Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

This was the hottest night since August. Chen Zhengyuan drove with the windows down, arriving near Shanghai Normal University on Honghai Road. He could see taxis weaving under the neon lights, and groups of pedestrians coming and going on the sidewalks. Several open-air barbecue stalls were setting up their grills and displaying their ingredients, preparing for the night.

Two elementary school students were urinating in the bushes by the roadside after leaving school. Next to them was a white truck with a horn on its roof blaring music: "You are my lover..."

An elderly woman, wearing sweatpants, walked slowly down the street with a tired yet happy expression on her face.

Chen Zhengyuan parked his car on the side of the road instead of driving to the parking lot in front of the Cuihu Tiandi residential complex. He didn't know why he did it; perhaps parking there was less intrusive. In reality, it made no difference, because he hadn't made an appointment beforehand or received an invitation.

These past few days have been the most agonizing for Chen Zhengyuan, not because of work—no one has been reporting to him these past few days—but because he's discovered that the two women who currently best satisfy him have both left him. Li Xiaoman resigned directly, while Wang Yu is trying to bypass him and lobby the strategic development department to conduct some kind of strategic assessment and competitor analysis.

Then Chen Zhengyuan thought of the unnamed Miss Wen again. He believed that the reason Miss Wen was slightly cold to him last time was because Wang Yu was present. But if they were alone, Miss Wen would definitely relax a lot, reveal her true nature, and show excitement for money and power.

Chen Zhengyuan decided to start by talking about Wen Jie, and then steer the conversation to more personal topics. That way, when he mentioned that his relationships with other women had progressed to a Platonic level, it wouldn't seem too abrupt. He also wanted to tell Miss Wen that sometimes one doesn't need to be too rational and should follow one's body and heart.

Chen Zhengyuan walked to the foot of Building No. 8 and was about to jump up the steps in one breath when someone suddenly called out to him from behind.

"Mr. Chen?"

Chen Zhengyuan turned around, swallowed hard, and forced a smile.

Two young men stood before him, one of whom was tall and handsome, with a neat appearance and a strong build, holding two magazines in his hands. It was dark, and Chen Zhengyuan couldn't make out the magazine titles, only noticing that the cover featured a woman's profile.

The other man was of medium height and very thin, with short, naturally curly hair. Because the man called him President Chen, and because the man's appearance involuntarily reminded him of Miss Wen, Chen Zhengyuan could tell that this man was Wen Jie even though he couldn't quite remember what Wen Jie looked like.

"Wen Jie," Chen Zhengyuan said in a panic, staring at the other man, "You startled me, what a coincidence that you just came back."

"How did you end up here?" Wen Jie asked.

"Damn it," Chen Zhengyuan thought, "how can a younger brother bring another man to his older sister's house? Who the hell is this pretty boy?"

"What a coincidence!" Chen Zhengyuan said casually. "I happened to be in this area running some errands, and remembering that you live here too, I thought I'd stop by and see you. You left in a hurry, and many people in the company still miss you, especially your old colleagues in the technical department. They keep mentioning you. I came by once before, you know? It's a pity I didn't see you."

"Oh? Why didn't you call me beforehand?"

Chen Zhengyuan swallowed hard: "Because my phone just ran out of battery."

"Uh, but," the pretty boy began, "when you came here last time, Wen Jie's sister should have told you that Wen Jie didn't live here anymore, right?"

Chen Zhengyuan nodded to the pretty boy, as if approving of his question. The pretty boy's friendly, honest face showed no suspicion, only a sincere desire to understand what he didn't understand.

"The phone," Chen Zhengyuan said.

"Telephone?"

"Yes, I was thinking of trying my luck. If Wen Jie happened to be at my sister's house, that would be great. Even if he wasn't, I could ask his sister to call him and ask if it would be convenient for him to come over. I didn't expect to be so lucky; we ran into each other! Uh, you are...?"

The pretty boy smiled slightly: "Bluebird Publishing House, Han Fei."

"Wow, President Han, I've heard so much about you!" Chen Zhengyuan said enthusiastically, putting his hands in his pockets. "Your Bluebird Reading project has been doing really well lately; everyone in the industry is talking about it."

"President Chen is well-informed," Han Fei said.

Chen Zhengyuan's smile was rather forced. He immediately felt a deep disgust for everything about the pretty boy in front of him. He hated that this man had ruined his plans, hated that he was like a ghost, omnipresent, and hated that his damn SP business had directly led to his breakup with Wang Yu. Most importantly, this young and handsome bastard was about to step into Miss Wen's house, and at night no less. This pretty boy had better have some self-awareness; he should jump out of the window as soon as he got upstairs and kill himself.

"Wen Jie," Chen Zhengyuan didn't want to see that face anymore, so he shifted his gaze to Wen Jie, "Actually, the main reason I came here today is to invite you to dinner and have a good chat. After you left, there are some projects in the technical department that I think are quite suitable for you. I'd like to see if you're interested in coming back, or... we can cooperate in a different way."

Wen Jie glanced at Han Fei, cleared his throat, and said, "President Chen, I'm doing quite well at Qingniao and have no plans to move for the time being."

"I understand, I understand," Chen Zhengyuan said, feeling his earlobes burning. "But Wen Jie, you know that NetEase's platform, resources, and technological accumulation are incomparable to those of small publishing houses. Your work will be worth twice as much on a bigger stage. We don't necessarily need you to come back to work; there are many ways to cooperate, such as technical consulting or project outsourcing, and the compensation will definitely be better than what you're doing now..."

"Mr. Chen, did you come here specifically to poach people?" Han Fei took a step towards him, and Chen Zhengyuan immediately pulled his hands out of his pants pockets.

"President Han, please don't misunderstand. I'm just appreciating your talent," Chen Zhengyuan said, glancing at his watch and making a face in an attempt to gain his trust. "Wen Jie, today doesn't seem like a good day. I'll talk to you another day. I have something to do, so I have to go now."

"Take care and don't bother seeing me off," Han Fei said.

"Wen Jie, see you another day."

The first thing Chen Zhengyuan did upon returning to his car was to furiously slam the steering wheel with both hands and shout curses. He had just acted like a twelve-year-old thief caught red-handed stealing. He had actually lied in front of his former subordinate and a pretty boy, lying and fawning at the same time—he was utterly a pathetic little scoundrel.

He started the engine, abruptly released the clutch, making the car jolt, taking his anger out on the vehicle. He knew the best way to calm down was to shift all his attention to other things and stop thinking about what had just happened, but he couldn't do it.

The car sped towards Shanghai Normal University. His mind raced, and a series of reasons popped into his head to get Old Zhang from Shanghai Normal University to reveal the details of that Miss Wen.