You Shulang took off his suit and changed into a doctor's gown. He looked at himself in the mirror. His appearance had not changed much, but the youthfulness and childishness of a few years ago were gone. His eyes were also less lively, replaced by a calm and peaceful look, and perhaps a little gloomy.
Putting a ballpoint pen into his chest pocket, You Shulang raised the corners of his lips, gave himself a smile in the mirror, turned around and walked out of the dressing room.
There were a lot of miscellaneous items piled up in the conference room of Changling Pharmaceutical, and it was only after You Shulang took up the post that they were sorted out into categories.
Now the clean and tidy conference room was waiting for the distinguished guests. Huang Qimin took out the finest tea, and the kettle in the corner was bubbling with hot steam.
You Shulang has been working at Changling Pharmaceutical for more than half a month, and today is his first meeting with investors.
He always knew himself and his opponent well when doing things, but this time he didn't get any information about the investors. Huang Qimin also kept it strictly secret and just said with a smile that they were rich people and there was no need to devote energy to research.
The door of the conference room was pushed open, and the first to enter was Huang Qimin's high-pitched and enthusiastic voice, followed by his fat body. He led the investors in, and several men and women in suits and leather shoes filed in. At first glance, they looked very professional.
You Shulang stood up, his professional smile almost forming when it suddenly froze at the corner of his lips.
After a few people, another person walked in slowly. Everyone spontaneously made way for him to walk from behind to the front.
The grey suit with peaked lapels is crisp and well-fitted, and the diamond cufflinks sparkle in the early spring sunshine. His smile is just right, neither arrogant nor overbearing, making people feel relaxed and a little apprehensive.
It's Fan Xiao!!
You Shulang suddenly clenched his fists and became furious! It was only then that he realized that he had once again fallen into the trap set by Fan Xiao.
An ideal job or a high-paying position are nothing but bread crumbs placed in front of the bird, luring it into the trap step by step!
You Shulang felt as if a stone plate was pressing on his heart. The sunlight outside the window made him dizzy. Amid the noisy voices, he heard someone calling his name.
"Shu Lang," Huang Qimin smiled awkwardly, "Is there no need for President Fan to introduce you to me?"
"No need." You Shulang raised his eyes and calmly extended his hand to Fan Xiao, "Hello, Mr. Fan."
Fan Xiao shook the hand anxiously, pressing his palms together tightly. He rubbed the back of You Shulang's hand with his thumb for a few times before saying, "Long time no see, Director You."
Huang Qimin finally felt relieved when he saw that the two of them were communicating well. "Shulang, it turns out that Mr. Fan said that there were some misunderstandings between you and him. In order not to affect your employment, he didn't let me tell you that he is the investor of our honeysuckle drink project. Oh, I was quite worried. I thought that you two would meet... It seems that I was overthinking."
Huang Qimin patted You Shulang and Fan Xiao on the shoulders with both hands and said, "You young people are full of passion. No matter what differences you had before, don't worry about them anymore now that things have changed."
You Shulang's hand quickly pulled away, and Fan Xiao rubbed his fingers, somewhat nostalgic for the warmth just now. His eyes never left You Shulang from beginning to end, looking at the man's expression, and said: "I lost my sense of propriety before and offended Director You. I hope Director You will not hold it against me again."
You Shulang slowly raised his head and looked directly at Fan Xiao, only to find that there was a piece of gauze on the left corner of his forehead. Fan Xiao's hair had grown a lot longer recently, and it was barely covering the gauze, so You Shulang didn't notice it just now because of the angle.
"No." You Shulang's professional smile was impeccable. "Mr. Fan, you worry too much. How could you lose your sense of proportion?"
"Please take your seats." He turned his gaze towards everyone, "The meeting can begin now."
During the break in the meeting, You Shulang went to the bathroom. Changling Pharmaceutical's office is located in an old teaching building, with two bathrooms on each floor.
You Shulang chose the farthest toilet in the corridor and lit a cigarette. As soon as he took a puff, the old door with cracked paint was pushed open. The lotus leaves that had not been maintained for a long time made a creaking sound, which made people's teeth ache.
The person who came was undoubtedly Fan Xiao. He first went to the inner room to run water, then walked to You Shulang and turned on the faucet to wash his hands.
"Director You is waiting for me?"
You Shulang exhaled a "hmm" along with the smoke and took off the cigarette: "I'm waiting for you."
The mirror on the pool was mottled, making people look hazy. Fan Xiao looked at You Shulang in the mirror with a scorching gaze.
He did not respond to You Shulang's words, but said: "Director You looks good in a doctor's uniform."
You Shulang's brows tightened, he heard a suppressed emotion in Fan Xiao's words.
He rubbed his fingers together and wanted to hit someone.
Suppressing his anger, You Shulang flicked the ash off his cigarette, lowered his eyes and asked, "Fan Xiao, do you want to control my life?"
He asked casually, as if he didn't care much.
Fan Xiao turned off the faucet, and couldn't find a towel around, so he could only shake the water droplets off his hands.
"Why would Master You say that?" He took a cigarette out of the cigarette box with his wet hands, put it in his mouth, and leaned in front of You Shulang, saying vaguely, "Borrow a light."
You Shulang obviously moved away, distanced himself from Fan Xiao, and pressed the cigarette in his hand down on the dark concrete platform.
"Sorry, the fire is out," he said.
Fan Xiao felt that he was indeed crazy. Such a cold and distant You Shulang made him itchy. He wanted to push him into a corner and kiss him fiercely.
"Didn't it hurt when I beat you last time?" You Shulang raised his eyelids and asked Fan Xiao.
"It hurts." Fan Xiao told the truth, "I lay in bed for half a month, and took my work to the hospital every day."
You Shulang nodded: "Then why do you come to provoke me? Do you want revenge?"
Fan Xiao swallowed his crazy words with his Adam's apple sliding, and said, "It's not revenge. Shu Lang, there may be a misunderstanding between us."
You Shulang showed an expression of disbelief: "Now that things have come to this, Fan Xiao, you still want to make up stories? Still want to lie?"
"I did all those things, I admit it." Fan Xiao habitually wanted to hug You Shulang's shoulders, but put down his arms under the other's sharp gaze, "But I can explain."
You Shulang chuckled: "Your explanation is that you used Teacher Huang to trick me into coming to Changling and continue to control me, right?"
You Shulang took a step forward and approached Fan Xiao: "Let me guess why you did this?"
"Because Bohai is a pharmaceutical factory after all, with your ability, Fan Xiao, you can't just do whatever you want. But Changling is different. It's just a scientific research team. It has no money, no people, and no ability to compete with you. You can't do whatever you want."
You Shulang suddenly grabbed Fan Xiao by the collar and threw him against the wall: "You don't want to control Chang Ling, Fan Xiao, you just want to control me!"
"Am I so incompetent in your eyes?" You Shulang stared at Fan Xiao, "Without Bohai or Changling, I, You Shulang, can't survive? I don't believe that you, Fan Xiao, can reach every place in China!"
Fan Xiao had been letting You Shulang suppress him until he heard this. Then he suddenly grabbed You Shulang's wrist with his hand hanging by his side, and his expression turned fierce: "You want to leave Changling? Isn't this your ideal job? Didn't you tell me that you wanted to return to the front line of drug research and development?"
"Yes, I want to return to the research team, but I would rather give up my dream than see you." You Shulang broke free from Fan Xiao's shackles, "Not to mention seeing you, even just thinking about you makes me feel sick! Fan Xiao, you are trash, please stay where trash belongs and don't pollute the environment! Please get out of my world, get away!! "
You Shulang stood up straight, and walked towards the door without even blinking in disgust.
"You can leave Changling. Then Changling will have no meaning to me and there is no need for it to exist."
You Shulang suddenly turned around and asked: "What do you mean?"
Fan Xiao relaxed his back and leaned lazily against the wall. He threw the cigarette into his mouth and said, "What I mean is, if you leave Changling and leave me, then all your teacher's hard work for half a lifetime will be wasted."
You Shulang suddenly said coldly: "Nonsense, even if you withdraw your investment, Changling can find other partners."
Fan Xiao lit a cigarette with a match, shook out the flame, and then said, "How about Director You go back and take a look at the contract we signed? If Changling doesn't complete the process optimization within 20 days, it will be considered a unilateral breach of contract. As for the liquidated damages, I don't think your teacher can afford it even if he sacrifices the entire Changling."
"20 days? How is it possible to complete process optimization in such a short time?! Why would the teacher sign such a ridiculous contract with you?"
Fan Xiao smiled and said, "I just complained to your teacher, saying that my father needs to see a good contract before he will support me to continue to develop in the mainland. I also promised your teacher that no matter what is signed in the contract, I will give him a 6-month research and development cycle."
Fan Xiao took a cigarette and exhaled: "Don't think that I deceived your teacher. If he didn't want to hang on to my money tree, he wouldn't have taken such a risk."
"So, if you leave Changling, Changling will really be finished."
You Shulang clenched his fists under his sleeves, making a clattering sound. "Do you think I care about Chang Ling's life or death?"
"You will. If you don't care about Changling's life or death, you will turn against me when we just met." Fan Xiao lowered his eyes, "You care about everyone except me."
You Shulang gnashed his teeth and said, "So you were originally plotting against me, but now you are openly plotting against me?"
Fan Xiao was silent for a while, then replied, "If you say so, then so be it."
"Fuck!" You Shulang cursed, then turned around and walked out angrily.
Fan Xiao followed him subconsciously. You Shulang pushed the spring door of the bathroom open with force, and let go of it at just the right time. The door rebounded and hit Fan Xiao's face who was following behind him.
"Hmm!"
The bridge of my nose felt sore and painful, and a warm current slowly flowed out...