Chapter 99: Missing it is hard to come by again
It was the first day of work after the Spring Festival. In the Linhe office, Tan Ming welcomed new employee Li Yan. Li Yan had been fired by Chen Wenzhong and had been unemployed for two months. Lin Yao had asked Tan Ming to find him and bring him back. Lin Yao had taken Lin Yuxun back to his hometown for two days, then went on a trip, climbing several mountains. They had only returned last night and hadn't returned to the office yet. Long Weihe had come early to distribute red envelopes to everyone. Li Yan entered Linhe for the second time and followed Tan Ming into Long Weihe's office, feeling both nervous and grateful. "Sister Wei... Congratulations on your prosperity! Good luck on the start of the new year!" Li Yan said auspiciously. Long Weihe smiled and handed him a red envelope. "Good luck, good luck! You're a Linhe employee after all, welcome back!" Tan Ming patted Li Yan's shoulder. "This year is different from previous years. The pressure is incredibly high. We have so many orders that we can't keep up. Keep working hard!" As they spoke, there was a commotion and screaming outside. Tan Ming opened the door and saw that it was Lin Yao who had returned, accompanied by Lin Yuxun. Lin Yuxun was handing out a stack of red envelopes, doubling the amount to several people outside. Presumably large ones, they were excited, showering him with compliments. Song Yihui was so excited that she even uttered the inappropriate phrase "May you have a baby soon." Lin Yao glared at her, but Lin Yuxun grinned and doubled her amount, prompting the others to join in the fun. He had just seen Lin Yao off, saying since she was here, he should give her colleagues some lucky red envelopes and some auspicious messages before returning to work. Lin Yao obliged, telling him to give a red envelope as a token of his appreciation and leave. The "overly kind words" from the others delighted him, and he couldn't hold back. Three more people joined in the noise. Lin Yao pulled him away, escorting him to the elevator, pinching his face and scolding him for being so loud on her turf. He pinched her back and whispered, "I'll be more low-key tonight..." The two had been together day and night during the Spring Festival holiday, and when they returned to work, they were both much more relaxed. Long Weihe called Shi Zhenglin mid-morning. Everyone else was back at work, and he was lonely at home. She asked him what he was doing, and he said he'd taken his two children to a professional indoor place to practice skateboarding. Qian Duoduo and Shi Shi didn't start school until two days later, so he didn't let Qian Duoduo go to work with her, and took her over early in the morning. He now claimed to want to retire, but only she saw through it, it was just a cover-up. She offered to treat him and his two children to dinner at a nice place that evening, and he was delighted, saying he'd pick her up after work. A phone call at noon disrupted her plans. Qi Hui called to say he was in Guangzhou that evening and wanted to treat her to dinner. He had a few positions he wanted her to fill in the city at the beginning of the year and they wanted to meet in person to discuss them in detail. In reality, she was too busy to handle it. It was the golden recruitment period, and she had already accepted some orders before the New Year. Tan Ming's failure to deliver was the real reason, and the delivery...
The first working day after the Spring Festival.
In Lin He's office, Tan Ming brought in new employee Li Yan. Li Yan had been fired by Chen Wenzhong and had been unemployed for two months. Lin Yao asked Tan Ming to find him and bring him back.
Lin Yao took Lin Yuxun back to his hometown for two days before going on a trip, climbing a few mountains. They only returned last night and haven't been back to the office yet. Long Wei Heyi came over early to hand out red envelopes to everyone.
Li Yan entered Linhemen for the second time and followed Tan Ming into Longweihe's office. He was nervous and grateful.
"Sister Wei...Congratulations on your prosperity! Good luck in the new business!" Li Yan said auspicious words.
Long Weihe smiled and handed him a red envelope. "Good luck, good luck. After all, you are Lin He's man. Welcome back!"
Tan Ming patted Li Yan's shoulder and said, "This year is different from previous years. The pressure is huge. There are too many orders to deliver. You have to work hard!"
As we were talking here, there was a commotion and screaming outside.
Tan Ming opened the door and saw that it was Lin Yao who came back, and Lin Yuxun was with him.
Lin Yuxun handed out double the amount of red envelopes to a few people outside. Presumably because they were large, they were excited and showered everyone with compliments. Song Yihui was so excited that she even uttered the inappropriate phrase "May you have a baby soon." Lin Yao glared at her, but Lin Yuxun grinned and doubled her amount, causing the others to join in the fun.
He had just sent Lin Yao off and said that since he was here, he should give her colleagues a red envelope and say some auspicious words before returning to the company to start work. Lin Yao agreed and asked him to give her a red envelope as a token of his appreciation and then left.
The "overly nice words" from several people made him so happy that he couldn't stop himself.
Three people came over and made some noise.
Lin Yao pulled him away, walked him to the elevator, pinched his face, and scolded him for being too high-profile in her territory. He pinched her face back and whispered in her ear, "I'll be low-key tonight..."
During the Spring Festival holiday, the two of them were together day and night, and they felt much more relaxed when they returned to work.
Long Weihe called Shi Zhenglin mid-morning. Everyone else was back at work, and he was feeling lonely at home. She asked him what he was doing, and he said he'd taken his two children to a professional indoor place to practice skateboarding.
Qian Duoduo and Shi Shi didn't start school until two days later, so he didn't let Qian Duoduo go to work with her and took her over early in the morning.
He now says that he wants to retire, but she is the only one who sees through him and knows that it is just a cover-up.
She said she would reward him and find a nice place to treat him and their two children to dinner in the evening. He was happy and said he would pick her up after get off work.
A phone call at noon ruined her plans.
Qi Hui called and said that he would be in Guangzhou in the evening and wanted to invite her to dinner. He also said that at the beginning of the year, there were several positions that he wanted her to find in Guangzhou and they wanted to meet to discuss it in detail.
She was actually too busy to handle it. It was the golden period for new hiring, and she had accepted some orders before the New Year. Tan Ming's failure to deliver was the truth. Delivery times were longer than before, and she and Lin Yao were anxious. They had only hired Li Yan back, and since her partner couldn't handle the work, they were left to shoulder the burden. Gu Liang's orders were the most urgent, and due to the changes he'd made since arriving, he'd manipulated them into delaying them until after the New Year.
Qi Hui's request, no matter how busy she was, she would pay attention to it. She said it was just right, and she and Shi Zhenglin would treat him to dinner together that evening. Qi Hui said there were special circumstances and Shi Zhenglin couldn't know he was looking for her. He asked her not to mention it to Shi Zhenglin and would explain the reason when they met.
She knew Qi Hui had been in Guangzhou frequently in recent months, and Shi Zhenglin, unusually, hadn't invited her to get together with Qi Hui. Last time, he'd explained to her that Qi Hui had been busy with the IM acquisition and had been in a hurry. Now Qi Hui had mysteriously asked her out alone again. She felt something was amiss.
She agreed to Qi Hui's request, and in the afternoon she told Shi Zhenglin that she had a meeting with a client and that the meal had been cancelled.
Shi Zhenglin said that he is now a vulnerable group and his needs always come behind her.
The two men met up and ordered the dishes. It was already past eight o'clock in the evening. Qi Hui's flight was delayed. He said that an online driver arranged by his secretary took him to the wrong place and kept apologizing when they arrived at the private room.
"Why didn't you notify Shi Zhenglin to pick him up?" Long Weihe poured him tea.
"He's been keeping his distance from me lately, and I can't do anything about him. You don't know the situation, do you?" he probed.
Long Weihe was confused, "I don't know."
"The teacher asked me to say hello to you."
He changed the subject.
"I sent him a New Year's greeting message a few days ago. Is he in Malaysia?" she asked.
"Yes, over there. This time I'm going kayaking with my kayaking teammates."
The two chatted about Zhou Chuanze for a long time, and there was no end to the topics they could talk about him.
Halfway through the meal, Qi Hui finally talked to her about entrusting her with the order. He said that Jize Biotechnology was almost done acquiring IM, and that he had come to sign the agreement. They would issue an announcement after the signing, and simultaneously announce that they were establishing a regional office in Guangzhou to take over IM.
Long Wei laughed and said that since he had revealed such an important matter to her, she would go buy their company's stocks tomorrow.
Qi Hui said he trusted her.
He discussed several management positions, including one for the Guangzhou region president, and she took out her laptop to write them down.
"There's another position," he said, taking a sip of tea, his expression serious. "The teacher wants to ask you to help him find a key position."
"What post?"
"Chairman."
Long Weihe's hands suddenly stopped on the computer keyboard.
“Isn’t Mr. Zhou the current chairman?
"He's ready to retire. He's pretty much a free spirit now."
"He's still very young. He can work for another 20 years without any problem."
"He wanted to entrust professional managers to family-run the business, and he had this idea a year ago."
"Mr. Qi, you're joking," Long Weihe said, smiling as she pushed the computer aside. "How could you possibly outsource the chairman's position to a headhunter? Your listed company must have a reserve of successors. I don't have any such candidates here. We're not capable of handling such a top-level position."
"You have." Qi Hui smiled meaningfully. "I know you have it, so I entrusted you with this. This is the core purpose of my coming to you today, and it is also entrusted by the teacher."
Long Weihe realized that he was probably referring to Shi Zhenglin. Without saying a word, she tensed up a little, leaned back in her chair, and waited for him to continue.
He explained, "The last time I came, I mentioned to Shi Zhenglin the idea of him returning to take over. I asked for his opinion, saying we could wait, but he refused on the spot. He's also been avoiding suspicion regarding the IM acquisition. I've come here over a dozen times, and every time I bring it up, he blocks me. He blocked you, too. I asked to talk to you, but he always said you were busy and wouldn't let me bring it up in front of you. So, this time, I had no choice but to hide it from him and come directly to ask for your opinion."
She was surprised and responded promptly, "Mr. Qi, asking for my opinion is too kind. I can't interfere with or influence his personal career direction. We're together, so where he goes does have some bearing on us, but I'm not his family. Sorry, I'm not qualified to interfere in his important choices."
"I skipped him and came to you. I'm sorry to have troubled you." Qi Hui poured her tea. "As a brother who knows him well, I'm also quite conflicted. This matter has been giving me a headache for a long time. I can't solve it, so I really want to talk to you. Don't feel pressured. The teacher is willing to do this, and I will respect his opinion in the end."
He paused and continued, "The teacher knew him so well and had such great admiration and generosity for him that he considered inviting him to join the group a second time, and to take on a more important position. In the teacher's mind, no one among us could replace Shi Zhenglin."
"He resigned to take care of his daughter. It is impossible for him to leave his daughter and go to another place now. It will be very bad for the child. Ms. Qi, as someone close to him, I can understand that he cannot do what the teacher wishes." She said frankly.
"I know. Years ago, he got drunk with me a few times and confessed that one of them was our daughter, the other was you, and they had another child. He said it was impossible for us to live apart, and that's why he told the teacher. His attitude is truly unwavering." He frowned and paused for a moment. "How about this... let's talk about resolving the family issue later. There will always be some solution. You're a professional, so let's analyze this from the perspective of his career development and see if this opportunity is worth it for him to seize."
She smiled and looked up, waiting for his analysis.
Qi Hui lowered his elbows from the dining table. "He single-handedly took Jize public. I know his passion and dedication best. He has feelings for Zeji. He's familiar with the teachers, me, and the team. There's no need for adjustment. We all have a tacit understanding and a bond. I believe no other opportunity in the market can give him a greater sense of belonging than this one. What drives him to work is no longer money, but passion and recognition. You know this better than I do."
Of course she knew.
"You know the market. In this industry, there are no other better opportunities. Few companies are recruiting chairmen, and few companies will go public in the next few years. Among the listed companies, no one can find a position suitable for him. This is his best career opportunity." Qi Hui said confidently.
Since the day he resigned, she has been paying attention to market information and trying to judge in advance what opportunities he might have in the future. The actual situation disappointed her. The market environment is there, and if he only stays in Guangzhou, the chances are even slimmer.
She understood that what Zhou Chuanze gave him was a top-level opportunity.
"Let's look at solving the family care problem," Qi Hui continued. "Now that Jize has acquired IM and is preparing to build a Guangzhou region, in the early stages, he actually has to be in Guangzhou most of the time. Later, when Guangzhou stabilizes, he can spend half of his time in each place, so it's not completely year-round. If he's in Hangzhou, he can fly back on weekends. But..."
He sighed. "That's the situation, and he's unwilling to consider it. Whenever I bring it up again, he keeps his distance from me. I think he should think of a solution. I'd like to seek your help to see if there's any possibility."
Long Weihe frowned slightly. Regardless of how Shi Zhenglin considered their relationship, she knew that simply taking care of Shi Shi was enough to block his path.
"Isn't he considering the position of president of the Guangzhou region?"
"This is too unfair to him. It's a waste of talent. It's set at the position below me. The teacher and I won't mention it to him. It doesn't belong to him."
"Have you discussed with him the duration of the chairman's position?" she asked.
"I'll take office before June and rush to prepare for the Guangzhou region. But the decision needs to be made in advance, next month, in March, so that the teacher can plan ahead. The company's chairman change procedures are very complicated."
"Mr. Qi, the child's matter is a serious matter, and he's been stuck with it. I suggest that if you need to confirm it by March, you should communicate with him again before the March deadline. During this period, all I can do is see if I can help with the child's education, but I can't replace him. As for his career path, it's his own choice, and I won't interfere. I can't influence his thinking."
She didn't want to ask Qi Hui to let her do ideological work for Shi Zhenglin. She hoped that if Shi Zhenglin went, it would be his own decision, not her or Long Weihe's influence.
It was almost eleven when they got home. Shi Zhenglin had put Qian Duoduo to bed and put him to sleep. Shi Shi was still awake, still clinging to drawing with him while she waited for her aunt to come home.
"Why are you so late?" He came out of the room.
"The client's orders are large, so we chat more."
He wanted to talk about how hard it was to run around with two kids all day and how upset he was that she stood him up. Before he could even hug her, Shi Shi slipped out of bed and popped up from behind him. "Auntie, let me show you my birthday present for Duoduo."
"You've prepared gifts!"
"Look, I drew it! Dad wrote the words!"
She drew a picture to give to Qian Duoduo for his birthday tomorrow.
Long Weihe praised her for her good painting, took her into the room, and coaxed her to bed.
She thought about what Qi Hui had talked about that night, and she was extremely conflicted when she saw Shi Shi finally recovering from her illness. She touched Shi Shi's head.
It was impossible for her to ask Shi Shi in front of her whether she agreed with her father going to work. Shi Shi was not capable of and should not be responsible for his career path.
She was fully aware of Shi Zhenglin's career choice. It was a weighty responsibility for him as an adult, weighing the pros and cons and ultimately his own decision. It involved complex factors, including career development, emotional support, and Shi Shi's upbringing. She loved Shi Zhenglin, and subconsciously sought a way to fulfill his career aspirations while alleviating his family concerns. She even considered helping him raise Shi Shi. She reasoned that if he truly went to Hangzhou, she could bring Shi Shi along, and she believed she had the ability to do so. But what was her rationale? How could she possibly shoulder such a responsibility?
Late at night, he pressed her under him and indulged himself. Seeing that she had no reaction, he turned around and let her be on top, holding her and sitting on him. She was completely out of the mood, without the usual passionate posture that made his blood vessels surge. He lifted her long hair and said passionate words, but she still moved slowly, her mind heavy. He pressed her under him again, "What's wrong with you?"
When she didn't say anything, he thought there was a big problem.
He turned over and held her in his arms, caressing her body, "Are you tired? If you are tired, let's have a good rest. Tomorrow is Duoduo's birthday. I have prepared a gift for him and will take you to see it."
She said "hmm".
After thinking it over again, she decided to be frank with him and not keep him awake all night.
"I met Qi Hui in the evening." She said softly.
The hand he was stroking on her back suddenly stopped. Without asking anything, he knew what Qi Hui wanted to do.
"Qi Hui, what a stupid thing you did!"
He was angry and let her go. He sat up on the bed and didn't say anything for a while.
She also moved up and got inside him.
He felt sorry for her trouble and stroked her back again.
"I have expressed my decision clearly and sincerely and do not want to waste energy on responsibilities that cannot be fulfilled or give them false hope," he said calmly.
"It's a good opportunity. This is the company you have poured your heart and soul into. It will be hard to miss it again. The teacher values and trusts you, and you won't find that anywhere else." She looked at him.
"The cornerstone of all my decisions now is my two children and you. I can't gamble your future lives for the so-called peak of my career."
"If we give it a try, and Shi Shi is willing to be with me and Duo Duo, and we take care of her, will she be able to accept you going out of town?"
"Long Weihe, I stopped Qi Hui from looking for you because I didn't want you to get involved. I didn't want to shift the responsibility onto you and let you bear it. It would be unfair to you. This matter ends here. You don't have to pay attention to him. I will handle it."
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