But Liu Jun wasn’t without strategy after all – he wouldn’t summon middle management and above for a pledge meeting out of the blue, swearing not to use layoffs to weather the crisis. As a manager, patience was an essential quality, and he had to patiently wait for the right opportunity to appear. Deep down, he preferred that opportunity never come.
Taking advantage of the company-wide anxiety over job security, Liu Jun met with Luo Qing to discuss restructuring positions. Luo Qing was proactive and eager to perform well. Liu Jun had gradually expanded Luo Qing’s authority over the years, and he had now become the company’s deputy general manager. The position restructuring was proposed by Luo Qing, who believed that while the company had grown from nothing to its current thousand employees, it still used the initial structure with only minor adjustments. This led to redundant management layers, unclear responsibilities, poor organization, excessive personnel, and increasing internal friction. The concept of restructuring had been finalized last year, with Liu Jun having developed plans and discussed feasibility with department heads, originally scheduled for implementation this year. However, the new Labor Contract Law made restructuring extremely difficult – it was very hard to persuade employees to accept position changes different from their original contracts. Promotions were easy, demotions were difficult, and even lateral transfers were very challenging. Therefore, the restructuring plan was repeatedly delayed. Instead, the bankruptcy and layoff trends sweeping the entire industrial zone now helped Liu Jun. When faced with the choice between “position adjustment or losing one’s job,” most people chose the former to avoid trouble. The remaining minority could be dealt with individually.
This time, Liu Jun openly displayed his iron fist with no room for compromise. Iron-fisted approaches inevitably provoked backlash. People nowadays weren’t stupid, especially at Tengfei, where many employees had good professional education. Those who resisted took the legal route to protect their interests. Liu Jun had prepared contingency plans, basically providing compensation according to the Labor Contract Law. However, to support the tough adjustment requirements, he couldn’t smoothly accommodate all compensation demands. But he worried about one thing. Earlier that year, the Labor Bureau had issued heavy warnings, imposing huge fines on companies that didn’t comply with the new law – many privately discussed that those fines could bankrupt a company. Moreover, such heavy-handed punishment wasn’t limited to the local area but was nationwide. Any corporate practice that bordered on violating the new law would be magnified and scrutinized by the Labor Bureau. Liu Jun was somewhat worried that the company’s adjustment actions might be made an example of. He had the office director proactively report to the Labor Bureau to explain the situation, but the response left him dumbfounded. Officials verbally indicated that the industrial zone’s priority was ensuring enterprise survival, enforcement of the new law was temporarily suspended, and they would show discretion regarding labor disputes that weren’t matters of life and death. Though there was no written document, Liu Jun believed they were indeed saying and doing this. He quickly spread the word to his circle of friends. Thinking about the reasons, he remembered Qian Hongming’s debates about housing reform and education reform regarding interest positioning. Using Hongming’s theories to analyze the Labor Bureau’s verbal response, the reason was simple. After all, fiscal revenue still depended on corporate taxes – enterprises couldn’t be allowed to collapse. Under the premise that enterprises wouldn’t fall, the new law could be vigorously implemented, but when enterprises were precarious in the current economic environment, the new law could step aside. Such an incredible situation made Liu Jun repeatedly marvel at Qian Hongming’s particularly sharp insight.
While away on a business trip for an industry conference, Liu Jun received a call from the police station asking him to process Jiali’s bail pending trial. He only remembered the lawyer doing bail for Qian Hongying, which was unexpectedly refused by her. But they hadn’t requested bail for Jiali – why was the police station proactively calling? He called the lawyer to verify, and indeed, something unexpected had happened. Realizing he wouldn’t return home for two more days, he asked Cui Bingbing to handle it. Cui Bingbing had no time and no energy to care about such matters, so she simply passed the buck to her father-in-law, Liu Shitang, who had hired the lawyer.
Liu Shitang was quick to help others in their urgent needs and share their hatred – this “other” was naturally Qian Hongying. He was very dissatisfied with Jiali. Before surrendering, Qian Hongying had nearly suffered a mental breakdown due to her brother’s death, unusually clinging to him and crying for a day and night, swearing through gritted teeth that she would never forgive Jiali after getting out. Liu Shitang certainly couldn’t wield a knife for Qian Hongying, but being asked to bail out Jiali made him psychologically unbalanced, and he wanted to do something underhanded. Therefore, he didn’t want the lawyer to accompany him, and besides, he couldn’t bear the minute-by-minute lawyer fees. He believed this old hand could handle any threshold.
Indeed, the current government office staff were very enthusiastic and proactive. Upon hearing he was bailing out Jiali, they immediately showed respect for the elderly and guided him through all relevant procedures. When he said he wasn’t a relative or friend and couldn’t produce that much money, they gave him a discount. Only when Liu Shitang was led to the hospital to collect the person did he understand they had dumped a hot potato on him. Someone like Jiali, insignificant in this case, was currently lying on a hospital bed, barely breathing, with a sensitive foreign citizenship status – she was a burden everyone wanted to dump. Liu Shitang was in a dilemma. He couldn’t figure out how to handle Jiali, who lay unconscious with an IV drip, but without handling it, with his son away on business and daughter-in-law tied up with his granddaughter, only he could become Jiali’s old servant. Heavens!
Asking his son, the son didn’t know Jiali’s parents’ contact information. Asking the police station only yielded his son’s address and phone number. Asking Qian Hongying through the lawyer only revealed the city where Jiali’s parents lived. Liu Shitang had no choice but to bring the housekeeper and guard to Jiali’s bedside, waiting for her to open her eyes and speak. Cui Bingbing originally didn’t want to get involved in Jiali’s mess, but seeing her father-in-law’s predicament, she had to finish work and come to the hospital after 9 PM to relieve the exhausted old man. Looking at his daughter-in-law, who had wealth, status, and a good family background, then at the unconscious Jiali on the hospital bed, Liu Shitang pulled his daughter-in-law into the corridor for a heart-to-heart talk.
“A’San, you must handle this matter properly before A’Jun returns. Let me tell you, men are naturally cheap – they can’t walk away when they see Sister Lin. Don’t let A’Jun take over that woman lying inside. A’Jun is honest, and that woman probably wants to cling to A’Jun for support. If you don’t guard against it, it’ll be very troublesome later. I’m leaving. I had the doctor give her good medicine – he says she’ll wake up, it’s not some fatal illness.”
How could Cui Bingbing not know this principle? She was annoyed that Jiali had designated Liu Jun, who was neither a relative nor a friend, as her contact person. Why did she keep clinging to her husband, forcing her to leave her daughter with her mother and come to the hospital to be a fat maid? Only when Jiali finally woke up leisurely after 11 PM and their eyes focused on each other did Cui Bingbing weakly exhale a long breath and smile: “Jiali, welcome back…”
“Hongming… Hongming… is it really… true? They always speak half-truths to me, and I don’t believe it.”
“It’s true. In Hongming’s final moments, he maintained phone contact with Liu Jun throughout. Liu Jun couldn’t accept this fact for several days. I understand your doubt, but this is already a fact. Currently, the urn is temporarily kept with us. We don’t know how to contact your parents, and we couldn’t see you. Hongming also left no instructions on how to handle his funeral arrangements…”
Jiali had been crying since opening her eyes, but Cui Bingbing saw very few tears, almost none, yet Jiali was sobbing and unable to speak. No matter how Cui Bingbing comforted her, it was useless. Jiali cried for a long time before asking: “What did Hongming… say to Liu Jun?”
“You’re too weak physically. I can’t tell you right now. Liu Jun made a transcript of that phone call, planning to give it to Xiao Suihua later. You can read it after you recover. Can you recite your parents’ home address and phone number? Let me immediately notify uncle and aunt of the good news that you’re safely out.”
“My parents will be heartbroken. Xiao Suihua will cry to death too. How can we notify them?”
“Yes, but they’ll have to know sooner or later and face reality. Hongming also needs to rest in peace soon, right? It’s not just that you’re worried about your parents and Xiao Suihua – even Liu Jun doesn’t dare face it. He doesn’t even dare face you and went on a business trip. But now is the time for the family to band together.”
Cui Bingbing patiently provided guidance, analyzing why short-term pain was better than long-term pain, why the family should be told the truth rather than left waiting blindly and anxiously in the darkness. She said concealment would only make things worse, and everyone should unite to fulfill Hongming’s wishes. Jiali finally accepted Cui Bingbing’s reasoning around 1 AM and gave her the parents’ contact information. Having finally obtained the contact details, Cui Bingbing barely paused, offered a few more gentle words of persuasion, then handed Jiali over to hired caregivers and went home exhausted and swaying. The next morning, she notified Jiali’s parents to come and take their daughter.
Jiali’s parents naturally rushed over immediately. Seeing that their train arrival was two hours later than Liu Jun’s flight home, Cui Bingbing took preemptive action and brought the elderly couple and Xiao Suihua to their former residence, since the property was under the elderly couple’s names and hadn’t been discovered and confiscated yet. The elderly couple naturally couldn’t wait to see their daughter. Cui Bingbing went the whole way, personally driving the crying trio to the hospital. She asked the elderly couple about Xiao Suihua’s schooling. They said they were figuring it out – currently, Xiao Suihua held a passport but couldn’t find a suitable school in their hometown. Cui Bingbing said she could get Xiao Suihua into a good school, but only locally. The elderly couple couldn’t decide immediately.
At the hospital, Cui Bingbing very bluntly took out Liu Jun’s transcript of memories and gave it to the conscious Jiali. She told Jiali’s parents that their friends were all very angry. Cui Bingbing dropped off the people and the transcript and left. Jiali anxiously opened the transcript to read. Seeing Hongming mention the reason for revealing himself, she screamed and fainted. Only then did Jiali’s parents understand why Cui Bingbing said friends were angry – they realized friends hated their daughter. Under such circumstances, even with countless difficulties, how could they dare ask Qian Hongming’s friends for help?
Cui Bingbing was straightforward and reported everything to her husband upon returning home. Liu Jun frowned: “Someone might die.”
Cui Bingbing sneered: “What else could we do? I don’t want to coax an adult or serve an adult. Looking at her, she was originally planning to dump herself on our friends. Or would you like to go to the hospital now to make amends?”
Liu Jun thought for a moment: “Let it be. I’ll go over tomorrow. If Xiao Suihua has problems with school enrollment, we’ll help solve it – from boarding to tuition fees, covering everything until Xiao Suihua doesn’t want to study anymore. I also need to remind them to return home quickly. Staying here, they’ll be torn apart by creditors sooner or later.”
“I’ll go. I’ll drop by tomorrow – unlike you, who’d need to make special time. In these extraordinary times, you should keep a close eye on the company and focus on your survival first.” Cui Bingbing firmly remembered the old hand father-in-law’s teachings – she absolutely couldn’t let Liu Jun see Jiali and soften his heart.
Liu Jun frowned and sighed: “Please handle it for me. I can’t think about that matter now, don’t want to mention it. When I think about it, there’s a muffled sound in my head, and I have nightmares again at night, waking up startled by muffled sounds – very neurotic. Hongming only mentioned having me take care of Xiao Suihua. Sigh… I’m being an ostrich.”
Cui Bingbing rubbed her husband’s scalp, dropped the matter, and stopped mentioning it in front of her husband.
But when Cui Bingbing returned to the hospital, she didn’t see Jiali’s family. Asking at the nurses’ station, the nurses said creditors had come to make trouble last night, shouting about the unconscious patient paying blood debts with blood, and even got physical until police were called to separate them. That group remained vigilant until midnight before being persuaded away by police. The patient’s family didn’t care that the patient was still unconscious and quickly discharged and fled. Cui Bingbing hadn’t expected this outcome. Thinking of the creditor who had jumped off the building, that family naturally wouldn’t forgive Jiali. She went to where Jiali’s parents lived, but didn’t see anyone. Calling Jiali’s parents’ cell phones, they were turned off – the family had vanished without a trace.
Hearing this, Liu Jun could no longer be an ostrich and immediately drove to the hometown address Cui Bingbing had tricked out of Jiali. Whether his car was fast or he left too late, no matter how fast the car was, it was useless – he waited until evening without seeing Jiali’s family return. Relying entirely on his good car, with the security guards’ tacit permission, he stubbornly waited downstairs at Jiali’s parents’ building under the blazing sun. When night fell and sitting in the car became much more bearable, Liu Jun didn’t dare let his attention wander, staring fixedly at the dark building entrance. He vaguely guessed that Jiali’s family might have become frightened birds, but he didn’t believe they would return home.
Indeed, after midnight, when the world was almost silent and Liu Jun was drowsy with drooping eyelids, Jiali’s father finally appeared, looking around furtively. Liu Jun jumped out and stood before Jiali’s father, but no matter how he explained, Jiali’s father wouldn’t believe he was there to help, because Jiali’s father believed a more reasonable possibility – that Qian Hongming’s friends hated Jiali to death. The two couldn’t communicate at all, and naturally, Jiali’s father wouldn’t tell Liu Jun how Jiali was doing.
Liu Jun could only make one final request: “You two elderly people will be too busy caring for Jiali in the foreseeable days. Let me take care of Hongming’s daughter. I was Hongming’s last contact; I have responsibility for Xiao Suihua, and Xiao Suihua has been close to me since childhood. You can trust that I won’t mistreat Xiao Suihua.”
“As long as we’re not dead, we’ll take good care of Xiao Suihua ourselves.”
“Xiao Suihua’s education is very troublesome. She attended half a semester in Australia. If she’s demoted here and starts from first grade again, it’ll be disadvantageous. Moreover, she learned in English – switching to Chinese might be difficult. I have overseas study experience and can help Xiao Suihua transition. I also have the financial means to give Xiao Suihua the best education. Hongming has passed away. Xiao Suihua’s grief should best be comforted by Jiali, but in Jiali’s current state, the three of you who are most suitable don’t have the energy to care for Xiao Suihua’s emotional state. Perhaps only I, who grew up with Hongming since childhood, am suitable. I just returned from a business trip, very tired, without energy for flowery words – just one position: everything is for Xiao Suihua’s future. But once Jiali recovers and whatever she thinks, we’ll arrange for Xiao Suihua accordingly. I have businesses and status, my factory is right there for you to inspect anytime. I won’t speak carelessly. If I’m lying, you can smash my factory – it’s simple. If you trust me, I’ll take Xiao Suihua today. From now on, whatever treatment my daughter gets, Xiao Suihua will get nothing less. I promise to Hongming’s spirit in heaven. Trust me – otherwise Hongming wouldn’t have entrusted her to me on his deathbed.”
Liu Jun ignored Jiali’s father’s repeated refusals, grabbing him and speaking all these words in one breath. But Jiali’s father remained silent. Liu Jun didn’t know what Jiali’s father meant, so he finally became most direct: “You don’t need to doubt me at all. I won’t compete with you for Xiao Suihua – I have my daughter. I’m completely seeing that you’re willing but unable to care for poor Xiao Suihua now, and I only want what’s best for Xiao Suihua – only for Xiao Suihua. You’re tired too, at your age, without rest all day. I understand, but I can’t give you time. Xiao Suihua just learned that her father died. She’s still very young and needs comfort immediately – this is the only reason I rushed here to wait for you. Please entrust Xiao Suihua to me. The addresses of my three businesses, my home address, my father’s address, and my wife’s workplace – I’ve written them all on this note for you to keep. Our family has extensive businesses and couldn’t possibly abandon so much for Xiao Suihua. As long as you’re willing and have time, you can find Xiao Suihua anytime. Uncle, I’ve said everything I can – can you trust me now?”
After Jiali’s father remained silent for nearly ten minutes, Liu Jun finally gained his preliminary permission, also because Jiali’s father rationally knew he couldn’t both care for his daughter who might remain unconscious indefinitely and properly care for his granddaughter. He finally agreed to entrust Xiao Suihua to Liu Jun. When handing Xiao Suihua over to Liu Jun, seeing Xiao Suihua’s trust in Liu Jun and Liu Jun’s tears, Jiali’s father finally helplessly trusted him.
Liu Jun had always opposed having the boss’s relatives and friends in and out of the company, making it workshop-like, but this time he made an exception for Xiao Suihua. Before elementary school started, he brought Xiao Suihua to work every day. He was afraid Xiao Suihua would be left alone – when alone, Xiao Suihua would stare with wide eyes, silent as if lifeless. He constantly contacted Jiali’s parents, hoping to bring Xiao Suihua news of her mother’s recovery. Unfortunately, while Jiali had awakened, her soul had followed her husband to who knows where.