Chapter 69: 68. Preparing to Meet an Old Friend (Second Update)

Huo Li felt that Huo Zhiyuan now seemed to have found some kind of support, possessing a powerful sense of confidence.

In the past, when they found out Huo Zhiyuan had become successful, their family had sought her out; at that time, Huo Zhiyuan did not want to pay them any mind and was quite cold toward them.

But facing her parents' bitter pleas, and even their attempts to kneel and beg her, Huo Zhiyuan eventually softened her heart.

Over these many years, every time Huo Zhiyuan's parents begged her to do something, although Huo Zhiyuan was very reluctant, generally speaking, she had never truly been heartless.

Over these years, Huo Li had also come to understand that, in truth, Huo Zhiyuan needed them; she needed them to give her a home, even if this home was so illusory and so hypocritical, but as a woman, Huo Zhiyuan always needed some kind of support.

Even if this support was obtained by her own self-deception.

But at this moment, Huo Zhiyuan seemed to have found her true support, her true harbor, and no longer needed their illusory "home."

Seeing that Huo Li still wanted to say something, Huo Zhiyuan waved her hand impatiently and said, "That's enough, it's decided, no need to say any more.

You've earned quite a bit of money over these many years; now that you're older, take advantage of the time you have left to go out and travel more, don't always be so busy."

In the end, it seemed as if Huo Zhiyuan was showing concern for him, but Huo Li detected some other implications.

Huo Li did not speak further at this moment; he prepared to have his parents come and beg Huo Zhiyuan in a couple of days to see what would happen, and he also wanted to figure out why Huo Zhiyuan had changed so much.

Once outside, Huo Li immediately sought out Zhao Jingyu; if there was anyone in the company most likely to know the situation, it was none other than Zhao Jingyu.

"Assistant Zhao, do you have time this evening? I'd like to treat you to a meal," Huo Li said with a smile.

Originally, he thought Zhao Jingyu would agree; after all, he was Huo Zhiyuan's own older brother, and the proper respect still needed to be shown.

But he didn't expect Zhao Jingyu's attitude to be extremely cold: "President Huo, I'm sorry, I've been quite busy lately and don't have the time."

Huo Li was stunned; he could see that Zhao Jingyu couldn't even be bothered to put on an act, and this clearly showed she wasn't giving him any face at all.

Furthermore, there were other company colleagues here; if this were to spread, where would he, Huo Li, put his face?

But just as he was about to lose his temper, he heard Huo Zhiyuan's voice coming from the phone in front of Zhao Jingyu.

"Jingyu, come in for a moment."

Huo Li took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the anger in his heart, and left.

Zhao Jingyu watched Huo Li's back and smiled; Huo Li thought his intentions were known to no one, but that was just his own assumption—basically everyone in the company was clear about the little scheme he was running.

Wasn't it just that he saw Huo Zhiyuan had no heirs and was thinking of having his son take over?

In the past, because of this situation, very few people in the company dared not to buy his favor, even when Huo Zhiyuan had repeatedly emphasized otherwise.

After all, Huo Zhiyuan was unmarried and had no heirs, so they really didn't dare not to give Huo Li face.

But now Zhao Jingyu knew that it was impossible for Huo Li to have his son take over; the company already had a successor.

Moreover, Zhao Jingyu had intentionally let Huo Li lose face here just now; the purpose was to tell everyone Huo Zhiyuan's attitude.

Her position as Zhao Jingyu might not be very high, but the attitude she represented was, in fact, Huo Zhiyuan's attitude.

If there were any clever people, they could probably see some signs from the situation between Zhao Jingyu and Huo Li just now, and perhaps even look at Siyan and the others in a new light because of it; at the very least, they wouldn't dare to trip Siyan and the others up.

Because this change in attitude was triggered by Siyan and the others; from today on, Siyan and the others had successfully been labeled as Huo Zhiyuan's direct subordinates.

On Saturday, Zhang Ran continued to take them out to play according to his agreement with Taotao.

"Uncle Zhang." Meng Mingxuan drove over.

"Taotao, Susu, you two rest for a moment," Zhang Ran said, first nodding toward Meng Mingxuan, then speaking to the two little ones.

"Mm, little sister, drink some juice first; let me tell you, this is delicious," Taotao obediently took his sister's hand and sat on the lawn.

Watching the two little ones sit down obediently to rest, Zhang Ran then looked at Meng Mingxuan.

"Uncle Zhang, the negotiation team has already been assembled; here is the list of personnel and their resumes, please take a look," Meng Mingxuan said, taking out a thick stack of documents.

Zhang Ran didn't take the documents, but instead looked at Meng Mingxuan and said with a smile, "You've been tired these past few days, haven't you?"

Hearing Zhang Ran say this, Meng Mingxuan plopped down beside him and complained, "Yeah, I've never been this tired since I was a child. Uncle Zhang, let me tell you, I haven't rested well at all these past few days, and..."

Meng Mingxuan seemed to be complaining, but in reality, he was fishing for credit, telling Zhang Ran about all the difficulties he had faced.

Zhang Ran could see that what Meng Mingxuan said was all true; this could be seen from his current state.

The once fair and clean "fresh meat" now had messy hair, his eye bags were terribly heavy, and although his dark circles weren't too obvious, they were still visible.

"Not bad," Zhang Ran first offered a word of praise, then looked at him and said, "I won't look at the documents or anything; since I've handed it over to you, I won't worry about it anymore. I only need the final result."

"Understood."

Afterward, Zhang Ran and Meng Mingxuan discussed a few more things, and when Meng Mingxuan was about to leave, Zhang Ran suddenly said, "Leave the car; I'll use it for a few days."

Meng Mingxuan nodded, then had no choice but to miserably take a taxi back.

"Taotao, Susu, Grandpa is leaving home for a few days tomorrow to take care of some business; you must be obedient while staying at home," Zhang Ran said while driving the two little ones back in the afternoon.

Zhang Xiaotao's little face immediately turned somewhat dejected, "No, I don't want that; I will miss Grandpa."

Susu looked even more nervously at her grandfather driving in the front, her little hands subconsciously clenching tight.

Zhang Ran saw this in the rearview mirror and felt a sense of relief; he was relieved that his efforts during this period had not been in vain, and the two little ones finally had feelings for him.

At the same time, he also felt a pang of heartache for little Susu.

"Don't worry, Grandpa is only going away for a few days and will be back very soon; when I return, I will bring you gifts," Zhang Ran said in a gentle voice.

Taotao, after all, had a cheerful personality and recovered quickly; he asked curiously, "Grandpa, what are you going to do?"

"Grandpa is going to see an old friend," Zhang Ran said with some emotion.

"Then Grandfather must come back early," Susu said in a small voice.

Zhang Ran nodded affirmatively and said, "Don't worry, Grandfather will definitely come back early. Grandfather will think of Susu every day, and Susu must remember to think of Grandfather too."

"Mm!" Susu nodded her little head vigorously, as if to express her feelings through this.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, I will think of you every day too," little Zhang Xiaotao couldn't stand it and immediately jumped in to steal the spotlight.

Zhang Ran laughed heartily and said, "Grandpa will think of you every day too."