Chapter 22
Translator: Aafkee
Proofreader: Superclubs2
Lu Chuiqing has never seen Value Scan’s General Manager before. From the managers’ conversation, he has a rough impression of this outstanding young General Manager who is thought highly of by both CEO Fang and CEO Xiao.
Is he someone who’s strict and doesn’t smile often? Or is he someone like CEO Xiao, unfathomable yet mature and charming?
After arriving at City Z, Lu Chuiqing and his male colleague named Wu Xu travel to the meeting point together. This colleague is a researcher from the bond funds department, Lu Chuiqing has never seen him before. However, for some reason, the other party does not seem to like him very much.
Lu Chuiqing can not make sense of it. He ponders over it, reflecting on his own actions for the past few days and deciding that he did not do anything that would offend the party in the past two days. Rather, this colleague of his has taken full advantage of the fact that he is two years older than Lu Chuiqing and the fact that his experience is slightly more than Lu Chuiqing’s, ordering Lu Chuiqing about to do this and that.
Experience is extremely important in the workplace, even amongst colleagues of the same seniority. Lu Chuiqing does not have any complaints, but he does feel puzzlement and sadness seeing the other party’s obvious display of indifference and impatience, especially every time Lu Chuiqing tries to start a conversation with him.
The two arrive at the conference centre Manager Yuan is at and they can see a person that looks like an assistant at the entrance waiting for them. Indeed, it seems like they do need people pretty urgently. The assistant quickly brought them in, his steps hurried.
Lu Chuiqing sees a man in a suit standing among the crowd from afar. The assistant called out “Manager” to which Yuan Ning responded by turning and walking towards them, “Are they here?”
Lu Chuiqing lifts his head to look, stopping in his tracks the moment he sees his face.
This person… isn’t he Xiaoluo’s boyfriend?!
Guan Xiaoluo has shown Lu Chuiqing his boyfriend’s photo before. Although it was quite a while ago when they just started living together, Lu Chuiqing has a deep impression of Xiaoluo’s boyfriend given his very standard fresh and upright, handsome appearance.
He didn’t think Xiaoluo’s boyfriend would be Value Scan’s General Manager! So when Xiaoluo was ranting about how his boyfriend is always so busy with work, and how his boyfriend’s boss would ask him to work overtime during his rest days -- wasn’t he referring to Xiao Zhan?
Recalling that Lu Chuiqing even scolded the other party when he was trying to console Xiaoluo, Lu Chuiqing feels guilty all of a sudden.
His colleague greets Yuan Ning respectfully while Lu Chuiqing lags slightly behind due to his mind wandering. His colleague glances at him, a hint of disdain in his eyes as if he looks down on him.
Yuan Ning gets right to the point and tells them what needs to be done. After delegating the work to them, the assistant quickly brings the two to a temporary office on the second floor. Lu Chuiqing can not help looking over his shoulders at Yuan Ning, his heart still filled with surprise at the coincidence.
Lu Chuiqing and his colleague are tasked to do an urgent analysis framework for the general overview of the industry and they are only given a few hours.
They worked non-stop until two in the afternoon and Lu Chuiqing took on the responsibility for the majority of the organisation and analysis of the data, he did not even have time to eat proper lunch.
In the end, his colleague has basically only done the filtering and summary. Instead, he volunteered to do the final presentation. Using the data and framework organised by Lu Chuiqing earlier on, the presentation went on smoothly, earning his colleague lots of applause and praises.
Lu Chuiqing isn’t someone who would deliberately try to take credit. Besides, Lu Chuiqing does not think it to be much of a problem so he chooses to remain silent and go back to the temporary office alone to tidy up the documents. There will always be someone in a team who would have to put in more effort due to various reasons, there won’t be fairness every single time.
And right now, in the conference centre’s break room, Yuan Ning’s assistant is sending a video of the presentation to Xiao Zhan. Xiao Zhan calls Yuan Ning not long after, asking him some questions regarding the processes.
Xiao Zhan, “Was that last-minute presentation done by the researcher from Zhong Ming?”
“Yes, there were two, the results turned out pretty well.” Yuan Ning continues apologetically, “Thank god you asked CEO Fang for some extra hands or we’ll never make it. Xiao-Zhao’s matter was really sudden, he did not notify me beforehand either.”
“I’m glad it worked out in the end.” Xiao Zhan asks, unruffled, “Who are the two researchers?”
“Please give me a minute, let me look at the message Manager Qian sent me… The one who went on stage is called Wu Xu, from the bond department. There’s another called Lu Chuiqing, he’s Manager Qian’s subordinate.”
Xiao Zhan becomes silent, a light laughter comes out of him after a short moment. His smiles are usually graceful and unflustered, smiles with hints of distance that serve as barriers that are often used in a business situation. Instead, his laughter right now is mixed with undefined feelings that rarely come from him.
Xiao Zhan says, “That’s all for now, contact me again if there’s anything else.”
Yuan Ning, “I understand.”
Not long after this call ended, Lu Chuiqing receives a call from Xiao Zhan.
Lu Chuiqing nearly dropped the documents he had tidied up the moment he saw the caller ID on his phone. No matter from which perspective, Lu Chuiqing does not dare to not answer Xiao Zhan’s call.
He has already clearly rejected Xiao Zhan, but why is Xiao Zhan still acting as if he has not given up on him yet?
Lu Chuiqing takes his phone and looks around nervously before walking towards the window and answers the call cautiously, “Hello, CEO Xiao?”
“Yeah.” Xiao Zhan answers, “You’re in City Z?”
The last time Lu Chuiqing heard Xiao Zhan’s voice was a few months ago. Lu Chuiqing is not used to hearing Xiao Zhan’s voice so close to his ears. Lu Chuiqing secretly rubs his neck, his cheeks slightly flushed.
Lu Chuiqing, “Yes, how did you know?”
“I’ve heard from Yuan Ning,” Xiao Zhan continues, “He said you guys performed pretty well.”
“Manager Yuan said that?” Lu Chuiqing is clearly pleasantly surprised, “Thank you.”
“When are you coming back?”
“I’m going back tonight, the flight at half-past seven.”
“Shall I fetch you?”
Lu Chuiqing is astonished and can not help raising his voice, “There is no need, CEO Xiao, please do not come!”
Thinking how impolite he must have sounded, Lu Chuiqing immediately chokes on his words. But if Xiao Zhan does come, his superiors and colleagues will all be there to witness it. He can not guarantee that there won’t be guesses and rumours filled with ill intentions.
Such grudges in people’s hearts can be very hurtful, Lu Chuiqing does not want to be thought of as that type of person.
Lu Chuiqing softens his voice and says sincerely, “I’m sorry, CEO Xiao. My superiors and colleagues will all be there, it may cause unnecessary misunderstandings.”
Speaking of which, does CEO Xiao really have so much free time to do all these things?
Xiao Zhan remains silent for a short moment. Just as Lu Chuiqing starts to worry about whether or not he has offended him with such a direct rejection, he hears Xiao Zhan speak again, “Suit yourself.”
Lu Chuiqing lets out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, he recalls the incident with Bo Da Materials. He knows Xiao Zhan company will have similar investment projects so if they are to step on this landmine, Xiao Zhan company will definitely face great losses.
Lu Chuiqing has not planned how to tell Xiao Zhan about this properly yet, but Bo Da Materials’ are releasing their bonds soon. It might end up being too late if he does not tell Xiao Zhan now.
Lu Chuiqing probes, “CEO Xiao, do you remember Bo Da Materials?”
“One of the companies on the list I gave you.” Xiao Zhan asks, “Why?”
“Hm… the thing is,” Lu Chuiqing is clearly hesitant, “Aren’t they releasing their bonds soon? I tried to do a little bit of research and judging from its recent performance and future market plan, I think its investment value… may not be very high.”
Xiao Zhan laughs lightly, “You don’t want me to buy it?”
“You must know more than me.” Lu Chuiqing rubs his neck, “But in my opinion, I definitely would not suggest buying it.”
At that moment, Manager Yuan’s assistant calls for Lu Chuiqing, telling him that they’re calling for a taxi to send them back to their hotel. Lu Chuiqing turns his head and answers, before saying to Xiao Zhan, “CEO Xiao, I shall get going soon, I shall not take more of your time.”
Xiao Zhan, “Go ahead.”
After hanging up the phone, Lu Chuiqing stares blankly for a while, wondering what type of person he is in Xiao Zhan’s eyes?
Lu Chuiqing sighs lightly, finishes packing his briefcase and turns to leave the meeting room. There is no point for him trying to guess Xiao Zhan’s thoughts. He has already decided not to give his heart out to feelings that are not serious or meaningless. The decision lies in his own hands.
Lu Chuiqing is completely exhausted from this morning. He decides to have a nap in the two hours he has in his hotel before needing to travel to the airport.
After waking up from his nap, Lu Chuiqing packs up his things while he calls Guan Xiaoluo on the phone, telling excitedly about his coincident meeting with his boyfriend during his business trip.
Guan Xiaoluo replies in awe, “What a coincidence! Do you actually remember his appearance?”
“Of course, your boyfriend is really handsome, how could I forget how he looks?” Lu Chuiqing laughs, “I’ve heard from my manager that Manager Yuan is thought highly of by my big boss.”
“What ‘Manager Yuan’, just call him Yuan Ning! I’ll introduce him to you next time.” Although that’s what he says, there is still a hint of pride and joy in Guan Xiaoluo’s voice. He continues half-jokingly, “How dare he order you around, I’ll scold him for you!”
It is about time for Lu Chuiqing to head out with his colleagues after his short chat with Guan Xiaoluo. On his way to the airport, Lu Chuiqing opens up his calendar on his phone and looks at this month’s work schedule. He can finally delete the reminder for this business trip from his calendar.
There is nothing much for Lu Chuiqing to pay special attention to for the rest of the month. Other than the roadshow Manager Qian told him and Song Wenxin about, the only other thing he needs to take note of is his heat.
Lu Chuiqing feels somewhat rueful. It feels like his last heat was only a while ago, but four months have already passed since then.
Lu Chuiqing sighs lightly, it is time for him to stock up on the necessities for his heat.
In late August, Lu Chuiqing continued to pay close attention to Bo Da Material, noting that they have released their two billion dollars worth of short-term financing bonds just as he had expected.
Considering that this company has been performing really well in the stock market recently, their financial report numbers look quite remarkable and the market has high expectations of the company. Many investors and organisations have already purchased the bonds, which are sold out almost immediately the moment it was live.
Lu Chuiqing did see an announcement stating that Zhong Ming Funding holds some of Bo Da Materials’ financial bonds as well, but the amount is not significant so there will be not much harm done to Zhong Ming Funding even if they do not receive the return.
Lu Chuiqing glances at the time, realising that it is time for dinner soon. Just as he is about to ask Song Wenxin, who is currently working overtime too, if he wants to eat together, Lu Chuiqing’s phone rings.
The caller ID shown on his screen is a number that Lu Chuiqing did not save on his phone. However, with just a single glance at that string of numbers, Lu Chuiqing can already tell whose number it belongs to--
I really dislike people like Wu Xu - he looks down on Lu Chuiqing, yet has no qualms about using the results of LC's labours to promote himself and claim the credit for a job well done. Unfortunately, such people often thrive in the workplace...
ReplyDeleteAnd what's with the mysterious phone call? Is that LC's ex? Can't he leave the baby alone?! ��
Thank you for the chapter ��
You’re right, people like that are the worst but so many of them exist, unfortunately. 🥲 Glad that you are enjoying the series!
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