Germany.
A high-end hotel.
It's already three in the afternoon, and Lin Qinghan just finished meeting with the head of the German Han Art Company, Mr. Daohuasen. The content of the contract had been discussed earlier, and this meeting was just a formality.
The signing had been completed.
The cooperation had officially taken effect.
Mr. Daohuasen is already quite old. As they walk out together, he smiles and says to Lin Qinghan, "Mr. Lin is indeed a young talent, no wonder he has been able to take the Lin Group to a higher level in such a short time."
He stops and extends his hand to Lin Qinghan, smiling, "I believe our cooperation will bring better benefits to both parties."
Lin Qinghan shakes his hand and says, "Of course, I look forward to continuing our collaboration." He has always been confident and composed in his work. His handsome face is adorned with a confident smile, and his demeanor exudes enthusiasm.
He is very convincing.
The reason why Mr. Daohuasen chose the Lin Group is precisely because of Lin Qinghan's perpetually confident and calm demeanor, as if nothing could defeat him.
"Oh, by the way," Mr. Daohuasen suddenly remembered something. "My wife has always liked Chinese food. If there is an opportunity, Mr. Lin, you can bring your wife to our house for a meal."
As soon as he said this,
Lin Qinghan had not yet given any indication, but Zhao Feng behind him had a look of "oh no".
How could Mr. Daohuasen not have checked the situation beforehand? Their Boss had already divorced, and not only that, he had been ruthlessly blacklisted in his attempt to win back his wife!!!
Thinking back to Boss' face in the car, Zhao Feng couldn't help but shiver.
Wu Hua, who was standing next to Zhao Feng, who is also a manager at the German branch, didn't know about those things. When he heard Mr. Daohuasen mention it, he was about to say, "Mr. Lin is already divorced," but before he could speak, Lin Qinghan had already said with a smile, "Of course, if there is an opportunity."
After seeing Mr. Daohuasen off to the car,
Lin Qinghan's smile faded, as if he had returned to his original cold and aloof self. He said, "I'm going to rest," and went straight back to his room.
After his figure disappeared,
Wu Hua murmured, "What's wrong with Boss? Didn't he get divorced? Why doesn't he explain it clearly? Could it be that he's going to get married again so soon?!"
Zhao Feng covered his face, looking at him with a face of disbelief, and said, "Please, could you just be quiet?"
If you don't want to be secretly criticized by Boss, he suggested that no one should mention anything about getting married or reconciling at this time, and most importantly, never mention the former wife!
It could really cost someone their life!
After returning to his room, Lin Qinghan did not go to rest as he said.
He stood at the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the scenery below and directly called Li Ze. The hotel's ground floor coincidentally faces Isenheim Tunnel, one of Germany's most famous cherry blossom tunnels.
The cherry blossoms at this time of year are already in full bloom. From his vantage point, he could see a piece of pink, very brilliant, occasionally seeing some couples holding hands in the cherry blossom tunnel, or kissing as if no one was watching.
Seeing these passionate couples and the smiles on their faces, Lin Qinghan's eyes were somewhat dazed. In his memory, a long time ago, there had been such smiles on a tender face.
At that time,
they had just gotten married.
No matter how busy he was at work, no matter how late he came home, Wenrou would wait for him. She would do as she did before, standing on tiptoe and hugging his neck, kissing him regardless.
But as time went on, the smile on her face became increasingly shallow, and such actions became increasingly rare.
He couldn't even remember the last time they kissed.
Someone quickly picked up the phone from the other end, "Boss, what's wrong?"
Lin Qinghan, however, seemed to be still in his own memories. It wasn't until Li Ze called again that he came back to his senses, and asked in a deep voice, "What happened yesterday? What did Wenrou tell you?"
Why did Wenrou blacklist him?
"..."
Li Ze was silent for a while, then replied very softly, "Boss, do you know what happened?"
Lin Qinghan didn't say anything.
Being blacklisted by Wenrou was too embarrassing, and he didn't want anyone else to know.
Li Ze waited for a while and didn't hear anyone speak, so he carefully chose his words and spoke to him in the most tactful way possible, but he couldn't find any tactful words even after half a day, so he had to be truthful, "Miss Wen said she and you are already divorced, and she has no intention of reconciling. She refused to accept your flowers, and said she would never accept your feelings again."
There are actually a lot more words he didn't dare to say, really worried that Boss would be upset to the point of a gastric bleeding.
Boss hasn’t been in good shape lately, and to make matters worse in a foreign country... it would be too pitiful.
Lin Qinghan wasn't so upset as to have a gastric bleeding. He just held onto his phone, his brow furrowing a little. After a while, he said, "Did you tell her the flowers were personally chosen by me?"
"I did."
So, Wenrou knew that he had personally chosen the flowers, but still refused to accept them? Lin Qinghan held onto his phone and after a while, he said, "I understand."
"That's it," he said.
Then, he hung up the phone.
After that, he opened the WeChat app, and the chat record between the two of them stayed on the message he had sent to her early in the morning. The bright red exclamation mark and the WeChat prompt seemed to mock his pity and ignorance.
***
At this moment, it was already past nine in Linshi.
Wen Ruan had just finished a day of classes, and she was starting to enjoy this fulfilling life more and more. Things she didn't understand or know before, she was gradually getting to know, and she was also slowly trying many things she had never experienced before.
Just like today's acting class.
The teacher had them do an impromptu performance. At first, she thought it was too difficult, even feeling afraid of embarrassment and not daring to step forward.
But after watching several other students' performances, good or bad, the teacher and classmates would applaud, and because of this encouragement, she began to shed her lack of confidence and timidity.
Everyone probably needs to take a step forward with determination. Once taken, they would find that some things were not as difficult as they seemed, but it was their own hearts playing tricks on them.
"Wen Ruan, we're leaving first."
Several boys and girls waved goodbye to her with smiles. They were a new group of trainees who had just joined the company, young and lively. Besides feeling a little unfamiliar on the first day, they had now become close with her.
One of them was a 19-year-old boy named Feng Cheng, and he had the best relationship with her.
He came from a good family and studied acting professionally. He was energetic and lively. It was he who took the lead in performing just now, breaking the timid or embarrassed atmosphere below, and he also encouraged her not to be timid and to be bold.
After responding to their farewells with a smile and reminding them to rest early, she watched them leave.
Wen Ruan started packing up her things, putting her notes and some materials into her bag, saying hello to a few other classmates, and walking upstairs.
Nacy had sent her a message just now saying to come upstairs after the acting class.
The eighteenth floor.
She knocked on the door.
"Come in," Nacy's voice came from inside.
Wen Ruan pushed the door open, and Nacy was still on the phone. When she saw Wen Ruan come in, she gestured for her to sit first. Wen Ruan did just that and poured herself a cup of honey water, drinking it leisurely.
A few minutes passed.
Nacy finally finished her call and asked her with a smile, "How have you been these days?"
Wen Ruan tilted her head, seemingly recalling the things she had done these few days, then bent her eyebrows and replied, "It's been very fulfilling and interesting."
"That's good. I was worried you wouldn't adjust."
As she spoke, Nacy pushed a contract in front of her. "The adventure travel variety show we talked about before has been confirmed. You and Ji Yan are going, and aside from you two, there will be four more people, but it's not certain who they will be."
"But—"
She paused. "According to what I know, Su Lan Lan's team had also contacted this variety show before, so unless something unexpected happens, she should also be going with you guys."
Su Lan Lan's popularity was not small among female celebrities. And just the three names Ji Yan, Wen Ruan, and Su Lan Lan together meant heat. No variety show would want to miss out on such heat.
Wen Ruan didn't mind.
In this industry, you would meet others sooner or later. Even without this variety show, she would have plenty of chances to meet Su Lan Lan in the future.
Moreover, with Su Lan Lan's personality, besides daring to cause trouble behind others' backs, she was more cautious than anyone else in public, afraid that her good reputation would be tarnished.
Seeing that she didn’t mind, Nacy continued, "Before the departure, I will also remind Ji Yan to help out more."
"No, no, no," Wen Ruan quickly waved her hand. With Ji Yan's personality, it would be best if he just ignored her. She didn't want to be plagued by his group of fans once the variety show started. Seeing that Nacy still looked concerned, she smiled and said, "It's okay, I can take care of myself."
She had never eaten pork, but she had seen pigs run. She could handle it herself.
Nacy didn't say anything more after hearing her words, but in her heart, she decided that she would still mention it to Ji Yan when the variety show started. Remembering something else, she spoke again, "By the way, tomorrow is Ji Xi's birthday. Should I give you the day off?"
"I was just about to tell you," Wen Ruan smiled. "But there's no need for a whole day off. I can still come during the day. Besides, the birthday celebration won't start until the evening."
Nacy nodded and opened a drawer, handing over the gift she had prepared for Ji Xi. "This is for Ji Xi, can you bring it over tomorrow with you?"
Even though Wen Ruan had known Ji Xi since college, and they had always been on good terms, the Ji family was a famous and wealthy family, very different from those of ordinary backgrounds like hers, so she didn't really like to interact with the Ji family. Wen Ruan knew this and didn't say anything else, taking the gift and putting it into her bag.
As she was leaving, Ji Xi's call came in, and in high spirits, she asked her, "Sweetie, do you know what day it is tomorrow?"
Wen Ruan playfully pretended not to know and asked, "What day is it?"
"!!!" Ji Xi panicked upon hearing this. "Wen Xiao Ruan, you actually forgot my birthday. We're done, we're done right away!"
"Okay, okay, I'm just teasing you. How could I forget your birthday? I've already prepared your gift, and I'll be there on time tomorrow."
Knowing that Wen Ruan would come over, Ji Xi relaxed. She had actually been worried that Wen Ruan wouldn't show up, and after chatting with her for a few more moments, she hesitantly said, "Should I send someone to pick you up tomorrow?" Before, Wen Ruan had always appeared as Mrs. Lin for such occasions, but now that she had divorced...
"No need."
Wen Ruan how could not know Ji Xi's concern, she smiled and said, "I still have classes during the day tomorrow, so I'll come by myself at night, don't worry about me." As she was about to reach the downstairs, Xiaomai was already waving and greeting her. After exchanging a few words with Ji Xi, she hung up the phone.