Xiao Yi stepped off the plane with a newfound appreciation for good parents. Despite the flight taking under two hours, the mother and child duo next to him made it feel ten hours long.
The child wanted a sucker since he'd gotten one at takeoff, but there was only one left for landing, hence the tears and screaming began.
The mother, aware of the strangers around her tried everything to get the child to calm down. Walking with him in her arms as he wailed, finding more snacks, pre-prepared games, and toys… Nothing worked. The child wanted a sucker and only wanted a sucker. At some point, the child forgot what he wanted but wouldn't stop throwing fits.
Being a mother is hard.
Being the person next to the mother and child though…
Xiao Yi looked paler than ever as he slowly made his way to the entrance of the airport, thankful that he could no longer hear wails from children and instead only the odd announcements, conversations between passengers, and footsteps from those passing.
A figure with new, vibrant burgundy hair hurried toward the absent-minded Xiao Yi, coming to a stop right in front of him with a wide, blinding smile. "I know it's only been a few days since I saw you, but shouldn't you look more excited to see me?"
Xiao Yi blinked and slowly ran his eyes over V, who looked as professional as he could aside from the hair color with a black suit, styled hair, and even a pair of nearly shining black slip-on shoes.
V's smile faltered as he saw Xiao Yi eying him and he swiftly stole the suitcase from the other hand and walked out of the airport with a solemn. "As much as I'd like to get you settled in… We need to go to the company."
Xiao Yi raised his eyebrow but followed V to the car. It wasn't until V had placed the suitcase in the trunk and sat next to him in the backseat that he spoke again.
"I didn't think my father-in-law had enough power to stage a coupe, but here we are. Thankfully you came a few days early or I might be out of a company."
Xiao Yi sat up in his seat and ran his icy blue eyes over V once more. "What?"
The simple question sparked a rant that would last the entire drive to the company. "Xu Chun Hua isn't doing anything. I understand that she's in an awkward position but I've never been rude to her parents, never. Maybe I've been too nice."
"At this point it's obvious that her parents aren't satisfied with me supporting them, giving them stocks, houses, cars… No, they want my entire company! Does she understand that if I lose my company, her life will change too? Does she think her parents will support her… Us?"
"I feel like I'm having a mid-life crisis."
V pulled out his phone and shoved it in front of Xiao Yi. "Look, an emergency shareholder meeting without the CEO? Thankfully, a few of them were smart enough to reach out to let me know…"
Xiao Yi's mask broke as he scoffed. Did those old men have a clue of just how much work V put into the company? If V was gone, the company would be under in a few years.
Although he may look like a punk most of the time, V was far more than a CEO who sat in his office looking pretty while signing papers at the odd time. He was technically the lead innovator, accountant, investor, and software developer.
There were multiple instances of V letting him test game content that hadn't been published nor spoken about to the team, that's the kind of CEO V was.
V was wealthy from family wealth before becoming a CEO, but anyone without his connections would have run the company to the ground no matter how beautiful the game was.
Xiao Yi was present when Chen Qiang asked V. "Why do you have so many projects?"
His answer was. "A good developer won't put all their eggs in one basket."