◇ Chapter 28 Knife Fish
Halfway through the dinner, Shen Ci arrived as expected.
He seemed to have just got off work. He was dressed meticulously in a suit and tie. When he walked into the venue, he casually handed his coat to the waiter, then looked around, his eyes lightly fixed on Xie Yu, and quickly moved away.
The system was quite curious: "If he hadn't come to visit me so often, I would have thought he didn't know you."
In front of outsiders, Shen Ci was always reserved, with a cold look and a cold tone. Xie Yu admired him for a while. Someone sat next to him and laughed, "Master Xie?"
Xie Yu turned around and saw a young man he didn't recognize. He had met him once before at the reception desk and he walked with Xie Yi.
Xie Yu nodded politely: "What's the matter?"
The man said: "See you keep looking at Mr. Shen, do you know him?"
It was no secret in Jiangcheng that Shen Ci had followed Xie Yu when he was down and out. This time when Xie Yu returned to China, many people were waiting to laugh at him, wanting to see when the precious Young Master Xie would be bullied. This person's words were considered a provocation.
Xie Yu had no expression: "I know him, what's the matter?"
The man said, "Why don't you go up and toast and say hello?"
He intended to ridicule Xie Yu and find trouble with the current young master of the Xie family, but Xie Yu just glanced at him and turned his head away without moving.
It's like watching a clown.
The man got himself into trouble and left with the wine.
But it should be said that Xie Yu really wanted to talk to Shen Ci.
He didn't know what to talk about, but the task was completed, but he still had some regrets, so he wanted to have a good talk face to face.
Shen Ci sat in the middle of the banquet, surrounded by a circle of people in three layers inside and outside. Xie Yu was a nobody now, and he couldn't squeeze in. He walked around the periphery twice with the wine in his hand, but couldn't find any space.
Everyone at the banquet was busy socializing and really didn't have time to pay attention to him. Xie Yu was too lazy to squeeze in, so he simply sat down on the periphery and stared around the round table in a daze.
He didn't care, but unfortunately there were people who cared a lot. The young master of the Xie family was used to being arrogant and domineering, and many people wanted to see him fall from a great height. The harder he fell, the more satisfying it was. Xie Yu heard a few comments sporadically, probably mocking his cheap clothes, which were all from street stalls and he couldn't afford to wear usual brands. Some people also mentioned that he drove a Santana, which was two or three levels lower than a Bentley.
Xie Yu didn't care. In his own world, he couldn't even afford a Santana.
These voices were quite loud, and some were even discussed specifically for Shen Ci to hear. They were bustling and noisy, but halfway through the conversation, they suddenly became quiet.
Shen Ci raised his hands and clapped them, making a still gesture: “Okay, let’s get back to investment.”
After all, Master Xie's gossip was just a sideshow, and investment was the important thing. The topic returned to the main track. Who knew that after twenty minutes, a waiter leaned over to Xie Yu and whispered, "Mr. Xie, can you go to the private box? Mr. Shen wants to meet you."
Xie Yu looked up and saw Shen Ci was still in the crowd, explaining something with his head tilted, not looking at him at all.
Xie Yu nodded to the waiter: "Of course."
The banquet had private rooms for private communication, and there was no shortage of food and drink in the rooms. Xie Yu took two sips of wine, and then Shen Ci came.
He glanced at Xie Yu, glancing at his cheap clothes, and his eyelids drooped slightly, not sure if it was mocking or something else: "You really have become so miserable."
Xie Yu paused holding the wine glass.
Shen Ci knew best what he looked like now, and it was a bit strange to say it in front of him.
Xie Yu was not angry, and said lightly: "Yeah."
Shen Ci sat down opposite him: “Are you really going to give away Xie’s shares?”
"Xie Yuanhai has done this privately. The price they give you is far below the market price. Add to that inheritance tax and other issues, and the amount you actually get won't exceed this amount."
Xie Yu tilted his head to look and saw Shen Ci writing a series of numbers on a piece of white paper. He didn't count how many zeros there were. This amount was enough for most people to live a life of ease and comfort, but for the consumption style of the second generation of rich people, it was a little stretched.
Shen Ci continued: “As far as I know, you and He Zhiyuan and others still have a debt relationship of millions of levels?”
His attitude was cold, and his voice was cold as well, as if he didn't have any emotions. Xie Yu recalled, "Yes."
The two of them had gone out together to spend money before, and they were both the richest people in Jiangcheng, so neither of them cared about the millions. Later, when He Zhiyuan fell into poverty, the two of them had conflicts again. If they really went to court, it would be clear that Xie Yu owed several million.
Shen Ci said calmly: “If you want to pay back this money, I’m afraid you’ll have to work for twenty or thirty years.”
Xie Yu: “…”
He still had several million in his card, so he had no shortage of money. Besides, his mission had been completed and he was about to leave.
But when Xie Yu looked at Shen Ci and saw that his fingertips were clasped on the table and he was unconsciously exerting force, as if he was nervous, Xie Yu could not say these words.
He asked in a good-tempered manner: "Then what should I do?"
Shen Ci didn't look at him. After a long while, he said, "Given your current situation, I'm afraid you're stretched to the limit, right?"
The tone was cold and hard, with a hint of bluffing and an air of trying to cover up something.
Xie Yu ignored the balance on his card and agreed, "Uh, yes?"
Shen Ci: “I can help you get back the shares you deserve.”
Xie Yu didn’t respond, vaguely guessing what Shen Ci wanted to do.
To be honest, he didn't need the equity, but the Shen Ci in front of him looked a little haggard, with light bruises under his eyes, the result of running between the company and the mental hospital these days, and his beautiful eyes drooped... Shen Ci was obviously the most expensive person in Jiangcheng, but now he looked a little down and out.
Xie Yu saw this and felt a little tight in his chest, so he couldn't say no.
When he was a child, he was sick and hospitalized, but no one ever came to see him, not even once.
Xie Yu asked: "Then what should I do?"
Shen Ci said calmly: “Sign an agreement with me, just like you signed with me five years ago.”
When he said this, he had no expression and did not look at Xie Yu. It seemed that he was not looking for a lover, but discussing a valuable business deal. He did not have the carefree and unrestrained manner of a rich and dissolute young man at all. His fingertips pressed on the table, and the blue veins on the back of his hands were faintly visible, showing a little anxiety.
...What are you anxious about?
Xie Yu was obviously the one waiting for a good price, but he was the one who was anxious.
Xie Yu could even imagine how miserable Shen Ci would be if he refused. His meticulous hair would surely droop down, and his cold eyes would lose their luster... All these things made it impossible for him to say anything.
Even in the previous six months, he had never made Shen Ci so sad.
He couldn’t bear to see Shen Ci so sad.
The system was already shocked by the plot going off track. It circled around Xie Yu, even more anxious than Xie Yu, muttering, "What is going on? Huh? Is there still such a plot? But the mission is completed, and the host is leaving soon. Host? Why aren't you talking? Host?!"
Its sound suddenly stopped.
But Xie Yu chuckled: "Okay."
He agreed promptly and without any hesitation, and his voice was calm and gentle, as if he was not signing an agreement involving personal freedom but asking what to eat in the evening.
system:"?!"
It couldn't believe it: "Host, don't you want to go home?"
Xie Yu was careless and didn't take things seriously, but he kept his word. He signed the agreement, and at least within the time frame, he would never leave.
But wasn't the purpose of making this agreement in the first place to go home?
The system is confused.
Xie Yu waved it away: "Not going back yet."
There is no one at home.
Xie Yu had always been indifferent to family ties, both in this life and in the previous life. His mother died early, and as for his father, Xie Yu considered him dead. So much so that when he closed his eyes before dying, he had no one to think about. Later, he agreed to the system only because he didn't want to die too suddenly. If he said he missed his previous life much, he really didn't.
But there were some people in this world that made him miss them a little.
Shen Ci breathed a sigh of relief, pushed over a contract, and said in a businesslike manner: "Xie Yuanhai is ambitious and arbitrary. He has swallowed up a large market in the past few months, which has had a significant impact on our company's overseas market share. Supporting you to take the top position is beneficial to us, and it can be regarded as a win-win situation."
The system was dumbfounded. "Is this true? Why do I remember the original text saying that Xie was beaten to a pulp? In two months, it will face a stock price crisis and be on the verge of delisting. Even so, can it still grab market share?"
It sighed: "It turns out that even a centipede is still alive after death. Xie Yuanhai is quite shrewd and calculating."
"...I told you not to use idioms carelessly."
Xie Yu held down the chattering system, nodded at Shen Ci, and agreed, “Indeed.”
After the agreement was signed, Shen Ci obviously relaxed: "I have written down the conditions clearly. If you want to buy a car, a watch, or daily consumption, you can use my account."
The agreement was quite thick. Xie Yu flipped through it roughly and found it was much better than the one he gave to Shen Ci at that time. There was not a single outrageous request, such as letters and □□.
Each person had two copies of the agreement, and they kept them separately. Shen Ci put his worries aside and stood up: "I'll go back to the banquet first, and you can wait for me to leave together after it's over."
Shen Ci was one of the center of the banquet, and he really couldn’t stay too long.
Xie Yu opened the door for him, and said in a gentlemanly manner: "Please."
The small box fell silent for a moment.
Xie Yu took out his phone, and the system turned left and right beside him, suspiciously: "Are you really not leaving?"
Xie Yu turned the page leisurely: "Does it hinder you from doing the next mission?"
"That's not the case." The system muttered, "I'm on vacation now. Next time I look for a host, I have to be careful. I can't look for someone like you."
60 points! God knows how much he paid for the host, and he only got 60 points!
Xie Yu had no time to pay attention to him and was staring at his phone in a trance. The system curiously flew over to take a look and found that the screen was full of colorful things, with fish, meat, potatoes and green onions. The proportions of green onion, ginger and garlic were written in detail on the side, teaching you how to blanch them and how to remove the fishy smell.
Xie Yu was actually looking at a recipe.
System: "? What are you doing?"
Xie Yu didn't even raise his head: "Learn the self-cultivation of the pretty boy."
"……?"
Xie Yu continued to flip through the book: "The agreement has been signed. This is within my responsibility."
The system was surprised: "You can break this agreement at any time, but you really want to abide by it?"
As long as Xie Yu asked, he could go back immediately.
Xie Yu: "I'd love to."
Xie Yu was not a fool, and he was somewhat aware of Shen Ci's thoughts, but at that time he just thought of him as a passer-by here, and did not want to stay for long, so he deliberately kept his distance. But when it was time to leave, he became entangled and hesitant.
When he returned there, there was no one guarding his bedside anymore.
To put this secret thought into words, he just couldn't bear to leave. Xie Yu asked himself, he was reluctant to leave all the indulgence and care, and even more reluctant to... make the beauty sad.
Fortunately, he has always been a free and easy person. Since he has decided to stay, he will do better.
The system was speechless: "...Okay.
Xie Yu remembered Chen Ci's taste. He preferred light taste and liked shrimp and fish, which were steamed or blanched. When he was taken out to eat in the past, these two dishes were the ones he would eat the most.
It was late at night, and fresh fish and shrimp were hard to buy. Xie Yu located the nearby seafood market and sent a text message to Shen Ci: "I'm going out for a while."
As he typed, he opened the door of the box and walked out, while Shen Ci in the center of the banquet casually scanned the phone, paused for a moment, and then frowned.
The two of them didn’t add each other as friends, but it was easy for Shen Ci to find out Xie Yu’s number. The moment this message popped up, he knew who it was.
Shen Ci said softly, "Excuse me," and opened the chat box in a hidden place. His finger hovered over the screen, and the anxiety that he had just suppressed came back.
He wanted to remind Xie Yu that they had signed an agreement, that the stock transfer had not been completed and that his shares had not yet been received, and that he had just agreed to leave with him...
But before Xie Yu finished typing, a message popped up slowly: "The dishes at today's banquet are a bit unpalatable. The beef is overcooked. How about we have an extra meal tonight?"
Shen Ci was stunned.
Xie Yu continued slowly: "Actually, I can cook. Do you want to try?"
After saying that, Xie Yu remembered that Shen Ci was picky about food, and when they first met in a hotel, he was afraid of that look, and he interrupted Xie Yu's ordering, which was very difficult to keep, so Xie Yu added: "My cooking skills are pretty good, not much worse than in the restaurant."
He had been stuck on the typing interface, and Shen Ci kept showing that he was typing. Mr. Shen, who was the center of attention, just stood in the shadow of the corner, staring at a broken phone, his palms slightly sweaty.
He didn't understand what Xie Yu wanted to do.
They were clearly cold and distant a few days ago, as if they didn't recognize each other when they met, but because of a piece of paper, there was such a drastic change?
Is Xie Yu so happy because I promised to buy him a car and a watch?
That’s good too, Shen Ci thought, he has plenty of money now.
Xie Yu pulled on his clothes and went downstairs, completely unaware of the twists and turns inside. Shen Ci didn't reply, and he thought he didn't see it, so he continued to speak slowly: "What do you want to eat? I see that knife fish is on the market. It's quite fresh recently. Do you want to eat it?"
Knife fish is a migratory fish that migrates from the nearshore to the Yangtze River every year. It is only commonly seen in January and February. Eating it now is almost the same as the first batch to try.
This stuff is expensive, a pound of wild ones costs several thousand. Ordinary shops don’t have it, so you have to go find it specially. Xie Yu doesn’t usually eat it, but today is a rare day, so he wants to buy some for Shen Ci to try.
Shen Ci quickly replied: “Okay.”
In fact, Xie Yu thought that Shen Ci was difficult to raise, which was purely a misunderstanding. Shen Ci was raised in a simple way since he was a child, and he was not picky about food and drink. When Xie Yu mentioned knife fish, he didn't even know what it was.
So Xie Yu went to the seafood market in his sneakers, carefully selected a plump and lively fish, had the boss chop it unconscious with a knife, and then brought it back in a red plastic bag. He didn't like the atmosphere of the banquet very much, so he simply went into the parking lot and sat cross-legged in the Santana.
Xie Yu took a photo of the plastic bag in his hand and sent it over: "I've bought it. It weighs more than two kilograms."
After a moment, he called again: "I'll wait for you in the parking lot."
Upstairs, the big men of Jiangcheng sat in their seats, arguing over equity, their faces flushed with spit flying. Shen Ci quietly turned on his phone to see the message from Xie Yu.
A casually taken photo with unsophisticated composition and colors, showing Xie Yu in casual clothes with only half of his body exposed, and a cheap plastic bag in his hand.
Very ordinary and very down-to-earth.
Before, Xie Yu lived in Xingfu Community for three days, and Shen Ci stayed next door with him for three days. Every day at mealtime, the hot pot steam rose from next door, the aroma of stir-fried onions and ginger spread, chicken soup or pork ribs soup bubbled in the earthenware pot, and Shen Ci ate the hotel meals. Obviously, they were all expensive ingredients, and Xie Yu bought countless dishes for one dish, but he just wanted to taste the taste of Xie Yu's pot.
I didn't expect such an opportunity to come on the first day of signing the agreement.
Shen Ci said after careful consideration: “I’m staying in a hotel, there’s no stove, maybe there’s no place to cook?”
The moment the message was sent, it showed that Xie Yu was typing.
He typed slowly. The car was warm with the heater on. His fingers were curled up in his coat and he was reluctant to take them out. Xie Yu typed one word at a time, completely unaware of the anxiety on the other side of the screen.
It seemed like a moment had passed, but also like a long time had passed. Xie Yu said, "Can you come to my house? It's an old house my mom bought, but the conditions are a bit poor, you may not be used to it."
“……!”
Of course Shen Ci would not dislike it, he waited for a moment, making the message seem less urgent, appearing aloof and reserved, before clicking send: “Okay.”
The game on the field continued. After a brief recovery, Shen Ci had to put most of his energy back. During this time, he kept looking at his watch, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper.
Looking back on the past years, Chen Ci always left home late. He was the last one to leave in the evening study in high school, the last one to leave the laboratory when doing experiments in undergraduate and graduate school, and the last one to work overtime when he joined Roche. It was only because after my grandmother was hospitalized, the house was empty and quiet. In the dead of night, the house was like an empty tomb, without even a trace of vitality. Instead of going home to suffer, it is better to stay longer in the company and school.
But now, recalling the rising steam in the Xingfu Community, he didn't want to waste time with a bunch of old orange peels.
This was the day that Shen Ci wanted to get off work the most in his life.
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