Chapter 50 – A Tumbleweed

On the flight back to the capital, Li Tang couldn’t bear the eager, inquisitive gaze of Qi Sixian any longer and sighed, asking her, “Is there something you want to ask?”

Sitting side by side on the return trip, Qi Sixian had been waiting for him to say that and couldn’t wait to ask, “ROJA’s President Jiang, isn’t he… well, you know, related to you in some way?”

Li Tang tried to stall by feigning ignorance, “Which one?”

“You know, that one.”

“Oh, right, when we were studying together, there was some conflict between us.”

“Aiya, stop pretending.” Qi Sixian said, “If there really was a conflict, you wouldn’t be avoiding it like this. As adults, our pride is everything; in business, even if it’s just an act, we put on a show of burying the hatchet.”

Li Tang found her point valid, “Next time, I’ll make sure to put on a good act, trying not to be caught by you.”

“Does that mean you’re admitting it?” Qi Sixian slapped her thigh, “I knew it! You two were so compatible, you must have dated!”

Fortunately, the gossip stopped there.

They were all adults; no matter how curious they were, they wouldn’t be so thoughtless as to pry into someone’s past or expose their wounds.

Since it was about a past relationship, it meant they had broken up, and from the looks of it, not amicably. They might have ended things with a messy breakup, leaving nothing but bitterness.

For the remainder of the flight, Qi Sixian was busy editing footage and selecting background music, planning to release her “Travel Vlog” as soon as they landed.

Li Tang rested against the chair, closing his eyes for a moment before hearing movement from the row in front.

Opening his left eye slightly, he saw Yang Baichuan peering through the gap between the seats, hesitating to speak.

Li Tang realized it was time for his medication.

Watching Li Tang take his pills, Yang Baichuan still looked hesitant. Li Tang wondered if he wanted to gossip as well?

In the end, Yang Baichuan asked after holding back for a while, “President Li, is the medicine you’re taking antidepressant?”

Li Tang secretly sighed in relief and answered frankly, “Yes, why?”

“This kind of medicine can increase the burden on your digestive system; it’s best not to take it long-term.” Yang Baichuan said, “My mother is a doctor at the municipal Chinese Medicine Hospital. If you’re interested, I can have her prescribe some herbal remedies for you… it may not cure you immediately, but it’s gentle and nourishing, worth a try.”

At first, Li Tang was taken aback, then he felt a sense of relief that his employee was looking out for him.

It was worth all the business trips and the drinking until he vomited.

“Thank you,” Li Tang said with a smile, “whenever she has free time, I’ll come when she’s not too busy.”

After landing, the first call Li Tang received was from an unknown number in Xucheng.

He hesitated for a moment when answering, but once he recognized the voice on the phone, Li Tang smiled, “Long time no see.”

“Is hearing my voice considered meeting?” Su Qinhan huffed, “You didn’t tell me you came to Xucheng, you don’t have me in your heart at all!”

It turned out that Su Qinhan was idle today, strolling through the mall and stopping by Zhou Dongze’s cafe, casually sending him a WeChat message, jokingly asking if he could get a discount for promoting him on Weibo. In their conversation, Su Qinhan learned that Li Tang had arrived the day before.

“This trip was too rushed, I didn’t plan on disturbing you guys,” Li Tang apologized, “next time when I’m free…”

“Ah ah ah, don’t talk to me about next time, an adult’s ‘next time’ basically means never again.” Su Qinhan said, “Wait for me in the capital, next month I’m going to the capital for an event, when I call you out, you better not refuse.”

Li Tang agreed, “Of course.”

Exiting the airport terminal, Li Tang took a deep breath under the clear skies of the capital, feeling a sense of liberation from the damp environment.

Or rather, a sense of regaining control over his body and consciousness.

Although…

Taking just a few steps forward, Li Tang couldn’t help but curl his neck inward.

Compared to Xucheng, the capital’s autumn was unreasonably cold.

The next day at the company meeting, everyone unanimously approved financing ROJA.

After the meeting, Li Zichu, who returned to his post, packed up his things while asking Li Tang, “Really, no need to reconsider? As the domineering CEO, you have veto power.”

There was no need to ask; naturally, it was Zhou Dongze who told him about Jiang Lou being one of ROJA’s partners.

Li Tang closed his notebook, “Do I look like that kind of tyrannical CEO who makes rash decisions?”

“No, it’s just that back then…” Li Zichu didn’t know how to bring it up, “working with his company will inevitably lead to frequent encounters, won’t you feel uncomfortable?”

“Work is work, since ROJA passed our strict examination process, I can’t possibly remove it due to personal reasons.” Li Tang placed his notebook on top of the materials Li Zichu was holding, “Leave the follow-up to you, I’ll try to stay out of it.”

Li Zichu still felt uneasy, wanting to say more, but Li Tang walked a few steps and turned around, “How is Huo Xichen doing?”

“…He’s already able to get out of bed.”

“Then can you spare some time after work today to accompany me to look at a house?”

The house they viewed was located near the company, a commercial-residential LOFT. Apart from high rent and utility fees, everything else was nearly perfect.

Li Tang didn’t want to continue the hassle of searching for rentals, finding a place that balanced all aspects, he decided to settle down.

The rental contract took effect that night, and Li Zichu immediately arranged to help Li Tang move.

Unable to bring the hotel sheets and pillowcases, they had to buy new ones at the supermarket. Li Tang compared brands and prices, considering size and even studying the goose down content in the pillows. On the side, Li Zichu rolled his eyes, “Look at you, where’s the domineering CEO?”

Li Tang didn’t mind, carrying bags into his new home, making the bed and cleaning effortlessly, leaving Li Zichu marveling, “I thought you stayed at hotels because you couldn’t do chores.”

Li Tang smiled. Having lived alone abroad for seven years, was there anything he hadn’t learned?

Later that evening, Huo Xichen called. Without using speakerphone, Li Tang could hear him whining and acting spoiled, calling out, “Brother, come back quickly.”

So he let Li Zichu go first, while he tidied up alone, wiping tables, sweeping floors, even handwashing the newly bought set of bowls and plates.

By the time he finished, it was nearly midnight, and his body was warm enough not to need heating. Li Tang plopped down, leaning back until he lay on the ground, staring at the unfamiliar white ceiling.

Living here, it might be several more years.

Without a sense of belonging, it couldn’t be called “home.” During these years without attachments, Li Tang would often ponder seemingly absurd questions, such as—why am I human?

He felt he could be a willow fluff, a tumbleweed, a stray animal… they might yearn for a home, but they could survive without one.

Why did it have to be a sentient being, fragile to the point of breaking with a single touch, a human?

Although, the human world also had many warm moments.

On weekends, Li Tang rested alone at his residence. His phone vibrated occasionally, with Yang Baichuan messaging that his mother, a physician, was available anytime the following week. The doorbell rang, with Zhou Dongze remotely sending over a bouquet of flowers to congratulate him on his new home.

The flowers were rosy red Chinese roses, which seven years ago in Xucheng, Zhou Dongze had given as a birthday gift to Li Tang.

After trimming the stems, Li Tang found a narrow-necked vase, filled it with water, and placed the flowers inside.

Today was sunny, and the lush petals stretched out in a beauty that bloomed in the depths of autumn.

But for no reason, Li Tang thought of the quiet night when the red rose emerged from his backpack.

And the fire-red rose necklace condensed in a small black box.

Red and black had always complemented each other so well.

So when he closed that box, re-packed it, and sent it away, how could he not feel a hint of longing and reluctance?

In the new week, Li Tang received a glass bowl filled with soup on time, accompanied by a reminder to rest more and not overwork himself to the point of damaging his health.

Li Tang understood that Zhang Zhaoyue had a sense of guilt and compensatory feelings towards him, but the twenty-year period had already passed, and there was no need for her to cling to him anymore.

Recalling the first year abroad, when Zhang Zhaoyue accompanied him overseas, taking care of his daily life, even supporting him during seizures in the middle of the night and rushing him to the hospital… although he knew that this “maternal love” came at a price, Li Tang still felt sorry for her.

He sent Zhang Zhaoyue a message, saying that he was now fine, no longer having suicidal thoughts, his condition stable, urging her to return to Xucheng with peace of mind.

After all, her true son was there.

Upon receiving his message, Zhang Zhaoyue seemed pleasantly surprised, her response tone slightly elated. She mentioned that she had found a job teaching at an educational institution and was already preparing to divorce Li Yuanshan. In the future, she would shuttle between the capital and Xucheng.

Li Tang was surprised by her determination, wanting to inquire further but felt he had no right to.

He simply expressed his blessings, wishing her health, safety, and fulfillment.

Perhaps one person’s happiness always comes at the expense of another’s misfortune. The next day, Li Tang received a call from his father, Li Yuanshan.

A man in his fifties, accustomed to high positions, had an unexpected outburst of anger in his voice, “I heard you invested in a tech company in Xucheng, is there no promising startup in this big capital that catches your eye, forcing you to seek it out in that godforsaken place?”

Li Tang sighed inwardly, forced to explain the results of the recent rounds of investigation and the reasons for deciding to invest in ROJA to Li Yuanshan.

When Li Yuanshan heard that ROJA’s medical database project was highly anticipated and would soon be operational, his attitude softened somewhat. Then, upon learning that ROJA was also researching medical robots to inhibit tumor mutations, he became more interested, “Did we invest in their medical robot project?”

“Yes.”

“Why not have them give a demonstration presentation?”

Li Tang flipped through the recently completed schedule, “It’s scheduled for half a month later, on the 14th.”

Li Yuanshan said he would be abroad half a month later and unavailable to attend in person, instructing Li Tang to observe the prospects of this project on his behalf.

Li Tang was already displeased with his interference in his work, declining, “I won’t be there in person; the Research Department will provide a detailed analysis report from a professional perspective…”

Li Yuanshan suddenly erupted in fury, “For such an important matter, you don’t step up personally, pushing it onto subordinates, is this your attitude as a leader?”

Li Tang thought to himself, if you had ever set foot in the company, you should know my attitude.

Not wanting to argue, feeling it was pointless. Even the money spent on psychological treatment for his child in England was subject to scrutiny; how could he expect understanding from such a father?

To quickly end the call, Li Tang replied, “I’ll be there,” and hung up.

Reflecting afterward, he realized that Li Yuanshan’s erratic mood today might be related to Zhang Zhaoyue proposing a divorce.

Two weeks passed, and Li Tang gradually adapted to his rental life. On days he didn’t have to work overtime, he would also buy ingredients and cook meals for himself.

Although, considering his culinary limitations, he could only manage stir-fried shredded potatoes and a plate of tomato scrambled eggs—the kind with a lot of sugar.

Yang Baichuan’s mother was a kind middle-aged physician. Initially, Li Tang wasn’t very convinced of traditional Chinese medicine, but after a nurturing diagnosis that felt like a caring conversation, he left carrying two large bundles of Chinese herbs.

After two weeks of drinking them, the therapeutic effects weren’t particularly noticeable, but it did instill in Li Tang the habit of going to bed early and waking up early.

Because the doctor said the medicine had to be taken before sleep, and it had to be taken before ten o’clock in the evening.

These two points were enough to make Li Tang climb into bed before ten every night, preparing for sleep.

But on the evening of December 13th, after taking the Chinese medicine, Li Tang found his sleepiness wasn’t strong, so he added a sleeping pill, combining East and West, yet still failed to have a good night’s sleep.

This time, however, his eyelid didn’t twitch. Li Tang consulted Qi Sixian and believed it shouldn’t be an ominous sign at least.

The demonstration of ROJA’s medical robot project was held in a lecture hall at a university in the capital. When renting the lecture hall, the General Affairs Department had asked Li Tang if they should rent the lecture hall of a TOP2 university, as the presenter of this demonstration graduated from that university.

Li Tang felt the General Affairs Department was thoughtful and approved their request. However, after communication, they learned that all the university’s externally accessible lecture halls were fully booked before the New Year.

In the end, it was arranged at an ordinary university. But circling around wasn’t meaningless, at least it made Li Tang recognize the presenter’s outstanding excellence again.

Once passing by the Marketing Department, Li Tang heard someone discussing inside, saying that we don’t even need to advertise for the projects we’re investing in this time. As long as we make a pull-up banner with the photo of the head of the technical department at ROJA, print the emblem of XX University underneath, it would be more impressive than anything else.

Li Tang found it quite reasonable, but they overlooked a problem—the emblems all had copyrights. To use them required written authorization from the school; otherwise, it would be an illegal infringement.

It seemed imperative to establish a Legal Department.

At the demonstration venue, Li Tang sat on a long bench outside the lecture hall, holding his phone and asking Zhou Dongze how to educate law-ignorant employees.

Zhou Dongze had just joined a law firm in the capital and hadn’t yet established himself, overwhelmed with work, so his responses to Li Tang were inevitably slower. Li Tang chatted with Su Qinhan, asking when she was coming to the capital so he could book a popular restaurant she wanted to eat at.

Su Qinhan was most available during the day. Starting with food, she and Li Tang discussed heatedly which brand of concealer was the best to use. During this time, Li Zichu came out once, asking if he wanted to go in and see, saying, “That person is just operating behind the scenes, not standing in front.”

Li Tang said he was busy and had no time. Li Zichu glanced at his phone screen, knowing he was once again using busyness as the cheapest medicine in the world, avoiding facing reality.

However, it was impossible to avoid. The air seemed saturated with a factor named Jiang Lou, no matter where Li Tang went, he could hear topics related to him.

Full scholarship recipient at XX University; published papers in core journals while in school, participated in several open-source projects; a regular champion in Hackathon competitions; have you used that App, he led its development…

The scene after the event was even livelier. Li Tang dodged and weaved, finally reaching the corridor behind the lecture hall for a moment of peace, when two girls came to the vending machine beside them to buy drinks and started chatting about the speaker in the lecture hall earlier.

“Almost all the girls in our building came, it’s ridiculous.”

“Weren’t you there too?”

“Just following the trend, to see how handsome he is.”

“Did you see? I only saw the top of his head from the back row.”

“I couldn’t squeeze in either, looking at the photos they posted on their WeChat Moments, he’s indeed handsome, but…”

“But what?”

“He seems to wear a hearing aid, otherwise he wouldn’t hear.”

“Ah, he’s deaf…?”

Hearing this, Li Tang inexplicably lost interest in playing with his phone.

The two girls continued their discussion, one suspecting that the speaker entered XX University relying on preferential policies for disabled people, while the other lamented how unfortunate it was that a handsome man who couldn’t hear wasn’t really a handsome man.

As they talked, Li Tang suddenly stepped forward, smiling, “Excuse me—”

The girls turned around, and Li Tang continued, “So now, college students define those wearing hearing aids as deaf?”

Speaking, Li Tang pushed the glasses on his nose, “Then wouldn’t those wearing glasses be blind?”

The two girls looked at each other in surprise, awkwardly saying, “We didn’t mean it that way…”

Initially intending to say a few more words like “talking behind others’ backs is not the behavior of a gentleman,” Li Tang then felt he was meddling too much, sounding like a nagging old man. He took a deep breath, with a polite smile, turned around, and left.

In just a few short steps, he nearly stumbled.

Supporting the wall behind the lecture hall, Li Tang could guess, even with his back turned, that the two girls were surely cursing him as crazy.

He was also annoyed with his lack of self-control. Although not as bad as before, when he barely stood up for himself and broke out in a cold sweat, it was still humiliating enough.

This was what happened when someone without ability tried to stand out.

Why did he have to stand out? Li Tang asked his previous self, was it to make up for the regret of not bravely speaking up seven years ago when others mocked him as “Deaf Brother”?

Or was it because, like before, he couldn’t tolerate others calling him deaf?

Still dazed, his other hand subconsciously reached for the lecture hall door. Unexpectedly, the door was unlocked, and it opened upon contact.

Lifting his eyes, he faced the empty seats after the event, the demonstration components not yet cleared from the stage, and the figure standing by the lectern near the window.

Again, an unintentional meeting of gazes, unable to withdraw his gaze in time, his thoughts were carried far away.

Li Tang had seen him in uniforms, jackets, tank tops, even completely naked… but this was the first time he had seen him in formal attire.

The dark, well-fitted suit highlighted his broad shoulders and long legs, adding a dignity and composure rarely seen in his youth. The low-key patterned tie tightened the shirt’s collar, covering his prominent Adam’s apple, yet made Li Tang recall the sensation of its undulations.

More suitable for him than he had imagined.

And he was currently leaning against the lectern, legs slightly bent, resting on the ground, an easygoing posture that reminded Li Tang of many years ago. After evening self-study, walking alone through the secluded walkway, crossing the back gate of the school, turning a corner, he would see the teenager leaning against the vine-covered brick wall, turning his face, the smile at the corner of his mouth more charming than the moonlight.

For a moment, it was hard to distinguish the present from the past. Li Tang stood rooted to the spot, unsure whether to advance or retreat.

The person inside was also unsettled. Just over half a month ago, he confirmed his hatred through the returned gift, and not seeing each other became the only way out. But what was this now, what had he heard just now?

Jiang Lou straightened his body, looking toward the door. Afraid of scaring him, he lowered his eyes, hiding his probing and the growing desire.

“Do you want to see?”

Hearing Jiang Lou’s voice, Li Tang involuntarily trembled.

“S-see what?” he asked.

Jiang Lou tilted his chin slightly, pointing to the demonstration components on the stage, “The robot you invested in.”

Li Tang bit his lower lip lightly.

Sometimes he wondered if the medication had damaged his brain. At this point, what he first thought of was—still take a look, otherwise, how would he explain to Li Yuanshan when he got back.

Besides, he promised to separate public and private matters. Turning and running away like last time was not the behavior of a gentleman.

So Li Tang took a step forward.

His mind produced even more absurd thoughts, feeling that this scene was like returning to the school gate seven years ago after evening self-study, walking without hesitation, without any grudges, toward the teenager waiting for him.

As if none of the nightmare-like events had ever occurred.