Xie Pingfeng exclaimed with delight, "Brother, you're the best!"
Xie Siyan didn't want to hear his mushy talk, so she turned to ask Secretary Lin next to her, "Where's my phone?"
“It’s been smashed,” Secretary Lin said, carrying out a bag containing a shattered cell phone. “Do you need me to send it for repair?”
Xie Siyan: "No need, I'll get the new model."
Secretary Lin nodded: "Then I'll send it to the company's technical department for destruction."
"I'll go," Xie Pingfeng offered. "You guys still have work tonight."
Xie Siyan glanced at him sideways.
"What kind of expression is that?" Xie Pingfeng said, feeling wronged. "Did you think I would secretly look at the porn videos on your phone?"
Xie Siyan raised an eyebrow.
“Okay,” Xie Pingfeng confessed, “I just want to see the nude photos on your phone.”
“Uh…” Xie Siyan threw the broken phone at him and said coldly, “Get lost.”
As evening fell, the black Rolls-Royce drove quietly in the golden sunset. After a while, Secretary Lin adjusted his glasses and asked in a businesslike tone, "President, do you really have nude photos on your phone?"
The driver in the front seat also perked up his ears.
Xie Siyan said in a cold tone: "You don't want to work for me anymore?"
Secretary Lin and the driver shook their heads repeatedly: "No, no! I belong to the CEO in life and in death!"
Just as he finished flattering Xie Siyan, a loud "bang" came from ahead, followed by the car in front slamming on its brakes, forcing the driver to slam on the brakes. Xie Siyan was thrown forward by inertia, but was pulled back into his seat by the seatbelt.
"What's going on?" Secretary Lin frowned.
The driver was still shaken and it took him a long time to say, "There seems to be a car accident up ahead."
"Has the car been moved?"
"It's quite serious. I estimate we'll have to wait for the traffic police to arrive before they can handle it."
"President." Secretary Lin looked at Xie Siyan, her expression somewhat hesitant.
The latter remained calm and said, "Contact General Manager Liao and tell him we were in a car accident and will arrive a little later."
"But President Liao believes in metaphysics..." Secretary Lin said with some concern.
If they were to say today that they encountered a car accident on their way to negotiations, given Liao Tian's personality, he would likely see it as an ominous sign and reject their investment.
After all, Qiankun Technology was already waiting to be sold. As a leader among civilian aerospace companies, the company itself had no shortage of investors.
“Do as instructed,” Xie Siyan said calmly. “Investing in a company is also about investing in the future potential of its people. If the other party refuses to cooperate for this reason, then there is no need to invest.”
"I understand." Secretary Lin nodded, called Secretary Liao Tian to apologize, and promised to arrive as soon as possible.
"Take your time and be careful," the secretary on the other end said politely. "One group of your people has already arrived, and President Liao is having a very good chat with him."
"They said our people have already arrived," Secretary Lin said, hanging up the phone with a blank expression. "President, do you know who it is?"
Xie Siyan: ?
His people? Who?
...
As the fiery clouds in the western sky completely died down, the black Rolls-Royce finally drove into the fishing platform.
Xie Siyan glanced at his watch as he got out of the car, his brows furrowing slightly. The car accident had taken longer than he'd expected; an hour had already passed since their agreed time. He quickened his pace towards the private room. He'd assumed the other person would be annoyed by the long wait, but just as he reached the door, Xie Siyan suddenly heard laughter.
"You find it strange too, right? Actually, I've wanted to complain about it for a long time." A young male voice rang out.
Upon seeing Xie Siyan approach, the waiter immediately bowed to him and was about to knock on the door, but was stopped by Xie Siyan as soon as he raised his hand.
Secretary Lin looked up and found Xie Siyan standing quietly at the door, seemingly unwilling to interrupt the lively conversation inside.
The next moment, that pleasant voice rang out again: "Why is it that even in the Cosmic Era, the social system is still a monarchical autocracy? Even Qin Shi Huang would be so moved that he would do sit-ups."
He spoke with a standard tone and clear enunciation, yet his attitude was casual, with a hint of teasing in his voice, as if chatting with a familiar friend, which instantly lifted one's mood.
“Ultimately, it’s still a limitation of imagination,” another deep voice rang out. Secretary Lin recognized it as Liao Tian’s voice. “Look at the images of those aliens; aren’t they based on existing species on Earth? No matter how rich human imagination is, it can’t escape the environment we live in.”
“Matter determines consciousness, but I wonder what Earth will look like after we reach Type 1 civilization,” the pleasant male voice sighed, seemingly with some regret, “It’s just that our generation won’t be able to see it.”
"Yes, I feel very sad whenever I think about this. The universe is so vast, but we humans can only be trapped in this small Earth."
Liao Tian's voice grew lower and lower, tinged with a sob: "The other investors won't listen to what I'm saying. All they care about is economic benefits, money, money, and they even spread rumors that I'm practicing feudal superstition! Bullshit! I'm doing tarot card readings, that's clearly Western divination!"
Secretary Lin: "..."
Has he already drunk too much? Secretary Lin looked at the president with some surprise, but the Xie family members are all here, so who is that person inside?
The next moment, Xie Siyan winked at the waiter, who immediately understood and opened the door.
A man in his thirties, wearing a polo shirt, sat in the middle. He looked like he had drunk quite a bit, and his cheeks were flushed as he clinked glasses with the person next to him.
He wasn't mistaken; this was indeed Liao Tian, the president of Chengfeng Technology, a rumored tech tycoon who was notoriously difficult to deal with.
Next to Liao Tian was a handsome young man wearing a white shirt, with very fair skin and long, beautiful black hair.
Due to objective limitations, few men look good with long hair in reality; they either look eccentric or slovenly, each with its own incongruity.
But this man was completely unrelated to those words. He sat relaxed in the chair, a faint smile on his lips. The crystal chandelier above him cast a soft halo around him, creating a stark contrast with Liao Tian, whose skin was rough and whose figure was out of shape. He looked like an idol drama male lead who had stumbled into a slice-of-life drama.
"Brother Yan, let's have another one!" Liao Tian was already quite drunk and didn't notice that the door to the private room had been opened.
The long-haired youth noticed the situation and gently clinked his glass with Liao Tian's.
"I'll finish this glass first, Mr. Liao, please don't drink too much," the long-haired young man said with a slight smile, his attitude neither humble nor arrogant. "It wouldn't be good if you got drunk and were forced by our General Manager Xie to sign some unequal treaty."
"Uh..." Secretary Lin silently lit a candle for the young man in her heart. You know, the last person who dared to tease the president like this is already three feet old.
However, what he expected did not happen. Their CEO simply walked to the table with a blank expression and said calmly, "Sorry, I was late because of traffic."
"President Xie, you've finally arrived." Liao Tian looked up, revealing two flushed cheeks, clearly having drunk quite a bit. "Your secretary is quite interesting. Why don't you become my secretary?"
Xie Siyan did not express his opinion.
“You’re drunk,” Yan Shenyu said forcefully, taking the wine glass from Liao Tian’s hand and shoving a glass of hot milk into it. “With your limited alcohol tolerance, don’t drink next time you’re out doing business. Luckily, it was our CEO Xie who we met today. If it had been someone else, they might have been ripped off and left with nothing.”
Secretary Lin: "..."
Secretary Lin lit a sea of candles in his heart for the young man.
To his surprise, Liao Tian was not angry at all. Instead, he nodded seriously and said, "You're right. You really shouldn't drink too much alcohol. It will affect my ability to pilot the spaceship. I was just happy today, so I couldn't help but drink a little more."
"Then you should drink some milk to sober up. I'll head out now." Yan Shenyu handed him the milk and then got up to leave.
He came to ask for the phone back and incidentally to save the day and do someone a favor. Now that the person in question has arrived, there's no need for him to stay.
As he stood up, Xie Siyan happened to walk inside, and they inevitably came face to face.
There wasn't enough space here, so Yan Shenyu tried to press his body close to the table to let the other person pass first. The man's presence gradually drew closer, and he could smell a slightly bitter citrus scent on him.
In the instant they brushed past each other, Xie Siyan grabbed his wrist.
Yan Shenyu looked up at him.
Xie Siyan: "Wait for me at the door."
He won't let anyone leave so easily after trespassing on his work area.
Yan Shenyu paused, his expression somewhat indescribable.
This person found his phone and didn't return it, and then used this roundabout way to lure him over. Is he trying to strike up a conversation with him?
Although somewhat speechless, Yan Shenyu nodded in the end, strolling around the park while waiting for Xie Siyan to finish work, since his phone was still being held by the authorities.
In fact, Yan Shenyu was quite surprised when she learned from Liao Tian that the owner of the phone was Xie Siyan.
He never expected that by simply bumping into someone, he would encounter the very man from the original novel whom readers jokingly referred to as "the man who can never be won over."
As for why it's impossible to romance the character, Yan Shenyu thinks it might be due to the author's rebellious mentality.
As a typical sweet and refreshing entertainment novel on JJ, the original protagonist Yan Sheng has every kind of character that readers can imagine.
He looks poor, but is actually a rich young master; he debuted with mixed public opinion, but it was later clarified that he was just framed by his agency; he didn't try to please anyone, but in the end, he became a heartthrob who made even the big shots fall at his feet.
It can be said that Yan Sheng's charm is a major highlight of this story. Whether they are friends, competitors, or enemies, they all eventually develop a certain degree of affection for her.
The author even hinted that Xie Xiaoling, the bottom of the secondary couple, also had a crush on the protagonist, but unfortunately, neither of them were bottoms, so they had to call each other sisters in the end.
But to some extent, this article's success and failure both stemmed from its popularity with many fans.
When the author wrote about one powerful figure after another bowing down to a subject, readers began to develop a rebellious attitude.
Some people say that according to JJ's 1V1 standards, no matter how popular your protagonist is, it can only be a one-sided affair between the supporting character and the bottom. So what if so many people like the bottom? They can't even kiss, how can they call themselves popular? Besides, what era are we living in? Being a perpetually popular bottom is just Mary Sue, okay?
Perhaps unable to bear the criticism any longer, in the later part of the novel, the author brought out the very high-class and low-key head of the Xie family, creating a character who was impossible to win over.
Xie Siyan in the novel is indifferent to men and women and is a workaholic who only knows how to work.
Once, a clueless minor celebrity tried to get into his bed. The person was already naked and lying on the bed, but Xie Siyan had his secretary kick them out without even leaving them a pair of pants.
Even when he met the protagonist, who was in much better shape later on, he remained unmoved, treating him like an ordinary passerby and being extremely indifferent.
While the supporting characters were all being pursued by the popular protagonist, Xie Siyan always seemed to have no worldly desires, quietly taking on one big project after another, becoming a strong competitor to the protagonist.
Perhaps even the author didn't expect that such a somewhat rebellious character would eventually become the most popular supporting character in the entire story.
Faced with such an exceptional character, readers began to spontaneously create fanfiction about Xie Siyan, resulting in a chaotic mix of various pairings. Yan Shenyu unexpectedly read two of them, and the sex scenes were incredibly erotic, even surpassing the works of Haitang.
Thinking about this, Yan Shenyu gradually calmed down. He felt that Xie Siyan might not be answering his calls for other reasons.
After all, this is a ruthless character known as "having no emotional needs" and "never being able to win over." This isn't a TV drama; it's impossible that she's been single for so many years and then happened to fall for him after he was jilted at his wedding.
Yan Shenyu breathed a sigh of relief and leisurely strolled around the garden.
The fishing platform is very large, with a grand and solemn overall style, typical of northern gardens. Because tourists are not allowed to visit, and guests need passes to enter and exit, the garden becomes quiet after nightfall, with only streetlights illuminating the lawn and willows along the river swaying gently in the wind, occasionally landing on the ancient archway.
As Yan Shenyu approached the west gate, he suddenly heard a commotion. It seemed that two people without passes were trying to enter but were stopped by the gatekeeper.
They couldn't get in, but they weren't willing to leave either. Two burly men, each over 1.8 meters tall, stood cowering at the entrance. When a car came in, they would quickly move aside, like frightened wild animals.
Looking at the two people who clearly had an exotic air about them, Yan Shenyu asked curiously, "What's going on with them?"
Thinking that he had disturbed the hotel guests, the security guard quickly explained, "He said he was looking for Mr. Xie, but he was just trying to scam us. Don't worry, we won't let him in to disturb us."
Looking for Xie Siyan?
Yan Shenyu glanced outside again. After letting one car after another pass, the two of them were smarter this time and stood directly on the flower bed next to them.