I quickly ran through the idea in my mind. Although these flowers were cheaper and the profit margin would be much lower than the previous package deal, we still had 32% shipping space. This was a good idea. I patted Shan Jie on the shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. No sooner said than done, I immediately called the flower supplier, but they didn't have these flowers; we had to find a new supplier. I can't drive, so I grabbed Shan Jie and we drove around Fangcun and Chencun together. Finally, in the afternoon, we found a supplier in Fangcun who offered satisfactory prices and flowers. By the time we finished negotiating, it was already past six o'clock, and it was getting dark. In Guangzhou, after the summer solstice, it gets dark earlier and earlier.
As soon as he stepped out, Shan Jie kept checking his watch.
"What's up? Did you make plans with someone?" I asked him, somewhat annoyed.
"No, a netizen is coming from Beijing and said he'll arrive today, so he asked me to pick him up," Shan Jie said somewhat embarrassedly.
"Online friend? Is she a girl? She's quite pretty, isn't she?"
Seeing the slightest hint of shame in Shan Jie about meeting someone he met online made me desperately suppress the urge to burst out laughing. "Then you can go, but be careful, don't let them rob you of your money and your virtue."
"Don't worry about that. She can take advantage of my body, but she can't take advantage of my wallet."
Alas, it seems that there is no love without a reason in this world, nor is there any affinity without a reason.
"So, I'm taking this car? You can take a taxi." Shan Jiehao heartlessly drove off without even pausing for me, leaving me no time to even pretend to politely agree.
Fortunately, it's easy to get a taxi here. I hailed one and got into a yellow one. Sitting in the car, I suddenly realized that Haoyushe was also nearby. I hadn't been here since that time I came with Yin Tianyu. Suddenly, on a whim, I decided to go and see it.
Stepping off the bus, it felt like stepping into a dream from before. That day, Yin Tianyu stood here, grinning mischievously, showing me the words "good and bad," leaving me unsure whether the surging emotions within me were gratitude or love. Standing here today, all I feel is a distant warmth and the smug satisfaction of having secretly stole contraband.
"Woof woof woof!" Several barks were followed by a chorus of responses from the local dogs, making Haoyushe seem vibrant and full of life. All the way here, I had been worried, fearing I would arrive to find only desolation and decay. Now, seeing Haoyushe unharmed, I felt a sense of relief, for some reason. That was all I wanted to know. Just as I was about to turn away, large raindrops suddenly began to pelt down without warning, stinging my face. Helpless, I covered my head and ran inside, regretting not heeding the driver's warning about the impending rain. I thought that after such a bright and sunny day, there was no reason for rain to come so soon. By the time I reached the observation room, I was soaked to the bone. The room was brightly lit, clearly someone was there, but I didn't want to knock and go in. I didn't want anyone to see me; it would be pointless for Yin Tianyu to know I had been there.
Seeing that the rain wasn't going to stop anytime soon, I listlessly looked through the glass window, and my heart suddenly started pounding. The person inside, sharing dog food, was none other than Yin Tianyu.
Reason told me to leave quickly, as the dog-catching team and Li Hao were not allowed to enter, but I felt powerless, like I was drowning, and just couldn't move my legs.
I'll take one more look, just one more look and then I'll leave—I promised myself. So I quietly put my eyes on the glass again. Yin Tianyu was very meticulous about the amount of dog food he was weighing. Such a serious expression was extremely rare on his face. He didn't look like he was weighing dog food; he looked more like he was weighing gold dust.
Part Two, Chapter Twenty-Four
I got home soaking wet, it was almost midnight. I was still renting the same small house I used to live in.
At one point, I almost couldn't resist the urge to knock on the window so he could see me outside, imagining him looking at me for a moment, seeing my reflection in his dark pupils, then silently opening the door, handing me an umbrella, and me, unable to refuse, following him inside, leaving only a sad ring of water stains around the umbrella outside, followed by the caption—"Flower order hotline XXXXXXXX..." That's amazing! It was at that moment that I found the courage to turn away. Lying in bed, I felt an extraordinary sense of accomplishment; I had finally learned how to say "no" to my heart. But this sense of accomplishment obviously did nothing to help my sleep; insomnia clung to me like a cold snake. Although my head was throbbing, I was wide awake, my mind filled with the image of Yin Tian and his girlfriend sharing food under the lamp.
Actually, even after several months apart, I couldn't find any trace of thinness or haggardness on his face, no matter how hard I tried. But for some reason, that moment of separation felt like a needle piercing my heart, a pain I couldn't hide from. To this day, I still don't understand what it was that made me realize at that moment that my hormones had undergone a chemical change for him.
I remember him once telling me, "You don't have to do anything, just let me love you properly over there." But in the end, I couldn't even do that.
Finally, I understood. There was someone who had become another important reason in my life besides money, and I wanted to keep him. Once this thought became clear, I was so excited that I couldn't control myself, like someone with a fever, that I suddenly sat up in bed.
"Are you sure?" I asked myself this question three times, and after receiving affirmative answers each time, I began to eagerly await the dawn.
Finding Chairman Yin was really not easy. I left him a message with four words: "Transaction canceled." It was almost a week later before I had the chance to stand in front of him.
“Miss Li, you have broken your promise.” Chairman Yin’s stern expression was rather intimidating. “I originally thought you were a respectable business partner.”
"I'm sorry." I also felt guilty for going back on my word. "At first, I thought I was qualified to trade with you, but later I realized that I had nothing to sell you."
"What do you mean?" Chairman Yin's face remained expressionless, but his eyes turned extremely sinister. It's strange that I can look at them so calmly.
"You understand what I mean—I intend to break the contract." I looked like I was ready to go all out, feeling like a complete scoundrel.
"As a father, I want to ask you one question: Do you really love Yin Tianyu that much?"
"I don't know." I was frustrated; why did everyone ask me this question?
"Then why did you do that?" Chairman Yin raised his eyebrows high.
"Because I found it very difficult to just watch his life from the sidelines."
“You are truly a greedy young girl, far too greedy. Your actions have made me very unhappy.” Actually, I could tell without him saying it. “I heard that you’re doing quite well with that ‘Blooming’ project, but I hope you understand that the fund is just the beginning. If you think doing business is always so smooth sailing, you’re wrong. You haven’t truly experienced the storms of the business world yet. Nothing lasts forever. Moreover, for someone without business credit, the consequences are even more serious.”
I immediately understood what Chairman Yin meant and replied, "This project doesn't belong to me personally, but to a team. You can take any measures against me personally, but please don't attack this project, and I can leave there."
"Look, you've exposed your weaknesses in just a few words. I seriously doubt the resilience of a team led by someone as impatient as you. And do you think I'll give up so easily now that I've found your weakness? Don't forget, I'm a businessman."
What do you mean? Is this a threat? Although I knew I was in the wrong, I was still enraged by the contempt in Chairman Yin's tone towards "Nufang": "I have no intention of explaining to you the significance of this project to us, because for someone who has been in the business world for nearly 30 years, such a young and vibrant business ideal is unimaginable. But if you insist on doing anything to undermine this project because of my personal issues, my answer is only four words: I'll fight you to the end."
"Oh—" Chairman Yin's eyes narrowed, and the ambiguous "oh" sound was drawn out, making my skin crawl.
"You came here specifically to tell me this?"
"right."
Do you think this shows respect for me?
"Of course not. But I won't see Yin Tianyu until you give us your blessing."
Mr. Yin stared at me without saying a word, his gaze as if he were looking at a mental patient who had left the hospital without permission.
“In the past, it was Yin Tianyu who kept trying to bring us closer, but all I did was keep hurting him. Consider this retribution. This time, I will use all my strength to take his hand back and prevent him from being hurt again—including the pressure you may be putting on him.”
"Aren't you afraid that Tianyu might change his mind during this time?"
"I'm afraid, but if that's really the case, I'll take it as God's punishment for me, because I was too greedy."
Back in my office, I drank three cups of scalding hot water, but my back still felt chilly. I reviewed my conversation with Chairman Yin and decided to immediately call a meeting with several senior executives.
"Ladies and gentlemen," I said guiltily, "our company will face an unprecedented challenge because of my personal reasons. I am very sorry that I have brought this crisis to the project. Fortunately, our operation was quite good in the early stages of the project, so if any of you here want to leave, you can go to the finance department today to collect 100,000 yuan and then complete the resignation procedures."
There was an unexpected moment of silence in the conference room. Liu Yiming spoke up and asked, "Is what you did illegal?"
"It's not illegal. At least I didn't embezzle public funds for gambling, nor did I provide training courses for al-Qaeda."