Why do people want to save face? This is a very good proposition. Just like in World of Warcraft, you cannot buy corresponding faction equipment without corresponding reputation. Brushing reputation can also bring such help to people.
The "equipment" brought by face and reputation in reality is an opportunity to promote yourself or gain investment in front of influential people, a negotiation that may affect the distribution of interests, a position that can convince the public, and a diploma from a prestigious university that others need luck and hard work to get, but once you become famous enough, they will be eager to pull you into the group and gild it.
Some people can arrange a job or mediate an issue with just a few words, while all others get is just "face".
So face is wealth, and there are status, dignity, and power that are no less than wealth. The importance is self-evident. Face is based on strength first. When others give you face, it is mostly respect and awe for the strong. The Yang Xia family put Li Lihua as the first guest at this meal because of their Luo family's face, and it was also because of Cheng Ran that Cheng Feiyang's family was driven away, which was also for the Luo family's face.
But they never expected that Cheng Feiyang was a very important person. He was present to toast someone individually, which was a great honor. But someone pushed him out.
Of course, Yang Xia's family is basically a cultural system, which is actually two levels apart from these. Just like they have heard of Fulong Company, but they may not know the specific extent of this company. They are not in the industry and have no concept. Fulong has not yet reached the point where people all over the country know about it. To be honest, Fulong Company is powerful in the industry. Their R&D capabilities and sales capabilities have made the industry shudder with fear. At least the southwest has been defeated. The well-known international multinational company Beituo has quickly shrunk its defenses and retreated to its base camp, vowing to hold on to the next Chinese market, which is no less than encountering a barbarian invasion.
But outside the industry, people only know Fulong’s strength as a name. Not everyone knows what the company sells, what its main business is, how much money it can make a year, how many people it provides jobs for, and how much attention the government pays to it.
Even if Cheng Feiyang mentioned his name at the dinner table, it might not attract the attention of Yang Xia's family.
Anyone who was not deaf or blind would know that the movement next door was unusual. Wang Shicheng from Jin Hong left Cheng Feiyang's private room. Yang Fengquan found an opportunity to go to the other party's private room to toast. From the other party's words of praise, he learned about the identity of Cheng Feiyang, who was in the private room that was like a World War II command center and was full of important figures. When this news exploded at the table in Yang Xia's house, it was already very uncomfortable.
They may not be in the same system and have little idea about Fulong Company, but Li Lihua is different. She may not know every famous entrepreneur in the province, but those who have risen to prominence recently, have big industries and can make a lot of money. Being in the middle of it, even if she hears others talk about it, her ears are calloused. She said, "So that's the boss of Fulong. Seeing is believing. This company is very famous. Not to mention the rumors about them, they are engaged in telecommunications equipment and industry. They are large in scale and developing rapidly. He is a man of great courage. Even Liu Fuhao has to avoid him. This year, the Chengdu Municipal Government took the lead and seven business associations established an enterprise federation. Liu Fuhao of Hope Group not only handed over the chairmanship, but also publicly expressed the idea of learning from their company's experience. This boss Cheng is now based in Sichuan Province and is promoting and expanding the successful model. Lao Luo once said that studying the development of Fulong carefully is a great learning opportunity for enterprises in the province to go global."
"It's a pity that Cheng Feiyang is very low-key and doesn't accept interviews. He lets his apprentice and the company's vice president handle necessary interviews. He always uses the excuse that the revolution has not yet succeeded and comrades must be complacent. Even some of the internal management guidelines of Fulong Company that the outside world wants to study are kept secret by them. They are very secretive."
Li Lihua had a sharp eye and had long seen that Cheng Ran's family was unusual. She did not seem to lose face when she talked about her husband's evaluation of Fu Long. If she knew who Cheng Feiyang was and the ins and outs of the Fu Long company and kept silent, she would have been showing her cowardice.
She somewhat admired Xu Lan's toast just now. If it were her, she would also have such a noble spirit.
But the Yang family was extremely upset, especially Yang Xia's aunt. When she heard the noise from the next door, her face was uncertain. When Yang Xia's uncle went to the bathroom, she followed him. Then, when she got out of the door, she started to scold him, "How can you be so capable? Such a big shot came to toast you, but you didn't even move. No wonder, no wonder. You have been sitting there eating and waiting to die for so many years, and you have to take care of so many trivial matters. Do you really think you are a big shot?"
Uncle Yang Xia's face was gloomy, "I haven't had enough time yet..."
Yang Xia's aunt just spat, "I don't know what kind of person you are. You looked down on Yang Chuan because he brought someone here, and you thought his friends looked down on him too. But you didn't expect that the person Yang Chuan knew was so capable! I said your family is like this. We don't try to please people like this just because we know them, but we can't offend them either. Now, you, the second son, and our mother have really offended them. Do you think they will pay attention to us in the future? If they don't kick you when you're down, they're just being kind!"
Uncle Yang Xia stiffened his neck and said, "Kick someone when he's down, how can you kick someone when he's down?... It's not someone else's turn to kick me when I'm down!"
Aunt Yang Xia said with some sadness, "Yes, you are not even at their level!"
Aunt Yang Xia was impatient and could not hide her anger. She would vent it on her uncle. But on Yang Fengquan's side, his wife Zhang Jie's face turned pale and blue. She usually felt that her husband had some status, and she always asked herself to be a housewife who could take on responsibilities. Li Lihua was her role model, but today she knew clearly that her husband's arrogance had offended a strong man. But she couldn't criticize him publicly, so she just looked ugly and felt upset. During the meal, Zhang Jie never gave Yang Fengquan a good look, and they quarreled over trivial matters. Yang Fengquan knew it very well. He was in a bad mood and felt guilty.
Grandma Yang Xia pondered for a moment and said, "Chuanzi, call your elder and second brothers and go and toast them back. You didn't drink enough just now, so go and drink your fill and come back."
This is actually equivalent to asking Yang Chuan to take his eldest son and second son to apologize and speak good words.
Yang Chuan said, "Mom, look how busy they are, so stop bothering them!"
Grandma Yang Xia was stunned. She obviously didn't expect Yang Chuan to refuse. But thinking about the scene that Yang Chuan led Cheng Ran's family to face just now, she felt insecure. She knew that she couldn't make up for it by force. Then she accidentally saw Li Lihua's sneer. She suddenly realized that she couldn't be too rude in front of Li Lihua, so she nodded and said, "You two old colleagues seem to have a good relationship. When you go back, get in touch with Xiao Cheng more and invite him to our house for dinner if you have the chance."
Yang Chuan said, "I'm afraid I don't have the face to invite anyone else. What will they do next time? Will they be chased away halfway through their meal?"
He was angry, and couldn't stand the changing attitude of Grandma Yang Xia and her group, so he spoke directly. This immediately caused everyone present to try to smooth things over, but they were much more cautious in their tone of voice towards him. Grandma Yang Xia was so angry that she couldn't say anything, her face was as gloomy as water.
But Yang Xia was watching this scene. Logically, these were all her family members. However, seeing her grandmother, who was usually the one who had the final say, being scolded one after another, her uncle looking extremely sad, and her second uncle and second aunt speaking angrily as if they were holding on to countless gunpowder barrels and were in a state of panic, she felt a sense of guilt in her heart.
This meal was extremely difficult to eat. The noise next door was like a huge whirlpool, making the Yang Xia family restless. Later, the noise died down, and Cheng Ran's family was ready to leave.
So Yang Xia's family ended their meaningless sitting in silence. Second aunt Zhang Jie went out to pay the bill. When Cheng Ran's family passed by, Yang Xia's grandmother walked out of the door and pulled Cheng Feiyang's sleeve, saying in a very friendly and earnest manner, "Xiao Cheng, you are so great now... You are a big shot, I am so happy..."
It seemed as if Xu Lan's cold face could not be seen at all.
Cheng Feiyang accompanied Grandma Yang Xia down the stairs the whole time. On the way, he took care to support her arm as she looked unsteady on her feet, and reminded her from time to time to go down the stairs slowly as the ground was slippery due to the oil.
Grandma Yang Xia kept praising you, Cheng Feiyang, saying that you are filial, capable, and bring honor to the Cheng family. She also said that your ability to succeed is the blessing accumulated by three generations of the Cheng family, and that the Cheng family is blessed.
Cheng Feiyang supported her, and her sons, Yang Xia's eldest and second uncles, followed behind, this time with a smile on their faces. They smiled at Cheng Feiyang, and nodded politely no matter what Cheng Feiyang said, with the same understanding as the reception of the mayor when he came to inspect the unit.
But the only thing that worried the people in the Yang family was that Cheng Ran and Yang Xia had been walking together in front since they left the house, chatting about everything.
"Don't take what happened just now to heart..." Yang Xia looked at her toes, listening to her grandmother's flattery of Cheng Feiyang, and felt goose bumps all over her body. She didn't dare to look at Cheng Ran, fearing that he would look down on her.
As a result, Cheng Ran was as slow as ever, "What's the matter... Ha, nothing, I know... Just a small problem, but you, are you okay?"
Yang Xia shook her head, "I'm fine."
Cheng Ran thought for a moment and said, "Are you... going on a blind date today?"
Yang Xia suddenly took a step back and glared at him like a little leopard. If it weren't for the many elders from the two families behind her, she would probably hit Cheng Ran, "What nonsense are you talking about. That's not it!"
"Luo Zhixian, isn't this your former foster brother? Oh, by the way, I heard from Liu Ying and the others that they want you to study abroad with them... Are you really going?"
Yang Xia was torn between a natural and a bad situation, wondering how to explain it to Cheng Ran, and what should she do? She suddenly looked at Cheng Ran, "What about you... Do you want me to leave like this?"
She regretted saying this, and she thought back to the past, when everyone heard that she was rich and her brother's family let her go to their house during the holidays and took her to travel, but basically she never went back to Shanhai during the holidays. A group of girls were very excited for her and told her to go quickly. Cheng Ran was silent at the time, so she hesitated and asked him, "Should I go?" As a result, Cheng Ran scratched the back of his head for a long time, dodging his eyes and saying that it was such a good thing, why not go, free food, free fun, and you can also go to many tourist attractions.
Yang Xia said that she would go with Luo Zhixian. Cheng Ran even gestured with his hands and said that it would be even better. He is handsome, has a rich family and is very caring. This trip would be a rare enjoyment. Anyway, no one would have the time to take care of you during your vacation in Shanhai.
So Yang Xia went on a long trip that holiday, and when she came back, she brought some gifts for the people in her company, but not everyone had one. Cheng Ran saw that there was probably no gift for him, so he said, "Luckily you didn't buy mine, it must be tasteless." So when she saw Cheng Ran alone that day, Yang Xia didn't take out the small shell that washed on her bare feet by the sea, and then she picked it up and decided to give it to him as a gift.
What if Cheng Ran continues to be as thoughtless as before and says that it will be good for your development, that studying abroad is what many people dream of, and that of course you should go to a good school to study abroad, not to mention that there is a rich and handsome guy accompanying you? What if you want to
Can she really leave without looking back
Cheng Ran looked at Yang Xia and said.
"I want you to... do what you want to do."
Cheng Ran, who said this, was standing in the lobby of the hot pot restaurant. His glowing appearance was too familiar. Yang Xia's nose was inexplicably sour. How could she forget the shock she felt when she saw the yearbook picture of Comet Bopp-Hale drawn by Cheng Ran, how could she forget the unreal trance she felt when she learned that Cheng Ran had entered No. 1 Middle School with high scores, how could she forget the moments when this young man had shone brightly along the way, how could she forget the moments when she saw him changing his destiny step by step.
Those things inspired her to a certain extent, allowing her to keep moving forward based on these standards.
For example, she was admitted to No. 10 Middle School, and she began to work hard for a more wonderful life.
She might one day be able to tell him, I've seen how stunning you are, so I won't fall behind either.
She nodded.
Grandma Yang Xia had already noticed something was wrong. She had to stabilize Cheng Feiyang and couldn't let Li Lihua fall behind, so she said, "Yang Xia, go see your brother Luo and Aunt Li off."
But Yang Xia then made a move that made them all furious. She bowed slightly and solemnly to Li Lihua and Luo Zhixian.
"Aunt Li, I have decided that I will take the entrance exam to the school I want to go to, so I appreciate your kindness."
Li Lihua was stunned for a moment, and Luo Zhixian's eyes were full of sadness.
Grandma Yang Xia ignored Cheng Feiyang and said to Yang Chuan, "What nonsense did your daughter say? Pull her back quickly!"
Yang Chuan did not move, and said, "Mom, I told you to respect her. My daughter has the ability."
He said that she had the ability to get into any university she wanted to go to, and he believed in his daughter. But Yang Xia's grandmother and the family here were dumbfounded. Who wants you to have any ability? Don't you know what position you should be in
Yang Xia's grandmother ignored her rebellious son and walked straight to Yang Xia, "Are you trying to piss me off to death? Today you said something nonsense, so get back home with your dad!"
However, Yang Xia did not leave. Instead, she stared at her grandmother without giving in, and even shifted her gaze to her eldest uncle and second uncle's family. Her two brothers looked at her in amazement, and then actually gave her a thumbs up in private.
"I said what I thought carefully. I want to go to the school I want to go to, I want to live the life I want to live, and all of this has nothing to do with you..."
Everyone looked at her in amazement. It was hard to imagine that such energy was contained in her thin body. She was so mature, calm, and beautiful.
Luo Zhixian felt that the brilliance was so dazzling that it hurt his eyes, but Li Lihua was not annoyed at being rejected. Instead, she felt more appreciative. This was exactly the daughter-in-law he had set his eyes on.
Grandma Yang Xia's face was pale, and it was obvious that she had suffered a great blow.
Yang Xia's eyes were calm and peaceful, and her calm words revealed the great power she had accumulated over time.
"If you still want to force me to do something in the name of family and for my own good, and force me to accept a life I don't want to accept, then what's the point of such a selfish family being together? It's better not to have any contact with each other anymore."
The so-called growth is like wanting to be like the dazzling you.
The unique flight.
(Is this another long chapter… I suddenly feel so ethereal!)