The winter solstice happened to fall on a Saturday. When Li Tian came to pick up Ying Qiuman, he explained why he was bringing him home for dinner this time.
“The company hasn’t been doing well these past few years. This year, because it failed to meet the IPO performance guarantee, some investors have filed for arbitration.” The dark circles under Li Tian’s eyes showed how exhausted he had been lately.
This was within Ying Qiuman’s expectations. Li Cong wanted to repeat the same old trick: bring the Xu family in for another round of financing.
“I don’t understand any of this,” Ying Qiuman said coldly.
In the original novel, Li Tian had not told the original body about these matters in advance. Even when Li Cong hinted that the original body should ask Xu Shuyuan for help, Li Tian never took any position on it.
The original body’s feelings toward Li Tian were complicated. Because of his degradation anxiety, high-quality pheromones were naturally attractive to him. Ying Qiuman had initially assumed this was admiration for strength, or perhaps a sense of belonging to one of his own kind after going so long without recognition.
But when the original body went to Xu Shuyuan who also had high-quality pheromones to seek help for Lanxi, his behavior had seemed reluctant.
During Ying Qiuman’s own youth, his time and energy had been consumed entirely by academics and the pressure of survival. Forget emotional experience before meeting Xu Shuyuan, he hadn’t even known he was gay.
Of course, in this world, AB pairings weren’t considered homosexuality.
Just then, Li Tian rolled down the car window, resting his arm on it and rubbing his brow as he let the cold wind outside clear his head. “Last year, the Xu Corporation bought Lanxi stock at a high price, which helped stabilize our funding. But this year…”
Ying Qiuman listened in silence, his fingers lightly swiping across the tablet.
Li Tian went on, “Dad wants you to find—”
“Lanxi’s real urgent problem isn’t funding,” Ying Qiuman suddenly cut in. “Over the past three years, the number of scandals exposed among management has been enough to prove the internal governance is in chaos.”
Of course Li Tian knew this. Since Li Cong’s health had been deteriorating in recent years, Li Tian had done plenty to strengthen the internal control systems after taking over the company. But as long as those senior shareholders refused to cooperate, everything he did amounted to nothing more than shuffling lower-level employees around.
“Abandon the high-risk projects and switch to stable, smaller ones. Free up time and capital to accelerate research and development. Later, the company can rely on this core technology to rebuild its reputation.”
Ying Qiuman handed the tablet to Li Tian and continued, “Lanxi’s core technology is absolutely competitive in infrastructure fields. Applications like health monitoring and senior-friendly software already have strong potential. User numbers will keep growing, and partnerships in these areas can bring substantial returns.”
On the tablet was a plan Ying Qiuman had drawn up himself, combined with Wei Boju’s suggestions and opinions and refined over three days.
In the original novel, after receiving a second investment from the Xu Corporation, Li Tian had used decisive methods to reform Lanxi, fully developed its core technology, reorganized the board over Li Cong’s objections, and ultimately saved the company.
Researching a new core technology depended not only on innovative talent and funding, but also on time. With his protagonist’s halo, however, Li Tian could conjure core technologies out of thin air whenever they were needed.
But after careful thought, Ying Qiuman had realized that although Lanxi did eventually recover, after the original body joined the company he had repeatedly stolen the Xu Corporation’s trade secrets to help Li Tian. That showed there were still plenty of underlying problems.
So he wanted to nudge Li Tian toward stability, letting Lanxi truly stand on its own rather than merely staging a superficial rebound.
“You… you made this?” Li Tian flipped through the proposal in disbelief.
“A teacher helped me,” Ying Qiuman replied. He hadn’t studied finance, but after a few years grinding away as a corporate drone, he still understood a thing or two.
Li Tian’s original plan had been to secure a second round of financing from the Xu Corporation and then carry out a major reform. The plan Ying Qiuman gave him was gentler, but with good long-term benefits.
“But developing technology isn’t something you can do in a day or two. The arbitration is imminent. Relying only on this…”
Ying Qiuman wanted to say that Li Tian was the protagonist, and as long as he actually did it, it was bound to succeed. But he couldn’t say that, so he only drew a slight breath and said, “If you dare to push through a company-wide pay cut and then hire a new team at higher pay, you can shave off a lot of time.”
“A company-wide pay cut?” Li Tian neither confirmed nor denied it. “Those shareholders would eat me alive!”
Ying Qiuman glanced at him, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “If you don’t cut salaries, then you can only hire me.”
There was a calm and confidence in his eyes that didn’t match his age. Li Tian was momentarily stunned, thinking that his younger brother, whom he hadn’t known for longwas joking.
“Top student, I’m not trying to discourage you…” Ying Qiuman was studying at one of the country’s top universities, but he was still only an undergraduate about to graduate. Li Tian had meant to joke back with a smile, but he saw Ying Qiuman raise a hand to stop him.
Ying Qiuman reached over and switched the tablet screen, revealing a list of competition awards.
“It’s only a university competition prize, but this technology has already been valued at over a million by some companies, and plenty of research institutes are competing for it.” Ying Qiuman stated it calmly. Seeing Li Tian’s eyes gradually brighten, he added with a smile, “This is Professor Wei’s patent. I only helped push the project forward. If you need it, maybe we can do a friendly price?”
“Professor Wei… Wei Boju?”
As a well-known figure in the industry, Wei Boju’s name carried weight. But Li Tian was surpriseda million-yuan patent like that was actually being used by an undergraduate for competitions?
On the way home, Li Tian was still digesting the plan that had appeared out of nowhere. It felt like wandering in a foggy forest [1] being lost and disoriented for a long time jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2564678_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2564678_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); only to suddenly step out onto open plains.
Seeing Li Tian’s reaction, Ying Qiuman felt slightly relieved. His plan had a real chance.
Using a teacher-student relationship to ask the professor to sell the patent to Lanxi was still far better than using his own body to trade for Xu Shuyuan’s investment. At least it was something his heart could accept much more easily.
Reality, however, was not as simple as what Ying Qiuman and Li Tian had discussed.
After they got home, Li Tian went to Li Cong’s study to discuss the matter, and came out with a darkened expression. Ying Qiuman was in the dining room helping his mother, Ying Yelin, wrap dumplings. The moment he saw Li Tian’s face, he knew the first hurdle had already been a failure.
“Dad’s calling you to the study.” Li Tian shook his head slightly, then sat down in silence.
Ying Qiuman stood up and just then a loud crash sounded beside him. Ying Yelin had dropped a bowl.
Ying Yelin pressed both hands to her chest, staring helplessly at the shattered bowl and the filling scattered across the floor.
“Broken pieces, peace and ease [2] a Chinese pun-charm: 碎碎 ‘broken bits’ sounds like 岁岁 ‘year after year,’ so smashing something is said to bring lasting peace jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2564678_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2564678_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });,” Li Tian said quickly, already reaching for a broom. Ying Qiuman stepped closer and laid a hand on his mother’s arm. She looked up at him, her eyes heavy with a sorrow she couldn’t put into words.
After a moment, she averted her gaze and went to help Li Tian clean up.
A single broken bowl was quickly swept away by Li Tian. After vaguely helping with this and that, Ying Yelin finally looked at Ying Qiuman and reminded him, “Talk properly with your uncle.”
Then she turned and shut herself in the kitchen.
Ying Qiuman watched her worriedly for a while before finally heading to the study.
Knock, knock—
“Come in.”
Ying Qiuman opened the door. The study was dim and gloomy, even the sunlight through the window covered no more than a third of the room. The heating was on, yet the moment he stepped inside, he still felt a chill.
“Uncle Li.” He stood in front of Li Cong’s desk and called softly.
Only after a long moment did Li Cong set down the documents in his hands and lift his gaze toward Ying Qiuman with a condescending look.
His illness over the past few years had clearly aged Li Cong a great deal. Sitting in his chair, he no longer carried the authority Ying Qiuman remembered from when he first arrived here. His back had grown slightly hunched too.
“Xiao Man,” Li Cong’s voice was no longer as strong as it had been a year ago. It sounded muffled, as if wrapped in cottonweak and exhausted. “How have things been between you and Shuyuan lately?”
“Fine,” Ying Qiuman replied. But just as the word left his mouth, Li Cong looked up from the documents and leaned back in his chair, studying him.
Ying Qiuman felt as though he ought to smile, but the corners of his mouth only twitched slightly. Perhaps he felt the man wasn’t worth a smile. In the end he only gave a faint nod.
“That’s good.” Li Cong’s voice was hoarse and muddled. After a few words, he broke into a violent cough. Ying Qiuman didn’t know what illness he had, only that he had never recovered. It felt as though, for the sake of letting Li Tian reasonably take over Lanxi at a young age, the plot itself had forced Li Cong to step aside.
Li Cong covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief. Ying Qiuman waited until he had coughed himself out, then finally handed him a glass of water.
He took it, drank a few sips, and breathed deeply a couple of times before finally revealing his true intention.
“Since things are still all right, when are you bringing him home for dinner? Married off, and now you don’t even come home anymore?”
Ying Qiuman gave a vague response and said nothing more. Li Cong glanced at him, the fountain pen in his hand tapping against the documentstap, tapas if to press him.
“The Li family hasn’t done well this year. After you graduate, do you want to go back to Lanxi, or try your luck on your own?”
Li Cong’s implication was already very clear. The original body had harbored murky feelings toward Li Tian, and Li Cong had noticed it from the start.
But this was Ying Qiuman now, and at present he kept a normal, brotherly relationship with Li Tian.
Whether Li Cong was raising this again because of the plot’s settings or out of some prejudice against Ying Qiuman, it wasn’t clear.
“I’ve secured graduate admission,” Ying Qiuman replied calmly.
This answer was unexpected to Li Cong, Ying Qiuman had not chosen any of the options he’d offered.
“So I still have three years before I graduate. My advisor thinks highly of me, and after I graduate I’ll go work at his research institute.”
The original body had studied finance. The best path after graduation would have been to enter the family businessor rather, he’d had no real choice at all. His entire life had been engineered to serve the plot.
But Ying Qiuman had already walked this road once. With no shortage of material resources, everything now went more smoothly than before, his future was clearer, and everything was moving toward the direction he wanted.
So when Li Cong heard such a clear plan, a brief flicker of subtle surprise crossed his face.
A person with opinions of his own was harder to control. The reason Li Cong had acknowledged this “stray son” in the first place was to hold one more piece on the boardone that could help extract benefits from the Xu family.
Ying Qiuman could see Li Cong’s displeasure, and he also knew the man didn’t approve of his plan. So he too stayed silent, waiting to see what other reason Li Cong might use to pressure him.
But in the end, Li Cong said nothing more. His murky eyes lingered on Ying Qiuman for a while before he let out a weak, aged sigh.
“If the Xu family could still lend some support, we’d all be able to breathe a little easier.”
Ying Qiuman didn’t expect Li Cong to run out of pretexts and state it so plainly. He could no longer pretend not to understand, but he still didn’t go along with it. Instead he said calmly, “As long as Lanxi produces results, every investor will increase their investment.”
He looked at Li Cong. The man didn’t respond, only raising a hand and instructing, “Go eat.”
Ying Qiuman didn’t know what Li Cong was really thinking, but his refusal had already been made very clear. So when he stepped out and saw Li Tian, he actually relaxed and gave a small smile.
“Did Dad agree?” Li Tian asked in a low voice. Ying Qiuman shook his head. His phone vibrated, he glanced at it quickly before replying to Li Tian, “How about we start working on it ourselves first? Once there are results, Uncle won’t keep blocking it.”
Li Tian nodded, as if regaining some confidence, and went back inside to face Li Cong’s stubborn scolding once again.
Ying Qiuman looked back at his phone. Xu Shuyuan had sent him a message.
“Come home with me for the New Year’s Day dinner. If you’re free, I’ll take you out to buy clothes.”
References[+]