Zhou Shiyi reached out first and shook the other’s hand.
“President Zhou, it’s a pleasure.”
Lù Chéng responded politely, not forgetting to thank him for supporting his first concert in Jiangcheng.
President Zhou said, “No need for thanks. It’s the least I can do.”
Beside them, President Du warmly introduced Zhong Yì: “This is our Mrs. Zhou.”
Zhong Yì extended her hand. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
Lù Chéng repeated, “Likewise.”
A bitter feeling stirred in his heart.
Zhou Shiyi’s gaze never left Zhong Yì. On the New Year’s Eve when she and Lù Chéng parted ways, she had told him she hadn’t seen Lù Chéng in a long time, that she regretted not flying back to see him.
From her words, he could tell how much she missed Lù Chéng back then.
“Weren’t you not coming?” he asked.
Zhong Yì looked at him. “On such an important day, how could I not come?”
President Du interjected, seizing the chance to mock his boss: “Exactly. I don’t know what President Zhou was thinking.”
But realizing it wasn’t appropriate to embarrass the boss in front of guests, he stopped immediately and turned to Zhong Yì, “But President Zhou has kept a seat for you, right in the front row, center.”
Zhong Yì naturally didn’t thank Zhou Shiyi aloud. When their eyes met, everything she wanted to say was conveyed in her glance.
President Du instructed Yang Xi, “Take Mrs. Zhong over in a moment. The seat has President Zhou’s name on it.”
Yang Xi snapped back to attention and nodded, “Okay.”
No wonder just now she couldn’t recall a guest seat with Zhong Yì’s name on it.
Before Yang Xi could escort her, Zhou Shiyi gestured, “You go ahead. I’ll take her there.”
Yang Xi: “……Alright. Thank you, President Zhou.”
Who would have imagined that one day, the boss of Kuncheng would share the burden of such tasks for her.
Zhou Shiyi accompanied Zhong Yì to the conference hall. Zhan Liang and the bodyguards stopped in time, waiting backstage.
From the VIP room door to the main hall was only a few dozen meters, and only the two of them walked that distance.
Zhong Yì glanced at the man beside her, then took his hand.
Zhou Shiyi said nothing but suddenly felt a sense of reassurance.
Zhong Yì: “When you go up on stage later, remember to look my way—I’ll be taking photos of you.”
Zhou Shiyi met her gaze: “I should take more photos. There probably aren’t any pictures of me on your phone.”
Suddenly, Zhong Yì turned around, wrapped her arms around his waist, and leaned back as they walked.
“I’m planning to find someone to dismantle that old phone’s chip, see if there are any residual traces.”
“Anyway, I can’t trouble my cousin anymore. He’s been busy in the lab for over a month trying to recover the wedding photos.”
Zhou Shiyi didn’t care if people might come out of the conference hall or not; he let her hold onto him. “Give me the phone. I’ll figure something out.”
“If it really doesn’t work, I’ll go see Yan Tinglin.”
But if Yan Tinglin found out the photos deleted were his, he’d probably be overjoyed.
Zhong Yì held him for about ten meters before letting go.
No one mentioned Lù Chéng, and there was no need to.
***
After seeing each other, both felt a sense of peace.
Today’s press conference was attended by executives from seven or eight other automakers.
While they competed with Kuncheng, they also collaborated.
Kuncheng was the provider of the intelligent driving assistance system solution.
Several executives had attended Zhou Shiyi and Zhong Yì’s wedding before. Seeing them appear together, someone familiar with Zhou Shiyi joked, “Looks like he really is taking good care of her.”
Originally, they thought Zhou Shiyi might feel embarrassed and dodge the topic in public, but he responded frankly, “How could that be? When I truly love her, you’ll all know. I won’t hide it.”
“Then I’m going to block your Moments now. I heard Yan Tinglin blocked you too.”
“No wonder Yan Tinglin never likes any of your posts.”
They stopped joking and turned to business.
One executive asked Zhong Yì, “Mrs. Zhong, I heard your team has partnered with Kuncheng Motors?”
“That’s right.”
“So the hope for generalizing complex environments is looking promising.”
“Thank you for your kind words.”
“Did you get a chance to look at the intelligent driving assistance system in Kuncheng’s new model released today?”
Zhong Yì smiled, “I came specially to support my husband today, so of course I’m well-informed.”
“…Just married, huh? I allow you all to flaunt it.”
Zhou Shiyi glanced at her silently for a few seconds, then escorted her to her seat before heading backstage himself.
He reminded her, “Wait for me here when it’s over.”
Zhong Yì nodded, “Okay, you go ahead and get busy.”
She barely sat down before the press conference officially started.
The highlight of today’s new model was the intelligent driving assistance system, which made a qualitative leap in multi-sensor data processing, minimizing spatiotemporal delay.
The human-machine interaction error rate was reduced by nearly a thousandfold.
Zhou Shiyi detailed the intelligent driving assistance system on stage, even connecting to a live vehicle demonstration.
Zhong Yì held up her phone, recording video while listening intently.
He originally had no interest in cars, but because of her, he took over Kuncheng Motors.
At the beginning of their arranged marriage, they barely spoke. He probably didn’t want to be so distant, but couldn’t show weakness privately, so he used work as an excuse to interact more.
Therefore, he insisted on pushing forward the plan she proposed despite all obstacles.
Looking back now, this was perhaps another form of yielding.
Next was the interaction segment with the brand ambassador.
Having met backstage, Zhou Shiyi and Lù Chéng shook hands calmly again on stage.
Seeing Zhou Shiyi’s composed demeanor, with no trace of awkwardness, Lù Chéng suddenly wondered if he knew about his past with Zhong Yì.
In the audience, Zhong Yì put away her phone in the Canvas Bag and stopped filming.
On stage, the host, unaware they were rivals for the same woman, went on with his script: “President Zhou, have you listened to our ‘Movie Emperor’ Lù’s songs?”
It was just polite small talk. President Zhou only needed to reply “Yes.”
Unexpectedly, he said, “Yes, and I’ve been to his concert too.”
The host followed up, “No wonder the media say President Zhou is a fan of the Movie Emperor, turns out he supported the concert.”
Lù Chéng maintained a gentle smile.
Zhou Shiyi responded to the host, “I truly admire him.”
That wasn’t just courtesy; he admired Lù Chéng for keeping his original intention in the cutthroat world of fame and fortune.
The jealousy and grudges from before—
After seeing him today and briefly chatting backstage about car performance just moments ago, everything was completely resolved.
The man took everything seriously—even professional knowledge he didn’t need to know by heart—and he understood why Jì Fánxīng admired and liked Lù Chéng.
As Zhong Yì had said earlier, when she liked Lù Chéng, he had already been dazzling—his current popularity was irrelevant.
The interaction segment lasted 13 minutes and 46 seconds, far exceeding President Du’s expectations.
Backstage, Sister Cen handed Lù Chéng his phone, saying someone was looking for him.
“At first, they spoke in our hometown dialect; I didn’t understand. I told them to talk to me if it was important. They said it was about the town’s black-sailed boat, probably related to your grandfather.”
Lù Chéng looked at the number—no note, an unfamiliar caller.
He called back and asked who was speaking.
“I’m Jiang Jingyuan’s secretary. You can call me Secretary Li.”
The other party spoke in fluent Jiangcheng dialect.
Lù Chéng switched to dialect as well, asking for instructions.
Secretary Li said, “Director Jiang asked me to pass on a message: from now on, don’t trust anyone easily, especially your manager.”
Lù Chéng’s heart skipped a beat. The caller wouldn’t make this call without reason.
“Can you tell me why?”
“Back in late March, the negative hot topic about Zhong Zhuohua was planted by your manager to shield Feng Ming. Director Jiang won’t pursue it anymore, but the account must be settled.”
Lù Chéng suddenly understood why Feng Ming’s scandal had resurfaced a month later, leaving both the company and Sister Cen helpless.
“Director Jiang hopes you can have a longer career on this path, so after thinking it through, he asked me to remind you.”
“Thank you, Secretary Li. Please thank Director Jiang for me.”
After hanging up, Lù Chéng felt horrified inside, unable to calm down for a long time.
“What’s wrong with your grandfather?”
“He’s old and unwilling to retire.”
“Then call him when you have time and persuade him.”
Lù Chéng didn’t respond. He checked his pockets, grabbed his phone, and stood up.
Sister Cen guessed he was craving a smoke. Knowing he was in a bad mood today, she didn’t say anything.
There was still a new car delivery segment that required Lù Chéng to go on stage, so he couldn’t leave yet. Sister Cen leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes to rest.
As Lù Chéng came out of the VIP lounge, he ran into Zhan Liang.
“Zhan Special Assistant, got a cigarette?”
“Yeah.”
Zhan Liang didn’t smoke himself but always carried some for the boss.
Actually, the boss hadn’t smoked for a long time, but because today was a special occasion, he worried the boss might need one and brought a pack. Unexpectedly, the first to ask was Lù Chéng.
Zhan Liang was about to hand over a lighter, but Lù Chéng waved him off. “Just want to smell the tobacco.”
He didn’t want to return to the VIP room or bring his assistant along, so he found a quiet place to calm himself.
He crushed the tobacco between his fingers until ashes filled the ashtray.
After tossing the cigarette butt, he dialed a number he once knew by heart.
Before the other end answered, he held his breath.
Zhong Yì looked at the unfamiliar number on her screen, though she still recognized the last digits.
He always respected boundaries; after their breakup, he never disturbed her again. Receiving a call now must mean it was urgent.
She answered quietly, “Hello? What’s the matter?”
Lù Chéng hesitated a moment before speaking, “Hello.”
He quickly adjusted his breath and asked boldly, “May I ask, does President Zhou know about your past?”
They had never imagined that one day, they would become as unfamiliar as strangers.
Zhong Yì: “He knows. He knew who you were before we got together.”
“Alright, I understand.”
Before hanging up, he added, “Thank you for these years. And thank you, Teacher Zhong.”
“You’re welcome. And I wish you a smooth journey ahead.”
Lù Chéng’s throat tightened. “Thank you. You go ahead and watch the press conference. I won’t disturb you.”
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