Chapter 2099: Meeting

Zhao Fusheng hadn't expected Ma Huateng to refuse—or rather, not care about cooperating with him.

Originally, he thought Ma Huateng would be happy to cooperate, after all, Tencent Technology's biggest advantage was its user base; the massive Penguin Army meant massive users.

Even if only one in ten people chose to use it, it would become an astonishing hit.

But unfortunately, Ma Huateng seemed more interested in developing the e-commerce industry.

That was a bit awkward.

Still, Zhao Fusheng hadn't been too fixated on this matter anyway. Although Ma Huateng wasn't interested in the project, he did say he wouldn't mind cooperating with Future Technology when the time came.

Just like how the two companies jointly promoted the game Dungeon & Fighter.

Since that was the case, Zhao Fusheng was naturally happy to accept.

After all, he had given the other party a chance; if they didn't want to make the money, he couldn't blame anyone else.

With that thought, Zhao Fusheng dialed Dong Guoxiang's number.

"What are you busy with?"

Zhao Fusheng asked directly.

"Nothing much, what's up?" Dong Guoxiang was a bit puzzled.

With a light laugh, Zhao Fusheng said, "I'll come to the company tomorrow; I have an idea to discuss with you."

"Okay."

Although he didn't know why Zhao Fusheng said that, Dong Guoxiang still nodded in agreement.

However, he didn't expect that Zhao Fusheng's "tomorrow" would be tomorrow at noon.

The next day, Dong Guoxiang waited for Zhao Fusheng at the company all morning, but Zhao Fusheng didn't show up. As noon approached, Dong Guoxiang thought Zhao Fusheng would come in the afternoon, so he went downstairs to have lunch with his girlfriend.

But just as he sat down, he received a call from Zhao Fusheng.

"I'll be there soon," Zhao Fusheng said in a relaxed tone over the phone.

"Where?"

Dong Guoxiang's hand holding the phone trembled, almost dropping it: "Aren't you coming in the afternoon?"

"I have to pick someone up from the airport in the afternoon; I don't have time."

On the other end of the line, Zhao Fusheng said casually, "Let's have lunch together. Where are you? I'm almost at the company."

"I..."

Dong Guoxiang's face instantly turned bitter, on the verge of tears.

This guy never played by the rules. When did a boss ever choose noon to inspect the company?

And during lunchtime at that!

"What's wrong?"

The girl sitting across from him looked at Dong Guoxiang in surprise.

She wasn't very old, around twenty-five or twenty-six, a bit younger than Dong Guoxiang. She wore a black business suit with her hair tied back. She wasn't the type to be called particularly pretty, but upon closer look, there was a certain dignity about her.

"Tingting, I have a friend coming over in a bit to discuss something with me."

Dong Guoxiang took a deep breath and said to his girlfriend.

"Your friend?" The girl named Tingting was a bit surprised. "Is he from your company?"

"Mm."

Dong Guoxiang gave a wry smile. "Sort of, but we're in different departments."

"Should I step out for a bit?"

Hu Tingting said. "If you're talking about work..."

"It's fine."

Dong Guoxiang quickly shook his head. "Stay. He's a great guy, and I was planning to introduce you two anyway."

"Really?"

Hu Tingting felt a warmth in her heart. She naturally understood what Dong Guoxiang meant. In her view, a programmer willing to introduce his friends to her undoubtedly meant he truly intended to be with her for the long haul.

"Yeah, let's wait. He'll be here soon."

Dong Guoxiang sighed inwardly.

Though he knew it was frustrating, there was no helping it—he couldn't keep hiding things from Hu Tingting forever.

Half an hour later, the restaurant door opened, but unexpectedly, only Zhao Fusheng walked in. Even Liu Yiming, who usually followed him, didn't show up this time.

"Why are you alone?"

Dong Guoxiang frowned and asked Zhao Fusheng.

According to the usual routine, when Zhao Fusheng appeared, he was always surrounded by a group of bodyguards and his secretary Liu Yiming—this was for convenience in handling affairs and for his safety.

But this guy had come in alone. If Zhang Qian or Zheng Yao found out, they'd definitely throw a fit.

"Xiao Liu and the others are waiting outside. I came to chat with you for a bit and then I'll leave."

Zhao Fusheng walked over, sat down, and said to Dong Guoxiang with a smile.

Then he looked at Hu Tingting, sized her up, and said to Dong Guoxiang with a grin, "What, aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Ah, yes, introductions."

Dong Guoxiang was startled, then caught on to Zhao Fusheng's meaning. He shot the guy a look and began to introduce them.

"This is my girlfriend, Hu Tingting. She works at a foreign trade company nearby."

"And this is Fusheng, my good friend."

The introduction was brief, without too much detail.

"Hello."

"Hello."

They shook hands, each sizing the other up in their minds.

For some reason, Hu Tingting always felt that Dong Guoxiang, this friend of hers, was completely a different kind of person from him.

Dong Guoxiang was the kind of particularly simple and honest person; you could tell at a glance that he was harmless.

But this Fusheng, you simply couldn't see through what he was thinking. Although there was a smile on his face, Hu Tingting felt that aside from the smile, she couldn't see anything else.

This person seemed to have an indescribable aura about him.

"Old Dong is an honest man, absolutely a qualified boyfriend," Zhao Fusheng said with a smile.

"I know, he really is very obedient."

Hu Tingting covered her mouth and laughed, nodding, clearly agreeing with Zhao Fusheng's words.

"How long have you known each other?"

Then Hu Tingting remembered something and asked Zhao Fusheng.

"Almost ten years."

Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and said with a smile: "We were still in school when we met; it's been almost ten years in the blink of an eye."

"Ten years?"

Hu Tingting was very surprised, somewhat astonished: "Then you've known each other for a very long time."

She really hadn't expected that these two had already known each other for ten years. No wonder Dong Guoxiang had introduced her to him; this must be his best friend.

"By the way, where are you from..."

Zhao Fusheng asked Hu Tingting with a smile.

Then came a barrage of probing questions.

At first Hu Tingting didn't think much of it, but later she became somewhat embarrassed, looking helplessly at Dong Guoxiang, thinking to herself, is this friend of yours a policeman?

Why does it feel like he's checking household registration?

Dong Guoxiang, however, was very calm. He knew that Zhao Fusheng meant no harm; if he was really going to marry someone in the future, that person was destined to integrate into the entire Future Group.

In other words, she was destined to become wealthy.

Under such circumstances, conducting a careful investigation wouldn't do any harm.

"By the way, my wife will be returning home in a while. Let's have a meal together when you're free."

After talking for a bit, Zhao Fusheng said to Hu Tingting.

Hu Tingting was somewhat surprised, glanced at Dong Guoxiang, but didn't say anything.

Clearly, she was waiting for Dong Guoxiang's confirmation.

Dong Guoxiang was also somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to approve of Hu Tingting so quickly.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "It's just a meal, don't overthink it."

"Okay."

Dong Guoxiang instantly understood his meaning and naturally nodded.

Hu Tingting was completely confused, having no idea what these two were talking about.

Zhao Fusheng stood up, ready to leave, then suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at Hu Tingting: "Do you know? Modern physics has clearly pointed out that so-called light is a photon, the smallest unit of energy. This energy, when it hits anything, does not manifest as brightness, but our eyes distort it into brightness."

"This so-called brightness is the wavelength of light waves. Our eyes can only see light waves with wavelengths between 400 and 700 nanometers. When light waves of different wavelengths hit our retinas, they are converted into bioelectricity, and then distorted into brightness in our visual cortex, distorted into one hundred and fifty different colors."

"For light waves outside that range, our eyes cannot see them. And this visible light wave accounts for less than one hundred-thousandth of the universe's light waves. That is, we only see one hundred-thousandth of this universe, and what we see is still distorted."

Blinking her eyes, Hu Tingting was completely confused.

Zhao Fusheng had a good impression of this somewhat dazed girl, smiled, and said meaningfully: "We can never see the real world; we can only see our own world."

Huh?

Hu Tingting was even more confused, having no idea what Zhao Fusheng was talking about.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled softly but didn't say anything more, and left straight away.

Dong Guoxiang watched Zhao Fusheng's retreating figure but understood his meaning.

Things like the human heart cannot be tested too many times.

The story of Prince Cinderella is actually quite boring.

Since Zhao Fusheng had invited her to dinner, the meaning was already clear.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have said it like that.

Thinking of this, Dong Guoxiang said to Hu Tingting: "Tingting, what do you think of your current job?"

"It's pretty good."

Hu Tingting didn't understand why he asked and said somewhat puzzled: "What's wrong, are things not going well at the company?"

In her understanding, Dong Guoxiang was a programmer at Future Technology, and since he was a programmer, he must be working overtime a lot. So the two of them didn't have much time for dates; most of the time they chatted via messages.

"It's okay."

Dong Guoxiang shook his head and smiled: "I'm asking about you."

"I'm doing okay."

Hu Tingting smiled shyly: "This job is fairly stable, and the company's development is decent. Later, if we get married, we can take out a loan to buy a house here."

Then she said seriously: "I heard that housing prices in the capital have been rising fast recently. I think they'll appreciate in the future."

"..."

Dong Guoxiang listened to her words, looked at her face, and suddenly realized that, as Zhao Fusheng had said, some things cannot be tested and are not worth testing.

If you like someone, just tell the truth. That way, the feelings between two people won't be hurt.

"Didn't you always say your colleagues want me to treat them to a meal? How about tonight? I'll pick the place and let you know."

Thinking of this, Dong Guoxiang said to Hu Tingting.

"Uh, okay."

Hu Tingting was taken aback, but still nodded: "Um, remember, don't pick too expensive a place."

"Mm-hmm, got it."

Dong Guoxiang said with a smile.