The western restaurant is on the second floor. It has a bright Mediterranean style and outside the circular windows is a green golf course.
Duan Hao came with his wife. The couple are both partners and partners. They founded Baiyi together when they were young and are inseparable both in business and in private.
Xiang Mingzhang and Chu Shichen appeared together after a "quarrel". As soon as the elevator door opened, thousands of emotions were pressed deep into their lungs, leaving only grace and calmness on the surface.
Xiang Mingzhang and Duan Hao have known each other for many years and are of similar age, so he greeted him by his first name.
Chu Shichen introduced himself and sat down next to Xiang Mingzhang. The tablecloth was snow-white, and scented candles were burning between the sets of cups and plates. A refreshing minty aroma could be smelled.
This kind of dinner among acquaintances is not easy. There is small talk interspersed throughout, and once distracted, it is easy to lose focus on the main business. Chu Shichen listened quietly to every word spoken at the table.
After the greetings, the appetizers were served, and Duan Hao said, "The manager highly recommends today's caviar. Let's try it."
Xiang Mingzhang asked, "Haven't you had enough in Europe?"
Baiyi mainly operates in the tourism industry and has built hundreds of resorts in China. In the past two years, the focus of development has shifted to overseas. Duan Hao and his wife just returned from a study tour in Northern Europe not long ago.
Duan Hao joked, "Let's compare them. But after wandering abroad for so long, I miss home a lot. The autumn leaves in Manzhuang will turn red soon."
Xiang Mingzhang said: "So you were thinking about my home."
Mrs. Duan exposed the truth, saying, "He has been coveting Manzhuang for a long time."
Duan Hao was yearning for it: "Such a good piece of land, connected to the surrounding mountains and waters to build a whole resort network, there will be great development. Now it is just a lonely manor, which is a pity."
Xiang Mingzhang said: "What's the pity? I don't need it to make money."
"Okay, okay, you talk about taste, and I'm vulgar." Duan Hao smiled helplessly.
Mrs. Duan said, "Don't worry about it. Manzhuang is Mingzhang's gift to Aunt Yongti as a token of filial piety. It's better to have a quiet place."
Duan Hao retorted: "Manzhuang is divided into the South District and the North District. Originally, there were two plots of land. He gave the North District to my aunt, and the South District was almost vacant, which was reserved for him."
Chu Shichen had been to Manzhuang once. It was late at night and his impression was vague. He only remembered the quiet courtyard. As for the southern area, he had never seen it. According to Duan Hao's description, it was more vast and profound, and the buildings were more complete.
Duan Hao asked: "Will you retire to the mountains someday?"
Xiang Mingzhang said jokingly: "I plan to use it to hide a beautiful woman in a golden house."
The conversation at the table had been about recreation and leisure. The main course was served, a slightly charred lamb chop. Chu Shichen had been eating salt-free and oil-free vegetarian meals for two days due to his illness, and he felt it was too greasy, so he used a knife and fork to pretend to eat.
Xiang Mingzhang asked: "How is it, will you be busy after returning to China?"
Mrs. Duan said, "Fortunately, there is more work to do. We just had a meeting in the city last week and we are going to vigorously promote the multi-regional integration of the tourism industry."
Xiang Mingzhang asked: "What's the focus?"
Duan Hao replied: "'Wenlv', cultural tourism."
Chu Shichen understood that they were talking about the main topic, which was indeed related to the tourism industry. He was a little surprised because Xiang Yue's main fields were in the banking and financial industries, and the scale of his projects was relatively "large".
Take the most common customer resource management system as an example. The demand difficulty, price budget and revenue effect of most travel companies are in the middle band of the market, which is an "olive-shaped" shape with a big belly and small ends.
Xiang Yue’s targets are mostly concentrated on the top, which is obviously not so suitable for the tourism industry.
Chu Shichen listened carefully. The rise and fall of a business is affected by many aspects. No matter in turbulent times or peaceful times, the only word that can determine whether the prospects of an industry are bright or bleak in the short term is "policy".
He knew that Xiang Mingzhang held the same view, so he kept his distance or took a piece of the pie. Only by making plans early could he gain the upper hand.
After talking about the meeting for a long time, Duan Hao cut off a large piece of lamb chop and put it in his mouth. He glanced at Chu Shichen's plate and said, "Why isn't Secretary Chu eating? Is the food not to your liking?"
Chu Shichen scratched it with the tip of the knife and said, "I just listened to Mr. Duan's speech and benefited a lot."
After dinner, the four of them went down the spiral staircase on the restaurant terrace and walked and chatted on the lawn. Xiang Mingzhang often came here for rock climbing and fighting, but rarely played golf.
A patrol car drove over not far away, and a man and a woman got out. Chu Shichen recognized them as cousins from Xiang Mingzhang's uncle's family.
Xiang Rugang saw them, walked over with his fiancée, and said, "What a coincidence."
Xiang Mingzhang replied: "So free."
"I'm not as busy as you." Xiang Rugang nodded to Duan Hao and Mrs. Duan, and he knew them. "This is my fiancée, her last name is Qin."
Mrs. Duan saw that Miss Qin was obviously pregnant and must be five months pregnant. She said, "Be careful when playing. The grass is very slippery sometimes."
Miss Qin said gently: "Let's take a look at the venue. We plan to hold an outdoor wedding, but it seems a bit monotonous here."
Xiang Mingzhang was not interested in other people's marriage or divorce. He glanced at his watch, but couldn't remember what time the afternoon meeting was. He turned around to ask, but found that Chu Shichen didn't care about other people's family affairs at all. He was concentrating on looking at the patrol car.
Xiang Mingzhang lowered his voice and said, "You haven't even mastered the balancing car yet, and you're getting tired of it so quickly."
Chu Shichen heard this and felt a little embarrassed to be exposed, so he said, "Who said that if you like one, you can't like the other?"
Xiang Mingzhang characterized him as "fickle."
Chu Shichen saw Xiang Mingzhang change cars at least three times, and said unconvincedly: "Then who are you, changing sides?"
Xiang Mingzhang asked: "Which Chu?"
Chu Shichen was slightly startled, and changed his words: "Only the governor can set fire, and the people are not allowed to light lamps."
"Don't confuse right and wrong," Xiang Mingzhang said, "I set a fire once, and you lit lanterns all over the sky."
Chu Shichen frowned, and finally said in a smug tone: "I was talking about the car, what are you talking about?"
Xiang Mingzhang also paused, but refused to answer what he had changed the subject to. However, Chu Shichen was not easy to fool. He had avoided the question for most of the day and now stared at him questioningly with his eyes.
Just as they were at a stalemate, Xiang Rugang suddenly said, "Mingzhang, be my best man on the wedding day."
Everyone looked at him, Chu Shichen turned away and gave up. Xiang Mingzhang refused and said, "I'm busy, you should look for Ruxu."
"No matter how busy you are, will you not attend my wedding?" Xiang Rugang said, "The important thing is, I want to introduce the bridesmaid to you."
Xiang Mingzhang smiled nonchalantly: "Why are you so unsophisticated?"
Miss Qin said: "Just treat it as making friends. The bridesmaid is my best friend who I have known since childhood. She is capable and beautiful, and her carefree personality is especially cute."
Xiang Mingzhang's eyes wandered, Chu Shichen was not on the topic and seemed not to be listening. He said, "I'm afraid we are not destined to be together. I don't like cheerful people."
Miss Qin was a little embarrassed.
Xiang Rugang supported his fiancée and said with a smile: "You have always kept it a secret, and no one in the family knows what you like. To be more exaggerated, I'm not even sure whether you like men or women."
Xiang Mingzhang restrained his gaze and said, "Maybe I am more interested in men."
Chu Shichen's heart tightened. He didn't want to pry into such immoral private feelings, and he was even more afraid that Xiang Mingzhang would speak without restraint.
He put his hand on Xiang Mingzhang's forearm as naturally as possible and interrupted, "Mr. Xiang, you guys chat slowly, I'm going to the bathroom."
Xiang Mingzhang felt his arm being pinched and said calmly, "Go ahead."
Chu Shichen made an excuse to leave, and the chattering behind him gradually faded away.
There is a cafe and game room on the first floor of the club, which only accepts members. Chu Shichen strolled in the lobby. There was a handmade chocolate shop in the corner, and he stopped in front of the window.
The dazzling array of chocolates were neatly arranged in grids, but Chu Shichen's thoughts were distracted—
Did Xiang Mingzhang talk nonsense
Was there any surveillance footage that night
I don’t like cheerful people. Is that true or just a joke
Seeing Chu Shichen standing for a long time, the waiter came over to serve him: "Sir, do you want chocolate?"
Chu Shichen suddenly came back to his senses, and was too embarrassed to refuse, so he asked, "Which flavor do you recommend?"
The waiter introduced: "These flavors are very popular. You can try them. Or if you like any flavor, we can customize it for you. Just leave a membership account."
Chu Shichen reacted: "I'm not a member."
The waiter said, "It's okay, call me if you need anything."
Chu Shichen didn't want to stay here and spoil the mood any longer, so he was about to turn around when another figure was reflected on the glass window. Xiang Mingzhang had seen off Duan Hao and Mrs. Duan, and sent away his cousin and his wife, and came in to look for him for a long time.
The two of them stood in front of the window, neither of them speaking as if they were competing with each other.
The waiter looked over several times: "..."
Chu Shichen, who was always the thin-skinned one who gave in first, picked one out of many suspicions and asked in a roundabout way, "Have you agreed to be the best man?"
Xiang Mingzhang asked back: "Do you want me to agree?"
Chu Shichen said: "Whether you agree or not has nothing to do with me."
Xiang Mingzhang: "Then what are you asking?"
Chu Shichen: "I want to help you write down your schedule. This is my job."
"You don't need to remember. I will attend the wedding whether I am the best man or not." Xiang Mingzhang took a small card from the card box on the window. "Just like whether the bridesmaid is lively or not, I have no interest in knowing her."
Chu Shichen opened his mouth. The unprovoked "relief" was really hard to describe. He could only stiffly perform his duties: "The afternoon meeting is about to start. I'll go find the driver to drive the car to the door."
After returning to the park, Xiang Mingzhang went directly to the R&D center for a meeting.
Chu Shichen stayed in the secretary's office for the whole afternoon. It started to drizzle in the evening, and the cold wind blew in, irritating his throat, making it dry and itchy.
It was past the end of working hours when Xiang Mingzhang came back in the rain. There was no one in the office and intermittent coughing sounds could be heard from the secretary's office.
Xiang Mingzhang ignored him, went into the office to get his bag, and when he came out he seemed to be coughing even more violently.
He paused, pushed open the door, and asked, "Why aren't you off work yet?"
Chu Shichen calmed down and replied, "I'm working on a plan."
Xiang Mingzhang asked, "If you can't finish it in one night, are you going to stay up all night at the company?"
The plan involves some detailed technical issues that Chu Shichen is unsure about. He can usually ask Ling Qi for advice, but the "refund" proposal has not been made public yet and the information cannot be leaked.
He clenched his fist to block his cough and said, "It's not going well. It's a bit stuck."
Xiang Mingzhang said, "Send me as many as you make. I'll give you feedback tomorrow after I've reviewed it. I'm leaving get off work now."
Chu Shichen packed his things. The suit probably had several pieces and was very heavy. He carried it in his hands and left with Xiang Mingzhang.
After entering the elevator, Chu Shichen glanced at the camera in the upper right corner.
Xiang Mingzhang pretended not to know. How could he be so stupid as to let the surveillance camera record it? Even if it did, it would be embarrassing for him. Chu Shichen buried his head in his shoulder and could not see clearly.
There was a light layer of rain on the ground. When Xiang Mingzhang came out of the office building, he did not drive. His driver left work early to accompany his wife on her birthday.
The Chu family's driver came to pick up Chu Shichen and asked enthusiastically, "How do I get there, Mr. Xiang?"
Xiang Mingzhang pretended to be miserable: "I don't know."
Chu Shichen remembered the rainy day when he went to the hospital. He got into the car and said something to the driver.
"Mr. Xiang," the driver said to Xiang Mingzhang, "It will take a long time to get a taxi. Let me give you a ride."
Xiang Mingzhang was not polite and sat on the other side of the carriage, with the suit box between him and Chu Shichen. They didn't say a word along the way, each leaning against the window to listen to the rain.
Halfway through, Chu Shichen's stomach growled.
The driver smiled and asked, "Are you hungry?"
Chu Shichen barely ate lunch and said, "A little."
The driver accelerated in the second half of the journey and first took Xiang Mingzhang to the Bomanjia Apartment.
Xiang Mingzhang opened his umbrella and got out of the car without even saying "goodbye". As soon as the door closed, the car suddenly became quiet. Chu Shichen leaned against the back of the passenger seat the whole time.
Just as the car was about to start, Xiang Mingzhang walked around to the other side of the car door and knocked on the window.
Chu Shichen rolled down the car window and looked up.
The umbrella blocked the rain and it seemed as if the rain had stopped in this area. Xiang Mingzhang reached into his coat pocket, threw the money into the window, then turned and left.
Chu Shichen didn't have time to catch it, and the thing hit his leg. In the blink of an eye, Xiang Mingzhang strode into the revolving door.
The raindrops fell in slantly, icy cold. Chu Shichen picked it up. The bag of chocolate still had the residual warmth of Xiang Mingzhang.
(End of this chapter)