The difference between cloud and mud

The retail group under the Xiao family recently acquired a chain of organic supermarkets in the United States. Xiao Fengtai was called by his father to go to the platform to identify people.Xiao Zhizhong's business has grown bigger and bigger in the past few years. He travels all over the world and almost lives on the plane.Xiao Fengtai made an appointment a week in advance, and the secretary struggled to find a space for lunch between meetings.

Xiao Fengtai arrived at the restaurant 10 minutes earlier, and unexpectedly found that Xiao Zhizhong was already sitting across the table looking through the menu.Thanks to regular work and rest, healthy diet and guidance from personal trainers, Xiao Zhizhong is well maintained.Although he has passed the age of knowing his destiny, his skin is still tight, his figure is tall and strong, and his suit fits him well. From a distance, he looks like he is in his early forties.Only when you get close, can you see the traces of time from the lines at the corners of his eyes and the new silvery whiteness of the roots of his hair.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, he raised his head and raised his eyebrows to signal: "The phone meeting ended early, and the secretary didn't send you an email?"

Xiao Fengtai sat down and spread the napkin on his lap: "There is something urgent in Beijing on the way here, let her call me directly next time."

The two father and son finally reunited after more than half a year, but there was no show of warmth and love between father and son.Xiao Fengtai reported to Xiao Zhizhong the exit status of the fund's invested projects this year and the progress of the new round of fundraising. Xiao Zhizhong listened carefully and gave pointers from time to time.

After chatting about the fund, the two talked about the group's recent business focus and personnel changes in the Asia-Pacific region.Most of the time, Xiao Zhizhong spoke, Xiao Fengtai listened, and occasionally asked a few questions.Xiao Zhizhong sometimes ignores simple answers that he thinks are valuable.

Such a scene was unimaginable when he was a teenager.Xiao Fengtai put on an expression of all ears, his eyes were empty, and he unconsciously recalled the past.After more than ten hours of flying, the conversation with Jiang Tong still disturbed his heart, and even made him nostalgic for a long time.

When did the relationship with your father start to ease?When he was a teenager, he hated him deeply, and attributed the brokenness of his mother's unfortunate family to Xiao Zhizhong.Seeing him angry and embarrassed because of himself was his greatest joy.

Until he was reported by Jiang Tong, and returned to Xiao's Linhai mansion under the "escort" of a dozen burly men.After traveling all the way and suffering severe emotional damage, Xiao Fengtai had lost the energy to resist. He walked into his room in a daze like a walking corpse, and saw Xiao Zhizhong standing by the bookshelf, looking carefully at the bibliography line by line.

Hearing the sound of the door, Xiao Zhizhong turned around.The father and son didn't move for a while, Xiao Zhizhong looked up and down at his son's distressed appearance, his expression couldn't distinguish between happiness and anger.

coming.Seeing his father, Xiao Fengtai put a blank face and sneered in his heart, waiting for unprecedented severe reprimand and punishment.Willing to gamble and admit defeat, he lost, but he thought he did not succumb to grandma's despotic power, he was better than his father.

Father just gave him a pitying look.

"Your grandma knows everything about today. For the rest of the summer vacation, stay at home and don't run around. I will personally send you to Cambridge." He crossed Xiao Fengtai and walked out the door.

"Stop pretending to be a father at a time like this." Xiao Fengtai snorted, "Say what you want, or I can say it for you—I'm shameless, shameless, and unworthy of sitting in your seat. I know you're here There are people outside, how about taking the opportunity to bring them back?"

Xiao Zhizhong's footsteps stopped at the door.

"I'm not a good father." He didn't look back: "I don't know my son at all."

Xiao Fengtai was stunned.

"Go to college well. If you want to rebel against your family, wait until you become financially independent after graduation." Xiao Zhizhong's voice was calm, revealing a trace of exhaustion: "You can't beat her now."

For the rest of the summer vacation, Xiao Fengtai deliberately avoided Xiao Zhizhong.When the start of school time approached, he fled Singapore like a bird, and never went back for the rest of the university unless he had to.

After graduation, Mrs. Xiao hoped that Xiao Fengtai would go back to Singapore directly to join the group, but Xiao Zhizhong instructed him to work in Hong Kong through his secretary.Xiao Fengtai accepted it honestly, set up his own business after working in Hong Kong for a few years, and established his own small fund with the first pot of money funded by his family.

Although he was born as a rich second generation with a golden spoon in his mouth, and the shopping malls are ruthless, Xiao Fengtai still has to work hard if he wants to rely on his own ability to make a fortune.After going through several crises that nearly liquidated the fund, he gradually began to understand many of Xiao Zhizhong's decisions.

With the death of his mother, he and Xiao Zhizhong may not become a close father and son in their lifetime.He is no longer obsessed with whether his father loved his mother, and it is not just blood that defines their relationship.He, Xiao Zhizhong, and even Mrs. Xiao are all part of a larger picture.They will go forward and continue to maintain the wealth passed down from generation to generation of the Xiao family.

"...So when are you planning to return to Singapore?" His father's question interrupted his contemplation.

"Wait a little longer," Xiao Fengtai said vaguely, "The fund has just started, and I want to raise a few more rounds to cultivate the channel to maturity."

Xiao Zhizhong smiled: "Two things."

"I mean, it's time for you to think about your personal life."

Xiao Fengtai was taken aback for a moment: "I'm not ready yet..."

Xiao Zhizhong didn't give up on asking: "You're not young. Not to mention, Tiffany's son has been able to ask me for red envelopes this year."

"Recently, I took the time to go back to Singapore. I have a few friends whose daughters want you to meet."

Xiao Fengtai bit the bullet and said: "It's too early for me to think about family now, I'm not ready yet..."

Xiao Zhizhong stopped the knife and fork, and looked up at him.I don't know if he is guilty, but Xiao Fengtai feels that his eyes seem to be full of meaning

"you sure?"

He tried his best to adjust the expression of facial muscles to make himself appear sincere and sincere: "Give me some more time."

Xiao Zhizhong still has a meeting in the afternoon.The secretary called in time to remind the driver that he had arrived at the door.Xiao Fengtai stood on the side of the road smiling and watching his father's car drive away, heaving a sigh of relief.

After a short period of relaxation, a burst of indescribable irritability came to my heart.The reality that is gradually approaching, the entangled past, the chaotic present... Xiao Fengtai always has the easiest and quickest solution to this situation.He took out his phone and started looking through the address book.

He knew a few Broadway actors who were having a good time.Not the kind of singing artist with a fat body and a flushed face, but a dancer with long blond hair, beautiful features, and a slender figure-of course, he has a good singing voice.It wasn't show season, and maybe some of them weren't in New York, but he had to try his luck first—his luck was never good.

He went through the address book from beginning to end, and quickly found a few suitable candidates.But the thumb rubbed repeatedly on the name of the person, but he couldn't press the call button.Xiao Fengtai stood on the side of the street like this and hesitated and thought over and over again. After a quarter of an hour of exhaustion, he finally cursed unbearably and put his phone back in his pocket, calling for a taxi to go back to the hotel.

never mind.He stared gloomily at the passing street scene outside the window.There will be meetings in these two days, and the jet lag has not been adjusted yet, so we should rest early when we go back to avoid delays.

The phone buzzed and vibrated.He took it out and saw that the culprit who made him uneasy was displayed on the screen.

"Do you have time next weekend?" Jiang Tong sent him a WeChat message with a picture: "I got two tickets to Broadway musicals."

Jiang Tong is dating him?Xiao Fengtai felt funny for a while, and wanted to tell him that he had slept with several actors in that band, and he could introduce them if he liked.

He thought that there was a consensus between them. After leaving the hotel room, the relationship between the two was only the investor and the founder of the invested company. In the eyes of outsiders, this only relationship was even in jeopardy. It cannot be called harmony.

The words of refusal have already been written.After writing it, delete it, delete it and write it again, the hotel's flag is already visible from a distance, but he still can't press the send button.

"It doesn't matter if it's inconvenient." Jiang Tong seemed to sense his hesitation on the other side of the screen: "I just thought that you might be interested... just so I can't find anyone else."

"The location of the ticket is very good. It's a pity to waste it. I can also give you two together. You can do whatever you want."

"I'll check the time." Xiao Fengtai finally replied, "I'll talk about it in a few days."

He tipped the driver an extra dollar as he got out of the taxi on the front porch of the hotel, not realizing he was laughing.