Chapter 21 Part 2

Jun Jianqing smiled. “Acting in consideration of the company, acting in consideration of the group—you naturally deserve praise.”

She raised her chin, gesturing towards the small table near the door.

“The Keemun black tea on top, pre-Grain Rain harvest. For you.”

Su Jianyue immediately got up to retrieve it. Opening it, she saw the tea leaves were tight and slender, with a golden-yellow luster, and instantly knew it was the highest top-grade quality.

With her status, she could naturally purchase this premium Keemun, but this year’s pre-Grain Rain harvest—picked just before the season—was produced in very limited quantities. It was a boutique item. If she wanted such a large packet like this, it would still take considerable effort.

Nothing beat the satisfaction of getting it for free.

Su Jianyue was instantly delighted.

“Becoming your friend was truly the best decision I ever made in my life.”

Jun Jianqing lowered her head to savor her tea and gave a soft, amused snort.

Su Jianyue sat back down, the smile never leaving her face, and absolutely didn’t bring up the matter of Jun Jianqing previously having her cooperate with Xinghua Food again.

She diligently poured tea for Jun Jianqing, her smile radiant.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

A server said, bowing their head, “President Su, the guests you scheduled have arrived.”

Su Jianyue said, “I understand. Show them to my reception room. I’ll be there shortly.”

Jun Jianqing: “You scheduled guests?”

Su Jianyue looked at her. “Chen Xiwen from Xinghua Food. Want to come along?”

Jun Jianqing considered for a moment. “Let’s go.”

—

Chen Xiwen and Chen Shuhua were politely escorted by the server to the reception room. After the two sat down, the server served tea and quietly withdrew. The tea fragrance before them curled upwards, but neither was in the mood to appreciate it.

Just as Chen Shuhua was feeling anxious, the door made a soft sound.

A woman in an azure qipao appeared before them, a pleasant smile on her lips.

Chen Xiwen stood up, bringing Chen Shuhua with her. Mother and daughter raised smiles, ready to exchange pleasantries, when they suddenly froze. Seeing the person who shouldn’t have been there, their minds went completely blank.

The woman in the wheelchair wore a white Tang-style outfit with silver-thread embroidery, her aura aloof and noble.

Chen Xiwen immediately greeted: “President Jun, President Su.”

Chen Shuhua hurriedly followed suit.

Both women nodded in acknowledgment. Then Su Jianyue pushed Jun Jianqing over to the opposite side of the tea table, and they took their seats.

Chen Xiwen offered the box in her hands forward. “I heard President Su loves tea the most. I specially brought out a collection from home. I hope President Su won’t find it unworthy.”

Then she glanced at Jun Jianqing beside her, momentarily hesitant.

She hadn’t expected President Jun to be here today.

Su Jianyue saw her dilemma and said with a smiling charm, “How could that be? I love tea, and I’m not picky—any kind is welcome. It’s just… I’m afraid I won’t be able to accept this collector’s item right now.”

She reached out, pressing Chen Xiwen’s hand down, and said pleasantly, “To be honest, President Chen, I can guess your purpose here. Regarding Xinghua Food’s current situation, I express my understanding, but please also understand me. Business is tough. I must think of Dawn.”

Chen Xiwen sighed inwardly. Although she was already prepared for there being no room to maneuver, hearing Su Jianyue say it herself still filled her with a touch of despair.

Her gaze couldn’t help but settle on Jun Jianqing, who had remained silent all this while. After hesitating a few seconds, she spoke: “Junior, President Jun, is there perhaps any advice you can offer on this matter?”

Hearing her form of address, Su Jianyue’s brow raised slightly. She suddenly understood why, two months ago, after she’d selected the partner for Dawn’s new product line, Jun Jianqing had suddenly made her change the choice.

So there was this connection.

The word “junior” triggered a certain nerve in Jun Jianqing. She scrutinized Chen Shuhua, who sat quietly beside Chen Xiwen, listening without a word, and spoke coolly: “President Chen, the decision-making power on this matter now rests with President Su. She, too, is merely speaking in terms of business.”

Chen Xiwen’s heart skipped.

A few months ago, when she attended President Jun’s birthday banquet, President Jun had addressed her as “senior.”

She forced a smile and said, weighing her words, “I understand these principles. It’s just… considering the slight past connection, I wonder if President Jun could possibly lend a helping hand.”

Even if not a cooperation, just a capital injection—for the financially powerful Jun Group, it would be as easy as flipping a hand.

Hearing Chen Xiwen bring up old matters on her own initiative, Jun Jianqing’s brow remained unmoved. Su Jianyue glanced at her, then said to Chen Xiwen with a smiling charm: “President Chen, you may not know: the cooperation partner for Dawn earlier—I actually hadn’t chosen Xinghua at the time. It was someone else. It was only after President Jun made the final decision that Dawn signed the contract with Xinghua.”

Upon hearing this, realization dawned on Chen Xiwen.

She said, with difficulty, “So President Jun had already helped us back then. We were the ones who failed to seize the opportunity.”

If not for yet another crisis striking Xinghua, they should have been able to get through that period smoothly.

Chen Xiwen apologized to the two women: “I was presumptuous.”

Jun Jianqing shook her head.

Face pale, Chen Shuhua couldn’t help asking, “Aunt Jun, can you really not help us one more time?”

Chen Xiwen tugged at her slightly, about to express apology to the two opposite them, when Jun Jianqing’s gaze fixed directly on Chen Shuhua. An overwhelming, forceful presence pressed forward, almost suffocating.

“I am a businesswoman, not a philanthropist. Naturally, I speak in business terms. I have no interest in making low-return or even loss-making investments.”

Besides, she had already given Xinghua one chance. They were the ones who failed to grasp it.

Chen Shuhua’s face turned stark white.

Jun Jianqing looked at her coolly, watching her force herself to maintain her posture under that gaze. But in her mind, she recalled a certain night when Cheng Yan had brushed past her and rushed straight towards this girl. The fluttering hem of her clothes had been like the wings of a butterfly that couldn’t be stopped.

She lowered her lashes, and a subtle sense of satisfaction rose in her heart.

Such a Chen Shuhua… was she even worthy of her affection any longer?

Utterly fragile.

She bowed her head to text Jun Lijiang, then turned off her phone, her thoughts already drifting away from this room, flying towards that free butterfly.

Cheng Yan, what choice will you make?

—

Cheng Yan took a taxi to the coffee shop she’d agreed to meet Chen Shuhua at.

By the time she arrived, Chen Shuhua was already there, having ordered coffee, waiting.

Cheng Yan said, a bit apologetically, “Have you been waiting long?”

Chen Shuhua shook her head and said gently, “Already ordered your coffee. Half sugar.”

Cheng Yan looked at her face, clearly marked by lack of sleep. After a moment’s consideration, she took out a card from her bag and pushed it towards her.

Chen Shuhua was puzzled. “What’s this?”

Cheng Yan: “Demolition compensation. There’s over six million in it. Maybe it can help you a bit.”

Chen Shuhua froze. She stared at the bank card on the table for a long, extended moment. Then she raised her gaze to Cheng Yan, looking at her fair face, her amber eyes, and revealed a gentle smile: “These past days, you’ve worried yourself too. But this money—I can’t take it.”

She pushed the bank card back.

Cheng Yan pressed her hand down. “I know this money is probably just a drop in the bucket for you. But… we’re friends, aren’t we? Seeing you in a difficult situation, it’s only right that I should help somehow.”

The bank card in her hand felt hard, a little painful to grip. Chen Shuhua used her other hand to gently loosen Cheng Yan’s grip.

“My family’s situation… there’s already a solution,” she said.

“Really? That’s wonderful.” Cheng Yan’s expression eased somewhat, happy for her. “Did you find a new cooperation partner?”

Chen Shuhua said calmly, “You could say that.”

Cheng Yan suddenly sensed something was off. She frowned, looking at her.

Chen Shuhua finally couldn’t hold up her facade any longer and gave a bitter smile. “A marriage alliance.”

“…” Cheng Yan was stunned for a moment.

Just then, the server arrived with their coffee. After the server left, she finally seemed to gather her words and asked, “Does it have to be this way?”

After that bitter smile, Chen Shuhua’s expression returned to a tranquil acceptance. She stirred her spoon, creating ripples of separation in the coffee within the cup, much like the turbulence in her own heart.

“Probably. Anyway, we truly can’t find any other way,” she said. “But, I am willing.”

If she weren’t willing, her parents wouldn’t agree either.

Chen Shuhua thought: But I have to grow up sometime.

Cheng Yan was silent for a long while.

As for Chen Shuhua’s feelings for her… she was fully aware of them.

The reason she hadn’t chosen to distance herself earlier was because she had indeed liked her.

But now that those feelings had faded, during this whole recent period, she had never found a suitable time to lay everything out in the open.

She suddenly felt sorry, realizing why Chen Shuhua, who was so frantically busy she barely had a moment to spare, would choose these couple of days to meet her.

It was probably for a “farewell.”

Seeing the pained expression on Cheng Yan’s face for her, Chen Shuhua smiled and spoke: “Junior, you actually know that I liked you, don’t you?”

She was so clever. How could she be completely unaware of all her actions?

Cheng Yan cupped her coffee cup and nodded. “Yes, I noticed from the very beginning.”

Her attitude was open and straightforward, without embarrassment or rejection. Chen Shuhua suddenly felt happy. She broke into a smile, free of shadow, gentle and joyful.

“So, you liked me once, too.” Her eyes curved. “If you didn’t like me, you wouldn’t have allowed me to get close.”

Cheng Yan opened her mouth to say, “I’m sorry.”

Chen Shuhua shook her head. “No need to apologize. Matters of the heart—how can anyone fully control them? Especially love. It’s never controllable. No one can be its master.”

So, the liking faded. It just faded.

No one can become the Cupid who rules over love.

She lowered her head and drank a sip of coffee, hiding the sorrow in her eyes. When she looked up, her expression was perfectly normal as she asked, “It was… when? When did you stop… liking me?”

Cheng Yan paused, thought for a moment, and said softly, “Probably around March. The good feelings in my heart were slowly diminishing.”

March. It was already July now.

For three or four months, she hadn’t noticed anything.

If she had been just a bit more perceptive, would the outcome today have been different?

But if that were the case, the her right now would probably only be in more pain.

Being alone, facing the responsibilities to her family—only then could she be a little braver.

Otherwise, she would only feel deeply, deeply unwilling.

Even though thinking this way, every reason seemed perfectly logical, Chen Shuhua still felt a bitter taste in her mouth. She had never drunk coffee this bitter. Even though when she ordered, she had specifically asked for extra sugar.

Seeing her expression twist for a moment, Cheng Yan couldn’t help asking with concern, “What’s wrong?”

Chen Shuhua choked out, voice breaking, “The coffee is so bitter. This shop… I’m never coming here again.”

Cheng Yan also took a sip and agreed, “Yes, it’s bitter. We won’t come here again.”

Hearing her words, Chen Shuhua’s expression somehow became uglier than crying. “Junior, I don’t understand you, so I missed you. But during this time… I really, really am so grateful to you. Thank you for the emotional support you gave me every time my feelings were on the verge of collapse.”

“Every time after seeing you, it was as if I’d been injected with a surge of strength. All the exhaustion disappeared. The gray sky brightened, and I had boundless energy to handle work matters. And I… I’m especially, especially grateful to you.”

And I like you especially, especially much too.

Cheng Yan read the words in her eyes and said, “Actually, I’m very happy to have met you, Senior.”

Chen Shuhua: “Me too, Junior.”