Chapter 14: Rejected

His mother sighed deeply and placed her fingers on her forehead to massage her head. She was so done with her son's stubbornness.

Trying for one last time to reason with him, she asked "What about Yu Jie with whom you met yesterday? What does she lack in you?"

"That girl was fake from head to toe," he answered without batting an eyelid. His mother shook his head disapprovingly. This boy isn't making any progress at all.

Will her wish ever be fulfilled? Will she ever get to see her grandchild playing happily in her house? Those were flowing in her mind and with that, she let out a deep sigh.

"Mom please stop pestering me," he pleaded.

She shook her head again and moved slightly to face him. She placed her soft hand on his before speaking.

"Son, I am doing this for your good, '' his mother said earnestly.

"No, mom, you just want to win from dad. You are afraid if I got married to dad's choice you would lose against him," he said bitterly.

His mom and dad parted ways when he was 7 years old. They were tired of each other's constant quarrels. His parents split up. His father got married again to another woman. And his mother with her Mr. Right.Even after splitting up they fight whenever they see each other. From then onwards he became a beef steak pressed between two pieces of bread.

"Son, I don't want you to end up like me," his mother said in a soft tone. He looked down at his hands and spoke in a quiet voice.

"I have a meeting to attend today. I hope you understand what this means to me, mother," he finally said. And with that, he left.

....

He walked towards the meeting room with his secretary following behind with some files in his hand. Everyone was already gathered inside the meeting room.

He sat on his seat which was located at the front. His secretary stood quietly next to him and placed the files which were in his hands.

" Start the meeting," he said in a firm voice and waited for everyone to settle down.

"This is the file of the material that has arrived today," Muchen announced after taking out a folder from the box and giving everyone a copy of the folder.

"That's good. Director Bai Qin, how is the process of the products going on?" he questioned as he shifted his gaze towards his left side where she was sitting. Bai Qin cleared her throat before speaking.

"Everything has been submitted successfully, Mr. Luo," Bai Qin reported.

"And what about the promotion process? Director Cheng cares to explain?" he asked while slightly shifting his gaze towards Cheng Liang, who was sitting right next to him.

Cheng Liang was the business partner of Luo Yuan and the director. They both were childhood friends, and went to the same high school and then university. After graduating they decided to open their own company.

Cheng Liang was wearing a gray suit with a black tie and a silver Rolex watch on his wrist. His black hair was neatly cut and combed into a side part. He was handsome and charismatic in general. Cheng Liang stood up from his chair and moved towards the screen on the wall.

"I have shortlisted some famous candidates to promote our new collection," Cheng Liang explained as the picture started to appear.

"The first one is Tong Zhao, who is the current rising actress. She has gotten fame recently and has over 1M followers. She is gorgeous and talented in acting." The picture of Tong Zhao was presented on the screen with her full biography.

"The second one is Liu Ji, she is the current youngest rising singer in the music scene and is very popular among the fans."

Everyone's eyes were on Liu Ji's picture as it was displayed on the screen. After the image of Liu Ji finished showing, they started to review the next one.

"The third candidate is Li Xia, a well-known beauty blogger. She is the most trending female on Weibo and a famous figure. This is the picture of her account." After showing her information. He displayed her account picture where she has uploaded her post.

"The account name is pretty little cupid. Where she posts her picture and does live streaming. Through her live stream, she not only promotes products but also encourages women to embrace their beauty. I think we should choose Li Xia as she matches our concept the most. And here my presentation ends," Cheng Liang announced and went back to his seat.

After a minute of silence fell across the room. Luo Yuan fixed his attention on the file of the shortlisted candidates. His fingers lightly brushed the pages of the file. His face showed no expression at all.

"Choose Tong Zhao and Liu Ji," Luo Yuan suggested while placing the file on the table.

After listening to the presentation everyone thought that Li Xia will be shortlisted. But the results were different.

"But why? Li Xia matches our concept the most," Cheng Liang asked in confusion, he couldn't understand what was going on in his friend's mind.

"That's my final decision, Cheng Liang," Luo Yuan said and stood up from his seat. Send the final list to my office," he instructed Cheng Liang and with that, he left the meeting room.

"What is going on with him?" Cheng Liang let out a deep sigh.

"I know why Mr. Luo rejected Miss Li," Muchen mentioned suddenly.

Everyone in the room raised their eyebrows with curiosity, "Oh really?"

He nodded his head and continued "Mr. Luo knows Miss Li in person. Today when I went to His apartment to pick him up. You know what I saw there?"

"What?" They asked curiously, fixing their eyes on Muchen.

"Miss Li in front of his apartment," Muchen said and paused for effect.

"What happened?" Cheng Liang asked curiously.

"Well...that's it. That's everything," Muchen simply stated.

"Seriously? Nothing else?" After hearing that no one said anything for some time.

"I wanted Li Xia to be accepted. I wanted to see her in person," Bai Qin let out a deep sigh.

"Luo Yuan is unpredictable," Cheng Liang commented with a sigh.