Jiang Yubai agreed: "You can only gain if you give up something."
Lin Zhixia high-fived him.
Lin Zeqiu leaned back in his chair. Jiang Yubai handed him a plate of steamed dumplings. He absentmindedly accepted Jiang Yubai's kindness. He ate two steamed dumplings before he realized what was happening and said, "Thank you..."
Jiang Yubai responded naturally: "You're welcome, brother-in-law."
Lin Zeqiu took out a napkin and wiped his mouth. He did not speak since then, and looked very taciturn. He saw the scenery outside the window changing rapidly, the rows of buildings gradually disappeared, and under the bright morning sun, the curved ceiling of the terminal was magnificent.
There happened to be a plane passing in the sky, its flight path extending to the end of the horizon, hidden in the snow-white clouds. Lin Zeqiu was fascinated by it, and Lin Zhixia patted his shoulder: "Let's go, get off."
That afternoon, Lin Zhixia and her group arrived in Hong Kong and stayed in a hotel run by Jiang Yubai's family.
The hotel lobby is decorated with four crystal tassel chandeliers, the granite floor is spotless, and the long round columns are inlaid with gold foil, showing luxury from the inside out.
Lin Zeqiu looked around and raised his hand to grab Lin Zhixia's sleeve: "Business suites are not cheap. How much will it cost for all of us to stay here for two weeks?"
Lin Zhixia lowered her voice and said, "Travel expenses can be reimbursed, and Jiang Yubai also has an internal discount... Don't be stingy with the money. This time we came to Hong Kong, in addition to contacting academic institutions, we also want to investigate the Hong Kong stock market. Our company may be listed in Hong Kong in the future, just like NetEase, Xiaomi, and Alibaba Group."
She patted his arm generously: "By then, Lin Zeqiu, you will be a senior executive of a listed company! How about it, are you confident?"
He snorted but didn't answer.
Lin Zhixia continued to support him: "Don't you care about your identity as a 'listed company executive'? As expected of you, Lin Zeqiu, you treat money like dirt."
Lin Zeqiu tightly grasped the room card of the "Business Suite". He refused to let the receptionist help him with his luggage and insisted on carrying it himself. He followed Jiang Yubai into the elevator. Duan Qiyan was still chattering beside him: "Your schedule starts tomorrow. Are you free this afternoon? Are you going to Cheung Chau Island in Hong Kong?"
Duan Qiyan was wearing an Adidas sportswear and a black baseball cap. His dress, speech and behavior were all like a male college student in his early twenties.
Tang Tingting looked at him for a moment and said with a smile, "Okay, the seafood in Cheung Chau is delicious, let's go to Cheung Chau."
Lin Zhixia learned from Jiang Yubai that Tang Tingting and Duan Qiyan's relationship was not stable - they not only quarreled, but also had periodic cold wars. In order to create an opportunity for them to be alone, Lin Zhixia made up an excuse: "You go, I won't go."
She pulled Jiang Yubai's sleeve: "Jiang Yubai and I still have some work issues to discuss."
Jiang Yubai and she were in sync. He continued, "The company is planning to go public on the Hong Kong stock market next year."
Tang Tingting nodded repeatedly: "Okay, then you guys get busy."
She turned around and asked Luo Ying again: "Senior, do you have any plans tonight? How about going to Changzhou Island with us?"
The gold-painted elevator wall showed off Luo Ying's tall figure. Her clothes were very tasteful. Her long curly hair was draped behind her, and her soft black hair was shining. She wore a diamond earring on her left ear, and the bright light from the earring caught Tang Tingting's eyes.
Luo Ying still had a scent of lily and rose perfume on her body. Tang Tingting couldn't help but take a deep breath, and Luo Ying answered her: "I'm not going, thank you, I want to study in my room. I haven't finished reading the paper in the Annals of Mathematics yet."
"Where have you read so far, senior sister?" Lin Zhixia asked curiously.
Luo Ying looked back at her and smiled. That smile was sincere and graceful. Tang Tingting was stunned, but Lin Zhixia remained calm: "The review cycle of the Annals of Mathematics is very long. One of my classmates has submitted his paper for more than two years and has not received a reply from the editor."
Luo Ying asked her: "Have you ever voted?"
Lin Zhixia shook her head.
Luo Ying said to herself, "I have voted before."
Before he finished speaking, the elevator made a "ding" sound and the elevator door slowly opened.
Duan Qiyan seemed to have endless energy. He picked up his suitcase happily and rushed into the corridor, saying as he ran: "Tang Tingting, I found our room!"
Tang Tingting chased after him: "Keep your voice down."
Duan Qiyan said, "I can't bother anyone. Jiang Yu has reserved this floor for nothing."
Tang Tingting looked at Jiang Yubai in shock: "You are really rich."
Jiang Yubai avoided the topic. He confirmed tomorrow's schedule with his secretary, and asked about everyone's work progress. Duan Qiyan would occasionally interject a few words, and finally, they said goodbye at the door of their respective rooms.
Duan Qiyan and Tang Tingting lived in Room 1401. Tang Tingting took out the room card and teased, "Hey, do you remember our study tour in high school? At that time, I was in the same room with Lin Zhixia, and you were in the same room with Shen Fuxuan..."
Duan Qiyan took the opportunity to ask, "Do you want to live with me or with Lin Zhixia?"
During the winter training camp in the first year of junior high school, Lin Zhixia saved Duan Qiyan's reputation. Over the years, Duan Qiyan has always been grateful to Lin Zhixia. However, recently, Duan Qiyan suddenly regarded Lin Zhixia as an imaginary enemy.
Tang Tingting pulled Duan Qiyan into the room and advised him earnestly: "Why do you always compare yourself with Lin Zhixia? You are in your twenties, don't always compare yourself with others. You finally got a public holiday to come to Hong Kong with me. You have to learn to calm down and stop arguing with me. I have wanted to talk to you for a long time. For a man, the most important thing is family. These heartfelt words will not be told to you by outsiders. Only I, as your girlfriend, will tell you the truth."
Duan Qiyan was fooled by her.
He hesitated a little: "A man can't live off others, and he can't be a slacker. Career is the most important thing."
Tang Tingting asked him to sit on the bed. Then, she crossed her legs, put her arm around his shoulders, and guided him like an old cadre: "Xiao Duan, don't be too extreme in your thinking. When did I ask you to be a slacker? I want you to be more family-oriented... I bring you out to meet friends, so please give me some face and stop comparing yourself with Lin Zhixia all the time. Lin Zhixia is my immediate superior. It's so hard for me to be so fussy about you. Please put yourself in her shoes."
Duan Qiyan vaguely agreed with Tang Tingting's statement.
Tang Tingting continued, "Look, our company will be listed in two years. I am the team leader of the hardware department. You are the team leader of the core department of a listed company, and you are also a teacher of the competition class of the Provincial No. 1 Middle School. Shouldn't you be more open-minded?"
Duan Qiyan smiled coldly: "From what you said, does it mean that my mind is not broad enough now?"
Tang Tingting uttered a two-tone "Hey" and asked again: "Husband, why did you get into a dead end again?"
Duan Qiyan took off his hat and Tang Tingting stroked his hair. He took off his sports jacket and Tang Tingting rubbed his arms again. When he was in middle school, he often went to the playground to play. Even in the hottest days of summer, he dared to play football in the sun. He was exposed to the sun all year round, which made his skin color darker. Tang Tingting liked that color very much.
She put her hands around his upper arms, pressing and kneading them, and his shoulders suddenly tensed up. They remained still for a few seconds before he stammered, "Not now... I want to wait until after we get married."
Tang Tingting burst into a hearty laugh like a pig: "Hahahahahahahahaha Duan Qiyan, what's wrong with you? You're so shy! I never instilled any ideas in you about this."
Duan Qiyan fell into deep thought.
She continued to recount with relish: "I remember now, you were like this in junior high school. Didn't someone in class spread rumors about us? Haha, we played a couple in the stage play "Changes", and other classmates said that you and I were a couple in the crew and would definitely be in love in the future. After hearing what your classmates said, you were so angry that your face turned red."
She lay in bed: "Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, it was already more than ten years ago."
"We have all grown up." Duan Qiyan said with emotion.
He lay down next to her, and she murmured, "Yeah, everyone has grown up."
No one went to Cheung Chau Island that afternoon.
All members of the team stayed in the hotel room. Lin Zhixia changed into a nightgown and sat beside the coffee table. She ceremoniously picked up a bowl of purple sweet potato and milk sago that the hotel had sent. She took a sip and praised it repeatedly: "It's delicious."
Jiang Yubai came closer to her: "How delicious is it?"
Lin Zhixia was about to hand him the spoon, but he had already lowered his head and kissed the corner of her lips, saying, "So sweet."
The distance between them was only a few centimeters. Lin Zhixia lowered her eyes and saw his rolling Adam's apple, his half-covered collarbone, and the smooth skin faintly visible under his collar. Lin Zhixia quickened her breathing and smelled the light fragrance on his body. She suddenly felt dry in the mouth and raised her head to drink the bowl of sago.
Jiang Yubai reminded her: "Be careful not to choke."
She put down the porcelain bowl in her hand and threw herself into his arms.
"Hold me." She said coquettishly.
Lin Zhixia is an expert at acting like a spoiled child.
Jiang Yubai put his arm around her back, and she confessed to him, "Last Friday night, I was meditating at home and sorting out my past memories. I finally figured it out. From that time on, I liked you very much..."
Jiang Yubai was fully prepared to welcome Lin Zhixia's sweet words. But before she could finish her next sentence, her cell phone rang at an inopportune time. The screen of the cell phone showed the landline number of a department of a local university in Hong Kong. Lin Zhixia did not dare to neglect it and immediately pressed the answer button.
Her voice became calm and dignified at this moment.
The caller was a highly respected university professor. His Mandarin was not standard and his pronunciation was a little halting. Lin Zhixia simply spoke Cantonese to him, and the communication between the two sides was indeed smoother - the only drawback was that Jiang Yubai could not understand what Lin Zhixia was saying.
After Lin Zhixia hung up the phone, she served as Jiang Yubai's Cantonese translator. She relayed the entire conversation and made careful arrangements: "Tomorrow I will take my colleagues to a lecture and then talk to their leaders. You go to your finance office for a meeting, and in the evening we will meet at the entrance of the university campus."
Jiang Yubai joked: "Divide the troops into two groups."
"Yeah," Lin Zhixia nodded, "After we finish our work during the day, we can go shopping together in the evening."
The next morning, Lin Zhixia and her colleagues went to a famous university in Hong Kong. They held a lecture in a grand auditorium, exchanging ideas with teachers and students on the academic background and business model of quantum technology companies. The lecture was very successful. At the end, the whole audience applauded and the atmosphere was extremely high.
Lin Zhixia struck while the iron was hot and negotiated a cooperation agreement with the school's management on a "four-school joint research group." The school also actively responded to her plan and was willing to cooperate in all academic work, but the specific details of the contract still needed to be repeatedly scrutinized.
Lin Zhixia was quite satisfied to get such an answer on the first day of her business trip. She left the campus with her colleagues and walked happily on the street outside the campus. It was nearly six o'clock in the evening, the sun was setting, the restaurant signs on the street were full of Hong Kong style, and the aroma of food was floating in the vast sky and earth.
Lin Zeqiu was in a very good mood. He raised his phone and took a photo in the distance.
At this time, they passed through an old-fashioned neighborhood. A group of tourists in front of them complained quietly: "Get lost! Can this cockroach fly?"
Lin Zeqiu's breathing stopped.
A black dot appeared faintly on his phone screen. His subconscious mind made him take a step back, but the black dot was getting closer and closer to him, accompanied by a buzzing sound of wings spreading and flying.