shao family.
He didn't say it, but people around him could feel it.
But Shao Mengdong's personality, to put it nicely, is competitive, and to put it bluntly, is stubborn. He was even more proud and unruly when he was in college. He ran around all day for scholarships and part-time jobs, and never applied for a single subsidy. Fortunately, he had won awards and had a good resume, so he was much better than others as a tutor.
The counselor probably knew that his family was not well off and tried to persuade him, but he just said it was unnecessary, saying that he had no parents and only a younger sister, whom he could support himself, so it would be better to leave the subsidy quota to those who were less capable than him.
The instructor was left speechless and in tears.
... ...
The atmosphere became lively as everyone talked about the past, and Cheng Ti also embarrassedly mentioned the jokes from that year.
"I remember one day during summer vacation. Maybe the cafeteria was too quiet, and the chef was just messing around. He served the beans half-cooked. I ate them at noon, and ended up in the hospital that afternoon with food poisoning." She smiled at Lao Hu, "I stayed in the hospital for five days, and could only eat liquid food. It was thanks to Aunt Li who made porridge every afternoon to visit me."
Aunt Li is Lao Hu's wife. Lao Hu said with a smile, "Your Aunt Li likes pretty girls. Even after you went abroad, she kept talking about how great it would be to have a daughter like you."
Cheng Ti's eyes curved, "I'm thinking about Aunt Li too. I've never had the chance to repay Aunt Li for her kindness to me. I feel really bad about it. I must go see Aunt Li when I come back this time."
Lao Hu waved his hands and said with a smile, "Hey, what's the value of those two buckets of porridge? With your brother here, we don't deserve to be thanked." Cheng Ti was stunned for a moment, not knowing what was going on. Then she heard Lao Hu say, "You are definitely welcome to come to our house. Your Aunt Li is out traveling. I'll contact your brother when she comes back."
Cheng Ti's smile suddenly turned dry. Shao Mengdong remained silent. Lu Cheng asked her to have a few more bites, but she couldn't say anything. "Let's do it next time. Today is my father-in-law's birthday. The whole family is upstairs. I'll treat everyone individually later when I have time."
"Look, look at how polite little Bell is. She has grown up so much."
"They're all married now, so they've grown up, haven't they?"
Cheng Ti smiled and said, "I'm also afraid that I'll be too late. They're almost done. In another ten or twenty minutes they'll be gone."
Xunmei was fiddling with the earring in her left ear and watching quietly.
Xunmei noticed that Shao Mengdong had lit another cigarette without him knowing when, but he didn't smoke it. He seemed bored, detached from the others. Xunmei also noticed that Cheng Ti winked at her brother when she said the last sentence. Shao Mengdong raised his hand to brush off the ash, and briefly looked at her through the pale white smoke. A faint smile played on his lips, and he closed his eyes seemingly nonchalantly, as if nodding gently.
She told him something with just her eyes.
And he understood it completely, he understood it completely.
Their actions were imperceptible, yet they held a tacit understanding that stretched back centuries. No amount of hatred or painful memories could be erased, nor would they ever change. The secret years had long since frozen into fossils, and from then on, no one but them was a stranger.
No matter how they hold grudges against each other and ignore each other.
Mr. Ye probably doesn't know about this, so he is lucky.
Only Xunmei had glimpsed a corner of the story, and this unexpected discovery brought her endless pain. Her secret crush at the age of twenty had ended with such a horrifying scene, secret and tragic. She had several relationships since then, but none lasted. She wondered if this was the root cause. It was like a broken bone that healed, allowing you to run and jump, but on cloudy and rainy days, the pain would always be dull.
… …
Lu Cheng said: "Okay, let's skip the meal and have a drink."
Cheng Ti didn't refuse anymore.
Her only purpose in this trip was to remind Shao Mengdong that Mr. Ye was upstairs and might come down soon. If he didn't want to run into him, he should stay put. Having achieved her goal, she didn't want to stay any longer, so she finished her glass of wine standing at the table.
Before leaving, Dr. Xiao Song held her back and said with a smile, "I want to go to Canada next year. Can I add your contact information so I can consult you then?"
Cheng Ti smiled knowingly, without even looking at Shao Mengdong: "Of course."
Just as they exchanged phone numbers, Cheng Ti received a message. She clicked on it and was startled. Then she frowned, her face showing an inexplicable solemnity. She raised her head and said, "Sorry, I really have to go back."
"Your husband is calling you?"
Cheng Ti nodded.
Others started to jeer: "They are a honeymoon couple after all, and they are already feeling lovesick after being together for ten minutes."
Cheng Ti smiled and hurriedly said goodbye.
I don’t know how long it took, maybe as long as a cigarette, Shao Mengdong also found an excuse to leave his seat and walked out quietly.
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