“One gold bar, two gold bars, three gold bars…”
“Fourteen gold bars, fifteen gold bars, sixteen gold bars…”
“…What number was it?”
There were only twenty-nine gold bars in the safe, but Lin Yushu had spent the whole night counting and still couldn’t figure it out.
He felt just like when he couldn’t argue well during a fight. When he thought back on it afterwards, he couldn’t help but feel more and more unwilling.
Song Qiming thanked him, and he replied with a “no need,” which was the normal way for Chinese people to interact, right?
But why did Song Qiming, in turn, shamelessly ask him for a thank-you gift?
The key was that he hadn’t realized it at the time and even thought giving a gift was only natural. Shouldn’t it have been a mutual exchange?
Even the loss in investment hadn’t made Lin Yushu feel so frustrated. From childhood to adulthood, he had never experienced such a setback.
The next morning, Lin Yushu took the elevator to the executive office floor. Although his appearance showed no signs of staying up all night, when the receptionist greeted him, he didn’t react at all and walked past with a cold face.
“Oh no, did you see Manager Lin’s reaction?”
The receptionist whispered.
“Could it be that he lost money in investments?”
“It must be something more serious than losing money. When has Manager Lin ever been so serious?”
“I bet something big is going to happen!”
“Quick, sell the stocks you have. The company’s stock price might drop again!”
Rumors quickly spread on the economic forums that Yong Xing was going to face something significant. Lin Yushu sat in his office, utterly bewildered. He had never expected that these rumors were simply due to his own bad mood.
He took a short nap in the office and dealt with the weekend’s accumulated emails. The morning passed quickly, and until he left for Jingxin Villa, Lin Yushu still hadn’t thought of a good reason to reject Shao Zhenbang.
Should he just pass the blame onto his older brother?
He could say that his family didn’t agree to the marriage.
But if he did that, Shao Zhenbang might suggest that there was room for negotiation regarding the marriage and that Shao Zhenrui could marry into the Lin family.
If he let things escalate to that point, Lin Yushu would have no way out because rejecting Shao Zhenbang would mean looking down on Shao Zhenrui.
And according to this logic, no matter what excuses Lin Yushu came up with, as long as Shao Zhenbang kept conceding, it would only lead to a critical point where he couldn’t make any more concessions. The ultimate result would be a complete falling out.
So, I can’t make excuses from my own side; I have to find reasons from others.
After the weather turned cool, Shao Zhenbang reduced his time spent outside for fresh air. When Lin Yushu arrived at the main residence of Jingxin Villa, the housekeeper told him that Shao Zhenbang was waiting for him in the study.
Lin Yushu sorted out his thoughts and went to the second-floor study. He intended to talk about the progress of his autobiography publication, but to his surprise, Shao Zhenbang cut to the chase without any preamble and asked, “What do you think?”
Shao Zhenbang’s tone was not as composed as it was on Saturday, revealing a hint of anxiety that Lin Yushu couldn’t fathom.
“I think,” Lin Yushu slowly began, “this matter needs careful consideration.”
If Song Qiming was a master of bluffing, then Lin Yushu was not far behind. He could consider himself a “master of empty talk.”
“You don’t want to marry into the family,” Shao Zhenbang sighed and placed his hands on the wheelchair’s rims. Lin Yushu immediately received the signal and went to push the wheelchair for him.
“I just feel that this matter isn’t so simple,” Lin Yushu explained. “The wishes of Miss Shao and I are secondary. The main factor depends on how the Shao family views this marriage.”
The two of them stood by the French window. The sky was overcast today, and the vegetation bent under the strong mountain wind, but it still resisted the oppressive force of the wind.
“Has anyone talked to you about this matter?” Shao Zhenbang asked.
“Mr. Shao has approached me,” Lin Yushu immediately pushed Shao Guangjie forward to take the blame.
Instead of letting his own older brother shoulder the blame, why not throw it directly onto Shao Zhenbang’s own grandson?
After all, Lin Yushu was not an unrelated passerby. He had been working in the Shao family for so many years and was the prospective CEO of the quasi-family office. He was well aware of all the assets of the Shao family.
Someone in such an important position, becoming Shao Hexu’s son-in-law, how could the people on Shao Heng and Shao Hedong’s side let it go easily?
Shao Zhenbang only focused on the future of the conglomerate and ignored the calculations in the hearts of his children and grandchildren. This was precisely what Lin Yushu wanted to address.
If he really married into the Shao family, it would be the same as fighting for the family property with Song Qiming. The vested interests in the Shao family would definitely not agree, which would only intensify the internal conflicts within the entire family.
Shao Zhenbang attached great importance to family harmony, which provided Lin Yushu with a rejection strategy.
“Mr. Shao strongly opposes the marriage,” Lin Yushu recited the prepared draft, but before he could finish, Shao Zhenbang calmly interrupted him.
“I know, he came to see me.”
“Mr. Shao?” Lin Yushu asked in surprise.
“Yes, not only him, but Shao Hedong and his wife, Ruirui, and Qiming also came to see me,” Shao Zhenbang’s tone carried a hint of helplessness. “They all oppose this marriage.”
Upon hearing that familiar name, Lin Yushu was even more surprised. “Did Mr. Song also come to see you?”
“He came early this morning,” Shao Zhenbang said. “I don’t know what he’s meddling in or what his relationship is.”
The struggle over family assets was concentrated between Shao Heng and Shao Hexu; there really wasn’t much connection with Song Qiming.
Lin Yushu originally wanted to ask what Song Qiming had said, but it would have seemed strange, so he went along with Shao Zhenbang’s words and said, “With so many people opposing it, I would also feel a lot of pressure.”
Shao Zhenbang fell silent, seemingly aware of how difficult it would be to push forward with this matter.
Lin Yushu suddenly understood why Shao Zhenbang had sounded anxious when he asked for his opinion earlier.
Most likely, he was hoping for a positive response from Lin Yushu so that he would have the confidence to overcome the opposition.
But both Lin Yushu and Shao Zhenbang’s daughter, Shao Zhenrui, were not cooperating. What could an old man with limited time left do?
The mountain wind outside gradually subsided, and although the vegetation stood tall, it appeared somewhat withered after being battered by the wind.
Lin Yushu suddenly realized that perhaps the person truly facing the difficult problem was not him but Shao Zhenbang.
“Do you know why I wanted you to marry into the Shao family?” Shao Zhenbang turned slightly, looking at Lin Yushu behind him, clearly intending to have a heart-to-heart conversation.
It wouldn’t be appropriate for Lin Yushu to continue pretending to be clueless at this point.
He succinctly replied, “Xun Jie Tram.”
“I’ve expressed my thoughts to Guangjie and his parents, but they always find various reasons to refute me,” Shao Zhenbang sighed and then absentmindedly looked out the window. “In the end, they don’t care about the future of the conglomerate, only their immediate interests.”
Lin Yushu refrained from commenting and silently listened.
“Qiming, on the other hand, approves of my idea,” Shao Zhenbang continued. “But he believes that the company’s focus should be on S-power right now, and expanding too quickly would not be beneficial for the company’s development.”
It seemed that Song Qiming had indeed come up with a noble reason, Lin Yushu thought to himself.
“Laying the groundwork is certainly better to do sooner rather than later. His vision is still too short,” Shao Zhenbang said, sighing again. “Perhaps it’s for his own interests after all, considering that S-power falls under his responsibility.”
Shao Zhenbang criticized Song Qiming for having a “short-sighted” vision.
That would be a grave mistake if it were placed within the context of the inheritance battle because Shao Zhenbang might perceive Song Qiming as incompetent and reduce his share of the inheritance.
And Song Qiming should also be aware that using such flimsy reasons to obstruct the marriage alliance might lead Shao Zhenbang to have a negative impression of him, but he still went ahead with it.
Because he didn’t want Lin Yushu to marry someone else.
Lin Yushu’s thoughts became somewhat chaotic.
He thought about the deep kiss from last night and the “trends” that Song Qiming had mentioned when they watched the movie together.
Before this, he had never considered that he and Song Qiming were getting too close, but he had never thought in an ambiguous direction.
One reason was that he didn’t have that habit, and the other was that he wasn’t that sensitive.
But now, Song Qiming was willing to go to the extent of compromising his own interests to help him stop the marriage alliance, which forced Lin Yushu to consider it more deeply.
“I wonder how far Yong Xing can go,” Shao Zhenbang’s voice brought Lin Yushu’s thoughts back. “If I could live a few more years…”
Shao Zhenbang’s tone was filled with reluctance and regret, and Lin Yushu couldn’t help but feel a sense of pity.
Looking back at Shao Zhenbang’s eventful decades of hard work, it was truly tragic to see that his children didn’t appreciate it. In the last days of his life, even if he wanted to achieve something, he felt powerless. It was a pitiful situation.
The matter of the marriage alliance was temporarily put on hold, and the process of resolving it went smoother than Lin Yushu had imagined.
Driving his Civic back from the suburbs to the city, Lin Yushu noticed a significant change along the way. Since Yu Xiu won the Best Actor award last weekend, he seemed to have become the center of everyone’s attention overnight.
Every time he opened his phone, there was news about him, and when he put it down, there were advertisements featuring him. His figure could be seen everywhere, from shopping malls and buses to convenience stores. Even on the prominent electronic billboard next to Yong Xing Tower, which displayed dozens of advertisements throughout the day, more than half of them were endorsements by him.
He was truly becoming incredibly popular.
Returning to his office, Lin Yushu glanced at the highly visible electronic screen outside and then remembered the divorce between Shao Hexu and Shao Zhenbang. It was at this moment that Fang Lan called.
“President Fang?” Lin Yushu answered the call, somewhat surprised.
“I heard that you rejected the marriage alliance with Rui Rui,” Fang Lan’s tone remained unchanged, leaving Lin Yushu uncertain about the purpose of her call.
“I didn’t reject it,” Lin Yushu carefully chose his words and said, “I just put it on hold for now.”
“You came to me last time, saying that Shao Hexu wants those pieces of land.”
Fang Lan abruptly changed the topic without warning. Upon hearing this, Lin Yushu immediately realized that the marriage alliance was just a prelude, and this was the real reason Fang Lan contacted him.
“Yes,” he said, “Do you have any thoughts on it?”
“You can give him the land, and the company doesn’t have to restructure, but I have one condition.”
Things that fall from the sky are never good, a thought flashed through Lin Yushu’s mind. Could this condition be related to the marriage alliance?
He immediately became fully alert. “Please go ahead.”
“Make him suppress Yu Xiu,” Fang Lan said coldly, presenting a condition that surprised but didn’t entirely surprise Lin Yushu. “I don’t want to see him in any public place, nor do I want to hear his name again.”
“This…” Lin Yushu hesitated, “It might be difficult…”
“You let him think about it, and when he’s convinced, come find me.” With those words, Fang Lan hung up the phone directly.
Lin Yushu felt helpless. How could he consider such a condition? He didn’t even dare to mention it to Shao Hexu.
It seemed that his previous analysis was correct. Fang Lan wasn’t concerned about the benefits; she simply wanted to vent her frustration.
Perhaps the land matter had made her feel somewhat relieved, thinking she had retaliated against Shao Hexu. But now, with Yu Xiu winning the Best Actor award, he had reignited her anger, even more so than before.
She didn’t have any connections in the entertainment industry, so she could only vent her frustration through this means.
Lin Yushu couldn’t help but look at Yu Xiu outside the window and wondered how things would turn out.
At that moment, his phone vibrated, and it was a call from Song Qiming.
“What did my grandfather say?”
“It’s all fine,” Lin Yushu replied succinctly. He was about to discuss Yu Xiu’s situation, but Song Qiming spoke first, “That’s good. Let’s go watch Yu Xiu’s new movie tonight.”
“Isn’t it releasing on Friday?” Lin Yushu glanced once again at the window, where the promotional advertisement for that award-winning film was displayed.
“I had someone get the keys, so we can watch it in advance tonight,” Song Qiming said.
…Someone?
That wasn’t an easy task. It required knowing people in the film industry, both from the theater chain and the production company.
The only person Lin Yushu could think of was… Could it be that Song Qiming secretly approached Shao Hexu?
But that didn’t seem to be the main point.
He asked, “Can’t we watch it on Friday? It’s quite troublesome.”
“It’s not troublesome. I want to watch the movie with you in a private screening.”
The ambiguity radar was a magical thing. When it wasn’t active, no matter what Song Qiming said, it wouldn’t respond.
But once it started functioning, its sensitivity was comparable to a seismograph.
Watch the movie in a private screening?
Ordinary friends wouldn’t do something like that.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Yushu said, “Okay, let’s meet downstairs.”
“Now?” Song Qiming sounded surprised. “We still have half an hour before work ends.”
“Yes, let’s leave early.”
Usually, Song Qiming would leave first and send a message to Lin Yushu while waiting for the elevator.
But today, the two of them naturally walked out of their respective offices at the same time and coincidentally bumped into each other at the elevator entrance.
Song Qiming glanced at the receptionist behind him, raised an eyebrow at Lin Yushu, and silently asked with his eyes, “You’re not avoiding being seen while leaving work together anymore?”
Lin Yushu pretended not to see and focused on the floor display, paying no attention to anything else.
As they descended, the elevator stopped on several floors, with people entering and exiting, but Lin Yushu remained silent.
It wasn’t until the elevator passed the second basement floor and there were only the two of them left in the car that Lin Yushu finally looked at Song Qiming beside him and calmly asked, “What do you mean by wanting to watch the movie with me in a private screening?”
“Hmm?” Song Qiming probably didn’t expect Lin Yushu to suddenly speak, but he immediately understood what Lin Yushu was asking and replied without changing his expression, “I’m pursuing you. Didn’t you notice?”
Although Lin Yushu had already guessed it to a certain extent, when he heard Song Qiming’s answer, it created a tremendous ripple in his heart.
Song Qiming.
The world-class automotive engineer, Song Qiming.
The owner of the racing team he liked, Song Qiming.
The Song Qiming he had followed on Instagram for five or six years.
He wanted to pursue him.
But this person was a playboy. What should he do?
Lin Yushu’s thoughts were in chaos, like a bunch of data cables that hadn’t been sorted in a decade. But outwardly, he remained calm, stepping out of the elevator as usual and saying nonchalantly, “Oh, then you should pursue me well.”
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