Chapter 49 A Gentle Knock
After seven days of investigation, the truth behind the "fraudulent donation incident" has finally come to light.
The father of the girl with leukemia was indeed a high-level executive with an annual salary of over 200,000 yuan. After the girl was diagnosed with leukemia, he followed his wife's advice and partnered with an organization that specializes in helping families with seriously ill members defraud charitable donations. He concealed his true income and boldly sought help online using forged income certificates and six months of bank statements.
Intern reporter Song Yiyi failed to carefully verify information and wrote a tear-jerking report out of compassion. The editorial department also failed to fulfill its review responsibilities, resulting in the news being broadcast in the morning program. Therefore, multiple parties bear responsibility, and several senior executives were severely criticized by their superiors. However, considering that this was Song Yiyi's first offense, she was only required to submit a written self-criticism.
"Yiyi, you've learned your lesson. This is over." Qin Qiao carried the freshly brewed coffee back and placed it in front of Song Yiyi before sitting down opposite her.
"The self-criticism was written very profoundly; I read it three times."
Song Yiyi looked up and met the pair of beautiful almond-shaped eyes that were smiling in front of her. Her tense mood gradually relaxed.
In their eyes, Director Qin is a gentle and wise woman, and her smile is incredibly tender.
"More than ten years ago, I was an intern just like you. When I was working on a project about left-behind children, I met a ten-year-old who claimed he hadn't seen his parents for three years."
Qin Qiao spoke softly, her gaze drifting slightly into the distance: "I listened to his story, cried with him all afternoon, and even gave him all the pocket money I had. When I came back and wrote the article, even the punctuation marks were wet with tears. Later, the editorial department rejected it, and I realized that I had been deceived. His parents taught him to say that."
Wearing a business skirt, Qin Qiao crossed her legs, revealing long legs encased in flesh-colored stockings that gleamed under the light: "My mentor often said I was just a 'naive and sweet girl who only knew how to shed tears and write touching stories'."
At this point, Qin Qiao laughed first, and Song Yiyi followed suit.
“We have all paid the price for our kindness,” Qin Qiao added. “Journalism is like walking a tightrope; on one side is passion, on the other is composure. Leaning to either side is dangerous, so you have to find a comfortable ‘critical point’…”
Song Yiyi listened and nodded. Qin Qiao's patient words enlightened her. She opened her fingers one by one from her knees, regained her confidence, and after re-examining her career, she developed a solid aspiration.
She echoed Qin Qiao's words, saying, "Just like the article Wen wrote last month, 'Filial Son Kowtowing at Hospital Entrance Just to Save His Mother,'" Wen not only checked the family's annual income but also the hospital's payment records and social security reimbursement forms, discovering that 80% of the man's mother's medical expenses could be reimbursed, making the 500,000 yuan fundraising unnecessary. Unlike me, Wen didn't immediately write an article moved by the filial piety; this shows respect for her profession and responsibility to the millions of viewers watching on television.
Qin Qiao nodded in agreement: "Emotion and reason are not mutually exclusive." She smiled and said: "Going back to my 'reflections', the first time I read it, I saw your self-reflection; the second time, I saw your growth; the third time... I saw that you are a new sprout that is worth nurturing."
Receiving high praise and affirmation from her senior, Song Yiyi's eyes welled up with tears: "Thank you, Director. I will definitely stay true to myself while finding a balance."
After finishing her coffee, Song Yiyi got up, walked straight to the door, and then suddenly turned around.
He bowed thirty degrees to Qin Qiao: "Director and the others all say that you have been protecting me all along, thank you."
Qin Qiao smiled faintly, her lips parted slightly, and she said only four words: "Work hard."
The little girl said "Oh," pushed open the glass door, and ran out.
Qin Qiao chuckled to herself, returned to her desk, picked up her vibrating phone, and answered, "Mom, what's wrong?"
There are five days until New Year's Day. My uncle's youngest son, Guangguang, is getting married on the 3rd. Yang Shuhua has to go back early to help. I asked her if she was sure she was going back so she could give her aunt a definite answer.
Yang Shuhua mentioned her cousin's wedding last summer. At the time, Qin Qiao thought it was still far off and didn't think much of it. Now, receiving the call, she remembered and realized how fast time flies; her cousin is getting married in the blink of an eye.
"Of course I'll go," Qin Qiao replied to her mother.
She had originally planned to pick up Danie from Chen Jiashu in the morning, but due to the snow that hadn't cleared last night, the main road to his house was severely congested during the morning rush hour, so she had to turn around and go to work first.
The Audi was parked outside the large iron gate. Qin Qiao got out of the car, worried that Zhao Ye and Xi Xi would bother her, so she didn't go in. Instead, she called Chen Jiashu and asked him to have his aunt bring Danie over.
Chen Jiashu was still at the group, probably busy with something. He only briefly replied, "I'll have Auntie bring Danie down."
As Qin Qiao hung up the phone and frowned, her peripheral vision caught the bag she had tossed onto the back seat.
She turned around, stretched her arm between the two seats, scooped it up, and placed it on her lap.
Inside is a large bag; you can feel the smoothness of the leather even through the dust bag.
I opened the bag and took out this champagne-colored women's handbag. It was a very sophisticated color, and the leather had a high-end feel to it.
But it's only suitable for collecting, not for her to carry every day. Qin Qiao put the bag back in her pocket, tightened it, and placed it on the passenger seat.
*
At 1 a.m., Qiaoshu's public relations department released the employee's attendance records showing that he had been late for work for six months and that he had repeatedly insulted customers during phone calls, such as "Are you blind too? Can't you read the instruction manual?", "So what if you're able-bodied?", "Idiot," etc. Public opinion immediately reversed.
Among the more than 5,000 comments under a blog post published by a major self-media outlet, several comments claiming to be from disabled employees of the Qiaoshu Group were pushed to the top of the list due to their popularity.
Employee A: As an engineer who has worked in the R&D department of Qiaoshu for eight years, I feel I need to say a few words: When I graduated with my master's degree, many HR professionals who interviewed me politely declined because I use a wheelchair, citing the company's inadequate accessibility facilities. Later, I went to... back then it was still "Jiashu Electric Appliances Co., Ltd." Chairman Chen personally interviewed me. He said something I still remember to this day: "The capable rise, the mediocre fall. Our company welcomes people of all abilities, including friends with disabilities."
My homepage includes screenshots of my disability certificate, employee ID, and patent certificate. I am willing to take legal responsibility for every word I say. Those who slander Chairman Chen, you are destroying the hard-won workplace dignity of millions of disabled people!
Employee B: I met Chairman Chen seven years ago. I had dropped my employee ID card, and because I was wearing a prosthetic leg, it was inconvenient for me to pick it up. Chairman Chen picked it up for me and returned it to me. At that time, he was still able to see, so Chairman Chen's charity work was not done because he was blind or for show, but because he had been dedicated to this cause for many years.
Employee B: Xu Na is a repeat offender. Her supervisor gave her many chances, but a few days before she was fired, she accused the company of discriminating against disabled people. We disabled people don't want privileges, we want fairness.
Employee C: Xu Na's stunt will make more companies think that we disabled people are unreasonable and unwilling to hire us... It's outrageous!
......
At 7:00 AM, the China Disabled Persons' Federation released a neutral and objective commentary: "We support employment for people with disabilities, but we oppose equating disability with lower standards. True inclusion means providing equal opportunities, not lowering requirements, which is unfair to other hardworking people with disabilities."
Chen Jiashu posted a blog entry on social media at 8:10 AM:
This morning it snowed, reminding me of a snowy day eight years ago. A young man in a wheelchair came for an interview and asked me, "Are you really willing to give me this opportunity?" I remember answering, "Opportunities are two-way; I also want to thank you for choosing Jiashu Electric Appliances."
Today, he is a core member of the R&D department.
Professionalism, dedication, and competence are our only standards.
Over the years, we have been fulfilling this commitment.
Regarding the recent incident, as the head of the company, I feel deeply remorseful for the behavior of my team members who verbally abused customers. Regardless of the reason, this should never have happened. We have initiated a group-wide review of our service standards and are committed to strengthening employee training.
Seeing the statement from the Disabled Persons' Federation and the comments from my colleagues, I was both moved and deeply touched. True inclusion is not about lowering the bar, but about believing that everyone can reach the same level.
Some people ask: Why keep recordings of employees' work? Because here, we record everyone's growth and also face everyone's mistakes squarely.
The world is inherently unfair, but at least here, we can try to make it a little fairer.
In addition, many netizens are curious: Am I not blind?
It is important to clarify here: the medical examination report from last month clearly states that my visual acuity is 0.04, confirming that I am a legally blind person.
Ladies and gentlemen, this applies to life as well as work. Let's strive together. See you later.
Chen Jiashu
After posting this handwritten blog post, Chen Jiashu leaned back in his leather chair and closed his eyes to rest.
The computer screen remained off for more than ten seconds.
Chen Jiashu's eyelids twitched slightly; he was not asleep.
Over the past year, his vision in his left eye has steadily declined from 1.0 during the day. Each time he has an eye attack, his vision is impaired. After a glaucoma attack two weeks ago, his field of vision has shrunk to a single point. At this rate, he will become truly blind in less than six months.
What if he really goes blind? He will lose all his ability to see. Will the board of directors and shareholders believe that a blind man who needs others to read reports and contracts can manage the group well? To be honest, even he himself would find it hard to believe.
Sometimes he would ask himself if he really loved this position.
Why not?
Zhang Shuang even lost his life for the future of the group. Zhu Ao once struggled to protect the group for him. Everything here was built from scratch and came from the hard work of him and his brothers.
What about those long-time employees who believed in him from the beginning and fought alongside him...? What will happen to them if he leaves? What will happen to those more than 20,000 families?
But he also knew that if one day he no longer had the ability to lead them, he must not let himself ruin the lives of those who believed in him.
Chen Jiashu hadn't slept well last night and had drifted off to sleep. It was only when Assistant Zhang came to deliver some documents that he was gently woken up.
"Chairman Chen, it's 11:10."
Chen Jiashu was still a little dazed. He sat up, propped himself up with his right hand, and pinched the bridge of his nose.
His voice was hoarse: "Time to eat."
He then reached for his white cane, which was leaning against the low cabinet, but accidentally knocked it over.
With a "gurgle, gurgle," it rolled under the table. Chen Jiashu calmly got up, and Zhang Zhu quickly picked up the white cane and walked around to his side.
The cool shaft of the cane lightly touched the outside of his palm, and with his fingers moving forward half an inch, Chen Jiashu grabbed it and pulled it into his hand.
He tilted his head slightly and said, "Go to the finance department this afternoon. The Q3 financial report analysis isn't in-depth enough. Raw material costs have risen across the industry, so why is our increase 0.5% higher than our competitors? I need to see a detailed comparative analysis of the procurement side, by 5 PM."
Zhang Zhu didn't return until 1 p.m., carrying a stack of documents. He stood outside the desk and placed them in the area in front of Chen Jiashu where daily reports were kept.
Chen Jiashu put on his vision glasses, took a document, and said, "You can go now."
As Zhang Zhu was leaving, he passed by Zhu Ao, who was about to enter.
As soon as Zhu Ao entered, he asked, "What does Jia Shu want with me?"
Two hours ago, Chen Jiashu called him, his tone somewhat heavy. At the time, he was playing chess with Chairman Ma and couldn't ask too many questions. Chen Jiashu only asked him to come to the office after he returned to the company.
Chen Jiashu turned his head and casually lifted his eyelids: "Tao Ting came to the group to see me at noon."
Zhu Ao paused, then stepped forward in surprise: "What's she doing here?"
Chen Jiashu took off his glasses, stood up, walked around the desk, raised his hand, and then the two of them walked together towards the sofa.
Zhu Ao waited until Chen Jiashu sat down before sitting on the single sofa next to him. Looking at his friend's grave expression, he suddenly felt a pang of annoyance, his fingers unconsciously tapping the armrest: "I admit I was wrong about that matter, and I was punished... but she doesn't trust me at all now..."
“She either suspects me of having a secret stash of money, or she suspects that my parents have a problem with her… We’ve had heart-to-heart talks about this more than once. My salary is in her account, and I report my whereabouts to her at all times. I feel like I could lay my heart out to her! Every time we talk, it’s like giving her a tranquilizer. It only works for three days before she starts causing trouble again.”
He let out a long breath. What was more tiring than the work itself was dealing with these trivial matters every day. Now that he had found someone to confide in, he poured everything out.
Adjusting his glasses, Zhu Ao looked back into Chen Jiashu's dark eyes.
These eyes were like the frozen surface of a lake on a winter night, deep and cold, yet possessing the ability to see through everything.
Those people in the group were somewhat wary of him because they couldn't figure out his true intentions or control him.
Zhu Ao knew better than anyone the extent of Chen Jiashu's cunning.
Even so, whenever Chen Jiashu looked at him with that kind of gaze, Zhu Ao's heart always sank, feeling like it couldn't find its bottom.
Chen Jiashu leaned forward slightly: "Zhu Ao... we've known each other for fifteen or sixteen years, and I know your character well. With so much work pressure, it's easy to neglect the important people around you."
"Here's what I'll do: I'll give you three days off. Take her out for a walk, see a movie, and eat her favorite food... That's more effective than any comforting words. Some scenery is only truly appreciated when you have someone with you."
At the end, a hint of a smile appeared in Chen Jiashu's eyes.
Zhu Ao opened his mouth, wanting to say that with the end of the year approaching, there were many meetings and a lot of things to do at the group. But since Chen Jiashu had said so, it meant that he had already made up his mind, so Zhu Ao had no choice but to swallow the words that were rolling in his throat.
"Three days is just right for a short trip around the area. I'll call Tao Ting now."
Zhu Ao walked out and stopped outside the office door.
His hand gripped the doorknob, but he didn't make a second move. This continued for a long time, so long that the phone in his other hand vibrated.
Just like the first alarm clock in the morning, Zhu Ao was startled, then pushed open the door and walked into the office, went straight to his desk, sat down in the leather chair, and the alarm was still ringing.
It was his wife, who was always making a fuss and came to complain to Chen Jiashu again.
Zhu Ao had a headache so bad that he swiped the screen to answer the call.
Before she could even speak, Tao Ting yelled at the top of her lungs, "Something terrible has happened! Something's wrong with Qin Qiao!"
The second half of the sentence made Zhu Ao's hand tremble, almost causing him to drop his phone. He didn't have time to think about how Tao Ting had run into Qin Qiao, and asked urgently, "Where are they now?"
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