The next morning, I woke up early and, for the first time after returning to Suzhou, cooked breakfast for myself. Sitting at my usual spot at the dining table, I flipped through American financial news on my phone while eating.
It had been nearly a month since I last saw any news about Mi Cai. Indeed, in Yan Zhu Mei’s group, she was merely an assistant director of the research and development department—an unknown figure. I felt a bit disappointed, put down my chopsticks, and looked at the balcony, which now had almost no plants. Last winter, Mi Cai and I had moved all the plants we had kept for a long time back to Xuzhou, believing we would live there for a long time.
With time still early, I headed to a nearby market selling flowers and plants. From memory, I bought the same varieties we had once kept and placed them in the sunniest spot on the balcony. Standing there for a while, watching them, I felt a sense of anticipation for their growth.
At eight o’clock, I put on a business suit, went to a hair salon to get my hair done, and then, looking neat and refreshed, drove toward the hotel where the media press conference would be held. I passed by the shopping plaza that had officially been renamed “Wansen Group.” My car got stuck in traffic because, along with the renaming ceremony, there was also a large-scale promotional event that had driven shopping enthusiasts in the city into a frenzy, paralyzing traffic near Wansen Plaza.
In the slow-moving traffic, I saw the stage Wansen had set up outdoors for the renaming ceremony. Behind the stage was a large LCD screen displaying the plaza’s business achievements over the years, along with a commemorative short film about Yan Zhu Mei. I heard that all senior executives of Wansen Group would attend the ceremony, as it marked an important turning point in the company’s history.
It took me nearly half an hour to get through this stretch of road. In fact, the hotel where our press conference was being held wasn’t far from Wansen Group. After finding a parking spot, I headed directly to the venue inside the hotel.
At that moment, the press conference hadn’t started yet. I quickly walked around the venue and then took a walkie-talkie from my assistant, instructing various units to make minor adjustments to the scene setup. The team members I currently had were all carefully selected elites who quickly executed my instructions, placing some promotional materials about the Literary Way project in more reasonable positions.
I then found Chen Jingming, who was also busy, and asked him, “Mr. Chen, how many media outlets can we confirm will be present today?”
“All the ones we previously agreed with will definitely show up. However, most of them are entertainment media. Their concern for you and Leyao might exceed their interest in the Literary Way project. You need to be mentally prepared for that. Although we’ve already told the entertainment media not to ask personal questions, it’s hard to prevent some media with weak self-discipline from asking embarrassing questions.”
“Don’t worry, I can handle it.”
Chen Jingming nodded and then checked the time before saying, “Time’s up. I’ll have the staff invite the media to take their seats.”
“Okay.”
After Chen left, I went to the guest lounge, thanked each guest, and finally went to the lounge where Zhang Yixi and Angie were. As we were close friends, I didn’t knock and walked in directly, only to see Angie helping Zhang Yixi change his belt—probably dissatisfied with his poor styling. But this action was really easy to misinterpret. I teased them with a deliberately shocked expression, asking, “Mr. Zhang, Ms. Angie, so early in the morning… what are you two doing?”
Angie’s face first turned red, then she quickly showed her fierce side, saying to me, “Zhaoyang, I give you three seconds to retreat outside the door, then knock properly and come in with the right attitude. Otherwise, don’t blame me for giving you a high heel to the face!”
Zhang Yixi gave me a meaningful look. I glanced at Angie again and sensed her combativeness was about to erupt, with a dangerous atmosphere permeating the lounge. I quickly slipped out the door, knocked on it, and said respectfully, “Ms. Angie, Mr. Zhang, I’m here to greet you. May I come in now? Or should I wait a little longer? Um, but please don’t keep me waiting too long—five minutes at most… Mr. Zhang, will five minutes be enough? The press conference is about to start soon!”
Angie’s fierce voice came again from inside the lounge, “Zhaoyang, if you keep talking in that sarcastic way, just stay away from us…”
I smiled and walked in again, then shamelessly sat down on the sofa. Actually, when interacting with this couple, I felt quite relaxed, probably because similar experiences had given us a lot of shared thoughts and language.
I had my assistant bring us three cups of coffee and then turned serious, discussing business matters. I once again expressed my gratitude to Angie. If it hadn’t been for Tianyang Group taking over the Literary Way project in Yangzhou, I wouldn’t have been able to resolve the debt crisis with Simi Advertising so easily.
Angie clearly didn’t place much importance on the money. She sternly warned me and Zhang Yixi that when working on the Literary Way project, we should appropriately pursue economic benefits rather than solely focusing on humanistic sentiment and brand reputation. In her business philosophy, no project can survive long-term if it is losing money, especially a large-scale project like Literary Way. She hoped that Zhang Yixi and I wouldn’t let idealistic impulses turn this project into a burden on our careers.
I knew this woman’s strength, so I didn’t argue against her views. I just told her that later on, we would develop some derivative products around the Literary Way project to generate profits. Only then did she nod and change the topic, asking me about Mi Cai’s current situation. I could only tell her helplessly that I also had no idea about Mi Cai’s current circumstances. She sighed and scolded me for being a troublemaker, saying that everything between Mi Cai and me was entirely my fault.
I felt a bit sad and guilty, but all of this seemed more like a predestined fate. Even if I hadn’t left the wedding, Yan Zhu Mei wouldn’t have easily allowed Mi Cai and me to be together, and Jian Wei wouldn’t have escaped from this misfortune either. The ups and downs of these years remained as they always had.
…
The media press conference was held at the originally scheduled time. Zhang Yixi and I sat in the center of the interview area, taking turns answering questions from the media. Because I had previously instructed that priority interviews should be conducted by financial media, they were the first to ask questions. Some of them were quite sharp, such as questioning the legality of the asset sources for the Literary Way project and the investment motives of the new investors. However, none of these questions could stump Zhang Yixi and me. We easily deflected them, confident in the project and our upright entrepreneurial style.
Compared to the seriousness of the financial media, the entertainment media were less restrained. A clearly seasoned entertainment reporter, with a strong inquisitive tone, asked me, “Mr. Zhao, data we obtained from reliable sources shows that your company achieved the highest number of followers on its first day after opening a Weibo account in China. Do you think this surge in popularity is related to Leyao’s strong support?”
I smiled and replied, “Mr. Reporter, you don’t need to beat around the bush with this question. If you want to ask about my relationship with Leyao, I will definitely answer you honestly!”
The reporter looked a bit embarrassed, and the room immediately erupted in laughter. I then encouraged him to boldly ask using the fearless spirit of entertainment journalism… Finally, the reporter asked again, “An insider has revealed that you were Leyao’s boyfriend before she became famous, and she has deep feelings for you… Therefore, she continues to help you tirelessly after her fame. Is this revelation true?”
As soon as the question was asked, the sound of cameras clicking filled the room. Even some of the originally high-end financial journalists couldn’t help but try to dig up an explosive story related to Leyao from me.
Still wearing a public smile, I replied, “May I ask who this insider is?”
“Well… this involves privacy, so I’m not very comfortable revealing his name here!”
“If you respond to me like this, I can’t cooperate in answering your question either. You really reminded me that this is actually between Leyao and me—our privacy! We should all follow the principle of not imposing on others what we ourselves do not desire, right?”
The reporter was momentarily speechless. I continued, “Actually, everyone really doesn’t need to dwell too much on this issue. We’re just purely helping each other as friends. I truly hope you all can be a bit more lenient. Here, I’d also like to ask you all to cooperate with me once, treating me as a friend, to play a small prank on Leyao. I think she will definitely be watching this media press conference. If the entire event focuses only on the Literary Way project without any messy news about her, she will be really surprised! Then she will think: ‘Wow, the media really has professional ethics these days…’ Actually, it’s just a friendly prank between friends!”
The journalists in the room fell silent, especially the entertainment reporters who loved stirring up trouble. They had been subtly mocked by me for lacking professional ethics but were powerless to respond…
Then, I signaled my assistant to play a VCR that I had specially called Cao Jinfie to record in advance, congratulating the Literary Way project on its new beginning. In the VCR, he always called me “brother,” leaving the entertainment reporters even more speechless. After all, if the people involved themselves were getting along harmoniously, their attempts to stir up news were really meaningless.
Before the press conference ended, another reporter asked me to perform on-site the song I had improvised last night, “No Farewell on Mochou Road.” I happily accepted and sang to the media, expressing my longing for Mi Cai and the feelings I had for Mochou Road. I thought that if Mi Cai could see this, she would surely understand that this song was sung only for her.
…
An hour later, the press conference ended. I stood on the upper floor of the hotel without leaving, just leaning over and watching the renaming ceremony of Yan Zhu Mei… I seemed to see the new starting points that both Fang Yuan and I had encountered in our lives… Our business rivalry was inevitable. One day, I would tell him: what doesn’t belong to him, he won’t take away even one bit!
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage