The news of a hundred thousand bonus for each person was anonymously posted on Weibo.
"A hundred thousand bonus!"
Everyone who saw the news clicked in with three parts curiosity and two parts envy, and then discovered.
"It's Meimei Factory again..."
"Holy crap, a hundred thousand for new product development?"
"Wuwu, I want to study food science too..."
Where there was envy, there were naturally sour remarks.
"A hundred thousand yuan, what are you envious of? Given Meimei Sausage's sales, even with a research and development cost of a hundred thousand yuan, they'll quickly recoup their investment, and then all the subsequent money will be pure profit for the campus belle scholar.
"Wow, thinking about it that way, it feels like the campus belle schemed to get into Tsinghua University and then recruited talents from there to work for her, so she can make money sitting at home?"
Seeing that the comments on Weibo were becoming increasingly absurd, Guan Ning, after obtaining Liu Chen's consent, posted the salary page from the contract she had signed on Weibo.
In addition to this, Guan Ning also posted her salary receipts on Weibo, and then wrote:
"The hundred thousand yuan is not for the entire R&D department, but for the participating members of the R&D department, with each person receiving a hundred thousand yuan R&D bonus."
As soon as this rumor-debunking Weibo was posted, Liu Chen also reposted and commented:
"Our R&D department's senior sister (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧"
As soon as Liu Chen reposted, the exposure increased exponentially, and netizens who saw Guan Ning's Weibo cried.
"Meimei Company's benefits are too good!"
"By the way, can anyone explain how much the new product development bonus is usually for food companies?"
Perhaps it was due to the hundred thousand yuan bonus and the netizens' insistent inquiries.
Someone actually came out to talk about the new product development bonuses they had received while working at other famous meat product companies.
Basically, it was around ten thousand yuan per R&D staff member, with supervisors receiving a bit more, around twenty thousand yuan.
This stark comparison caused many alumni who had graduated with a doctorate from Tsinghua and gone to work for so-called large companies to suffer from insomnia during the National Day holiday.
Meanwhile, on the Tsinghua University forum, the posters who had previously speculated about a deal between Liu Chen and Professor He Long had all deleted their comments.
Instead, a new speculation began on the campus forum.
"Can Professor He Long place all his students in Meimei Factory just because he's a professor at Tsinghua?"
When Liu Chen saw this post, she almost spat out the Meimei Milk she was drinking.
The seven days of National Day were quite enjoyable for most people. People traveled, made money, or went home.
Liu Chen spent the National Day holiday at home in C City. The factory was empty due to the holiday, so she was too lazy to visit her office and instead stayed at the Chen family's old residence, lying on the living room sofa. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting its glow on Liu Chen's face.
It illuminated the fine downy hairs on her cheeks and made her feel drowsy.
When Ren Yu walked into the living room, she saw exactly this scene.
Hearing footsteps approaching, Liu Chen lazily opened her eyes, glanced at Ren Yu who was walking towards her, and then extended her arms, making a gesture for a hug.
Ren Yu naturally walked to the sofa where Liu Chen was, sat down, and Liu Chen adjusted her lying position, then placed her head on Ren Yu's lap.
Ren Yu massaged Liu Chen's scalp and said softly:
"My dad asked if you could come over and visit him at our place."
Hearing this, Liu Chen opened her eyes and sat up, supporting herself.
To be honest, she was quite curious about Ren Yu's father. It wasn't for any other reason, she was just curious what kind of person a man, whose ex-wife Ren Yuanying was so dashing, beautiful, and from a prominent family, could be to get a divorce.
"If you don't want to go, then don't. My dad isn't that interesting."
Ren Yu, seeing Liu Chen sit up, glanced regretfully at the fluffy top of Liu Chen's head.
Liu Chen shook her head:
"You've been to my house so many times, and I've visited your grandmother's house so many times. By rights, I should meet your father."
Upon hearing Liu Chen's words, Ren Yu seemed a bit hesitant.
"Then I'll ask my mom to come along. With her there, my dad will be a bit more considerate."
Hearing this, Liu Chen raised an eyebrow:
"It sounds like your dad is a bit difficult to deal with."
Ren Yu did not deny it, but simply said:
"He tends to hide his thoughts and his words and actions are quite purposeful."
Ren Yu said this with a very detached expression, as if he were talking about a stranger, but Liu Chen could faintly sense that Ren Yu seemed to have some reservations about his father.
After a moment of thought, Liu Chen didn't press further. After all, it was Ren Yu's family matter. Let alone that they were just boyfriend and girlfriend now, even if they were planning to get married, she wouldn't have the standing to inquire about the emotional entanglements of the previous generation.
"Then, if we're going to visit your father, should we go out and buy something now?"
Ren Yu glanced at the warm sun outside the window.
"I'll drive. We'll go up from the underground parking garage."
-
A day earlier.
The man Ren Yu spoke of, his father, was currently sitting in his study at the end of his 160-square-meter four-bedroom apartment. He sat in a leather executive chair, and the ashtray on his desk was filled with cigarette butts, each smoked down to the filter.
After smoking the Chinese cigarette in his hand to almost its end, Zhou Ren forcefully extinguished it in the already overflowing ashtray.
Zhou Ren turned his executive chair, placed his left arm on the desk, and faced the study window, looking out at the sun.
Although the sun was shining brightly, Zhou Ren felt cold in his limbs.
"I should have known, I should have known."
Zhou Ren repeatedly muttered this phrase, then tremblingly stood up and walked to the study window.
As he placed his hands on the window frame, Zhou Ren looked out at the lake in the wetland park, where water conservation work had already begun.
"Old Zhou, your information has been reviewed by higher-ups recently."
"Comrade Zhou Ren, after National Day, when you come to work, you may need to cooperate with some investigations."
Zhou Ren hadn't taken these words to heart at all, because he had once firmly believed that all his actions had left no trace.
But this time, Zhou Ren panicked.
Because he had received a veiled message from that organization:
He had been exposed, and they could help him sneak out of China to Canada, where someone would arrange his life.
Go to Canada?
What could he do in Canada?
His English was good when he was in school, but after so many years, he had already returned all the English he had learned in school.
As for arranging his life, forget it. Over the years, he hadn't seen those who went to Canada and ended up crying and begging to come back.
What did that prove?
It proved that living in Canada was worse than going to jail back home.
After thinking a lot, Zhou Ren became more and more flustered.
He even felt a pang of regret in his heart. It was just that Ren Yuanying had cuckolded him. Although his younger son wasn't his, his elder son...
There was a small possibility that he was his.
Thinking of this, Zhou Ren suddenly smiled by the window.
If it weren't for Ren Yuanying, how could that organization have discovered him, and how could they have, with their help, discovered that Ren Yuanying had married him while pregnant.
It would have been even more impossible for him to find a way to take Ren Mo for a blood test and discover that he wasn't his child.
Over the years, he had paid too much for revenge against Ren Yuanying.
Now, was he going to be arrested before the Ren family?
Thinking of this, Zhou Ren felt that although it was under the sun, his whole body was as cold as if he were in an ice cellar.
At this moment, the cry of a baby came from upstairs, followed by the voice of the child's mother. The mother had been trying to coax the baby for a long time, but the infant was not cooperating and continued to wail loudly.
Downstairs, a few middle school students were riding their bicycles past the jogging path outside Zhou Ren's residential area after school.
"What are your plans for National Day?" kuAiδugg
"My mom said my future sister-in-law is coming to our house, so I need to go back early and clean up."
"Are you coming out to play tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow I have to mop the stairs of our building and wipe the handrails."
The voices of the middle school students grew fainter, while Zhou Ren, standing by the window, had a thoughtful expression on his face.
"National Day."
He repeated National Day a few times, then turned back and sat in the executive chair by the desk. He straightened his back and, amidst the baby's cries upstairs, dialed Ren Yu's phone.
"Ren Yu, Dad heard about your relationship. I originally wanted to meet the girl in the summer, but I had several meetings to attend then. Now that it's National Day, I'm free and want to meet your girlfriend."
Ren Yu on the other end was silent for a moment. He subconsciously wanted to refuse, but then heard Zhou Ren say again:
"Coincidentally, the silver ring your grandmother left behind, although not worth much, is still a family heirloom of the Zhou family. If you bring that child, I'll give her the ring, which would also fulfill one of your grandmother's wishes."
This statement made it difficult for Ren Yu to refuse. In the end, he could only say:
"I'll ask Chenchen first."
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Ren sat in his chair, continuously rubbing the ends of the chair's armrests with his hands. He only slowly stood up from the chair when it was dark outside and the wind began to blow. He then put on his suit, grabbed his car keys, and drove to a nearby mall.
-
October 2nd. Yesterday the weather was clear and sunny, but today it was overcast from early morning. Liu Chen, wearing a blue nightgown, looked out the window at the fruit trees in the garden whose branches were swaying in the wind and silently discarded the jeans she had prepared the day before.
She rummaged through her closet again and found a knitted vest, a white shirt, and a pair of light blue jeans.
Dressed in this outfit, Liu Chen then slung her small bag over her shoulder and clattered downstairs. While eating breakfast, Liu Fang looked at Liu Chen's attire with some trepidation.
"Isn't it a bit too student-like?"
Liu Chen shook her head while eating a red bean bun, "Oh Mom, it's just a meeting to chat, not an engagement. It's fine if it's a bit student-like. Besides, Auntie will be with me for moral support this time, so even if Ren Yu's dad isn't satisfied, he can't do anything to me."
Liu Fang heard her daughter's words and felt something was amiss, but after thinking, she couldn't pinpoint it.
On the other hand, Chen Jiabei, Liu Chen's third younger sister, who was sitting in the stroller, had a particularly complex expression since hearing that her eldest sister was going to meet her future father-in-law.
It was only because Chen Jiabei had always been very expressive since she was young that Liu Fang didn't notice.
Chen Jiabei was only five months old and couldn't speak yet. She could only lie in her stroller, her face showing worry, confusion, and a hint of excitement...
Admittedly, when Liu Chen got up after breakfast, she was stunned when she accidentally caught sight of such a complex expression on her five-month-old third sister's face.
"Mom, is third sister's expression too complex?"
Hearing Liu Chen's words, Chen Jiabei's heart skipped a beat, and her heart rate immediately shot up. Just as she began to imagine herself being sent to a research laboratory, she heard her mother say nonchalantly:
"What's so complex about it? Your third sister is exactly like you were when you were little."
Liu Chen looked at the expression on her third sister's face and imagined that she herself was like this when she was little.
Exhausted and heartbroken...
Since her godmother Ren Yuanying was accompanying her this time, godmother drove a minivan. Ren Yu sat in the second row. After Liu Chen got in, she also habitually sat in the second row. Xia Tian sat in the passenger seat, while winter and the various gifts Liu Chen had prepared were in the last row.
The minivan was long enough, and the last row was very spacious, but at this moment, it was mostly occupied by the gifts Liu Chen had prepared.
"Chenchen, don't be afraid of Ren Yu's dad when you meet him later. He's just a man of few words and a career climber. If he says anything unpleasant, you can just get up and leave with Ren Yu, understand?"
Ren Yuanying said this while driving, setting the stage for her goddaughter and future daughter-in-law. She couldn't help it; she didn't know what Zhou Ren was thinking, asking Ren Yu to bring his partner to see him.
Ren Yuanying, having been married to him for so many years, knew him well. He was someone who kept quiet, and who knew what bad intentions he was brewing.
However, the bad intentions Ren Yuanying could think of were to say some nonsensical things to her future daughter-in-law to deny her relationship with her son. As for anything else, Ren Yu was his biological son, and Ren Yuanying didn't expect Zhou Ren to have any other motives.
Because Zhou Ren had made arrangements in advance, the minivan drove directly into the underground parking garage and stopped next to Zhou Ren's car.
Liu Chen carried two boxes of cordyceps, while Ren Yu and Ren Yuanying carried the rest. Xia Tian and Dong Tian, with empty hands, stood guard around Liu Chen, scanning their surroundings vigilantly.
The elevator slowly ascended to the fourth floor, and the elevator doors slowly opened. Liu Chen saw that one of the security doors was wide open, and a group of five people walked towards the open door.
At this moment, a person's head appeared from inside. He was wearing a white hoodie, black sweatpants, and a pair of dark blue cotton slippers on his feet.
"Ren Mo? What are you doing here?"