After returning from Milan, Shi Tian and Ji Yuanlin went back to their hometown to meet their parents, which is also a necessary step before getting married.
They all grew up in the same city and have known each other since high school. Shi Tian's mother is a thoracic surgeon at the Municipal Hospital, and his father is a local businessman who owns several factories. Ji Yuanlin's parents were both their former high school teachers, one teaching chemistry and the other teaching physics.
In the past few years of their relationship, the parents of both sides have gradually started to interact with each other, visiting each other during festivals. However, this formal meeting as "in-laws" was strictly speaking the first time.
The two originally planned to book a private room in the best restaurant in the city and ask a chef to cook a table of delicious dishes, but they were declined by several elders. They said that since they were already a family, they should cook and eat at home, which would also give a sense of homeliness.
The two mothers cooked many home-cooked dishes at Shi Tian's house. When the dishes were served on the table, the two sons came forward to help and were very happy.
After same-sex marriage was legalized, the minds of parents have also become more open. They have no objection to their younger generations' marriages, as long as the two people are happy and live a good life together.
When it was time for dinner, everyone sat down at the dining table. Ji Yuanlin stood up from his seat and raised his glass to the four elders: "I'll drink this first. Dad, Mom, Tiantian will be in my care from now on, don't worry."
Shi Tian's parents looked up at Ji Yuanlin who was standing in front of the table, their eyes full of smiles and appreciation, especially Shi Tian's mother. When she heard Ji Yuanlin call her "Mom", her eyes immediately turned red and she turned around to wipe the corners of her eyes with her sleeve.
Ji Yuanlin drank the white wine in the glass. Seeing that the man was about to fill another glass, Shi Tian poked his arm and said, "That's enough, A-Lin. My mom looks like she's about to cry."
Shi Tian's mother glared at her son and said, "You little bastard, you only know how to tear down your mother!"
The dinner started, and Shi Tian and Ji Yuanlin stood up to serve food to the elders. Across the table, Shi's mother was nagging Shi's father, asking him to drink less alcohol as it would cause high blood pressure.
When Lao Shi was doing business, he didn't pay much attention to his family. The couple quarreled every day and threatened to divorce, but in the end they are still together. He doesn't quite understand the entanglement of his parent's generation, but he gradually sees the changes in Lao Shi.
In the second year of junior high school, when my mother made up her mind to divorce, Lao Shi hugged her and cried with snot and snot, saying that he was wrong and would never make his wife angry again, and asked his wife to give him another chance.
I don’t know what my mother was thinking, but she didn’t get divorced in the end.
Shi Tian sometimes wondered, if it were him, would he make the same choice as his mother?
He found that he didn't have a standard answer in his mind.
As they are both businessmen in the business world, Ji Yuanlin and Lao Shi got along very well. When Lao Shi was having a good drink, he would pat Ji Yuanlin on the shoulder from time to time, praising him for his intelligence and vision, and saying that he would become a great man in the future.
Ji Yuanlin's parents were both educated people and were much more reserved and reserved than when they were older. They just sat at the table, smiling and picking up dishes, looking at their two sons with loving eyes and listening patiently to their in-laws' chatter.
After the boiled fish was served, Lao Shi drank wine because of the spiciness, and finally, he calmed down for a while.
Mother Ji put a piece of fresh fish meat in Shi Tian's bowl and said gently, "Shi Tian, eat more. Why do you look thinner than Yuan Lin?"
"Thank you, Mom." Shi Tian quickly stood up and took it, smiling at Ji's mother, "Alin insists on exercising every day, but I don't pay much attention to this aspect and I am often picky about food."
In order not to worry his elders, he did not tell Ji Yuanlin's mother that he used to work overtime and was often so busy that he forgot to eat, so he had a bit of chronic gastritis.
Mother Ji glanced at her son and said, "Yuanlin, you must take good care of Xiaoshi, do you hear me?"
Ji Yuanlin also drank a little more wine. Hearing his mother say this, he was stunned for a moment, and quickly raised his arm to hold Shi Tian's shoulders: "Mom, of course."
At this moment, Father Ji, who had been silent, suddenly interrupted: "...Ah, speaking of which, how is the boy from the Zhou family doing recently? Are you still in touch?"
As soon as Ji's father finished speaking, Shi Tian noticed that the hand on his shoulder suddenly froze.
He remembered that Ji Yuanlin's father was their class's physics teacher for a semester when they were in their second year of high school. Zhou Sifu skipped a physics class and beat up the physics teacher's son, becoming famous throughout the school.
"I used to think he was a bad person, a scoundrel with no education, but I didn't expect him to become a decent person now." Father Ji took a sip of tea and suddenly felt a little emotional. "I heard that he was on the Forbes list this year, right?"
Ji Yuanlin interrupted his father and said, "Dad——"
"He donated more than 80 million yuan to our school last year, saying it was to build a new laboratory building. In the end, he didn't come back for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. What a pity." Father Ji didn't seem to notice the change in his son's expression, and continued, "When he comes back, we can arrange to have dinner together. You guys are all doing business outside, so you should take care of each other."
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Just as Ji's father was about to take out his phone to look through the old class group, he heard Shi Tian speak up: "Dad, he hasn't had much contact with us since we graduated."
Before Ji's father could ask any more questions, Ji Yuanlin had already stood up from the dining table.
"Something happened at the company, I'm going out to answer a phone call." He said to Shi Tian.
Shi Tian raised his head and found that Ji Yuanlin's finger bones were tense as he gripped the phone, and a blue vein was faintly visible on the back of his hand.
--
The CEO's office is on the top floor of Danofi's headquarters.
Hearing the doorbell, the secretary said to the outside: "Come in."
The glass door of the office slowly opened to both sides, and the director of the marketing department walked in from outside, followed by a boy who looked like a college student.
The marketing director motioned the boy to come forward and said to Zhou Sifu, "Milton, the person has been brought here."
The secretary nodded and spoke first: "Excuse me, is this Mr. Cheng Xicheng?"
The boy looked a little nervous. He moved his throat slightly and answered a little stiffly: "Yes... yes, I am Chengxi."
The marketing director led Chengxi to the sofa in the office, brought him a cup of tea, asked him to sit down and wait for a while, and soon left the office.
The secretary stood behind Mr. Zhou, secretly observing the young model in front of him.
Chengxi had just finished an audition for an advertisement downstairs. She had removed her makeup and was back to her natural look, but you could still tell that she had a naturally good-looking face.
He was wearing a light grey suit that did not match his age. His hands were tightly clutching his cuffs. His dog-like eyes were wide open due to nervousness, looking clear and open.
No wonder those fans on the Internet call Cheng Xi "wife". As long as this guy sits there, he will attract everyone's attention with his outstanding appearance.
There was only one exception.
The office was completely silent, with only the rustling sound of the pen on the paper. Mr. Zhou had been looking down at the report in his hand, and he didn't seem to have any intention of stopping.
Seeing that Danofi's boss was still working hard on the work at hand, Cheng Xi, who was sitting in front of the sofa, did not dare to disturb him without permission. He could only clasp his fingers together, bite his lips slightly, and look at another person in the office with a pleading look.
The secretary couldn't stand being stared at by Cheng Xi like that, and couldn't help but cough lightly: "Ahem——"
Hearing the secretary's cough, Zhou Sifu raised his head from his desk.
The secretary quickly introduced the two people: "This is our company's CEO, Mr. Zhou Sifu. Mr. Zhou, this is the spokesperson for the S260 series who is here for the audition today."
The secretary was a little confused. It was President Zhou who took the initiative to ask to meet this person, but when the person arrived, President Zhou left him aside.
Hearing the secretary's introduction, Cheng Xi quickly stood up from the sofa: "Hello, Mr. Zhou, I am Cheng Xi from Taikoo Entertainment. I am very happy that your company can give me this audition opportunity--"
Cheng Xi quickly began to introduce himself using the words his agent had taught him. He was a little stumbling at first, but when he saw that the man at the desk was listening attentively, he gradually became less nervous.
After listening to Cheng Xi's self-introduction, Zhou Sifu picked up a pile of information on the table and asked, "Is Mr. Cheng currently single?"
Cheng Xi blinked blankly, not quite understanding what Zhou Sifu meant for a moment.
"S260 is our flagship model this season. There will be a series of media receptions and promotional activities after the official launch." Zhou Sifu clasped his hands on the table and looked directly at the person in front of him. "As the brand ambassador of S260, Mr. Cheng will attend all activities with me and serve as my male companion at the reception dinner."
"I am currently single," Zhou Sifu said, "but if Mr. Cheng is not, it may cause some unnecessary misunderstandings, and we may need to consider our subsequent cooperation."
After all, having been in the industry for several years, Cheng Xi immediately understood what Zhou Sifu meant.
Zhou Sifu needed him to attend public events with him and deal with some media that came to visit.
The most effective way to quickly create a public impact for a new brand is to create some gimmicks that are easy to attract attention during the promotion process.
Zhou Sifu's public relations and marketing strategy for S260 was to use his popularity to start a scandal with him.
And in what he said just now, Zhou Sifu hinted at another point.
If he already has a partner, the effectiveness of this marketing campaign will be greatly reduced and there will be a risk of generating negative news, so Danofi will consider finding someone else.
For him, this endorsement is like a piece of pie falling from the sky. If he misses it, he might not even have time to cry.
"I..." Cheng Xi was stunned for a moment, then reacted, "...I, I'm single!"
The agent didn't know about the relationship between him and A-Lin, and the information given to Danofi should have stated that he was single. He almost said the wrong thing.
Hearing his answer, Zhou Sifu nodded in understanding: "That's good. I was worried that it would cause trouble to Mr. Cheng."
"Go prepare an advertising endorsement contract for Mr. Cheng." While instructing the secretary, Zhou Sifu stood up from his office chair and extended his hand to Cheng Xi, "Happy cooperation."
--
After Cheng Xi left, Zhou Sifu picked up the documents on the table and continued to review the report that he had not finished reading.
People in the company joked that even if tomorrow was the end of the world, Mr. Zhou would finish the work at hand before dying.
After standing in front of the desk for a long time, the secretary couldn't help but say something for Cheng Xi: "Mr. Zhou, that kid didn't understand the situation just now, I think he was a little silly--"
"He's just pretending. He knows what's going on." Zhou Sifu sneered, "He can let Ji Yuanlin give him hundreds of thousands of pocket money every month, and buy a villa and a sports car, do you think he's stupid?"
The secretary spoke with some concern: "But Mr. Zhou, we still don't know who stole the Marriott Hotel's surveillance. If Cheng Xi was hired as the spokesperson, if the surveillance was exposed one day, wouldn't it also affect us?"
Zhou Sifu looked at his watch and said, "Think about what you are talking about."
The secretary quickly shut his mouth and dared not say another word.
He felt that his boss was in a bad mood recently. No, it was very bad.
Not daring to disturb the boss's work, the secretary stayed in the office for a while, then quietly closed the door and walked out.
It was almost lunchtime when the secretary knocked on the door and walked in with an extra document in his hand.
"Mr. Zhou, we've started sending out invitations for Mr. Shi's wedding today."
The secretary pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Zhou Sifu at his desk. "The date is Wednesday, the 10th of next month, at the Bulgari Manor on the outskirts of the city. This is the list of guests."
The pen paused slightly, and the tip of the pen left a small pool of ink on the paper. Zhou Sifu didn't even raise his head and said, "Read."
"Yan Hongwei, Lin Kaiji, Yu Yanyan, Yin Ke, most of them are high school classmates of you and Mr. Shi. You also know some executives of well-known enterprises and cooperative companies, such as Mr. Li of Hongfa Construction Investment, Mr. Huang of Shunhe Finance, and Lucius of Wave Health—"
After the secretary read out the names of nearly a hundred guests, Zhou Sifu finally stopped the work at hand.
"Okay," he tapped the table with his knuckles, "just leave the invitation here, no need to read it."
secretary:"……"
There was silence for a few seconds.
"Mr. Zhou, that..."
After pondering over the wording in his mind for a long time, the secretary finally held his breath and spoke with gritted teeth: "...Mr. Shi did not invite you."
Zhou Sifu: “?”