Chapter 213 Reward
Hearing the breaking sound, Old Wang rushed in. He was in his early fifties and his eyesight wasn't what it used to be. It took him a while to adjust to the darkness before he could see where his boss was.
And facial expressions.
Gloomy and cold, like a sudden cold front sweeping in like a storm; if you're not careful, you'll be sucked into an ice cave and forced to your death.
He was so startled that he spoke in a very low voice: "Jay Chou, should we turn on the lights?"
Zhou Pingchuan's profile was hidden in the dim light from the window, his expression inscrutable. He didn't answer Old Wang's question, but instead asked, "Where is Mr. Xia?"
"Mr. Xia didn't ask me to see him off; he took a taxi and left on his own."
Which direction did he go?
Is this... a fight between the couple? Even the police station is unwilling to mediate family conflicts, let alone a driver like him. He could easily make a mistake by saying too much or too little.
Old Wang felt a chill run down his spine and his heart pounded: "Let's head east, that's the direction the taxi was going. Mr. Zhou, don't move, let me clean up the glass shards first."
Fearing that Zhou Pingchuan might get cut by the glass shards, and also to avoid the topic, Lao Wang groped his way towards the French windows.
"Please lift your foot slightly," Old Wang reminded the boss, noticing a sharp shard of glass near his feet.
Zhou Pingchuan didn't move, still looking out the window.
Old Wang had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "You... don't worry, Mr. Xia left and the bodyguards followed right away, so he's absolutely safe. I'll have the bodyguards track his location once he gets out of the car."
Zhou Pingchuan closed his eyes briefly before looking away.
Old Wang is always meticulous in his work. He not only cleaned up the broken glass and dried the windows, but also prepared the bathwater and decanted the red wine for him.
Zhou Pingchuan didn't use the bathtub, just took a quick shower. After drinking half a bottle of red wine, whether it was jet lag or the unpleasant feeling of sleeping on a street corner with the littered homeless, he was surprisingly wide awake and not sleepy at all.
Tonight will likely be a sleepless night.
He hadn't experienced insomnia for many years and didn't want to, so he simply called everyone and went straight back to China.
The original return date was not today; time was too tight, and the business jet route could not be adjusted, so they took a red-eye flight back.
It was 3 PM when they landed in Beijing. Xia Mingzhao rubbed her eyes and asked Zhou Pingchuan, "Mr. Zhou, where to next?"
"Back to the company."
The airplane was so loud that Xia Mingzhao kept dozing off and waking up, her eyes drooping from sleepiness, looking pitiful and cute: "Aren't you going back to rest? You haven't slept in a long time."
Zhou Pingchuan: "If you're tired, you can ask your department head for half a day of sick leave and go home to rest."
Half a day of sick leave... Xia Mingzhao's expression darkened.
He had been in frequent contact with Zhou Pingchuan recently and was already familiar with Zhou Pingchuan's coldness and indifference, and had gotten used to it.
But he still couldn't accept that things had to be handled so formally.
Especially last night, Zhou Pingchuan didn't even blink when bidding on jewelry worth hundreds of millions to give Xia Mian a gift. But he's like a completely different person to him; the contrast is so stark that it's hard to accept.
However... Xia Mian is also in Paris, but Zhou Pingchuan is not waiting for him to return to China together. Has something happened between the two of them?
Zhou Pingchuan bought these jewels... to make Xia Mian happy?
After the auction ended last night, Zhou Pingchuan sent Xia Mingzhao back to the hotel under the pretext of a private dinner, so Xia Mingzhao was unaware that the two had met last night.
Old Wang was very tight-lipped and never discussed his boss's private affairs. Even after Xia Mingzhao tried to subtly inquire several times on the street, he couldn't get any information and could only guess.
The more Xia Mingzhao thought about it, the more reasonable his guess seemed, and he came up with a plan.
"I have a report I haven't finished writing yet. I'm not tired, let's go back together."
Zhou Pingchuan was supposed to return to the company the day after tomorrow, and before leaving, he instructed Yu Heng to take charge of the work. Seeing his sudden return, the senior executives of Kepler looked at each other in bewilderment, then quickly returned to their offices, locked the doors, and avoided incurring the chairman's wrath and getting scolded for no reason.
Yu Heng was also quite surprised. The beginning of the year is the busiest time, and Zhou Pingchuan's schedule is accurate to the minute for every event. It is really rare for him to be able to come back early.
Yu Heng's wife was about to give birth and dared not go out of the city, so he did not go out with Zhou Pingchuan this time. He greeted, "Chairman Zhou, Mingzhao, did it go smoothly this time?"
"It went very smoothly and I gained a lot. I plan to go back to my department and write the points from this summit into my report. Oh, by the way," Xia Mingzhao asked casually, "Mr. Zhou, what about those auctioned items?"
Last night, to avoid disrupting his in-depth conversation with Xia Mian, Zhou Pingchuan had the auction house deliver the auction items to the hotel where Xia Mingzhao and his entourage were staying. As Zhou Pingchuan's relatives, practically family, they naturally entrusted their priceless possessions to Xia Mingzhao for safekeeping, so the safe and digital keys were all in Xia Mingzhao's possession.
"Throw it away," Zhou Pingchuan said.
Xia Mingzhao was startled, which confirmed her guess. She smiled gently and said, "It's so expensive. Please don't joke around. I'll take it back for A-Ting to keep. We'll send it to Longxi whenever you want it."
After speaking, Xia Mingzhao left the office.
From the boss's attitude, Yu Heng sensed that a storm was brewing.
The waitress brought over coffee, which Zhou Pingchuan sipped slowly. Yu Heng dared not make a move and stood obediently in front of the desk, waiting for his superior's instructions.
After finishing his coffee, Zhou Pingchuan spoke up, asking as usual, "How's the company doing these past few days?"
"All projects are proceeding as planned. There was a minor issue in East China, where the quality inspection pass rate was just below the standard upon delivery, but it has been resolved and has not affected our reputation."
“Since last year, East China has encountered problems more than once or twice,” Zhou Pingchuan put down his coffee cup. “Tell Lao Li that if he is no longer able to handle the situation, I can arrange for him to retire early.”
Yu Heng's eyes sharpened: "Yes, Mr. Zhou."
"Besides that?"
After finishing discussing the major issues, Yu Heng recounted some minor incidents that occurred within the company, such as which manager had argued with which manager for a long time, and which manager was summoned by the finance department for exceeding the budget, etc.
Finally, he thought for a moment: "Young Master Zhou Ting never missed a single day of his internship. He was always running around between different projects and endured a lot of hardship. His colleagues and department manager all spoke highly of him."
Yu Heng had been by Zhou Pingchuan's side for a long time and knew that the Zhou family intended to cultivate this eldest grandson of the first branch, and also knew that Zhou Pingchuan valued Zhou Ting highly.
Zhou Pingchuan raised his left eyebrow: "You've suffered a lot."
He asked casually, but Yu Heng sensed something unusual in his words and carefully replied, "Spring has arrived, and several development projects in the north have started construction. I heard that Young Master Zhou Ting has been running around to the construction sites and has even drawn up the blueprints himself."
“That’s good. It’s a good thing to be able to endure hardship. If you want something for nothing, you have to be able to handle such a big task. Since he’s working so hard,” Zhou Pingchuan put down his coffee cup, “please book me a dinner table at the restaurant. I’ll treat my nephew to a meal and treat him properly.”
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