"That's not right. Not many people know that Yu Yan and I are in love. How did you know that?"
Song Xuanhe said perfunctorily: "The expression on your face just now clearly shows that you two have a close relationship. Besides, the fact that you had a first love and broke up and got back together many times is spread everywhere, how could I not know about it?"
"Is that so..." Zhou Nan picked up a piece of food with chopsticks, took a few bites and suddenly turned to ask Song Xuanhe: "Do you think if I ask Yu Yan to get back together, will he agree?"
"meeting."
Song Xuanhe's answer was so decisive that Zhou Nan almost believed that Yu Yan would get back together with him as long as he asked. However, his excitement lasted only a moment, and the light in his eyes slowly dimmed again: "You don't even know him, how do you know if he can agree to me?"
"Yeah." Song Xuanhe didn't comment and ate calmly.
"I've discovered that since you broke up with Xiao Yuanmu, you've become more and more like him." Zhou Nan looked at Song Xuanhe's calm profile and said, "You're becoming less and less expressionful, and you're talking less and less, and..."
"what else?"
Zhou Nan shook his head gently and said, "And I always feel that—"
"Xuanhe." Xiao Sheng, who had just answered a phone call and went out, walked in and interrupted Zhou Nan, "Feng Tong will be here later. He said he wants to see you. Do you want to meet him?"
Song Xuanhe thought about it, nodded and said, "I'll pick him up later."
Zhou Nan's words were interrupted by Xiao Shenglin, and the topic came to an end. After dinner, Song Xuanhe received a call from Feng Tong and went directly to the tea room to wait for him.
There were two knocks on the door. Song Xuanhe said, "Come in." The waiter led Feng Tong in.
Feng Tong took off his coat and smiled faintly: "This mountain is nice. I almost couldn't help but go play for a while when I passed the ski resort just now."
Song Xuanhe handed over the brewed tea and said with a squinting look: "You can play after you finish your tea. Do you have any other plans this afternoon?"
"Does it count as convincing you to become my partner?"
"Then we can go skiing." Song Xuanhe smiled, then said seriously, "I'm very sorry, I have not considered joining any studio for the time being. In addition to the fact that I am still in Song Corporation, there are other reasons. I hope you can understand."
Feng Tong laughed and didn't respond to his words. Instead, he asked, "Do you still remember Jiang Deyi who came to my birthday before?"
Song Xuanhe raised his eyebrows and motioned Feng Tong to continue.
"When he learned that I was going to open a studio, he sent me an email and attached a letter of recommendation from his mentor, hoping to become one of the founders of my studio." Feng Tong was not angry when he saw Song Xuanhe's indifferent expression, and continued: "I didn't resonate much with his design, so I rejected it directly."
"But later, my mentor sent me an email, emphasizing Jiang Deyi's current value and asking me to give up my requirements and compromise for the potential value he could bring in addition to his design..."
"Although I'm not someone who likes to compromise, I'm still relatively cautious about the current situation, so I checked his background and unexpectedly made some discoveries." Feng Tong's expression became meaningful: "One of his recent oil paintings was auctioned for a high price of 200,000 US dollars. As a fashion design student who is not majoring in oil painting, and a novice painter, this price is very intriguing. However, what interests me more is the person who bought this oil painting."
Faced with Feng Tong's suggestive expression, Song Xuanhe frowned imperceptibly.
To be honest, he had no interest in the mysterious man who took the photo of Jiang Deyi's oil painting mentioned by Feng Tong, and he preferred to communicate directly most of the time, especially with friends. At this time, Feng Tong's communication style and suspenseful tone did not arouse his interest, but made him a little impatient.
Feng Tong noticed Song Xuanhe's expression and said directly: "The person who took the picture of Jiang Deyi's painting is the president of REpany, a company that has suddenly risen in the United States recently. He is of Chinese descent, his last name is Xiao Yuanmu."
Song Xuanhe's pupils trembled slightly, but his expression did not change. He asked calmly, "And then?"
"Then, I heard that President Xiao gave the painting he bought back from Jiang Deyi to the chairman of a company he recently acquired, and told him that since he didn't know how to appreciate or run a company, he would buy back the company that couldn't be run, and then give him a painting that the chairman liked, so that everyone got what they wanted."
Feng Tong raised his eyebrows: "These four words can be regarded as the greatest insult to Jiang Deyi's artistic value."
Song Xuanhe pressed back the corners of his mouth that had slightly raised, and said nonchalantly: "What does that have to do with me?"
"Because now Mr. Jiang Deyi has pestered Mr. Xiao of RE and wants him to see the value of his paintings. Therefore, RE has offended Hayden Hoffman, the heir of the Hoffman family behind Jiang Deyi. Therefore, my studio must either find a suitable partner immediately and reject Jiang Deyi's self-recommendation with reasonable reasons, or it can only accept Jiang Deyi."
"I think your joining can help me solve the crisis."
Song Xuanhe raised his eyes and asked in surprise: "Partner?"
Feng Tong raised his eyebrows: "Didn't I tell you? I hope to create a joint studio. I want to try whether the two styles can develop independently but go hand in hand. As a young man who is not yet thirty years old, I think I can afford to lose. Mr. Song, are you willing to work with me to explore a new future?"
Song Xuanhe pursed his lips slightly and drank a sip of hot tea. When the fragrance of the tea returned and the aftertaste was sweet, he said, "Give me two days, I'll think about it."
"Of course." Feng Tong finished his tea and teased, "I have to say, your tea-making skills are really average."
Song Xuanhe stood up knowingly and replied with a smile: "I hope your skiing skills are not as good as my tea-making skills."
Two days later.
Song Xuanhe and Feng Tong met again and signed a detailed contract for the cooperative studio contract.
Feng Tong extended his hand: "Happy cooperation."
Song Xuanhe squinted his eyes and held his hand: "Happy cooperation."
Feng Tong Studio had made very thorough preparations in advance. After the contract was signed, he took Song Xuanhe on a tour of his studio and introduced him to several designers, including someone he had met last time on Feng Tong's birthday.
"Nice to meet you again, Mr. Song. We will be partners from now on."
After saying hello, they went to the hotel booked by Feng Tong to have dinner together, so as to get to know each other and eliminate the sense of unfamiliarity before the studio was officially established.
Everyone present was a designer, so the topic of conversation was naturally related to design. However, as the conversation went on, they somehow ended up talking about Jiang Deyi's oil paintings being sold at a high price, and how he was publicly insulted before he could even enjoy the moment for a few days.
Some people just thought it was a joke and gossip, while others thought the buyer was overdoing it. "The RE president is really too arrogant. Although Jiang Deyi did not graduate from an oil painting major and his works may not be able to fetch such a high price, the original intention of an artist to hold a gallery or auction is just to display his works. If he doesn't like it, he can just not buy it. Why did he raise the price and then say such things? Isn't this insulting?"
"I don't think so." Someone retorted, "Jiang Deyi can't see his own weight and he doesn't allow people to have freedom of speech? Besides, the president of RE didn't say this publicly on a loudspeaker or on any show. He said this in a very private place. There is nothing wrong with the gift-giving behavior. One hand takes the money and the other hand takes the goods. Since the president of RE is the owner of the painting, it is his own freedom to comment on it and say whatever he wants when giving it away. How can it be considered an insult?"
"But this word has spread, and everyone knows about it. Now Jiang Deyi is being laughed at by the oil painting community and ostracized by the design community. Don't you think that the person who caused this, the president of RE, needs to take responsibility for this?"
"Why should he take responsibility?" The designer who spoke looked puzzled. "Does it mean he is responsible if someone spreads his words? Can't he even express his own ideas?"
Unable to convince the person in front of him, the designer pursed his lips, turned to look at Feng Tong, and said, "Brother Tong, what do you think?"
Feng Tong stopped picking up the food and said, "I'm eating. Please let Xuan He talk."
The designer looked at Song Xuanhe, who glanced at Feng Tong with a fake smile and said, "I don't have any ideas. What others do and say is their business. I don't know the cause and effect, so it's not convenient for me to comment."
After he said this, the two designers who had just been arguing realized that it was inappropriate to argue like this in the current situation, so they stopped discussing this topic, drank a glass of wine, and immediately changed the topic.
A girl in the corner who had been silent all this time suddenly looked up and asked, "Do you know Xiao Bocong from the Xiao family?"
Hearing this name, many people's attention turned to her.
"What's wrong with him?"
However, some people were very confused: "I haven't heard of it, who is it?"
"The Xiao family, one of the eight great chaebols!" Another person turned around and explained, "It is rumored that Xiao Bocong is the only heir of the Xiao family. However, the information about the next generation of the Xiao family has always been well protected and is particularly vague, so we are not sure whether it is true. However, it is certain that Xiao Bocong is a member of the Xiao family. He is also one of the few members of the Xiao family who have been exposed."
"The eight chaebols?" The man who asked the question exclaimed, "I heard about the eight chaebols when I was studying in Country S. Some people said that the headquarter of one of them is in Country S, but I never asked about it. Caitlin, aren't you in the same school as me? How do you know so much?"
The girl who spoke first, Caitlin, said, "You and I were classmates in college, and Xiao Bocong was my classmate in high school. He was only fourteen years old when he entered the third year of high school, skipping four grades. So he was very famous among our age. Some white kids would bully people of other skin colors, but even though Xiao Bocong was the youngest, no one dared to bully him, so we have always been interested in the rumors about him."
"Just now I heard from a high school classmate that today is Xiao Bocong's coming-of-age ceremony. He sent me some photos. I can only describe them as breathtaking. Take a look."
Caitlin's phone was passed around, attracting waves of exclamations. When it came to Song Xuanhe's hands, he paused for a moment before his eyes fell on the photo.
The first photo is of a very old and tall castle. Caitlin's word "breathtaking" is very appropriate, because this castle is really hard to describe. I have to say, it is not very similar to the buildings that would appear in reality or in that era.
The family conditions of those who can study design and reach this stage can't be too bad, not to mention that there are several people here who can be considered second or third generation. Even if their bloodlines are counted, they can say a few words.
But the solemn and majestic castle in the photo is indeed very rare.
There is no shortage of castles in modern society, whether they can be visited or not. Due to the development of the Internet, even if it is impossible to take pictures of the scenes inside, people who are willing to look up information can always see the appearance. But in Song Xuanhe's memory, even the public royal castles and manors, none of them have the kind of historical sense and strong sense of solemnity and elegance like the castle in the photo.
For some reason, he suddenly remembered Xiao Ranyun's rejection of the Xiao family and his description of its oppression when he talked about it. Then, he thought about the fact that Xiao Yuanmu would have to live in this castle for the next ten, twenty, or even forty-five or sixteen years, and he couldn't help but feel a little depressed.
A sour, heart-wrenching feeling rarely surged into Song Xuanhe's heart.
He subconsciously swiped, quickly looked at the next few photos, and then handed the phone to the next person.
After everyone had looked at the photo, the person who had asked the question at first said thoughtfully, "This castle is really old, perhaps more than a few hundred years old, but I don't know why, but I always feel like I have some impression of the mountain behind the manor."
Someone laughed when he heard this: "Can you still tell the difference between mountains?"
"I really feel familiar with it. It's not that the mountain is so familiar, but the distribution of vegetation on that mountain is very familiar to me. You should know that my father studies plants, so I am particularly sensitive to these things. Once, my classmates and I got lost while skiing and wandered around for a long time. It seems that we walked to that place. In order to find the way and out of habit, I observed the distribution of vegetation over there little by little, so that after I walked out, I had a special impression of the plants on that mountain. Two mountains may be the same, but basically there are no two mountains with exactly the same vegetation distribution..."
"Alright, alright, it's not surprising that the plants grown on the two mountains are the same. I think as long as the terrain, topography and climate are similar, there is no difference in the plants on the mountains."
"Really not. I'm very familiar with that mountain, especially the electric fence installed in the middle of the forest. At that time, I wondered why. I thought I had broken into a military base or a secret test site. Now I see that it might be the Xiao family..."
"Stop!" Someone made a stop gesture and interrupted him, "Then tell me where you saw this mountain?"
"Country S." He said, "I went skiing with my friends when I was a sophomore..."
"As everyone knows, the Xiao family's main branch is in the United States." The man said, "Although the location has not been confirmed, it is almost certain, so your guess is 80% wrong."
He hesitated for a moment, looked at the others, and after seeing them nod, he touched his head in disappointment and said, "I thought I had stumbled upon a big secret."
"It's better to buy a lottery ticket than to be able to discover such a big secret by you."
Since they were just joking with each other, the topic was just passed.
Song Xuanhe ate quietly and did not take what the man had just said seriously. These people could not be sure, but as a reader of the novel, he knew very well that the Xiao family's main home was in the United States, and in the book, Xiao Yuanmu had never been to Country S. He thought that the man's guess just now was really just a guess.
The dinner ended with chatting and gossiping. Few people picked up their chopsticks during the entire banquet. Only Song Xuanhe was enjoying the food carefully from beginning to end.
When leaving, someone joked, "I was so busy talking that I didn't eat more. Seeing that Mr. Song didn't put down his chopsticks, I know the chef here is very good. If I had known, I would have eaten a few more bites."
Feng Tong smiled and said, "If you like, I can order some dishes for you to take away."
"No, no, we can taste the same thing next time we have a dinner together."
Song Xuanhe curled his lips and said nothing.
After the dinner, everyone went home. Feng Tong and Song Xuanhe came together and parked their cars together. Halfway through the trip, Feng Tong said, "I'm sorry, Ke Zhu wasn't paying attention when he spoke just now."
Song Xuanhe turned the key in his hand, and the sound of the car unlocking rang at the same time. He said, "It's okay, this is normal. When my work comes out in the future, he will naturally not say anything more."
Feng Tong laughed when he heard this and said, "I didn't expect you to be so confident. I thought I should comfort you."
Song Xuanhe opened the car door, got in and said, "No matter what, thank you for your comfort."
Feng Tong waved to him and opened his car door. Song Xuanhe closed the car door and the world returned to silence.
He had thought of the current outcome when he decided to cooperate with Feng Tong, so he would not get angry because of other people's implicit rejection and provocation. What's more, today's incident was not a provocation, but just a small test of him by his future partner. He had already prepared for it and could naturally deal with this situation calmly.
But, for some reason, he always felt a little tired and wanted to get into a quiet and deserted place as soon as possible to be alone.
Song Xuanhe backed out of the garage, his eyes swept across the streets that were as busy as day, and then he retracted his eyes without pause and concentrated on driving.
There was no music here, only silence, but Song Xuanhe felt a little more relaxed, and the corners of his mouth, which had been slightly pursed, also slightly curled up.
However, the corners of his mouth that had just been raised returned to straightness the moment the music started. Song Xuanhe was too lazy to wear Bluetooth headphones, and didn't want to answer a call from an unfamiliar number, so he ignored it.
But the person on the phone wouldn't give up. The music would fade away and come back again in less than a second. The noise kept coming back. Song Xuanhe would almost stop calling as soon as he raised his hand to hang up. He was so annoyed that he had to put on his headphones and answer the phone.
He was in an unexpected mood, and his voice was cold: "Who?"
"Are you in a bad mood?" The voice coming from the headphones was clear, but it seemed even deeper and more magnetic because it was transmitted through the media.
Song Xuanhe paused for a moment while steering. He frowned when he saw the car brushing past him and turned into the main road. Before he could speak, he heard the other side say, "I'm not in a good mood either."
"Why?"
Without thinking, these three words came out of his mouth, leaving both Song Xuan and himself stunned for a moment.
However, after being stunned for a moment, he focused his attention on Xiao Yuanmu's voice on the other side of the headset, and really wanted to know why he was unhappy.
When Xiao Yuanmu was with him, he rarely had strong emotional fluctuations. The strongest one he had seen was when Xiao Yuanmu had a stomach cramp. He heard that Xiao Yuanmu's stomach cramp was caused by excessive excitement, but even so, Xiao Yuanmu never mentioned a word about his mood. When Song Xuanhe suddenly heard him say this, he was really curious.
“Because of many things.”
Separated by the headphones and the Pacific Ocean, Xiao Yuanmu seemed to be much more relaxed when expressing his emotions. His clear, slightly deep voice came through the headphones, and Song Xuanhe seemed to be able to feel his gloomy mood.
After Xiao Yuanmu said these five words, he stopped talking. The sound of shallow breathing could be heard. Song Xuanhe was driving, and his mood, which had been a little irritable because of the ringing of his cell phone, calmed down.
It was unknown how long it had been before Xiao Yuanmu spoke again: "Why didn't you contact me once?"
Song Xuanhe raised the corners of his mouth a little, and there were shallow bags under his drooping eyes: "Are you in a bad mood because I didn't contact you?"
"It accounts for 50%." Xiao Yuanmu thought for a moment and said calmly, "I bought a painting a few days ago, but I gave it away because it was too ugly."
The curve of Song Xuanhe's mouth deepened, and he hummed lightly, not responding to this topic, and motioned for him to continue.
"Do you miss me?"
Song Xuanhe almost stepped on the brakes, and finally managed to stabilize himself. He said unhappily, "I don't want to."
Xiao Yuanmu's voice deepened as he reminded her, "We haven't broken up."
"Each of us has our own opinion." Song Xuanhe said with a smile on his face: "Since we can't meet, let's just do what we think is right."
"You'll be with anyone else besides me?"
"Who knows?"
Xiao Yuanmu chuckled, his voice low and firm, "You won't."
Song Xuan and Yang Mei did not deny it.
Without hearing Song Xuanhe's rebuttal, Xiao Yuanmu felt better than before and said, "I held a seven-hour meeting today to discuss the supply of new energy. Three companies secretly put pressure on us to monopolize the acquisition..."
Probably not knowing what to say, Xiao Yuanmu spoke in a faint voice about what he had done during this period of time, and said the most words he and Song Xuanhe had said since they met.
Song Xuanhe, who rarely showed any impatience, listened quietly. The car had already driven to the parking lot under the apartment building, but he did not get out. Instead, he sat in the car and listened to him finish.
Xiao Yuanmu was a man of few words, and there were only a few things to do at work. Even though this was the most he spoke, it only lasted five minutes.
At the end, Xiao Yuanmu asked Song Xuanhe: "Are you feeling better?"
Song Xuanhe asked back: "What about you?"
The only answer he got was a light breath. Song Xuanhe leaned back in his chair, put a hand on his forehead, and said with a smirk, "Me too."
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