Chapter 509 - 244: A Gift Must Go Straight to the Heart
Chapter 509: Chapter 244: A Gift Must Go Straight to the Heart
"Oh, stop bragging."
Hearing Su Zhenqing boasting about how he built his fortune again, Tsuruta Mami couldn’t help but shoot him a glare.
"If I hadn’t given you my family’s secret ancestral spice, would you have even gotten on your feet?"
"That’s why it’s all thanks to you, Mami."
Hearing Tsuruta Mami bring up the old story, Su Zhenqing, who had just been wearing a cool expression, now placatingly pulled his wife into a gentle embrace.
"The main reason I’m putting the kid down so much is because I’m afraid you’ll be too nice to him when he gets here, making him think he can just take Su Youji away."
"So what if he takes her away?"
Tsuruta Mami stroked Su Youji’s head and smiled.
"Yuji, you’re not a little girl anymore. You’re twenty. It’s about time you found a boyfriend. If this Lin Shen kid is really as successful and capable as he seems, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if you went with him."
"No, no, no! Absolutely not!"
As a doting father through and through, Su Zhenqing had no intention of handing his sweet, innocent Yuji over to a man her own age.
Especially not when that man already had a girlfriend!
"I do not approve! I’m firmly against it!"
"Why?"
"Yuji is too young."
"Twenty is too young?"
Tsuruta Mami raised an eyebrow, the corner of her mouth twitching in displeasure.
"Then why didn’t you say I was too young when you got me pregnant with Yuji? I remember I was just a little over eighteen..."
"Shhh!"
Su Zhenqing quickly covered Tsuruta Mami’s mouth, glancing at Su Youji’s curious expression before whispering a plea.
"Honey, please, give me a break. Can we just drop this for now?"
"Hmph."
Tsuruta Mami huffed, then added worriedly,
"Of course, I also need to see what this young man Lin Shen looks like. It won’t do if he’s too ugly."
"Our Yuji is so adorable, we have to find someone suitable for her. And I heard Lin Shen has a girlfriend? Then it’s even more impossible to hand Yuji over to him."
"But as for letting Yuji sign with his media company... what do you think, honey?"
"Hmm..."
Su Zhenqing fell into thought once more.
To be honest, the contract template Lin Shen had sent over seemed fine. You could even say it showed the utmost sincerity; the profit-sharing was so generous that even Su Zhenqing, as her father, couldn’t find any fault with it.
Besides, Lin Shen clearly had some skill with a camera. If he could produce one viral video, he could make a second, and a third.
But what worried Su Zhenqing was the company’s future development.
Society moves so fast these days; like the waves of the Yangtze River, the new generation is always pushing out the old. If they make one slightly risky decision, a company could face the threat of bankruptcy.
That was even truer for a media company, where luck played such a huge role.
Sometimes, you could try your hardest to create a viral hit and fail, while other times, something you filmed casually would blow up.
In the age of internet traffic, there was no telling who it would favor next.
So Su Zhenqing thought it over and over, agonizing over whether to let Su Youji cooperate with Lin Shen.
Whether Lin Shen’s media company flourished or failed had nothing to do with him, and he didn’t really care.
’But the key is, if he goes bankrupt later, he can’t be allowed to drag my daughter down with him!’
After a moment’s thought, Su Zhenqing suddenly tossed the question to Su Youji.
As her parents, they could offer their input, but the final decision still rested with their child.
"Yuji, what are your thoughts?"
"Um... I think Lin Shen is a good person."
Su Youji fidgeted with her hands in front of her.
"He’s outstanding in every way, and his personality is very sincere. It also just so happens that I’ve hit a bottleneck with my filming and need someone to help me break through."
"Well, we’ll see."
Su Zhenqing glanced at the clock on the south wall and saw that it was already 3:30 in the afternoon.
This was the time he had arranged to meet with Lin Shen.
’Hasn’t he arrived yet?’
Su Zhenqing’s brow furrowed. He was very particular about punctuality and detested people who were late.
However, just then, Su Youji’s phone rang.
♪~Ah, just like always~♪
♪~The passing days make me yawn~♪
"Moshi moshi!?"
As soon as Su Youji answered the call, her expression lit up with excitement.
"You’re at the gate? I’m coming right now!"
After hanging up, Su Youji immediately ran out of the villa.
"Father, Mother, Mr. Lin is here!"
’Mr. Lin?’
The moment Su Zhenqing heard Su Youji use that name for Lin Shen, his sense of alarm flared up.
He knew very well that this was a form of address reserved for people one felt close to, and Yuji had never used it for any other boy.
Lin Shen was the first.
’I’d like to see just what Charm this kid has to make Yuji, who has always hated being tied down, willing to sign a contract with him!’
Su Zhenqing came out into the courtyard, his arm linked with Tsuruta Mami’s.
At that moment, on the long street by the courtyard gate, a two-tone black and white, incredibly luxurious and stately Maybach S680 slowly pulled up to the villa’s entrance.
Immediately, the driver’s side door opened. First, a long leg in a suit pant emerged, followed by a young man dressed impeccably in a suit.
When he saw the young man before him—tall, well-proportioned, and exceptionally handsome—Su Zhenqing’s heart skipped a beat.
Tsuruta Mami, for her part, covered her mouth with one hand, her expression one of utter astonishment.
’What a handsome young man!’
"Sir, Ma’am, hello."
After getting out of the car, Lin Shen didn’t rush into the villa. Instead, he opened the trunk, retrieved some liquor and cigars, and only then did he slowly walk up to Su Zhenqing and Tsuruta Mami with a smile.
"It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Lin Shen. I brought a small gift; I hope you’ll like it."
’A small gift?’
Su Zhenqing glanced at what Lin Shen was carrying, and his pupils contracted.
The Moutai wasn’t a big deal; he could afford something that cost several hundred a bottle.
But this kind of Moutai, in its black and gold packaging, looked anything but ordinary!
’It must be several thousand, right?’
And that wasn’t what surprised Su Zhenqing the most. What truly delighted him was that Lin Shen had also brought cigars.
They were even Behike cigars—the very ones he had always wanted to buy, but Tsuruta Mami never let him!
And it was a limited-edition gift set, no less!
As a heavy smoker, this was Su Zhenqing’s absolute favorite thing. The serious, stern expression he had been wearing moments before vanished, and he cheerfully accepted the gift from Lin Shen, his face breaking into a smile he had never shown before.
"Oh my, you should have just come. There was no need to bring gifts! Please, come in! Quickly, come in!"
"Alright."
Lin Shen smiled faintly. Seeing Su Zhenqing’s attitude, he knew this gift had hit the mark perfectly.
’Maybe this business deal will be a success!’
After following Su Youji and her family into the villa, Tsuruta Mami went to pour tea, while Su Zhenqing’s gaze remained fixed on the Behike cigar box, unable to look away.
Seeing this, Lin Shen smiled, picked up the box, and began to make conversation.
"Sir, you seem to know a lot about these cigars?"
"Of course! It’s a limited edition from Behike. A single one costs over a thousand!"
Su Zhenqing was a true connoisseur on the subject, speaking eloquently about the Behike brand. He was even more knowledgeable than the saleswoman who had sold the cigars to Lin Shen, his face animated as he spoke.
Seeing her usually stern father acting like this, Su Youji felt a secret thrill of delight.
’Mr. Lin really knows how to handle people. To think he knew Dad likes cigars!’
"Then this whole box is my first-meeting gift to you."
’So many?’
After seeing the forty cigars in the box, Su Zhenqing kept wiping his hands on his clothes, not knowing whether to accept the gift or not.
If he didn’t accept, it was such a good opportunity, and he was dying to have them.
After all, under Tsuruta Mami’s watchful eye, he was never able to buy such things.
Lin Shen’s gift now gave him the perfect excuse to accept them. It was just too good to be true!
But if he did accept, it would mean he had to agree to the purpose of Lin Shen’s visit—letting Su Youji sign the contract with him.
’Isn’t this just like selling my daughter!’
Seeing Su Zhenqing’s conflicted expression, the corners of Lin Shen’s mouth curved up slightly as he tempted him like a devil.
"Sir, please, just accept it."
"Fine!"
After a moment of internal struggle, Su Zhenqing couldn’t resist the temptation of the cigars after all.
’I’m sorry, Yuji. Don’t blame your dad. If you have to blame someone, blame Lin Shen for offering way too much!’