52 Chapter Fifty-One
◎Gurgle gurgle gurgle. ◎
Yu Jinyang said those words, then stood up and left.
He couldn't imagine how Li Yingqiao had managed to convince herself to remain polite to such an arrogant superior after being ignored time and time again under his command over the past few years. He couldn't even fathom how Zhang Zongxie could treat a girl this way in front of a complete stranger; he could only imagine the utter contempt he held for his own kind.
That's true. Otherwise, how could someone as career-minded as Li Yingqiao have decided to resign after reaching the position of VP of the Brand Department? It's most likely because she disliked Zhang Zongxie to the extreme.
***
Half an hour later, Li Yingqiao found the swimming pool. Zhang Zongxie was sitting alone by the pool, fully clothed and with dry hair, clearly having not yet gone in the water. The pool was empty at this hour, with only the shimmering blue light reflecting off his handsome face. It must be said, blue really does make one's skin look fairer. Even a ruthless capitalist like Zhang Zongxie looked like a pretty boy in comparison.
She recalled Zhang Zongxie's expression when he left the office at noon. No wonder he so decisively grabbed his suit jacket and strode away without looking back; he knew she would come looking for him.
Li Yingqiao sat down in the empty seat next to him, her eyes fixed on the shimmering blue surface of the pool. Without even looking at him, she asked, "Where's the stuff?"
Zhang Zongxie also didn't look at her, but instead his gaze drifted towards the outside of the swimming pool: "Give it to President Yu."
Li Yingqiao thought about it and agreed. As long as Uncle Yu could get the case and the trial could proceed smoothly, then her and Li Lianfeng's long-term dealings wouldn't have been in vain.
Zhang Zongxie glanced at her slowly, "Aren't you disappointed? Yu Jinyang doesn't know what you've done for him."
Li Yingqiao then turned her head and looked directly into his eyes: "What did you find out from Li Lianfeng?"
After a brief silence, with only the shimmering water of the pool remaining, he suddenly turned to meet her gaze and said, unusually direct, "Li Yingqiao, I want to hear what you have to say."
“…Don’t go crazy, Zhang Zongxie.” Li Yingqiao calmly looked away. “You should go back to Beijing soon. Don’t play games with people with 300 million yuan in capital. If you haven’t learned your lesson from what happened at Rainbow Youli, I think I know whether you have any plans to acquire scenic spots in your capital strategy for the past five years, since I left Convey’s brand department only a few months ago.”
Zhang Zongxie also smiled. After so many years of working together, he was usually as cold as ice. Even his casual interactions at drinking parties were just the pretense of a capitalist. He rarely showed such a gentle smile. Li Yingqiao would only think that he was trying to play dumb to take advantage of others.
She asked impatiently, "You still insist on doing it this way, don't you?"
Li Yingqiao's clear voice echoed in the swimming pool, containing a restrained anger. Zhang Zongxie finally spoke, also slightly annoyed: "I told you, Convey Capital is restructuring, and its strategic plan has been adjusted. I can't go into the details, since you've already left. But you should also know very well that the current business environment is no longer the old 'fast fish eat slow fish' or 'big fish eat small fish' profit logic. Now it's the era of traffic, and with your brand background, you understand this very well. Moreover, in the past two years, many emerging platforms have been doing online travel customization, and their customer base is no smaller than ours, so it has had a significant impact on major OTA platforms. To put it bluntly, those old men on the 38th floor, even if they have money, don't know where to put it. I asked them for this money to give to you, and you still think I have ulterior motives?"
Li Yingqiao remained silent. Indeed, the current industry ecosystem, let alone three months, could change in just one month given the current poor economic climate. Convey Capital's desire to transform itself is not a recent development; now, with proper capital operations, even small fish can devour big fish. The internet age has broken down information barriers, and now even the resource barriers of capital are gradually being breached.
Zhang Zongxie swiped his phone to show her, then looked away and said again, "I said I'd gamble with you this once, and if I lose, I'll accept it. This is all the surveillance footage from the day the incident happened at the scenic spot, and some recordings of the conversation between the driver's daughter and me. According to procedure, it should have all been destroyed on the day the group's brand issued its statement, but I kept it. Once it's made public, you should know how much criticism Convey's carefully cultivated brand image will suffer, including you and me. We'll both be permanently blacklisted in the industry."
"Unless you can create another Rainbow Youli in Fengtan and prove your commercial value, no one will be willing to pay for your sense of justice and give you another chance. That's why I brought up Fengtan, because you and I both know that Fengtan's infrastructure is nowhere near as good as Rainbow Youli's natural advantage of being backed by a major tourist province. Only in this way can we have a chance to turn things around. And what are you doing?"
“I know Li Boqing is willing but unable. His wooden toy group is just robbing Peter to pay Paul. So I went to great lengths to help you deal with those old men on the 38th floor and finally got those 300 million,” Zhang Zongxie turned to look at her and said, “And you, you went to great lengths to get disability certificates for people. You’re still using the same methods I used to deal with the banks. I remember you looked down on my methods back then, but you learned them very quickly.”
"What else did Li Lianfeng tell you?"
“How long do you expect me to talk to a good-for-nothing who only knows how to indulge in debauchery? I only gave him the time it takes to smoke a cigarette.” Zhang Zongxie turned back, staring at the swimming pool, and said, “I’m just asking you, are you still going to gamble?”
“Why not gamble?” Li Yingqiao said without hesitation. “I just can’t stand Li Boqing’s bullying of others. It hasn’t taken up much of my time.”
"Is that so?" He looked at her and sneered. "Based on your previous work efficiency, you should have been coordinating and answering the three questions I raised at noon tonight, instead of arguing with me about whether you've neglected your work. In fact, you have, because you're so confident in me. If it weren't Convey that's being acquired, and it were someone else, do you think you'd still have the right to discuss whether you've neglected your work?"
Li Yingqiao stood up to leave, but Zhang Zongxie stopped her again, took a breath, and softened his tone, saying, "I've had Lilith arrange for a lawyer to come from Beijing. Tomorrow, we'll go to see President Yu to verify the details of this court hearing. I don't know if Yu Jinyang has told you this, but when I was studying, President Yu generously funded me. So I will personally handle this case for President Yu. Regardless of whether Li Boqing's influence is far enough, if President Yu is not satisfied with the outcome, I will change legal teams and appeal until Li Boqing's reach is exhausted."
Li Yingqiao turned to look at him: "Did you tell Yu Jinyang?"
Zhang Zongxie remained seated, looking up at her with a calm gaze: "You care a lot about his feelings? He's been back from Chicago for almost half a year now, and you were the one who got him a disability certificate. How can I trust him? Will the judge sentence him a few more years because he's handsome, or because he has a good personality and good character?"
“That’s because you don’t understand him.” Li Yingqiao took out her phone, glanced at the time, and finally said, “I admit that I learned my methods for dealing with Old Liang from you. We’ve seen too many similar situations in recent years and have become numb to them. Sometimes, we simply can’t break the deadlock without resorting to extreme measures.”
“But Yu Jinyang didn’t. Uncle Yu and Aunt Tang have always protected him very well. His understanding of the world and social system is healthier than ours. In his understanding, a weakness is a weakness, while in our understanding, a weakness is a handle. Do you understand what that means?”
***
After leaving the swimming pool, Yu Jinyang glanced at the time; it was still early. The meal had been unexpectedly short, ending in less than an hour. He planned to go home to get the fish before going to find Li Yingqiao. But before he even entered the house, he heard his father flipping through a document, saying, "He's really dedicated; he took this matter to heart as soon as he got back. You didn't secretly contact him, did you? Xiangxiang, you better tell me the truth."
Tang Xiangzhen honestly confessed: "I really did plan to. But I didn't have time yet. Even if he went to the bathroom in the middle of the meal, it would be impossible for him to stamp it so quickly. Didn't he also tell the driver that he would hire a professional legal team for us? That means he did inquire about your situation and came back to support you."
Yu Renjie sighed heavily, as if a huge weight had finally been lifted from his heart. His face beaming, he said, "See? Li Boqing's abilities are nothing special after all. Indeed, good triumphs over evil, and there is still justice in this world. Don't you think so?"
Yu Jinyang closed the door, turned around with mixed feelings, leaned against the wall by the door, and let out a soft sigh.
He always felt that the law of this society would not completely crush human sentiment. He consulted many lawyers in this field and found that there were indeed some alternative solutions if a disability certificate could not be obtained: for example, they could apply for a judicial appraisal in court, but his father might not be able to accept it psychologically.
He had considered this option, but he rejected it himself. A college classmate once suggested that he could use the testimonies of several relevant medical experts, which, although not as direct as a disability certificate, was still one of the key pieces of evidence and would have a smaller impact on the verdict.
However, he overlooked one point: the essential issue with the disability certificate was not whether it would affect the verdict. He consistently considered how to resolve the problem from the perspective of the trial's outcome, neglecting the fact that his father's long-standing resentment at being suppressed by Li Boqing and powerless to resist was something he could never let go of.
In Fengtan, these rivalries between generations were ingrained in their genes. Even if he won the lawsuit, without the red stamp on the disability certificate, his father's shadow over Li Boqing would remain strong. Or to put it more bluntly, he might have lost even the most basic faith in the social system.
***
When Yu Jinyang entered the room right on time, Li Yingqiao had just returned home. He noticed that her computer was off, lying quietly on the coffee table, without any sound or warmth. He placed the groceries he had just bought at the supermarket on the kitchen counter, and Li Yingqiao's head peeked out from the doorway. She had a face mask on and smiled at him, saying, "You're here? But I'm a little full. I just ate a bowl of noodles outside."
He turned around and put the food in the refrigerator, then took out a half-empty can of cola and coffee for her. As he carried them out, he joked with her, "How about later? I'll make you something if you're hungry, or we can talk about it tomorrow?" Then he pulled a bag of potato chips from her refrigerator. "Why did you put these in the refrigerator? Li Yingqiao, won't eating frozen potato chips make you feel hot?"
Li Yingqiao smoothed the wrinkles on the face mask and stood behind him to get a closer look. Clearly, she herself didn't remember. "I forgot. I probably just slipped it in while I was on the phone."
Yu Jinyang hummed in agreement, looked down at the head bobbing around beside him, turned and closed the refrigerator door. He looked down at her carefully, wondering why she didn't seem unhappy at all. Was she used to being abused? Or was it because she was wearing a face mask that it wasn't obvious?
Li Yingqiao said, "By the way, Meow. You play by yourself for a while. I still have two documents to process. Or would you like me to play with you for a while?"
He laughed out loud, pinched her smooth cheek, and asked knowingly, "What are you going to play? Huh? What do you want to play with me? Play with me for a while, who's playing with whom?"
She laughed and slapped his hand away: "You're not going to play, are you? Then go home."
"Okay." He squeezed it hard again. "I'm really leaving."
"Okay, go, go, go." She pushed him.
"I'm never coming back."
"You're practically turning from a meow into a pack of dogs. Yu Jinyang! Who are you threatening?"
He leaned against the sliding door of the kitchen, his foot blocking her way, looking down at her, and suddenly said vaguely, "Tell me whose birthday is on March 15th, and I'll think about whether I should come."
"God of Wealth, Zhao Gongming, go check it yourself. See if the old man's birthday is today." Li Yingqiao went to the living room, turned on the computer, sat cross-legged on the carpet, and spoke as she turned on the computer.
He went over and sat down cross-legged. Li Yingqiao straightened the face mask, patted his leg, and gestured for him to enter the password, as her hands were too slippery.
He helped her type, then tucked her hair behind her ear without saying a word, but his eyes gently asked her: Is there anything else?
She stopped, straightened her posture, and quickly immersed herself in her work. Yu Jinyang took a book from her bookshelf and started reading; it was her professional book, "Market Theory." Li Yingqiao couldn't help but glance at him every now and then while typing on the computer, asking, "Can you understand it?"
Yu Jinyang sat cross-legged on the carpet, just like her, with her back against the sofa. She smiled and turned two more pages, saying, "I don't understand, I don't understand."
"Then find one you can understand. There are a few pornographic books out there."
He coughed, said nothing, and began to silently turn the pages of his book.
An hour and a half passed, and the two barely spoke. However, Li Yingqiao noticed that Yu Jinyang, whose gaze was usually very proper, was unusually staring at her face after she removed the face mask. "What's wrong, meow? Why are you staring at my face?"
Yu Jinyang: "How are you feeling today?"
"It's alright."
"Describe how good it is."
Li Yingqiao thought for a moment, then pouted and said to him, "You know, little goldfish, it's like the feeling of a little goldfish blowing bubbles, 'glug glug glug, Yu Jinyang, you're so cute, glug glug...' like that—"
Yu Jinyang leaned back and laughed for a while, but as he laughed, he realized something was wrong. So he leaned back on the sofa and turned his face away to look out the window, but unexpectedly, Li Yingqiao poked her head over from the side to block his view: "What's wrong with you, meow? Are you avoiding me again now?"
The next second, her vision and mouth were covered by a kiss. Yu Jinyang hooked the back of her head with one hand, pulled her close, and without hesitation, almost instantly lowered his head to kiss her deeply and passionately. Li Yingqiao had never seen him so proactive before, and was suddenly at a loss. Her body naturally leaned back, and she was pressed between his bent legs, forced to tilt her head back to respond to him. The sounds of their tongues entwining were incredibly intimate, but they couldn't hide the soft breaths between them. He said breathlessly, "Because you never kiss me."
[Author's Note]
See you tomorrow!!!
(I'll be updating for the next three days, so there might be some discrepancies in the timing. Please check back later. Tomorrow will probably be a bit late too.)
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