Extra five
05
Xu Junfei's departure has subjected Convey, which was already facing challenges from all sides, to another wave of rumors and gossip. Especially with the continued impact of last year's Rainbow Youli bus crash, online bookings for flights, hotels, and scenic spot tickets have continued to plummet. Coupled with the recent frequent turmoil at the top, internal morale has also dropped significantly, and many core employees are considering leaving.
Xu Quyu remained unmoved, Li Yingqiao was indifferent, Zhang Zongxie was like a vicious guard dog, and Lilith simply did her job. Only Villy was unusually active, jumping around and posting declarations on various social media platforms: "Convey may have tormented me a thousand times, but I will still love Convey like my first love."
Xu Junfei is gone, and now Convey is a haven for her.
That evening, a post analyzing Convey's current development suddenly sparked heated discussion within the industry:
"Currently, Convey's senior executives have a really bad reputation in the industry. You could say they're all villains. CEO Xu Quyu is estranged from her family and climbed to this position through scheming. The old man's words of regret before his death seemed more like an attempt to appease her and hope that she would treat her brother well. However, it had little effect. The first thing she did after taking office was to drive away her own brother. She is a cold and sophisticated egoist."
Public Relations Director Li Yingqiao, unlike Xu Quyu, is a clear-headed martyr. In Convey, a company that promotes a "wolf pack" culture, her presence is out of place. She and Xu Quyu are essentially two different kinds of people; their philosophies on brand communication are absolutely different, and they were bound to part ways sooner or later. How far can an idealist like her, without background or connections, go? Moreover, given the Rainbow Youli incident, Convey's decision to recall her raises the question: can someone as meticulous as Xu Quyu really allow such a ticking time bomb to remain by her side?
Someone replied to this post: What does the Rainbow Yuri incident have to do with her? This was an accident.
The original poster replied: An insider told me that she has recordings of high-ranking officials. She confronted them for the sake of her driver's daughter, but eventually left because she couldn't win. Now Convey has recalled her. Guess what conditions they reached? And why is she willing to go back? Actually, she's like a knight lost in an old era—her spirit is commendable. But her professional ethics are questionable.
Some people are being sarcastic: Is she really speaking up for the driver's daughter? Maybe she used the recording to negotiate a promotion and raise, and left because she didn't get it, but she came back in the end, didn't she? No wonder I heard recently that she was competing with the vicious dog for a job.
...
"Speaking of Zhang Zongxie, he's practically a low-budget version of Xu Quyu. He's also a typical 'refined egoist,' but his current position is a bit awkward. The proportion of female executives at Convey is increasing significantly. If Xu Quyu wants to reap the benefits of female influence, do you think Zhang Zongxie will be marginalized? Zhang Zongxie, you should pack your bags and find a way out as soon as possible."
...Several other senior executives were also mentioned here.
"Finally, let's talk about Villy. This woman seems a bit too ambitious, and she even bought a villa online. I won't comment on her work ability, but if you had been able to handle the Rainbow Youli incident, Li Yingqiao wouldn't have had a chance."
The comments section was full of people enjoying the spectacle: Amazing! Convey is full of villains.
A Convey employee saw the post and posted a complaint: What did we do to deserve this?
Li Yingqiao saw this post after waking up, and while brushing her teeth, she took a screenshot and sent it to the group chat, afraid that Zhang Zongxie and Villy might miss it:
"The future looks bleak, my darlings."
Villly sent countless "There are always treacherous subjects trying to harm me" emojis, making Li Yingqiao's phone vibrate as if someone was calling, while Zhang Zongxie only had one sentence:
Who leaked the recording?
Li Yingqiao replied, "I don't know, and wasn't the recording in your possession? Now it's being attributed to me. What do you think, Villy?"
The phone went silent instantly. Villy didn't speak or send any emojis; she adopted a tactical silence.
As Li Yingqiao boarded the subway to work during the morning rush hour, the subway was packed with people. Holding onto a hook with one hand, she drowsily buried her head in her down jacket, wondering when Yu Jinyang would finally come to Beijing. Just then, her phone popped up with a reply from Villy: "Okay, it's me. I overheard you two arguing when you resigned, and I was a little too happy. I chatted with my friends about it, half-jokingly, but I swear, I didn't say anything bad about you that day; I even complimented you as a nice person."
Before Li Yingqiao could reply, Zhang Zongxie asked, "Then what about the vicious dog? Who spread the word?"
Villy left the group chat.
Li Yingqiao brought Villy back and renamed the group chat to "Let's just ruin Convey".
The three of them responded with a blank emoji.
Yu Jinyang woke up the next afternoon. She had only written half of her self-criticism and had just sat down at her desk when she received a call from You Xiaofan, who said that the dance variety show might be moved up in time to air during the Spring Festival.
"You're definitely going to be a hit."
With his phone on the table, Yu Jinyang didn't even raise an eyebrow, only uttering an "oh," before scribbling away with his pen again.
He doesn't have that concept. So what if he becomes famous? Can someone his age still be a star? He doesn't plan to act. Right now, he's still struggling to write a self-criticism, and he even forgets how to write some characters. As people get older, there are just too many difficulties to overcome. He has difficulty concentrating and is too easily distracted.
Right now, there he is. With You Xiaofan's phone ringing in his ear, listening to his rambling, he's still writing a self-criticism for his girlfriend, and his mind is racing with thoughts: How many times did Li Yingqiao actually come last night? Did she just go through the motions?
"What are you doing?" You Xiaofan was having hot pot with friends when she sensed something was wrong. "Shouldn't you be here soon? We'll sign the contract when you arrive."
"Write a self-criticism."
"What? Did she cheat on you? Judging from the two of you, I think only she is the one who cheated. Yu Jinyang, don't give me that sour look."
He had always been reckless towards You Xiaofan: "She cheated on me, I wrote a self-criticism, what's the problem?"
"..."
You Xiaofan wanted to throw the phone into the hot pot and boil it.
Li Yingqiao and Xu Quyu spent the entire day working on a plan for her father's memorial service.
Back at the apartment at 9:30 p.m., Lilith and Zhang Zongxie were entertaining guests. It was a bid for a cultural tourism group, and Zhang Zongxie had been negotiating for a month or so, but the other party hadn't budged. Sure enough, not long after he lay down on the sofa, Lilith sent him a WeChat message, comforting him: "Don't worry too much about the rumors. That's just how things are right now, it'll pass soon."
Li Yingqiao was alright; she didn't feel that those things could affect her. She put on a face mask, lay lazily on the sofa, and replied, "Why do you say that? Michael's mentality has collapsed?"
Lilith: "No, he didn't. Villy's post on WeChat Moments got screenshotted. It's probably causing a stir online now. I've received a lot of reposts from friends. Michael was also caught questioning at a drinking party, and he's a bit annoyed. The other party is taking advantage of the situation, trying to get us to give them another three points. On his way back, he called Mr. Xu and couldn't help but swear."
Li Yingqiao then checked her WeChat Moments and found that Villy had indeed broken down, the key phrase being that she was super masculine.
She had been told the word "super-hero" when she was a child, and it had affected her.
Back then, it was still early days, and the term wasn't widely used. People would often say her father was a murderer, and she'd punch someone to the ground. The person would go back and complain, and their father would call her "Super Hero." She was only eight years old then and thought "Super Hero" was a positive term like "Superman" or "hero," so she went back and boasted to Li Shuli, "Mom, I'm Super Hero!"
Li Shuli didn't say anything because she didn't know what it meant either. It was when Aunt Tang Xiang came to buy things and asked her who said that, that she said "xxx's father." Aunt Tang then pulled her mother aside and whispered something to her, and that's when she learned that "Chao Xiong" was a bad word.
The next day in class, she asked Yu Jinyang, "Meow, do you think I'm Chaoxiong?"
Yu Jinyang was also confused, but he said without hesitation, "Right? You're a superhero."
She still laughs when she thinks about it now. Yu Jinyang's adoration for her was blind; they weren't actually that close back then.
But she did have an illness when she was a child, not the kind of illness that gets better after a couple of days of medication like a cold or fever. Li Shuli didn't actually tell her what the illness was called. She took a medicine for two years, and she still can't remember the name of it. It was when she was 6 years old that Li Shuli coaxed her to take a small white pill every day.
When she asked again later, Li Shuli would always shake her head with a very firm smile and say, "No, baby, you've never been sick."
So she still can't remember what illness she had when she was a child, but she does have some vague memories. However, she was too young at the time and there is no evidence to support her memories. Because of her mother's strong denial, she firmly believes that she is no different from others.
Li Yingqiao didn't initially work as a truck driver with Li Shuli. She remembers a very young period of her life when she was actually fostered at her maternal grandmother's house.
Her memories are hazy. She only remembers that her maternal grandfather didn't like her back then. Although her maternal grandmother liked her, she didn't dare to be open about it. Sometimes, when her maternal grandfather wasn't looking, she would secretly stuff some food into his mouth. She would immediately chew it clean, afraid that her maternal grandfather would find out and her maternal grandmother would be scolded.
At the daycare, her classmates rarely spoke to her. It was as if they would be pestered if they spoke to her even once. The teachers often asked her mother to come and pick her up early.
At that time, she felt that she was a little different from others, but she didn't know what the difference was.
Starting when she was 6 years old, she would take a small pill every day. At the time, Li Shuli said it was just vitamins, something every child should take.
Later, she secretly asked Miaojia and Gaodian, and neither of them had taken the pills. She went back crying and making a fuss, and Li Shuli finally told her that she was only slightly different from the other children; she was just more easily distracted.
When Yu Jinyang first arrived at Xiaohua City, he was very withdrawn, or rather, aloof. He was a young master from a big city, but he couldn't integrate into the group. Li Yingqiao had experienced that feeling of isolation at her previous daycare center, and she especially hoped that everyone here could integrate into Xiaohua City. Although Zihao and the others were very sarcastic, every time they were beaten up, they would still come running to play with her the next day.
So she stormed into his house and, under Uncle Yu Renjie's "believe it or not, I'll slap you" gaze, brazenly dragged him to the countryside to catch crayfish.
Yu Miaomiao probably didn't know that she was a person who was easily distracted, and to like someone for ten years straight was practically a challenge to her instincts.
06
Yu Jinyang didn't pack much luggage, only a 21-inch carry-on suitcase. February 16th was the Spring Festival, and he and Li Yingqiao would be coming back again soon. As usual, he tucked the photo of the Nokia phone being turned on into a compartment in his luggage. He fastened the suitcase, pushed it aside, and prepared to go to the gua sha clinic to ask Aunt Li if there was anything she wanted to bring for Li Yingqiao.
He put on his coat, grabbed a baseball cap and put it on his forehead. Before leaving, he thought about whether to call Aunt Li in advance, but then realized that he didn't have Li Shuli's phone number. Asking Li Yingqiao was also unnecessary, since he had just sent her his handwritten apology letter, and she hadn't replied yet; she was probably still working overtime.
He's not that clingy.
Anyway, we'll see each other soon.
As soon as I got into the car and turned on the air conditioning, my phone rang in the quiet car, its sound exceptionally clear, just like her black-and-white attitude, a kind of self-righteous arrogance.
She came looking for trouble: "What are you busy with, meow meow? I'm not satisfied with the apology letter. What do you mean by 'understanding someone's feelings when they can't see me and they start acting unreasonably' and writing this apology letter? Rewrite it!"
He sounded arrogant and conceited, probably because they were about to meet.
D321: "No, go play by yourself."
She's here to cause trouble: "Do you want to die?"
D321: "I don't want to die, but I might miss you a little if I do. If you're worried about being haunted by ghosts, then stop cursing me."
She came looking for trouble: "Pah!"
D321: "Omitted".
She came looking for trouble: "Pah!"
As expected, Yu Jinyang still couldn't stand her spitting at herself.
D321: "Spit on me again, and you'd better watch yourself."
Li Yingqiao spat out twelve times in a row.
The phone popped up in the quiet car. Yu Jinyang locked the screen with a "click," casually tossed the phone back into the armrest box, and drove the car out of the underground parking garage with one hand on the steering wheel, his expression indifferent.
D321: "Li Yingqiao, my flight is at 7 PM tomorrow night. Count down, twelve."
In less than a second, the opposing side suddenly sounded the retreat and withdrew in droves.
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