ALL NOVEL “That land is going to be built into commercial residential areas. Inside information says that the subway soon will be built there, and the price of the land will double soon after that. The board will not be happy for you to sell the land now.”
Assistant Song was being mild. People will die for money. This was no longer an issue about whether the board would be happy or not. If Wenxu Jiang insisted on selling the land, the board would eat him alive.
“This is not the only project we are doing. Find some other stuff for them to worry about. Besides, the previous investment in the land was too much, all that money being tied up in the investment is going to interfere with other projects.” Wenxu Jiang rubbed his sore temples.
“But…”
“That’s enough.” Wenxu Jiang waved his hand. “I’m stressed enough already. I will deal with them when I come to work in a couple of days. I’m gonna take a nap now. Wake me up when we are home.”
Assistant Song shut up and drove discreetly.
About 40 minutes later, assistant Song parked the car. Wenxu Jiang was asleep. He hadn’t had much rest these days.
“Mr. Jiang?”
Wenxu Jiang slept lightly. He was awake when the car stopped, but he was too tired to open his eyes.
“Yep. Don’t go to work tomorrow. Wait for my call to pick me up here.” Wenxu Jiang opened his eyes, closed up his collars and got out of the car. “If anyone asks, say I haven’t been back yet.”
Wenxu Jiang went into his building, swiped his card on the elevator. When he was out and busy, the loneliness was not so noticeable. But when he was home, alone by himself, the suffocating silence could drive him crazy.
He opened the door with his thumb print and went in numbly. He turned on all the lights one by one, fell on the couch and dragged out a book under a cushion.
It was a book written by an author named Zheng Jian. There were words written by himself on the title page.
After Zhishu He left, Wenxu Jiang ferreted out this book from his study. Whenever he missed Zhishu He terribly, he would read the book carefully. This was his new routine now.
Lately, Wenxu Jiang had always been thinking about things from the past inadvertently, some things that were trivial and insignificant to others. Sometimes it was not even a thing, it was kind of a particular scene. The way Zhishu He smiled with his little dimples; the way Zhishu He slept in his arms after tender love making; the way Zhishu He tilted his head and frowned when he was troubled.
But the cruel thing is, Wenxu Jiang deliberately remembered all the good memories and scenes, he couldn’t even think about how much he had hurt Zhishu He in later life. Most often, he couldn’t control his thoughts. Each night he woke up in nightmare, he always saw Zhishu He curled up outside the door crying with blood running out of his eyes. Sometimes he dreamt of Zui Shen pushing Zhishu He off the cliff, and he was just standing there watching.
For a period of time, Wenxu Jiang’s pillow was wet every night. He shed so many tears when he was asleep, so he told himself never to cry during the day.
He couldn’t fall apart. If he did, what would happen to Zhishu He?
Wenxu Jiang swallowed two sleeping pills with cold water. He must get some sleep tonight. There will be a lot to do tomorrow.
———————————————
Wenxu Jiang didn’t know what time he fell asleep. When he was awakened by the ringing of his phone, he was still on the couch.
“Mr. Jiang. Do you have plans today? Now is 8 o’clock.” It’s his assistant Song who was on the phone.
Wenxu Jiang sat up straight, looked at the book beside him. The cover of the book was folded up, probably because he slept on it last night. It was only a small and light crease. In an instant, Wenxu Jiang’s heart ached like it was palpitating.
“Mr. Jiang?”
Wenxu Jiang put the book on the tea table gently and caressed the crease on the book cover, “Come now. Wait for me downstairs.”
He ended the call and looked through the contacts on his phone. There was this phone number that really took him some trouble to find. He asked someone to introduce him and got Zekun Li’s personal phone number in some night club.
“Hello?” A sluggish voice of a man, sounded like the man didn’t care about anything.
“Mr. Li. It’s me, Wenxu Jiang.”
“…Mr. Jiang?” Seemed like it took Zekun Li a second to remember Wenxu Jiang, “What are you calling for this early?”
Zekun Li was young, Maybe 23 or 24 years old. Wenxu Jiang forgot that 8 or 9 o’clock was considered early for young people.
“Sorry to bother you. Thank you so much for all your help, I got the land of the western side. If you have some spare time today, I want to thank you in person formerly.” Wenxu Jiang humbled himself. Zekun Li was like a young royalty. His father Zhiqi Li was almost 40 when he had him. Zekun Li was spoiled terribly by the relatives on his mother’s side too.
“No need for that. A piece of cake.” Zekun Li seemed not interested, “I’m not in the mood for going out lately.”
“I just want to talk to you. Some time ago, I heard that someone in your family is not well? A friend of mine is dealing Cubilose in Malaysia. The Cubilose he sent me is big and clean, very nourishing. ”
Zekun Li became interested, he thought for a second and said, “Okay, I happen to be free today. I will text you the address, come to my home, please.”
After this phone call, Wenxu Jiang immediately dialed another number. “Chen? Go to the finance department and get me a million Yuan in cash. Don’t ask any question. I will send assistant Song to pick it up. Remember to load them in a little suitcase.”
After setting this up, he received a message. Looking at the address of a mansion in West Mountain, Wenxu Jiang sipped his lips a little.
He washed up and took some pills before getting downstairs. Assistant Song was already waiting for him.
Wenxu Jiang coughed for a while before catching his breath, “Go to work first. You go pick up the money from Chen.” Then he showed the text message to Song, “Go to this address after.”
After a detour from work, it was almost 12 o’clock when they arrived at the mansion area in West Mountain. Wenxu Jiang hadn’t eat anything from last night, his stomach was burning. He rubbed his stomach for a bit. He looked so pale.
“Mr. Jiang, are you alright?” Looking at him, assistant Song was a little worried. Wenxu Jiang almost never show his illness outside home. Now he had to be in serious pain.
“I’m alright. You stay close. I will call you to pick me up when I’m done.” Wenxu Jiang picked up the little silver suitcase and got out of the car.
The address was easy to find. Wenxu Jiang knocked on the door and someone answered quickly. But he was stunned for a little.
It was a stranger, a boy who opened the door. The boy was so beautiful, even in the gay circle, it was hard to find someone this pretty. But he looked very young, 18 or 19 at most.
“Are you looking for Zekun Li?” The boy smiled at him politely. But the boy looked so pale like he had lost a lot of blood.
Wenxu Jiang went in the house. He sensed this would be a trickier situation than he thought. There were not many people who dared to call Zekun Li by his full name.