Liu Jun and Luo Qing conducted an in-depth analysis of twenty randomly selected contracts, working efficiently and producing results before eleven o’clock. Looking at the results, the two men glanced at each other and smiled. Was there a choice to be made? “We’re being forced up Mount Liang—the heat treatment branch factory absolutely must be built.”
Luo Qing remembered something and pulled out a newly signed contract to hand to Liu Jun. “Boss, look at this. The quantity we originally agreed on, but when we signed the contract, they suddenly added another 345 sets. The customer says this batch is all for coal mines. This volume, this momentum. Every time I see our sales figures, I feel very motivated to buy more funds. With the economic situation so red-hot, how could it not be reflected in the stock index?”
“We’re riding a good era, so why do I feel uneasy instead? It seems I’m just destined to work hard.” Liu Jun muttered both aloud and to himself. He flipped through the new contract Luo Qing had signed, nodding. “Another one requiring heat treatment. Part of our advantage lies in our unique heat treatment technology. Now, finally, someone recognizes quality, but we can’t keep up with demand. The heat treatment branch factory absolutely must be built.”
“I’ve already given up some contracts where heat treatment products were the main focus. My thinking is, if we’re going to build a new heat treatment branch factory this time, we must build it on a larger scale. As for quality, that’s unquestionable with us—I don’t need to say that. Roughly how much money will we need?”
Liu Jun laughed. “I can now confidently say that money isn’t a problem, haha. F-1 has brought us considerable profits, especially exports, which have greatly reduced our working capital requirements. Moreover, PE firms are starting to approach us now, more than one. As for how to build the heat treatment branch factory, it completely depends on our vision.”
“If that’s the case, why can’t we be more forward-thinking and advanced in planning the scale of the new factory construction, just like when we built the R&D center?”
What Liu Jun didn’t expect was that at the next day’s semi-annual work meeting, everyone voiced the same opinion as Luo Qing—why couldn’t the design scale be more forward-thinking? Those voicing this opinion also included engineers from the R&D center. Everyone believed this was a once-in-a-century good era, with universal asset appreciation. Not to mention the distant future—at the very least, these blazing good times would certainly continue until next year’s Olympics opening. The nation would surely strive to present its best image to the world during the Olympics, and possibly extend even to the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic, the year after, and the Shanghai World Expo. With just the simplest speculation, considering the marginal effects of the nation’s massive Olympic investments and World Expo investments, for at least three years, these effects would benefit manufacturing enterprises nationwide. There was no reason for Tengfei to hold back during such times—Tengfei should seize every moment and grasp this best opportunity.
The conclusion was as Liu Jun expected, though he hadn’t anticipated such unanimous agreement. Finally, he tapped the table with his pen to remind everyone: “Everyone present today is a shareholder holding equity in Tengda. Since today’s meeting involves major decisions for the company’s next six months, this meeting should be viewed as a shareholders’ meeting. So don’t rush to persuade me to quickly start construction of a large-scale heat treatment branch factory. You should first convince yourselves from the company shareholders’ perspective whether the company should distribute profit dividends or build a new heat treatment branch factory over the next one to two years.”
Everyone suddenly fell silent, having not considered that building a new heat treatment branch factory would require dipping into their own dividend pockets. But before long, everyone unanimously returned to their original tune. The new heat treatment branch factory passed with a unanimous vote, without question.
The meeting results gave Liu Jun great psychological support. It turned out that not only did he see good profit prospects, but everyone saw them, and everyone was supporting expansion with actual actions. Thus, the last bit of doubt in Liu Jun’s heart also vanished into thin air.
When the meeting ended and he returned to his office, his secretary said Qian Hongming had called urgently. Liu Jun quickly called back to ask what was urgent. Qian Hongming, confused upon receiving the call, asked Liu Jun what was urgent—why had he sent such an unusual text message with his schedule to arrange a meeting time? He had left his phone at the company last night and hadn’t brought it home. Earlier, when Liu Jun was in a meeting, they couldn’t talk. Now he was anxiously rushing back from Shanghai to meet for dinner tonight to discuss matters. Liu Jun realized that last night during dinner, for convenience, he had sent a text that misled Qian Hongming. However, he did consider the matter significant, so the misunderstanding was acceptable. Only Cui Bingbing was depressed—she had finally returned home from a business trip for a few days, only to find they hadn’t eaten together for two consecutive days.
Liu Jun arrived at the restaurant first. Learning that Qian Hongming hadn’t arrived yet, he simply sat in his car and opened his laptop to handle several matters. After a while, the car lights made him look up. He saw a massive Jeep parked across from him, and Qian Hongming jumped out. Liu Jun, seeing the car’s rugged, square lines, knew it was a Commander, not a Grand Cherokee. He closed his laptop and got out, asking curiously, “Not driving the BMW X5 anymore? New love?”
“I sold the X5. At first, seeing the towering X5, I thought this SUV was impressive enough, but later I found it increasingly characterless.” He patted the Jeep’s hood, and the sound from beneath was the dull thud only thick steel plates could produce. “This one’s different. Choosing it means choosing a lifestyle. When we have time, let’s find a place to go off-roading.”
“Bah, you’re like Lord Ye, who claimed to love dragons. I think choosing it means choosing the American soldier’s dream. How you loved showing off with my wooden gun when you were little.”
Qian Hongming laughed heartily: “See, can’t fool you. What a pain—I’m President Qian now, and you’re still bringing up embarrassing childhood stories.”
“You’re no different. You said you were discussing business with A’San, but what did you discuss? You even revealed how I was curious about girls as a child, how I led male classmates to secretly drool while watching girls swim. So what if I bring up a thing or two?”
Qian Hongming laughed happily, then suddenly remembered something: “I came back today without telling Jiali. Don’t mention it to her either.”
“Look at you. Though I was a bit bad as a child, look how good I am now—a genuinely perfect husband. What about you? Whose house are you staying at tonight? Back when we were peeping, you pretended to fall behind and wouldn’t come along. This is exactly the problem I wanted to discuss with you.”
Qian Hongming unconsciously held his left hand behind his mouth for a moment, then immediately pulled it away. “So this is what you meant by something unusual—you’re here to lecture me. How do you know I’m not going home to find other women? Let me tell you, I’m very proper tonight. I’m just handling some work overnight. Time is tight, so I won’t disturb Jiali.”
Liu Jun didn’t believe him. Even if time was tight, even if returning home late at night would wake his wife and daughter, he would go home, no matter how late—at least to touch his daughter’s rosy little cheeks, even if A’San complained about it. But he didn’t expose this because he noticed Qian Hongming’s signature gesture that hadn’t appeared in a long time. Walking into the restaurant and sitting down, Liu Jun said, “I also ate here last night. Someone sent me two good dishes for your sake.” He pulled out the business card he’d received last night and placed it in front of Qian Hongming.
Qian Hongming flew into a rage upon seeing it: “That worthless fool. He found mutual acquaintances to ask me for a loan, saying he needed money for advance payments but couldn’t get the goods out, and needed to borrow money to adjust his position. After getting the goods and securing his position, he secretly went to speculate on warrants. He thought warrants were stocks, but lost so much he had to pawn his pants, and couldn’t repay me money even more. I even gave him a few extra days to find a way to raise funds, and what does he do? He comes to complain to you. Did you come to see me today about this?”
Before Liu Jun could respond, a waitress brought over a bottle of wine, smiling as she said, “Today someone is sending wine, specifically for a Mr. Liu.”
Liu Jun asked curiously, “If it’s a man, no thanks. If it’s a woman, I’ll take it.”
“It’s a very beautiful lady. She asked me not to tell you who she is.”
Qian Hongming laughed: “Caught red-handed, and you’re lecturing me? I think your childhood nature hasn’t changed a bit.”
Liu Jun picked up the wine and glanced at it. “Quite expensive, good taste. Miss, please take it back. My friend and I are both driving tonight, so we can’t drink. Please thank that lady for her kind gesture.” After the waitress left, Liu Jun continued: “There are some things we’ve known are bad since childhood, like extramarital affairs. And this kind of bad thing only requires using my power to overcome it. After overcoming it, it ultimately only affects my pleasure, so naturally, I restrain myself and don’t cross that line. This is what I wanted to discuss with you tonight. I don’t mean to lecture you. I just want to share some thoughts—thoughts I’ve accumulated for many days and want to pour out today.”
“Extramarital affairs and extramarital sex are not the same concept. Yes, we’re discussing this rationally today. I must point out that you absolutely cannot confuse the two.”
“I can’t understand it, but I understand your thinking. For me, judging extramarital affairs is simple—white is white, black is black, no discussion. But many things we encounter aren’t like that. Many things—let me give an example—bribery. Since childhood, I’ve known bribery is bad, but when I encountered it, I discovered that not bribing affects not just my survival. If it only affected me personally, I’d choose not to bribe, but it doesn’t. Yet bribery has countless righteous reasons, sometimes even making it unavoidable. I must say, countless red envelopes have been sent out by these two hands of mine, but every time I bribe, I feel very guilty and conflicted inside. Every time I hear someone talk about bribery, saying matter-of-factly that people in the underworld, that only those who haven’t graduated from the school of hard knocks take bribery seriously…”
Qian Hongming had been seriously looking into Liu Jun’s eyes. Hearing this, he interjected: “Though you’ve bribed countless times, you never consider it natural. So not only do you feel conflicted every time you bribe, but you also feel guilty, conflicted, and even continuously condemn your behavior for a long time.”
“Exactly. I knew you could understand me. Some might say this is hypocrisy—you’ve already done it, yet you still shed crocodile tears, which is disgusting. True, I continuously realize I’m making mistakes, yet I continue making mistakes, but I don’t want my heart to become numb. I don’t want to abandon the moral standards formed in childhood. I believe bribery is bad, so every time I do something bad, I can condemn myself once. The same applies to many other things. I only hope that this fragile standard I maintain lets my heart believe I’m not completely morally bankrupt, lets my heart believe I can still distinguish right from wrong, and lets me restrain my behavior in areas I can control. I don’t know if thinking this way makes me foolish. This kind of thinking is unnecessary—even if I didn’t think this way, I might still be the same Liu Jun I am now. But having this extra thought is quite torturous. Fortunately, you understand immediately. I knew you could understand, and you think the same way. Right? Our unshakeable friendship shows you’re also a sentimental person.”
But Qian Hongming couldn’t speak for a long time. He wanted to smoothly agree with Liu Jun by saying a pleasing “yes,” but facing Liu Jun’s serious gaze, he found it difficult to speak. After a long while, Qian Hongming finally said: “This is a very metaphysical question. I haven’t had time to seriously reflect on it. I can’t give you a hasty answer today. Conscience is superfluous in many situations—there’s no choice when survival pressures are too tight.”
“Like that deadbeat you mentioned—from the panic I saw deep in his eyes last night, I believe you applied the kind of pressure commonly used in your line of work. Although I know you had to do this in this matter, and I can’t think of a better way, Hongming, this approach is very unkind. I don’t want you to painfully face your own heart alone afterward. Though your Jiali is the best, quietest harbor, how much can a harbor contain? Look at your head of white hair.”
Qian Hongming supported his elbows on the table, his hands clasped and pressed under his lower lip, hesitating to speak, unable to defend himself. Finally, he only said: “I have very strong desires, all kinds of desires.”