Chapter 64 Red and White
"Ah Shu, from now on, I will accompany you on your journey from afar." [Second Update]
A dark mahogany desk with a framed family photo displayed in front of it.
The red flags on the table fluttered gently in the breeze from the air conditioner, and the three people sitting in the center of the family photo gradually became clearer.
Chen Rongqing took off his narrow-rimmed glasses and saw that it was his father holding the hands of his two grandchildren.
The old man's smile was kind and gentle, as if he had smoothed out all the ups and downs of his life.
Secretary Wang pushed open the door and entered, serving him a freshly brewed cup of Baihao Yinzhen tea. "This is Baihao Yinzhen tea that Young Master Jingshu sent before. It's just been properly prepared. Please try it."
Chen Rongqing took the teacup, took a sip, and said, "Hmm, this kid finally remembers he has a father."
"Look at what Director Chen is saying, what son in the world doesn't remember his father?"
Chen Rongqing smiled calmly, seemingly casually saying, "I heard that my son and niece made a public appearance in front of the media today?"
Secretary Wang was taken aback at first, then slowly replied, "Yes, we attended the opening ceremony of an art museum owned by a rising domestic healing-themed painter. It's actually an art museum under Jing Shu's JING Capital, and the beautiful painter is just an acting curator."
Chen Rongqing: "Acting curator! She did a good job, directly dispelling the rumors that my two children are not getting along."
"That's right. I heard from you before that the two of them were arguing fiercely during the New Year. The old man was worried that they would really become enemies. Now he can rest assured."
"I just don't know when these two started seeing each other," Chen Rongqing asked gently, tapping the table with his fingertip.
Secretary Wang pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses and replied, "At the end of last year, Young Master Jing Shu frequently visited Miss Jin Yi's company, so we must have started seeing each other around that time."
"So long! That's truly a good omen for my family... a sign of harmony and prosperity." Chen Rongqing put down his teacup and looked at Secretary Wang, asking, "Right, Secretary Wang? But why didn't you tell me sooner? It would have been better if the old man had a peaceful New Year."
"At the time, I didn't expect it; I thought it was just a regular business meeting."
"A regular business meeting...it's really tough on the two kids."
Secretary Wang was the person who had followed Chen Rongqing the longest, and also his most tacit and best good cop/bad cop partner. "Miss Jinyi said that the Chen family's sword must be aimed at outsiders, otherwise they are not qualified to lead the great ship of Huaren forward."
"My niece is a few years older, but she is sensible and knows right from wrong."
"But Director Chen, as an outsider, I must say something abrupt. Harmony in the family is the foundation of everything, and the first priority is to be a family. Young Master Jing Shu will certainly always bear the surname Chen, but Miss Jin Yi will eventually get married. At that time, she will have to bear three surnames: her maternal grandmother's Hua family, her maternal family's Chen family, and her husband's family. If she continues to stay in Hua Ren, it will probably only lead to chaos. It is understandable that the old man is getting old and wants to enjoy family life. But after Hua Ren, there will inevitably be an elder to personally oversee things and keep the situation under control."
"Secretary Wang, you are mistaken. Everyone knows that Jin Yi is an iron lady, capable and decisive, and has always been indifferent to matters of love. Otherwise, the old man would not have made an exception for her."
“You’re about to retire, and Young Master Jing Shu should also join the board of directors. No matter how capable Miss Jin Yi is, it’s not good if she lacks discernment.”
The two performed a red-and-white face-painted opera without an audience, exchanging a smile.
Finally, Chen Rongqing changed the subject and said, "Jing Shu is young and doesn't understand the intricacies of the situation. Once he gets married and experiences the entanglements of his wife's family's power, he will naturally understand the good intentions behind the rules set by the old master."
"Director Chen, don't you know?" Secretary Wang quickly interjected, "It's all over Beijing now. Your daughter-in-law is the painter who instigated the reconciliation between the siblings."
“I was worried that Young Master Jing Shu might be deceived, so I secretly investigated her. It turns out she was a poor student you had previously sponsored.” Secretary Wang handed over the brown paper bag he was holding. “I made a special trip to her hometown. The neighbors all said she was a pitiful child. Her father died early, and when her mother and younger brother heard that someone from the capital was looking for her, they immediately replied that they had severed all ties with her and had no relation to her.”
Chen Rongqing read the document with a furrowed brow. "My daughter-in-law? Who said that? The media? Isn't that a joke?"
"Absolutely." Secretary Wang replied, looking at his expression. "She's probably just another girl who's relying on her youth, beauty, and some talent to dream of marrying into wealth and becoming a phoenix."
"Sigh, children grow up and become uncontrollable. But why are you only telling me now? This is the second thing..."
Secretary Wang apologized repeatedly, "I've been keeping an eye on that girl. Although she's with Young Master Jing Shu, she's still quite well-behaved and knows where the line is."
"It only changed in the last month... I think it should be up to you, the head of the family, to make the final decision."
Chen Rongqing narrowed her eyes and flipped the family photo frame on her desk face down onto the table. "You don't understand. My son has been raised by his mother to be too naive and innocent. If he knew I was going to see that girl, he would only say he'd give up the throne for the beauty."
"Director Chen, parents' hearts are truly full of love and worry!"
Chen Rongqing smiled and waved his hand, seemingly magnanimous and insightful, saying, "Children and grandchildren have their own blessings, let them be. Inform them that tomorrow morning's meeting will be moved to the afternoon, and the two old folks can go to a nearby teahouse to relax."
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Lin Yujing looked at Chen Jinyi and smiled, "I understand what you're saying, eldest sister."
"Good that you understand." Chen Jinyi patted her hand again. "Tell me more about your trip to the Hoh Xil no-man's-land."
As the two were chatting, Chen Jingshu brought over two people whose identities were clearly extraordinary just by looking at them. He introduced them one by one: "This is Chairman Qin of Huajing Technology, and this is Chairman Li of the Shanghai Li Group. This is my eldest sister, Chen Jinyi, who is also a director of Huaren Group, and this is my girlfriend, Lin Yujing, the curator of JING Art Museum."
It was another round of official pleasantries among businessmen. Lin Yujing followed Chen Jinyi and shook hands with Qin Jianchuan and Li Xiran one by one.
Chen Jingshu put his arm around her waist from behind and whispered, "My sister and I have an appointment with these two directors to discuss some matters. Please take care of the registration area in the lobby."
Lin Yujing nodded, "Go ahead, I can handle things here."
She spent the morning exchanging pleasantries with a group of socialites, heiresses, and celebrities from all walks of life, handling the simple reception matters with ease.
She watched as Chen Jingshu and the group walked into the conference room, lost in thought for a moment, then quickly composed herself and gracefully returned to the lobby.
After that, the people who came were all Chen Jingshu's friends in Beijing and his former classmates from when he studied abroad.
With Chu Yan leading the way, she basically stayed by his side, explaining things to him from time to time.
Later, as they got to know each other better, the group became more friendly and started calling her "sister-in-law."
In a flash, Lin Yujing felt as if she had returned to her high school days.
"Sister-in-law, have you made the celebration banquet arrangements?"
Lin Yujing had been busy all day, and since Chen Jingshu had basically arranged everything for the opening of the exhibition, she didn't even know if there would be a celebration banquet.
Before she could apologize, Chen Jingshu suddenly appeared from behind, put his arm around her waist, and said to the group of people, "Don't worry, your sister-in-law made arrangements a few days ago and even prepared good wine for you."
"Okay! Thank you, sister-in-law, you've gone to so much trouble."
Lin Yujing was led by the hand by Chen Jingshu, with his suit jacket draped over her shoulder, and a red carpet beneath her feet.
As he chatted with a group of friends, fireworks suddenly went off in the courtyard.
At that moment, I felt a strange...
Holding a wedding, the feeling of marrying him.
...
The celebration banquet that evening was attended mostly by Chen Jingshu's close friends and acquaintances.
According to him, when buying land for the museum, he relied on their connections and favors.
At the banquet, Chen Jingshu was naturally forced to drink a lot of alcohol.
In the end, it was with Chu Yan's help that they were able to carry Chen Jingshu home.
“Brother Jing never drank before, so they finally got their chance today,” Chu Yan explained as he took the honey water.
"It's alright, you've worked hard too, go home and rest early," Lin Yujing said.
She escorted Chu Yan to the door and then asked, "Did you get a reply from Qu Xi about coming back to help me manage the exhibition hall?"
Lin Yujing is about to go to Ohio to study. In the past month, besides being busy with exhibition-related matters, she has been looking for a contact person in China.
"Today was too chaotic, I forgot to tell you that she's going back to China next week. I'll handle the handover with her directly, you just focus on preparing for the national art exhibition."
"Chu Yan, thank you."
Chu Yan waved his hand and swaggered into the elevator. "Sister-in-law, be good to my brother. Your brothers and sisters will never let you worry about him."
Lin Yujing smiled and nodded, waving goodbye to him.
Back in the courtyard, her phone rang again, another batch of news from major news portals.
Lin Yujing walked towards the bedroom while clicking on the homepage.
Unsurprisingly, most of the news was related to the opening of the JING Art Museum today, with financial news and entertainment media being the most active.
Upon seeing Chen Jinyi's name, she first clicked on the top one—"Hua Ren's two grandchildren refute rumors of sibling discord, appearing together to celebrate the art museum opening; big news may be brewing..."
As expected, the comments below were from a bunch of onlookers:
They really are cousins, they look so alike.
It has long been rumored that only the elders of the first and second branches of the Chen family are at odds, while the younger generations have no disputes; this seems to be true.
I don't believe the siblings have no rift at all; it's definitely just a publicity stunt. Just take this kind of news with a grain of salt.
But I have a feeling this is about to be a major development within Huaren...
Lin Yujing was unaware of the intricacies within Huaren and didn't understand business struggles, but she believed what Chen Jinyi said today.
After flipping through it a few more times, he found it even more boring and simply left.
Chen Jingshu rolled over in bed, still vaguely calling her name, "Wife, sleep, let's sleep in each other's arms."
Lin Yu sat on the bed and was immediately hit by a strong smell of alcohol. She frowned and kicked it, saying, "It stinks! Don't drink so much and sleep next to me again."
Chen Jingshu was asleep with his eyes closed, but as if he had a tracking device, he hugged her tightly, and soon his even breathing could be heard again.
Lin Yujing leaned against him and continued reading the news headlines.
This is about the two of them, and it comes from entertainment media.
The eye-catching and sensational topic, marked by a large red "Explosive" sign—the opening of the Huaren Group's Future Young Mistress Art Museum—attracted numerous industry celebrities to offer their congratulations.
[I'm so envious. Not only is she beautiful, but she's also talented. And her life is just too good; even her choice of men is the most prestigious and affectionate in Beijing's elite circles.]
[The tragic Cinderella story has now reached a high social status, achieving upward mobility and becoming a wealthy lady.]
Even Grandpa Wang came; that's quite a show of respect.
[But to be fair, it only really counts if Old Master Chen comes. Otherwise, it's just like any other Beijing playboy spending money to have fun and entertain his kept woman.]
[I agree with the comment above. Looking at all the wives Hua Ren has married, even Chen Lao Er's second wife was a daughter of a wealthy family in Shanghai. How could he possibly accept Lin Yujing as his wife?]
After reading it, Lin Yujing pulled Chen Jingshu's ear and read a few of the comments to him, then asked, "Young Master Chen, I don't believe netizens who just gossip. You tell me yourself, which one applies to me?"
Chen Jingshu was so drunk that he could barely speak, but he still managed to mumble, "Marry you...the kind of thing."
Lin Yujing's eyes reddened as she stroked the white hair at his temples.
In her mind, there were the precautions Chen Jinyi had given her in advance, and the secret agreement the two of them had secretly made.
Lin Yujing pressed her forehead against Chen Jingshu's ear and whispered, "A-Shu, thank you for loving me so steadfastly."
As she spoke, she brought her lips to Chen Jingshu's cheek and gently kissed him.
Chen Jingshu felt her kiss and, half-awake, cupped her cheeks in his hands.
A kiss, tinged with the smell of alcohol, landed on her lips the next moment.
Just then, Lin Yujing's phone, which was on the bedside table, lit up. It was a message from an unfamiliar yet familiar number—[Ms. Lin, let's meet at Wangjinglou Teahouse at 9:00 AM tomorrow.]
The signature reads: Chen Rongqing.
Lin Yujing ignored him completely, only hugging Chen Jingshu and snuggling into his arms, "A-Shu, I will accompany you on the road ahead, from afar."
"Also, don't believe everything I say."
A note from the author:
good evening!
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