"Knock, knock, knock."
He paused his fingers, and from outside the door, Aunt Wei's voice barely reached through the thick wooden door, "Mr. Du, a call from the old house."
Du Ziyou took a deep breath, laying his hands on the table in a fist, suppressing his emotions.
Aunt Wei waited a while before the door opened again, revealing a person who still had a cold expression but seemed relatively calm.
I hope it's not something serious, she silently prayed, knowing the chance was slim. Insignificant matters wouldn't warrant a call, at least not for that person.
Inside, she harbored resentment and regret, growing stronger as the years went by. However, being accustomed to weakness, she would simply bow her head in silence and retreat into her comfort zone, unable to move forward.
The telephone was placed in the living room, a tradition from the old house that was preserved here without any changes.
Aunt Wei tidied up in the hallway, sneaking glances at the activity in the living room.
Mr. Du sat on the sofa, one hand on his knee, sitting in an upright position like a student listening to a lecture, silently listening to the person on the other end of the phone.
Suddenly, his expression changed. Aunt Wei paused her actions and looked at him with worry.
He whispered in disagreement, seemed to be retorted back, closed his mouth tightly, and remained silent until he hung up the phone.
Having taken care of him for so many years, Aunt Wei had almost seen the anger brewing on top of his head, as if he was about to throw a tantrum in the next second, and then smash the items in the room.
However, he didn't, as a matter of course.
"Aunt Wei," Du Ziyou supported his forehead, thumb pressed against his temple, closing his eyes with a look of exhaustion, "I'll return to the old house on Saturday and come back on Monday."
*
"Brother Xu," Ji Wenfei saved the form in her computer and looked up to see Xu Zhuo walking with a bag on his back, "Leaving work so early today?"
Xu Zhuo walked quickly and waved at her backwards, "Rarely finished all the work, going to the gym."
In the elevator, they met other colleagues from different floors, but after some time of acquaintance, they recognized each other, and casually engaged in conversation.
"Oreya's acquisition is settled," a senior male colleague suddenly mentioned, "It was last week's matter."
"Oreya? Are you sure?" Another female colleague expressed doubt, "They've been rumors for over a year, and which one wasn’t just a rumor?"
"I heard it's been signed, it shouldn't be wrong."
Some breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "Finally solved a big problem, last year when it failed, it made everyone anxious, wasn't our manager still..." He cut himself off.
Xu Zhuo, listening next to them, combined with the previous rumors he had heard, roughly guessed what was going on, but didn't speak up.
"Now Mr. Du must be happy," the female colleague said optimistically, "Will we get a raise and a bonus when he's happy?"
"Haha, you're thinking too much," the person next to her replied, "It's time to use the money, not having a pay cut is already a blessing."
"Don't say that, there will be a celebration for sure," the male colleague interjected, "It's a process, first a media conference, then an internal company banquet, and there may even be a private party between the executives of both sides."
Hearing about the banquet, the female colleagues' eyes lit up, starting an enthusiastic discussion about what to wear and planning to lose weight to maintain their figure.
Xu Zhuo lost interest in the conversation.
The impact of the whole thing on the Oya employees is much greater than on Bingyou. Bingyou had just recruited a group of new employees, and the momentum was on the rise. It was impossible to lay off or drastically reduce benefits at this time, so they didn't seem to worry at all.
He remembered that Oya came to the company for negotiations a few days ago, which should be when the contract was signed.
So, that day when Du Ziyu drank and said something about "winning," was it because the acquisition was successful?
Just celebrating in this way... didn't seem like he was happy.
"Ding dong—" the elevator reached the lower floor, and the people inside rushed out.
Xu Zhuo was sandwiched in the crowd, tallest among them, and looked over the shoulders of the crowd to see another group of people coming out of a dedicated elevator not far away.
Du Ziyu walked among them, his delicate face and elegant demeanor captivating like a star.
He seemed to sense something and looked up to meet Xu Zhuo's gaze.
Xu Zhuo smiled brightly at him, but he just turned his head without a word, listening to the people next to him talking.
Xu Zhuo: "???"
Wasn't everything fine a few days ago?
He was a little confused, not knowing where the problem occurred, and the sentence "Du's heart, a needle in the sea..." echoed in his mind with a sense of helplessness.
Fortunately, he had a big heart and never tormented himself with such thoughts. When he arrived at the gym, he put his doubts behind him.
This was the largest gym near his residence, and it wasn't yet time to get off work, so there weren't many people there.
He ran for half an hour as a warm-up, then changed into his swimsuit and went into the water, swimming five laps in one breath.
"Phew!" He gasped for breath, removed his goggles with his palm, wiped the water off his face, and shouted to the lifeguard, "What's the time?"
The lifeguard sitting high up was familiar with him and reported the time without a word.
"Hah!" He proudly raised his fist from under the water, surprised that he hadn't deteriorated too much despite not practicing for so long.
"Clap, clap..." someone applauded him from the other lane, and Xu Zhuo turned to look.
A man, only wearing swimming trunks and a swim cap, without any accessories. Xu Zhuo struggled to recognize him. "Manager Lin!" He was Lin, the manager of LMT.
Manager Lin swam closer, smiling, "I didn't expect President Xu to be a good swimmer."
"Just call me by my name," Xu Zhuo reached out and shook his hand. Out of the workplace, they could interact in a casual manner. "Do you also live nearby? I've never seen you before."
Manager Lin, named Lin Ruzhe, was a few years older than Xu Zhuo, but still considered a young man. He was not very traditional and easy to get along with. They had a good working relationship during the collaboration in the past two weeks. As long as you didn't bother him, he was quite easygoing, and they were now at ease with each other.
"Just moved," he looked at Xu Zhuo's shoulders and chest exposed above the water and commended, "You have a good figure. Do you have any good personal trainers to recommend?"
Xu Zhuo leant against the pool wall, his elbows on the edge of the pool, and said, "No, I learned it during college and practiced on my own."
Lin Ruzhe turned to look at him, teasing with that man-to-man look, "Your girlfriend is lucky."
Xu Zhuo's handsome appearance, tall stature, good personality, bright future in his career, and most importantly, his ambition - it was natural for him to assume that he was already with an equally outstanding woman. And being in his twenties, how could he possibly restrain himself? In any case, he must have had a few close female friends.
Xu Zhuo chuckled but didn't correct him, bending his neck to look at the abs underwater, saying, "I've been too busy recently. I have dropped exercising and my muscles already feel a bit soft in just a few days."
Lin Ruzhe empathized, nodding, "We've just gotten some free time too," and then remembered, "By the way, I haven't congratulated you yet."
"For what?" Xu Zhuo asked.
"On Bingyou's acquisition of Oya. Mr. Du finally has his wish fulfilled," Lin Ruzhe informed.
"Even you know about it?" Internal staff at Bingyou hadn't received the official announcement, and an outsider already knew?
Lin Ruzhe leaned in, "It hasn't been formally announced yet, but the Du family's dinner invitations have been sent out for this Sunday."
Xu Zhuo blinked, it made sense. It should be a gathering of the Du family and some dignitaries.
Lin Ruzhe continued, "They have invited quite a lot of people. The Du family hasn't had such a large-scale dinner for a long time. It's for the business and political circles..." He didn't go on, but only gave Xu Zhuo a look.
Xu Zhuo didn't pick up the conversation and inquired about a doubt he had all along, "You seem quite familiar with Mr. Du."
Lin Ruzhe shook his head, "Not really. We are alumni."
He studied abroad and had met Du Ziyu a few times through the alumni association, and being in the same major, they had developed a bit of a rapport. Although they were only a grade apart, Du Ziyu was younger due to skipping a grade, and their actual ages differed by several years.
"An extremely talented guy," Lin Ruzhe recollected, "He won a full scholarship every year, and also received awards in piano, violin, painting, and chess. He was good-looking and charmed a large number of female students, truly deserving of being the campus heartthrob," he paused and diplomatically added, "He just doesn't like to socialize too much."
Xu Zhuo automatically translated that to "he's just too aloof." What he was curious about was something else entirely.
Lin Ruzhe seemed to sense his thoughts or simply remembered, and said with a smile, "Do you know, in a full class competition, he used who as a case study?"
Xu Zhuo looked at him, and faintly guessed.
Lin Ruzhe raised the corner of his mouth, "Right, he used Oya."
Five or six years ago, Bingyou was far from what it was now, and was comparable to Oya; then, did Du Ziyu plan to acquire it back then?
The affairs of the two advertising companies were not very relevant to Lin Ruzhe, who just took it as a topic of interest and used it as another proof of admiring Du Ziyu.
Xu Zhuo found it strange, but couldn't think of any other twists and turns.
Also, it's not my business to manage.
He swam until he was fully satisfied before leaving, and on the way back, he ordered takeout. When he got home, he collapsed on the sofa, exhausted.
Before he could recover, his phone vibrated.
"So soon?" It was delivered in less than ten minutes after ordering?
Without looking, he answered directly, "Hello?"
"You little brat!" the person on the other end yelled angrily, "You haven't called home in ten days! A piece of char siu is better than having you alive!"
"Ah! Ah!!" Xu Zhuo covered his face with his palm. The old man had recently gotten close to a certain boss, and although he hadn't picked up anything else, he had learned quite a few slang words from them.
"What? Your mother is out all the time, and you are too, as if you don't have a wife and kids anymore. Do you know how others mock me? Ah?!"
"Dad!" Xu Zhuo's eardrums were almost pierced by his loud voice, "If you have something to say, say it quickly. I still need to eat!"
The person on the other end was panting, and it was a while before he calmed down and said sternly, "Free up your weekend and come home."
Going back was not a big deal, but he had a feeling it wouldn't be that simple. Cautiously, he asked, "Why should I come back?"
"To accompany me somewhere."
Xu Zhuo frowned, as he expected. He said resentfully, "I told you I don't want to participate in your activities."
His dad was not well-educated, but he had good luck and made a fortune in construction. When he had money, he nourished a desire to become a member of the gentry and tried to integrate into aristocratic families.
Xu Zhuo had often been forced to attend various gatherings in the past. He had long been fed up with their politeness and backstabbing, and when he accidentally glimpsed the rottenness beneath their glamorous exterior, he cut off all contact with those people. As a result, he fell out with his old man.
He could almost hear the old man grinding his teeth over the phone, "Do you know how hard I worked to get that invitation!?"
Xu Zhuo, his tired legs from exercising, absent-mindedly listened to his loud yelling.
"If it weren't for the expanded invitation range from the Du family this time, do you think-"
"Dad," Xu Zhuo suddenly interrupted him, "dad!"
"You bastard! You-"
"Who are you talking about?" Xu Zhuo interrupted him, regardless of his swearing, and asked, "The Du family?"