Chapter 715: Chapter 715: The First Heartbeat
Huake occupies a considerable share of the United States market.
To address matters involving antitrust and non-compete agreements, a meeting with several representatives is necessary. If it goes smoothly, an agreement can be obtained, allowing the acquisition to proceed smoothly.
Li Yufei: "If it goes well, we can wrap it up in five days."
Rong Ling wasn’t really listening to her conversation, but reached out to part her bangs.
Not long ago, when he had a video call with her, he saw that she was injured there.
Now, the wound had healed, not even leaving a scar.
Rong Ling: "Is your injury healed?"
Li Yufei: "Yes, it’s recovering well."
Rong Ling hugged her again: "What do you want to eat?"
He naturally couldn’t bear to have her eat convenience meals with him.
After all, convenience meals can’t even achieve basic nutritional balance.
Li Yufei: "I’m hungry, I want to eat anything. Why don’t we order takeout? I saw takeout cards at the entrance when I just came in."
Rong Ling: "I know a place with pretty good pizza."
Li Yufei: "Okay, let’s have pizza, but my appetite isn’t big, I can only eat half at most."
Rong Ling returned to the sofa, and Li Yufei sat beside him, resting her head lightly on his leg.
It was her first time resting on a man’s thigh.
Probably because he usually emphasized training, his thigh was solid and a bit rigid, so she had to cushion it with her arm.
Li Yufei: "Your leg is so hard."
Rong Ling: "Isn’t it better to be hard?"
Li Yufei: "Too hard makes my neck uncomfortable."
She had always sat in an office chair, even though it was ergonomically designed and cost tens of thousands, over the years, her cervical spine wasn’t particularly great, sometimes causing headaches when it acted up.
After arriving at the airport in the morning, it took quite some time due to entry and exit issues, and she only left customs by afternoon.
Because the trip was rushed, she couldn’t book a first-class seat, and the economy class was uncomfortable.
Rong Ling ordered takeout, and when he looked at her again, she had already fallen asleep in his embrace with peace of mind.
Unwilling to disturb her, he stayed still.
Until half an hour later.
The doorbell rang.
The takeout had arrived.
Rong Ling carefully lifted her head, placed a pillow for her, went to the door, and paid with cash plus a tip.
Li Yufei, not sleeping deeply, was already awakened by the doorbell, but too sleepy to open her eyes. She slightly opened her eyes and saw Rong Ling’s careful movements, feeling amused but too tired to laugh. It was only when Rong Ling brought the pizza inside that she regained some energy, sat up from the sofa, and casually tidied her slightly messy hair.
Rong Ling opened the box, seeing two whole pizzas with an enticing aroma, heard the movement on the sofa, and saw that she had already sat up. He asked, "Awake now?"
Li Yufei nodded.
Rong Ling lifted the box, placed it on the coffee table, moved the table in front of the sofa, and took out gloves, putting them on her hands.
Li Yufei: "The service is quite attentive!"
Rong Ling: "There’s more to come."
He split the pizza, picked up a piece, and fed it directly to her mouth.
Li Yufei pretended to be flattered: "I’m so happy, it’s my first time being fed like this."
She took a bite.
The pizza, freshly out of the oven, was kept warm during the journey and so was still a bit hot.
But...
It was very delicious.
Li Yufei, starving, took a large bite.
But her large bite only managed to nibble off a corner of the pizza.
"Having a boyfriend is really nice."
Li Yufei said: "If I had known I’d have such a great boyfriend, I should have found you sooner."
Rong Ling: "It couldn’t have been any sooner, earlier I was still in middle school."
Li Yufei: "..."
Rong Ling raised his eyes teasingly and glanced at her: "What were you doing when I was in middle school?"
Li Yufei thought for a moment: "When you were in middle school, I had just gotten married and taken over the Li Family."
Hearing the word "marriage," a strange feeling crossed Rong Ling’s heart.
He suddenly thought of Li Cheng, feeling a bit displeased: "He doesn’t deserve you."
Li Yufei agreed: "Yes, he didn’t deserve me. That’s why I divorced."
She took another bite of pizza and caught a glimpse of Rong Ling’s slightly disappointed expression, prompting her to ask: "Do you mind that I’ve been married before?"
Rong Ling replied: "I don’t mind that you’ve been married, but..."
Maybe when you love someone, there’s an innate desire to possess.
He knew he shouldn’t have this feeling, but the thought that there was another man who had occupied an important part of her life before him – be it Li Cheng or Du Shaoheng – inevitably left him feeling a bit sour.
Li Yufei: "Rong Ling, have you ever thought, if you appeared earlier or later, I wouldn’t have accepted you at all. It seems like you were destined to appear by my side just when I needed you most."
Rong Ling looked at her, his long eyelashes drooping slightly, "When did you start to have feelings for me?"
Li Yufei pursed her lips, smiled, and said: "If I really have to say when I started to have feelings, it was probably... when I fell into the lake, thinking I would die there, and when I opened my eyes again, the first person I saw was you..."
She paused, looked at him, and said word by word: "I had a feeling of, ’Great, I’m still alive.’ You know? This feeling, I seemed to never have had before."
Rong Ling: "Why, you are the pride of heaven, with a life many envy."
Li Yufei: "Everyone has things that others envy. Envy is when others have what I couldn’t possess. The unattainable is always the best. To many, I have a lot, but... I’ve lost a lot too."
She curved her lips: "For anyone, ’happiness’ is a luxury. To Xiaoyi, even a doughnut can make her happy for a long time. And this feeling of happiness, I need to pay a thousand, ten thousand, or even a million times."
For a long time, she didn’t feel ’alive.’
In the vanity fair, she constantly needed to restrain her emotions, wearing formulaic expressions she had rehearsed countless times.
She remembered once, after finishing a deal, she walked out of a club.
Being treated like a star by subordinates, she was sent off to her car.
Sitting in the car, her mind empty, she watched the street view outside the window.
Suddenly, the weather changed, wind picked up, and it started to rain.
A couple passed by the car.
The boy was riding a bicycle, the girl sat on the back seat, and she held her handbag over the boy’s head. Despite this, they still got soaked in the rain, yet were laughing happily.
She just watched them go far, watching for a long time.
Perhaps, this is happiness!
And it was not until after that incident of falling into the lake – when she woke up and saw Rong Ling’s tense yet joyful expression for the first time – that she truly felt it.