Chapter 4
Translator: Aafkee
Proofreader: Superclubs2
Two years later.
“Hey, Yuanyuan.” Zhou Ruiyang is currently sitting on a sofa in a male clothing shop, carrying a paper bag with one hand while using his mobile phone on the other, “I am over here together with Chuiqing. We’re getting some clothes for work.”
Lu Chuiqing is trying out many working suits of different types and styles, choosing carefully. As he is contemplating between buying the white or the pale blue shirt, he can hear Zhou Ruiyang explaining something as if he is aggrieved.
“No… Yuanyuan, didn’t you say you’re gonna join your class gathering? That was why I didn’t look for you…” Zhou Ruiyang says grudgingly, “It was not my intention to hide anything. It won’t even take that long.”
Zhou Ruiyang finally finished his call and let out a deep sigh just as Lu Chuiqing finished his shopping.
“What’s wrong? Are you in a fight with Yuanyuan again?”
Zhou Ruiyang feels a bit perplexed, “She is faulting me for going out shopping with others. She is even jealous of you for spending time with me. It is not that she doesn’t know that we have been friends for literally years. Just because you are an omega, doesn’t mean she should assume that there is something between us.”
Lu Chuiqing hesitates, “Ruiyang, I want to ask you something but please don't be pissed, alright? Do you really feel… that Liu Yuanyuan is suitable for you? I am not saying that she is not good, I am just asking.”
“It hasn’t even been half a year since we got together, there is no way I can tell if she is suitable or not. But I do wish we can get along. Yuanyuan does get jealous easily, but she is pretty good otherwise.” Zhou Ruiyang glances over at him, “How about you? Why are you not looking for a partner? I am pretty sure there are quite many people from school that will pursue you willingly.”
“Why must I look for one from school?” Lu Chuiqing shrugs it off, “Besides, I have been quite busy lately.”
“Buddy, you have been saying that since three years ago. Your CPA exams are already done, you are even starting your internship soon. Given your abilities, you’ll probably graduate with no problems at all after your internship. You may even work full-time straight from your internship.” Zhou Ruiyang says as he lifts his hand and punches his shoulder, “Man, you are too freaking amazing.”
Lu Chuiqing laughs and punches back.
Lu Chuiqing was not confident of passing all the subjects during the second exam last October. Lu Chuiqing did not even have the courage to check his own results during the day of release. It was Zhou Ruiyang who forced him to check his results in the end.
Lu Chuiqing’s fingers were trembling while clicking on his mouse, opening the webpage with his results. He passed two of his courses with no problems at all. He even passed the course which he had no confidence in, albeit barely.
That night, Lu Chuiqing ran round after round at the tracks. He ran so much that even his bones were hurting and his muscles burning. He ended up lying on the tracks, faced up, and let out the most relaxing sigh he had in the past few years.
In the past two years, there were times when he was so exhausted that he did not even have the energy to cry. There were also times when he would question his own ability and could not sleep the whole night. He naturally slimmed down without even trying due to all the stress and pressure.
The him after marriage had worked hard and tried twice for the exam, but his confidence has taken a great hit from his continuous failure. But he has finally done it. Not for Chen Yuan’s sake, not for anyone else, but for himself and his own future.
After getting his CPA certification, Lu Chuiqing has decided to intern at Pu Qin Accountant Firm (普勤会计师事务所) to gain work experience.
Lu Chuiqing usually wears t-shirts and jeans. He has never bought a proper working suit before. Since Zhou Ruiyang wants to buy a set as well, both of them decided to come out together this weekend to do some shopping.
Lu Chuiqing has to stop by a second gender shop later. He has been wearing the same gland repressing collar for almost three years. The battery is running out quicker as time passes, it is time to buy a replacement.
Omegas do not usually have to wear a collar. It all depends on the density of one’s pheromone secretion. Lu Chuiqing’s heat is around April. His pheromones are usually mild outside his heats. There are times when his secretion gets a bit dense, those are the only times, as well as the ten days before and after his heats, when he would need to wear his collar.
Lu Chuiqing generally uses functional, rechargeable electrical collars. These electric collars can be used to block off the pheromones secretion while discharging doses of medicine to alleviate the symptoms of heats. Under the intense level of pheromone secretion during his heats, a fully charged collar can be used for about ten hours in a day.
There are many different types of collars; for home use, for work, even those with no functionality or those for sexual plays. Those ones are not electric and can only serve as normal clothing as it cannot alleviate symptoms nor can it block off secretions. It can be worn anytime depending on one’s interest.
Those functional types for work are generally thinner and narrower. They also cost about 2000 dollars*, as they have a much longer idle battery life. Lu Chuiqing’s family can only be categorised as a middle-income family at best, so he is a bit stingy with the money he spends. He could not bring himself to buy an expensive one for when he was still going to university, but since he is going to start his internship soon, he thought this is the perfect opportunity to reward himself with a more expensive one with superior quality.
(T/N*: According to Mr Google, 2000 RMB is about 310 USD)
They walk along the street and chat idly, Zhou Ruiyang asks, “Are you planning to work for the firm in the future?”
Lu Chuiqing has thought through a lot during this period of time, he now has a very clear idea of what he wants to do, “I would prefer working for a corporation.”
“What type? Investments? Financial securities? Funding? Insurance?”
Lu Chuiqing replies with certainty, “Zhong Ming Funding (中铭基金).”
Zhong Ming Funding is one of the major local private corporations in the industry. Their performance has been very outstanding in recent years, regardless of raising funds, selling funds, or assets management. It can definitely be considered as one of the leading corporations in the industry.
Zhong Ming Funding also has a considerably good work environment and employee benefits, which means they will also have a strict and rigorous recruiting process.
“It probably isn’t easy to get into Zhong Ming.” Zhou Ruiyang sighs, “I have a senior who really wanted to get into Zhong Ming, she is working at Tian Hong Funding (天鸿基金) now. She even went to the second round of interviews, but she was dropped in the end. That was the only reason why she ended up at Tian Hong. Zhong Ming seems to be only recruiting those who already have professional experience though, the chances of getting recruited straight after graduation aren’t high…”
Lu Chuiqing sighs, “That is precisely why I have to work harder.”
Zhou Ruiyang laughs, “It is difficult for sure, but buddy, I have trust in you. You are way better than my senior. I have heard that Zhong Ming regards the CPA certificate quite highly. Your qualification definitely has a pretty high value.”
“Yeah yeah, you can stop flattering me.”
“Oh, right. Fang Jiaming, the CEO of Zhong Ming? Do you know who his eldest nephew is?”
There is no one in the funding and investment industry that does not know the name Fang Jiaming. But Lu Chuiqing does not have any intentions of having a deeper understanding of others’ family and relationships. There is no way he would know who Fang Jiaming’s nephew is, so he asks without much thought, “Who?”
“Xiao Zhan*, I’m not sure if you know him.” Zhou Ruiyang says, “Value Scan’s founder and CEO.”
(T/N*: No, not the actor from Untamed. Our dear ML here is called 肖展, not 肖战.)
Shocked, Lu Chuiqing asks, “Xiao Zhan? Really?”
“Really. I saw it on Tianyan* the other day while browsing online. Xiao Zhan is also one of Zhong Ming Funding’s stockholders, holding a pretty big share at that too.”
(T/N*: The novel’s version of Google)
Xiao Zhan’s and Value Scan’s reputation now is nothing compared to five years in the future. But when the market opens again next year soon after the New Years celebrations, Value Scan will expose how the rise in stock value of a certain food company called Qifu Provisions (七福食品) was fabricated. Value Scan will report on how Qifu Provisions has actually falsely reported their business revenue and misleading buyers, causing an uproar within the market.
In his previous life, Value Scan was able to buy off all Qifu Provisions’ rapidly falling stocks caused by the scandal. Qifu Provisions suffered severe losses. It was extremely hard for Qifu Provisions to remain in the industry. Qifu Provisions was forced to halt its operations immediately. Although Qifu Provisions was able to resume its operations afterwards, the market expectations of Qifu Provisions remained grim after its stocks were completely bought out by Value Scan, which has continued to have detrimental effects on Qifu Provisions’ stocks for the next four years, with no chance of turning over.
Since then, the finance industry got to know Xiao Zhan’s name.
Some complimented him for his insane foresight, while others, mostly the smaller stock players, complained about his apparently unethical methods and many other grieving and unhappy remarks of those who had suffered a loss because of Qifu Provisions.
But it was undeniable that Qifu Provisions did indeed have serious problems with its internal processes. Companies such as Value Scan that do such practices do not usually target a company that has nothing to hide in the first place.
After Qifu Provisions’ incident, Value Scan’s reputation built up rapidly. Xiao Zhan also became the one everyone loves and hates in the finance industry.
Disregarding those who hated him, everyone loved him for his foresight, his presence and manners, and his means of doing things.
Lu Chuiqing also vaguely remembers that within two years after Qifu Provisions’ incident, Xiao Zhan acquired a small company under his own name. That company was facing bankruptcy due to its failed application for the initial public funding. It was a Private Equity/Venture Capital company. Although Xiao Zhan did not take up the CEO position of the acquired company, he was indeed the company’s biggest stockholder and had the most control over the company.
In the end, that company was revived by Xiao Zhan’s executive team, even its revenues increased gradually.
Lu Chuiqing reminisces over his memories of those years. Although he was already a full-time housewife by then, he took the time to find out and understand that news only because he was too bored and had nothing to do at home. Besides, as someone with an accountancy and finance education background, the incident has left a great impression on him.
Lu Chuiqing replies, “I have heard of him.”
“If you really do end up in Zhong Ming Funding, you may even get the chance to meet him.” Zhou Ruiyang continues, “But Fang Jiaming does have some stories too. He apparently pampers his eldest nephew more than he does his own son, Fang Shaojun. Almost as if Xiao Zhan is the blood-related son. But Fang Shaojun has so many resources and such a good network, he was able to start his own company called Jun Yuan Wealth. The fact that the company remained mediocre even after so many years of operation, speaks something about him.”
The conversations peaked Zhou Ruiyang’s desire to gossip, “Don’t you smell a hint of drama in there? The Xiao family and Fang family are both big shots in the financial industry, are they not? Such families always have some sort of dark secret, don’t you think? Look, Xiao Zhan’s father was initially from investments, his uncle is another big shot of the financial industry. I heard he even has two other younger siblings, who are all doing pretty well in the industry. It truly means something to be born into such a family. There is no way you can fail with such resources and network unless you are retarded.”
Lu Chuiqing replies, “How did you know so many details……?
Zhou Ruiyang does not have many hobbies, and one of them is to read about all the scandals and gossips of the finance industry.
But he is right. Most people do not have such backing. But such huge gaps are where normal people get their motivations from.
The Lu Chuiqing right now would never have thought that Xiao Zhan would be involved in his life in any way.
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Author’s note:
It is almost impossible to fabricate numbers in the current local market, so please imagine this as a market with much more freedom that exists in the future~
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