I thought the incident in the break room would just fade away, but a few days later, Jiang Ya was transferred to the Marketing Department. Deputy General Manager Lin reasoned that the Marketing Department needed someone as articulate as Jiang Ya. And just like that, she went to work under Director Li, the very person she had spoken ill of.
From this, I deeply felt that Mr. Lin Yusen’s nature wasn’t quite as mild and harmless as he presented himself to be. But what I didn’t expect was that just a few days later, I would also be transferred.
In Lin Yusen’s office, I stood bewildered at the scene before me—General Manager Zhang, Deputy GM Lin Yusen, and my former supervisor from the Finance Department… Why had they called me here?
General Manager Zhang saw me enter and said cheerfully, “Little Nie, you’ve been in the Management Department for quite a while now. How would you like to return to the Finance Department?” He patted the Finance Department Section Chief’s shoulder, “Old Wu came to protest to me, saying we borrowed their person and haven’t returned them.”
Section Chief Wu also looked confused but still managed a dry response, “Yes, we are a bit short-staffed in Finance.”
What was going on?
I looked questioningly at Lin Yusen.
Lin Yusen smiled, “Little Nie’s transfer was always temporary. It’s normal to return now, however…”
I suddenly felt irritated and interrupted him: “Shouldn’t you ask for my opinion first?”
Lin Yusen smiled again, leaving me puzzled. He turned to General Manager Zhang: “Manager Zhang, let me discuss this with Little Nie first. We should respect our employees’ opinions.”
“Good, good, you young people talk it over,” Manager Zhang stood up, saying meaningfully, “You know, I’m getting old. I don’t manage company affairs or personnel matters anymore.”
With that, he left with Section Chief Wu, who had remained confused throughout the entire meeting.
Lin Yusen rose to politely see Manager Zhang out, then closed the door.
I asked, “What’s going on?”
“Today Manager Zhang suddenly told me about transferring you back to Finance. I thought you…” he paused briefly before continuing, “It turns out it was President Nie’s intention.”
I was startled. “You mean… my father?”
He nodded, “That’s what Manager Zhang implied.”
“But isn’t my father supposed to stay out of the company’s operations?”
“Yes, I was careless,” he appeared deep in thought, then said, “Xiguang, let me treat you to dinner tonight.”
I was dumbfounded. I thought he was contemplating something important, but after all that thinking, his conclusion was to invite me to dinner. With a black face, I said, “…How did your train of thought jump to dinner?”
“President Nie might… have some misunderstandings about me. I expect he’ll come to find you soon, telling you to stay away from me. I need to seize the opportunity to… what was your phrase? Gain some favorability points.”
“…How did you offend my father?”
Lin Yusen smiled bitterly and said frankly, “Back at headquarters, we had different opinions on some cooperation proposals with the Nie family. I blocked his business opportunities twice. Offended him quite seriously.”
I looked at him with surprise: “You do have a grudge with my family…”
“It was just business.”
“So my father doesn’t have a good impression of you?”
“It’s not too bad.” He thought carefully before saying, “President Nie once praised me for having a knife hidden behind my smile.”
I burst out laughing.
“You think I don’t understand idioms? How is that praise?”
“For a surgeon, having a knife is perfectly normal, and if they don’t smile, how will patients feel at ease? Isn’t that praising my professional ethics?”
“Hey!”
Mr. Lin, where is your bottom line?
“Returning to Finance isn’t bad,” Lin Yusen said, appearing relieved. “Taking action against a direct subordinate made me feel a bit uncomfortable. President Nie helped me out.”
This conversation clearly couldn’t continue.
“…Alright, I’m leaving.” I quickly headed for the door, then turned back, “Deputy GM, during work hours, we’d better not discuss personal matters. Let’s not make this a habit.”
Lin Yusen’s judgment was spot on. That weekend, my father came to Suzhou to summon me.
As soon as I sat down, he asked, “What’s going on between you and Lin Yusen?”
His tone was far from friendly, rather accusatory. I felt unhappy and didn’t respond immediately.
“Are you together?” Father’s expression turned ugly. He couldn’t even wait for my answer and angrily continued, “This won’t do. Break up with him immediately. I’ll transfer you to another company right away.”
I was speechless, thinking he was being completely unreasonable. True, I wasn’t actually with Lin Yusen, but who likes being ordered around like this? Seeing him so flustered was rare, so I decided to let him keep his misunderstanding. He had dragged his feet for so long without resolving those messy affairs; this could be my way of getting back at him for both Mom and me.
“Father, this is my business.”
“What do you mean your business? You’re my daughter! My only daughter!”
“Oh, but Mom has custody of me.”
His expression stiffened. He sighed and adopted a reasoning tone, “I know you’re angry with me. I’ve been too busy to handle some matters lately. But you’re my daughter—how could I harm you? You’re still young, you don’t understand how treacherous people can be, how many are eyeing your family wealth…”
“His family is wealthy too.”
“He has no inheritance rights!”
Though he was my father, I couldn’t help but give him a contemptuous look. “Dad, he used to be a renowned surgeon, and now he’s at least a company executive. So what if he has no inheritance rights? As long as he has enough money to live on, that’s fine. Lin Yusen isn’t the ambitious type anyway.”
“Not the ambitious type.” Father’s tone was particularly caustic. “There isn’t a single descendant of the Sheng family who isn’t ambitious. It’s just that some lack ability and others lack destiny.”
He emphasized, “Lin Yusen doesn’t have that destiny, but you do!”
“In his year-plus at Shengyuan headquarters, he created countless obstacles for us. At such a young age, he could already make me suffer losses in the dark. Xiguang, how could you possibly match him? You’ll just end up counting money for him after he’s sold you out.”
Father grew increasingly agitated as he spoke, “I’ve been in business for so many years—how could I misjudge someone? This person is cold-hearted by nature, hiding a knife behind his smile. Ten of you wouldn’t be a match for half of him. Do you think he’s content being in Suzhou? He’s retreating to advance, biding his time. I was careless! I only knew he left Shengyuan headquarters and didn’t pay attention to his movements. No, that’s not right!” Father seemed to realize something, “He deliberately misled me. Xiguang, he came specifically for you!”
“Enough already.”
His main point was obviously that Lin Yusen wasn’t interested in me but in my father’s money.
I deliberately provoked him, “If he is interested in me because of your wealth, isn’t that more unbreakable than if he were interested in my looks, personality, or anything else? After all, Father, the money in your bank account will live forever and ever.”
Hmph, besides, I wouldn’t think so little of myself. Is being “Nie Chengyuan’s daughter” my only merit? I couldn’t tell if Father was trying to disparage Lin Yusen or put me down.
Though I was also a bit surprised—had I unconsciously come to trust Lin Yusen this much?
Father looked at me with extreme disappointment. His lips moved several times, seeming to hold back words, but finally, he said, “I didn’t want to tell you this. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“He pursued Nian Yuan before.”
I suddenly looked up at him.
“Last year, no, the year before, around this time. At your godmother’s party, you were there too, but left early in anger, remember? He came with Sheng Xianmin then. Nian Yuan took a liking to him and invited him to Wuxi to view plum blossoms afterward, but he got into a car accident on the way to Wuxi.”
I listened numbly, feeling shocked, angry, and even mortified, not knowing how to react.
“I wouldn’t have known any of this if Nian Yuan hadn’t told me.” Father’s gaze was full of distress as he looked at me. “Xiguang, don’t you understand? He’s after the benefits our family can bring him. Even Ma Nian Yuan, who’s just… a younger generation I’m familiar with, pursued eagerly. How much more so with you, my precious daughter?”
I stared hard at him. Father’s expression showed no signs of deception.
Silence hung heavy between us.
After a long while, I stood up and slowly uttered three words—”I don’t believe it.”