Chapter Twenty-Six: The Confession on the Ferry Boat I (2/2)

Mr. Ji was an amiable person who always had a smile on his face without any air of arrogance. Thus he was the type of person who was regarded as a popular client.

The crowd turned their attention to Yan Jin once again, as if puzzled by his sudden seriousness.

However, Mr. Ji only came to open the doors. The man walked out again and pushed a wheelchair into the meeting room.

Sitting on the wheelchair was an elderly man with white hair, who had his hands wrapped around his wooden crutch. His grey pupils scanned the surrounding and finally stopped on Yan Jin –

Compared to the SI employees who were caught off guard, Yan Jin was the only one who gave a deep bow.

YL’s attendees followed the example set by their chairperson as they promptly lowered their heads.

The elderly man gestured his hand at them.

Mr. Ji remained silent as he pushed the elderly man to the center seat of the meeting room and stood beside him.

The crowd was still puzzled by the scene unfolding before them as they began to take their seats.

Mr. Ji started the conversation by revealing the elderly man’s identity: “This man is my father.”

Mr. Ji was the person they had been in contact with throughout this entire deal, which surprised everyone at the revelation. Mr. Ji had once mentioned that he was acting on the behalf of his father who had mobility issues. That would mean that this elderly man was indeed the real owner of this deal.

SI’s designers turned their doubtful gazes towards Lin Zhou, as if asking why this elderly man had decided to make an appearance.

Lin Zhou felt puzzled too; right up until yesterday afternoon, Mr. Ji said that his father was not in good health and would hence be unable to attend the meeting. So, why did he suddenly change his mind?

The design directors and sales manager shot glances at one another.

Although they had great confidence in sealing the deal this time, despite it being a fair competition between both corporations, it was not the first time that SI had collaborated with Mr. Ji. With their previous acquaintance, Mr. Ji had revealed to SI two days ago that his father was more satisfied with SI’s design. That was why their confidence was actually due to the joy of an early victory.

But with the current situation, they all felt something was amiss.

Even Lin Zhou was frowning.

SI’s chief designer, Xiao Yu, was tied down with the Autumn Season Release. Hence, Lin Zhou was the replacement representative. At this moment, Lin Zhou was the core of every SI designer. He had not felt so depended on for such a long time. It was a chance that he painstakingly received. The thought that he could bring the glory back and flaunt it in front of Xiao Yu made Lin Zhou unusually excited.

No, there won’t be any problems. He will be victorious.

Lin Zhou comforted himself.

The sales manager’s gaze was coincidentally in line with Mr. Ji’s. Mr. Ji quickly turned his gaze away, and that made the sales manager’s heart instantly sink to the bottom.

Something was amiss, something is definitely going to happen.

But why? Wasn’t, wasn’t it all going smoothly up till yesterday? One day, no, just one afternoon, what exactly happened?

That question could only be answered by three people in the room: the elderly man, Mr. Ji and… Yan Jin.

Just yesterday afternoon, Yan Jin had personally submitted the final drawing to the elderly man.

Amidst the surprise and anxious gazes, the elderly men spoke:

“I’m here to meet that designer.”

That designer.

Which one? The victorious one, of course!

In that instant, every single designer sat upright in their seats as they waited for the verdict.

However, the elderly man did not continue that conversation. Instead, he started another topic: “Once, I had a lover…”

This was not a tear-jerking romance story; it was just a story full of regrets.

Bright skies, blue sea. The snow-white clouds contrasted the sea waves. The sunlight sprinkled down like golden powder onto the young lady’s long maroon hair. Not too far away, the young man quietly stared at the young lady and smiled from the bottom of his heart.

It did not matter that they were separating ways. So long as the young lady was still in sight, the young man couldn’t help but feel blissful. This was just a temporary farewell, and when the young lady came back from the sea, they would never be separated again.

The ferry boat gradually left the shore. The young lady waved her hands as the proposal ring on her finger sparkled brightly under the sunlight. The young man had given it to her; it was a promise of a lifetime.

That night, the storm raged through the sea.

In that violent storm, the ferry boat disappeared from the horizon.

The young lady never came back.

The young man left the country that broke his heart and headed towards the young lady’s hometown to make a living. Thirty years later, he became a millionaire whose name had spread far and wide.

But now, this elderly man who was in his seventies was plagued with sickness, and he wanted to see the ring that he had given to the young lady back then. His memories and thoughts had already begun to deteriorate – sometimes, he couldn’t even remember things that had just happened. He knew that his time was limited; this was his last wish in life.

……

Xiao Yu sat in front of the iPad and watched the situation in the meeting room through the screen. This was the first time he had seen the elderly man, which really interested him. He also recognized every person on SI’s representative team. The human Xiao Yu was not there. He couldn’t remember what had stopped him from attending – who knows, it might have been due to Lin Zhou’s interference after all.

But he was thankful that the human Xiao Yu had not attended; otherwise, if he were to see ‘Xiao Yu’ through the screen, it would be probably be very awkward.