Restart life

Chapter 371, Chapter 0358: [Putting Theory into Practice]

It was already 1 p.m. when we arrived at the hotel.

Since they had eaten breakfast quite late, they weren't very hungry, so they just grabbed something to eat at the hotel restaurant.

"I'm going to take a shower first." Chen Guiliang went straight into the bathroom.

I spent half a day shopping, and the temperature rose again, causing me to sweat a lot, especially my feet.

Xu Fengyin kept her head down and didn't say anything. After Chen Guiliang finished showering and came out, she quickly went into the bathroom as well.

Several tens of minutes later, both of them were smelling fresh after their bath.

Then... Xu Fengyin changed into a new set of clothes, took out a comic book from her backpack, and leaned against the headboard to read it.

Chen Guiliang reached for the comic book in her hand, but Xu Fengyin said, "Don't touch it."

"Are you planning to spend the whole day reading comics at the hotel and then go home?" Chen Guiliang asked with a smile.

Xu Fengyin said, "When I was in school, I used to fantasize about what it would be like to be in a relationship. At that time, I thought the most heartwarming way to spend time together was with the boy I liked. He would have his own things to do, and I would read my favorite comics next to him, and we would spend the whole day quietly and leisurely like that."

People say it was their dream when they were in school, can't Chen Guiliang fulfill it?
Of course, it's impossible to satisfy her for a whole day; at most, I can only satisfy her for five minutes.

Five minutes later, Chen Guiliang fiddled with the hem of her clothes and said, "These are newly bought clothes. They should be washed first. Wearing them directly would make them quite dirty."

"Really? I haven't changed my underwear yet, I'll just wear these for now," Xu Fengyin said.

Chen Guiliang continued studying the clothes, subtly moving closer until their bodies were pressed together.

Xu Fengyin had no interest in reading comics.
She was very nervous. Although her eyes were fixed on the comic book, she was constantly observing the people around her out of the corner of her eye.

Chen Guiliang glanced at it; it was the "Peony Pavilion" comic book he had bought that day: "Is this comic book very good?"

Xu Fengyin said, "Many fans gave it a five-star recommendation, so my expectations were very high, but I was slightly disappointed after watching it."

"Is it not drawn well?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Xu Fengyin commented, "The most suitable profession for her is illustrator. She doesn't need to consider storyboards or design plots, which allows her to play to her strengths and avoid her weaknesses."

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "It's just that the plot and the storyboard are not good."

Xu Fengyin said, "As for her coloring, opinions will vary. What disappointed me the most was that the most amazing plot in this comic was something I had seen in another comic before. Even if it's not plagiarism, there's still a lot of borrowing involved."

"Then why are you still watching?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Xu Fengyin said, "Critical appreciation. We can learn from others' experiences to improve ourselves."

Chen Guiliang seemed very interested in the button on her earlobe and reached out his finger to gently touch it.

Xu Fengyin froze, pretending to continue reading her comics. Less than two minutes later, the scoundrel started breathing, making her ears tingle so badly she couldn't stand it: "You're so annoying!"

"What's wrong?" Chen Guiliang asked innocently.

"I'm going to get my revenge." Xu Fengyin threw down the book, reached under his armpit to tickle him, and made a chirping sound.

That childish brat.

Chen Guiliang also became childish and immediately launched a counterattack, tickling her until she giggled.

Even in broad daylight, the occasional sound of car horns could be faintly heard from the street outside into the hotel rooms.

Noise control in urban areas needs to be strengthened.

Chen Guiliang tentatively asked, "Are you jealous?"

"No, I'm just curious," Xu Fengyin said.

I don’t believe you!
Chen Guiliang quickly changed the subject to talk about something else.

The two chatted idly until evening, during which Xu Fengyin shared many of her own stories.

Her parents both came from working-class families, and after graduating from junior high school, she took over the job from her elders. Her father later attended night school and worked for a few years before becoming a junior manager. Her mother, on the other hand, remained an ordinary worker, but was transferred from the factory to an easier support role.

That factory survived several waves of layoffs, and her father was promoted to a middle-level manager. Now, with poor economic performance, the factory is barely surviving and has been acquired by another large state-owned enterprise.

“I was carefree when I was a child, running around the streets with the older brothers and sisters from the factory,” Xu Fengyin recalled. “Later, when I went to junior high school, I got into a better school, and my relationship with my childhood playmates became distant. My deskmate liked to read comics, so I borrowed one to read too, and from then on I became obsessed with comics, and my grades dropped from the top three in the class to the middle.”

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "Didn't your parents discipline you?"

Xu Fengyin said, "They thought I was in a relationship, so they came to the school to ask me and had my homeroom teacher keep an eye on me. My male classmates who were close to me were so scared that they didn't dare to talk to me. So I read comics even more obsessively."

"And then?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Xu Fengyin said, "Then I only got into an ordinary high school. The learning atmosphere there was terrible. Fighting and dating were commonplace. I didn't like hanging out with those people, hehe, I actually looked down on them. So I read comics every day and had my dad send me to learn to draw. In the end, I became an art student and got into university."

Chen Guiliang leaned close to her ear and asked, "When did you start reading those kinds of comics?"

Xu Fengyin's ears turned red: "Junior high school." "So early?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Xu Fengyin said, "Sometimes a few books will appear in the rental bookstore, which are very embarrassing and I dare not let anyone know. I always read them secretly and return them as soon as I'm done. I've always been curious, but I didn't dare to try. Sigh, I tried it today, and it's just so-so."

"Haha, I'm just telling the truth. You're acting like you're angry because I hit a nerve." Xu Fengyin was still playing with fire.

The next day, Chen Guiliang drove her home, and Xu Fengyin walked awkwardly upstairs.

"Are you sure you don't need me to take you up?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Xu Fengyin said, "No need, you can go back."

She tried to act normal, climbed the stairs, took out her keys to open the door, and tiptoed inside.

"You've been gone for a whole day and night, what have you been doing?" Ding Beili asked, sitting on the sofa.

Xu Fengyin patted her chest: "You scared me to death. Why are you sitting in the living room instead of watching TV? I thought you hadn't gotten up yet."

"I just got up and am debating whether to go downstairs for dinner or cook myself a bowl of noodles," Ding Beili said, leaning against the sofa armrest with a gossipy expression. "Who did you go on a date with?"

Xu Fengyin remained expressionless: "Didn't I send you a text message yesterday? An old classmate came to Beijing for tourism, and I spent the whole day showing her around."

Ding Beili said, "Do you think I would believe that?"

"Really, why would I lie to you?" Xu Fengyin walked straight back to her bedroom. "Sigh, I've been out all day, I'm exhausted. I'm going to take a nap, don't call me for lunch."

Ding Beili was skeptical and didn't dare to ask any more questions.

Xu Fengyin returned to her bedroom, lay down on her bed, and casually pulled out a comic book from the bedside table.

But I can't get into it.

She picked up her phone and texted: "Are you driving?"

Chen Guiliang replied two minutes later: "I parked the car on the side of the road."

Xu Fengyin said, "I was very happy yesterday. It was my first time going on a date with a boy."

Chen Guiliang asked, "Where should we go next time?"

Xu Fengyin said, "I'll do as you say."

Chen Guiliang said, "Okay, I'll take you to a fun place."

They chatted for more than twenty minutes. Xu Fengyin felt very strange; even a very ordinary text message conversation seemed to be filled with sweetness.

The chat was interrupted because Chen Guiliang received a phone call.

The call came from someone back home: "Is this Mr. Chen Guiliang... Hello Mr. Chen, this is... Yes, yes, the Olympic torchbearer reassignment plan has been released. Mr. Chen has been transferred to Chengdu. For specific times and routes, please visit the official website or check tomorrow's sports section of the Longdu Daily. The daily newspaper has an electronic version, which you can find online... Okay, okay, thank you for bothering you, Mr. Chen."

Chen Guiliang drove back quickly, turned on his computer and checked that he would be carrying the torch next week.

The route is only a tiny bit...

All torchbearers in the province received this treatment; more than 800 torchbearers gathered in three cities.

This is the number of participants after the plan was revised; some torchbearers were canceled. Chen Guiliang was not canceled and was even transferred to Chengdu, which is considered very lucky.

Over the next few days, Chen Guiliang handled company affairs, occasionally visited the mobile phone R&D center and construction site, and checked the comments section every day to keep up with public opinion.

"Wolf Totem" was still being relentlessly attacked by the educated youth, so there was no need for Chen Guiliang to follow up. However, the public opinion had subsided considerably, and the focus had shifted to Professor Yang.

But this will definitely affect sales. "Wolf Totem" quickly fell from the top of the bestseller list to second, third and fourth place.

As for Professor Yang, netizens organized a group of over a hundred people to go to the internet addiction treatment center to demand an explanation, resulting in a heated verbal conflict with the parents. They were only prevented from fighting on the spot by the presence of hats.

As August arrived, the subprime crisis became increasingly apparent, but mainstream opinion still did not believe that a global economic crisis would erupt.

Professor Lin drew inspiration from Chen Guiliang and wrote a paper that will soon be published in the International Economic Review.

Chen Guiliang only provided some ideas for this paper; it was mainly written by Professor Lin, who combined market data with his previous research.

It is estimated that when it was first published, it did not attract much attention. It was not until the global financial crisis broke out that people came back to analyze the article.

ByteDance's capital increase and share expansion plan has been finalized. Chen Guiliang invited the shareholders to a meeting to discuss the investment of Game Science into ByteDance and to confirm the repurchase of Game Science shares next month.

Furthermore, a repurchase statement was issued in advance.

Shareholders don't have high expectations. The situation on Nasdaq is very bad right now, and they'll be satisfied if the share buybacks can slightly stop the stock price from falling.

All the other securities they invested in fell, and ByteDance's meager funds weren't even enough to fill a gap in their coffers.

Chen Guiliang didn't ask any more questions, just waiting for the bombshell to drop next month, as he was going to Chengdu to be a torchbearer.

(End of this chapter)