A win-win solution
The person on the other end of the phone was Fang Chuan's father. He said that the distant relative had arrived in Xianye and that Fang Chuan should go and pick him up.
The man who came was named Yu Xiangyang. At first glance, he seemed just like his name suggests—a very sunny and cheerful person. He was 24 years old and hadn't found a satisfactory job even a year after graduation. He had come specifically to ask Dean Fang for help.
"Fang Chuan, right? I've always heard from relatives that my cousin's son is very successful, scoring over 600 on the college entrance exam. I didn't expect him to be so handsome too," Yu Xiangyang said enthusiastically to Fang Chuan.
Fang Chuan was driving and couldn't do anything extra, so he just quickly turned his head and smiled at him.
"There are no more than 600, that's too far-fetched, it's only 590."
But he added, "You can pass on the fact that he's handsome later."
Fang Chuan took him home and found his father there as well. He must have come back at noon because there were guests.
Mr. Fang explained to Xiang Yang with a smile that Mrs. Fang was busy with a project and wouldn't be home at noon, so he should treat this place as his own home.
During the meal, Dean Fang asked, "What are your expectations for your work, and in which direction do you plan to develop?"
"Anything I can do is fine, as long as it's not shoveling latrines or sweeping the streets, I'm willing to do anything." Yu Xiangyang's expression was sincere, and he looked like a sunny and positive young man who had just graduated.
But everyone knows in their hearts that if they were willing to take any job, they wouldn't have come here.
He understood Yu Xiangyang; after all, not everyone has the courage to take risks on their own. But he couldn't say he liked Yu Xiangyang. He always felt that Yu Xiangyang was a bit hypocritical and didn't want to get to know him well.
Speaking of hypocrisy, he thought of Huang Fuda. Boss Huang was also very hypocritical when he cooperated with those people, but Fang Chuan couldn't bring himself to dislike him.
Maybe it's because he's good-looking?
Fang Chuan didn't think much of it. Huang Fuda was indeed good-looking and had a great physique, and his occasional superior demeanor was also charming. But now that things had turned out this way, he couldn't keep pestering him. He even felt a little guilty.
Yu Xiangyang was, after all, a guest, and he should be treated with the proper etiquette. Before the work arrangements were finalized, Fang Chuan planned to take him around various places in Xianye.
But a teacher suddenly announced that the group assignments, which were supposed to be submitted online, would have to be presented in person that afternoon without notes. Fang Chuan's group was one of the earlier ones, so it would be his turn today.
His afternoon class was at 2 p.m. After having lunch and resting for a while, he went to the classroom in the main building.
This was a low-stakes course meant to earn credits, called Aesthetics and Film Appreciation, and the lecture hall was packed with people. Fang Chuan found Liu Jiacheng and sat down next to him.
Liu Jiacheng looked around: "I've never seen so many people in all this time. There's no room to sit down." He nudged Fang Chuan with his arm: "Do you think the registrar's office thought that no one usually comes, so they released so many places?"
"Probably." Some students without seats at the classroom door turned around and went back to their dormitories. Fang Chuan thought, it's not like my group is reporting today, so he turned around and left too.
The assignment, which was supposed to be presented without notes, was turned into a tedious lesson by the students in each group, who read from their PowerPoint presentations.
After class ended, Fang Chuan and Liu Jiacheng walked out of the teaching building together with the crowd.
In the noisy corridor during break time, the voices of several students in front of them could be clearly heard by the two.
"Did you know? I heard that the dean of the Computer Science Department, □□, was arrested."
"Huh?? Dean?"
"Yes, he got caught soliciting prostitutes while on a business trip with his mistress."
"Really?"
"That's what they're saying in the department. Apparently, the dean's wife has always known about the mistress..."
After the two people ahead walked away, Fang Chuan and Liu Jiacheng reached the building entrance. Liu Jiacheng looked embarrassed and patted Fang Chuan's arm: "I'm going back to the dorm first. Drive carefully."
Fang Chuan smiled calmly and nodded, watching Liu Jiacheng leave.
Liu Jiacheng was in the Computer Science Department, and he was always aware of Dean Fang's romantic escapades, but he was tactful and never talked about them in front of Fang Chuan.
He tried to pretend he didn't know anything about being arrested, but someone else exposed him right under Fang Chuan's nose. He was just unlucky.
Fang Chuan felt uneasy thinking about what he had just heard. No wonder Dean Fang was home at noon; he probably hadn't gone to school today.
I didn't see Teacher Bai at home today; she must have gone to work at the school. Well, she's just a lecturer; she can't just skip work like Dean Fang.
Not wanting to go home or stay at school, Fang Chuan hid in his apartment again.
Since he became Huang Fuda's driver, the house has lost much of its lively atmosphere.
He loves growing plants, and there's greenery in every corner of his house. He saw online that some people had grown beautiful leaves from jackfruit seeds, so he tried it himself, and after six months, it had grown quite vigorously. But recently, due to neglect, the leaves have all wilted.
The shoes in the shoe cabinet also became dull, and he inexplicably lost the desire to maintain them.
Fang Chuan sat on the beanbag chair on the balcony, staring blankly at the distant sky, like a puppet that had lost its soul.
Just then, my phone rang. It was a message from Assistant Li. He asked where the suit had been delivered, and the dry cleaner said they hadn't received it.
Fang Chuan regained his composure and, avoiding the shop owner, threw the bag of shredded clothes into the trash can outside the dry cleaner. He had originally planned to wait a few days and say the dry cleaner had lost it, then pay for the damage himself, but now it seemed that wouldn't work.
Just as he was struggling with how to reply, Assistant Li sent another message.
The boss said to keep the change.
Fang Chuan looked at the message and felt a sense of emptiness in his heart.
Scrolling up the chat history, you see Huang Fuda's schedule. He remembers that Huang Fuda is supposed to meet Shengxiang tonight.
Open the form, 6:00 PM, Banchun Teahouse.
Huang Fuda arrived at the teahouse, where he was greeted by a general manager of Shengxiang in Xianye City.
Huang Fuda sat opposite him and, without much pleasantries, went straight to the point: "It's good that Shengxiang is willing to give Xianye face and develop here, and I welcome that very much. But you don't need to resort to these underhanded tactics behind the scenes."
The manager of Shengxiang had a very large belly, and when he sat there, he looked like a smiling Maitreya Buddha.
"Mr. Huang, the cake is only so big. If you eat half by yourself, how can we possibly have enough?"
His eyes gleamed as he continued, "The camera incident last time was due to the lack of understanding on the ground. I'm just an employee and don't want to offend Boss Huang. I have a solution that satisfies both sides. Would Boss Huang like to hear it?"
"Speaking."
"Sheng You is interested in acquiring Yundao. We know that Yundao is Mr. Huang's life's work. We can let you manage the business around Xianye and give you 5% of the shares. What do you think?"
Huang Fuda crossed his legs and leaned back, smiling kindly on the surface, but his words were sharp and sarcastic.
"What does this mean? I'm doing just fine as a boss, and now I have to rush to give away my stuff to others and work for them to count their money?"
The smiling Maitreya picked up his teacup, shook his head, blew on it, slurped up a mouthful of tea, then turned his head and spat the tea leaves onto the ground, without even looking at Huang Fuda.
“You know what kind of company Shengxiang is, with at least 1,600 chain hotels nationwide. Yundao, on the other hand, isn’t even a listed company. With our help, Yundao will be able to expand its reach more easily in the future.”
After saying this, he lifted his eyelids to look at Huang Fuda: "Brother, let me tell you the truth. If you want to earn more, it's useless to just stick to one place. Besides, you want to take all the good things here. How is that possible? It's more practical to come with us and see more of the outside world."
Huang Fuda laughed after hearing this: "I don't ask for much, just to establish a foothold in Xianye. Besides, I don't think Shengxiang really wants to be with Yundao. I'm afraid that once you acquire it, there will be nothing left for me. Yundao may be small, but it's not like we can only eat your leftovers."
He stood up, nodded slightly, and walked towards the door without even drinking his tea.
But the person behind him glanced at him with disdain, smirked, and said to Huang Fuda in a drawn-out, neither loud nor soft voice, "I don't see the person behind me."
"Even if the deal falls through, we can still be on good terms. I happen to have a dinner appointment with Young Master Yun tonight. Would you like to join us, Mr. Huang?"
Huang Fuda's hand, which was about to open the door, froze, and his heart sank.
"Does Mr. Huang know Young Master Yun? You've been in Xianye for so long, you must know him better than I, an outsider. You must have heard of Yun Ge from the Yun family, right?"
Every word was a provocation.
Huang Fuda gripped the threshold tightly, turned around, and said in a deep voice, "No need for you to trouble yourself."
After leaving the building and getting into his car, Huang Fuda slammed the door shut.
What the hell!
The car felt stuffy, a stuffiness that clung to his chest and head. He rested his head against the car window, thinking about what the man had said.
When did YunGe and ShengXiang team up? No wonder ShengXiang wasn't informed about the camera incident; it turns out YunGe was helping them behind the scenes.
No wonder he demanded such a high price in the kitchen last time; he must have known all along that Shengxiang wanted to acquire Yundao.
Huang Fuda raised his head, his eyes sharp. But Yun Island wasn't without options; once the bathhouse was built, Xianye would still have a place for Huang Fuda.
He's going to stand his ground like this, what can they do about it?
Yunge could watch Cloud Island disappear, but he wouldn't stand by and watch them send another car to run him over.
As long as you're alive, there's no such thing as a dead end.
Stopping thinking about Yun Ge, he composed himself and instructed his assistant, Li, to drive back to headquarters.
We haven't found a new driver yet, but it's Xiaofeng's death anniversary in a few days, and Xiaozhang will be back soon after visiting him in the hospital.
After Huang Fuda's car left the teahouse, a discreet black car followed closely behind, neither too close nor too far. It was Fang Chuan, who had been bewitched and had run away on his own.
Fang Chuan followed him in his car, watching him and his assistant Li enter the building one after the other, his expression unreadable.
But Huang Fuda seemed to be in a bad mood. And rightly so, having ruined something perfectly good, it's hard to be in a good mood. If he knew you were secretly following him, he'd probably be even worse off.
He picked up his phone and glanced at the time: 7:15, just in time to go home for dinner.
Yu Xiangyang was a cheerful and talkative person, and he made Bai Zhi laugh on the sofa. A TV drama was playing, and the various sounds mingled together, finally bringing some life to the house.
"Fang Chuan, you're back! How did your classes go this afternoon?" Yu Xiangyang greeted Fang Chuan warmly.
"I'm bored. How about I go out for a walk with you?"
Looking around, she didn't see Mr. Fang. Seeing this, Bai Zhi said, "Teacher Fang is in the study."
Is my mom up there too?
Yu Xiangyang popped a grape into his mouth: "My uncle said that my aunt has been busy with the project lately, working through the night in the design department, and can't come back."
Fang's mother is a workaholic; it's common for her to sleep at the company when she's busy. But this time, it's probably also because of Dean Fang; she likely considers it bad luck and that's why she didn't come back.
After all, she never failed to come back when Fang Chuan was home.
It seems his father's arrest is true. But Fang Chuan didn't want to go upstairs to question him; he coldly glanced up at the building.
I really don't want to stay at home, not even for a second.
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