The main reason Richard had urged Gu Zhan to return was that there had been a problem with a project involving a Japanese brand.

The Japanese brand primarily sold 3C digital products. Not long ago, they had signed a cooperation agreement with Slungshot, authorizing Slungshot to sell one of their classic laptop series. Gu Zhan had taken advantage of the recent shopping festival to put the laptops up for presale, and sales had been extremely impressive. This should have been a good thing.

However, the shipping date was fast approaching, and the Japanese brand still hadn’t delivered the inventory they had ordered. If they couldn’t ship on schedule, not only would customers demand refunds and file complaints, but it would also damage Slungshot’s long-standing reputation.

As soon as Gu Zhan arrived at the office, he dealt with the matter.

“Have you gotten in touch with the people from the Japanese brand? What did they say?”

Richard gave him a general report on the situation before summarizing, “Basically, they said there are still some procedural issues with Chenglang, so they can’t deliver the goods for the time being.”

Chen Lang had actually helped Gu Zhan secure this Japanese-brand project in the first place. Strictly speaking, Slungshot was supposed to obtain the products from Chenglang, because Chenglang was the Japanese brand’s officially authorized domestic distributor, while Slungshot was only Chenglang’s exclusive distributor.

The reason Chen Lang was willing to give Gu Zhan a share of the business was simple. For imported products like these, Slungshot had a much larger user base and stronger consumer trust. Chenglang’s e-commerce site had only recently transitioned from traditional business operations. If they wanted more people to know that the Japanese brand’s flagship products had officially entered the Chinese market, cooperating with Gu Zhan was mutually beneficial.

Gu Zhan asked, “What kind of procedures? We’re already two days past the agreed delivery date. Isn’t Chen Lang in a hurry?”

Both companies had launched the products during the shopping festival, and both had sold them on a presale basis. Slungshot was waiting for its inventory, and Chenglang should also have been eagerly waiting.

Richard looked troubled.

“I sent someone to Chenglang to ask. They haven’t received the goods either. But during the last shopping festival, we sold a hundred times as many products as they did. Even if they can’t ship to their customers on time and have to issue refunds, the amount they’ll have to refund isn’t that significant.”

Gu Zhan’s brows furrowed.

“How much exactly did we sell?”

Richard indicated the number with his fingers.

“This much.”

“That much?”

Sales at this level could already affect Slungshot’s cash flow to a certain extent.

“Yes. First, how could the Japanese brand’s flagship product not be popular when it was authorized for the Chinese market for the first time? Second, of course, our users have always trusted Slungshot’s quality and service. That’s why we sold particularly well during the last shopping festival.”

Gu Zhan thought for a moment.

“Let’s prepare for both possibilities. On one hand, send someone to Chenglang to find out exactly what procedural problem occurred. If necessary, I’ll personally go talk to Mr. Chen. On the other hand, have Finance take stock of all the projects we currently have on hand. Worst case, if the Japanese brand really can’t deliver, we need to have enough cash reserves to cover the situation.”

“Okay, I’ll handle it right away.” Richard was about to leave.

Gu Zhan suddenly called him back.

“Wait… While I was away these past few days… Did anyone come looking for me?”

“Of course. Mr. Wang, Mr. Chen, Mr. Li, and that person you played golf with before…”

Richard rattled off a long list of names. When he saw his boss rolling his eyes, he abruptly stopped, belatedly realizing what his boss actually wanted to know.

“Fu… Mr. Fu came looking for you too.”

“Oh? He came?” Gu Zhan murmured to himself.

Richard said, “He came looking for you the night you returned to Suzhou, but he hasn’t come since.”

Gu Zhan had been back in Suzhou for four days, and Fu Yan hadn’t sent him a single phone call or WeChat message.

The man who had previously been eager to follow him around every day had suddenly disappeared without a sound.

Was Fu Yan genuinely busy these past few days?

Or was it because of what Gu Zhan had said to him that night when Fu Yan had come to take care of him while he was sick?

Did those words hurt Fu Yan?

Or had they finally awakened him, making him see things clearly and give up?

Was Fu Yan finally going to let him go?

Gu Zhan asked again, “Did he say what he wanted when he came looking for me?”

Richard glanced at his boss and thought to himself: He came every evening at quitting time to pick you up. What else could he possibly have wanted? Why are you pretending not to know?

Richard didn’t know that Fu Yan hadn’t contacted Gu Zhan for several days, so he couldn’t quite figure out what his boss was getting at. He could only tell him what he knew.

“Mr. Fu was received by Xiao Chen that time. She told him that your mother wasn’t feeling well and that you’d gone back to Suzhou. Then Mr. Fu left.”

“He just… left?” Gu Zhan instinctively echoed.

Hmph.

When Gu Ru fell ill, Du Zhe found out and came to Suzhou the very next day, even helping take care of her. But Fu Yan hadn’t even sent a single word of concern or made a phone call.

And yet he kept saying how much he loved him.

When it really mattered, he didn’t care about him at all.

Still, perhaps this was a good thing.

Maybe this time Fu Yan had truly decided to leave him alone. Maybe he really was going to let him go.

At last, Gu Zhan could have some peace and quiet.

That was what Gu Zhan told himself, completely unaware that a faint trace of disappointment had already appeared on his face.

Richard, who was skilled at reading people’s expressions, saw his boss’s face fall and quickly added, “Maybe Mr. Fu had some urgent business. It’s the end of the year, so every company is busy. And Xiao Chen told me that Mr. Fu went to Shanghai the next day. There must be some urgent project at the Shanghai branch. Otherwise, why would he still not have come back by now?”

“He hasn’t returned to Beijing?”

“That’s what Xiao Chen told me this morning.”

Gu Zhan’s expression softened slightly. Then he looked at Richard sternly.

“You people should focus on your work during office hours and stop gossiping.”

“Yes, yes.” Richard hurriedly covered his mouth and backed out.

Bosses really are difficult to deal with these days. You can flatter them one way or the other, and neither works. Sigh… It’s hard. Being an employee is hard.

Once he was alone in the office, Gu Zhan picked up his phone and hesitantly opened WeChat.

Fu Yan is in Shanghai?

Was Fu Yan really dealing with some urgent work these past few days?

Or had he gone to Shanghai specifically to avoid him, because he no longer wanted to see him?

Gu Zhan suddenly turned off the screen and placed the phone face-down on the desk.

Forget it. He wouldn’t think about it.

He would just assume Fu Yan had already left.

Although Fu Yan hadn’t left a single word behind or given him any explanation, this was already the second time. He should have learned his lesson. He shouldn’t once again be oblivious to what was happening, nor should he foolishly let himself hope for something.

Silently slipping away was Fu Yan’s way of saying goodbye.

A year ago, hadn’t Fu Yan done exactly the same thing? He had quietly moved out of Gu Zhan’s home, and Gu Zhan had only realized that Fu Yan had broken up with him after someone else told him.

Everything had gone exactly as he had expected.

Fu Yan would eventually hit a wall, get hurt, become tired, grow weary, and sooner or later leave him.

Fortunately, this time Gu Zhan had been firm enough.

Fortunately, this time he hadn’t fallen for Fu Yan’s trap of love.

Gu Zhan rubbed his temples and picked up another document from the pile on his desk.

There was still plenty of work waiting for him.

He had to return to Suzhou again next week. Right now, he simply didn’t have the energy to worry about anything else.

After working nonstop for two days, Gu Zhan finally cleared most of his backlog.

It was after ten that night.

He arrived home alone, loosened his tie, leaned back against the sofa, and called Gu Ru.

“Hi, Mom. Are you asleep?”

Gu Ru’s voice sounded slightly hoarse and drowsy.

“I was just about to go to sleep. What? You finally finished work and remembered to call your mother?”

“Yeah. How are you feeling today?”

“Pretty good. I had another IV all day, and I feel like my cough is almost gone.”

“That’s good.” Gu Zhan then asked, “By the way, how’s the caregiver I hired? Are you getting along? I specifically asked the agency to find someone attentive with a good personality. How is she? She seems like a decent person, right? If you get bored, you can chat with her.”

“Mm, we get along fine.”

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end. Gu Ru seemed hesitant to say something.

“A-Zhan, since you came back to Beijing this time, did you get a chance to meet that PhD you told me about?”

“Oh, Mom, why are you more anxious than I am? I came back to deal with work. Where would I have time to think about that?”

“Mom isn’t anxious… I just want to know what you’re planning to do about that young man… I’m worried… Are you really serious about finding someone? I’m telling you, this is something you’ll be doing for the rest of your life. You can’t treat it casually. Don’t make a decision out of a moment of emotion. I’m not rushing you…”

Gu Ru rambled on, and Gu Zhan couldn’t quite figure out what she was trying to say. She probably was just anxious for him and hoped he would settle down sooner.

So Gu Zhan said, “Mom, don’t worry. I’ll ask the person who introduced us when it would be convenient for me to meet him.”

“Okay…”

Gu Ru was silent for a moment before asking, “A-Zhan, what about that person from before… Fu Yan? What’s the situation between you two now?”

Gu Zhan didn’t understand why his mother had suddenly brought up Fu Yan.

After all, as far as he knew, Gu Ru didn’t like Fu Yan and probably didn’t want to mention him either.

He answered vaguely, “Nothing much. We haven’t been in contact lately.”

That should be what his mother wanted to hear, too.

“Oh…”

Gu Ru’s voice came through the receiver, impossible to read emotionally. The drawn-out ending sounded as though she were carefully considering something.

“Then… go to bed early.”

“Okay, Mom. You should get some sleep too. My flight tomorrow night is very late, so I won’t arrive in Suzhou until late. Don’t wait for me.”

“Okay.”

The next day, Gu Zhan spent the entire day in meetings. That evening, he rushed to the airport.

The weather was bad, and the flight was delayed. Gu Zhan waited in the lounge until he was almost asleep before finally being told that they could board.

Suzhou didn’t have an airport. The flight route was Beijing to Shanghai, and Shanghai was experiencing light rain that night. When the plane landed, air traffic control caused further delays.

The flight was originally scheduled to land at 11:55 p.m., but it was almost three in the morning by the time it finally touched down.

Whenever Gu Zhan returned to Suzhou in the past, he often connected through Shanghai, and Xiao Chen would arrange a private car to pick him up at the airport in advance.

But tonight was simply too late.

As soon as Gu Zhan’s phone regained a signal, several missed calls and text messages came through. The private-car driver had waited so long because of the flight delay that he had already gone home for the night.

Now Gu Zhan could only try to hail a taxi outside.

He had no idea whether he would even be able to find one at this hour.

Carrying his luggage, Gu Zhan reached the exit. A gust of cold wind mixed with dampness rushed toward him. He quickly wrapped his coat tighter around himself.

The rain was blowing sideways outside.

It was freezing.

He walked a few more steps.

At the temporary pickup area ahead, an SUV with its hazard lights flashing honked twice.

Gu Zhan turned around and looked around.

There was no one else nearby.

The car seemed to be honking at him.

Huh?

Hadn’t the private-car driver texted him to say he had gone home?

Confused, Gu Zhan walked toward the SUV.

The window slowly rolled down.

Inside, Fu Yan curled the corners of his lips into a faint smile.

“Get in.”