"Boss Lin, Miss Su is surrounded by reporters downstairs!" Chen Mo's voice was panting, and there were repeated questions on the phone. Lin Aotian held the merger agreement he had just signed, and the tip of his pen left a dot of ink on the signature of "Donghai Lin's". He looked at Lujiazui in the heavy rain outside the French window, and suddenly remembered Su Qing's tone of hesitation on the phone last night - it was very similar to when she lied in college and said "there was a club activity today", but in fact she was secretly working to raise his tuition.
As the elevator went down, the buzzing of the metal car made his temples throb. The moment the revolving door was opened, the rain and the flash came over her head. Su Qing was squeezed in the corner of the steps, and the broken jade bracelet on her wrist was dazzling. "Miss Su, it is said on the Internet that you are Lin Aotian's mistress. What do you think about this?" The harsh question made her face pale, and Lin Aotian almost rushed over to grab the collar of the reporter holding the microphone.
"Fuck you!" Lin Aotian was stunned when the swear words came out. Chen Mo rushed over to separate the crowd, but he saw the shock in Su Qing's eyes - Lin Aotian, who used to speak politely, was like an angry beast at this moment. The rain was getting heavier, he pulled off his suit jacket to cover her, and heard his hoarse voice: "Don't be afraid, I'm here." This sentence was particularly clear in the rain, but it reminded him of the engagement party three years ago, when he also made such a solemn promise, but in the end he could only watch her leave.
Back in the office, Su Qing stared at his dripping shirt in a daze: "Aotian, in fact, those news... are not all false." She took out her mobile phone, and the screen showed a hot post on a forum, with pictures and texts digging out the "romantic news" of her sudden divorce three years ago and her return to his side now. The most eye-catching comment read: "The gold-digger wanted to climb up the social ladder, but found out that the poor boy was a hidden rich man, and shamelessly gave him back." These words pierced her heart like a needle, reminding her of Zhou Mingxuan's similar words when she was surrounded by reporters in London. She was also powerless to refute them at that time.
Lin Aotian grabbed the whiskey on the table and took a gulp. The spicy liquor choked him and made him cough. He suddenly remembered the old man's phone call this morning: "Someone in the clan will question that you acted impulsively for a woman, and even postponed the acquisition in London!" The ice in the ice bucket broke in silence, making a crisp sound, which was very similar to his chaotic thoughts at the moment. "Let's separate." Su Qing's voice was very light, but it was like a blunt knife cutting his heart. She took off the broken bracelet and placed it on the coffee table. The jade fragments made a crackling sound. "You are now the patriarch of the Donghai Lin family and the helmsman of the Huading Group. You should not be dragged down by me." Lin Aotian wanted to refute, but found that his throat was stuck as if by his mother's jade bracelet, and he could not make any sound.
The phone was vibrating wildly at this time. Chen Mo sent a message: the old shareholders of Zhou Group collectively demanded the replacement of the management, on the grounds that "Lin Aotian appointed people based on personal connections." He kicked over the leather swivel chair in front of him, and the expensive Italian handmade leather shoes rubbed ugly stains on the carpet. It turned out that after Zhou Jianbang was hospitalized, the elders who were suppressed by him finally got the opportunity to counterattack, like a group of sharks smelling blood.
The rainstorm turned into a thunderstorm at some point, and lightning illuminated the "Dragon Rule the World" plaque on the wall. Lin Aotian took out the jade card left by his mother, and it was cold to the touch. He suddenly remembered what Su Qing said last night: "Every time you make a decision, you only have interests and calculations in your eyes. I almost don't recognize you anymore." He sneered at that time, but now he had to admit that it had been a long time since he rushed out with anger like this morning. Those sophisticated business plans and those decisions that weighed the pros and cons made him farther and farther away from the boy who fought for her in the alley.
At three o'clock in the morning, Lin Aotian sat in an empty conference room. The projector was showing the equity structure of Zhou Group, but he couldn't see it. The phone screen lit up, and it was the last message sent by Su Qing: "I went back to London to find Mingxuan. He... is not that bad." The picture was a photo of Zhou Mingxuan in the detention center. The young man had a swollen nose and face but smiled brightly, and wore a cheap Buddhist bead on his wrist - exactly the same as they prayed for in the temple when they were in college. At that time, they always thought that the future would be as clear as the lines on the Buddhist beads, but they didn't expect to come to this point today.
He grabbed the mug and smashed it against the wall.
The sound of the ceramic breaking woke up the security guard on duty. Standing in the mess, Lin Aotian suddenly realized how ridiculous he was - he thought that he could control everything by controlling the capital, but he couldn't even keep a woman's heart. Thunder exploded above his head, and he remembered that when he was sixteen years old, he was punished to kneel in the old house. It was also such a rainy night. His mother secretly gave him a piece of osmanthus cake and whispered: "People can't just look at the moon in the sky, but also remember the road under their feet." At this moment, the road under his feet had long been forgotten by himself in a suit and tie, leaving only the cold marble floor.
When the morning light pierced through the clouds, Lin Aotian appeared at the Zhou Group's shareholders' meeting. He didn't wear a custom suit, but a wrinkled sweatshirt, and his hair was messy like a bird's nest. Amid the whispers of shareholders below the stage, he walked straight to the podium: "I admit that I promoted Zhou Jianbang because of old friendship; I postponed the acquisition because I wanted to spend more time with Su Qing." The venue was instantly silent, and he took out the crumpled jade bracelet fragments from his pocket, "But this is my Lin Aotian, not the machine that only calculates profits in your eyes!" Before he finished speaking, a hunched figure suddenly stood up in the back row - it was Zhou Jianbang lying on the hospital bed. The old man was leaning on a cane, and his voice was hoarse but firm: "As the largest individual shareholder of Zhou Group, I support Lin Aotian!"
Walking out of the conference room, the sunlight was so bright that people couldn't open their eyes. Chen Mo handed over a tablet, on which was the latest hot search: # Lin Aotian True Nature #. The financial section was frantically reporting: Donghai Lin announced the launch of the "Dragon Scale Plan" and will spend 10 billion to support small and medium-sized enterprises. Lin Aotian pulled the hood of his sweatshirt and suddenly felt that he seemed to be more comfortable in this mess than in a suit. The phone vibrated. It was Su Qing's message: "I saw the news at the airport, idiot." The picture showed her holding a cup of coffee. The electronic screen behind her was playing his speech at the shareholders' meeting. There was still milk foam on the corners of her mouth. She looked like the girl who always overslept in the library in college.
The whistle of the Huangpu River came from afar. Lin Aotian looked at the long water marks left by the cargo ship on the river. He finally understood that even if a dragon soars to the sky, it should remember where it came from. Those calculations and trade-offs will never be as good as an umbrella handed to you on a rainy night, and someone who is willing to go crazy with you and make mistakes with you. His fingertips rubbed the broken bracelet in his pocket, and he suddenly chuckled - it turns out that true strength is not always right, but the courage to admit your own embarrassment.