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墨書 Inktalez
That night, Chen Rui did not sleep well. He was constantly preoccupied with what his superiors might be hiding from him, as it was very likely that certain concealed matters had led to their group being targeted.
Waking up early due to a restless night, Chen Rui found himself awake before dawn. For some reason, he was particularly concerned about the few people from yesterday. Based on his past experiences, he preferred to avoid delicate situations.
Chen Rui arrived at the airport lounge early, where he found Higashizaki sitting on a sofa, watching the flights take off and land.
"Up early? Can't sleep?" Higashizaki didn't turn his head, still staring blankly at the runway.
"Yeah, I'm quite scared," Chen Rui joked.
"Are you really scared?" Higashizaki suddenly blurted out a sarcastic remark, leaving both of them momentarily stunned.
Higashizaki quickly corrected the implication of his previous comment. "Sorry, I misspoke. I meant to ask: do you feel scared too?"
"Everyone gets scared sometimes," Chen Rui replied irritably as he took an orange juice bottle from the fridge. "Do you want some?"
Higashizaki waved his hand. "I don't really like drinks. Do you have any mineral water?"
Chen Rui tossed him a bottle of mineral water and moved to sit on another sofa. The cold orange juice flowed into Chen Rui's stomach, sending a refreshing chill throughout his body.
Higashizaki extended his right hand to check his Casio watch before standing up and leaving the lounge. "Wake them up; it's time to get ready."
"Our flight is supposed to be at 9:10 AM with China Southern Airlines, and it's not even 6:00 yet," Chen Rui said as he pulled out his phone to check the time; he never had a habit of wearing a watch.
"It was changed last minute; now it's Air China at 7:20 AM. Zhang Jun had me change it last night."
Due to Chen Rui and his group's presence, the VIP lounge at Haneda Airport had been closed to the public since yesterday. Even so, they were still scattered across various hotels around the airport for rest, as staying in the airport lounge was too conspicuous and inconvenient.
Chen Rui first called Zhang Jun to inquire whether the adjustment of the flight was true. After confirming, he...
"Do you really not trust us? Don't you have any leadership qualities?"
"I'm just trying to relieve everyone of any psychological burden. After all, we're not exactly regular soldiers. I've already sent Xiang Xiao to notify them; you just need to wait at the airport." With that, as if anticipating Chen Rui's response, he hung up.
Chen Rui was left somewhat dazed. "What is going on?" He put his phone in his pocket and walked out of the lounge, only to bump into the six people he had encountered yesterday.
"What’s this? Isn’t someone coming out? Are you trying to deceive international travelers?" The girl who had been close to Sheryl was arguing with the security guard. "Or are you telling me he’s not human? Then what is he? Is..." As she turned her head to glance at Chen Rui while arguing with the guard, she suddenly realized something seemed off.
"It’s true that they’re renovating here. I just barged in and got kicked out," Chen Rui said with a smile, helping the security guard out of an awkward situation. Although the guard didn’t understand Chen Rui's words, he appreciated the girl’s hesitation and gave Chen Rui a grateful look.
"Is that so? Then let’s go wait in the departure area. Would this friend like to join us? I have some things I’d like to discuss with you." The man in a suit took off his sunglasses and tucked them into his pocket, smiling at Chen Rui.
"Yes, I also have some questions for you. Perhaps we can become friends," Li Li added.
"Alright then, I also need to wait for some people." Chen Rui didn’t want to offend a group of wealthy businessmen and reluctantly agreed, "But my flight is earlier; it’s at 7:20 on Air China, so I can’t stay too long."
"How coincidental! We’re also on the 7:20 Air China flight to Beijing," the girl said with a smile. "We can chat on the plane."
Chen Rui felt truly helpless; it seemed he was always getting himself into these situations.
The group walked to the departure hall and sat down on a bench, exchanging glances but none wanted to speak first.
Li Li shot a glare at everyone and finally broke the silence under their watchful eyes. "Um, friends, I still don’t know your names."
"Oh, sorry, sorry, I didn't notice. Let me introduce myself first. I'm Chen Rui, male, which is obvious. Currently, I work as a client manager at City Technology under City Group. By the way, I don't know your names yet; could you please tell me?" Chen Rui was also quite interested in the identities of this group. If they were friends of Chairman Dawn, then their status was likely not far from his own—at least they would be better off than him, making it worthwhile to build a rapport.
"Although I gave you my business card, let me introduce myself anyway. I am Li Li, the current chairman of Dawn Heavy Industries. This is Li Xue, the executive director of Dawn Heavy Industries. Of course, right now we are no different from ordinary shareholders; the specific reason is..." Li Li held Li Xue's hand and said, "Seeing Sister Wang so excited, I won't take up more time. Sister Wang, it's your turn."
The woman referred to as Sister Wang shot Li Li a glare. "My name is Wang Xinzhuo. Since I am the oldest among this group of friends, they jokingly call me 'Big Sister.'"
"Sister Wang still can't help but be modest. I'm Zhou Zhi; I do some rough work and can't compare to you all." The handsome man with a buzz cut smiled at Chen Rui. "Although there are only two members of the Li family related by blood here, we have a very good relationship." At this point, Zhou Zhi paused for a moment, smiled lightly, and gestured for the girl next to him to speak.
"Of course! If our relationship were bad, it would be hard to bear! I'm Zhou Yan. Don't be fooled by my last name; I have no relation to him at all!" Zhou Yan pushed Zhou Zhi's face away. "Don't get so close."
"It's fine; aren't you both engaged? How can there be no relation? Is the orthopedic hospital in Germany fully booked?" teased a stylish boy in a hoodie. Among this group, he looked the most ordinary, with his hair partially covering his left eye; Liu Hai appeared more like a neighbor's boy than a wealthy businessman.
"Hey! Watch your words! Sorry about that; Yan and I really have no blood relation," Zhou Zhi explained.
"Sometimes the more you explain, the more people doubt," the boy said as he composed himself and looked at Chen Rui. "I'm Qin Xin, seventeen years old. Yan and I got engaged last month and are expected to marry on October 10th next year."
"How shameless! You're only seventeen!" Zhou Zhi looked at Chen Rui and covered his mouth with his hand while leaning forward. "I mean..."
"Hey! Is there anyone who reveals their family's secrets upon meeting someone? Are you even human?" Qin Xin crossed his legs and rolled up his sleeves, suddenly looking a bit more rugged.
"I think Qin is older than them," Chen Rui said with a smile.
"Oh? How did you figure that out?" Qin Xin straightened up and stared at Chen Rui with interest.
"Because you just called them Zhi and Yan."
"Is it really just because of this?"
"It is indeed because of these."
Qin Xin leaned back in her chair. "Isn't that a bit arbitrary? Judging my age based solely on four words? You know our relationship well enough."
"It may seem a bit arbitrary, but when you called them earlier, they didn't appear to react unusually. Clearly, this term is one they use often, and in their hearts, they feel there's nothing wrong with it."
"I have a question for all of you," Chen Rui interjected before anyone could respond. "You are all elites in your respective fields, which is beyond doubt. But precisely because of that, you only open your hearts to those you are familiar with and meet with honesty. In front of outsiders, you certainly put on the facade of corporate elites. However, I want to know why, despite having met only twice, you don't treat me as an outsider? No! Not just as someone who isn't an outsider; you treat me as a friend, and a very close one at that. It feels as if I have always been one of you."
Silence...
"I'll explain. Does anyone have any objections?" Qin Xin was the first to break the silence.
"Eventually, we will," Wang Xinzhuo waved his hand dismissively.
Chen Rui keenly noticed that Wang Xinzhuo seemed to hold a dominant position among this group.
Qin Xin pulled out her wallet from her pocket and took out a photograph, handing it to Chen Rui. "This is the best explanation."
In this era of digital projections, physical photographs like this one from over a decade ago were indeed rare. As Chen Rui took the photo and looked at the person in it, he found himself somewhat entranced. That person looked like him—or perhaps it was him.
The seven people in the photo were wearing swimsuits and posing on the wing of a seaplane. The third person from the right had a face and physique strikingly similar to Chen Rui's.
"They really look alike. What is this friend's name?" Chen Rui asked as he returned the photo to Qin Xin.
“Chen Zijing, the only alternative among us, Sheryl's boyfriend,” Qin Xin said as she carefully tucked the photo into her wallet. “He changed our perspective; to me, he is a savior.”
Chen Rui looked puzzled. “Why is that?”
“He's a soldier, an Air Force pilot, who was later transferred to naval aviation. When he first met us, he said something: ‘Since the road is blocked, why not fly over it?’ Hearing that now is truly insightful,” Li Li chimed in, glancing up at the ceiling of the airport.
Qin Xin continued, “During that time, our companies were under pressure from all sides. It wasn't just Dawn Heavy Industries; we were basically sidelined for reasons that are hard to explain. We tried many ways to turn things around but couldn’t make any progress. That guy just came out and said,”
Li Li interjected again, “Give it up; you’re not worried about food and clothing anyway. Isn’t one or two hundred million just spending money? At that moment, I thought my future brother-in-law was too unambitious and too spineless. Looking back now, that was truly a final warning.”
“Having completely lost our power, we once stubbornly wanted to unite and reclaim control of our companies. But he dragged us out to have fun instead. And so we did—year after year… Every time he had a vacation, we would go somewhere we had never been before…”
“So he’s the one who pulled you out of the shadow of failure?” Chen Rui asked. Despite hearing so much, he still didn’t see what was so remarkable about Chen Zijing.
“No, he saved us from pursuing our original plans. If we had followed through with those ideas, you wouldn’t see us here,” Zhou Yan smiled slightly at Chen Rui. That smile sent a chill down his spine; it concealed a hidden blade.
“Chen Rui, what are you doing here? Still pretending? Aren't they your friends?” Higashizaki approached with a grin, leaning in close to whisper in Chen Rui's ear. “Everyone's here; you guys can board first.”
Chen Rui nodded slightly at the six people in front of him. “Sorry, I have something to attend to; I’ll take my leave for now.”
After Chen Rui left, Li Xue rested her head on Li Li's shoulder. “It really feels like it.”
“Yeah, it really does,” Li Li replied meaningfully.
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