Chapter 26 No Heartbeat
The door to the stairwell was not closed properly.
The two people's voices came through intermittently.
Chenmian snorted softly: "Then you can't be so mean to me. I thought you really thought I was being unreasonable and that you were really protecting Shang Wu."
"How could that be? That was just for show. Don't be angry. Take care of yourself. You just had a heart checkup and you're not feeling well. You can't get angry," Zhou Yanci coaxed gently.
Shang Wu heard it clearly from outside, and her eyes darkened.
The slumbering voice came again: "If you hadn't heard that I had coronary heart disease, you wouldn't have taken the initiative to lower yourself and get back together with me, right? Ah Ci, let me ask you, you do have feelings for me, and you didn't get back together with me out of pity, right?"
“I’ve always liked you. I’ve been ignoring you lately just so you could experience the pain I felt when you abandoned me. Otherwise, you won’t cherish what you’ve lost and then regained.”
Zhou Yanci raised her hand and smoothed Chenmian's hair. Looking at the woman in front of her, who was as exquisite as ever, and who finally belonged to her again, tender words came out of her mouth, but her heart was unmoved.
They've made up, and Mingming and Shenmian are happy again, just like before.
Why did he lose the initial spark?
Zhou Yanci hugged Shenmian's waist even tighter, as if trying to force the thought out of her mind.
"How long do I have to endure this?" Chenmian pouted, staring at him unwillingly.
Zhou Yanci paused for a moment, then said softly, "Wait a little longer. The new product will be released soon, in just over a month. At this crucial juncture, we shouldn't affect Shangwu."
Upon hearing this, Shang Wu quietly left and returned to her ward.
She stood by the window, the cold wind blowing, and the wound on the side of her face still seemed to ache faintly.
There's only a little over a month left.
My father will recover soon and be out of the hospital; my brother has also prepared the evidence.
But that's not enough.
That's far from enough.
She not only wants to save her family and avenge them, but also to restore the business to its former glory.
Shang Wu closed his eyes, pondered for a long time, and finally took out his phone to make a call to Wen Xiang, the project manager.
Despite his busy schedule, Wenxiang made time to visit the patient in the ward.
When he arrived, Zhou Yanci had already left.
Seeing Wenxiang place a ginseng root worth at least two hundred thousand yuan on the table, Shang Wu's eyes flickered slightly.
“Brother Wen, you still care about me so much. Just like when we were in the business, every time I went to the group to see my dad, you would prepare snacks for me. Even when you were busy on my birthday, you would still personally bring me a gift.”
Wenxiang smiled at her: "Yes, I joined the company when you were twelve years old. You could say I watched you grow up. I treat you like my own sister."
Shang Wu pursed her lips.
She still remembers when the business collapsed, and a group of key technical personnel and senior executives of the group had nowhere to go.
It was she who led this group to negotiate with Zhou Yanci and got these people jobs at Chengzhou Group.
At the time, Shang Wu thought that this would make things difficult for Zhou Yanci, and that rashly accepting a large group of people would also cause dissatisfaction within the company.
Despite the pressure, Zhou Yanci still helped her take in these people.
From then on, Wenxiang and his group were very grateful to Zhou Yanci and worked their ass off for Chengzhou Group.
Only now does Shang Wu realize that what Cheng Zhou lacks is precisely this group of talents to lead Zhou Yanci into battle.
One of the reasons Zhou Yanci targeted the merchants was to use these key technical personnel as his talent pool.
"Awu, what's wrong? You seem preoccupied and aren't saying anything?"
Wenxiang sat on the edge of the bed and handed her a freshly peeled orange: "It's okay. I asked the nurses, and they said that if you apply the medicine properly, you definitely won't be disfigured. Don't worry."
Shang Wu snapped out of her daze and took the orange: "Brother Wen, I need you to do something for me. If anything goes wrong, you might lose your current job. Are you willing to do that? But when that happens, I'll help you find a better place."
Upon hearing this, Wenxiang paused, then hesitated and asked, "What do you want me to do?"
Shang Wu narrowed her eyes and whispered a few words to him.
Wenxiang took a deep breath: "But isn't President Zhou your fiancé? What good will this do for him and Chengzhou?"
"Don't ask anymore, I won't answer. Anyway, I have my reasons." Shang Wu smiled bitterly, unable to explain.
The people around her all thought that Zhou Yanci was a kind-hearted person and the savior of her dark life.
The fewer people who know the truth, the better.
Wenxiang pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, I'll help you, but no matter what, I don't want you to regret it."
"I won't regret it."
Shang Wu looked at him firmly: "It won't happen again."
Wenxiang was taken aback, feeling that there was something more to her words, but he didn't ask any further questions.
He talked with Shang Wu for more than half an hour before leaving the hospital.
That evening, Shang Wu also left the hospital.
Zhou Yanci was surprised to learn this and went to her place that night to ask why she didn't want to be hospitalized.
"The jewelry department is about to launch new products, and it's inconvenient to stay in the hospital. Besides, it's not a serious injury, so there's no need to be dramatic."
Shang Wu acted as if he were extremely loyal to Cheng Zhou.
Zhou Yanci smiled with satisfaction and reached out to pinch Shang Wu's chin: "My A-Wu is a workaholic, but I feel sorry for you when you work so hard."
"My goal has always been to do a good job in the jewelry department, so that everyone can see how capable your fiancée is and how much she brings you honor."
Shang Wu pulled down his fidgeting hand and said, word by word, "I will make Chengzhou better and better. I will prove to you that it was worth it for you to lend a helping hand to the Shang family."
Zhou Yanci's expression stiffened, and the smile on her face became less natural.
He coughed lightly and mumbled, "I helped the business because I love you. I didn't expect anything in return."
Shang Wu's eyes turned cold, and she said meaningfully, "You must take it. From now on, whatever I give you, you should accept it properly."
Zhou Yanci found it inexplicably difficult to face her intense gaze. He smiled and hugged her, changing the subject: "Your birthday is in a couple of days. I'll prepare something nice for you. What gift would you like?"
Shang Wu gave him a deep look: "You'll give me any gift you want?"
"Of course, you can ask me now, and I will grant you one request unconditionally."
Zhou Yanci raised an eyebrow, his eyes full of pride.
Shang Wu slightly curved her lips, about to speak, when the phone on the table suddenly rang.
She glanced at it and saw the name "Wenxiang".
Zhou Yanci took the phone and answered it.
"Manager Wen, is something important so late?"
On the phone, Wenxiang's tone was urgent and heavy as he said a few words.
Zhou Yanci's relaxed posture vanished instantly, and she abruptly stood up from the sofa.
"I'm coming right away!"
Shang Wu stood up as well: "What happened?"
Zhou Yanci picked up his coat and said angrily, "The project team made a mistake and signed a contract for three years at 10% of the original price. This business is conservatively estimated to lose 3 billion yuan in the future!"
He paused, glancing at Shang Wu with a hint of reproach in his eyes: "Your Brother Wen is truly remarkable!"
Shang Wu frowned slightly and followed him to put on his coat: "I'll go with you to take a look."
Zhou Yanci did not refuse.
The two hurried to the company in the cold night.
Such a big incident alarmed not only them, but also the shareholders.
As soon as Shang Wu entered the conference room, she saw Zhou's parents sitting at the table.
She was puzzled.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhou did not get along. After retiring, they lived alone in a villa in the suburbs. Why did they come today?
Shang Wu went to call out to Uncle Zhou first.
As soon as Zhou's father nodded, Zhou's mother slammed her hand on the table and started pointing her finger at Shang Wu and cursing in front of everyone.
"You're a jinx who's brought misfortune to my son! I told you long ago that marrying you would affect the Zhou family's feng shui, and now it's come true! Look at the good things the people you brought into the boat have done!"
Wenxiang's face turned ashen. Hearing this, he couldn't hold back any longer and stepped forward to stop Zhou's mother.
“I take full responsibility for my actions. If the project goes wrong, it's my problem, and it has nothing to do with Director Shang! All of us who joined Chengzhou from the business sector have been making money for Chengzhou for years. Isn't that all thanks to Director Shang?”
Zhou's mother's eyes sharpened, and she sneered, "You actually dare to talk back to me? You're the one who has committed a terrible mistake!"
Shang Wu pursed her lips and secretly tugged at Zhou Yanci's sleeve from behind.
Zhou Yanci lowered her eyes and met her somewhat sad gaze, her heart softening instantly.
Without thinking, he said, "Alright, Mom, there's no use talking about this now. Let's discuss the current situation, Manager Wen?"
Wenxiang immediately walked up to Zhou Yanci and lowered his head in shame.
"I...I'm so sorry, Mr. Zhou. I'm not feeling well today. I did misread the contract. I didn't notice during the review that the unit price of the product was missing a zero. The cost price changed from one hundred and eighty yuan to eighteen..."
This is the most foolish and basic mistake the company has ever made.
However, Wenxiang's performance and ability since joining the company are obvious to all. This incident was not due to his careless personality, but rather because he was unwell and misread the price.
Unfortunately, no matter how excusable the circumstances, it was not enough to make the profit-driven shareholders not care.
Someone immediately spoke up: "Conservatively speaking, we'll lose 3 billion. This matter needs to be resolved, right? Manager Wen, your apologies won't help. This is almost a quarter of our company's net profit."
Wenxiang stammered and struggled to speak: "We've already called our partners, and they said it's all clearly written down in black and white, and there's no way we can back out."
"What do you mean? So we deserve to lose money at such an outrageous price?" someone immediately retorted angrily.
The atmosphere in the meeting room was tense and frozen.
Nobody knows what to do next.
The contract has taken effect.
It's foolish not to make money when you can.
Since winning the lottery is so cheap, the partners naturally want to make a profit.
After a moment of silence, Zhou Yanci frowned and asked, "Who is the partner? The Tang family?"
Wenxiang nodded: "Yes, their company president is named Tang Xueli, the granddaughter of the Tang family patriarch, and she has only been in charge of the company for six months."
Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions turned even more grim.
Especially Zhou Yanci.
If he can make billions of dollars in just six months after taking office, it will be more than the profits he made from exploiting and rubbing money off businesses in the past.
He clenched his fist, his gaze icy: "Whoever has a solution to this problem will be the future project manager."
With just one sentence, Wenxiang was dismissed from his post.
Just as Shang Wu was about to speak, Zhou Yanci grabbed her hand.
"The group has suffered heavy losses, so I have no choice but to do this. Let Manager Wen be a regular employee for now, Ah Wu. I hope you understand."
Zhou's mother crossed her arms and sneered.
"Her good friend from the business was fired just like that. Do you think she'd be happy about that? She'd probably throw a tantrum and beg you to take back the decision!"
She rolled her eyes, certain that Shang Wu would plead for Wen Xiang.
Shang Wu glanced at her lightly.
"Words, I'm asking you to retract this decision."
Zhou paused, a hint of displeasure in his voice.
He assumed that Shang Wu wouldn't blindly protect the people on Shang's side.
It seems he was overthinking it.
Shang Wu continued, "I think we should just fire someone like Brother Wen who causes significant losses to the company."
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