A Broken Mirror Never Mends - Chapter 4

Walking out of the LP11 entrance, Zhou Sifu asked Zheng Ying, “Should I have my driver take you home?”

“No need, the North Campus of the University of Science and Technology is right nearby. It’s only a five-minute walk,” Zheng Ying said. “It’s getting late, and Yang-yang has piano lessons tomorrow morning. I’ll take him back now.”

As she spoke, Zheng Ying took her son’s chubby little hand. “Yang-yang, say goodbye to Uncle.”

Yang-yang leaned into his mother’s arms, his eyelids drooping with sleep. “Master Zhou… bye-bye.”

Zhou Sifu reached out and patted Yang-yang’s fluffy hair but said nothing more.

Before leaving, Zheng Ying stepped forward and asked in a low voice, “Next Saturday at the usual place?”

Zhou Sifu didn’t answer, which served as a silent agreement.

He had flown back from the United States on short notice, even skipping Danofe’s IPO gala, specifically for this meeting that Zheng Ying had requested.

Two months ago, Zheng Ying had filed for a divorce by agreement and taken her husband who was also Zhou Sifu’s eldest brother to court.

That absurd financial dispute between the couple ended with Zheng Ying losing the case. However, just yesterday, she had approached Zhou Sifu with a set of undisclosed patent documents.

During their brief meeting today, he and Zheng Ying reached a secret deal. The details of this trade were known only to the two of them.

After seeing the mother and son off, Zhou Sifu returned to the hotel parking lot and walked straight to a black Raffaelina in the VIP spot.

The Raffaelina was a high-end business model produced by Danofe. Its price wasn’t considered expensive for a luxury sedan in its class, costing about 1.7 million yuan fully equipped. Because it offered great value, it sold out quickly when pre-orders began at the start of the year and was currently being restocked.

The driver, Lao Zhao, had been waiting for a long time. Seeing Zhou Sifu appear, he quickly opened the back door for his boss.

Back in the driver’s seat, Lao Zhao looked through the rearview mirror and saw President Zhou unbuttoning his shirt collar one by one. He leaned back against the seat with his eyes closed, showing a rare hint of tiredness.

“President Zhou, should I take you straight to the airport now?”

Zhou Sifu rubbed his temples. “Wait a moment.”

About fifteen minutes later, another black sedan drove slowly into the lot. A young man in a suit got out, holding a sealed file bag.

He knocked respectfully on the Raffaelina’s door. After getting his boss’s permission, the man opened the door and sat inside.

Taking a few sheets of paper from the file bag, the secretary handed them to Zhou Sifu with both hands. “President Zhou, these are the items sent by our contact inside Fengyu.”

Taking the stack of photos, Zhou Sifu leaned back and began to flip through them one by one.

His fingers tapped the hard paper occasionally, but his face remained expressionless throughout the process.

His gaze lingered on one photo for a moment. Zhou Sifu spoke in a calm voice, “Is this the Chairman of Fengyu Lighting?”

“Yes. We have performed facial recognition, and the similarity to Ji Yuanlin is 99.9%,” the secretary said professionally. “Our contact says Fengyu’s IT department tried to track the sender, but the person was very clever. They used the email and IP address of an employee who just resigned. They can’t find out who sent the email for now.”

“This is internal surveillance from the Marriott,” Zhou Sifu said. “People from the outside can’t get this.”

The secretary understood immediately. The boss wanted them to investigate through the Marriott.

“What was Fengyu’s reaction?”

“The photos were received this evening. Their top management has already decided to keep it a secret. The two big bosses probably don’t know yet,” the secretary answered. “Fengyu just signed a 100-million-yuan distribution deal with Baolong Electric. If negative news about the Chairman leaks now, Baolong will likely cancel the order. They can’t take that risk.”

As a global car giant, Danofe’s public relations department always monitored its competitors closely, but Fengyu was an exception.

Fengyu wasn’t a car company; it had almost nothing to do with the auto industry. For some unknown reason, President Zhou had still placed this lighting company on the priority watch list.

That was why the secretary had notified President Zhou immediately upon receiving the internal news today.

President Zhou was supposed to fly directly to Los Angeles tonight, but after getting the news, he changed his flight and asked the secretary to come in person.

The secretary paused and continued, “Also, the identity of the other person has been found. He is a famous advertising model named Cheng Xi.”

He thought the boss would ask for more details, but Zhou Sifu simply took his phone out and searched for the name “Cheng Xi.”

Thousands of results quickly popped up. Most recent news focused on two topics: Cheng Xi participating in the Filoni Autumn show in Paris this August, and his recently finished costume web movie.

#Cheng Xi: The Peak of the Salt-Style Boy#

#Cheng Xi: Pure and Sweet Puppy Eyes#

#Xi-Xi is Killing it Again#

…

Watching the boss click through Cheng Xi’s trending topics and look at his photos and ads, the secretary had a bold thought.

In the two years he had been the head secretary, this big boss had never had any rumors or signs of dating anyone. Even at thirty, he was still single.

He once tried to ask on behalf of some female colleagues, but President Zhou only said he was busy with work and hadn’t met the right person.

Could it be that President Zhou liked this type all along?

Just then, he heard President Zhou ask, “Is the launch date for the S260 series set?”

Not understanding why the boss brought this up, the secretary nodded quickly. “Yes, President Zhou. It’s on the 6th of next month.”

“At 5:00 PM Los Angeles time, after I land, arrange a meeting with the domestic marketing team.”

The secretary was stunned by how fast the topic changed. “…A meeting?”

“Haven’t they been struggling to pick a spokesperson for the S260?” Zhou Sifu looked up, his eyes meeting the reflection in the rearview mirror. “I have a suitable candidate.”

One week later. Milan, Italy.

When he received a call from Cheng Xi, Ji Yuanlin was sitting at a coffee table outside a dressing room. He was having afternoon tea while listening to the design director explain the inspiration for the formal wear.

“All the suits are designed by our senior designer, Michael. They can be custom-made to fit your and Mr. Shi’s body shapes. Especially the one you are wearing; the back lines are smooth, and the shoulder and neck area—”

“Excuse me,” Ji Yuanlin saw the contact name on his phone and gave the director a polite smile. “I need to take this call.”

He had saved Cheng Xi’s name as “R&D Dept 2-C.” Although Shi Tian was very strict at work, he was usually relaxed in his personal life and wouldn’t notice anything strange.

Declining the call, he walked to the dressing room door and knocked lightly. “Tian-Tian, I’m going out for a moment. Call me if you need anything.”

Shi Tian’s voice came from inside. “Go ahead. This design is just okay; I’ll try some others.”

Leaving the design studio and standing on the busy foreign street, Ji Yuanlin still didn’t relax completely. He looked around to make sure everything was fine before walking across the road.

Ji Yuanlin called back. The person on the other end answered after just one ring.

“A-Lin, let me tell you, I—”

Ji Yuanlin interrupted Cheng Xi. His tone was still gentle but carried a hint of blame. “Didn’t I tell you? He and I are together these few days. Don’t call during the day, remember?”

With their wedding date approaching, he had contacted the Italian designers early and flown Shi Tian here specifically to try on suits and take a small vacation.

Cheng Xi paused, and his tone became much weaker. “Sorry A-Lin, I… I was just too excited.”

Ji Yuanlin chuckled softly. “Little fool, what would you do if it wasn’t me who answered?”

Hearing this, Cheng Xi felt a bit scared.

He had heard that the person in A-Lin’s house was very smart and hard to fool. If he had answered A-Lin’s phone, the secret would have been out.

Cheng Xi mumbled into the phone with a bit of a stubborn tone, “I just wanted to share it with you, I didn’t think that much…”

After all, he was only in his early twenties. Even if he was successful in his industry, Cheng Xi sometimes felt like a child who wouldn’t grow up.

What Ji Yuanlin liked most was Cheng Xi’s innocence.

Many years ago, Shi Tian seemed to be the same way.

“Love at first sight” was never a lie. From the first moment he saw Shi Tian, he had wanted that purity and beauty.

But later, he grew up, and Shi Tian grew up too.

Ji Yuanlin suddenly realized that he always seemed to be looking for shadows of Shi Tian in Cheng Xi.

“Alright, let’s talk business.” Hearing the boy’s energetic voice, Ji Yuanlin’s lips curled up slightly. “Why did you call me so suddenly?”

“A-Lin, I have amazing news!”

Cheng Xi shouted excitedly over the phone. “Do you know? This morning, Danofe contacted my agent. They asked if I wanted to be the brand ambassador for their new sports car series in the Asia-Pacific region!”

“I’m going to their headquarters for a screen test next week,” Cheng Xi said proudly. “My agent told me their big boss personally asked for me. I’m almost certain to get this deal.”

After sharing the good news, he waited for A-Lin to praise him as usual, but the other side remained silent.

“A-Lin?”

“A-Lin, can you hear me?”

Cheng Xi suddenly felt nervous.

Oh no, did A-Lin get caught by the person at home?

After a full minute, Cheng Xi finally heard Ji Yuanlin’s voice. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he felt Ji Yuanlin’s voice sounded stranger than usual. “…Who did you say?”

Before Cheng Xi could answer, Ji Yuanlin quickly said “Wait a moment” and hung up.

He had a new incoming call from Shi Tian.

As soon as Ji Yuanlin answered, he heard Shi Tian ask suspiciously, “Where are you?”

Hiding his frown, Ji Yuanlin quickly returned to his normal expression. “Tian-Tian, I’m at the baker shop across the street buying coffee. Wait for me, I’ll be back right away.”

“You’re across the street?” Shi Tian paused, then said, “Then wait there, don’t move.”

Across the street, he saw Shi Tian push open the studio door and look for him in the crowd.

After spotting him by the coffee shop, Shi Tian pointed to the suit he was wearing and asked over the phone, “What about this one?”

Ji Yuanlin stared at the slender figure across the street and didn’t speak for a long time.

Shi Tian was wearing a white suit identical to his own. He had a diamond ring on his finger and a light purple flower on his chest.

This was a scene Ji Yuanlin had dreamed about countless times since he was sixteen.

Time had flown by; more than ten years had passed.

A warm evening breeze blew away the summer heat. Across the crowded street, Shi Tian tilted his head and looked at him, seemingly confused by his reaction.

Seeing him standing there looking lost, Shi Tian couldn’t help but laugh. “Ji Yuanlin, why are you acting like a fool right now?”

“It looks good,” Ji Yuanlin finally spoke in a raspy voice. “You look good in everything.”

It was at this moment that he realized clearly for the first time: he was the ultimate winner.

He had spent so many years planning carefully, and he had finally gotten what he wanted.

Shi Tian was getting married. Not to Zhou Sifu.

But to him.