The Man Who Blocked the Sun

The man was tall, handsome, with intense brows and eyes, though overly aloof…
Standing there, he seemed to block out even the sunlight.

The air fell into a strange silence for a moment.

Fortunately, Brother Zhang was quick-witted. Seeing Ye Zhiqiu still rooted to the spot, he discreetly nudged him with his toe.
“Kid,” he said, “didn’t I tell you to head to the warehouse on your own first?”

“Alright,” Ye Zhiqiu chuckled, instinctively flicking the ash from his cigarette.
“It’s just that I’m not…”
“What do you mean ‘not’?” Brother Zhang hissed, lowering his voice.
“The people here are not folks your little VIA can associate with.”

Ye Zhiqiu nodded with a smile.
Just as he was about to turn away, the door on the other side of the Bentley suddenly swung open.
Meng Da strode over in a few quick steps, stopping excitedly in front of Ye Zhiqiu.
“Are you… Little Ye?” he asked, somewhat uncertainly.
“Hello, Mr. Meng,” Ye Zhiqiu greeted with a smile.

Compared to Qin Jianhe’s low profile, Meng Da had always been quite active in the fashion circle.
Q.L.’s annual new product launches and brand events all required his involvement.
Therefore, Ye Zhiqiu recognized him at a glance.

“What a coincidence!” Meng Da rubbed his hands together happily, appraising the young man before him.
Under the sunlight, his features were as finely carved as jade.
With that faint smile, he seemed especially approachable.
It’s just…
Why does someone so young smoke?

After their last call, both had been busy, and they hadn’t had a chance to meet formally.
Meng Da felt it inappropriate to lecture someone upon first meeting.
But Ye Zhiqiu seemed exceptionally perceptive.
He lowered his gaze, stubbed out the cigarette, and explained with a smile, “A senior offered it. It would have been impolite not to accept.”

Meng Da’s impression of Ye Zhiqiu improved even more.

“Come here,” he took Ye Zhiqiu’s arm and led him before Qin Jianhe.
“President Qin, let me introduce you.”
Compared to Qin Jianhe’s icy, aloof, ascetic handsomeness, Meng Da was more amiable and easygoing than the kindest elder.
“This is Little Ye, the one I mentioned before,” he said warmly, repeating the name.
“Ye Zhiqiu.”

Ye Zhiqiu extended his hand first.
“Hello, President Qin. I’m Ye Zhiqiu.”
As a newcomer, he stood in stark contrast to Brother Zhang beside him.
His brows and eyes held a smile; he was neither servile nor overbearing.
A sky-blue down jacket worn casually looked clean and handsome on him.

Qin Jianhe looked at him.
After a long moment, he extended his own hand, enveloping that sunlight-illuminated, pale hand in his palm, releasing it after just a moment.
“Qin Jianhe,” he said tersely.
A cool, clean baritone brushed past his ear, so pleasant it made Ye Zhiqiu’s heart itch faintly, as if lightly brushed by a feather.

“Then…” Ye Zhiqiu retreated a step imperceptibly.
“You gentlemen carry on with your business.”

“Wait a moment, Little Ye,” Meng Da, having finally met him, couldn’t possibly let him go so easily.
“Let’s have a word.”
Ye Zhiqiu nodded slightly, stepping aside a few paces to avoid Qin Jianhe and Brother Zhang.

He didn’t know Qin Jianhe, but intuitively, he felt the other might not like him.
Though from Qin Jianhe’s position, he could already look down upon most people in this world.
But from the moment the car entered the factory grounds and that polite “thank you” when Brother Zhang opened the door, Ye Zhiqiu knew Qin Jianhe might be aloof, but he was certainly not lacking in manners.

That left only one possibility.
Perhaps that night at the club, apart from Meng Qingyan, Qin Jianhe had also been in the same private room as Jiang Nan.
He had witnessed Ye Zhiqiu humiliating Qi Xin.

If that were truly the case, Ye Zhiqiu had no intention of establishing any connection with Qin Jianhe at this moment.

“Little Ye,” Meng Da, unaware of Ye Zhiqiu’s thoughts and pressed for time, got straight to the point with an elder’s prerogative.
“You’re being foolish.”
“With your talent, you shouldn’t have chosen VIA.”
He had always cherished talent, which was why, even if not the most capable himself, he had steadily held the position of Q.L.’s design department head all these years.

Ye Zhiqiu knew he meant well.
VIA’s current state was indeed a hot potato.
If he could single-handedly make it soar, or even just halt its decline, Ye Zhiqiu could quickly become a legend in the industry.
But if his joining ultimately proved futile, then the honors he had worked so hard to achieve would be silently erased.

If not for his past life, where he had single-handedly established Qi Yun in the fashion world, Ye Zhiqiu would never dare take such a risk.
He understood better than anyone that this second chance required every step to be more stable than the last.
But all his past-life designs were etched in his mind.
Which piece had what impact, which one was impossible to get…
He knew.
He knew he would win.

This was the sharpest weapon in his arsenal, unknown to anyone, that could tear open a new world for him.

“I fully understand your kind intentions, sir,” he said with a faint smile.
“But I still want to test my abilities outside first, to see exactly how far I can go.”
He paused, then added, “That’s also why I didn’t sign a long-term contract.”

“Whatever you do, don’t renew it when the term ends,” Meng Da could only urge.
“Your talent shouldn’t be buried because of an immature, mistaken choice.”
“As the head of Q.L.’s design department, I can assure you, Q.L.’s doors will always be open for you.”

Ye Zhiqiu pressed his lips together.
Meng Da valued and cared for him so much.
He wondered if Meng Da would be deeply disappointed in him when he later made exorbitant demands of Qin Jianhe.

“Thank you, sir,” he said, glancing sideways towards Qin Jianhe’s direction.

The man stood with his back to the light now, making his figure appear even taller and more imposing.
Though his stance was casual, the air of nobility and refinement about him remained undiminished.

From Ye Zhiqiu’s precise designer’s eye, the other possessed that rare, most perfect nine-heads-tall body proportion.
Probably none of the current top ten global male models could compare.
Truly exceptional~

Qi Xin had a decent figure and had always been proud of it.
Ye Zhiqiu had often used him as a temporary model.
But compared to Qin Jianhe…
He was nothing!
If he could use Qin Jianhe as a temporary model…
Ye Zhiqiu: “…”

“After the Spring Festival, when your contract with VIA ends, I’ll contact you,” Meng Da reached out and patted Ye Zhiqiu’s shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“Mm, thank you, sir,” Ye Zhiqiu said again.
Having already delayed them for several minutes, he couldn’t linger further.
He waved at Meng Da with a smile.
“Goodbye, sir.”

Most workers were busy at this hour, so there weren’t many people moving about the factory grounds.
Just as Ye Zhiqiu was wondering where to find someone to ask for directions to the warehouse, hurried footsteps sounded behind him.
He turned to see Brother Zhang rushing towards him.

Ye Zhiqiu stopped and waited for him.
Before he could speak, Brother Zhang launched into a preemptive complaint.
“Little Ye,” he said, now neither calling him ‘young man’ nor ‘kid’.
“Why didn’t you mention you know Mr. Meng earlier?”
Ye Zhiqiu thought seriously for a moment and explained, “Actually, we weren’t truly acquainted before.”

Brother Zhang didn’t believe him.

“Weren’t you supposed to attend to President Qin?” Ye Zhiqiu found it somewhat amusing.
“How come you’re back?”
“You’re the one to talk,” Brother Zhang complained, dragging out his words.
“President Qin said you arrived first, so I should handle your matters first.”
Thinking of the natural air of authority in the man’s tone, Brother Zhang couldn’t help but shrink his neck slightly.

Ye Zhiqiu didn’t notice his gesture.
He was slightly taken aback for a moment, then smiled and glanced back.

The factory grounds were large, with several asphalt paths crisscrossing.
By now, the man from earlier was no longer in sight.
“Our General Manager Huang just found out President Qin was coming and is rushing back to the factory like crazy,” Brother Zhang said, noticing Ye Zhiqiu looking back.
“President Qin and Mr. Meng went to meet with the project’s technical team first.”

Ye Zhiqiu nodded, asked no more, and followed Brother Zhang to the warehouse.

In his past life, he had designed countless garments for Qi Yun and had naturally worked with all kinds of fabrics.
Even later, when Qi Xin rose to success and started emotionally manipulating him, saying his clothes were no longer popular, that he was no longer suited to pick up the fabric shears…
The long-term, high-intensity, high-quality related work had long since engraved professional expertise into his bones.

Ye Zhiqiu inspected quickly, and his questions were highly professional and precise.
Brother Zhang soon stopped looking down on this “still-in-school” young man.

When their work concluded and Ye Zhiqiu was leaving, Brother Zhang couldn’t help but speak frankly.
“With your level, you shouldn’t be at VIA,” he said.
“Besides, you know Q.L.’s top brass.”
“Getting to a better place should be as easy as saying a word, right?”
At this point, he lowered his voice slightly.
“If your other skills aren’t enough, you could just do fabric quality inspection.”

Ye Zhiqiu laughed.
“Alright,” he said.
“I’ll consider it.”
As he spoke, he packed his work notebook into his backpack and raised a hand in farewell to Brother Zhang.

There was a sizeable wetland park near the factory.
In winter, it was cold, and almost no one was around.
Ye Zhiqiu drove in and parked in front of a wide stretch of lawn, then took the drone out of his bag.
Following the manual, he began practicing operating the drone for the first time.

He practiced for over half an hour.
The drone went from constantly crashing to wobbling its way for a short distance.
He didn’t stop until he had worked up a sweat.

He sat on a park bench, unscrewed his water bottle for a drink, and checked the time on his phone.
It was almost one in the afternoon.
The small group chat was filled with endless messages, still popping up.

He opened it while drinking water.
Sure enough, most were from Jin Baobao, who had gone to the celebration banquet.

[Fortune Treasure: Aaaaaah, we’re in! Image.jpg]

[Fortune Treasure: Ooooooh, all the big shots are here! Image.jpg]

[Fortune Treasure: Having a little drink first. Image.jpg.]

[Fortune Treasure: Shit, shit, shit, Q.L.’s head honcho didn’t come.]

[Lele: Their investment department head came instead. Very nice person.]

[Fortune Treasure: Oooooooh, Yan Yan is so cool, so handsome! A million times better looking in person than on TV! Even the way he refused to take a photo with me could make me climax, ah, aaaaaah, I’m dead…]

[Lele: Actor Meng doesn’t seem too happy about us ordinary folks being here.]

[…]

Li Shaojun had a basketball match at noon and wasn’t involved.
It was mostly Jin Baobao going wild, with Tang Le adding details.

Ye Zhiqiu paused for a moment, then started typing on the screen.
Soon, a new message appeared in the group chat.

[A Leaf of Autumn: I saw Qin Jianhe at the factory today. And Mr. Meng Da.]

Jin Baobao replied instantly—who knew how he managed to multitask like that.
[Fortune Treasure: Holy shit! So you were right not to go today.]

A moment later, Tang Le’s reply also popped up.
[Lele: Xiao Qiu is so lucky. I’m envious.]

A faint smile curved Ye Zhiqiu’s lips.
Just as he was about to type again, Zhang Mian’s name suddenly appeared on the screen, accompanied by an urgent ringtone.
His heart jumped.
He immediately set everything else aside and answered the call.

“What…”
“It’s done,” before he could even ask, Zhang Mian’s excited voice came through.
“It’s done, Ye Zhiqiu.”

Zhang Mian was overly excited on his end, but Ye Zhiqiu remained steady.

“The money will be transferred to your account tomorrow or the day after,” he said with a smile.
“All subsequent matters are entirely in your hands now.”
“What are you talking about?” Zhang Mian adapted to his role quickly.
“This is your venture, and mine too.”
“I will spare no effort.”

After hanging up, Ye Zhiqiu tagged Li Shaojun in the group.

[A Leaf of Autumn: @Li Shao After the match, go to Yeding to find my big brother. Take my car to Niu Tou Shan.]

Li Shaojun had no classes in the afternoon and was reliable.
Ye Zhiqiu trusted him most with this task.

[Fortune Treasure: Holy shit, Qiu, you’re going to race with the car just after picking it up?]

[A Leaf of Autumn: Yes. It’s already arranged.]

[Fortune Treasure: Wait for it! I’ll bring a cheer squad to support you tonight. Crush them all!]