Chapter 21
Translator: Aafkee
Proofreader: Superclubs2
During the lunch break on Monday, Lu Chuiqing and Song Wenxin continued their chat after finishing their meals. Lu Chuiqing asks Song Wenxin quietly, “Song Wenxin, I heard you have someone you know working in the company’s bond’s funding department?”
Song Wenxin, “Yeah, the same person who told me about Young Master Fang last time. What’s wrong?”
“Then, can you help me ask if our company has a lot of short term financing bonds?” Lu Chuiqing scratches his head, “Just ask him casually.”
“Short-term financing bonds?” Song Wenxin is bewildered, “Sure, I can ask, but why are you suddenly interested in short-term financing bonds?”
Lu Chuiqing, “Actually, I’ve heard from one of my seniors working in the stocks and bonds industry that short-term financing bonds are pretty risky nowadays. He is in charge of researching the new materials industry, so companies like Jin Guang Compound or Bo Da Materials… You can remind your friend to avoid it if your friend is researching that.”
“Bo Da Materials? That pretty hot company that was on the research report?”
Lu Chuiqing nods, wanting to continue but their departmental manager’s assistant walks over from the side suddenly and calls for them, “Xiao-Lu, Xiao-Song, Manager Qian asks for you guys to meet her in her office fifteen minutes before your lunch break ends.”
Lu Chuiqing and Song Wenxin glance at each other, both their eyes filled with puzzlement. They quickly reply, “Got it.”
After the assistant walked away, Song Wenxin asked, puzzled, “I wonder what Manager Qian is looking for us for?”
Lu Chuiqing has no clue either, “I have no idea, perhaps there are some problems with our reports? But Manager Qian is not responsible for our reports.”
“I don’t think we’re gonna get reprimanded either… Or fifteen minutes would be too short.” Song Wenxin continues, “Maybe there’s new work for us?”
Before they start working after their lunch break, the two arrive at Manager Qian’s office as she has requested. Manager Qian is drinking her tea while flipping through the documents. Seeing the two walking into her office with nervous expressions on their faces, she lifts her head with a smile, comforting them, “Have a seat. No need to be nervous, I’m not here to reprimand you.”
She closes the document file in her hands and says, “Jia Xin Stocks is coming over to our department next month for an important roadshow and we need people to organise some information before we filter the companies out. There may even be two banquets afterwards. I have already notified Xiao-Liu to bring the two of you along to get this sorted out.”
The two finally relax after hearing Manager Qian’s words. Having work arranged for them is not a problem at all. Rather, this shows how Manager Qian trusts their working capabilities.
Manager Qian gives them a quick rundown on the roadshow and some important things to take note of before saying, “That’s all for now, Xiao-Liu will give you guys a more concrete explanation later. Xiao-Song, you can go back now. Xiao-Lu, stay back for a little while.”
Asking the two of them for a chat was for work, but it’s a different story when he is asked to stay back alone. Song Wenxin gives Lu Chuiqing a look, wishing him good luck before he leaves the office.
Lu Chuiqing sits upright as Manager Qian says, “Xiao-Lu, I need to go on a business trip to City Z and City B with a few of the managers from the bonds funding department. We need to go through a few companies, they are our old clients and invested quite a lot in our company so we need to keep in good contact with them. We’ll need a few people to run errands for us during the trip. You’ll come with us.”
Although that’s extra work, Lu Chuiqing understands that Manager Qian is taking this opportunity to develop him. He quickly replies, “Yes, I understand. I will make sure to make preparations for it.”
Manager Qian nods her head in appreciation.
The schedule is extremely tight given that they have to go to two different cities in two to three days. Lu Chuiqing has never been to City Z before, but he is very familiar with City B because that was the city he lived in for five years after his marriage in his previous life.
Lu Chuiqing got his Bachelor’s and Masters in University N, a top local university near City B. Since he had married Chen Yuan when he was still doing his Masters, they naturally settled down in City B after graduation.
Similar to City S, where he is living right now, City B is a city that has very high living standards, and the financial industry is pretty developed there as well. Besides, due to preferential taxation policies for businesses, many companies have decided to settle in City B, one of the examples being the headquarters of the China branch of Sheng An Insurance.
On Friday, the group arrives at City B. Lu Chuiqing can not help but get distracted after stepping out of the airport and is faced with a scene that he has not seen for three years.
Strictly speaking, it is not accurate to say that he has not seen this city for three years. The hotel right beside the airport had only officially opened for business in his third year of marriage in his previous life. Right now, the hotel has only just completed its construction.
Other than that, everything looks the same as he has remembered.
Lu Chuiqing gathers himself. He will never forget how he once had a person he loves very much in this city, how he once had a relationship that has been etched in his memory and became a part of him.
As someone who is accompanying his boss on a business trip, he is basically only there to run errands and help out wherever he can. Other than eating lunch with their clients, Manager Qian also told him that there is a banquet that night where he and a few other employees are responsible for reservation and various arrangements to receive a guest.
“Do you remember Manager Chen Yuan? The one who attended our company’s anniversary celebration?” Manager Qian asks, “He is my ex-schoolmate. I’ve promised to hold a welcoming dinner for him, and coincidentally, he lives in City B.”
The smile on Lu Chuiqing’s face freezes slightly, his expression changes for a split second. He conceals the changes on his face from Manager Qian and answers, “Yes, I understand.”
That night, Lu Chuiqing follows Manager Qian to the restaurant lobby to wait for Chen Yuan. Chen Yuan drove here alone, he does not have anyone accompanying him. Spotting Chen Yuan, Manager Qian quickly walks up to him and welcomes him passionately while shaking his hand. She smiles, “Manager Chen, welcome, welcome! We prepared this in a rush so please excuse us.”
Lu Chuiqing carries the present Manager Qian has prepared for Chen Yuan and stands at the side as he waits for the two to finish their greetings, only greeting Chen Yuan himself when the timing becomes appropriate.
Chen Yuan clearly remembers him. He smiles slightly as he looks at Lu Chuiqing and says gently, “Hello.”
Manager Qian, “I don’t know what you like to drink usually, so I’ve prepared a few rolls of Pu’er tea* from 2003. Come, Xiao-Li, help Manager Chen put the tea leaves in his car.”
(T/N*: A type of Chinese tea. The tea leaves are usually processed, dried and pressed into a flat roll. Similar to wine, the year of production seems to affect the quality of the leaves too.)
Chen Yuan smiles and expresses his thanks as he passes his car keys to Lu Chuiqing while explaining where his car is parked. Lu Chuiqing knows immediately that it is the same car from his previous life as soon as he looks at the keys on his palm.
There are no changes to Chen Yuan at all. The only difference is the fact that Lu Chuiqing is no longer by his side.
Lu Chuiqing returns to the private room in the restaurant after putting the tea leaves in Chen Yuan’s car and sits in the empty seat beside a colleague who has a similar rank to him. Although the table is surrounded by his superiors and leaders, the atmosphere is relatively warm and relaxed because it is a welcoming dinner.
The group of superiors touches on the topic of the upcoming peak recruitment season in Autumn, and someone begins to complain about how the applicants would have an extravagant resume and even did well in interviews, only realising loads of problems with those applicants’ actual skills and personalities after hiring them.
An HR manager rants, “It is so easy for us to get tricked when we are recruiting, so much so that I don’t even want to recruit fresh graduates directly from universities anymore. The newly graduated students nowadays are so skilled at making themselves look good in their interviews but can barely withstand any stress or pressure. They can’t even bear to hear a little criticism about themselves.”
“That’s hard to say.” Manager Qian smiles and says, “Xiao-Lu from my department is a fresh graduate from last year, but he is steadfast and competent so I am extremely satisfied with him. Xiao-Lu, if my memory serves me right, you graduated from University N, right?”
Lu Chuiqing answers, “Yes, you’re right.”
The managers laugh, commenting on how different graduates from top universities are indeed different. They go on to talk about how long they have been in this industry, and the importance of learning to judge a person’s character accurately to reach their current position. Lu Chuiqing has been working with them for the past few days. Most of the managers there have a pretty good idea of how competent Lu Chuiqing is.
Lu Chuiqing touches his hair, slightly embarrassed, his face bashful but the edge of his lips are curved up slightly. Looking at him right now, Lu Chuiqing looks even more like a young student that is still studying.
Although those are merely shallow praises, no one had said those words to Lu Chuiqing in the past.
The colleague sitting next to Lu Chuiqing lifts his eyes and glances at Lu Chuiqing. A hint of hate and disgust flashing across his eyes as he rolled them, thinking about how much of a pretence Lu Chuiqing is.
Hearing that Lu Chuiqing has graduated from University N, Chen Yuan’s gaze falls on the shy Lu Chuiqing, his expressions subconsciously becoming more gentle as he follows the conversation naturally, “Our company has worked with University N’s Master’s students for several projects before, students from University N are indeed outstanding.”
Of course, Lu Chuiqing knows exactly what Chen Yuan is referring to, it was when he had met Chen Yuan for the first time in his previous life. He smiles at Chen Yuan politely and answers, “I know of that project, but I had something urgent to take care of and missed the opportunity. It was a pity.”
The group continues with their dinner as they chat along and at some point, they begin chatting about Chen Yuan. A manager with the last name Li is probably pretty close to Chen Yuan so he teases, “Old Chen, just when exactly are you planning to get married? We’re all waiting for your wedding invitation.”
Manager Qian, “People like Manager Chen must have really high standards, so he’ll have to be patient and wait for a suitable one. By the way, Old Li, aren’t you only married for two years?”
Lu Chuiqing is surprised, is Chen Yuan not married yet?
“Hey, that’s different. I’m nowhere at Manager Chen’s level.” Manager Li takes a mouthful of alcohol as he glances around, his eyes finally landing on Lu Chuiqing in the end.
Manager Li is someone who loves gossip and is not bothered about trifles, so he asks straightforwardly, “Xiao-Lu, do you have a partner?”
To be honest, Lu Chuiqing does not like discussing his private matters in front of his superiors. After all, work is work and it should be clearly separated from his private life. Anyone would feel helpless when they face a superior who loves to gossip.
Since Lu Chuiqing does not want to offend his superiors, he has no alternatives but to answer, “Not yet.”
“Are you sure?” Manager Li sounds surprised, “There is nothing to be embarrassed about, Xiao-Lu. You must have been very popular in school, right?”
Lu Chuiqing smiles as he silently curses. He thought his parents and relatives were the only ones he needed to avoid. He never thought that he would have someone else asking him about his love life even during the dinner of his business trip.
Lu Chuiqing did not notice Chen Yuan lifting his eyes slightly, his gaze landing on Lu Chuiqing’s side profile.
As the dinner comes to an end, Manager Qian’s phone rings. She glances at her screen and exclaims, “Ah, I have a call from CEO Fang, I need to pick up this call.”
She stands up and quickly walks to the balcony of the private room, picking up the call, “Good evening, CEO Fang. Yes… Yes… That’s right, we’ll be heading to City Z tomorrow… Hm… Yeah… We have enough people here… That’s right… Manager Yuan? Okay, that is not a problem… Yeah… I will arrange for it immediately… Yeah… Alright, goodbye and a good night to you, CEO Fang.”
Manager Qian hangs up the phone and returns to the room. Manager Li asks curiously, “What does CEO Fang want?”
“You know Yuan Ning, right? The General Manager of Value Scan.” Manager Qian continues, “He has something to settle in City Z. There is apparently an important event tomorrow and they are lacking manpower, so they need one or two researchers that do industry research. Since we’re going to City Z tomorrow anyway, CEO Fang asks us to send him one or two people.”
Manager Li, “Oh, for CEO Fang to ask directly like this, just how much influence does Manager Yuan have?”
Manager Qian grins, “Of course it’s not Manager Yuan. Who do you think is Manager Yuan earning money for? CEO Xiao, of course. Manager Yuan was one of CEO Fang’s high management executive candidates when he was still in Zhong Ming, everyone knew. In the end, when CEO Xiao established his own company and lacked talent, he poached Manager Yuan straight away and CEO Fang just let him have Manager Yuan with no resistance at all.”
Manager Li tuts in wonder, “Seriously though, I sometimes even think that CEO Xiao might be CEO Fang’s real son.”
“It’s mainly because of Young Master Shao…” Manager Qian purses her lips mid-sentence and smiles, “Forget it, I can’t say such things.”
Manager Qian turns her head towards Lu Chuiqing and says, “Xiao-Lu, you and Xiao-Wu can go straight to Manager Yuan. All you have to do is listen to Manager Yuan’s arrangements.”
Lu Chuiqing’s attention has already been shifted to the conversation between the two managers the second he heard ‘Value Scan’. Hearing Manager Qian’s request, Lu Chuiqing quickly assents.
Is there a chance that Lu Chuiqing will see Xiao Zhan on this trip? I feel that he needs something positive to offset the heavy feeling he seems to have after meeting with Chen Yuan again. Besides, it looks like Chen Yuan is thinking about pursuing him, which is the last thing our MC needs right now.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the chapter ❤
He really does need some positive energy. After all, the end of his previous life was pretty tragic. ):
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