Last night's cooperation meeting went fairly smoothly. However, the morning news that broke out immediately afterwards greatly damaged Juan Yi's sales.
"They really know how to pick the right time! It's already rare to cooperate with Ah Hairui. Now that such a big incident has occurred, what should we do? Who's going to solve it?!" Li Rui angrily slapped the table in the meeting room.
"Father, no one could have predicted this. Please calm down."
Li Xiaoru stood up and stroked his back.
"Has there been any news from General Manager Su?"
She shook her head. "Not yet."
Li Rui had a splitting headache. On one hand, there was the overwhelming online public opinion, and on the other hand, they still had to pay the endorsement fees to Su's Entertainment.
The company had already been struggling to make ends meet. Now that this incident had happened, unless a windfall came their way, it was not far from going bankrupt.
"Forget it. Everyone, calculate your shares carefully. While things haven't gotten too bad yet, sell them off!"
The directors were all shocked and whispered to each other.
"Father! How can you say such discouraging words?"
Li Xiaoru never expected him to make such an irresponsible decision.
"Then tell me what to do! The building is swarming with reporters downstairs. If we go down, we'll be bombarded with questions. Now we can't even go home!"
Just then, an employee ran in grinning.
"General Manager Li, Manager Li!"
Li Rui stared at her sharply. "What? The company isn't bankrupt yet! There's no discipline at all. How can you be an employee!"
"Y-yes, sorry, General Manager Li. This matter is really urgent!" The employee timidly shrank into a ball, and her voice became even softer.
"Father, let's hear what she has to say first."
Although Li Rui was dissatisfied, he pursed his lips and kept silent.
"Thank you, Manager Li! Bo's just sent a notice saying that they'll bear all the losses. Moreover, they'll give us a few more project - signing opportunities!"
The directors immediately relaxed their expressions and burst into laughter.
"Sure enough, Bo's knows how to handle things!"
"Yes, thanks to our Manager Li's good relationship with the second young master."
"Our company has been saved from the brink of collapse!"
Li Xiaoru looked completely confused. "I really don't have any special relationship with that second young master."
Only then did Li Rui remember the previous incident. He said with a smile, "Look at my head. I've been so busy these days that I forgot!"
"Before the cooperation meeting, Old Master Bo met me privately to discuss your engagement with the second young master. The invitations have already been printed!"
The directors all stood up to offer their congratulations.
"This is really great news, General Manager Li."
"Let me congratulate Manager Li and the second young master in advance on a long and happy marriage and may you have a precious child soon!"
"N-no," Li Xiaoru blankly grabbed Li Rui's arm. "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"
"Hey, if I told you earlier, there wouldn't be any surprise!"
He arranged for everyone. "The meeting is over. Quickly spread this good news and suppress this wave of public opinion!"
Seeing most of the people in the meeting room leave and unable to stop any of them, Li Xiaoru said, "Father! How could you make such a decision without asking for my opinion? It's too reckless!"
Li Rui frowned. "Reckless? Where's the recklessness?"
"Although the second young master is rumored to have a cold personality and be ruthless in doing things, there's no denying that his business ability is very strong."
"But..."
"Let's drop this topic. I'm doing this for your own good."
Li Xiaoru watched his back as he left and stomped her feet in dissatisfaction.
Getting engaged at this critical moment was like stealing someone's love.
She wanted a two - way relationship, not one where she was just constantly giving.
Li Xiaoru knew very well who was in Bo Jingyu's heart and who he loved.
Moreover, during the period when Old Master Bo was sick and hospitalized, publicly promoting the news of the engagement was like taking advantage of the situation.
Not to mention the keyboard warriors on the Internet, even Li Xiaoru thought it was too absurd.
At Bar 21.
Su Minghan was holding the wine glass in his hand. After seeing the numbers on his watch, he let out a long sigh. The man beside him seemed to be enjoying himself and had no intention of stopping.
"Brother, if you keep drinking like this, you'll kill yourself."
Bo Jingyu dejectedly emptied the bottle that was already dry with not a single drop of wine left. His head was splitting, but he still forced himself to hold on.
"More wine. Bring me more wine."
Su Minghan couldn't stand it anymore and snatched the bottle away.
"You clearly have Xi Man in your heart. Why are you making a decision that will hurt both of you! If you like her, just tell her!"
"She is a suspect." He hung his heavy head and picked up a few unopened bottles of wine beside him, gesturing with his eyes for the bartender to open them.
"Second Young Master..."
The bartender couldn't bear to see Bo Jingyu in such a bad state.
"Open it!"
"Damn it, stop drinking!"
Su Minghan angrily grabbed his collar. The force was so great that Bo Jingyu was forced to get off the chair. He lost his balance and fell onto the sofa behind him. His injured leg was already numb and he couldn't feel anything.
"Look at what you've become?"
"Since you've already prepared not to see each other again, don't regret it! All you're doing now is drinking yourself into a stupor and over - exhausting your body. It's of no use! Don't make me look down on you."
Bo Jingyu smiled bitterly. "Regret? You must be joking."
He propped himself up on the sofa and stood up unsteadily, staggering.
The light in his eyes had long been drained away.
"I've never liked her, nor loved her."
"Don't make such jokes again. I don't want to hear them."
After saying that, he wanted to walk towards the bar counter again.
Su Minghan took a step across and blocked Bo Jingyu.
"Then promise me that after you finish this bottle of wine, you're not allowed to drink anymore. I also promise you that from today on, I'll never mention anything about Shen Ximan again." Seeing that he was about to collapse, Su Minghan had no choice but to come up with this last - ditch plan.
Compared to feelings, he cared more about his brother's health.
He was still injured but kept drinking. He seemed like a completely different person.
Bo Jingyu was already delirious. "Yeah, okay."
The wine went down his throat like plain water. He felt nothing.
Nothing at all. Shen Ximan was gone, and Grandpa was lying in the hospital bed. All the burdens were weighing on him alone, as heavy as a thousand pounds.
"Why..."
A tear rolled down his side face under the flickering lights.
Su Minghan was stunned. Apart from remaining silent, he couldn't find any other words of comfort.
This was the first time in all the years of being friends with Bo Jingyu that he saw him cry in front of him, and he looked so miserable and helpless.
He must have loved Shen Ximan deeply, but not all lovers could end up together.
He was the same, and so was Bo Jingyu.
At the hospital, Bo Siming rushed to the ward immediately after hearing the news.
The strong and pungent smell of alcohol almost made him vomit.
"You're really a filial grandson! Your grandpa is lying in the hospital bed, and you still have the time to go out drinking?"
After Su Minghan helped Bo Jingyu lie down on the bed and covered him with the quilt, he straightened up sharply. "If you really have nothing to do, go wait outside. He needs to rest."