President He
2305 Words
Jet lag, perhaps.
Lying in the familiar comfort of her own bed, Song Shuangxu couldn’t fall asleep no matter how hard she tried.
Since sleep refused to come, she dug out an old handheld game console and a stack of vintage cartridges. The games were years old, but after only a few rounds, her fingers naturally found their old rhythm.
She muted the sound, worried it might disturb Shen Yu.
Time slipped by unnoticed.
Only when the distant hum of a car engine drifted in from downstairs did she realize dawn had already broken.
She turned toward the window and pulled the curtain aside.
A black Bentley slowly rolled out through the front gate.
So… Shen Yu had already left for work.
After putting away the game console, she planned to catch a little sleep.
Just as she closed her eyes, her phone vibrated.
A WeChat notification.
Brother:
“Go downstairs and have some breakfast before you sleep.”
A faint smile curved at the corner of Shuangxu’s lips.
⸻
When she came downstairs, Fu Yun and Shen Changyuan were chatting in the living room.
The conversation stopped the moment they saw her.
“Why didn’t you sleep a little longer?” Fu Yun asked with a warm smile. “Perfect timing. Your godfather had someone line up at Xu Ji early this morning to buy your favorite breakfast.”
“Shrimp dumplings, salted egg custard buns, and shredded chicken…”
“They’re all your favorites.”
Shuangxu glanced at Shen Changyuan, who was calmly sipping his tea across the room.
He would never do something like that.
Shen Yu would.
But she pretended not to know.
“Thank you, Godfather.”
⸻
After breakfast, she didn’t go back upstairs.
Using a visit to the hospital as an excuse, she left the Shen residence.
When she arrived, Shu Yang was on the phone.
Something the other party said instantly darkened her expression.
The moment the call ended, she raised her phone, ready to smash it against the wall.
“Ten thousand yuan.”
Shuangxu’s calm reminder froze her halfway.
Grinding her teeth, Shu Yang reluctantly lowered the phone.
“What happened?”
“It takes a lot to make you this angry.”
Shuangxu unfolded the small hospital dining table.
She had brought a carefully prepared nutritious meal along with fresh fruit and vegetable juice packed with vitamins.
There were carrots inside—
Shu Yang’s least favorite vegetable.
Normally she’d never touch it.
But today she was too furious to care.
She gulped down half the cup in one breath.
Then slammed it onto the table.
“Chen Peiran, that bastard!”
“He stole our technical files and ran straight to Chenxing Technology—the same company that’s been trying to crush Feixue from the very beginning.”
“And now they’ve even connected with Yundun Group.”
Shu Yang’s voice trembled with rage.
“Yundun had been following our liquid-hydrogen drone project since before the New Year.”
“We were this close to signing.”
“He pulled this stunt behind my back.”
“No wonder they stopped replying to my calls these past few days.”
Shuangxu frowned.
She had met Chen Peiran before.
Elegant.
Well-mannered.
The kind of man who looked every bit the perfect gentleman.
She had once wondered how he’d won Shu Yang’s heart.
Now she realized appearances could be deceiving.
He wasn’t a gentleman at all.
Just another selfish traitor willing to stab his own partners in the back.
⸻
Shuangxu reached out and gently squeezed Shu Yang’s shoulder.
“Don’t panic.”
“A contract isn’t something he can steal just because he wants to.”
“Let’s contact Yundun again first.”
But Shu Yang had already thrown back the blanket.
“No.”
“I have to go there myself.”
Shuangxu quickly pushed her back onto the bed.
“You’re in no condition to leave the hospital.”
“Your chemotherapy starts tomorrow.”
“Stop being reckless.”
Shu Yang bit her lip until it turned pale.
“You don’t understand.”
“If Chenxing steals the Yundun contract too…”
“…Feixue may never recover.”
To Shu Yang…
Losing the chance to have children hurt far less than losing the project she had poured her heart into.
The liquid-hydrogen drone wasn’t just another business.
It was the dream she had devoted the last two years of her life to.
Like a child she had raised with her own hands.
Shu Yang let out a bitter laugh.
“Half of our senior engineers left with Chen Peiran. No one else can take over this project.”
“Our genius engineer—the one we rely on the most—is so socially anxious he can barely hold a conversation.”
“So this meeting has to be handled by me.”
The irony was almost cruel.
She was fighting for her company’s survival while preparing for chemotherapy.
If there was anyone to blame, it was Chen Peiran.
He had chosen the perfect moment to stab her in the back.
Shuangxu sighed quietly.
“Stay here.”
“I’ll go in your place.”
⸻
The assistant Shu Yang assigned to her was a young woman surnamed Liao.
She hurried into the office carrying a stack of project documents almost taller than herself.
“These aren’t complete,” Xiao Liao admitted apologetically. “Director Chen took part of the files with him. If you need anything else, I’ll try my best to find it.”
Fortunately, Shuangxu had graduated from the same major as Shu Yang.
Getting familiar with the project wasn’t difficult.
She spent the next few hours absorbing everything she could about Feixue’s liquid-hydrogen drone program before leaving for Yundun Group with Xiao Liao.
⸻
On the drive there, Shuangxu searched for Yundun Group on her phone.
There wasn’t much information available.
Apart from the company’s cold, impeccably formal official website, only a handful of financial and military news reports mentioned it in passing.
Beside her, Xiao Liao lowered her voice as if discussing classified information.
“I heard Yundun handles a lot of military projects.”
“If someone climbed over their wall in the middle of the night, they could actually end up in prison.”
“And they have this enormous aircraft manufacturing base out in the western suburbs.”
“They say the entire airfield is packed with fighter jets.”
Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
“It’s incredible.”
She paused before adding even more mysteriously,
“And no one can find anything about President He online.”
“People say he has military connections.”
“Anyway…”
“He’s incredibly mysterious.”
Military connections…
And his surname was He.
Shuangxu quietly stored the thought away.
⸻
Their car soon pulled up in front of Yundun Group headquarters.
The imposing building radiated authority.
Compared to every office tower around it, security here was on another level.
Guards stood watch every few meters.
Every entrance was heavily monitored.
Even before stepping inside, the atmosphere alone was enough to make visitors instinctively lower their voices.
Walking to the reception desk, Shuangxu smiled politely.
“Hello.”
“We’re from Feixue Innovation Technology.”
“We’re here to see President He.”
The receptionist returned an equally professional smile.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“I’m afraid not.”
Shuangxu remained courteous.
“Would you mind asking whether he has fifteen minutes available today?”
“I’m sorry.”
“President He’s schedule is fully booked.”
“What about tomorrow? Or the day after?”
“I’m terribly sorry.”
“If you’d like to arrange a meeting, please contact the Executive Office.”
The woman maintained a flawless smile throughout.
Her rejection sounded gentle enough…
Yet it left absolutely no room for negotiation.
⸻
“I told you.”
Xiao Liao’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.
“President He would never see us.”
“President Shu has tried several times already.”
“They’ve probably signed with Chenxing Technology.”
“You have no idea how shameless Chenxing is.”
“They’d practically pay Yundun just to steal this project from us.”
Just then—
The elevator doors opened.
A familiar figure stepped out.
Chen Peiran.
Of all places…
Their eyes met.
“What are you doing here?”
His surprise lasted only a second before he noticed Xiao Liao beside Shuangxu.
Understanding immediately dawned across his face.
“So your senior dragged you back from overseas.”
He chuckled mockingly.
“You really are naïve.”
“You flew all the way back just to help her?”
“She’s barely keeping her company alive.”
Xiao Liao’s expression darkened instantly.
Mentioning Shu Yang was enough to ignite her anger.
“Director Chen.”
“Our president is still in the hospital.”
“You’ve been together for years.”
“Don’t you have even the slightest bit of conscience?”
Chen Peiran laughed as though he’d just heard a joke.
“Conscience?”
“I’ve already shown enough.”
“I wasted years of my life on her.”
“I didn’t even ask her to compensate me for my youth.”
He straightened his expensive suit with self-righteous confidence.
“If it weren’t for me, do you really think a science nerd like Shu Yang could’ve built Feixue into what it is today?”
Then he added coldly,
“Maybe her illness came from spending every day locked inside a laboratory.”
“If she’d listened to me, settled down, and had children sooner…”
“She wouldn’t be worrying now about never being able to become a mother.”
⸻
Shuangxu felt an overwhelming urge…
…to smash her laptop bag straight into his smug face.
But she forced herself to stay calm.
She hadn’t come here to argue.
There was no point wasting words on someone who had already abandoned his conscience.
She gently caught Xiao Liao’s wrist before the younger woman could explode.
“Don’t.”
“There’s no point talking about conscience with someone who doesn’t have one.”
Chen Peiran didn’t take either of them seriously.
After all, he had returned to China with Shu Yang to build Feixue from the ground up. In just three years, he had become one of Yancheng’s rising entrepreneurs.
Two young women?
Hardly worth his attention.
His lips curled into a mocking smile.
“Don’t tell me you’re here to negotiate the liquid-hydrogen drone project.”
The contempt in his voice was unmistakable.
Almost casually, he lifted the A4 folder in his hand and gave it a little shake.
“I’m afraid you’re wasting your time.”
“The Yundun contract…”
He smiled smugly.
“…is already mine.”
Shuangxu extended her hand without changing her expression.
“May I take a look?”
Chen Peiran chuckled.
“You think I’d hand over confidential documents just because you asked?”
He slipped the folder back into his briefcase.
That was enough.
Shuangxu already had her answer.
If the contract had truly been signed, there would be no reason for him to hide it so carefully.
Turning away from him, she looked at the receptionist.
“Could you please pass along a message to President He?”
“My name is Song Shuangxu.”
⸻
Xiao Liao blinked in surprise.
She tugged lightly on Shuangxu’s sleeve and whispered,
“You… know President He?”
Shuangxu hesitated for the briefest second.
The answer was…
Yes.
And no.
They knew each other.
But they certainly weren’t close.
Still…
That was better than being complete strangers.
With that thought, she kept her composure and answered calmly,
“We’ve known each other for years.”
⸻
Chen Peiran burst into laughter.
“Known each other?”
“In Yancheng, everyone knows who He Tingzhou is.”
He folded his arms.
“But one-sided acquaintance doesn’t count.”
“You’ve been abroad for so long that you’ve forgotten how things work here.”
His tone grew even more arrogant.
“Do you have any idea who He Tingzhou is?”
“Do you know who his father is?”
The He family…
Even among Yancheng’s wealthiest and most influential families…
Stood at the very top.
Untouchable.
People ordinary citizens could only admire from afar.
Shuangxu remained perfectly calm.
Instead of answering, she smiled faintly.
“And do you know who I am?”
Chen Peiran froze for a second.
Then he laughed even harder.
He looked at her as though she were an overconfident little girl trying far too hard to impress people.
“Who you are doesn’t matter.”
“No one gets to see President He just because they want to.”
“Even Shu Yang couldn’t get an appointment.”
“And you’re still pretending?”
⸻
Before the last word had completely left his mouth—
The receptionist, who had just finished speaking into the internal phone, suddenly stood up.
Her attitude had changed completely.
Respectfully, she held the receiver out with both hands.
“Miss Song.”
“President He would like to speak with you.”
⸻
Silence.
The air froze.
Chen Peiran’s smug smile stiffened on his face.
His expression cracked inch by inch, disbelief spreading across every feature.
Even Xiao Liao stared with her mouth slightly open.
Shuangxu, however, simply smiled.
A calm…
Almost innocent smile.
She accepted the receiver from the receptionist.
Then, in a gentle voice that carried clearly through the silent lobby, she greeted the man on the other end.
“Tingzhou-ge.”
Her voice was soft.
Warm.
Natural.
As though they had known each other for a very long time.
And in that instant—
Chen Peiran’s face turned completely pale.
- Writer
