50 Chapter Forty-Nine
He really wouldn't mind having him as his older brother.
The next day, Li Yingqiao went to work feeling refreshed.
She had barely stepped into the office and hadn't even settled in when a series of people came in to report to her: Pan Xiaoliang said he was being cyberbullied, Wu Juan said they had been summoned by the Culture and Tourism Bureau again, and Gao Dian said something incredible: a big shot had come to the scenic area today, and there was a four-million-yuan minivan parked downstairs, even more impressive than the Maybach that the "Four-One Brother" had back then.
As soon as she finished speaking, Wang Wenxiang pushed open the door and specifically asked Li Yingqiao to go to her office.
Li Yingqiao glanced at Gao Dian, trying to glean some useful information from his eyes. Gao Dian shrugged and said, "I don't know, but he seems to have a lot of airs. Sister Xiang just gave up her office for him to use for making phone calls. What a pretentious person."
"..."
However, Li Yingqiao didn't pay any attention to the so-called important figure as soon as she entered the door. She first reported to Wang Wenxiang on the issues that the merchants had raised in the past two days: "It's a bit difficult for the scenic area to change to a unified signboard. Two companies have expressed their unwillingness. I will go over to have a meeting with them again at noon."
“Okay, you can arrange it yourself.” Wang Wenxiang turned slightly to the side and introduced her, “Come here, Yingqiao. Let me introduce you. This is President Zhang, Senior Vice President of Convey Travel.”
Only then did Li Yingqiao notice a familiar, tall figure standing by the French windows. Even in the season when leather shoes would fall apart from the sun, he was still meticulously dressed in a perfectly pressed three-piece suit; she even suspected he might be wearing a shirt clip underneath.
He wasn't wearing his suit jacket; it was casually and deliberately draped over the chair. She recognized the shirt he was wearing immediately—it was one she'd bought. A few years ago, he'd drunk too much at a business dinner and his boss had vomited all over him. Li Yingqiao had to run to a nearby mall and buy him a ready-made shirt. But this important figure arrogantly declared that he never wore ready-made clothes.
Even if you gave Li Yingqiao ten heads, she still wouldn't understand what this meant. What should she wear if not ready-made clothes? Children's clothes? Zhang Zongxie wasn't very patient with her at the time, so he didn't explain much to her. He just waved for her to call his secretary, and soon the secretary brought over a brand-new, ironed shirt.
Li Yingqiao secretly compared them, and to be honest, she couldn't see any difference at all. Later, her secretary Lilith told her that President Zhang's clothes were all custom-made by hand from abroad; he didn't wear any ready-made clothes from brand stores, let alone the one she bought, which was a no-name brand.
Li Yingqiao cursed at the time, saying, "You moved the dragon throne from the Forbidden City to his office, didn't you?"
At that moment, she couldn't help but think of someone in Fengtan. When Uncle Yu was at his peak, making money hand over fist, Yu Jinyang had never put on such an extravagant display. His clothes and belongings were almost identical to theirs—the most common sportswear brands during their student days. Back then, they ran the Meow Meow Station, sheltering cats and dogs, and Yu Jinyang spent almost all of his pocket money on medical treatment for the stray animals there.
Now Li Yingqiao was beginning to understand. That time at the hotel entrance, after Yu Jinyang booked a presidential suite for Zheng Miaojia, she immediately fawned over him, saying he still had to be a young master, and he immediately said, "Don't be sarcastic." Compared to so many young masters born with silver spoons in their mouths, Yu Jinyang certainly didn't live like one. What young master would earn his tuition by street dancing in Chicago? Even Zhang Zongxie looked more like Yu Renjie's son than him.
At that time, she did not know that Zhang Zongxie was a student sponsored by Yu Renjie.
Zhang Zongxie was still on the phone. He turned back and nodded slightly to her before turning his gaze back to the window to continue his call. He was saying that he would be staying in Fengtan for a while to visit someone important, and wouldn't be able to return to Beijing for some time. He asked the other party to schedule a meeting sometime after September.
He always had the ability to put on his CEO airs anywhere. Wang Wenxiang didn't bother with any small talk or introductions and went straight to the point, saying to Li Yingqiao, "Convey Capital is undergoing restructuring. They are looking to strategically acquire assets in high-quality scenic areas, and Xiaohuacheng fits their investment target perfectly."
Zhang Zongxie hung up the phone, walked over, pulled out the chair next to her, sat down calmly, and said, "Long time no see. I just had a brief chat with your General Manager Wang."
What should they talk about? Should they talk about her betraying her professional ethics, or about his values being the supreme law? Would Wang Wenxiang still trust her then? She looked at Zhang Zongxie with some confusion. Of course, given Zhang Zongxie's professional competence, she thought he wouldn't say anything too embarrassing for her.
Seeing her stunned, he slowly rolled up his shirt sleeve a little more, revealing his firm, long arms, and looked at her raising an eyebrow, saying, "What, you're not welcoming me?"
Li Yingqiao gave him plenty of face, saying, "Of course you're welcome."
Even Wang Wenxiang sensed something fishy, but she didn't think too much about it. She was just glad that she had made the right bet that time. Offending Li Yingqiao would have been the worst thing to do, since a paratrooper with such strong execution capabilities must have some kind of background.
The three talked for nearly two hours. Zhang Zongxie's attitude was clear: the resource barriers were still difficult to overcome, and the Xiaohua City's remote location meant that infrastructure needed expensive repairs. For example, the entire scenic area lacked even a single barrier-free access point. Furthermore, Zhang Zongxie was dissatisfied with their offer, which was dozens of times higher than the company's value. If that was the case, he hoped to sign a performance-based agreement with Li Boqing, stipulating that if the IPO failed in five years, Li Boqing would repurchase their shares at an annualized interest rate of 8%.
Li Yingqiao knew immediately that this person was trying to set her up. Did he really want to help Xiaohua City go public? What a lunatic. She smiled and remained silent throughout.
As lunchtime approached, Wang Wenxiang, who had been able to sit in her position for so long, was skilled at seeing through things without saying a word. With her smile unchanged, she looked at Zhang Zongxie and said, "How about Yingqiao takes you around for a stroll this afternoon?"
Li Yingqiao remained calm and said, "I have to go to the Bureau of Culture and Tourism this afternoon. I don't know when I'll be back."
Zhang Zongxie had already stood up, clearly waiting for her to catch up on her own as usual. But after hearing what she said, he naturally wouldn't pester her. He simply grabbed his suit jacket and strode away without a word.
The driver was waiting downstairs; he hadn't brought his secretary this time. Zhang Zongxie didn't rush to get in the car. He stood to the side, lit a cigarette, and took a couple of puffs with one hand in his pocket. He didn't know why he hadn't brought Lilith this time. Perhaps it was because once he called Lilith in the middle of the night to ask her to deliver some medicine, but for some reason, Li Yingqiao answered. Li Yingqiao had spent twenty minutes on Lilith's behalf berating him as a heartless boss. At that time, she had only recently joined the company and was no match for a seasoned veteran like Zhang Zongxie. Zhang Zongxie teased her, saying, "If you're jealous, just come and deliver it yourself." Li Yingqiao obediently shut up.
When Li Yingqiao first started working under him, she was very good at flattering people when she wanted to, and she was practically a little puppy-dog. At first, she would often do things for Lilith, such as buying coffee.
He once joked that he should fire Lilith and she could work two jobs. She just scoffed and said, "Why are you so bothered? Lilith's busy, it's just something I'm doing." Of course he was unhappy. His employees were just sitting idly by, and he actually wanted that? Sorry, he was the most heartless capitalist.
Back then, Li Yingqiao was innocent and playful. Later, she became just like him, using his words verbatim to reprimand her assistant for being a lazy bum, saying that if someone else had to buy her coffee, she might as well leave.
He was naturally happy to see it happen, because they were essentially the same kind of people. But then, for some reason, she suddenly woke up. The night she said she was going to resign, she suddenly called him drunk, and on the phone, she went on a tirade, telling him that if she made Fengtan a popular tourist attraction with the same market value as Rainbow Youli, he had to give the driver justice and make all the surveillance footage public.
He was about to say, "Li Yingqiao, calm down," when she suddenly started meowing like a cat, meowing incessantly. The sound made his throat tighten, and almost involuntarily, he agreed, saying, "Okay, Li Yingqiao, I'll take this gamble with you."
Even though he knew that if she won, it wouldn't just be her career at stake, but his as well, it didn't matter. She said that at worst, they could start over.
"I can't do this." Yu Jinyang carried a live fish into the room, and Ice Cream Cone held a pink dress in her mouth, wanting him to put it on her. He glanced at the bedroom and asked in a low voice, "Where are Mom and Dad? Let Mom put it on you."
Before Tian Tong could speak, Tang Xiang came out, picked her up, and prepared to take her to the bedroom to change her clothes: "Perfect timing, Jin Yang, you should change your clothes too. Mom and Dad have made a last-minute dinner appointment."
"I won't go, I have an appointment with a friend later." Yu Jinyang glanced at the time, it was almost time to go cook. He poured the fish into the sink, the water splashing loudly, but suddenly felt that the atmosphere at home was strange. It had been a rare occasion in the past six months for the whole family to be out together, so he leaned against the sink and asked, "Is something the matter?"
Tang Xiang walked over and lowered her voice, saying, "Do you remember the student Dad used to sponsor when he was in school? I heard he's doing very well now, apparently a senior executive at a cultural tourism group, and he's back to work on projects. I heard even the county leaders have to give him face. I was thinking, the disability certificate hasn't been issued yet, and the trial is about to start. It would be even better if he could speak up, but it's okay if he can't. It's still an opportunity."
Does Dad know?
Tang Xiang shook her head. Yu Renjie, with his stubborn temper, definitely wouldn't be willing to lower himself. So she originally wanted to call her son; that man seemed to be only a few years older than Jin Yang, and they were both from Tanzhong. The two young people could communicate easily. In small towns, the coldness of human relationships is most direct. When you're successful, even your dog has to show some respect. When you're down on your luck, no matter how straight you stand, nobody will take you seriously. Plus, with Li Boqing interfering, nobody dared to get involved with the dust in front of their house.
She now laments countless times the cause and effect, the capriciousness of fate. Looking back on these past events, she realizes that the seeds Yu Renjie sowed have all yielded their own fruit. If he hadn't insisted on sending his son abroad, Yu Jinyang might not have fared any worse than that sponsored student in China, and they wouldn't have had to beg others.
Yu Jinyang didn't think so. Uncle Zhang had mentioned this person before. If he remembered correctly, his name was Zhang Zongxie, and he was Li Yingqiao's former colleague at Convey. Leaning against the sink, he turned down the water in his fish tank before speaking frankly: "It's hard to say. A high-level executive at Convey really needs absolute rationality and strategic thinking with a global perspective. It's a real test of character, and I don't have that kind of composure. I might not have been able to reach his position in China. And if I remember correctly, I met him in high school. He seems to be only thirty-five years old now, which is really impressive."
Yu Jinyang felt utterly defeated by the disability certificate issue. His mother couldn't sleep for nights on end, but she kept it a secret from his father, and no one dared to mention it. At first, they thought the documents were incomplete and couldn't be issued, but after countless trips, they finally realized that someone was covering up the truth and trying to force them to back down.
He studied for many years, and it took him even longer to understand. The books taught him to follow the rules in black and white, but in reality, not everyone who gets the rules is a good person.
Perhaps Li Boqing was a good person at first, but now he is completely different.
If Zhang Zongxie could really help, he wouldn't mind acknowledging him as his brother, since he's a good-for-nothing now anyway.
***
Li Yingqiao stormed out of the Culture and Tourism Bureau, her face contorted with rage. She hadn't been this angry in a long time. Who was it that was skirting the issue?! They'd thrown such a huge accusation at her right off the bat. Just as she was about to unleash a torrent of abuse, she opened social media and discovered that Sun Taihe was live-streaming.
"What's this? Nipple covers, guys need to wear them too."
Li Yingqiao: "……………………"
She turned and went to another building, and sure enough, Li Lianfeng's office door was locked, and she was turned away again. Li Yingqiao asked the girl at the workstation outside the door, who also said blankly, "Minister Li is not at work today."
Li Yingqiao went outside to the hallway and called him, but his phone was off. She angrily unlocked her phone again and quickly texted Li Lianfeng: "Li Lianfeng, you think turning off your phone will solve everything? Let me tell you, you can hide forever. Don't let me find you."
She had just gotten back into her car when her phone rang. Glancing at the screen, she saw it was Yu Jinyang. Miraculously, Li Yingqiao's mood calmed. She glanced at the government buildings outside the car window, then answered the phone. Actually, she wasn't in a bad mood anymore, but she still feigned gloom and preemptively said, "Hello. I'm in a really bad mood right now. Let me tell you, if you dare stand me up, Yu Jinyang, next time we meet—"
She leaned back in the driver's seat and thought for a moment. For Yu Jinyang, the most intimidating thing was: "I'll kiss you to death, and I'll touch you."
There was a soft chuckle on the other end, followed by a long silence, the laughter almost uncontrollable. Finally, Yu Jinyang said, "Can I give you two hours? You can kiss me to death in two hours. I'm going to have dinner with my parents, don't worry, I won't eat a single bite. After we're done talking, I'll come find you. But I'll allow you to sneak a bite beforehand, so don't wait for me on an empty stomach."
[Author's Note]
See you Friday and Saturday!!
Three hundred red envelopes!!!
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