Chapter 6 Resignation
6. Resignation
Jiang Jie's phone call reminded Jiang Rong of something: he needed to resign as soon as possible.
The day before his birthday, he took three days of annual leave, wanting to rest at home. Unexpectedly, when he opened his eyes, he found himself reborn. These past few days, he'd been so busy running around that he'd almost forgotten he had a job.
Although his job paid well, making many people envious, in his current situation, the job would only further distract him from his already limited energy. With that in mind, he decided to go to the studio tomorrow and quit his job.
Jiang Rong's studio is located in the tallest office building in downtown City C, a place frequented by high-achieving professionals, where the work pressure is naturally immense. As a newly minted designer, Jiang Rong has gained considerable recognition in the past two years. Many people covet his position, so he isn't worried about leaving his work vacant after he leaves.
Upon learning that Jiang Rong was leaving, the boss made a few polite attempts to persuade her to stay before signing the papers with a flourish. According to the employment contract, she was required to wait a month after submitting her resignation before leaving, but Jiang Rong had accumulated over twenty days of annual leave over the years, which would just cover the remaining time.
After leaving the meeting room, Jiang Rong went straight to his workstation to pack his things. There wasn't much to pack at his workstation; he was always meticulous, and everything was already categorized on his computer, ready to be handed over to other colleagues.
He had very few personal belongings, mostly small, miscellaneous items. The two largest items were a thermos and a cactus. The thermos and the cactus pot had cartoon stickers on them. His son had chosen both items, and he wanted to bring them back if possible.
Although he didn't have many things, Jiang Rong still found a cardboard box and put the few items inside. Looking at the sparse contents of the box, he comforted himself: life needs a sense of ritual, so of course he should bring a cardboard box when he quits his job.
Just as he was about to leave, Jiang Jie, with red eyes, walked up to Jiang Rong's workstation. Her voice was hoarse and her nose was red, "Engineer Jiang, why are you leaving so suddenly? Did something happen?"
Jiang Rong glanced up at Jiang Jie, seeing her tear-streaked face, but he felt nothing; in fact, he almost sneered. Whatever Jiang Jie's purpose in coming before him, he didn't want to waste his breath on her. So he said slowly, "Nothing much, just wanted a change of scenery. Goodbye."
As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Rong picked up the box and left. Jiang Jie opened her mouth as if to say something, but seeing Jiang Rong's quickly departing figure, she lowered her eyes to hide the disappointment in them. However, when she raised her eyes again, she had already locked onto the next person who would help her unconditionally.
Back in the car, Jiang Rong placed the cardboard box on the passenger seat. Because the box was too spacious, the thermos fell over and crushed the fist-sized cactus plant. The cactus her son had chosen for her looked like a small mountain peak, only slightly taller than her thumb, with soft fuzz on its columnar body, making it look fragile.
Jiang Rong straightened the thermos and then placed the cactus in a safer location. After tidying up a bit, he started the car and drove towards the HSBC Logistics Park in D City.
For the next month, Jiang Rong traveled between City C and City D every day. His car would appear in the parking space of the logistics park every day, rain or shine.
Over the course of a month, the balance in the bank account dwindled rapidly. The initial balance of over 20 million yuan was quickly reduced by more than half after the main structure of the house was completed. Including design fees and bulletproof glass, the construction cost of this house approached 15 million yuan. Now, the main interior decoration is nearing completion, and the construction team has begun packing up to leave.
Fifteen million yuan is a small sum when it comes to the house itself, but the interior decoration will cost even more money. However, Jiang Rong firmly believes that the money was well spent.
Furthermore, the money spent on stockpiling goods is already showing results.
The warehouse had eight rows of shelves filled with pallets, each holding a tightly bound cardboard box. These boxes were 1.1 meters long, wide, and high, and could hold one cubic meter of contents. Don't underestimate one cubic meter; if used to store water, it could hold a ton.
When purchasing supplies, Jiang Rong prioritizes vacuum-packed items. Each bag of rice he buys weighs 10 jin (5 catties), and after vacuum packaging, the loose rice becomes as solid as a brick. A single cardboard box can hold more than 1,000 jin (500 kg) of grain.
These cardboard boxes contain various canned goods with long shelf lives, dozens of kinds of dehydrated dried vegetables, rice, flour, cooking oil, rice, wheat, various beans, salted or air-dried chicken, duck, fish, and meat...
These cardboard boxes filled every shelf, giving Jiang Rong a great sense of security. This was his first batch of stockpiled goods; he selected items that could be stored for a long time and would be essential for survival. If this batch of supplies could be transported back to the basement, he and his son would never have to worry about food and drink again.
Of course, one person's brainpower is limited, and since this was his first time stockpiling supplies, there were bound to be things he hadn't thought of. But that's okay, it's only mid-April, he has more than a month to slowly add to his stockpiling list.
Jiang Rong still has a lot to do to prepare for the delivery of these supplies to the basement. For example, right now, he is standing at the highway exit south of D City, waiting for the driver and installers who will transport the shelving.
Because of the large amount of stockpiled goods, ordinary shelves on the market could not support them. Last month, Jiang Rong ordered a batch of alloy shelves from a professional shelving company. Due to the high requirements, the production cycle was very long, and the goods were only completed a couple of days ago.
There was a field of farmland near the highway exit, which was covered in rapeseed flowers in April. Jiang Rong parked his car by the roadside, leaned against it facing the field, and admired this unique springtime beauty. After watching for a while, he took out his phone and snapped a few photos in the direction of the field.
He wanted to take the photos back to show Jiang Xiaoheng, who had never left City C since birth.
Thinking of this, Jiang Rong suddenly remembered that it was Saturday and his son should be resting. So he dialed Chu Qiang's mother's number. After the call was connected, an elderly woman with gray hair and a kind face appeared on the screen.
Jiang Rong straightened up and respectfully said, "Aunt Zhou." Chu Qiang's mother's surname was Zhou. She was gentle and kind, and Jiang Xiaoheng liked her very much.
Aunt Zhou smiled and said, "Rongrong, do you miss Xiaoheng? Xiaoheng is very well-behaved in our family, so don't worry. Come here, Xiaoheng, your father is looking for you."
Jiang Xiaoheng's soft voice came from outside the screen: "Coming, coming, Grandpa, let's play again in a little while, okay? Xiaoheng is going to talk to Daddy."
Aunt Zhou turned her phone screen, and Jiang Rong saw Jiang Xiaoheng running towards her at top speed. Jiang Xiaoheng was wearing a yellow duck jacket, and as he ran towards the screen, he bounced up and down, making everyone's heart skip a beat.
Behind Xiao Heng followed an elderly man with a full head of silver hair, holding a small airplane. The old man was half-bent over and stretched out a hand towards Xiao Heng, as if he could pick Xiao Heng up and put him in his arms at any moment. The elderly couple's hearts were with Jiang Xiao Heng; seeing that he was running so fast, they were afraid that the child would fall.
Jiang Rong greeted them apologetically, "Uncle and Aunt, I'm sorry to have troubled you."
The elderly couple laughed: "What are you saying, child? Xiao Heng is very well-behaved! He's with us, so you can just focus on your work."
Before Jiang Rong could even exchange pleasantries, Jiang Xiaoheng grabbed Aunt Chu's phone, his chubby, fair face instantly appearing on the screen. Jiang Xiaoheng's eyes sparkled: "Daddy~ you called me? Did you miss me?"
Jiang Rong's eyes softened: "Yes, Dad misses you."
Jiang Xiaoheng grinned, revealing his pearly white teeth. "I miss Daddy too! Daddy, Daddy, is our house finished yet?"
Ever since learning that his father was building a house in their hometown, Jiang Xiaoheng had been filled with anticipation. Every day, as Jiang Rong returned home, he would check his father's phone for photos of the new house. The dusty, unfinished house was still undecorated, but his boundless imagination had already earned him a toy house.
Hearing her son's question, Jiang Rong said gently, "The house isn't completely finished yet, but it will be soon. Son, Dad wants you to see this."
As she spoke, Jiang Rong switched the camera, pointing it at the rapeseed flowers under the sunlight. The overwhelming golden hue created a powerful visual impact, and Jiang Rong saw the light in her son's eyes with satisfaction: "So beautiful—Dad, isn't this the rapeseed flower the teacher was talking about?"
Jiang Xiaoheng has good eyesight, and he exclaimed, "Dad, Dad, look! There's a little bee!" He then beckoned Uncle Chu and Aunt Chu in front of the camera to admire the little bee together, while also directing Jiang Rong to move the phone.
The child's innocent words brought laughter to the other end of the screen, and Jiang Rong's heart softened. With his appointment with the drivers fast approaching, he could only keep it brief, "Daddy has to go busy building the house. Xiao Heng, listen to Grandpa and Grandma, okay?"
Jiang Xiaoheng patted his chest and earnestly promised, "I'll be good! I exercise with Grandpa and Grandma every day, and I just gave Grandpa a back massage. Grandpa says his back and legs don't hurt anymore!"
Aunt Chu smiled and said, "Oh dear, we just came back from the park. Xiao Heng pulled us along for quite a while. Rongrong, you know what? Ever since Xiao Heng came to our house, we two old folks have felt so much better!"
Jiang Rong smiled with relief: "I'm sorry to have troubled you."
Only those in good health can survive a major crisis. Although Chu Qiang's parents are old, they are still relatively healthy. Jiang Rong hoped they could weather the crisis, so before sending Jiang Xiaoheng to the Chu family, he told his son to encourage the elderly couple to exercise more to boost their immunity.
It seems that Jiang Xiaoheng took his words to heart.
Just a moment after hanging up, the phone rang again. Looking closer, it was the truck driver calling. Jiang Rong answered, and a gruff male voice came through the receiver: "Mr. Jiang, we've reached the highway exit. Where are you?"
Jiang Rong's gentle expression was replaced by seriousness. He walked from the side of the car to the roadside and then raised his hand: "Here, next to the white SUV."
Author's Note:
Some netizens suspect that Rongrong's house was built too quickly.
Are there any civil engineering or design institute professionals here? Could you please give me some advice? Is it possible to complete the main structure of a three-story concrete house within a month?
According to my lover, if you pay the right amount, miracles can happen in half a month. [Just kidding]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
