Chapter 15 Is there anyone unstable inside?
"Shi Shi's father, please wait a moment. I'd like to talk to you." Teacher Yang comforted Shi Shi and returned to class. He chased Shi Zhenglin to the stairs and stopped him. "Sorry, maybe next time. I have something to run." He was rushing back to Huangpu, having just left a company business reception. "I have a group of children waiting, and I'm pressed for time. It's rare to see you, so I'll just take five minutes of your time." He straightened up and faced the teacher. "Go ahead." "The child has been here for almost three months and hasn't adjusted yet. She doesn't interact much with others and can't play with them. We noticed she's having a bit of a temper." "She's having trouble getting along with other children, right?" "No, that wouldn't have happened. We suggest you pay more attention to her; we're also working hard to help her adjust." "Okay. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you." "I suggest you join the after-work group chat. We often post updates about the children there. Keep an eye on them." "I'll add you later and follow you." He checked his watch. Seeing him turn and leave, the teacher rolled her eyes. She said she was paying more attention, but she'd returned home after a social event after ten o'clock that evening and had a few drinks. The aunt came out of the room quietly, smelling the alcohol on him, and whispered to him, "Just fell asleep. You should go to bed too." He half-opened the door and walked in, picked up the doll that had fallen on the bed and put it back on the bed. The light from the corridor slanted into the room, and he could see the little sleeping face showing frustration, with a slightly furrowed brow. When he came out, he was stopped by the aunt, "Sir, she has been having nightmares recently, several times a night, talking in bits and pieces, and yelling. She must be anxious and stimulated. You need to find a way to calm her down. Do you want to see a doctor? After what happened at kindergarten today, she probably won't sleep well again." The aunt's surname is Xu. She has been asked to help take care of Shi Shi since she was in her mother's womb. "Help her slowly. There is a kind of tranquilizer for children that is quite effective. I asked someone to go to Macau to get it, and we will try it when we get it back." "How about not going to kindergarten for a while? She doesn't want to go either." "Staying at home will cause more problems." He struggled with this problem. "That's true... it's always more lively with a bunch of kids in the kindergarten..." She hesitated, then said directly, "The child misses her mother and needs you to be with her. Yesterday I heard her call her mother, saying..." "I try to spend as much time with her as possible." Under the corridor light, his face was gloomy. Without waiting for her to finish, he entered the master bedroom. Aunt Xu stood in the hallway, sighing sadly. She couldn't bring herself to mention the child's mother in his presence. He went into the bathroom, ran cold water over his face, repeatedly, ripped open his shirt collar, and unable to bear it any longer, slumped into the sofa in the corner, and called Li Yasong. "What's the matter?" "When will you come back to see her?" He hunched over...
"Dad Shi Shi, please wait a moment and talk to you."
Teacher Yang comforted Shi Shi and returned to the classroom. He chased to the stairs and called out to Shi Zhenglin.
"Sorry, maybe next time, I have something to catch up on."
He was about to rush back to Huangpu and had just left the company's business reception.
"I have a group of children waiting, and I'm pressed for time. It's rare to see you, so I'll just take five minutes of your time."
He straightened himself and faced the teacher. "Please speak."
"The child has been here for almost three months, but she still hasn't adapted. She doesn't communicate much with others and can't play with others. We noticed that she was upset."
"She has problems getting along with children, right?"
"There is no problem and this would not have happened. We suggest you pay more attention to her emotions. We are also trying our best to help her adapt."
"Okay. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you."
"I suggest you join the after-get off work group. We often post updates about the children in the group, so please pay more attention."
"I'll add it later. I'm following." He looked at his watch.
Seeing him turn and leave, the teacher rolled his eyes at him.
He said he was paying more attention, but he got home after a social event after 10 o'clock in the evening and had drunk quite a bit of alcohol.
Auntie tiptoed out of the room, smelling the alcohol on him, and whispered to him, "He just fell asleep. You should go get some rest too."
He half-opened the door and walked in, picking up the doll that had fallen beside the bed and placing it back on the bed. The light from the corridor slanted into the room, revealing the little sleeping face, which looked frustrated and had a slightly knitted brow.
When I came out, my aunt stopped me and said, "Sir, she's been having nightmares a lot lately, several times a night. She's talking in bits and pieces and yelling. She must be anxious and stressed. We need to find a way to calm her down. Do you want to see a doctor? After what happened at kindergarten today, I guess she can't sleep well again."
The aunt's surname is Xu. She has been asked to help take care of Shi Shi since she was in the womb.
"Help her adjust slowly. There's a kind of medicine for children that's quite effective for calming nerves. I've asked someone to get it from Macau. I'll try it when I get it back."
"How about she stop going to kindergarten for a while? She doesn't want to go either."
“Staying at home will cause more problems.”
He struggled with this problem.
"That's right... the kindergarten is always more lively with a group of children..." She hesitated, then said directly, "The child misses her mother and needs you to accompany her. Yesterday I heard her call her mother and she said..."
"I try to spend as much time with her as possible."
His face was gloomy under the corridor light, and he went into the master bedroom without waiting for her to finish her words.
Aunt Xu stood in the corridor and sighed sadly. She couldn't mention the child's mother in front of him.
He went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face, again and again. He ripped open the collar of his shirt, unable to bear it any longer, and fell into the sofa chair in the corner of the room and called Li Yasong.
"What's up?"
"When will you come back to see her?"
He hunched over, lowered his face, and pinched his brow bones with one hand. The water from washing his face was not wiped off and dripped down the corner of his jaw. He asked questions that he didn't want to ask.
"It's her summer vacation, around July or August. I'll be with her during the summer vacation."
"Can it be earlier? She missed you."
Begging, it’s not him who needs her, it’s Shi Shi who needs her.
"It won't be soon. We haven't completed the paperwork yet. I video chat with her every day. Please take good care of her."
They were in the process of applying for immigration to New Zealand, two free souls wandering around the world.
After hanging up the phone, he smashed the phone to the floor. There was a bang and the screen cracked.
He wiped the water off his face, leaned back, closed his eyes and thought for a while, then picked up his phone and dialed the number.
"Mr. Shi——"
The other party was Fang Siyu, the secretary to the board of directors who had just joined Xingtan. He was the person mentioned in his stack of resumes, his old subordinate, and his confidant who was brought up by him to assist him in coordinating the listing work and would serve as the secretary to the board of directors of the listed company in the future.
"Have there been any recent changes to the rules regarding executive stability in listing application reviews?"
"Nothing has changed in recent years. Is there anyone unstable inside?" Fang Siyu was alert.
"No. Just asking."
He was well aware of all the listing rules. He must have been drunk, so he asked such a stupid question.
How could he not know how much effort and cost it took to divest from the listed company not long ago so that the stock price would not be affected by his departure?
When he agreed to help the Xingtan boss with the IPO, he still held out hope for family stability. He never imagined what was happening now. He'd already boarded the company, signed a slew of commitments, non-compete agreements, and other such things, locking him in. During this crucial period of IPO preparations, if someone in such a key position were to be removed, not only would his personal future be ruined, but it would also have a significant negative impact on the company, severely impacting the IPO approval process. He, Shi Zhenglin, would become a laughing stock in the industry, a person with a corrupt professional ethics, and a person of bad faith who had betrayed and harmed his boss.
Thinking of this, he got a severe headache.
What can I do? Professional managers in this position all over the world have the same workload. If you work, you're busy. If you don't, you have no choice.
Asking Li Xuan about that balance issue, he was now stuck asking himself, unable to strike a balance, forced to choose between giving and taking. It was a profound irony. Li Xuan could draw on her parents for support, but who could he draw on? Only his aunt. Thinking of this, he laughed.
He thought so after drinking. Tomorrow, when he was sober, he would despise himself for having such unrealistic thoughts.
Around 11 o'clock, there was another call. Jiang Lingli called him.
"Mr. Shi, we've prepared a PPT for the equity incentive plan and just sent it to you on WeChat. What time is the video conference tomorrow? Please decide."
"Let me check first. The video conference cannot be held tomorrow. If there are any problems, we will discuss it at the regular meeting on Monday."
Tomorrow is Saturday, and he had originally planned to find an opportunity to hold a video conference while he was with Shi Shi. But now he wants to give her the whole day.
Jiang Lingli's children are older; her two daughters are in elementary school. She has to constantly monitor their homework. She had just finished reviewing the PowerPoint presentation about the company's performance manager's equity incentive plan for going public, scolded her children for a question or two, and still had to make sure to attend a meeting he'd requested the next day. She was getting irritated, and after hanging up the phone, she cursed, "You're pushing me to work on this weekend, and now you're leaving me alone. You're deliberately trying to mess with me! You're crazy! If you go against me, I'll fight you to the end!"
The next day, a phone call during breakfast completely overturned his plans to spend time with his daughter. His boss was in Tianjin and had met with a pharmaceutical R&D institute there who was interested in selling the drug rights. He was so excited that he wanted him to come over immediately to discuss the matter.
He couldn't bring himself to push and pull household chores in front of his boss, whom he had just started working with.
"Shi Shi, is there anything you particularly want? Can I buy it for you?"
Back at the table, he began to work hard.
"No."
Shi Shi heard the phone call. He spoke in the same manner as he had last time he did her work, and she could recognize it.
"Think about it again. Anything is fine. You can go to the park with Auntie today and think about it while you play. I have work tasks to complete, so I'll think about it too. I'll go home in a couple of days and take you to buy it."
When it comes to coaxing children, he is becoming more and more clumsy in speaking.
"not good!"
She stopped drinking the milk after taking a sip and pushed the plate aside.
"I want my mother! When can I see my mother?"
He felt helpless when listening to her request about Li Yasong and glanced at Aunt Xu.
Aunt Xu quickly hugged her and comforted her, "Baby, Mom and Dad have their own things to do. Aunt Wang and I will accompany you to the park to feed the fish today, be good."
Aunt Wang was a temporary worker specializing in cooking and cleaning. She had just arrived and came out of the kitchen holding a freshly made egg tart. "I'll make you something delicious at noon."
He checked his phone. His boss's secretary had booked a flight and texted him the flight number. Time was running out, and he couldn't coax her anymore, so he got up and started packing.
Grandpa and grandma came and called Aunt Xu on her phone via video.
They are doctors who settled in the United States with Shi Zhenglin's brother and his family several years ago. His brother and his wife have been running a business there for many years and have four children. They help the eldest and can't take care of the youngest, so they don't see them for a year.
He informed them about the divorce, and recently the old man and Shi Shi have been video chatting once a day.
When they ran into Shi Shi crying and refusing to talk to them, the old man got anxious and called his son.
"You guys have messed up the child like this! You bastard!" Father Shi started cursing.
Mother Shi said softly, "Zhenglin, make some plans. Your sister-in-law said she'll help you. They also need help here, so you won't be idle if you come here."
Since he got divorced, they advised him to bring Shi Shi with him to immigrate there so that they could take care of each other.
"We'll talk about it later. It's impossible within three years." He turned on the hands-free mode and frantically rummaged through the clothes in the closet.
Three years is the minimum service time he set for Xingtan. He wants to ensure that it goes public and also wants to protect its stock price after listing.
"Your brother bought us tickets. We'll go back next month to see Shi Shi."
"How long will you be back?"
"One month."
He looked like he had received a life-saving medicine, and his hands were not so anxious to rummage through his clothes.
Aunt Xu saw him pull out the suitcase and asked worriedly, "Sir, how long will you be away on business?"
He frowned and didn't answer. He put the suitcase aside, hung the suit jacket on the handle, raised his wrist to button the cuffs of his shirt, but lost patience halfway through and simply put it up.
After Li Yasong left, the man who used to dress so well and pay great attention to his image became much more casual. When he packed his clothes, he just grabbed a few pieces and stuffed them into the suitcase.
Shi Shi didn't eat breakfast and couldn't be coaxed out, so she sat on the carpet in the living room and cried restlessly.
The crying was so annoying. Last time, I was caught and had to sneak away, which caused trouble at the kindergarten. This time, I didn't dare to do it. I couldn't move my feet.
So sad.
An idea struck him, and he checked the remaining seats on the flight on his phone.
"There's still a seat on the plane. I'll make up the booking. Aunt Xu, please take her with me to Tianjin. We can play around the area around your hotel during the day. At least she can be with me at night."
"Is there still time?" Aunt Xu was confused. How could this be possible?
"About twenty minutes. Xiao He won't be here for a while, so we'll leave in twenty minutes. Just pack some clothes. You can buy things over there. It's not summer yet there, so the temperature is around 10 degrees. Bring a jacket."
"Okay, okay, I'll clean it up right away." Auntie walked into the room quickly, looking anxious.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
