Last Love chapter 89

Led by Ye Cheng, Wen Ke and Wang Jinglin were soon arranged to meet. As this involved executive positions and a relatively large contract amount, Fu Xiaoyu also attended.

Fu Xiaoyu had just flown back from Europe. Perhaps due to being busy and not having time to adjust to the jet lag, he looked a bit weary when he appeared. Nevertheless, even so, he was neatly dressed. With a tall figure, he appeared exceptionally sharp in his black wool coat. A faint scent of cedar from his perfume cleverly balanced the sweet pheromone scent on him.

He had always been the most dazzling Omega in the crowd. When Ye Cheng and he shook hands, he both couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment.

Wen Ke had booked a private Suzhou-style restaurant in advance—this place served only one table a day, with no menu available. All the dishes were selected by the owner based on the fresh ingredients brought in that day.

The owner could afford to be capricious because of his exceptional culinary skills.

Ye Cheng loved the food, so as soon as he sat down, he couldn’t stop praising Wen Ke’s taste. While sipping duck blood soup, he asked, “I’ve never had duck blood soup this fresh before, Wen Ke, how do you always know so many good restaurants? Do you love Suzhou-style cuisine?”

Wen Ke lowered his head, took a sip of tea, and said, “Because I’m a glutton. And I remember that Jinglin is from Suzhou, right?”

Wang Jinglin was very quiet, rarely speaking before. But when he heard this, he raised his head in surprise and said, “Yes, I am.”

After a pause, he said seriously, “Thank you for the hospitality, Mr. Wen. The dishes are authentic and delicious.”

Wen Ke smiled slightly. He didn’t make much effort in this regard. Being attentive up to a certain point was enough, exceeding that would be unnatural.

So he just added a spoonful of soup for Wang Jinglin, calmly changing the topic and chatting about other things, creating a very harmonious atmosphere during the meal.

Wen Ke had always been considerate. This was his innate talent.

Perhaps due to outstanding memory or the experience of growing up in a single-parent family, he had a natural sensitivity to the preferences of others. He could always take care of those subtle needs simply and appropriately.

When he was with Zhuo Yuan, he not only took care of Zhuo Yuan’s preferences but also paid attention to the preferences of several partners and collaborators in the company. Many times, the choice of venue for banquets and even the selected gifts were decided by him.

But perhaps in Zhuo Yuan’s eyes, all these things were too trivial and ordinary.

After a brief greeting, Fu Xiaoyu brought up the serious matters. Looking at Wang Jinglin, he said, “Mr. Wang, we believe you are well aware of the sincerity on our side. By agreeing to meet with us this time, you should be somewhat interested in our offer, right?”

“Indeed, I am interested, but…”

Wang Jinglin’s voice was low, but he only said half a sentence before falling silent for a while.

Compared to Ye Cheng, this top-notch software engineer had a reserved personality, as if he were often immersed in his own world. He was dressed simply in jeans and a gray checkered sweater, excessively plain.

When he spoke, his brow was slightly furrowed, obviously pondering something.

“If it’s about the salary, we can still negotiate,” Wen Ke tentatively asked.

“No,” Wang Jinglin shook his head. “It’s not just about money.”

“Are you concerned about the future prospects?” Fu Xiaoyu immediately continued, “LITE is indeed a new company, and with the current scale, it may not compare to your previous experience. But that’s only for now. You also know that as a newly established company, getting a large investment from Blue Rain for the first project, we wouldn’t have the confidence to offer you this package if it weren’t for that. Right?”

Wang Jinglin hesitated for a long time before saying seriously, “Mr. Wen, Mr. Fu, from what I understand, the app project you are working on is actually a competitor to the project Yuanteng is currently working on. I won’t hide it from you. The investment from Blue Rain to you has actually dealt a fatal blow to the project I was responsible for before, and even to the entire Yuanteng. After losing this battle, not only did the team not receive bonuses, but even the salaries were affected. Personally, I’ve had thoughts of leaving Yuangten. However, coming to you, I do have some concerns. First, there’s a non-compete clause in my contract. If we have to go to arbitration, I may need to pay a substantial amount, which is a bit troublesome.”

“Of course, we’ll take care of that.”

Fu Xiaoyu remained calm. Pouring himself a cup of tea, he continued, “After you resign, if they strictly demand that you not work in the related industry, and you must be compensated a large sum of money every month, I doubt whether Yuanteng, with its current cash flow, will voluntarily do that. If they don’t pay, the validity of this agreement would be disputed. Mr. Wang, there are too many job-hopping cases in the industry, few lawsuits, and even fewer that can quickly arbitrate results. Yuanteng should understand this as well. We have dedicated legal experts to deal with such matters. Dragging on for several years is not a problem. If it comes to compensations, LITE will bear the cost. You can rest assured; we can put it in the supplementary agreement.”

Fu Xiaoyu was ruthless and straightforward when it came to recruiting.

Wen Ke had some concerns in this regard before, but after talking to Fu Xiaoyu, he understood that there was so much room to maneuver. This time, when they met Wang Jinglin together, they were naturally well-prepared.

After dispelling this major concern, Wang Jinglin fell silent for a while, then nodded. However, he looked at Wen Ke and said slowly, “There’s still some hesitation… It’s about personal feelings. After all, I’ve been working under Mr. Zhuo for so long. It’s only recently that I’ve been exhausted and thought about leaving, but leaving and changing jobs are two different things. Besides, Mr. Wen… I’ll just be straightforward. You’ve just divorced from Mr. Zhuo not long ago. I always feel a bit awkward, emotionally, to jump from him to you. It seems like I’m getting involved in your private matters.”

“I understand.”

Wen Ke nodded. “I can understand your thoughts. Not only are you the most outstanding engineer at Yuanteng, but you are also an elite in the entire industry. Standing at your height, you have many choices. So every decision is crucial, and I understand your concerns. But there are some things I need to make clear—Zhuo Yuan and I divorced through an amicable agreement, and there’s no major conflict. So, I want to ask you, it’s not because I want to retaliate against him. The investment from Blue Rain, in fact, both sides already knew each other as opponents, but that’s okay. Work is work. He won’t back down, and I won’t back down. In the end, it’s fair competition, and LITE won Blue Rain. This has been a struggle between two companies from the beginning and has nothing to do with personal entanglements.”

Wen Ke looked seriously at Wang Jinglin, his gaze unwavering as he continued, “Yuanteng has already lost—even if you continue to work for Zhuo Yuan, it won’t change the outcome.”

This statement was sharp and didn’t sound like something Wen Ke would say.

Even Fu Xiaoyu couldn’t help but turn his head in surprise to look at Wen Ke.

“…That’s correct.”

Wang Jinglin wasn’t angry, he just cleared his throat and said, “That project has been lost from the top-down design. I… I also lost.”

“Staying at Yuanteng, you will keep losing.”

Wen Ke said calmly.

He picked up the teapot, slowly poured tea into Wang Jinglin’s cup, and continued, “But LITE is different. Defeating Yuanteng is not a victory for LITE; it’s just the beginning. So, you are not joining the winning side out of thin air, but the side with the strength to defeat you decisively. I believe you can understand the difference between the two.”

He stopped here, and the tea was already full.

Wen Ke smiled and gently placed the teapot on the table, saying calmly, “Jinglin, you are the best, but we can’t always wait for the best candidate. Whether you join or not, my project must start at full speed by the end of this month—”

“I’ll be waiting for your good news.”

…

At the end of the gathering, Wang Jinglin and Ye Cheng left first.

Fu Xiaoyu left his seat to go to the restroom, tidied himself up a bit, rinsed his mouth with mouthwash, and came out just in time to see Wen Ke finishing paying the bill.

Pregnant with a child, Wen Ke’s belly wasn’t obvious from the back. He wore a dark blue coat, held a cigarette between his fingers, and stood alone by the floor-to-ceiling window, quietly watching the heavy snow falling outside.

Fu Xiaoyu didn’t know why he hesitated for a moment before walking over. He stood beside Wen Ke, cleared his throat, and casually said, “You smoke?”

“Hmm?”

Wen Ke turned to look at Fu Xiaoyu with some confusion, then realized and shook his head, saying, “The owner of the restaurant forgot I’m pregnant and handed it to me. I just took it.”

He tossed the cigarette into the nearby trash can and continued, “I used to smoke occasionally, but now that I’m expecting, I definitely won’t smoke anymore, and I won’t in the future.”

Fu Xiaoyu felt that this statement was a bit ambiguous, as if he were talking about the babies in his belly and also about Han Jiangque.

He fell silent for a moment and suddenly asked, “Have you always been confident about Wang Jinglin?”

“He agreed to have dinner, so I felt confident.”

“Why?”

“A feeling.” Wen Ke turned his head and smiled at Fu Xiaoyu.

When he smiled, his eyes were still as gentle as before, but the demeanor when speaking was different. Although he was saying joking words, the tone fell steadily, each sentence firmly anchored.

Fu Xiaoyu suddenly wondered, what was Wen Ke thinking when he was looking at the snow just now?

And Wen Ke was also looking at Fu Xiaoyu.

In that fleeting moment, he also wanted to ask Fu Xiaoyu:

What is the relationship between IM Group and you?

Fu Xiaoyu looked at Wen Ke’s protruding belly and said softly, “It’s growing so quickly.”

“Yeah,” Wen Ke nodded. “twins.”

“I…” Fu Xiaoyu reached out a finger but hesitated and stopped, “Can I touch it?”

Wen Ke smiled, “Of course.”

So, through the sweater, Fu Xiaoyu touched Wen Ke’s belly. In that moment, rather than saying he touched Wen Ke’s belly, it felt more like a peculiar sensation suddenly touched him.

He withdrew his hand somewhat nervously and stood with Wen Ke, watching the snow together.

…

A few days later, there was heavy snowfall in City B, with even hail mixed in among the snowflakes.

Early in the morning, Wang Jinglin called Wen Ke, saying that he would resign next week.

On the same day, Zhuo Yuan rushed back to his family’s residence early in the morning.

This day was rotten for him. Early last night, his father officially announced his resignation from the position of chairman of the board of directors of Donglin Real Estate Development Group.

At the prime of his life, but hastily resigning, this was an extremely bad signal, indicating that the land speculation case they had stirred up was escalating, and even his father had already sensed that it couldn’t be contained.