Chapter 45
Jian Yan and He Xiu spent the trip in France eating-eating-eating. Meanwhile, He Chen"s plot became exposed back at home.
He Jing Long had dealt with only his construction company for the past several years, and so only in the regular corporation meetings would he learn about the situations of Starlight General Merchandise and Starlight Park. Yet this time, such a large issue arose, as someone beside him promptly reported.
He returned home enraged, dragging He Chen from bed. "You"re still in the mood to sleep? Let me ask you, is the Samuel incident your doing?"
He Chen eyed him with sleepy eyes, a cold smile gracing his lips. "What Sam-el you saying? Who"s that?"
Seeing his unremorseful appearance, the anger in He Jing Long"s heart intensified. "Then let me speak bluntly. Was it you who leaked Starlight General Merchandise"s plans to Graceful?"
He Chen raised a hand to rub his head, silent. He Jing Long took his silence as agreement. "He Chen, what were you actually thinking? Even if you don"t like your elder brother, Starlight General Merchandise is one of our family businesses. You went as far as to help an outsider?"
He Chen sneered, raising his gaze to ask him instead, "Then how do you know that He Xiu, as far as I"m concerned, is an outsider to me?"
He Jing Long was dumbstruck.
"Furthermore, Starlight General Merchandise might be your and He Xiu"s business, but it has nothing to do with me."
"What are you saying? Starlight General Merchandise is under the banner of He Zhi Corporation. Don"t forget your surname is He!"
"Then give Starlight General Merchandise to me!"
He Jing Long pursed his lips and calmed himself first before opening his mouth to speak. "You"re in charge of Starlight Park. He Xiu is in charge of Starlight General Merchandise. What"s bad about this?"
"Of course it"s no good! Everyone knows that Starlight General Merchandise"s yearly turnover far exceeds Starlight Park. Starlight General Merchandise can be found in every major city in the country. Do you have the ability to open Starlight Parks all over the country?!"
He Jing Long once again stifled the fury in his heart. Exhaling, he replied, "Starlight Park is an investment your mother and I made together. In a few years, the government will vigorously expand there. Its future prospects are limitless."
"That"s still not as good as Starlight General Merchandise!"
He Jing Long narrowed his eyes. "He Chen, you are 27 years old this year, not 7. Can you not be so childish? Your elder brother"s belongings are always excellent, but yours just isn"t good? If I let He Xiu be in charge of Starlight Park today, would you also think Starlight Park is better?"
He Chen thinned his lips but couldn"t refute his words. Finally, he simply sneered and glared at He Jing Long as he said, "Hasn"t the incident with Samuel been settled already? Is it still worth you furiously running over to scold me? You still say you aren"t biased, heh."
He Jing Long puckered his brows and stated, "The issue being settled proves He Xiu"s capability; it doesn"t mean that you can write off the fact that you created this incident. You"re going to stay home today to reflect upon yourself!"
He Jing Long left with quick steps, a pa ringing out as the door closed. He Chen kicked the table in front of him and threw his pillow at the door.
He Chen shut himself inside the mansion and pondered over his mistakes for one day before Zhao Ying Fang could no longer bear it and went straight to He Jing Long"s company to find him. He Jing Long had just come out when he saw a furious Zhao Ying Fang storm over. He beckoned to the people, allowing them to leave first.
"Whatever is the problem, come inside the office to talk." Inside, he already guessed what she wanted to say to him. He Jing Long quickly stepped into his office, Zhao Ying Fang following closely behind him with a calm face.
Just as the office door closed, she couldn"t help but scold him. "What do you mean by this, He Jing Long? Chen"er only made a small mistake, yet you went as far as to scold him like that? What, is only He Xiu your son and he"s not?"
He Jing Long"s expression darkened. "If he were not my son, I would not bother paying attention to him! Is what he did a small trivial matter? It"s because you spoiled him for several years that he has become like this!"
"I spoiled him? Yes! If I don"t spoil him, who would care about him?"
"You mean I don"t care about him?"
"If you care why do you constantly refuse to give him Starlight General Merchandise? Because Starlight General Merchandise was built by you for that woman?!"
He Jing Long gloomily paced inside his office for a long time before finally saying with a steady voice, "Why are you all focusing so much on Starlight General Merchandise, never letting go? Then let me tell you right now, the land Starlight General Merchandise is on is mine. The building is also mine. Although its scope has expanded significantly over the years, but not a single yuan was not returned to your Zhao Family! Who I set it aside for will be who I want to set it aside for!"
Once he finished saying this, Zhao Ying Fang felt like she had received a fatal blow. Anxiously and angrily pointing a finger at him, she shouted, "Well! So many years, and at last you express your true feelings! Those company stocks in your possession, do you also plan to set them aside for that b.a.s.t.a.r.d child? He Jing Long, He Chen is also your son. You cannot be so prejudiced!"
He Jing Long muttered irresolutely to himself before glaring at her. "He Chen and He Xiu are different. He has you, the Zhao Family, and even the Xu Family. He Xiu, however, he only has me."
"Fine, fine, you don"t let He Chen to have an easy time, then I won"t let that b.a.s.t.a.r.d child have one either!" Zhao Ying Fang felt anger surpa.s.sing heaven and earth nestle into her body once she finished speaking. Throwing the door open, she left.
He Jing Long—spirit weary, strength exhausted—collapsed into his office chair, kneading his heavily aching temple.
After Zhao Ying Fang left, she headed directly to the mansion. He Chen was still shut inside his room.
She knocked on his door to enter and saw him lying down on the sofa, turned away from the door.
"Chen"er." She called out to He Chen, but he didn"t pay attention to her. Pursing her lips, she forced herself to smile. Looking at his back, she said, "Don"t worry, mama will take care of this matter for you. ."
He Chen"s lashes fluttered slightly, his eyes opening.
Seeing that he was still remaining silent, Zhao Ying Fang told him her plan. "The most distinguishing feature for the main Starlight General Merchandise, besides that Fantasy Wardrobe He Xiu established, are the numerous Dessert Heaven stores Yu Zhi opened up. A very large portion of Starlight General Merchandise"s sales figure increase these past two years is driven by the Yu Zhi shops opened there. If we can pull those entrepreneurs over to our camp, then it should strike a huge blow to He Xiu." After she said this, the ruthlessness clouding her eyes thickened. "Mama already took advantage of these two days where He Xiu is gone to send people to contact them. There should be some news very soon."
Far away in France, He Xiu naturally didn"t know that the He Family had already descended into such chaos that not even the chickens and dogs were left undisturbed. He was currently extremely vexed as he tried to persuade Jian Yan to give up on going to a sixth dessert parlour that day and return to the hotel with him to sleep instead.
"Just in time, just in time, fortunately the parlour isn"t closed yet!" Jian Yan dragged He Xiu straight into the parlour. Glancing at the aesthetically pleasing cakes in the menu, Jian Yan"s gluttony began to stir once again. "I want to order this signature large durian mousse stuffed bun."
He Xiu looked up to glance at her. He had discovered that Jian Yan was most fluent at French when she spoke the names of all kinds of dishes.
Unfortunately, a handsome little brother blond waiter smiled apologetically at her. "I"m sorry, that already sold out today."
Even though Jian Yan was discouraged, she very quickly declared the next name. "Then I want a strawberry cream roll!"
The waiter continued to look at her apologetically. "I"m sorry, all the strawberry products have been sold out."
Jian Yan: "&h.e.l.lip;"
She sent a look br.i.m.m.i.n.g with complaints at He Xiu sitting across from her. "See, we indeed came late!"
He Xiu simply didn"t know whether to laugh or cry. "Teacher Tang Zhi, before this parlour, we have already eaten at five others." How was Jian Yan"s stomach 128G; it essentially was ∞G.
Jian Yan curled her lips and continued to scan the menu. "Then this&h.e.l.lip;lime blueberry cheese tart. There should still be some, right?"
The waiter finally nodded. "There"s still some left. We also have homemade cookies and large cream puffs, and one last cup of yogurt."
Jian Yan"s eyes brightened. "That"s fantastic. Give me one of each, thanks."
He Xiu: "&h.e.l.lip;"
He recalled that their trip today began at first light, leaving the hotel to hurry to various dessert parlours and eating all kinds of dessert pastries. Other matters&h.e.l.lip;really were of little concern.
He didn"t even notice if the sky was blue enough or not.
Jian Yan finished taking a photo of all the food on the table and uploaded it to Weibo, picking up a spoon afterwards while looking at He Xiu. "Eat~"
"&h.e.l.lip;" He Xiu eventually chuckled beneath his breath. "I can"t eat any more."
Jian Yan was slightly surprised. "Your stamina is no good."
"Actually it would be better to say that your stamina is too valiant."
"How so? These various parlours are all quite far from one another. The entire trip we"ve been hurrying about, so we should have also been starving on the road."
"&h.e.l.lip;My metabolism is probably not as good as yours."
Jian Yan contemplated for awhile before she honestly proposed, "I have medicine that helps with digestion. Do you want it? After you finish eating, you"ll be a strong and courageous hero that can even wage war for 300 rounds."
"&h.e.l.lip;No need; thanks."
He ultimately helped eat a small share of the yogurt and two cookies. The rest were all eaten solely by Jian Yan. After they left the parlour, Jian Yan finally felt a bit full. "How about we walk the streets for a while and experience the foreign culture and customs."
He Xiu stated, "I am truly too touched. We"re returning home tomorrow, and you finally think of experiencing the foreign culture and customs."
"Eh&h.e.l.lip;" Jian Yan pursed her lips. "Actually, cuisine is also a form of foreign culture and customs, right?"
"Mn, whatever Teacher Tang Zhi says is right, is right."
Jian Yan giggled and walked side by side with He Xiu for a while before he pulled her hand into his, their fingers interlacing.
Jian Yan bowed her head to glance at their joined hands and then raised her eyes to meet He Xiu"s as she asked, "Why did you grab my hand?"
He Xiu replied, "There are many people on the street. A man might accidentally touch you later on. It"s not good if you beat someone up in the middle of the street."
Jian Yan refuted, "I can control my state of mind now. Otherwise, I would have already beaten you up some time ago."
He Xiu lowered his head and chuckled. Glancing at her, he said, "Still, it"s better to be careful. If you beat people here, it might lead to an international incident if we"re not careful. Don"t cause trouble for our motherland."
Jian Yan: "&h.e.l.lip;"
She paid so much taxes annually to her motherland; sometimes troubling her motherland was also not altogether inexcusable.
Although, she never once threw off the hand that grasped hers tightly.
The two of them walked like this the entire way back. Many photos were taken, and many things were bought as well. Later, He Xiu became worried that Jian Yan"s legs were sore from the high heels she was wearing and called over a taxi to carry them back to the hotel.
After they arrived at the hotel, the two of them didn"t eat dinner, so He Xiu commented to her before they both went to bed, "Two days earlier, you said you were jetlagged and was too tired, falling asleep the moment your head touched the pillow. Today, you ate so many high calorie things, so shouldn"t you exercise first before going to sleep?"
Author"s Note:
Jian Yan: So let"s go jump and promote exercising!!
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