Chapter 24: The old enemy is meeting again

Tong An’yu found it incredible how many things she could remember just from hitting her head.

Recalling her pursuit of Lin Huaixu now, it truly felt like a young calf unafraid of a tiger.

She had been rejected so many times, but due to her dull perception, she hadn’t fully grasped it and was simply blissfully happy every day.

And Lin Huaixu, from being utterly annoyed to being reluctantly entangled by her, had never once said he loved her.

‘Yes, there was no love; it was just her pursuing the fiercest, clinging the hardest.’

‘Fortunately, she now had self-awareness and wasn’t so shameless anymore.’

‘What time is it?’

Tong An’yu rubbed her eyes, looking at the sky outside.

It was still dark, and she had forgotten to draw the curtains.

So she picked up her phone, lit the screen, intending to check the time.

Then she discovered, the sky had fallen!

Her and Lin Huaixu’s chat interface, which had been silent for seven years, now had several new messages—

[You tapped “Lin Huaixu”]
[You tapped “Lin Huaixu”]
[You tapped “Lin Huaixu”]
[You tapped “Lin Huaixu”]
……

A bolt from the blue!

Tong An’yu instantly lost all sleep, and the hand holding her phone began to tremble.

She could almost imagine Lin Huaixu’s phone vibrating continuously, “buzz,” “buzz,” “buzz,” in the middle of the night…

Putting herself in his shoes, she would be furious and block him directly!

But until the very last tap, Lin Huaixu hadn’t replied at all.

‘Perhaps he had already blocked her.’

‘Would Lin Huaixu think she was intentionally trying to annoy him?’

‘It’s a misunderstanding! She just wanted to stay far away from her arch-nemesis, to avoid constant irritation.’

After struggling for a few minutes, she started typing—

[Sorry, the cat stepped on it.]

‘Little Tong, wielding the emperor’s power over his father!’

After all, Cooper was picked up by Lin Huaixu, and he loved her so much at the time, couldn’t go a day without sending cat pictures. He definitely wouldn’t hold this against Cooper.

The message went through successfully! She actually hadn’t been blocked!

But the next second, she saw Lin Huaixu’s name change to [Typing…].

Tong An’yu immediately became fully alert again.

However, in an instant, the typing status disappeared. Nothing came from his end, as if it had just been her imagination.

Tong An’yu’s heart sank.

‘It might be a system bug. At this hour, how could Lin Huaixu be awake, let alone reply to her message immediately?’

‘Looking at her own flimsy excuse, it was quite ridiculous too.’

‘It had been seven years since she last sent cat pictures. Lin Huaixu might have long forgotten Cooper. Even a biological daughter would lose affection if not seen for seven years.’

‘He probably had many other cats at home now.’

‘Oh, Little Coop, luckily your mom has money and your uncle is a workaholic. That’s why you, a child from a single-parent home, can live without worries about food and clothing.’

‘See, Mom will only raise one cat, but Dad might not be the same. You always licked your dad’s fingers and pushed your mom away back then.’

She planned to retract the message, but found that two minutes had already passed.

Tong An’yu was completely unable to sleep.

She woke up ravenous and ordered oatmeal yogurt with waffles for herself.

She ate breakfast while handling the forwarded emails until 8 AM, when she tidied up her computer, ready to go to work.

Her office was in the CBD, a mere fifteen-minute walk.

She was now employed as a project manager at Hexin Technology, a subsidiary of Si Corporation, responsible for chip design work.

Tong An’yu quickly washed up, changed her clothes, applied light makeup, and arrived at the seventh floor of Jingjin Center just in time.

As she did the facial recognition, she subconsciously glanced behind her.

That place used to be called PhiloLex Law Firm, where she had accompanied Lin Huaixu for his interview.

Just today, due to further business contraction and a significant decrease in revenue, PhiloLex finally couldn’t hold on and closed its Jing City office.

Hexin Technology had hesitated whether to lease the opposite space as well, but because they were still paying a lot of rent for the eighth floor, there was a delay. When they inquired again, the right side of the seventh floor had already been rented out, along with the twelfth and thirteenth floors of Tower A.

The other party had been renovating for a full three months, and the constant noise had disturbed Tong An’yu for three months.

She heard their signboard would be put up soon; she was curious to see which company had snatched up the space.

“Team Leader Tong, Party A slightly changed the requirements last night. Did you see the forwarded email?” Song Huai, a technical expert with square-rimmed glasses, pushed open the office door and leaned against the ergonomic chair as he asked Tong An’yu.

Tong An’yu quickly shifted into work mode, walking quickly towards her office while replying, “Yes, I saw it. Call a meeting for this project team later.”

“Alright.”

Tong An’yu was twenty-six this year; most of the people in this project team were older than her, but she wasn’t in her position as project leader due to family connections. In fact, her resume was more impressive than anyone else’s at Hexin.

Her friends even said she had the fate of a hardworking princess, a very new kind of rich second generation.

The project she was currently handling was for a company that had just been established, but its underlying capital had significant backing and held considerable commercial value.

The other party hadn’t chosen an overseas company this time, stating they had already recognized Hexin’s design capabilities. If this project was done well, larger projects would follow.

After investing heavily for ten years, Hexin finally lived up to its mission, achieving world-leading standards.

After a two-hour meeting, they finally finalized the design modification plan. Tong An’yu didn’t even have time to eat; she hastily slipped on a discreetly elegant evening gown and swapped her comfortable office slippers.

“Peter, email me if anything comes up.”

“Wow, Team Leader Tong, you’re dressed so beautifully. Going on a date?”

“A date for what? It’s a symposium. Invited our company last month. General Manager Chen and General Manager Yang are busy, so I’m going.”

Song Huai was shocked: “Which of them is a young entrepreneur?”

Tong An’yu: “They said anyone under sixty years old counts as young and promising.”

Song Huai: “……”

Jing City in spring was windy and rainy. In front of the Huihai Grand Building, the wide-open space was buffeted by wind and slanting rain; umbrellas couldn’t even be opened, leaving Tong An’yu somewhat disheveled as she entered.

As an established state-owned hotel in Jing City, Huihai naturally had an underground passage. However, media reporters had already been waiting by the red carpet for a long time for this symposium, and Tong An’yu couldn’t bear for them to have come for nothing.

Pausing briefly in front of the flashing lights, Tong An’yu smoothed her disheveled long hair and entered the lobby. The concierge guided her to the venue, apologizing nervously: “Miss Tong, we didn’t think this through.”

Tong An’yu comforted her: “The forecast wasn’t accurate either.”

The concierge immediately felt a warmth in her heart and tried to guide her to a more prominent seat in the front row.

Tong An’yu happened to answer a phone call at that moment, and naturally sat down in an inconspicuous spot in the last row.

The concierge hesitated, wanting to speak but refraining.

Not wanting to stand out was also Tong An’yu’s original intention; she disliked socializing and only loved focusing on technology.

From the other end of the phone, her roommate Zhu Yan’s loud voice came through: – “Little Yu, I just saw an article in ‘Business Weekly.’ Do you know who’s come to Jing City?”

– “Are you trying to say…”

– “Lin Huaixu! He seems to have come to Jing City to develop his career!” Zhu Yan’s tone turned serious.

“I already know about this—” Tong An’yu happened to look up, unexpectedly facing the back of someone sitting on the central sofa in the front row. That person held a teacup, his knees slightly apart, dressed impeccably and exuding dignity.

‘Huh?’

‘Ah!’

She disbelievingly exited the conference hall and re-examined the signboard outside.

It was indeed the [Jing City Young Entrepreneurs Symposium].

‘So you’re using Jing City’s name to invite Lin Huaixu, for heaven’s sake?!’

‘Are you seriously calling someone who just flew into Jing City yesterday a “Jing City entrepreneur”?’

‘Did Shengang agree to this?!’

‘Just goes to show that a meeting that calls anyone under sixty “young” is unreliable!’

Tong An’yu clutched the large bump on the back of her head and started to get a headache again.

At this time, the conference had not yet begun. Lin Huaixu was surrounded by a group of people, both men and women. The men were dashing and refined, the women beautiful and alluring. He no longer appeared as aloof and distant as he once did; instead, he chatted and laughed casually with these elite men and women, his every gesture stable and appropriate.

Tong An’yu thought, ‘Sure enough, it was a WeChat bug. My arch-nemesis looks so well, nothing like someone who stayed up all night.’

– “What do you think he’s doing in Jing City?” Zhu Yan’s voice held a hint of hostility and vigilance. “He’s successful now; will he be a threat to your family? Don’t be careless.”

Tong An’yu was worried sick. Why did everyone think Lin Huaixu should take revenge on her family? Now that everyone was thriving, couldn’t they just leave each other alone?

She recalled Lin Huaixu’s rhetorical question, “How exciting is that?” in the car yesterday, and she regretted it deeply. It wasn’t exciting at all, not even a little; seeing her nemesis every day was terrifying.

“Don’t worry, I’m not a pushover either!” Tong An’yu said with righteous indignation, but her heart was incredibly weak.

Zhu Yan gave a few more warnings before hanging up the phone.

The symposium quickly began, and the idle chatter in the hall gradually faded.

The organizers delivered some appropriate but dull opening remarks, followed by speeches from young representatives. Lin Huaixu was the first to go up.

Tong An’yu’s first reaction was to guiltily bury her head.

Her hair covered most of her face, and shadows flickered before her eyes.

She was nervous all by herself, but then she heard Lin Huaixu’s unhurried voice. His tone was deeper than it had been in college.

After burying her head for a while, Tong An’yu finally realized, resentfully, that Lin Huaixu probably didn’t even care if she was there or not.

Tong An’yu was seated in the southeast corner, while Lin Huaixu was focused on the front row, not looking back at all.

She slowly raised her head, feeling quite foolish. Seven years had passed; perhaps all the ambiguous love and hate of the past had long been forgotten by this talented young man who had licked blood from the knife’s edge.

‘Revenge was also a waste of time.’

Outside, the rain poured like a waterfall. Doors and windows were tightly shut, and the air conditioning was on inside. Tong An’yu gathered her damp dress.

Lin Huaixu had somehow developed such exceptional eloquence. He made those high-sounding words witty, humorous, and incisive, not at all irritating, but rather sincere.

Finally, he subtly elevated the discussion, thanking the Jing City government for its preferential policies for entrepreneurs and attributing his personal achievements to the favorable environment created by the era.

The organizer, whose name was highlighted in red, was beaming with pride, clearly seeing Lin Huaixu as a model young leader with excellent vision and perspective.

Applause thundered from the audience, lasting for a long time. It was truly a symposium where both hosts and guests were delighted.

Tong An’yu shivered with goosebumps; she checked her watch. An hour had already passed. Leaving now wouldn’t be rude. Anyway, socializing wasn’t her strong suit, and she never liked to pretend for show.

Just as she was about to quietly exit, the host suddenly announced that there was only one last chance for questions.

Tong An’yu had already risen from her chair when she heard someone ask in a very familiar tone, “I’m very curious, Mr. Lin, how do you now view Colin Interactive Entertainment’s business war with Quantum Particles?”

Like a timed bomb thrown out of nowhere, Tong An’yu plopped back down with a thud.