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Guan Yu’s call was quite peculiar. It rang twice then she hung up. When Chu Ning called back, she didn’t answer. Finally, a text message arrived, drawn out: “Friday, 3:30 PM, Shenghui.”
She called again, but it was switched off.
Chu Ning was so angry she wanted to smash her phone again, but then she remembered that the situation needed to be resolved. The fact that Guan Yu took the initiative to suggest meeting still offered some hope. The next day, Chu Ning arrived punctually for their appointment. She drove from the east to the west side of the city. Approaching the weekend, it was rush hour, and traffic started to jam up around Beidajie.
Fearing she might be late, she ran a few yellow lights to save time. At the last two right turns, Chu Ning was waiting at a red light, feeling uncertain, so she called Feng Ziyang. Feng Ziyang didn’t answer, so Chu Ning tossed her phone aside.
Upon arriving at Shenghui, Chu Ning gave Guan Yu’s name. The attendant confirmed that such a guest was present and led her to the second floor.
This club had many functional areas. It had only recently opened, with a classical Jiangnan-style decor, including a very lifelike miniature bridge and flowing water. Arriving, Chu Ning pushed open the door and scanned the main hall but saw no one. Looking to the right, she finally spotted Guan Yu standing by the window, clad in a black long down jacket reaching her ankles. Despite the cold wind blowing into Beijing in November, she didn’t seem bothered. Hearing the movement, she turned her head, her expression calm and unruffled.
Chu Ning turned back and closed the door with a click.
Guan Yu forced a smile, “You’re here.”
Chu Ning nodded, walked to the low table. The water was already boiling, a complete set of tea-making tools arranged neatly. Beside them were ten small ceramic pieces, of various shapes, all filled with tea leaves, displaying an affected elegance.
“This Junshan Yinzhen is good. I’ll brew it for you; you should try it,” Guan Yu walked over, smiling and very enthusiastic.
Chu Ning said flatly, “No need. I don’t know how to appreciate it.” Then she poured herself a cup of plain water.
Guan Yu’s fingers awkwardly retracted from mid-air. “You’ve always been so straightforward since childhood.”
Chu Ning wasn’t in a hurry to respond. She drank half a cup of water, sat down calmly, and looked at her in a desultory manner.
Her gaze was casual, without aggression, just like countless past gatherings between them, setting the stage for conversation and heartfelt talks.
After a moment of silence, Guan Yu said, “Ning’er, I haven’t answered your calls these past few days because I had some family matters. I was busy every time and then forgot after finishing. You won’t blame me, will you?”
Chu Ning nodded, letting her continue.
Guan Yu relaxed a bit, rubbing the rim of her cup with her finger. “That thing I mentioned to you last time, could you consider it?”
Chu Ning feigned forgetfulness: “What thing?”
“Isn’t your company raising funds? Many domestic companies have shortcomings, making things constrained and troublesome in the future. Foreign enterprises can compensate for these deficiencies.”
“Mmm, tell me about it,” Chu Ning held her water cup, slowly taking another sip.
Guan Yu’s spirits lifted. She leaned forward, hands clasped on the table. “That company my uncle worked with, they’re quite strong and have been looking for investment opportunities in this area. When we had a family gathering, I heard about it and thought, ‘Hey! Isn’t what you’re doing a perfect fit!’ I immediately showed my uncle the news about Xiao Jing’s competition, and he thought it was good too. Oh, by the way, can your phone receive emails? I’ll send you the company’s information now.”
Ah, people, once they harbor an agenda, no matter how much they try to maintain an appearance of peace, they always leave traces.
Chu Ning remained impassive, her gaze lingering on Guan Yu’s face for half a second.
Guan Yu, oblivious, lowered her head, busily fiddling with her phone.
“It’s ‘chu’ as in Chu Ning, right? You should receive it...” Guan Yu met Chu Ning’s gaze, and her smile instantly froze midway.
Chu Ning’s calmness was too intimidating.
“Xiao Yu’er, are you still not going to tell me the truth?”
Guan Yu lowered her phone, gently placing it on the table. “I’m doing this for your own good.”
“For my own good?” Chu Ning smiled, repeatedly chewing on these three words, looking at her: “What makes you so capable?”
Guan Yu’s face struggled, but she tried her best to maintain her composure, smiling and saying, “Ning’er, it’s indeed a bit inappropriate to say this now, but when you were in trouble back then, did I hesitate at all when you asked?”
Chu Ning: “So now you can make decisions on my behalf?”
“I just felt there was a better opportunity.”
“You haven’t been involved in the company’s specifics from start to finish. What makes you qualified to judge what’s good or bad?”
“As long as it achieves the objective, it’s good!”
Guan Yu’s voice was louder than Chu Ning’s, as if only by raising her voice could she win this round.
Chu Ning stopped speaking. There was no longer any hope in her eyes; this coldness stemmed from true, deep disappointment. She didn’t need words; her gaze alone could force self-reflection—Is this appropriate for you to do?
Guan Yu remained stubborn for a few seconds, but ultimately, she was the first to look away.
“Do you know that I’m negotiating a collaboration with Mingyao Technology? Do you know how much trouble your actions will cause me?” Chu Ning no longer gave her a chance to argue, each word sharp as a knife: “Guan Yu, do you know what you’re doing?”
“Of course, I, I...”
“You’re doing this for my good? You think money can solve everything? You’re using your own assumptions as a legitimate excuse to interfere with me?” Chu Ning’s face was frosty. “Has your brain been kicked by a donkey?”
These words were like a white knife going in and a red knife coming out, stabbing at her self-esteem. Guan Yu felt a surge of indignation and suddenly raised her voice: “I was the one who registered this company back then! Nothing I do is excessive!”
This shout was full of force, with complex and extreme emotions.
There was suppressed helplessness, and a desperate struggle of someone cornered.
Chu Ning looked at her, her red lips like blood, tightly pressed into a thin line. Her hand, hanging below the table, trembled slightly.
“You never listen to others’ opinions. Why are you so arrogant? Are you always right since you were little? Why do you look down on a friend’s well-intentioned advice? Am I wrong to recommend a suitable company to you? I had good intentions, but what about you? Ask yourself, have you ever trusted me? Do you consider me a friend? From beginning to end, you’ve been autocratic and overbearing; in your eyes, there’s never been anyone else!”
Chu Ning stood up and slapped her!
A loud smack of flesh. Guan Yu’s face turned to the right with the force.
In the eerie silence, a faint metallic scent of blood floated.
Chu Ning felt a lump in her throat, but her heart ached more. She reached across the table, gripped Guan Yu’s chin tightly, and forcefully turned her face to face her.
“I treated you as my best friend. Think for yourself, were those words you just said even human words?”
Chu Ning’s words were vicious, clutching her, not allowing her to dodge.
“I’m overbearing? I’m autocratic? How much hardship I’ve been through on this path, others might not know, but you cannot be unaware. If I wasn’t strong, I would have been devoured alive long ago!”
As she spoke, Chu Ning’s eyes also reddened, “I don’t trust you? If I didn’t trust you, would I let you know my apartment door password? Guan Yu, you’ve changed too quickly. If that’s your reason, then I have nothing to say.”
Guan Yu’s face was ashen. She bit her lip, stubborn.
“If you need money, or people, or anything, you can tell me. If I don’t help you, then I, Chu Ning, am in the wrong. But if I agree to help you, and you still bite me like this, I will definitely kill you!”
When Chu Ning turned ruthless, she truly left no room for sentiment.
Guan Yu suddenly broke down: “Yes, I need your help. I need this foreign investment in your project. Okay, I’ve said it, will you help? Are you willing to help?!”
Tears streamed down her face. Chu Ning saw her hysterical state and frowned.
Guan Yu muttered to herself: “You won’t help. Ying Jing will always be first for you. He’s just a stumbling block.”
Chu Ning immediately got angry: “Are you crazy?!”
With a sudden burst of strength, Guan Yu flung Chu Ning’s hand away. She hysterically swept across the table, sending the exquisite tea set, teapots, and ceramic cups crashing to the floor in a chaotic mess.
Shards flew everywhere. Chu Ning instinctively raised a hand to block.
She felt a sharp, dense pain on the back of her hand. After a few seconds of numbness, warmth flowed down her skin, spreading over her wrist, dripping onto the ground.
The back of her hand was pierced by broken ceramic shards, looking particularly gruesome at first glance.
Guan Yu, as if her soul had been pulled out, ignored everything that happened, immersed in her own emotions, and immediately burst into tears!
Amidst the chaos, her phone suddenly rang. It was Feng Ziyang returning her call.
Chu Ning answered with one hand. The voice on the other end was urgent and loud: “Ning’er, pay attention to Xiao Yu! It’s her family, her family is in trouble!”
Before she could fully grasp what was happening, Guan Yu frantically pushed the table, sending the fragments on the floor clattering, then stumbled and pulled the door open, leaving.
Chu Ning didn’t have time to call out. At this moment, all her nerve endings reacted. Her hand hurt! Her entire arm felt numb. Her breathing was a bit erratic. She placed her phone on the table and pressed her other hand against her wound.
She leaned down, speaking into the phone: “Ziyang, are you able to come over?”
She paused, “I’m injured, I can’t drive.”
________________________________________
In less than twenty minutes, at the entrance of Shenghui, a black Porsche directly cut across the road from the opposite side, ignoring the lane markings. This unexpected move instantly threw the normally orderly intersection into chaos. For a moment, car horns blared short and long, expressing dissatisfaction. Pedestrians were also exclaiming, “That was close!”
Feng Ziyang pushed open the car door, tossed the keys to the doorman, and rushed inside in a hurry.
Barging through the door, he found Chu Ning sitting on the sofa, her white cuff soaked with blood. Coupled with the mess on the floor, it was quite alarming. Feng Ziyang’s face turned pale. Chu Ning quickly said, “It’s not that serious; I’m fine.”
Feng Ziyang didn’t bother to ask for details, rushing her to a big hospital. The Feng family had shares in this hospital and a private medical team. He rang the bell furiously, dramatically calling even the chief of staff.
The whole ordeal was so over-the-top that Chu Ning felt embarrassed. A crowd of people surrounded them; anyone who didn’t know would think it was an emergency rescue.
Indeed, it wasn’t anything serious, just a superficial wound. Three pieces of broken glass shards were extracted, blood-red and sitting on a ceramic plate, looking like three fallen teeth.
The crowd dispersed, and the farce ended.
Feng Ziyang, still quite worried, examined her arm from left to right: “It’s all swollen like a bun. Are you sure no bones were hurt?”
Chu Ning rolled her eyes. “We already took X-rays, and you still don’t believe it?”
Feng Ziyang pulled a chair next to her, crossed his legs, and reached for a cigarette, his hand already on the pack, before remembering they were in a hospital. Frowning, he said, “Something big happened to the Guan family.”
Chu Ning frowned.
“Guan Yu’s father is under investigation by the organization, suspected of serious economic crimes. All his assets have been frozen, and he’s detained, not free,” Feng Ziyang said, still quite puzzled by all of this. “His case isn’t small. The investigation phase has been kept confidential from the outside; otherwise, even I wouldn’t have heard anything.”
“Xiao Yu’er is foolish too. Since it’s reached this point, there’s no turning back. Yet she still took this crooked path, hurting your years of friendship as sisters. This score, it’s muddled!”
Feng Ziyang spoke frankly, expressing his frustration. Chu Ning, however, remained silent. She covered her left hand, which was swollen like a meat bun, her thoughts complex.
“Her actions probably weren’t directly aimed at you. I reckon she was being used as a pawn,” Feng Ziyang pulled the chair closer, lowering his voice. “She has an uncle, Zhou Qin, whose reputation in the industry isn’t good. He’s dishonest, likes unconventional methods, and isn’t someone you can stay with long-term. He’s best at speculation, exploiting loopholes to dabble in trade, and has gotten to know many shady foreign companies.”
Chu Ning understood instantly, turning her head to look at Feng Ziyang, both sharing an unspoken understanding: “Xiao Yu’er was instigated by him?”
“Not exactly instigated, but concern can lead to confusion, which is human nature. Either she had a favor to ask of this uncle, or she was used by someone with ulterior motives.”
“But I have no connection with him.”
“Xiao Yu’er might have unintentionally revealed your work and recent situation. Sometimes, people don’t guard against their own relatives as much, and Xiao Yu’er has an open personality, not much cunning.” Feng Ziyang’s explanation made the previously inexplicable sequence of events seem coherent and logical.
A foreign investment company with no apparent background, specifically seeking aviation-related business, and precisely zeroing in on Chu Ning’s company.
Reason?
Motive?
Intent?
These three words escalated layer by layer, and a sudden, inexplicable panic, like a rising tide in spring, surged through Chu Ning’s heart. Then she recalled the meaningful hint from Mingyao Technology’s vice president yesterday—
“The first place he won in that university aerospace technology competition recently has already attracted a lot of attention. He has great talent, and the technology he’s researching is very subtle. Now he’s going to participate in a world-class competition. President Ning, at this point in time, don’t you think your current actions are very sensitive for him?”
“You can’t let that kid know about your injury, right?” Feng Ziyang said nonchalantly. “He’d worry himself to death, so much so that he might not even go to the competition, hahaha.”
Chu Ning felt a wave of weakness. Then she heard him ask, “Isn’t the competition in two days? Where is he? At school? Remind him, don’t mess up.”
At that, Chu Ning suddenly stood up from the chair, startling Feng Ziyang as if she were a zombie.
“Whoa, what are you doing!”
Chu Ning’s one hand was inconvenient, and in her urgency, her voice was sharp: “Find my phone!”
Feng Ziyang was stunned but quickly complied.
Chu Ning took a deep breath, her words restrained: “Call Ying Jing.”
She called.
It connected.
The speakerphone was on, and a long, continuous dial tone echoed endlessly.
Feng Ziyang and she exchanged glances. Both were sensitive people with a sense of crisis. With each ring, their gazes slowly sank.
Ying Jing didn’t answer the phone.
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