Chapter 50

The lively atmosphere at the dinner table suddenly became awkward, with only Tong Feifei carelessly munching away. Everyone looked at each other, shrugged, and didn't know what had happened. Without the mood to eat, they all filled their stomachs casually and dispersed.

Li Mingcheng, holding two bottles of wine that had been opened but barely drunk, grumbled and felt heartache, only to be scolded by Liu Yanzhi. He obediently retreated to the side, while Liu Yanzhi helped Tong Yinan clean up the mess.

Tong Feifei, having eaten and drunk her fill, demanded to watch "Tom and Jerry." Lin Zixian glanced at the tightly closed door of Xia Qiu's room, picked up his laptop bag, and led Tong Feifei upstairs, saying he would play it for her there.

Back in the room, after connecting to the internet, Lin Zixian found the "Tom and Jerry" cartoon. Tong Feifei immediately beamed with joy and obediently stayed in front of the monitor.

Lin Zixian took out a cigarette and a harmonica, grabbed a chair, and sat alone on the rooftop. He propped his feet on the railing, hands behind his head, facing the night breeze, looking at the distant lights, the red tip of the cigarette flickering on and off...

In the hospital, Gao Yunliang lay on the bed, staring blankly. His injuries weren't severe, but with several broken bones, he couldn't move around and needed to rest.

Huang Mao occasionally lurked outside his ward, peering through the small glass window and seeing Dong Jiayun guarding inside. Finding no chance to enter, he made two unpleasant meows and quickly hid to the side.

Dong Jiayun, who had been dozing with her head propped on her arm, suddenly woke up, looked around, and said in surprise, "Why are there cats in the hospital?"

Gao Yunliang turned his head toward the door, having already recognized the voice, and pretended to cough, "Mom, I want to drink yogurt."

"Oh! Wait a moment, I'll go buy it." Dong Jiayun quickly got up and left the ward.

The door had barely closed when it opened again, and Huang Mao sneaked in. Gao Yunliang frowned, "What do you want?"

Huang Mao sat by his bed, indignant, "Boss, do you want to take revenge?"

Gao Yunliang, hearing this, looked grim, "What's the point of wanting to? They even dare to hit the police, we can't win against them."

"Boss, do you remember 'Monkey' from Yun Shang Ren Jian?" Huang Mao said through gritted teeth, "As long as you nod, I'll go find him right now and persuade him to take revenge for you."

"Monkey?" Gao Yunliang's pupils contracted, his breathing quickened, and his chest began to ache. He touched his injured chest, and his eyes finally blazed with uncontrollable anger. He nodded solemnly, "Alright!"

"Brother Liang! Wait for me, I'll take care of this." Huang Mao's eyes lit up, and he left excitedly.

The next morning, Lin Zixian stopped at the alley entrance with Zhang Beibei, having had a hearty breakfast at Tong Yinan's place before leaving.

Rushing to and fro, the bicycle just made it through the traffic light on time.

Qiao Yun, sitting in the car, expressionless, watched the couple on the bicycle chatting and laughing, clearly their relationship had progressed further.

Under her cold and beautiful facade, she suddenly felt inexplicably irritable. Qiao Yun was somewhat angry that she hadn't deleted the harmonica tune last night, thinking it might have been because she was tired and wanted to relax by listening to music.

She decided to change the tune she listened to before bed tonight, composed herself, and glanced at the time on her wrist. Her car quickly passed through the traffic light...

At the quarterly board meeting of Minghua Group, after Qiao Yun reported the company's operating status and financial income for the quarter, the board members burst into enthusiastic applause. Qiao Yun's ability to manage the company and create profits had never disappointed them.

Although Chairman Qiao Antian smiled, his attitude was more reserved, not clapping as enthusiastically as the others. However, his eyes were full of satisfaction when he looked at his daughter. To him, the only regret was that Qiao Yun was a woman. If she were a man, with such management skills, it would be even better.

It wasn't that he had a preference for boys over girls, but society was still a patriarchal one. Shakespeare said, "The name of woman is weak," and the more powerful the family, the more they had to face this harsh reality, unlike ordinary people.

After the board meeting ended and people started to disperse, Qiao Antian called out, "General Manager, please stay!"

Qiao Yun, who had just closed her file and stood up, was taken aback and sat down again.

When only the two of them were left in the meeting room, Qiao Antian got up and sat next to her, smiling, "Xiao Yun, I have something to discuss with you."

"Please speak, Chairman," Qiao Yun nodded, maintaining a professional attitude even with her own father in the company.

Qiao Antian didn't mind, as he was used to it. After a moment's thought, he said, "It's like this. I know Lin Zixian is still in Donghai, but Ning Lan and I have called him multiple times without success. He might still be upset. I think... why don't you try calling him? If you show some humility, he might calm down and come back."

"Chairman, I don't think it's necessary. If you want to call him, go ahead. I won't. If there's nothing else, I'll leave," Qiao Yun said expressionlessly.

"Wait!" Qiao Antian called out, at a loss with his precious daughter. He took out his private phone and said solemnly, "I'll try again. If I get through, even if you don't want to say anything nice, you have to make a sound to get him to come back. I'm telling you clearly, this person is very important to me. He can help me understand your grandfather's last words. You can't be stubborn!"

A hint of surprise flashed in Qiao Yun's eyes, wondering how Lin Zixian was related to her grandfather's last words. This time, she didn't object and sat quietly.

Qiao Antian breathed a sigh of relief, found Lin Zixian's number, and dialed. The phone's ringback tone indicated that the phone was on, and Qiao Antian's eyes lit up.

Soon, Lin Zixian's unenthusiastic voice came through the phone, "Hey! Chairman Qiao, why are you calling me so much? You almost caused me to have a traffic accident... Damn! Who's dog isn't on a leash, running around everywhere, and the traffic police don't even manage it..." He was grumbling about the traffic.

"Hehe! Sorry, sorry!" Qiao Antian exclaimed, "Mr. Lin, I finally got through to you. It's been a while, how are you? What have you been up to lately? Are you free?"

"Busy! I'm incredibly busy," Lin Zixian's voice rose, "Life is hard! I'm out in the wind and sun every day, working hard. I can't compare to you big bosses."

Qiao Yun, listening on the side, instantly turned cold, recalling the scene of someone leisurely riding a bicycle. She sneered inwardly, probably busy chasing girls!

She had decided to follow her father's advice and应付一下 (应付一下 means to应付, which can be translated as "to deal with" or "to cope with" in this context, but it's often used to mean "to go through the motions" or "to just get by" in a casual conversation. I'll translate it as "to go through the motions" here.), but after hearing Lin Zixian's words, she immediately despised his character and lost interest in going through the motions. She picked up the file on the table and stood up to leave.

Qiao Antian hurriedly waved to her to stay, but only got a 'bang' as the door closed. Qiao Antian's face stiffened, then he put on a smile, "Mr. Lin, there might be some misunderstanding between us. When are you free? Let's meet up."

"Meet up? The last time was a nightmare, too dangerous. I think it's better to skip it," Lin Zixian sneered, then continued, "You don't have to beat around the bush. Isn't it about protecting your precious daughter? Don't worry, I won't go back on my word. I'll come back to work tomorrow... or the day after."

He hung up immediately, not even giving Qiao Antian a chance to be polite.

In the hospital parking lot, three black cars stopped, and a group of people got out, including Huang Mao, who immediately bowed and led the way.

Behind him, a tall, thin man with a scar on his face, known as Monkey, was flanked by several men in black Zhongshan suits.

At the entrance of the ward, Monkey turned and held out his hand, "Give me the things!"

The man behind him immediately handed over the fruit basket and flowers. Monkey, noticing that one of the men had a cigarette in his mouth, immediately frowned, "Don't you know smoking is not allowed in the hospital? I've told you many times, we're not street thugs or hooligans. We need to maintain our image."

The man immediately put out his cigarette and threw it in the trash, more polite than an ordinary citizen, leaving Huang Mao speechless.

When the group reached the ward door, Monkey nodded to the others, and the men dispersed.

Huang Mao knocked on the door, and Dong Jiayun called out to come in. Monkey and Huang Mao entered.

"Little Huang?" Dong Jiayun was surprised to see Huang Mao, knowing he was her son's friend. She then looked at Monkey, puzzled, "Who are you?"

Huang Mao was drenched in sweat, as he was also surnamed Dong, but Dong Jiayun had always called him Huang Mao, so she called him Little Huang.

Monkey immediately nodded and smiled, "Are you Ms. Dong? Hello! My name is Zhang, I'm a friend of Gao Yunliang. I heard he's in the hospital, so I came to visit."

Dong Jiayun, seeing that this man was much younger than her but still called her Ms. Dong, and being more polite than her son's friends, immediately smiled and took the gifts, "You're a friend of Little Liang? I've never seen you before. Come in, come in."

Monkey made a few polite remarks and walked to Gao Yunliang's bed, smiling. Gao Yunliang, dealing with this underworld figure for the first time, was a bit nervous. He struggled a bit, but it only hurt his injuries, and his face contorted in pain.

Monkey quickly helped him lie down before Dong Jiayun could, and smiled at Gao Yunliang, "Don't move around too much while you're still injured. I heard about what happened from Huang Mao. Come find me when you're discharged, and we'll discuss it. Rest well now."

He then smiled at Dong Jiayun, "Ms. Dong, Little Liang shouldn't move around too much. I won't disturb him. I'll come back to visit when he's better. I'll take my leave now."

He left without waiting for Dong Jiayun's attempts to keep him. Huang Mao secretly gave Gao Yunliang a thumbs-up, indicating everything was taken care of, and quickly followed Monkey out.