He didn’t want to push the other party away with a tough attitude, so he could only ask slowly, “You work with him? When did it happen? “
“I agreed to cooperate with Lu Zhao’an on jade design.â€
Shi Yunnan caught a glimpse of Luo Lingsheng’s furrowed brows, and the wickedness he had been holding back for several days emerged again, “We may have to work together every day from now on, so please don’t cross the line and ask more questions, Mr. Luo. Don’t interfere with my social life and work. “
“…“
Cross the line? Interfere?
These few sentences really stunned Luo Lingsheng. No matter how many tricky schemes he encountered during the struggle for power, they were no match for the few words of the person in front of him.
You reap what you sow.
It was only now that Luo Lingsheng understood the true meaning of this sentence.
Shi Yunnan turned around and prepared to leave, only to hear Luo Lingsheng’s reminder, “Wait, don’t forget to put on your coat when you go out.â€
On a gray and rainy day, the weather in the Imperial Capital was already a bit chilly.
Luo Lingsheng handed over Shi Yunnan’s belongings and hesitated for a moment before asking, “Where is your workplace? Should I send someone to pick you up later? “
“No need, Mr. Luo.â€
Shi Yunnan especially stressed the last two syllables.
“…“
Luo Lingsheng was speechless.
He had always been mature and stable, but for the first time, he wanted to return to the training room that day. He wished he could take back the words that hurt the other person and himself.
Shi Yunnan saw Luo Lingsheng’s ‘devastated’ appearance, and the corners of his mouth quickly curved up.
In contrast to the dodgy appearance when he first came downstairs, he exited the Luo residence with extraordinarily brisk steps.
Luo Lingsheng watched helplessly as Shi Yunnan’s back was isolated by the door. His mind was full of the other party’s response not long ago, and his heart was full of unpleasant feelings.
From the day the two reached an agreement, Shi Yunnan took the initiative to reduce the distance between them again and again.
But now that the other party had retreated to the place without any attachment, he realized that the mature intentions in his heart were simply a scattered ball of sand when faced with the knowledge that he was about to lose.
He wanted to grab the man in front of him.
This thought stayed with him from beginning to end.
Luo Lingsheng took off his glasses, rubbed his swollen and astringent eyes, and shouted loudly, “Qin Jian.â€
Qin Jian quickly came out of the compartment, “Find out where Yunnan and Lu Zhao’an work. Pay attention to propriety. I’ll pick him up in the afternoon.“
Qin Jian answered without much thought, “I got it, patriarch.â€
…
Lu Zhao’an was a man of action, steady and decisive.
Now that he had decided to cooperate with Shi Yunnan and other up-and-coming designers, he simply rented a well-decorated office building near Linglong Market to facilitate the designers’ daily work.
Of course, this work location was not a mandatory requirement.
Because it was close to the jade market, it was convenient for designers to collect samples.
Shi Yunnan was given a brief tour of the office, then Lu Zhao’an said, “At the entrance, your fingerprint was encrypted. You can always come over if you need to in the future. “
Shi Yunan said, “Okay.â€
“Shall I take you to the Yuan family processing factory and jade warehouse? It’s right behind Linglong Market. “
When the market was first established, the Yuan family existed as a “landlordâ€, so their own factory occupied a unique geographical advantage.
The two arrived at the Yuan family Jade Factory within a few steps.
“The Yuan family has two processing factories in the Imperial Capital, one large and one small. The large one is used for processing and surface cutting, and the small one is used for fine carving. In addition, there are jade carving studios distributed in large jade markets in various provinces. “
Without exception, the jade carving ornaments sold by the shops with the “Yuan†signboard were basically their own products. If their own raw stone could produce good materials, the first demand was for their own jade carvers.
Shi Yunnan looked at the five master workers in charge of polishing jade beads and asked, “These are the jade beads for Lou’s family?â€
“Yes.â€
As soon as the voice fell, a loud voice sounded from the side, “Shi Yunnan, what are you doing here?â€
Shi Yunnan immediately recognized the owner of this voice, and looked sideways. Sure enough, it was Yuan Rui.
After not seeing each other for a short period of time, the bruises on Yuan Rui’s face have faded. Now the expression in his eyes was bright and tough.
“Xiao Rui, Shi Yunnan is a partner of our jade studio.†Lu Zhao’an explained, “I brought him to the jade warehouse for wor-related purposes.â€
Yuan Rui still had that awkward attitude towards Lu Zhao’an. He turned his disbelieving gaze back to Shi Yunnan, “You also know jade design?â€
But isn’t it true that Shi Yunnan spends his days abroad indulging in eating, drinking, and pleasure-seeking and has no real skills that can be used?
Shi Yunnan raised his eyebrows and said, “I have some superficial knowledge. Does Young Master Yuan doubt me? “
“I don’t mean that.†Yuan Rui immediately denied it.
He has suffered enough from Shi Yunnan, so he should keep his mouth shut. He can’t fall into the same person’s pit three times.
Suddenly, Lu Zhao’an’s cell phone rang, and shortly after he answered the call, his expression became solemn.
Yuan Rui, who had been watching him with the corner of his eyes, also changed his expression. When Lu Zhao’an hung up the phone, he asked, “What’s wrong?â€
“There’s something wrong with the jade carving business in Lin Province. I have to rush over to deal with it now. †Lu Zhao’an looked at Shi Yunnan apologetically, “Mr. Shi, it may have to be another day…â€
“What another day? Shi Yunnan is already here. If you don’t have time to accompany him, why not let someone else introduce Shi Yunnan to the place? †Yuan Rui interrupted.
Shi Yunnan heard the implication and asked with a smile, “Young master Yuan intends to introduce me?â€
When Lu Zhao’an heard the words, he immediately turned his gaze to Yuan Rui.
Yuan Rui pretended to cough twice and muttered, “I’ll do it. I can’t go anywhere anyway because my dad trapped me here. “
Yuan Rui was grounded by Yuan Puguang. He can only exchange for a certain amount of pocket money by clocking in at the Yuan Jade Factory for six hours a day.
Day by day, he couldn’t get his hand on the jade carving, which made him feel frustrated, so it was better to find something else to do.
Lu Zhao’an showed a rare smile and said, “Mr. Shi, let Yuan Rui do it. He knows all about jade and is very professional. “
Yuan Rui heard this affirmation, and the corners of his mouth curved up, but he quickly returned to the unhappy boss’s look.
Shi Yunnan has no opinion. Even without Yuan Rui’s presence, he was here to study jade anyway.
After Lu Zhao’an left, Yuan Rui stood tall, “In this case… Come with me. This young master will help you broaden your horizons.â€
After crossing paths a few times before, Shi Yunnan more or less understood Yuan Rui’s personality.
He said that he wanted to introduce Yuan Jade Warehouse to Shi Yunnan—that is, a serious and unadulterated introduction.
The processing factory extended further to the back. Five warehouses were built for storing jade. One room was connected to another, adding up to a large area in one place.
As one of the top brands in the jade industry, the number of top-grade jades owned by the Yuan family was naturally shocking.
And since Yuan Rui was from a jade family, he was somehow reliable in this respect.
He introduced the five warehouses without catching a breath. Each piece of jade was thoroughly explained which helped Shi Yunnan gain a lot of knowledge.
One had no choice but to admire him.
“Young Master Yuan knows quite a lot about jade, huh? That’s awesome. †Shi Yunnan sincerely complimented him.
Hearing this compliment, Yuan Rui’s expression flashed with pride, but he pretended to be indifferent, “What’s the use of knowing more about it? In my dad’s eyes, it still amounts to nothing. He only has a jade carving expert like Lu Zhao’an in his eyes.“
Sometimes Yuan Rui thought that he was the child who was taken from the orphanage, not Lu Zhao’an.
After years and months of reproach, let alone outsiders, even Yuan Rui himself believed that, in his lifetime, he couldn’t hold a candle to Lu Zhaoan’s.
Seeing the loneliness on Yuan Rui’s face, Shi Yunnan suddenly remembered his ending in the original book that he dreamt of—
Under Xie Keyue’s leadership, Yuan Rui has indeed developed Yuan Jadeware to the forefront of the industry and smoothly inherited the family business.
“Have you contacted Xie Keyue recently?†Shi Yunnan asked.
“Why are you asking? You and him are a family. Why did you inquire about his news from me? †Yuan Rui instinctively became alert for a second when he heard his friend’s name.
Shi Yunnan was speechless, “What are you afraid of? Afraid that I will eat you or eat him? “
“Who, who said I’m afraid?†Yuan Rui stuttered, “But there were a lot of bad things going on some time ago.â€
The money invested in the cosmetics industry was wasted. On top of that, he lost a lot of money in succession and was even taken by the authorities to investigate.
This matter alarmed old man Shi. The other party relied on some connection to bring him back home. After closing the door, he was severely reprimanded.
Yuan Rui knew about Xie Keyue’s recent situation, and he had also changed his views on Shi Yunnan. But these are two different things. He still wouldn’t share his friend’s privacy with Shi Yunnan.
Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps.
Shi Yunnan and Yuan Rui both looked sideways and couldn’t help but lament, speaking of the devil—
Led by a jade carving master, Xie Keyue, whom they had not seen for a long time, suddenly appeared at the door.
When the three saw each other, the air seemed to freeze all of a sudden.
“Keyue, why are you here?â€
But as Yuan Rui approached his friend, his eyes couldn’t stop darting toward Shi Yunnan. He felt inexplicably guilty of being traitorous.
It was as if he had betrayed his friendship with Xie Keyue and developed an acquaintance with Shi Yunnan in private.
“Didn’t you say it’s boring to be locked up in the jade factory by your father during this time? I came to see you after getting off work. There was something I wanted to talk to you about. “
After Xie Keyue finished speaking, his eyes were fixed on Shi Yunnan, “However, I didn’t expect Yunnan to be here as well.â€
Shi Yunnan smiled without saying a word.
The two of them were natural enemies, and there was no need to pretend to express goodwill at this moment.
Yuan Rui noticed that the two didn’t get along, but he didn’t entirely favor Xie Keyue like in the first nightclub encounter.
“I was so busy that I didn’t even notice it was almost time to clock out.â€
Yuan Rui wrapped his arm around Xie Keyue’s shoulder and took the opportunity to change the topic, “Let’s go, Keyue. Today I’ll take you to have a nice meal. Didn’t you say you have something to talk about? “
After he finished speaking, he didn’t give Xie Keyue time to interrupt, and he set his eyes on Shi Yunnan.
“Are you leaving? Our jade factory closes at six o’clock sharp, which coincides with the closing time of Linglong Market.“
“You guys go ahead, I want to do some more research by myself.â€
Each warehouse was monitored, and there were workers outside who were responsible for locking the doors at the end of the day. Besides, with Shi Yunnan’s character, he wouldn’t sneak around like a dog.
“Alright.â€
Yuan Rui wanted to separate the two to avoid extraneous problems, so he readily agreed.
Xie Keyue secretly observed the interaction between the two, and the eyes that fell on Shi Yunnan flickered darkly.
He had suffered a big loss a while ago, so he didn’t want to provoke Shi Yunnan to repeat the same mistakes. He followed Yuan Rui away without saying a word.
“Shi, Shi Yunnan, pay attention to the time.†Yuan Rui reminded him.
“Understood.â€
After the two left, Shi Yunnan took out his phone and glanced at it.
5:50 P.M.
Ten minutes remain before the end of the day.
Suddenly, the WeChat interface that belonged to Luo Lingsheng popped up. It was a ten-second voice message that was different from the straightforward text in the past.
Shi Yunnan should obviously ignore it, but he still couldn’t help clicking on the voice message.
“Are you done? I’ll pick you up, okay? “
The soft-spoken tone that he had never heard before sounded. The act of trying to coax someone was too obvious, making him feel tingly and numb.
There was no one around.
The corners of Shi Yunnan involuntarily curled up. He despised himself, and at the same time, he despised Luo Lingsheng, who would say this.
What the hell?
At one moment, he said he had crossed the line, and at another moment, he was hiding a white moonlight in his heart. Now, with the prestige of “Luo’s Patriarchâ€, he was actively seeking him out again and again?
With his own childish temper, Shi Yunnan didn’t reply. There was only a trace of battery left on the mobile phone. He had to hurry up and select a piece of material as the basis for his first attempt to design a jade necklace.
“There seems to be a pretty good piece in the innermost No. 5 warehouse…“
Shi Yunnan muttered to himself and walked to the innermost room according to his memory. He found the slice of the imperial green he wanted, and memorized the number by heart.
Just as he turned around and was about to leave, suddenly, there was a click—
The overhead lights suddenly went out, and the entire warehouse sank into deathly darkness.
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