“…So, from my perspective,” the CFO hit another ball and said, “Epeus doesn’t have much value; it’s just an empty shell company.”
Guan Yue walked across the lawn and down the slope, saying the first words of the day.
“Drink less, avoid staying out late, your awareness has become dull.”
The CFO was taken aback for a moment. He pondered in place for a few seconds, and realized that Guan Yue believed there were still some unreasonable aspects in the entire process of Epeus’ bankruptcy. He quickly caught up with his boss.
“The lease of the server unit hasn’t been terminated yet?” Guan Yue found the ball and tried swinging the club.
The CFO said, “In this high-tech industry, if they terminate the server lease, it means they admit that the research and development project has no value.”
After those couple of sentences, Guan Yue entered the cooling standby period.
The CFO said, “Although renting a server for a day burns money for a day, my guess is that of the two brothers, Wen Tianyue and Wen Tianhe, one is trying to raise funds in San Francisco, and the other is waiting in China to woo institutions. They think there might still be hope.”
Guan Yue hit the ball, and the CFO added, “Anyway, I strongly advise against helping their family. With the style of those two brothers, once they get the money… Well, it would be another joke if the situation in Macau happened again…”
Outside the golf course, there were sounds coming from the racecourse. Guan Yue stopped and glanced over.
“Good! Good!” Jiang Zijian raised his mallet and smiled at Zhuo Yilong.
Zhuo Yilong scored two goals in a row and circled around on his horse with confidence.
Jiang Zijian took the opportunity when Zhuo Yilong turned around and quickly gestured to Tianhe, who hurriedly raised his hand, signaling surrender. ‘Let him win, got it.’
“Okay!” Tianhe took advantage of Zhuo Yilong’s turning back and quickly leveled his mallet, shouting to him.
Zhuo Yilong: “Your turn.”
Jiang Zijian: “Do you want to take a break?”
Tianhe: “…”
Asking for a break after scoring goals left the referee a little confused, unsure how to proceed. Jiang Zijian was a casual person; he was here to serve Zhuo Yilong today, and after the game, they would have dinner together, praise Zhuo Yilong, and find ways to achieve the goal of helping Tianhe get a chance to speak at the industry conference.
Wu Shun, on the other hand, had an embarrassed smile. This was his friend.
Unexpectedly, Tianhe gave him a look, and they both exchanged knowing smiles. Wu Shun couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re interesting,” Wu Shun said, holding the mallet.
Tianhe smiled and replied, “You play well.” Then he lightly tapped his mallet against Wu Shun’s, and they both rode away.
Tianhe was getting a bit tired. In the morning, he had only had some milk, and being exposed to the sun made him uncomfortable. He just wanted to finish the three games quickly. The problem was, he didn’t know how long they had been playing, which made him a bit annoyed. He still had to calculate the next attacking route to make sure the ball wasn’t too obvious.
————-
“Boss?” The CFO said.
Without saying a word, Guan Yue walked down the slope, took a long stride, and jumped over the pasture fence.
The CFO watched helplessly as Guan Yue threw the golf club, and like a gust of wind, he entered the other lawn, leaving him bewildered.
“Half-time?” Jiang Zijian shouted and signaled to Zhuo Yilong to ask the referee.
Zhuo Yilong said, “No need for a break! I’m in a good rhythm!”
Tianhe: “…”
Jiang Zijian: “Okay, let’s continue!”
Wu Shun: “Do you want to change horses?”
Zhuo Yilong said, “Isn’t this horse still okay? Come on, Wu Shun, stop their offense and level the score!”
Everyone: “…”
Jiang Zijian winked at Tianhe, telling him not to taunt Zhuo Yilong. Tianhe’s forehead and face were covered in sweat. He nodded and rode forward. Zhuo Yilong was clearly motivated and prepared to charge forward. He rode his horse to snatch the ball and hit it, all in one go.
“Hey!” A groom said, “Sir! They’re not taking a break…Wait, who are you?”
Jiang Zijian turned his head and suddenly saw a person galloping in on a horse. Everyone was stunned.
Tianhe: “…”
Guan Yue leaned sideways, galloping into the field. Under the brilliant sunlight, he swung his mallet, performing an extremely beautiful backhand shot, and the ball rushed into the goal like a shooting star!
Wu Shun: “Who? There’s an extra person?”
Jiang Zijian immediately turned his horse around and left the field, saying, “You guys continue!”
After scoring a goal, Guan Yue raised his mallet, and Tianhe smiled, lightly tapping his mallet against Guan Yue’s, making a crisp wooden sound.
Jiang Zijian shouted from the sidelines, “You guys play, I’ll take a break for a while. Brother Zhuo, keep it up!”
Wu Shun and Zhuo Yilong had no idea what was happening. A knight suddenly appeared on the field, wearing a hat, and rudely joined the game. Tianhe called out to the referee, “Let’s start the fourth round!”
Zhuo Yilong still didn’t know who this person was. The opponent wore a baseball cap and galloped in, making it difficult to see clearly. As Zhuo Yilong approached, Tianhe came from the left and shot a ball. The ball skimmed just below Zhuo Yilong’s horse belly and flew towards the newcomer.
Guan Yue turned the horse sharply, pulling the reins with his right hand and holding the mallet with his left, performing a difficult drift.
“Yah!” Guan Yue forced the horse to stop, leaned to the side, and faced the ball head-on. Zhuo Yilong and Wu Shun only saw a flash before the ball went into the goal.
Guan Yue galloped, raised his mallet, and lightly tapped Tianhe’s, and both sides separated nonchalantly.
The referee signaled, and they started the game again. With a smile on his face, Tianhe turned his horse and dashed towards the opposing goal. Guan Yue showed off a fancy move: he held the stick with his left hand, raised it high behind his shoulder, swung his right foot over the stirrup, and executed a magnificent somersault. The beautiful action earned applause from both sides and all the horse trainers on the sidelines.
“Beautiful!”
The ranch was in a frenzy! Everyone came out to watch Guan Yue play.
“Bang!” The ball was hit, and it flew towards the opposing goal, kicking up grass. Tianhe rushed to a spot not far from the opposing goal, executed a skillful maneuver with his horse, turned around, and scored with a horizontal swing of the stick.
After the goal, Tianhe calmly approached with his horse, holding the mallet. Guan Yue turned around, gave him a meaningful look, and both of them raised their mallets, gently touching them together.
Wu Shun: “…”
Zhuo Yilong: “…”
The referee whistled, and another round started, with the ball seemingly appearing and disappearing between Guan Yue and Tianhe. Wu Shun and Zhuo Yilong, the two defenders, were like monkeys, following the ball from one side to the other and covered in sweat.
Jiang Zijian became more and more uneasy and quickly gestured to the referee, signaling that they should stop. Understanding the situation, the referee blew the whistle, signaling that the match was over.
Ten minutes later.
“CEO Guan!” Zhuo Yilong smiled broadly. “Wow! It’s you!”
Guan Yue nodded and sat with everyone at the tea house. He rested his slender fingers on the table, gazing at the lemon water in front of him and tapping it lightly.
“It’s quite a coincidence.” Wu Shun smiled at Tianhe.
Tianhe thought it was really funny and laughed, saying, “Yes, yes.”
Jiang Zijian didn’t know what to say for a moment. Zhuo Yilong became completely different when he saw Guan Yue, and exclaimed, “Your polo is so-so-good!”
Guan Yue responded with a thoughtful “Mmm.”
Tianhe explained, “He used to be the captain of the Oxford PPE Polo Team, so losing to him is not unjust.”
“Oh,” everyone nodded in agreement. However, Jiang Zijian chuckled and said, “Isn’t he just our defeated opponent?”
Guan Yue glanced at Jiang Zijian but didn’t say anything.
Zhuo Yilong looked at Tianhe, then at Guan Yue, and laughed, “You two know each other? No wonder! Ha-ha-ha!”
“I am Tianhe’s fan,” Guan Yue finally spoke.
“I don’t dare to accept such praise,” Tianhe quickly replied, “CEO Guan has always outperformed others.”
Guan Yue said, “He taught me polo. I’m leaving. You guys have fun.” With that, he stood up, nodded, and left.
Zhuo Yilong hurriedly followed after him, saying, “CEO Guan! Hey! Since we ran into each other today, when shall we have a meal together? Heh-heh-heh, last time our boss…”
His voice faded away as they both disappeared, leaving the three remaining people at the tea house.
Jiang Zijian: “…”
Wu Shun remembered something and said, “Let’s exchange contact information. I didn’t play well, so I’ll ask you for guidance when I’m free.”
“Sure, I’m no expert, but we can learn from each other,” Tianhe immediately replied. He quite liked Wu Shun; they were of similar age, and Wu Shun’s father worked in the Development and Reform Commission. He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, looking spirited and with good manners.
“Sorry about today,” Wu Shun suddenly said to Jiang Zijian.
“I’ll go wash my hands,” Tianhe knew it was time to give them space, so he put on his earpiece and got up to leave. Jiang Zijian sighed, raised his hand, and smiled helplessly.
After chasing Guan Yue, Zhuo Yilong never came back. Tianhe looked into the distance and saw Guan Yue elegantly leaping over the fence and onto the golf course, with Zhuo Yilong following suit. They climbed up the slope and became two small dots, disappearing on the other side.
The next day was a rainy one. Tianhe curled up on the sofa, one hand holding his silly blue cat, and the other tapping on the keyboard, running programs and coding swiftly. Jiang Zijian sat beside him, flipping through some documents, and there was an envelope on the table.
Zhuo Yilong’s press conference invitation had been received, but it seemed they didn’t plan to let Tianhe speak on stage; they only prepared a cold bench for him in the audience.
“Isn’t Guan Yue too powerful?” Jiang Zijian said, “In this life, must we hurt each other like this?”
Tianhe’s fingers pressed the enter key, and the glass display screen started showing lines of code running. Numerous small windows popped up, displaying the progress of the trading software interface.
“Prometheus, can you please monitor the CPU for me? Thanks,” Tianhe said while sipping coffee, “I think that even if Guan Yue didn’t appear, Brother Zhuo would still not have let me speak on stage. But one thing at a time.”
“True!” Jiang Zijian agreed, “But he still messed with my plans. It’s a good thing I’m good-tempered. Otherwise, I would have found someone to beat him up.”
Tianhe: “We messed with his blind date, then he messed with our golf game. One tit for tat, fair and square. Can you bear it if a handsome, wealthy, long-legged brother gets beaten up?”
Jiang Zijian: “He’s not my ex; as long as you authorize me, of course, I can bear it.”
“I know where the problem lies…” Tianhe paused and took a quick glance at the screen, murmuring, “I said the technical level of the software director is so… anyway… forget it. What are you looking at?”
“The person I’m going to date,” Jiang Zijian replied, “someone who massages guests at a foot bath center.”
Tianhe glanced at the folder in Jiang Zijian’s hand. It was as if he was hiring someone.
Jiang Zijian explained that the person who compiled the data was the manager of a hotel in his family. The manager registered an account and pretended to be Jiang Zijian to fish in a forum.
This straight steel man manager had tried all his best to woo six potential dates, capturing valid information from their chats. Finally, he printed it all out and handed it to Jiang Zijian. Jiang Zijian was immediately drawn to one of them, who looked handsome and youthful. The young man had a lovely baby face, giving off a caring vibe.
Jiang Zijian was a philosophy student and couldn’t understand computer language, but he was still curious about the information, and asked, “Oh? Is this the software that crashes the client’s computer after it’s sold? Did you fix it? Is your company saved?”
“No,” Tianhe said, “This trading software is no longer in use.”
Jiang Zijian: “Then why did you fix it?”
“Obsessive-compulsive disorder,” Tianhe casually replied, “How could I tolerate the existence of something like that in this world? I have to fix it and apologize to each client personally. I won’t go out these few days; you can do your own thing.”
Jiang Zijian: “What about your server unit?”
Tianhe: “We’ll see.”
Jiang Zijian knew that once Tianhe started working, he would practically disappear from the world. He didn’t insist and said, “I’ll think of another way to help you.”
“Thanks,” Tianhe replied.
“Continue fighting! Try not to beg that damn Guan Yue,” Jiang Zijian said to Tianhe.
Tianhe: “Your ‘continue fighting’ has stabbed me like a knife. Get lost!”
Jiang Zijian whistled and shouted to the mackaw, “The A-share markets are crashing!”
“A-shares!” The mackaw spread its wings and praised the Eastern world’s temple of wealth, enthusiastically shouting, “Guan Yue is dead!”
“That’s about right,” Tianhe said contentedly.
