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Lu Yixin had been observing Fang Yongnian all along.
He really was eating very seriously, his movements slow, but the rice in his bowl disappeared quickly.
The tableful of adults hardly spoke. After taking two sips of soup, Yu Hanfeng began counting grains of rice. Her parents, too embarrassed, exchanged a few glances across the table, and then decided, most irresponsibly, to keep their heads down and say nothing.
Lu Yixin lowered her head and carefully picked out every single bone from a yellow croaker, then naturally placed the cleaned fish beside Fang Yongnian.
Liu Miqing: “……”
Lu Boyuan: “……”
“I don’t even like fish, and you two don’t eat yellow croaker either.” Lu Yixin licked her chopsticks, utterly baffled.
Why were they looking at her like that?
Wasn’t this dish made for Fang Yongnian?
Fang Yongnian was too lazy to ever take the initiative to eat something with so many bones.
Liu Miqing coughed.
This was something Lu Yixin often did. The most outrageous time was when she’d sat for an hour picking bones from a whole plate of yellow croaker by herself, then wrapped it up and brought it to Fang Yongnian.
But back then Lu Yixin was only fifteen! Now she was almost twenty!
And she was doing it right in front of Yu Hanfeng!
Shouldn’t their family be strengthening education about the difference between men and women?!
Fang Yongnian still didn’t speak. He set the plate of fish aside, stood up to serve himself half a bowl of rice, then sat back down and quietly continued eating.
Liu Miqing: “……”
Yu Hanfeng almost burst out laughing at this silent comedy.
She understood everything.
This little girl Lu Yixin was distressed because Fang Yongnian was in a bad mood. With her parents present, she couldn’t say much, so she just quietly prepared food for him.
What was funny was Fang Yongnian himself. He was famous at the company for being picky and eating very little, yet here at Lu Boyuan’s home, he could somehow finish a bowl and a half of rice. He wasn’t even worried about overstuffing his stomach.
Those two, were they already together?
Yu Hanfeng narrowed her eyes.
She wouldn’t deny it, she felt a little envious.
Anyone who was cherished by a girl like Lu Yixin was someone to be envied.
But she didn’t have such fortune.
Her background, her status, had already determined that she could never have pure love in this world. Even if she did, she wouldn’t believe in it.
Things that weren’t pure, she had never cared to want them.
She lowered her head and took a sip of soup.
Liu Miqing’s cooking wasn’t particularly good, yet the dishes at home always had that familiar taste of home—less refined, but filled with the warmth of everyday life.
This too made her feel a little envious.
But in the end, it was a world too far from hers.
“The project documents Vice President Lu gave me, I’ve already had someone prepare the preliminary work. The data is solid, and it can be approved for establishment.” She wiped her mouth. “IPO matters are full of complicated issues, but for a pharmaceutical company, what matters most right now is the layout.”
“The Alzheimer’s drug research itself is something that attracts attention.”
“As long as this project is approved, it shows that the company’s financial resources are strong. The old man’s IPO plan is for five years. As long as within those five years the pharmaceutical company can maintain its current profit curve, having an original drug research project in hand will be enough.”
This wasn’t a difficult thing.
Especially for top domestic experts in neurodegenerative disease research like Fang Yongnian and Lu Boyuan, maintaining five years was far too easy.
Fang Yongnian ate the last piece of fish, then put down his chopsticks.
“So what you mean is, this project only needs to be approved and maintained for five years. After the IPO ends, whether the project survives or not depends on the group’s overall layout at that time?” Fang Yongnian spoke slowly, word by word. “To you, the Kang Mo’s project is just an initial investment used as leverage for the IPO?”
Yu Hanfeng smiled slightly.
“Director Fang,” she addressed him by his title, as she was used to doing in front of others, “under the current domestic circumstances, there are almost no pharmaceutical companies capable of independently developing an original Alzheimer’s drug. Being able to approve a project at all is already remarkable.”
“I’m a businesswoman. If a project shows no progress after five years of investment, it’s only natural for it to be cut.”
As she said this, the corners of her lips curved slightly, her eyes lifting at the ends, unhurried and composed.
She had planned long ago to make this clear at this dinner. She had calculated every possible reaction Fang Yongnian might have.
Lately, his tone had softened a little. When she mentioned the company’s future development, he no longer reacted as stiffly as before—occasionally, he even offered his own opinions.
But this man’s nature was too slow, too cautious. To hear a firm answer from him, she thought she would still have to grind him down for another half a year.
She didn’t have that much time.
So she had to choose this moment. She wanted to see whether, in front of Lu Yixin and her family, Fang Yongnian could still be as proud and detached as he was when they were alone. Able to say no when he wished, to fall silent when he pleased, to walk away when he wanted.
Even if he didn’t consider his own future, he would have to consider Lu Yixin’s.
She never made losing deals. If she offered Fang Yongnian both money and herself, she would, in the end, collect interest.
Fang Yongnian knew this well, and she had never hidden it.
She sat there patiently, waiting for the expressionless Fang Yongnian to respond.
He should know—this time, she was determined to win.
The old man’s plan to restructure the corporate layout was an opportunity she had waited many years for. For this step, she had maneuvered and strategized for just as long, running every piece across the board countless times.
The pharmaceutical company was the general on that board.
And Fang Yongnian was, after all those countless calculations, the only person suited for that position.
That was why she spared no cost, even mixing business and personal matters together.
“I know why you chose this moment to bring it up.” Fang Yongnian finally spoke. “But no matter when or where you bring it up, my answer will be the same.”
Yu Hanfeng narrowed her eyes.
“The approval of an original drug research project must never be based on leverage.”
“You don’t need to twist the concept. A project being approved for five years and the act of approval itself require completely different preliminary preparations. You’re a businesswoman, you wouldn’t invest too many resources into a project that’s only expected to last five years. A project like that, from the day it’s approved, is destined to be nothing but a show.”
“I won’t use original drug research to put on a show with you. Even if it’s to help you fight for inheritance rights, I won’t do such a thing.”
When Fang Yongnian said this, he suddenly paused, as if something had caught in his throat, and coughed twice.
Then he stopped speaking.
Yu Hanfeng still narrowed her eyes.
“That’s why we shouldn’t talk about work at the dinner table,” Liu Miqing stepped in to ease the tension. She ladled another bowl of soup for Yu Hanfeng and persuaded her gently, “Always finish eating first before talking.”
She really must have been out of her mind to believe her husband.
How could someone like Yu Hanfeng possibly have any future development with Fang Yongnian?
These two didn’t share a single point in their worldviews. Why on earth did her husband think the two of them could be a match?
Fang Yongnian also stopped speaking.
He didn’t continue eating either; he just sat there, his right hand resting on the table.
And his left hand… was fulfilling the greatest dream of Lu Yixin’s life.
He truly hadn’t expected this girl to have such nerve. Right in front of her parents, her hand had somehow slipped over and was now drawing circles in his palm.
He had used every ounce of self-control he possessed not to let his last sentence come out cracked.
Something that was clearly serious suddenly became impossible to stay angry about because of her interruption.
So he could only sit there stiffly, his fingers clamping down on Lu Yixin’s little claw in retaliation, tightening viciously—then, because he couldn’t bear it, loosening again.
Forget it. Her greatest dream in life…
Let her have it.
Even though the situation right now was completely inappropriate for such a thing, when had Lu Yixin ever done anything appropriate in an appropriate situation?
Resigned, he picked up his chopsticks again and, with one hand, tried to continue this dinner that was practically costing him his life.
Yu Hanfeng still narrowed her eyes.
Fang Yongnian let out a sigh.
“We’ll talk about the follow-up after the review is completed.”
He really disliked how Yu Hanfeng chose this timing to bring up such a topic. But because Lu Yixin had disrupted the hard edge of his emotions, even to his own ears, what he said now sounded soft and yielding.
“I… won’t agree either.” This time, it wasn’t Yu Hanfeng speaking, but Lu Boyuan.
He had rarely voiced opinions in front of Yu Hanfeng, in order to avoid another argument with Fang Yongnian about how the company wasn’t his.
But tonight, he had listened to the entire conversation.
He wasn’t as roundabout as Fang Yongnian, nor did he understand why Yu Hanfeng would choose to talk business at a time like this—but he understood everything they said.
“My stance on developing an original drug is exactly the same as Yongnian’s.” His tone was firm, leaving no room for negotiation. “If the purpose of this project’s approval is merely to serve the listing plan, I will not take part in it.”
Yu Hanfeng nearly laughed from anger. These two rigid old scholars!
“The purpose of approval can be discussed.” She frowned.
She truly hadn’t expected that Lu Boyuan, who had always hoped Fang Yongnian would restart original drug research, would turn against her at the critical moment. Why did none of these people understand flexibility?
“As long as the preliminary research before approval is sufficient, and the project plan you give me is detailed enough, approval and the listing plan don’t necessarily have to conflict.”
“And besides…” She wanted to continue speaking.
Under the table, Lu Yixin’s little claw started drawing circles again. Fang Yongnian took a quiet breath and interrupted, “We’ll talk after the review is over.”
He really couldn’t continue anymore. This girl’s hand was about to slip into his sleeve.
There was nothing in his sleeve, what was she trying to put her hand in for!
Interrupted mid-sentence, Yu Hanfeng narrowed her eyes, then suddenly pushed her chopsticks aside. The chopsticks clattered to the floor, and she swiftly bent down to pick them up.
Lu Yixin, sipping her soup, raised her hand under the table and gave Yu Hanfeng a middle finger right into Fang Yongnian’s palm.
Fang Yongnian coughed once, the tips of his ears turning red.
Yu Hanfeng straightened up with a complicated expression. Liu Miqing had already stood up to fetch her another pair of chopsticks, but Yu Hanfeng no longer had the mood to continue.
She hadn’t misjudged Fang Yongnian’s reaction, but she had miscalculated the father and daughter of the Lu family.
Lu Boyuan was even more stubborn than Fang Yongnian, and as for that fearless Lu Yixin…
She hadn’t expected that the two of them would already be together so quickly, nor that this little girl would be bold enough to play such games under the table right in front of her parents.
Forget it. Yu Hanfeng felt a bit embarrassed and stopped talking.
Anyway, she had started the topic, and she roughly understood their reactions.
Whether or not they were willing to remain in the pharmaceutical field, their principles regarding research had never changed.
It seemed she would have to compromise again.
She would have to go to Fang Yongnian’s office every day, coaxing him little by little to refine the project plan and budget.
The balance between business and academia, she would have to shoulder it alone again.
This was why she hated collaboration!
୨୧ ⏔⏔⏔⏔♡⏔⏔⏔⏔ ୨୧
“Lu Yixin, sit properly.”
After handing over the chopsticks, Liu Miqing finally noticed her daughter slumped lazily against the edge of the table and scolded her in a low voice.
Lu Yixin stuck out her tongue and sat up straight.
Her mind was still blank.
She hadn’t expected herself to be that bold. To hold Fang Yongnian’s hand in such a situation, or even to flip off Yu Hanfeng under the table.
In that moment, she had only felt she didn’t like seeing Fang Yongnian frowning and unhappy. She had only wanted to comfort him.
But after holding his hand, when she saw the tension in his expression soften because of her, when she felt his dry, warm palm—she lost control.
She roughly understood what Yu Hanfeng had said, and also vaguely understood the reason she wanted her to remember favors.
Yu Hanfeng wanted Fang Yongnian to continue working on the original drug research.
Lu Yixin took a sip of soup.
She absolutely wasn’t going to help her!
Fang Yongnian could do whatever he wanted. If it made money, great; if it didn’t, then at worst, she’d just have to work a little harder.
Now, she finally started to understand the things her mother used to say.
Some kinds of giving are simply the price of liking someone. Because the liking runs too deep, you don’t even feel that the price is bitter.
She thought, she could give everything she had for Fang Yongnian’s happiness.
Cheerfully, she ladled herself another bowl of soup.
But while drinking, she couldn’t help sneaking glances at Fang Yongnian.
