My Boss Always Flirts With Me - Chapter 65
Chapter 65: Provocation
“Why?”
After another long silence, Fang Ci replied, “What do you think? Teacher He, I once asked you this question too, but you never gave me a direct answer. So this time, I won’t give you an answer either.”
He Chi’s head ached terribly. He was used to Fang Ci’s spoiled and obedient tone. It felt as if, overnight, his own rose had grown thorns, making his soul tremble. Fang Ci didn’t give him time to talk. Anticipating another sleepless night, He Chi almost immediately called Yuan Cheng and told him to book the soonest flight to Southeast Asia.
“Boss, the soonest flight is tomorrow at noon.”
“Book it,” He Chi said.
Yuan Cheng agreed, and a few minutes later, the flight information was sent to his phone. He turned off the screen, leaned back in the car seat, and felt a fire lit inside his heart. Fueled by the alcohol he’d had, the fire burned even more fiercely, so hot that his reason was completely broken.
After he got home, he took off his clothes and took a cold shower. If there had been a flight tonight, he would have flown there directly. To pin him in his arms, tightly, to pin him in his arms.
The early spring water was icy. His burning mind finally sobered up a little. Cold water ran down his temples, and Fang Ci’s words kept echoing in his mind. What had he once asked him? He seemed to have asked something, but he couldn’t remember. A feeling of being out of control enveloped him, sparking a sense of fear. The mere fact that the person on his heart wasn’t by his side upended his habits and deviated from all his predetermined paths.
The steam on the mirror cleared, revealing his reddened eyes. It turned out that “emotion” was the most difficult system to develop. He reached out and rubbed his Adam’s apple, leaving a red mark. That night, he barely slept at all.
…
Around eight o’clock, he received a call from He Yun.
“Got time?” He Yun asked.
He frowned. “I’m going to the airport at noon.”
“This morning,” He Yun said.
His tone was still cold. “What is it?”
“An investor your father mentioned before is passing by Zhiyun this morning,” He Yun said. “I’m telling you so we can meet him together.”
“No need,” he replied without a moment’s thought.
He Yun, hearing his refusal, didn’t get anxious. Instead, she smiled and said, “He’s in charge of the Southeast Asian market. The ACR company is in his evaluation system, and he has a lot of inside information.”
His motion of changing clothes paused. ACR was their Southeast Asian production line—the company where Fang Ci was.
“So, are you meeting him or not?” He Yun asked.
“What time?” he said.
He Yun curled her lips. “9:30 AM, in the cafe downstairs from the Zhiyun Technology building.”
He Chi put on his coat.
…
He Yun stopped her car at a crosswalk, connected her Bluetooth, and put on a cheerful song. Humming along, she muttered to herself, “Now this feels like a real morning.” She turned a few more corners, and the towering buildings of the CBD came into view. He Yun put on her sunglasses, grabbed her bag, and got out of the car. Not far away, He Chi’s car was pulling into the parking lot at the same moment. He Yun pushed her sunglasses down with her index finger. The sun was bright, but there was no warmth on her cousin’s face. He was utterly cold and stern, and a single glance felt like falling into an ice cellar.
“What’s wrong? Did someone owe you money, or did Zhiyun Technology get sold to Wall Street?” He Yun greeted him lazily, her red lips slightly curved in a joke.
He Chi gave her a side-long glance and said, “Let’s go in.” His long coat fluttered slightly. There was no small talk or pleasantries at all. He Yun raised an eyebrow.
Both of them had heard about this Mr. Su from their family. He Yun was quite familiar with him, but He Chi had never met him. When they arrived, Mr. Su was already sipping his coffee. A young man was with him, whom Mr. Su introduced as his son. He Chi didn’t miss a beat on proper etiquette, but the introduction caught him by surprise. He glanced at the young man from the corner of his eye, frowning. He felt as if he had seen this person somewhere before.
Beside him, He Yun said, “Ziming, right? My second uncle mentioned you before. I thought you were just starting university, but you’ve already started working.”
Su Ziming looked at He Chi with a subtle intention and said, “I got my master’s abroad and just graduated. I’m in product R&D now, so in a way, I’m a colleague of President He.”
He Yun smiled. “Indeed, you two should have met sooner.”
“There was a chance before,” Su Ziming said, “but it was too rushed when I visited Uncle He last time, so I didn’t get to tour Zhiyun Technology.”
He Chi’s memory for useless people and things was practically nonexistent, but Su Ziming’s words gave him a jolt. He had indeed seen photos of the two of them. The Su father and son had both been at a He family gathering. In his twenties, a young man… he knew exactly what his father was up to. He just didn’t understand why He Yun had gotten involved and what her purpose was.
During the meeting, He Chi only talked about the information he wanted to know. Mr. Su held nothing back, speaking freely. “Labor prices in Southeast Asia are low, which is very cost-effective for brands. The most troublesome thing is warehousing, because the weather is humid and rainy, there were problems with storage and transportation a few years ago.” He also gave him detailed information about several familiar local companies, down to the changes in positions of the main people in charge over the past few years. In contrast, He Yun was completely relaxed and chatting enthusiastically with Su Ziming.
He Chi didn’t plan to stay long. After half an hour, he was ready to leave. Just then, he heard He Yun say, “If A-Chi weren’t married, you two might have really hit it off.” Su Ziming froze. He was young after all, and his ears turned red. “Please don’t joke, ma’am.”
His good upbringing made He Chi hold back the anger that had been provoked, but anyone present who wasn’t blind could see how awful his expression was. Mr. Su also felt a bit awkward and quickly tried to smooth things over: “That’s all in the past. It would be true luck for Ziming to be able to learn from President He.”
A normal person would have been polite and let the comment pass, but He Chi didn’t give a single bit of face. He said, “Mr. Su, I have a flight to catch, so I won’t bother you any longer. My company is upstairs. If you’re interested, you can contact my assistant and have him give you a tour.” After saying that, he stood up and said, “I’ll take my leave now.”
Mr. Su knew his earlier comment had been unnecessary and had backfired. He gave a light cough, lowered his head to drink his water. He Yun apologized to the two of them and also left, following He Chi.
…
He Chi got back into his car. The passenger door was pulled open by He Yun, and he watched her get in.
“He Yun,” he said coldly.
He Yun turned her head to look at him.
“Don’t test my bottom line,” He Chi said.
He Yun suddenly let out a laugh. “Oh? There’s such a thing? My apologies, I didn’t notice.” Though she said so, her tone showed little to no apology.
“What is your bottom line?” she said, placing a thin cigarette between her lips.
He Chi paused for a second and answered, “Fang Ci.”
He Yun froze for a moment, then raised an eyebrow.
“Fang Ci is my bottom line,” He Chi said coolly. “Did you hear me clearly?”
The two had known each other since birth and had never spoken to each other like this before. If it had been anyone else, they would likely have been subdued by He Chi. But He Yun was a straightforward person, an expert at getting under people’s skin. The more aggressive the other person’s tone, the more ruthless she became, just like now. She looked him up and down and said directly, “That’s not right. I heard from Fang Ci that he’s not coming back.”
He Chi’s chest rose and fell for a moment. A slight, uncontrollable emotion leaked into his voice: “He told you?”
“Yeah,” He Yun said. “He sent me a message this morning and mentioned it.”
He Chi pressed his lips together, silent.
“Forget it, He Chi,” He Yun said.
He Chi didn’t look at her. The hand on the steering wheel tightened.
He Yun held her cigarette. “I can see that you and Fang Ci aren’t a good match. Instead of speculating about each other, you should just find someone else. Anyway, you said yourselves that you signed an agreement, and an agreement can be changed. If you want a family or a partner, it doesn’t necessarily have to be Fang Ci, right?”
The veins on the back of He Chi’s hand popped out. He seemed to be using all his willpower to hold it in: “That’s enough, He Yun.”
He Yun ignored his reaction, reaching her hand out the window to flick the ash from her cigarette. “At best, Fang Ci is family? I remember you saying when you were a kid that family could be replaced.”
He Chi closed his eyes, feeling his emotions nearing a breaking point. The composure he had worked so hard to maintain for over a decade was in jeopardy.
“He Yun, you’re not qualified to judge me.”
“He Chi,” He Yun said, “you’re not qualified to object to me either, because you’re just like your parents—autocratic and stubborn!”
He Chi hit the car horn with a “snap,” startling a pedestrian walking by. He Yun acted as if she hadn’t seen it and continued, “My second uncle and aunt’s unhappy marriage is their problem. The fact that it’s affected you is also their problem. I can understand that you resent them and don’t want to follow in their footsteps. But using the mistakes of the last generation to punish the person who’s with you now—that’s something I can’t understand.”
“Punishing?” He Chi’s eyes were bloodshot.
He Yun closed her mouth and was silent for a while. After finishing her cigarette and taking a long pause, she said, “Congratulations, He Chi. In the end, we’ve all become the people we hate.” Dropping this sentence, she pushed the door open and walked to her own car without looking back.
Their cars were diagonally across from each other, so neither could see the other, yet it was as if they could see each other’s expressions clearly. The peace they had woven for years was sliced open, revealing a bloody, raw interior. That was the real storm.
He Yun took a breath and sat for a moment, watching He Chi’s car roar away. He left so quickly that the hurried manner didn’t even seem like him. She smoked another cigarette. Her phone rang. He Yun answered and said, “Downstairs, license plate 410, a red Mercedes. Come over.”
Shortly after, a man came down from the Zhiyun Technology building. Dressed in brand names and carrying two bottles of water, he swayed over. He Yun rolled down her window, and the man leaned on the glass and greeted her, then said, “I really wish I had come down earlier to see He Chi’s expression.”
He Yun chuckled. “You better not. With your little bit of guts, it wouldn’t be enough.”
The person who came was none other than Wei Lin. Wei Lin got into the car, handed her a bottle of water, and asked, “Did you scold him?”
“How could I dare scold President He?” He Yun said. “I was just filled with righteous indignation and couldn’t stand it, so I said a few more words.”
“Tsk,” Wei Lin shook his head. “If little Fang Ci found out, he’d be heartbroken.”
He Yun smiled. “He already knows.”
Wei Lin’s eyes widened. He Yun added, “I gave him a general idea. He Chi can explain the rest himself.”
Wei Lin couldn’t help but sigh. “You two really are something… Fang Ci only asked you to arrange a blind date, but you went and added extra weight to it. Isn’t this dose of tough love a bit too cruel?”
He Yun fell silent, then after a moment, she shook her head. “When you met He Chi, he was already like this. But you’ve never seen the real He Chi. For a person like him, you have to be a little ruthless.”
“How so?” Wei Lin didn’t understand.
He Yun said, “Have you ever seen the scar on his body? On his waist. It’s a very deep one.”
Wei Lin was speechless. Alright, it seemed he really didn’t know He Chi well. It was the first time he had heard that he had been seriously injured.
He Yun continued, “In junior high, he ran away from home on a motorcycle. The road was slick from the heavy rain, and he skidded on a turn. Pieces of the motorcycle were embedded in his side, and he had multiple fractures. When the butler got the call and rushed over, he saw him and thought he wouldn’t make it.”
Wei Lin gasped, his eyes widening even more. “What did you say? He Chi, street racing? Did I hear that right?”
“Who brings up things from their childhood, especially something so disreputable?” He Yun said.
Wei Lin was silent for a moment, then asked, “Disreputable… you don’t mean the motorcycle riding, do you?”
“Mhm,” He Yun nodded. Wei Lin could guess that for a person’s personality to change so drastically, something very bad must have happened. Combined with what he knew about He Chi’s relationship with his family, the root cause naturally came to the surface.
“He lost half his body’s bl00d that night and barely made it out alive. That’s how we got the He Chi we know today,” He Yun’s words were vague, but her emotion was deep. “He’s too stubborn. He doesn’t learn a lesson without pain.” He Yun was three years older than He Chi. When He Chi’s accident happened, she was already an adult and had her own understanding and judgment of her second uncle’s family affairs. That side of the family had a stubborn streak. Her second uncle seemed shrewd and selfish, but in reality, he just didn’t understand what emotion was. Her aunt’s betrayal of her marriage was initially a drama with intentional elements, but it spiraled out of control.
“He Chi should be grateful that there’s someone who understands love and is willing to wait for him.”
“Hey,” Wei Lin said, “you know, a stubborn one and a willful one—they actually make a pretty good match.”
He Yun smiled. Before starting the engine, she glanced at her phone. There was a new message:
[Is he okay?]
He Yun replied casually: [Don’t worry. Just remember to treat me to a meal when you get back. (patting the little rabbit’s head).]