Chapter 60: I March Forward when You Retreat

Lin Qian had a dream.

In that dream, Li Zhicheng was working in his study. She made him a cup of hot tea and when she put it on his desk, he reached out his hands and dragged her into his arms. This was such a familiar scene, which had happened so many times in the past year that she smiled during her sleep.

Suddenly, they went to the bed, with Li Zhicheng’s body pressing from above, and all she could see was the contour of his body. He murmured, “Lin Qian, only death could do us apart.”

Lin Qian opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling. They were in the resort in Taiwan, and the sun was blazing outside. It was still daytime, so she wondered why she would have such a strange dream. Li Zhicheng would never say anything so sensational as “Only death could do us apart”. Even if he wanted to express that sentiment, he would say it in a mighty way, “No chance I will let go a person that I trade with my heart.”

She put on a smile and rolled out of her bed. Li Zhicheng was sitting on the sling chair on the porch outside. Lin Qian sighed and thought to herself, “We’re doing exactly what Gu Yanzhi said, collecting money at home. I can still remember how busy we were, and now one of us is taking an afternoon nap and the other is enjoying the sunshine.”

She randomly picked a pair of flip-flops and put them on. She walked to him and gave him a kiss on his neck. “Having a dream about me?” Li Zhicheng asked.

“How did you guess?” Lin Qian was dazed.

Li Zhicheng grinned, pulled her into his arms and they sat on the sling chair together, with the chair swaying. The chair was made a long time ago; it was smooth, bright, and comfortable to touch.

As a matter of fact, Li Zhicheng knew this because he had overheard Lin Qian talking in her dream, “Zhicheng, Zhicheng…” And the corner of her lips was curved up.

“Instinct,” he, however, answered with a white lie.

Lin Qian opened her eyes wide, thought about it and nodded, “synced minds.” Actually, she was thinking of the phrase, “empathy between bodies and souls”, but saying such thing to Li Zhicheng equated to seduction, so she didn’t let it slip.

All ladies would be moved by “synced minds”. Lin Qian blinked, hooked his neck and asked, “Why do we always see eye to eye with each other?”

Li Zhicheng stared at her face, “Because we have empathy between our bodies and souls?” Li Zhicheng rendered her speechless and put her lips on his. After this silent but passionate kiss, Lin Qian sat on his thighs and looked out at the farms, roads and factories.

They were meant for each other now, unlike a year ago when lots of conflicts existed between them. Time flew, as did the conflicts.

Lin Qian recalled the most serious dispute between them, and it was not because of Aito. It was three months after that, when Aida was secretly designing a new brand of leisure bags to prepare for a launch and Lin Qian’s team was responsible for marketing plans.

No matter how well their minds were aligned with each other, it was impossible for them to agree on everything. That time, the plan designed by Lin Qian’s team was vetoed by Li Zhicheng, who said only three words, “No. Redo it.”

In reality, she hadn’t worked on the majority of the plan. Instead, it was one of her subordinates, with support from others on the team who pulled lot of all-nighters to finish it. The subordinate was a young girl; and being criticized like that by her boss in public made her want to shed tears. As for Gu Yanzhi and Liu Tong, they wouldn’t give much thought to a staff member at her level. After reviewing the plan, they censored it too.

Lin Qian’s heart was broken seeing her subordinate dejected in that manner. She thought it was a great plan. Obeying seniors’ direction was key, but it was also important to voice her own opinions. She stood up and began to illustrate her thoughts. Lin Qian’s personality, as Li Zhicheng had once said, was sometimes even bolder than a man, especially when she was trying to reason with people. She brought up eight points to show the plan was great.

After finishing, everyone was stupefied and silent, not because the nay-sayers were convinced, but her eloquence had made people unwilling to argue.

At that point, Li Zhicheng gave her a look from afar, with a vague trace of a smile, and said calmly, “What you said makes sense. However, the market orientation of this product doesn’t match our initial strategy and my expectations. Redo it.”

He went right to the heart of the matter, and people around him nodded their heads. Some people may have agreed with Lin Qian, but they chose to remain silent. Lin Qian couldn’t squeeze out a smile. She sat down darkly and answered, “OK.”

After arriving back at home, Lin Qian turned a cold shoulder to Li Zhicheng. She realized afterwards that she was being immature, but she was still furious at that time. Different opinions aside, she was his girlfriend after all, how could he just embarrass me like that in front of everyone else? She refused to make eye contact the entire evening. As for Li Zhicheng, initially, he didn’t think of it as a big deal, but after arriving home and realizing how angry he had made her, he tried to flirt with her in an opaque way.

He noticed that she only ordered her portion when calling for take-out, so he picked up the menu, ordered the exact same thing and ate next to her. When she tried to dodge him silently, he dragged her into his arms and restrained her. She resorted to finishing the meal while sitting on his thighs.

She stormed into the shower, locked and put a chair in front to the door. He opened the door with his keys, removed all the obstacles and stepped inside the bathroom. He stood and did nothing except stare at her. When she tried to retrieve her towel, he brought it to her and when she was about to reach the face-cleanser, he mistakenly brought her the mask. Lin Qian wanted to laugh, but she managed to resist it.

After all that, they were finally on the bed. Lin Qian turned her back to him. He asked, “Do I need to show you my loyalty again?”

Lin Qian blushed and said, “No need!”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely!”

“Then turn your back,” he tried a strike a bargain.

Lin Qian then followed his instructions unwillingly and turned to face him, but she kept her eyes closed to avoid eye contact with him.

“Have you ever heard of the term ‘no fight among couples should last overnight’?” he whispered. Lin Qian couldn’t respond. After being kissed and caressed like this by him, she relaxed her body as well as her will.

After recovering from her exasperation, she came up with an incredible idea to deal with those types of situations. She said, “I know we shouldn’t confuse life and work, but … But I’m a woman! I’m sensible and don’t want to be embarrassed. I can’t be rational like you are. My suggestion is, from now on, every time you want to veto my plan in a meeting, instead of being so forthright, touch you left eyebrow and say ‘This is a good plan but I hope to see better’ so that I know you mean ‘This plan is awful and redo it’!” She blinked her eyes, “Does it sound OK to you?”

Li Zhicheng held her in his arms with a bright look. “Yes, ma’am.”

However, he never touched his eyebrow after that. Once he did say the same thing, which agitated her, so she asked him immediately after they arrived home, “Did you forget to touch your eyebrow?”

“No,” he said mildly.

It was only then that Lin Qian realized he was just teasing her.

As for Lin Qian, she was changing too. She came to realize that sometimes it was her naivety that led to confrontations. They were in both a romantic and a work relationship. If they brought issues from the workplace back home, their romantic relationship might be jeopardized, like the Aito incident. After contemplation, she suggested that no discussion of work would be allowed at home, which Li Zhicheng agreed to with pleasure.

“What’re you thinking about?” she heard that low but gentle male voice. Lin Qian was brought back to the ground, turned to him, “Nothing. Just recalling how you’ve bullied me before.” Li Zhicheng was used to this woman’s duplicity. Although she had a stern look on her face, there was a trail of cunning smile in her eyes.

He nodded his head. Since she was “nostalgic” about being toyed with, he didn’t mind seeing more eye to eye with her. “I’m so going to ‘bully’ you on the chair tonight,” he said in a low voice.

“Darn you,” Lin Qian flushed and swore.

Sunset brimmed every street in the town. Youngsters were having fun in their leisure time and whistled when they saw Li Zhicheng and Lin Qian’s car. They were scheduled to visit Wang Taishi tonight. Lin Qian called her brother from the car. It was still the elegant but artificial female voice in English. She hung up and looked at Li Zhicheng who was driving, “I have no idea what my brother’s up to. Every time I call him it goes directly to voicemail, but he’s always like that when he’s working on a big project.”

Li Zhicheng only gave her a faint smile. Lin Qian gazed at him with her jaw on her hands, and said, “Actually, you remind me of him.”

“I’m not your brother,” Li Zhicheng said.

There was a profound meaning behind what he said, and Lin Qian was somewhat bewildered. Lin Qian told Li Zhicheng about her brother’s past. What he meant was…”I will not lose the woman I love,” Li Zhicheng glanced at her. Lin Qian was dazed and didn’t say a word. It really made a person wonder when it comes to life and human nature. Li Zhicheng and Lin Mocheng, were like a twins in the workplace. Unfortunately for her brother, only after he went through agony did he realize what he really wanted. As for Li Zhicheng, he was sincere with her, and from all these days together, he had a stronger and stronger grip on her.

“Nothing’s impossible,” said Lin Qian, “and it really depends on your future performance.”

Wang Taishi lived in a two-story house. The street lights were lit, shining gently across the trees and steps outside the house. Quiet and peaceful, that was how it looked. Li Zhicheng had brought two bottles of Maotai. Lin Qian held his arm and rang the bell. Wang Taishi’s son, the financier who deliberately revealed his weaknesses and tricked Ning Weikai, opened the door. He looked much more handsome than his father, fair-skinned, refined and wearing a pair of golden-framed glasses. He welcomed them inside with a grin and shouted, “Dad! Mr.Li and Ms.Lin are here!”

Lin Qian couldn’t resist glancing at the willowy and handsome Li Zhicheng beside her.

Li Zhicheng and Wang Taishi had become friends and regarded each other as equals. Although Wang Taishi’s children were the same age as Li Zhicheng, they treated him extra courteously. Each time Li Zhicheng sat and spoke with Wang Taishi while drinking tea, the youngsters would sit aside politely.

As for Lin Qian, her heart raced every time when she saw how stable and mature he was compared to his peers. Wang Taishi’s wife was a retired college professor, but in contrast to her husband’s pretentiousness and haughtiness, she was much more easy-going. She was a short woman with elegant make-up and a warm smile on her face. She even sounded a bit naïve when she talked, probably because she’d stayed in an ivory tower for her entire life and was spoiled by her husband.

Everyone was enjoying the hotpot. After only a few drinks, she asked Lin Qian, “Qian, when’re you planning to get married?” Lin Qian was drinking her juice when she heard this. She made an “Ah” sound and did nothing but smile.

Wang Taishi interjected, “A marriage certificate is just a piece of paper for young people nowadays. Your own son isn’t even married yet and you have the time to worry about others?” He changed the topic and looked to his son, “When’re you bringing a girlfriend home?”

Wang’s son nodded his head and said ambiguously, “Yes father, I’m trying.”

Lin Qian knew why Wang Taishi changed the topic. Actually, everyone knew except Mrs.Wang. It wasn’t the topic itself that was off-limits but asking in that way was an invasion of someone’s privacy, especially when Mrs.Wang didn’t know what was in Lin Qian’s mind. Men like Wang Taishi, Li Zhicheng and Lin Mocheng were well-disciplined when it comes to interpersonal communication. Lin Qian didn’t overthink it just like everyone else because she thought this topic was over. However, Li Zhicheng suddenly proposed a toast to Mrs.Wang and said, “We’ll definitely send you an invitation when we’re getting married.”

Everyone laughed. Mrs.Wang clapped her hands, said cheers with Li Zhicheng and glared at her husband, as if she were saying blamefully, “Why’re you disrupting our discussion?” Wang Taishi did nothing but laugh.

As for Lin Qian, her heart skipped a beat when she heard Li Zhisheng speak of marriage. He was wearing a white shirt without a tie today. His cuff was a bit loose and he was holding a porcelain cup; he looked cultivated and attractive. He sensed that she was looking at him, so he looked to her too. There were waves in his eyes, possibly due to the steaming hotpot. The light radiated from the chandelier fell into his eyes. Lin Qian suddenly recalled the time when he first tried to pursue her and said to her, “This is the first time in my life that I want a woman.” And now, after all these days, he was still giving her the same look and trying to tell her without words that he wanted her.

Lin Qian turned her head around and took a sip of juice. At that moment, Li Zhicheng’s cell phone rang. He looked at it and said, “Sorry I have to take this call.” He stepped onto the balcony. Lin Qian couldn’t help following him with her eyes, and the everyone was less engaged in the conversation as if they’d sensed something.

Wang Taishi ate the peanuts in front him gradually with a pair of chopsticks. He was patient and quiet.

Li Zhicheng hang up the phone after a short while and open the door of the terrace. He subtly caught Lin Qian’s eye. She smiled and walked to him. Wang Taishi also joined them. Wang Taishi asked with a bright look, “Any good news?” Li Zhicheng was smiling mildly, and he looked incredibly tall and built at night, “It’s like you can do predict the future.” He looked them two and said, “Zhu’s Corporation just ordered that Ning Weikai is no longer in charge of New Bori and will be transferred to the new Internet subsidiary, where he will be CEO. He still holds a huge share of Sha Ying. And now, the second Zhu’s brothers will take charge.”

Both Lin Qian and Wang Taishi calmed down after he finished. Though the past year, New Bori’s market share in casual bags had decreased, but strenuous efforts were still needed if Aida wanted to wage a war against them, because of the existence of Ning Weikai. The centipede went on wriggling even when it was dead.

But now, New Bori lost Ning Weikai as an eagle lost its wings. Although Zhu Hancheng was a talented man, he couldn’t compare to Ning Weikai, and there would of course be a transition period when he took over. As for Aida, it would soar during while New Bori floundered.

Li Zhicheng definitely understood these outcomes. He looked to Wang Taishi and said, “Mr.Wang, we can start manufacturing Aida casual bags now.”

It was already nine o’clock when they went back at their resort from Wang Taishi’ home. Lin Qian drove them back because Li Zhicheng had drank a great deal. His cheeks were reddened but he was still lucid. He sat on the sling chair and rubbed his forehead after arriving home.

Lin Qian was very considerate of his condition. She made him an after-drink tea and brought him a warm towel. Li Zhicheng drank the tea while Lin Qian wiped his face. “How much did you drink?” Lin Qian asked.

“Quite a few cups,” he replied groggily.

She nodded her head, unbuttoned his shirt, and wiped his neck. Men tended to consume alcohol when given good news. Li Zhicheng and the Wang’s had drank one cup after another. Mrs.Wang would stop and give a toast on occasion, but Lin Qian wasn’t worried at all.

It wasn’t because he could handle much liquor, rather, he was incredibly self-disciplined. Some men would get drunk without even noticing it, but such things never happened to Li Zhicheng. He would stop when he felt he had enough and wouldn’t take another, sip no matter how the others pushed him.

Lin Qian had seen him drowsy but had never seen him drunk, and Lin Mocheng was exactly like him. Perhaps for men like them, it was crucial to remain sober and in control. After cleaning both his face and hands, Lin Qian asked him, “Do you want to go to bed?”

“Sure,” he answered with a low voice.

She aided him in standing up and felt half his weight on her body. Just when Lin Qian put him on the bed, he reached out his hands and dragged her on the bed. “What are you doing?” she smiled, “I need to shower.” Li Zhicheng rolled over and pressed her under his body. The scent of alcohol rolled over her. He gazed at her with his sparkling eyes. “Lin Qian,” he said, “tell your brother that I, Li Zhicheng, am about to be the leader of the industry. From now on, you will belong to me completely and no one will interfere.”

Lin Qian was a bit astounded first, and then broke into laughter. The alcohol had indeed intoxicated him. Li Zhicheng, who was always reserved and serene, showed some insolence today. She hugged his neck and said, “OK. From tonight on, I completely give myself to you with all of my heart,” she halted, the went on, “I’ll be your woman and only yours. We’ll be together, joyful and intimate like this every day. Does that sound great?”

“Great,” he said gradually, “it’s a deal.

Lin Qian’s heart was racing while Li Zhicheng bowed down and started to kiss her. Somehow her body and soul were both keen, probably because success was within reach after tonight or because his scent was too seductive, or both. Their bodies intertwined with each other, zealously but silently. In the room overflowing with moonlight, only her moans and sound of tossing bedsheets were heard.

The same night, across the city, there were many people just as happy as Li Zhicheng; Lin Qian, Wang Taishi, Gu Yanzhi and all the staff in Aida.

Others were sorrowful, while still others were secretly planning something sinister.

Lin Mocheng, who just finished a meeting about an investment project, was sitting in his office on Wall Street. He was looking at the hustle and bustle of New York’s streets. Tired, he rubbed his forehead.

He saw a missed call from Lin Qian when he took out his phone. He looked at the clock, and realized it was midnight in China. He put his phone aside, picked up the newspaper and started to read it leisurely with his legs crossed.

Meanwhile, Ning Weikai, who had just been removed from the leadership of New Bori, had left the building. Tomorrow would be his last day.

As for Chen Zheng, he was still sitting in his office and wallowed in contemplation. News of Ning Weikai’s “banishment” had been delivered to him as well. This year, Sha Ying had wrecked the whole market. SMQ’s line of casual bags had suffered severe damage. And now, the CEO who’d never had a good day in the past year, could finally smile. He felt like this was the time for him to turn the tables.