I immediately replied to Mi Cai’s message: “What time are we meeting tomorrow afternoon?”
“Is 2 o’clock okay?”
“No problem, we will definitely accommodate your schedule.”
This time, Mi Cai took a long time before replying: “Was the previous incident leaked to you by Chen Jingming?”
I felt as if Mi Cai still harbored resentment about the previous event, so I hurried to explain: “Yes, but Chen Jingming was passive throughout the entire incident.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not that narrow-minded. After all, he lost the opportunity to advance to a senior position at Poly due to your disclosure. You owe him, and I will help you make it up to him.”
This message made me feel somewhat uneasy. Before I could reply, Mi Cai sent another message: “Of course, what I value more is their work experience and ability. I believe they will definitely create value for Zhuomei.”
I felt slightly calmer: “They definitely will. I have confidence in my former boss and brother.”
“Yeah, I also believe in your judgment!”
Mi Cai’s reply finally made me feel reassured. The matter of Fang Yuan and Chen Jingming joining Zhuomei was basically settled. However, I was still worried about Mi Zhongde. Although Mi Cai, as CEO of Zhuomei, had the authority to appoint personnel, the final approval and signature for the transfer of mid- to senior-level staff still required Mi Zhongde, the acting chairman.
In the dark, I reached for the cigarettes on the cabinet, took one out, lit it, inhaled deeply, and then exhaled slowly before replying to Mi Cai: “It’s so late, why haven’t you rested yet?”
“Just looking at various reports… Do you have any good songs to recommend? I’ll listen to one and then go to sleep.”
I thought for a long time but couldn’t think of a suitable song to listen to before sleep, so I replied: “What I like are folk songs and rock. You might not like them.”
“Then I’ll listen to ‘Runaway’ again. ‘Runaway’ is great!”
“What time is it? Do you have to tease me like this?”
Unexpectedly, Mi Cai replied with a voice message, singing the beginning of “Runaway” in it: “Devote youth to the magnificent city behind us. For this beautiful dream, we pay the price. Leave my love to the most sincere girl by my side. You accompany me in singing, you accompany me in wandering, accompany me in mutual loss…”
I responded with a voice message as well, continuing the song from where she left off.
Then, we took turns singing one line each through WeChat until we completed the entire song. After that, I felt sleepy, and I’m sure Mi Cai did too, but this previously heavy night suddenly became gentle.
…
The next morning, I went to Fang Yuan and Yan Yan’s new home. In fact, since their marriage, I hadn’t visited them even once, which was a stark contrast to the old days when I used to drop by every few days to get a free meal. Yet I couldn’t quite figure out where this change came from. Perhaps it was because I was no longer working at Zhuomei and had returned to Xuzhou for a long time, which had created some distance between us.
Fang Yuan and Yan Yan’s new home was a standard three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment. The Korean-style modern decoration made the entire house look very elegant. The living room was decorated with Fang Yuan and Yan Yan’s wedding photo, which added a warm family atmosphere to the house. This was the kind of life I had long yearned for, but it was still far from me.
Actually, it wasn’t that far. At least in Xuzhou, I had once been very close to it. But now, it seemed like an unreal dream. In that dream, reality and fantasy fiercely clashed, resulting in a mixture of happiness and pain.
I forced myself to stop these thoughts, unwilling to immerse myself in daydreaming, because all these daydreams only proved that my current life was terrible and unsatisfactory.
At noon, the three of us—Fang Yuan, Yan Yan, and I—sat around the table having lunch and chatting casually. As we talked, the conversation gradually turned to Jian Wei.
Yan Yan asked me: “Zhaoyang, do you know that Jian Wei wants to start an advertising company?”
“She mentioned it to me. What’s wrong?”
Yan Yan said in a tone of disbelief: “I can understand her not wanting to be a housewife, but if she wants to work, she could perfectly well go to her father’s company or help Xiang Chen manage his business. Starting her own advertising company—that’s just asking for trouble, isn’t it?”
“Did Xiang Chen agree?” I asked, focusing on the key point.
Yan Yan shook her head with a smirk: “Of course Xiang Chen didn’t agree. But with Jian Wei’s personality, Xiang Chen really can’t control her. That’s why he got so angry he went to France!”
I looked at Yan Yan in surprise and asked: “What does he mean by going to France?”
Fang Yuan smiled and took over: “Don’t listen to Yan Yan exaggerating. Xiang Chen went to France to negotiate the wine agency business.”
But Yan Yan wasn’t convinced and continued: “Don’t their company have people specifically handling overseas business? He really doesn’t need to go in person. I think it’s just because he’s angry with Jian Wei.”
After a while, I finally asked: “Then where is Jian Wei now?”
“She went back to Shanghai a few days ago, saying she needs to raise funds to set up the advertising company. I don’t know where she’s going to get the money. Knowing her personality, she probably won’t ask her father for it.”
Yan Yan’s words left me in silence. This was my fault towards Jian Wei. If she hadn’t given me the 500,000 yuan she had saved over the years, she could have easily started a small advertising company. So I needed to find a way to pay her back as soon as possible.
…
After lunch, Yan Yan washed the dishes in the kitchen while Fang Yuan and I sat on the sofa in the living room smoking. I took a deep habitual puff, flicked the ash off the cigarette, and asked Fang Yuan: “Have you contacted Chen Manager?”
Fang Yuan nodded and said: “I have contacted him. He’s fine with it. We can meet with Mi Cai as agreed.”
“Yeah, from Mi Cai’s tone, I think there’s a good chance this will work out. If you and Chen Manager can really join Zhuomei, I hope you can help her a lot. You know how deep the waters are at Zhuomei. After all, she’s still just a woman.”
“Don’t worry, for both me and Chen Jingming, this is a favor that saved our careers. It might be an exaggeration to say we’ll work our hearts out, but we’ll definitely do our best to support her.” Fang Yuan paused slightly and continued: “Zhaoyang, to be honest, I really hope you could also join Zhuomei. The promotional campaign you came up with for ‘Love Isn’t a Luxury’ last time fully demonstrated your creativity. Actually, compared to me and Chen Jingming, perhaps you could be of more help to her!”
Faced with Fang Yuan’s heartfelt words, I was indeed a bit shaken. After all, once Chen Jingming and Fang Yuan joined Zhuomei, I no longer had the guilt I had previously felt towards Chen Jingming.
After a while, I smiled at Fang Yuan and said: “Now the bar is at a critical point in its preparation for opening. Let’s talk about this later.”
Fang Yuan nodded and said: “Okay, but I do advise you to think about it carefully. After all, running a bar isn’t a very stable career. The business can change from good to bad overnight.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll seriously consider it once the bar’s business stabilizes.”
After a brief silence, Fang Yuan joked: “How’s that fashion model doing now? She really caused you a lot of trouble!”
“She went to Beijing. That’s great. Recently, she also got a new acting role.”
“That’s great. Actually, from the time when GUCCI specifically asked her to shoot the promotional poster, you could tell she was born for this industry. Maybe she can really help you in the future, Zhaoyang. If she can make it big in that circle, her influence would really be extraordinary!”
I just smiled without saying anything because I don’t like thinking too far into the future. So I don’t think Le Yao’s future has much to do with me.
…
Finally, it was half past one in the afternoon. It was time for Fang Yuan and me to leave, while Chen Jingming had already headed to the teahouse we had agreed to meet at…
Whether things would go smoothly or not would depend on the upcoming meeting.
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