Chapter 32
The next day at noon, Fu Yu arrived on time for the appointment. Chen Shaoguang was already waiting for him in the hotel lobby, and when he saw Fu Yu, he approached him with a distressed expression, saying, “Fu Yu, this time you really have to help me!”
His voice was loud, drawing the attention of other passersby in the hotel lobby. Fu Yu had to say, “Let’s discuss it upstairs.”
Chen Shaoguang took him to the suite they had booked, and Fu Yu looked around, asking, “Why are you staying here?”
“Oh, don’t mention it. My father kicked me out, so I’ve been staying here for the past two days,” Chen Shaoguang said with a troubled expression. He even had some stubble on his chin, a sign of how anxious he had been.
Fu Yu placed his briefcase on the table and adjusted his position calmly. “What happened?”
Chen Shaoguang sat down on the sofa with a woeful look, ran his fingers through his hair, and seemed to be struggling with how to begin.
Fu Yu walked over and sat down beside him, maintaining a bit of distance, and asked with concern, “Is there something I can help with?”
Chen Shaoguang raised his head suddenly after hearing this and said, “Yes, and only you can help, but I don’t want to impose on you, so I’m hesitating whether to tell you…”
“Go ahead and tell me.”
Chen Shaoguang immediately recounted the details of the situation with Xiong Huang’s acquisition of Guangyu Media, painting a vivid picture. In his narration, he deliberately portrayed Xiong Huang as a bully taking advantage of a smaller company. He added with frustration, “I know I offended Xiao Yi because I sided with you, but I didn’t expect him to be so petty. What’s the point of venting his anger on my father’s company? It’s ridiculous!”
Fu Yu couldn’t help but marvel at Chen Shaoguang’s eloquence. In just a few sentences, he not only hinted that the trouble they were facing was because of him, making him feel guilty, but also tarnished Xiao Yi’s image. It was like killing two birds with one stone.
“So, how do you want me to help you?” Fu Yu asked.
Chen Shaoguang immediately put on a pitiable look. “As much as I hate to admit it, I can’t possibly confront him. Right now, I can only rely on you, Fu Yu. Can you help me talk to Xiao Yi and plead for mercy?”
Fu Yu furrowed his brows. “Even if I’m willing to help, what makes you think I can persuade him? I doubt I can even get a meeting with him.”
“No, you can! As long as you talk to him nicely, he will definitely agree. He likes you so much,” Chen Shaoguang said.
“He likes me? Didn’t you say before that he was insincere?” Fu Yu teased.
Chen Shaoguang looked embarrassed. “I might have been mistaken at that time. Later on, I felt that he genuinely cared about you…”
Fu Yu pretended to contemplate for a moment. “I see. So, should I apologize to him for misunderstanding him for so long?”
“No need!” Chen Shaoguang stood up abruptly. “Even if he genuinely cares about you, it doesn’t excuse his past actions! I want you to help me with this, but I don’t want you two to reconcile. Otherwise, all my efforts in the past would be in vain.”
Fu Yu lowered his eyelids and pondered for a moment. Finally, he said, “Alright, I’ll give him a call.”
Chen Shaoguang felt a sense of relief. “Thank you so much!”
Fu Yu gave a nonchalant response, picked up his phone, and went into the adjacent room. The situation unfolded pretty much as Xiao Yi had expected. Chen Shaoguang, being timid and spineless, would never dare to confront Xiao Yi directly. Instead, he chose to use Fu Yu as a mediator, which Xiao Yi found amusing.
“Hmph, I thought he liked you so much. At the first sign of trouble, he’s pushing you forward like a shield. He’s really something,” Xiao Yi sneered on the phone.
Fu Yu lowered his voice. “You’ll know what to do when I get there, right?”
“Of course, I know how to handle it. After all, I know who your boyfriend is.”
Fu Yu chuckled softly, and Xiao Yi, hearing it, felt a warmth in his heart. “Wait for me to come over and sort him out.”
After hanging up the phone, and spending another half an hour in the room, Fu Yu walked out. Chen Shaoguang had been waiting outside anxiously, and the hotel’s excellent soundproofing prevented him from hearing the phone call.
“How did it go? Did he agree?”
Fu Yu looked visibly tired, as if the phone call had drained a lot of his energy. He said, “He agreed, but he wants to meet you in person.”
Upon hearing the first half of the sentence, Chen Shaoguang’s face lit up with joy, but as soon as he heard the second half, his smile immediately faded. “Ah? Why does he want to see me? Is he planning to take revenge on me?”
“No, he won’t. I’ll be there with you, so don’t worry,” Fu Yu reassured him in a gentle tone, finally easing Chen Shaoguang’s concerns.
Twenty minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Fu Yu went to open it, and outside, Xiao Yi saw him. He gave a slight smile, and the two exchanged a silent, knowing glance. Xiao Yi then put away his smile and adopted a cold and stern expression, his eyes turning icy. He walked into the room with determined steps.
Upon seeing Xiao Yi, Chen Shaoguang involuntarily shuddered.
Xiao Yi was a true prodigy, surpassing him in every aspect, from appearance to family background. Since high school, Chen Shaoguang had been jealous of him.
In their high school, which emphasized academic achievement and was attended by students from wealthy families, there were not many backdoor connections. Chen Shaoguang had worked hard to get into the top class, not only for his studies but also because of a handsome boy in that class who caught everyone’s attention.
Fu Yu was popular among both girls and boys, but he seemed unaware of it. Nobody dared to confess their feelings to him because they knew they had no chance. He gave off an aura of unattainability, as if engaging in romantic relationships like an ordinary person would be blasphemous.
Chen Shaoguang’s jealousy of Xiao Yi and admiration for Fu Yu initially had no intersection. However, in their sophomore year, Xiao Yi unexpectedly transferred to their class. Despite his poor academic performance, he was allowed into the top class due to his prestigious family background. The school turned a blind eye to his rule-breaking behavior.
What made matters worse was that Xiao Yi ended up sitting next to Fu Yu, and by some means, he managed to make Fu Yu treat him differently than others.
Chen Shaoguang secretly observed all this and his jealousy and hatred towards Xiao Yi grew day by day. However, he was also fearful of Xiao Yi’s temper and family background, so he never dared to show his true feelings. Even now, in his current pathetic state, he could only plead for mercy.
Xiao Yi stood with his hands in his pockets, looking arrogantly at Chen Shaoguang, and sarcastically said, “Weren’t you brave enough to defy me before? How come you’ve become so timid now?”
“It was all a misunderstanding before… a misunderstanding…” Chen Shaoguang broke into a cold sweat.
“A misunderstanding? Well, that’s quite a coincidence. Every time I ‘bullied’ you, it just happened that he was around,” Xiao Yi pointed to Fu Yu. “I’ve been thinking about it more recently, and it doesn’t seem quite right. The incidents in the parking lot and outside the hotel, were they planned by you?”
This question caught Fu Yu by surprise. When he had learned about the fact that he had misunderstood Xiao Yi for so many years, it had been such a shock that he had forgotten to investigate other suspicious details. Now, with Xiao Yi bringing it up, he realized that those two incidents had indeed been too coincidental.
Chen Shaoguang’s face turned pale at the mention of those incidents.
He had indeed deliberately created those two misunderstandings.
On that day, he had originally gone to East Construction to find Fu Yu. Knowing that Fu Yu was not at the office and would return later, he happened to see Xiao Yi in the parking lot. He had impulsively decided to confront Xiao Yi for a few minutes, intentionally allowing Fu Yu to witness the scene of Xiao Yi seemingly bullying him.
The second incident was also unplanned. He had seen the message from Xiao Yi asking Fu Yu to have dinner together and, consumed by jealousy, had decided to sabotage it. When Fu Yu left his office for a moment, Chen Shaoguang had surreptitiously altered Huao’s information, hoping that if he didn’t delay enough time, he would still succeed. Surprisingly, both plans had gone incredibly smoothly, and Chen Shaoguang felt as if fate was on his side.
He had initially thought that after that incident, Fu Yu and Xiao Yi would not meet again, and his schemes would remain hidden. Who would have expected this unexpected turn of events? He had been too eager to regain control of the company, and he had forgotten that he must never let them confront each other again. Now, he deeply regretted his actions.
Xiao Yi glanced at Fu Yu, maintaining his cold demeanor. “Do you remember that night when I invited you to dinner? You hadn’t arrived yet, but this guy showed up first. He blabbered on, talking nonsense that made me want to punch him. But then you arrived, and he knelt down in fear after I punched the wall. Isn’t that quite a coincidence?”
Fu Yu’s expression turned perplexed, and Chen Shaoguang hurriedly explained, “It was really a misunderstanding! I had no plans, it was purely coincidental! I was just too impulsive at the time, and I spoke without thinking. There was no ill intention!”
Xiao Yi sneered, “Even if it was a coincidence, I clearly heard you talking about liking him. That can’t be a misunderstanding, can it?”
Chen Shaoguang hadn’t expected Xiao Yi to suddenly bring up this matter. His face froze, and he couldn’t come up with any plausible excuses.
If Fu Yu found out that he had romantic feelings for him, he would definitely refuse to help and would keep his distance from him in the future. All the years of careful cultivation would go to waste.
But Xiao Yi didn’t stop there. He added more salt to the wound, “You think that by having him come and plead on your behalf, you can change my mind? I don’t care about him anymore. Let me tell you, there’s no room for negotiation in the acquisition. Xiong Huang will sign the contract with your company tomorrow.”
Xiao Yi laughed mockingly, “Have you seen the contract? I specifically added a clause to it. Xiong Huang has the right to dismiss and never hire any employee of Guangyu who has seriously underperformed. I remember you caused the company to lose several billion in that investment in a movie, right? You’ll be fired, Chen Shaoguang. You won’t inherit your father’s company.”
Chen Shaoguang felt like his world was collapsing upon hearing the last sentence.
“You… you can’t do this,” he stammered, his face pale and his lips trembling. He had thought that the worst-case scenario was the company being acquired, but he had never expected that Xiao Yi would be ruthless enough to strip him of his inheritance rights.
“Fu Yu, please say something, help me, please,” Chen Shaoguang pleaded desperately.
However, Fu Yu remained silent, standing there without uttering a word.
Chen Shaoguang felt hopeless, realizing that even his last lifeline had abandoned him. He continued to beg Xiao Yi, “Xiao Yi, for the sake of our past as classmates, can’t you reconsider? If you spare me this time, I’ll agree to anything!”
Xiao Yi seemed to finally show some interest and smiled mysteriously. After all the acting they had done, they had finally reached the climax of the drama.
“Well then, please reveal in front of him everything about how you replaced my love letter and impersonated me in the gym,” Xiao Yi said, his tone carrying a deeper meaning.
