“Don’t be so malicious in your conduct.” Shen Huadong angrily slammed down the phone. Liu Jun went home and turned off his cell phone, no longer giving Shen Huadong any opportunity. He hadn’t made up his mind yet. What puzzled him most was that Shen and Yang should be birds of a feather, so why did Shen Huadong suddenly want to go against Yang Xun? Could it be internal strife over unequal distribution of spoils?
He asked himself a series of questions: Why did Shen Huadong want him to step forward and sue Shi Yiji for patent infringement? What impact would his lawsuit have on Shi Yiji? Why would Shen Huadong want to attack Shi Yiji’s main profit source, reducing his dividends? What had happened between Yang Xun and Shen Huadong…
After asking himself all these questions for a long time, Liu Jun couldn’t give himself a satisfactory and definitive answer. The next day, he handed the problem over to his father, hoping his father could make some discreet inquiries about the reasons. He became a hands-off manager, requisitioning the company’s agricultural vehicle, loading it with pre-cut stainless steel pipes and tools, and taking Yu Shanshan to the children’s welfare institute. During his last visit, he had carefully observed that the stairs there had walls but no handrails, and the ramp and steps at the main entrance also lacked handrails. The welfare institute had many children with mobility issues, so he planned to help install handrails.
Yu Shanshan naturally thought her boyfriend’s gesture was wonderful in every way, but the director of the welfare institute wouldn’t rashly agree to such actions that might damage the overall aesthetic. Yu Shanshan was amazed to see the director make a phone call to seek approval. While Yu Shanshan was tutoring the children with their homework and Liu Jun was climbing up and down cleaning, the couple Song Yunhui and Liang Sishen hurriedly arrived with their son Keke. After hearing the director’s explanation, both husband and wife thought it was quite good, a thoughtful idea. So Liu Jun was called out by the aunties to begin installation, and Song Yunhui, the other adult male in the courtyard, naturally rolled up his sleeves to assist Liu Jun. Song Yunhui only introduced himself by his surname, Song, didn’t put on airs, and tried his best to be a good helper. Liu Jun treated him as if he didn’t know who he was, doing what needed to be done and saying what needed to be said. His pride prevented him from wanting to curry favor with Yang Xun’s backer.
Song Yunhui inevitably noticed Liu Jun’s stiff ring finger. But seeing that Liu Jun handled tools like welding machines, cutting machines, and impact drills quite skillfully, and that he didn’t look like someone who did workshop labor, Song Yunhui guessed that Liu Jun’s finger was injured while tinkering with machinery. He instinctively liked the meticulous attitude this young man displayed in everything. He, too, was an engineering technician who also liked to be precise. Even for seemingly unimportant work like this, he was willing to cooperate with Liu Jun in measuring the stair angles, using a calculator to precisely calculate joint positions based on the angles, and using the cutting machine to cut the beveled angles at the stainless steel pipe joints according to Liu Jun’s instructions. Therefore, the pipes they cut according to calculations could be installed without on-site edge trimming. Though it appeared to be precision work, the speed was no slower than those who worked carelessly.
Liu Jun originally had a very poor impression of Song Yunhui—someone who served as Yang Xun’s backer, how despicable must his character be? But after actual contact, his opinion changed considerably. When the director personally came to invite them for lunch, he couldn’t help but say sincerely: “Old Song, in my year-plus back in the country, I’ve encountered fewer than ten people who truly need no supervision and consciously maintain a serious attitude in their work. You’re truly rare.”
“Fewer than ten?” Song Yunhui almost reassessed Liu Jun. “Out of how many people sampled?”
“I like the question you raised. Most people might directly respond, ‘So rare indeed.’ Through my work, I’ve had contact with over a thousand people, which means the ratio is less than one percent.”
Song Yunhui thought for a moment and said, “About right, that’s the ratio.”
Liu Jun didn’t expect Song Yunhui to speak so little, but it didn’t seem like he was putting on airs. It was Liang Sishen who, seeing the two men come in to wash their hands, smiled at Liu Jun: “Sorry, Little Liu, the cafeteria doesn’t make exceptions. We eat the same food as the children. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No problem, I’m not picky about food, and Shanshan doesn’t seem to be either…”
Yu Shanshan popped out from the side, laughing: “What Sister Liang means is we eat the same amount of food as the children. If the little ones eat one bowl, you can’t eat two. You don’t mind, do you? You don’t mind, do you?”
“Is there a legendary snail boy who doesn’t eat but just works? I only remember the snail girl. Shanshan, snail girl, don’t force yourself to pretend to be human and eat. I’ll do a good deed and eat your portion for you.”
Song Yunhui watched this pair banter back and forth, and said to his wife: “Little Liu is very serious in his work, but unexpectedly quite playful too.”
Liang Sishen could see that Liu Jun was an easygoing person. When everyone got their food and sat down to eat, she asked Liu Jun: “Little Liu, do you engineers often encounter personal injuries at work?”
“This?” Liu Jun extended his left ring finger. Since they asked, he didn’t intend to hide it. “I consider myself a decent engineer. I was quite proud that after several years of work, my whole body didn’t have a single scar left from work. But within a few months of returning to China, I suffered this setback under Yang Xun. This was his way of teaching me a lesson, done by someone he instructed.”
“Yang Xun? Is that Yang Xun who runs the trade market?” Liang Sishen pursued the question while Song Yunhui observed Liu Jun’s expression, feeling it was too coincidental for Liu Jun to complain about Yang Xun upon their first meeting.
“Yes, Yang Xun’s Shi Yiji infringed on my invention patent. I sued them in court, and he used government agencies to pressure me to withdraw the lawsuit. That was the first round. I was so indignant then that I went mountain climbing and happened to encounter you two taking shelter from the rain. But I was too young and hot-headed then, couldn’t stand Yang Xun’s matter-of-fact patent infringement, and since I couldn’t get justice through legal means domestically, I sent lawyer letters to two foreign clients who bought their products, causing the clients to refuse delivery. Yang Xun suffered heavy losses and took it out on my finger.”
“Those thugs also broke two of Liu Jun’s ribs, leaving him bedridden for a whole month.” Yu Shanshan didn’t know that the man and woman before them had connections with Yang Xun, so she spoke more openly than Liu Jun. “Even when I visited Liu Jun in the hospital, I had to secretly ask a classmate’s classmate to borrow a nurse’s uniform, afraid of being seen by Yang Xun’s informants. If you want to know what ‘wealthy but heartless’ means, Yang Xun is the perfect example.”
Song Yunhui’s face changed color as he listened. He roughly knew that Yang Xun was quite unconventional, but this was the first time he’d heard of such lawlessness. If Liu Jun weren’t a good person either, it might be different, but based on his experience, he judged Liu Jun to be a good young man. However, Song Yunhui naturally wouldn’t take a stance. Instead, it was Liang Sishen who said: “I’ve known Yang Xun for many years and have a general understanding of his character. Could you be more specific?”
Yu Shanshan was dissatisfied that the Song-Liang couple seemed to show no strong sympathy and had a somewhat condescending attitude. She said firmly, “We won’t seek justice from Yang Xun’s friends, nor do we need Yang Xun’s friends to arbitrate. Liu Jun can solve his problems.”
“The enemy of my enemy isn’t necessarily a friend, and the friend of my enemy isn’t necessarily an enemy. Sorry, Little Yu.” Liang Sishen smiled as much as possible, then said to Liu Jun: “No wonder we didn’t see you for quite a while afterward.”
Although the friend of an enemy isn’t necessarily an enemy, Liu Jun didn’t expect them to be friends either, and he very much agreed with Yu Shanshan’s pride. “The factory I founded just started up. As a newcomer, everything requires twice the effort for half the result. I wish I could become a thousand-armed Guanyin. The railings were cut long ago, but I could never find time to make a trip here.”
“Are you being too meticulous, doing everything personally, not feeling comfortable delegating to others?” Song Yunhui asked a question based on his personal experience.
“It was like that at first. Later, I focused intensively on training work, using knowledge and systems to constrain worker behavior, and only then was I gradually liberated. Initially, I couldn’t let go because the workers’ attitudes were generally quite careless. If I allowed them to be sloppy in design, sloppy in craftsmanship, sloppy in operations, and sloppy in quality control, the final products would be substandard. I made many signs and hung them everywhere, with only one sentence: Maintain a consistently serious attitude. So seeing Old Song’s attitude, I felt like meeting family—so precious! Only after suffering enough do you appreciate it more.”
“Good insight, and you’ve grasped the right direction. Technical people often manage the wrong areas, not understanding how to focus on the important and let go of the minor.” Song Yunhui nodded in approval.
“Why does Old Song sound like an official?” Yu Shanshan continued to resent someone acting authoritative in front of Liu Jun.
“Old Song is an official, the head of Donghai Group.” Liu Jun explained to Yu Shanshan, and seeing Liang Sishen staring at him, explained: “I hate Yang Xun and am unhappy about having connections with you.”
Song Yunhui was somewhat confused by Liu Jun and Yu Shanshan. Looking at Yu Shanshan’s glare, it didn’t seem fake, but was Liu Jun not planning to get close to him? Liang Sishen said curiously: “We’ve been endorsed by Yang Xun?”
Liu Jun shrugged, tacitly agreeing. Yu Shanshan was more direct: “Aren’t you? From my first day assigned to this city, I knew Director Song was Yang Xun’s backer. Of course, without official documents, you can deny it.”