Chapter 44

There are still a few hours before the New Year's bells ring. The temperature of the food and soup has lost its last bit of heat. There are sporadic snowflakes rustling in the sky, melting into shoulders and collars.

The two of them paid the bill and walked slowly along the road. In the distance, they could vaguely hear the cheers and noise of people bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new. Lane Lindsay stopped in front of his black Porsche: "Shall I take you home?" "

No, someone will come to pick me up." Youji shook his head lightly, "The Atobe Zaibatsu will have a New Year's reception later."

The Atobe Zaibatsu's annual New Year's reception has always been a grand event in the Japanese business community. Lane nodded in understanding and raised his hand to open the car door.

You Ji looked at him quietly for a long time, and suddenly said: "Is this really okay?"

Seeing that the other party slowly turned around, he added: "After going through so much trouble to return to Japan, this is the ending?"

Lan En was silent for a long time, his eyes were blocked by sunglasses, and his true expression could not be seen. After a long time, he chuckled: "No matter how difficult or miserable the situation is, I have experienced it before..."

"But..."

"I've worked as a handyman in a fast food restaurant, been a newspaper delivery apprentice, and even begged on the street. Which of the following have I not experienced in the most difficult times? If I were defeated so easily, I wouldn't be Kyosuke Terajima." The man smiled, and he looked gloomy and unpredictable in the deep twilight. "Anger, resentment, disgust, hatred, and a heart full of emotions with nowhere to vent. I swear that one day I will return all of this to the people who humiliated me. Everyone would think so."

He sighed, took off his sunglasses, and looked at her steadily: "When I came back at the beginning of the year, I tried to investigate what happened back then, the accident your mother encountered, and Seichi's surgical accident."

Youji was a little surprised. Raising her eyelids unexpectedly, she was stunned for a long time without speaking. Lan En did not pay any attention and continued to speak: "Although I don't know the specific situation, I can probably guess a little bit when thinking about the struggle between the Hasegawa family and the Atobe family. The reason why you married Atobe Keigo is probably because of this, right?"

He said this calmly, but the woman opposite seemed to have seen through her heart. The expression on her face became more and more stiff, and there was an unpredictable look in her indifferent eyes. After all, she was silent for a long time, and then she pulled the slightly tightened lips: "Not all."

Without money, power, and strength, she couldn't even protect her only relatives.

Revenge, or her own ambition.

Cutting off all ties and retreats, embarking on that thorny road, she was a woman with a clear mind, knowing clearly what she wanted. The pure interest alliance had nothing to do with love and romance. Although it was cold, it was at least enough to keep sober and rational.

But since when did she start to worry about gains and losses in this competition?

She thought carefully, as if she wanted to find some clues in the messy memory fragments, but her mind was a mess, and she finally gave up and sighed.

Lan En quietly watched the subtle changes on her face, with a complicated look in his eyes. After a while, he raised his hand, wanting to cover her shoulders, but in the end he just paused and brushed the snowflakes off her shoulders.

"Seeing you standing next to him, I will think of Atobe Jingyi and your mother. The ambition and charm of the Atobe men always attract countless women, and even moths to the flame, but it is also a deadly poison for women. Youji, you are very much like your mother, calm, smart, and good at protecting yourself, but if you bear all the hatred and anger alone, it would be too heavy..."

The man said faintly, sighing deeply.

You Ji looked at his vicissitudes of life quietly, and felt a little warm in her heart. She wanted to speak but couldn't make a clear sound. She had to pull the corner of her mouth to cover up her momentary loss of composure.

Lan En looked at her for a long time, sighed again, and then said: "It won't be long before the headquarters will send new executives. I rejected Yokotani Construction's last loan application. I heard that this time, relying on Yokotani Eiji's mother's family, they have put a lot of effort in the senior management of Wall Street."

The woman was slightly startled, and it took a while for her to react.

Yokotani Construction's president Yokotani Eiji, his mother was from a financial family on Wall Street, so he had been struggling in the New York financial world in his early years and accumulated a lot of connections. It was not surprising that he could get through the senior management of GS headquarters. However, why did Yokotani Construction's strong capital need to raise such a huge loan in a short period of time?

Behind the tug-of-war between GS Bank and Atobe Securities, as well as the past rumors, who was guiding the development of the situation and even reaping the benefits?

She shuddered, straightened her body, and lowered her eyelids: "I understand."

"You decide what to do. I'm sure Keigo Atobe's methods will not disappoint you." The man looked at her steadily, "Maybe the road ahead will be difficult, but Yuji, you must remember that you are not alone now."

You are not alone now.

The woman was slightly stunned, and her expression was a little dazed.

When she reacted, Lan En had already turned around and opened the car door, so she hurriedly said: "Father..."

Simple syllables, low and short voice.

Both of them were stunned for a moment. Lan En's movements paused obviously, turned around, and the lines on his face twitched slightly, as if he was hiding his almost excited expression. Snowflakes floated in front of him, and a thin layer of mist floated in the corners of his eyes.

The woman had already put away her slightly helpless expression, slightly pulled the line of her lips, and bowed her head.

"Goodbye."

The man who had experienced many vicissitudes of life was a little out of control. He lowered his head, pursed his lips, put on dark sunglasses, and crouched to get into the car.

The black Porsche sped along the silver street in the night. Through the rearview mirror in front of the car, the figure of the woman standing there could be vaguely seen. Her black hair, windbreaker, and long boots gradually disappeared and melted into the twilight of fluttering snowflakes.

The streets on New Year's Eve did not seem depressed at all even with flying snowflakes. The streets were full of flashing neon lights, and people's noisy laughter came from afar. Youji stood up and looked at the long street extending into the distance. He was stunned and didn't realize that the snowflakes had already fallen on his shoulders.

Lane Lindsay, the most outstanding trader on Wall Street at that time and one of the few Japanese executives of GS Investment Bank, was eventually squeezed by his opponents and forced to leave the position of president of GS Japan Branch before he could show his strengths.

Down and out, but fortunately not embarrassed.

She looked up at the high sky, watching the snowflakes falling into her sight, gently covering her long eyelashes, a slight chill seeping into her eyelids, and she felt a little sad in her heart.

She felt a little surprised, as if the hatred and pain over the years had been diluted in the long time and no longer important.

The honking of the car behind her interrupted her thoughts. She turned around and saw that the low-key Lincoln had stopped by the roadside. A driver came down to open the door for her. Then she remembered that it was less than an hour before the New Year's Eve cocktail party of the Atobe Foundation started.

At this time last year, she only needed to attend as a female companion. Now with the title of Mrs. Atobe, even if she no longer liked such occasions of drinking and pretending to be nice, she always had to be prepared to stand in the spotlight with him.

Thinking of this, Youji curled the corners of her mouth slightly, walked a few steps, bent down and got into the warm car.

The drive to the venue was not far, but it was delayed for nearly an hour because of the heavy snow that blocked the street traffic. When we arrived at the venue, the cocktail party had already begun. Atobe Keigo was standing in the middle of the red carpet, holding an amber red wine and addressing the guests.

He wore a white suit, a light purple plaid shirt and a dark blue tie, and his exquisite purple-gray short hair was scattered on his forehead. A teardrop mole was looming at the corner of his eye, and there was a faint charming arc at the corner of his lips, just like an elegant noble in the Middle Ages.

The spotlight above his head cast a lot of silver light down, arrogant, but with a noble taste.

Youji stood at the entrance of the side door and looked carefully for a long time. Then he took off the coat wrapped around him and handed it to the waiter. He entered quietly in a purple evening dress. Atobe Kei was standing on the side of the podium. When he saw her come in, he raised his eyelids slightly, showing a smile and motioning her to come closer.

"I'm sorry, father." So she quickened her pace and came closer, lowering her head slightly, "I'm late."

"It doesn't matter, it didn't start long anyway." Atobe Jingyi didn't care, just smiled faintly, "Is your father okay?"

"He looks in good spirits."

"Well, that's good."

In a simple greeting, but mentioned her father, You Ji was a little surprised.

The two of them were classmates when they were young, but their lives were completely different. The troubled past in their youth was finally engraved in each other's hearts, deeply rooted and difficult to erase.

As if sensing the unusual silence, Atobe Jingyi looked back at her: "What's wrong?"

She paused for a moment, then curled the corners of her mouth: "I thought your relationship was not very good."

"If you think about it carefully, our friendship back then was actually quite good. He was far from what he is now. He was gentle, humble, clear-headed, and very popular. But later..." As if recalling his youth when he was full of inspiring words, Atobe Jingyi curled the corners of his mouth slightly, but did not continue, "I'm afraid that both of us must have some grudges in our hearts about what happened later."

"Let's talk business. When he took office as the president of the GS branch, as a colleague and competitor, I did have some reservations about him. But putting that aside," he sighed softly, looking up at the dome with the bright chandelier above his head, "you two, father and daughter... maybe both have reasons to blame me..."

He did not look back when he said this, but his expression was depressed. You Ji looked at him with a little pity: "Father..."

"When I first met you, it was as if I saw your mother, just as rational, excellent, and cold. But Youji, you are different. Compared with your mother, you know how to fight, know how to mediate, and are more tenacious." His eyes were far-reaching, and he said quietly, then his eyes fell on the gorgeous young man under the spotlight, "Perhaps it is because of this that Jingwu noticed you. At this time last year, he brought you in, and I almost thought it was a repeat of history. But Youji, you are luckier than us. My son has always been proud and domineering, No girl could make him so anxious. Don't let the past of the previous generation affect your own life. Try to believe him and believe in your future. "

The old man's low and hoarse voice was slightly old, as if decades of old times had been precipitated. Youji listened in a daze without saying a word. I don't know when the applause started. The speech on the rostrum had ended. The handsome young man in gorgeous clothes turned around and glanced at the corner where she was. His sharp saber-colored eyes suddenly turned a little unusual, raised the lip line at the corner of his mouth, and then pulled away.

"You're late." Atobe Keigo narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked down at her with his height advantage. The mole under his eyes was dazzling.

So she had to straighten her waist lazily, bend the corners of her mouth, and pull out two scattered smiles.

The heating in the room was blazing hot, intertwined with the overwhelming cold outside, forming layers of fog on the large French windows, blurring the vision and shrouding the deep dusk in a hazy state.

Youji looked out through the window, and only vague shadows remained of the tall buildings and streets.

"Are you daydreaming again?" Atobe Keigo handed her a cup of warm drink and chuckled, "You don't eat much, aren't you hungry?"

"I ate at the izakaya with my father when I came here." She said it lightly, and sure enough, she saw the gorgeous young master raised his eyebrows in disdain when he heard a plain civilian word.

"Is my father-in-law okay?"

"He looks pretty good." She smiled lightly, "Perhaps with his experience, these ups and downs are nothing."

"Are you feeling guilty?"

Atobe looked at her for a long time, and suddenly curled the corners of his lips, while the latter was only stunned for a moment.

"Perhaps, it's just strange. Watching him walk out of the GS building alone and drive away alone, I actually feel a little sad. All the strong emotions I used to have, whether hatred or anger, are gone."

She turned her head and looked at the bright lights and the gorgeous dance floor in the room. Her eyes were as calm as water, but she looked confused and desolate.

Atobe looked down at her and didn't say anything. He just subconsciously moved closer and put his arm around her waist to hold her in his arms.

"In fact, you are also a soft-hearted person." She heard the man's low chuckle in her ears. She frowned and wanted to refute something, but he stopped her. When she looked up, Atobe's expression was solemn and his eyes were sharp. "Don't worry, this round, I won't let anyone lose in vain."

You Ji was slightly startled, and immediately understood what he meant.

Looking towards the center of the hall, the president of Yokotani Construction and the eldest son of Hasegawa Logistics were also among the guests. Both of them were successful at a young age and elegant.

"In this confrontation with GS, neither side has done their best. What have you expected?"

"I don't know anything else, but there is no doubt that the other party wants to use GS to bring down Atobe Securities." Atobe chuckled and did not avoid her. "As for your father's insistence on going against the will of the headquarters' top management, if he is not concerned about you, then there is a problem on Wall Street."

Atobe Keigo's insight, which he is proud of, has never been inferior.

Yuki sighed in his heart and said lightly: "I heard that Yokotani Eiji's mother's family has a lot of influence in the top management of GS. Not long ago, Yokotani Construction applied for a huge loan from GS, but my father rejected it because of the poor evaluation results."

Atobe was slightly startled, and then he caught the information and raised the corner of his mouth.

The New Year's fireworks bloomed at this moment, brightening each other's eyes, and the misty sky at night was as bright as day.

Atobe looked up, looked at the brilliant fireworks in the sky, and squinted slightly.

"Hey, Youji, I remember you were by my side at this time last year."

On this day next year, he also wants her to stand here and watch the New Year's fireworks hand in hand.

Year after year, time flies.

The arm around her waist tightened slightly, and the man lowered his head, kissing her softly.

"People are watching."

She frowned slightly, but he chuckled softly: "It's better to let them see it."

After the case a year ago, I don't know how many people are speculating about the relationship between the current president and his wife of the Atobe family. There are also various groundless speculations, so he just lets them see it openly.

When Youji heard this, she pushed him away immediately, with an angry look on her face: "You did it on purpose."

So Atobe had to shrug and take her hand: "Then, ma'am, how about dancing with me?"

"All the ladies in this venue will surely be happy to be the dance partner of Master Atobe."

"Unfortunately, my dance partner can only be you."

The gorgeous purple-haired young man seemed to casually curl the corner of his lip. She felt her face stiffen, and she pulled the corner of her mouth subconsciously. Before she knew it, he had taken her hand and walked into the dance floor.

The gorgeous footlights fell on the hems of her skirts, and the beautiful shadows became a pair, attracting envy from the surroundings.

"No one won this round."

Standing among the business elites in suits, Yokotani Eiji held a glass of red wine and looked at the host of the night, only glancing at the eldest son of the Hasegawa family beside him.

But Shu just stared at the woman's back and took a sip of red wine: "Didn't Yokotani just get a loan from GS? It's worth the hard work."

Hearing this, Yokotani Eiji curled his lips calmly: "The year-end evaluation results of the cooperation project between the Atobe family and Hasegawa Logistics have not come out yet, right? Have you had a deep discussion about the cooperation intention for next year?" "

Looking at the current situation, I'm afraid it won't be too optimistic." Hasegawa Shu retracted his gaze and raised his glass to the person beside him, "Is President Yokotani interested?"

The business tycoon from Kansai raised his eyebrows, raised his glass and gently tapped the wall of the other's glass, and they smiled knowingly to each other.