Chapter Nine: Unwilling to Let You Go

Stepping out of the hospital, the sky outside had already begun to faintly brighten with a soft blue hue. A moist breeze swept by, lending the early morning sky a hazy, indistinct quality.

Drops of rain fell intermittently, gradually merging into a heavy downpour. Fu Luoning stood at the hospital entrance, her gaze calm yet tinged with a weary sense of helplessness.

From the Lin family... to the Fu family... to the Gu family... up until now... it felt as though she had failed to hold onto anything at all.

———

"That concludes today's meeting. Next up is the seasonal product launch, so I'll leave that in your capable hands," the speaker announced.

As the meeting ended, people began filing out one by one.

Qin Zhaoqing had sensed something was off about Fu Luoning earlier that morning. Gathering her things, she walked alongside Fu Luoning out of the conference room. "You haven’t seemed yourself these past couple of days. What’s wrong?"

"A bit of a cold," Fu Luoning replied.

Qin Zhaoqing narrowed her eyes. "That doesn’t sound right... Has your scoundrel husband caused trouble again?"

Fu Luoning shook her head. "By the way, I’m skipping dinner with Fris tonight. Something came up. Can you handle it?"

"Sure, whether it’s one person or two, I’ve got it covered."

Fu Luoning smiled wryly. "If you can’t pull it off, no worries — we’ll find someone else."

"I can do it; it’s just a matter of money," Qin Zhaoqing said confidently, a determined glint in her eye.

"Then I’ll be waiting for good news," Fu Luoning waved as she turned to leave.

"Looks like you owe me dinner now," Qin Zhaoqing called after her.

Fu Luoning turned back and flashed an ‘OK’ sign with her hand.

Shan Yue had been waiting for Fu Luoning. As soon as she returned from the meeting, Shan Yue followed her into the office.

"I’ve already looked into DN Dawn. As a well-known TV station in the industry, it once shone brilliantly, but its ratings have plummeted sharply in recent years. It seems the board has lost interest," Shan Yue analyzed, her intuition telling her that DN Dawn was on the verge of becoming a discarded asset.

Fu Luoning pondered for a moment. "If I remember correctly, the owner is also the chairman of Radiance Media, right?"

"Yes. DN Dawn never had much of a presence in Shengjing initially," Shan Yue said, reviewing her investigation notes. "Radiance Media wanted to recruit several of their anchors as artists, but those individuals were under long-term contracts with DN Dawn, and the penalties for breaching those contracts were steep. So Radiance opted to invest and partner with DN Dawn, effectively acquiring half ownership of Radiance."

Leaning back in her chair, Fu Luoning’s gaze grew focused and contemplative. She twirled a metal alloy pen between her fingers as Shan Yue quietly waited.

If her guess was correct, the boss was about to have her arrange a meeting with the directors of Radiance Media.

"Get in touch with Radiance Media."

As expected!

Shan Yue immediately flipped through her tablet. "I’ve already contacted someone over there. Director Xu is on a business trip in Tiannan City and is expected back next Monday. His secretary said he’s free all next week except Wednesday, when he’ll be accompanying his wife and son to the South Suburb racetrack."

Fu Luoning raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed. "You’re so clever, I might not want to let you go later."

"You taught me well, boss," Shan Yue grinned. "Don’t worry, I’ll make sure those secretarial staff you wanted are trained even better than me."

Fu Luoning chuckled. "Alright, coordinate with Mrs. Xu and see if it’s possible to bring an extra person to the racetrack that day."

Shan Yue paused. "Should we go as President Fu or as Mrs. Gu?"

Fu Luoning looked at her with a meaningful smile. "What do you think?"

Shan Yue contemplated briefly. "Got it. By the way, your flight to France is booked for 9 p.m."

Fu Luoning nodded. "Thanks for your hard work."

"I’ll get back to it. If things go smoothly with Mrs. Xu, you’ll have to be back before Wednesday."

"Okay."

With a moment to spare, Fu Luoning finally took out her phone.

Dr. Li reported on Ms. Lin’s condition as usual. Looking at the photos of the emaciated woman, frail and connected to numerous tubes, a lump caught in Fu Luoning’s throat, and she let out a choked sigh.

“You have to hold on, Mom,” she thought silently.

Gu Linzhou sent two messages filled with punctuation marks; she ignored them.

Then Xu Nannan sent two photos of little corgis, with a caption: “Ungrateful.”

Fu Luoning replied: “Is that so? Sycophant.”

Within seconds, a string of calls came through. Fu Luoning answered; Xu Nannan’s sharp voice came through. "Fu Luoning, who are you insulting, you—"

"Do you know Guo Feiyi?"

Xu Nannan was stunned for two seconds. "What for?"

"Help me arrange a meeting with her."

"You want me to arrange it? Fine..."

"That dog doesn’t have a name yet, right?" Fu Luoning interrupted. "Don’t you want to know what Gu Linzhou named that dog?"

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds. "What’s the name?"

"Get the appointment first."

"She’s got no time. She has a news report around six or seven in the evening. Maybe tomorrow during the day..."

"No problem, I can go find her."

"Okay!" Xu Nannan gritted her teeth. "When?"

"Five o’clock. No funny business. If I show up and can’t see her, your reputation at the TV station might just crumble because of you."

"You...!" Xu Nannan ground her teeth. "Fine, so what’s the dog's name?"

"Gu Linzhou," Fu Luoning teased, then hung up, imagining Xu Nannan’s stunned expression.

DN Dawn Broadcasting Station.

Fu Luoning stepped out of the car, wearing sunglasses to avoid running into Xiao Jin.

Xu Nannan had said that by five o’clock, she’d spot someone in the lounge area downstairs in the company building, but now, apart from a few people at the reception, the entire building was deserted.

She approached the front desk. "Could you contact Guo Feiyi for me? We have an appointment. It won’t take long, maybe just ten more minutes."

The receptionist nodded. "I’ll make a call."

After some back-and-forth, the receptionist said, "They said Miss Guo is getting her makeup done. You might have to wait a bit."

Fu Luoning smiled gently. "I understand. Thank you."

After thanking them, she turned and walked away.

Half an hour later, Guo Feiyi finally came downstairs. The lobby was empty. She looked around and approached the front desk. “Where is the person?”

"They already left."

Hearing this, impatience flashed across Guo Feiyi’s eyes. "Who? Didn’t they say they’d wait?"

The receptionist, aware Guo Feiyi was not easily trifled with, replied, "We don’t know. She was wearing sunglasses, had long curly hair, looked young. I told her she’d have to wait, but she just turned and left."

Guo Feiyi rolled her eyes and muttered as she turned back, "What a waste of my time."

She thought to herself that after the news segment, she needed to find out who Xu Nannan really was.

Shengjing International Airport.

Fu Luoning arrived just in time at the boarding gate, the last passenger to board first class. A young flight attendant helped stow her belongings and knelt down to kindly introduce the long-haul flight menu.