TUMZ Chapter 25
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Today, he was going to meet Qiu Zheyan. Zhuang Hanxue hadn't slept well last night—he woke up once in the early hours, then woke again at seven in the morning.
So he simply got up, washed up, and had breakfast.
Sometimes, Zhuang Hanxue wondered if the feng shui of his house wasn't great, which was why he never slept well when he was home.
Back when he was living with Xiao Qiu, he had slept soundly every night.
Zhuang Hanxue went to the company first to check in.
Ever since he returned home, his mother had pushed him back into the company, but for now, he was basically in a half-empty position with no real authority.
People in the company didn't trust him at all. A nepotism hire like him? He looked unreliable at first glance. Plus, some had heard stories of his former playboy ways.
His secretary came in and handed him documents for approval. He opened them and took a look.
It didn’t feel easy at all.
Zhuang Hanxue didn’t dare to stamp his seal on anything. He forced himself to focus on the documents, looking at the billions, tens of billions, and dozens of billions of cash flow, feeling the weight of responsibility pressing down on him.
If he made the wrong judgment, the project would fail. If the project failed, the company’s assets would shrink. If the company’s assets shrank, they would have to lay off employees. If the company laid off employees, many people who needed to support their families would lose their livelihoods.
So many lives depended on this tiny piece of paper.
He had no idea how his older brother had handled all this in the past. Terrifying.
If he had to take charge, he wouldn’t mind managing a small company like before—that was doable.
Having been away for so many years, he had no clue about the projects the company was currently handling. He carefully read through the documents, patiently asking his secretary question after question, until she seemed a little annoyed. Yet he still hadn’t signed anything.
At that moment, the landline on his desk rang.
Zhuang Hanxue perked up, thinking, Is it Xiao Qiu?
He picked up the phone and heard his father’s voice: “Hanxue? You’re back?”
Zhuang Hanxue was instantly disappointed. “Mm, I’m back, Dad.”
His father said, “I just got back from abroad yesterday. I’ll be heading to the company later. Why did you suddenly come home without telling me?”
Zhuang Hanxue replied, “I told Mom.”
His father scoffed, “Your mom, huh… Anyway, what are you doing at the company right now?”
“I’m looking at some documents…”
His father immediately said, “Don’t touch them. That’s not something you should be handling. Just leave the documents there—I’ll take care of them when I get back. If you have nothing to do, go ahead and browse the internet, read some novels, or watch movies in the office. I don’t care. But don’t mess with company affairs. What if something goes wrong?”
Zhuang Hanxue responded with a simple “Oh. Got it, Dad.”
Then he hung up.
He turned to his secretary and said, “Old Boss Zhuang wants to look at the documents himself. You can take them back.”
The secretary forced a smile. “Alright.”
Zhuang Hanxue felt a little bad for her.
He had no interest in staying in the office—at least not right now. He leaned back in his chair, staring up at the stark white ceiling.
For once, he actually wanted to work hard, but no one expected anything from him.
Oh well. He could do nothing and still get paid.
How easy.
Suddenly, a childhood memory surfaced. He remembered that in elementary school, there was a time he scored 98 in math—the highest in his class. He brought the test home, hoping for some praise.
But after looking at it, his father said, “This test was so easy, yet you couldn’t even get a perfect score? Your brother rarely scored less than full marks at your age. And you? You get this kind of score and feel proud of yourself?”
After that, he became lazy and indifferent.
After all, even if he worked hard, he wouldn’t be praised. And if he didn’t, things wouldn’t be that bad either.
Passing was good enough—anything more was a waste. Eat well, sleep well, and live to a hundred!
Back then, his big brother was holding down the fort.
Zhuang Hanxue thought to himself: Forget that he wasn’t as talented as his older brother—what if he was just as smart? What was he supposed to do? If he worked hard and became too competent, wouldn’t it look like he was trying to compete for the family business?
There was no need for that.
Two tigers couldn’t share one mountain.
A family couldn’t have two masters.
Since his older brother was already there, it only made sense for the younger one to be a little clumsy—wasn’t that the key to family harmony?
See? He was a genius.
Who could have expected that the ever-reliable older brother would suddenly elope with his true love?
His lifelong plan to slack off had been completely disrupted. He should have been able to enjoy a carefree, easygoing life at home.
But every cloud has a silver lining.
If not for this turn of events, he wouldn’t have met Qiu Zheyan by a stroke of fate.
Having been away from the company for so many years, his father was still wary of him—worried that he was in cahoots with his mother, which he was. As a result, he wasn’t entrusted with any real company affairs.
That being the case, getting approval for an investment in Xiao Qiu’s company probably wouldn’t be easy. It wasn’t exactly a small sum that could be waved through with a blind eye.
Zhuang Hanxue scratched his head.
How was he supposed to solve this?
The phone rang again.
Zhuang Hanxue picked it up. “Ah, he’s here? Have him wait for me in the side conference room.”
Qiu Zheyan was feeling incredibly anxious.
The outcome of this meeting would determine the fate of his company—it was absolutely critical.
But what made him even more uneasy was that after the meeting, he was supposed to see Zhuang Hanxue, yet Zhuang Hanxue hadn’t told him where they would meet, only saying he’d let him know when the time came.
"When the time comes, when the time comes"—how much longer was he supposed to wait?
What exactly was Zhuang Hanxue planning?
He had a bad feeling about this.
Last night, he had nothing but nightmares.
He dreamed that he was meeting Zhuang Hanxue at a café, only for Zhuang Hanxue to show up with a woman and say apologetically, “Sorry, Xiao Qiu, I’m getting married.”
He woke up in shock, barely managed to fall asleep again, and had another nightmare.
This time, he dreamed he was attending Zhuang Hanxue and Jiang Ruoyun’s wedding. They looked like a perfect golden couple, with everyone offering their heartfelt blessings. He wanted to speak, but no words came out.
He grabbed Zhuang Hanxue and asked why he was leaving him.
Zhuang Hanxue replied matter-of-factly, “Didn’t I already reject your proposal? I never promised to stay with you forever.”
The whole thing felt off from the very beginning.
If Zhuang Hanxue was really that close to someone else, wouldn’t it have been easy for him to secure a cushy position? That would’ve been perfectly in line with his dream of being a carefree slacker. So why, when they first met, had Zhuang Hanxue fallen into such dire straits?
This time, Qiu Zheyan had brought along another subordinate. The business partner’s staff first served them some tea, and then a middle-aged man entered the room.
“You must be President Qiu?”
Qiu Zheyan stood up and exchanged pleasantries, handing over his business card.
The man said, “Please wait a moment, the general manager is on the way.”
Qiu Zheyan smiled politely. “Alright.”
He assumed it would be the female relative Zhuang Hanxue had mentioned—probably a woman in her fifties.
He braced himself.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a blurry figure passing by the frosted glass outside.
Wait…
Why did that silhouette look so much like Zhuang Hanxue?
Qiu Zheyan rubbed his eyes and frowned. Was he hallucinating?
It had been over half a month since he’d last seen Zhuang Hanxue. Was he really so desperate to see him that he was imagining things?
But at that moment, his heart still pounded with excitement, and he unconsciously stood up.
The other people in the conference room turned their heads in unison.
“President Qiu, is something wrong?”
Just then, the door to the conference room opened.
Everyone shifted their gaze to the man who had just walked in.
Qiu Zheyan didn’t dare to believe it.
The man looked exactly like Zhuang Hanxue, yet at the same time, he was nothing like him.
The Zhuang Hanxue he knew slouched slightly, never sat or stood properly, carried an air of laziness, and always looked like he had just woken up. His eyes and brows were perpetually curved in a relaxed smile, exuding warmth like winter sunlight.
But the man before him stood with his back perfectly straight, his expression devoid of any warmth. His hair was slicked back with gel, styled with meticulous precision. He looked every bit the refined, elite corporate professional.
Qiu Zheyan stood frozen, his mouth slightly open, unable to make a sound. He had instinctively wanted to call out "Zhuang Hanxue," but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
For a fleeting moment, he had an absurd thought—
Could it be that Zhuang Hanxue had a twin brother?
One who was a high-level corporate elite, while the other lived life as he pleased? Like the two brothers in that drama Indivisible?
Did Zhuang Hanxue seek help from his twin instead?
But then, the man in front of him acted as if he had never met Qiu Zheyan before. With a stiff expression, he nodded slightly and greeted him in a formal, businesslike manner.
“Hello, Mr. Qiu.”
Qiu Zheyan shook his hand, his eyes locked onto his face, not even blinking. “Hello, you are…?”
The man reached into his pants pocket, pulled out a business card case, took out a gold-embossed card, and handed it over.
“Forgot to introduce myself. I’m the general manager here—Zhuang Hanxue. You can just call me Mr. Zhuang.”
Even the pronunciation of the name was identical?
Qiu Zheyan: “…”
He glanced down at the business card.
The title clearly bore the name Zhuang Hanxue.
Qiu Zheyan: “……?”
He was utterly confused.
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