Four-Faced Buddha [To My Shore] - Chap 12
Chapter 12 Passive Performance
2024-10-13 07:11 Category: Four-Faced BuddhaTurn off the lights
Outside the glass curtain wall, a huge airplane roared into the desolate ice-blue sky, like a proud bird, and gradually disappeared into the horizon.
There weren’t many people coming out of the airport arrivals area; at this time, only first-class passengers had already boarded. Fan Xiao saw Shi Lihua, dressed in a silver suit and wearing oversized sunglasses, along with his assistant pushing several large suitcases.
The name Shi Li Hua means beautiful and ambitious in Thai, but it has nothing to do with the man in front of Fan Xiao who has this name.
“Did you come to see me or are you here on vacation?”
Fan Xiao has a pure Chinese face, while Shi Lihua has half Thai ancestry. She has slightly dark skin, thick eyebrows and big eyes. She usually looks carefree, but when she smiles, she looks innocent.
He took off his sunglasses and gave Fan Xiao an exaggerated hug: “I got a long vacation from my grandfather, saying I came to learn how to do business with you.”
The two walked out side by side, and Fan Xiao said with a smile, “Doing business? Didn’t you used to just want to laze around surrounded by money?”
Shi Lihua shrugged: “My grandfather knows that my business ventures are unreliable, but that old fox wants me to get closer to you. After all, your Nannawa family has few heirs, and you are so outstanding. Maybe you will make a name for yourself in the future. He is playing the long game.”
Siriva is the third-generation ancestor of “Royal Granary,” the number one brand of fragrant rice in Thailand. He has a lot of uncles and brothers. He once joked that unless a plague or war kills off all the other dozen or so heirs, he will not be able to sit in that position in his next life.
Fan Xiao is different. He is the young master of Thailand’s largest pharmaceutical chain, and the only people vying with him for the leadership position are his uncle and two older brothers.
Fan Xiao said calmly, “Your grandfather seems to have forgotten that my uncle and two older brothers are even more outstanding. In addition, I have six younger siblings who, like you, especially hope that we die from the plague or war.”
As soon as he left the waiting area, Shi Lihua took out his personal moisturizing spray and sprayed it all over his face, patting the fine mist off his skin. He said, “Anyway, none of them are as crazy as you. I bet you can win.”
He opened the door to Fan Xiao’s car and frowned: “Another ugly car like this. Why not buy a sports car for the same price?”
Fan Xiao had already climbed into the driver’s seat, started the car, and said emotionlessly, “If you don’t like it, you can sit in the back.”
The driver of the car behind was Fan Xiao’s bald assistant, who had a fierce appearance. At that moment, he was stuffing Shi Lihua’s suitcase into the van.
“Never mind.” Shi Lihua bent down and sat in the car, saying excitedly, “I’ve arranged a party tonight, I’m going to relax.”
The car slid out of the parking lot, and Fan Xiao looked ahead: “We haven’t even entered the country yet, and the police station is already set up?”
Shi Lihua’s mother is Chinese. She divorced her husband more than ten years ago and returned to China to live. Since then, she has invited Shi Lihua to stay in China every year, which is why he has many friends in China.
“So many people were clamoring to come and pick me up at the airport, but I only gave you, Young Master Fan, this opportunity.”
Fan Xiao never responded to such pointless remarks. He lowered the window slightly and planned to have a smoke.
Just then, the phone on the control panel rang, but Fan Xiao, with a cigarette in his mouth, didn’t want to answer it.
My gaze swept across it, then swept it away and came back.
An inscrutable smile appeared in his eyes. He took the cigarette from his mouth, connected to the car’s Bluetooth, and answered the phone call.
“Director You,” he answered, his voice sweetening, “it’s been a long time.”
“Mr. Fan is a very busy man, so it’s not appropriate to keep bothering you.” The voice on the phone was a little hoarse, and Fan Xiao guessed that You Shulang had just smoked.
The luxury car driver relaxed his back, one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding an unlit cigarette. The wind seeped in through the cracks in the glass, ruffling his hair.
He ignored Bohai Pharmaceutical for a month and a half, and guessed that they couldn’t sit still any longer, so You Shulang made this call.
Fan Xiao scraped his tongue against his teeth and suddenly found life interesting.
“Others might consider it a disturbance, but Director You certainly won’t.”
Upon hearing this, Shi Lihua, sitting in the passenger seat, raised an eyebrow and craned her neck to look at Fan Xiao’s name on the phone.
“Since it’s not an intrusion, may I invite Mr. Fan to dinner tonight?”
Fan Xiao glanced at Shi Lihua and readily agreed, “Sure, no problem.”
The glasses clinked together as half a glass of unknown liquor was poured into the whiskey on the rocks that the waiter had just handed over. The translucent ice cubes rose and fell, and the mixed aroma of the liquor instantly overflowed, splashing out along with the liquid.
In the largest private room, there were quite a few men and women sitting in different positions. Pretty girls were selecting songs on the screen, some people were drinking and chatting around Shi Lihua, and others were fawning over Fan Xiao, constantly telling the girls next to them to pour him drinks.
Shi Lihua struggled out from the crowd and whispered in Fan Xiao’s ear, “It seems your Director You doesn’t like this place. That peeing took quite a while.”
Fan Xiao arranged to meet You Shulang at the clubhouse chosen by Shi Lihua, and pretended to be torn between the two friends. You Shulang, always considerate, accepted Shi Lihua’s invitation to have a lively time together, and acted very attentive.
The door to the private room was pushed open, and You Shulang walked in. He wasn’t dressed formally tonight, wearing a loose white shirt tucked into his trousers in an old-fashioned way, with only one button undone below his throat and his wrists loosely rolled up. His simple and neat appearance was out of place among the group of young people sitting on the sofa.
As Fan Xiao passed through the light projected from the screen, he caught a glimpse of a slender waist beneath the sheer shirt, a waist both powerful and incredibly sexy. He looked away, cursing inwardly, feeling like he’d seen something disgusting.
He smiled in an instant, patted the sofa next to him, and extended an invitation to You Shulang: “Director You, sit here, let me introduce you to someone.”
The beautiful woman next to him made room for him, took out a glass of wine from the ice bucket, poured it, and pushed it in front of You Shulang.
You Shulang was adept at handling such situations. He thanked Fan Xiao, then asked with an expectant expression, “Mr. Fan, who would you like to introduce to me?”
“Here, Mr. Xue, the heir of Ruixiang Chain Pharmacy.”
You Shulang glanced at the man sitting on the other side of Fan Xiao. The man was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, neither good-looking nor bad-looking, with a sallow complexion and puffy eyelids—typical signs of someone indulging in wine and women.
Fan Xiao turned his head toward You Shulang: “This is You Shulang, the office director of Bohai Pharmaceutical, and the only friend I can call a friend in this city.”
He shrugged and smiled, saying, “Forgive me for not expressing myself well, but that’s the gist of it.”
“Wow, to be described like that by President Fan, he must be an extraordinary person!”
From the surprised and respectful expression on the young master’s face, You Shulang quickly reassessed Fan Xiao. The young master of Ruixiang Pharmaceuticals, which controlled several nearby provinces, actually needed to be respectful to Fan Xiao? Fan Xiao was in the venture capital industry, so he was obviously rich, but the young master of Ruixiang Pharmaceuticals was not exactly naive either.
Without time to think, You Shulang, who had no status whatsoever, took the lead in extending his hand and making a slight gesture of admiration: “I have long admired Vice President Xue’s name. A few years ago, I had the privilege of listening to your father’s lecture at Changling Medical University. It was very vivid and I benefited greatly from it. Meeting Vice President Xue today, I can say that like father, like son.”
“Director You is too kind.” The young master had heard plenty of flattery, and he only showed enthusiasm when he was with Fan Xiao. Now he was even arranging for the girl next to him to pour wine for Fan Xiao.
“Director You, whether your Bohai Pharmaceutical’s drugs can successfully enter the market and sell well in the future depends on Vice President Xue. After all, Ruixiang Pharmaceutical is one of the top three players in the surrounding provinces, and your Bohai’s foundation is also here.” Fan Xiao picked up the girl’s glass of wine, which was just full. “I’ll put in a good word for you and introduce you to Vice President Xue. It’s up to you and your Bohai to seize the opportunity.”
Fan Xiao was telling the truth. Bohai didn’t have any well-known best-selling products, and its sales network was limited to a few nearby provinces. Previously, it used a distribution model with provincial, prefectural, and county-level general managers, and its products were generally sold to small pharmacies. If it wanted to grow stronger and larger, cooperating with large chain pharmacies was undoubtedly the only way.
You Shulang, appreciating Fan Xiao’s kindness, frequently raised his glass, keeping the Crown Prince in high spirits. This was his forte, but after a while, he grew tired and made an excuse to go out for a smoke.
At this moment, Shi Lihua sat down again, now reeking of alcohol. He downed another glass of rum and said in a nonchalant tone, “Your ‘fun’ is pretty boring. Not only is it from a man, but it’s also so dull.”
Fan Xiao leaned back on the sofa and slowly sipped his wine. Hearing this, he laughed and said, “He’s very interesting, like a saint.”
“The Holy Mother? Oh dear, you’d be skinned alive if you got involved with someone like that!” Shi Lihua’s empty glass had already been filled, and he chuckled as he held it up. “How about we have the Holy Mother perform something for us later?”
Fan Xiao took a deep gulp, the pungent tequila filling his mouth. After the initial kick of the alcohol wore off, he lazily said, “Okay.”
You Shulang entered the private room again, and suddenly there were fewer people in the room. Fan Xiao and Shi Lihua sat together chatting. The beautiful woman next to Ruixiang’s young master had changed; the mature and charming woman had been replaced by a young and innocent girl.
The girl was a bit reserved, being ordered around by the young master to pour wine. Fan Xiao would politely thank him, but Shi Lihua ignored him completely.
You Shulang didn’t move closer to Fan Xiao, but sat in the corner of the U-shaped sofa. He had come tonight with a mission, but hadn’t spoken yet. Actually, it was perfectly normal for him to act as an intermediary and facilitate the process when the two companies had business dealings, but the person on the other end was Fan Xiao, and You Shulang felt an inexplicable awkwardness.
Director You was good at judging people, but he couldn’t figure out Fan Xiao. Most of the time, the man seemed refined, polite, and well-mannered, yet one could unexpectedly catch a glimpse of indifference in his eyes. Just like that day at the hospital, although he had selflessly helped him save the child, he remained almost coldly calm amidst the enthusiastic applause of the crowd.
And yet… he was sometimes too… close to him. You Shulang attributed Fan Xiao’s behavior to the passion nurtured by the hot country. But today, every time he wanted to ask Pinfeng Venture Capital if they were interested in investing in Bohai, he was afraid that Fan Xiao would be troubled because of him.
But I should still ask; the factory manager has been urging me for two weeks.
Looking up again, Fan Xiao was still chatting. His slender fingers loosely held his wine glass, his elbows resting on his knees, his head slightly lowered, listening to Shi Lihua’s animated description.
You Shulang’s gaze swept over the young master beside him, but suddenly froze!
The man was pouring a packet of white powder into the cup of the girl who had just left, while the green-haired youth next to him was watching this scene with a lewd grin.
You Shulang quickly averted his gaze, hiding himself where the light couldn’t reach, and frowned deeply.
