Chapter 22: Dejection
As soon as Assistant Lin left, Fu Chengyun received a call from Lizi.
A clear female voice rang out from the receiver, each word dripping with a hint of coquettishness. "Brother Cheng Yun, I heard you went to France. When will you be back? I'll pick you up at the airport."
"No need, I'll be back tomorrow." The steady male voice formed a sharp contrast with her voice, and the ending tone was elongated, and it was not difficult to hear the deep fatigue in it.
Lizi quickly asked: "Brother Chengyun, what's wrong with you? Are you sick?"
"No, I'm just a little tired." Fu Chengyun walked to the window and looked down at the hustle and bustle of traffic below.
"Is that person making things difficult for you?"
The wheels rolled over the puddle, splashing tiny drops of water. That person also caused ripples in his heart. "No."
The voice on the other end grew anxious, "It must be him! He hit you last time, what's he doing this time?"
As the storm approached, pedestrians on the street quickened their pace, like ants fleeing before a disaster. Fu Chengyun felt annoyed and simply turned around, picked up his coat, and walked out.
"He didn't do anything. I was just tired from work."
Lizzie was incredibly paranoid. "Impossible! I must seek revenge on this bitch."
"Xiaozi!" The voice was filled with anger, but then it returned to calm. "He's fine."
Fu Chengyun had never lost his temper with this naive cousin. He had never lost his temper with anyone except Ning Che.
In front of others, he was as gentle as jade, and the image of a refined and noble gentleman was like a personality engraved in his bones. It seemed that only in front of Ning Che would he be himself involuntarily.
Joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness—all experienced. But even more so was the shock and the feeling of powerlessness that followed it.
This man was like a dynamite, creating a huge splash in his stagnant life.
But as he watched the water spray rise and explode, countless tiny crystals filled the sky. He felt that they were clusters of magnificent fireworks and could not take his eyes away.
A voice of disbelief came from the receiver: "You're mean to me? You're mean to me for him?"
Fu Chengyun wanted to curse, to go crazy like Ning Che, and put his hands on his hips and point at her nose and curse.
Stop being so cute all the time, who are you showing it to? I don't like it!
I'm your cousin! I'm not blessed with anything! I'll always be the man you can never have.
But he finally took a deep breath, suppressed the violence in his heart, and comforted her: "Okay, Xiaozi. It's late, go to bed."
After saying that, he hung up the phone without waiting for the other end to answer, and blocked the name before the next call came.
Fu Chengyun opened the door and got into the car, leaning on the back seat and pressing his brow with his knuckles.
The car drove through the downtown area, and the hustle and bustle of the city was filtered out by the gloomy weather, leaving only a low and depressing feeling.
Assistant Lin had been waiting in the passenger seat for a long time. Seeing that he looked very tired, he hesitated for a moment.
"What's the matter? Just tell me."
Assistant Lin handed over a folder and said, "We sent that version of the proposal before, but the client was still not satisfied."
Fu Chengyun quickly flipped through a few pages of documents and threw them on the back seat.
He is tired.
The project Fu Chen handed him was incredibly difficult. Not only did he have to start from scratch in a very short period of time, but the client was also extremely difficult to work with.
The Fu family had no roots in this country, and their rash visit made the entire team unwelcome, and it was extremely difficult to make an appointment with someone for a detailed discussion.
After much pleading, we finally got a meeting. But the other party's profit margin was so low that closing the deal was almost as difficult as climbing Mount Everest.
Fu Chengyun originally wanted to give up, but this was his first project after rebelling against Fu Chen, and he had to make something out of it.
Countless eyes in the group were staring at him, waiting to see whether "the old ones are still the wisest" or "the disciple surpasses the master".
"Notify the team to come to my room and revise the plan and the contract contents tonight."
"Okay," Assistant Lin immediately issued a notice.
When they arrived at the hotel, the whole team gathered in Fu Chengyun's suite again.
He was casual, taking off his shoes and sitting cross-legged on the carpet with the other employees. The smell of tobacco mixed with various sweat smells, and there must have been some foot odor mixed in.
Pungent and turbid.
Fu Chengyun stood up and walked to the window, opening it to get some fresh air.
The unique noise of a bustling city came in through the window again, blending with the sounds of keyboards, conversations, and rustling papers in the room.
There was a buzzing in his ears, and he felt like there was a stone in his chest, unable to breathe. His temples ached dully, and he was overwhelmed.
There is no place for him in this city. He feels nothing but boredom and anxiety.
After working until late at night, the new plan and contract were finally drafted.
Fu Chengyun asked his employees to go back to their rooms to rest, and he leaned against the bay window and lit a cigarette.
He doesn't smoke, but when he feels extremely suffocated, he will light one up, and watch the tip of the cigarette held diagonally between his knuckles light up with tiny sparks of fire, and he will stare at the curling white smoke in a daze for a while.
Fu Chengyun even thought that if it were that person, he would never put himself in a dilemma and fight a meaningless battle.
That person might slap the contract directly on Party B's face, then give him a cold and contemptuous look with a smile on his lips, mocking the other party for being blind.
Then he turned around casually, leaving the whole room in shock.
The cigarette was pressed into the ashtray, and the sparks flickered.
His anxiety seemed to be subdued a little.
Another round of sunlight appeared, but it was covered in damp mist and no golden light was visible.
After the team assembled, they gathered in the conference hall again. Fu Chengyun submitted the proposal. If the other party was satisfied, they would have a final negotiation.
The negotiations revolved around the issue of profit and funding. At this point, success or failure almost rested in his hands.
It's nothing more than reducing profits and increasing investment. As long as you are willing to make concessions, you can get the other party to sign the contract.
The blonde secretary came in with a tray filled with paper cups of purified water.
Fu Chengyun stared at her, trying to find some clues from the micro-expressions on her face.
But until the secretary left, Fu Chengyun didn't notice anything.
He went through the contract over and over again, busier than the anchor after the news broadcast.
The door to the conference room was pushed open again, and Assistant Lin, dressed in a professional suit, slowly walked in. She stood beside Fu Chengyun without saying a word.
No one asked any questions, as everyone already knew the answer.
The whole space was so quiet that only the sound of each other's heartbeats could be heard.
Fu Chengyun picked up the paper cup and drank it all in one gulp.
"Go back!"
He tried to be brief, not because he was frugal with words, but because he didn't want to expose his loneliness and dejection at the moment.
The group came in a grand procession and left covered in dust.
He lost this silent confrontation with Fu Chen.
The team he had personally cultivated was also defeated miserably.
He paid out of his own pocket to upgrade the seats and give vacation time to everyone in the team, if for no other reason than to make everyone smile a little.
In the business class cabin, Fu Chengyun opened the sunshade. The clouds rolled in and out, but he didn't look at all free and unrestrained.
The golden edges on the edge of the clouds hurt his eyes, and he pulled down the sun visor fiercely, allowing the darkness to swallow up all the light on his body.
A plane flew across the sky. Jiaer stood by the window, looked up and shouted, "Mom!"
"Shut up!"
Suddenly, he felt a pain in his calf as a fist-sized orange rolled down to his feet. "Uncle, why did you hit me with that orange?"
"Because using a meteor hammer will kill you!" Ning Che sat on the snow-white cashmere carpet, staring at the homework book on the small table worriedly.
"What kind of nonsense is that, your teacher?" He kept the rest of the sentence to himself. "I don't understand a single word!"
Jia'er ran over to him and knelt in front of the small table. She stared at her homework book in a similar daze. "Hmm! I don't understand it either!"
Ning Che hooked his finger and flicked it hard on his forehead, scolding him with a smile: "Little thing!"
Butler Li and Auntie came over one after another, carrying lychees and cakes.
"If you can't understand it, don't write it. Have some afternoon tea to replenish your brain power."
"Yeah!" Children love sweet things, and Ning Che likes strawberry cake.
The big and the small looked at the light pink gift box with shining eyes.
The auntie smiled and urged them to wash their hands, and she sat at the small table to cut the cake for them.
Butler Li put the homework books aside and brewed a pot of black tea and placed it on the small table.
As dusk fell, a draft lifted the curtains, bringing a cool breeze into the room. A few people sat together, sipping tea and eating snacks, chatting and laughing, as lively as a family reunion to celebrate the New Year.
The elevator door made a slight noise, but did not attract the attention of anyone in the living room.
Fu Chengyun walked out of the elevator with his head down, his face pale and his eyes dead. He looked like a piece of paper that had been crumpled and unfolded, looking depressed and listless.
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