Liu Jun finally understood a bit at this point. Holding a duck wing he’d gnawed halfway, he said: “You’re angry at Mr. Song, but also making excuses for Mr. Song.”
“Do engineers always speak so precisely?”
“Regardless, you have to admit that engineers are a pretty good species.”
“Indeed, pretty good, very good.” Liang Sishen quickly praised with a smile before answering an incoming mobile call. But seeing the caller was Yang Xun, her face couldn’t help but darken.
Yang Xun explained apologetically on the phone that although he was at Haoyuan, he was there playing mahjong and drinking tea with friends, completely unrelated to Lei Dongbao’s emotions. Lei Dongbao just had a misunderstanding with no other intentions. He was also helping with Lei Dongbao’s ideological work and could only escape now to call Liang Sishen, asking her to please calm down.
Liang Sishen listened patiently and said: “You two can do whatever you want – I don’t know you.” After saying this, she hung up. But thinking again, she muttered to herself: “Haoyuan is just a restaurant – why would Yang Xun go there to play mahjong and drink tea?”
“During the anti-crime campaign at the end of last year, I saw Yang Xun gambling with a group of gamblers in the wilderness on a freezing day, with sentries posted around. Dongdong can testify to this – he was with me that day for some business.”
“What? Will there be news tomorrow saying ‘Haoyuan uses East Sea’s Song So-and-so as a protective umbrella, brazenly hosting gambling, becoming our city’s famous underground gambling den’?”
Liu Jun was stunned for a moment: “From what I understand, it won’t break. The newspaper will look at the size of the protective umbrella, suppress the matter, and tip you off first.”
“My image is very sinful. Hey, this time it’s my husband calling – they went to complain.” Liang Sishen grabbed the ringing phone again. “Indeed, it is.” She went out to take the call.
Liu Jun couldn’t suppress his curiosity and quickly took the opportunity to call Qian Hongming, asking him to briefly explain the relationship between Song Yunhui and Haoyuan’s boss. Qian Hongming lived up to expectations – in a few words, Liu Jun’s mind became clear. He felt Liang Sishen was truly wronged. In his position, he’d be even less restrained – he’d rather crash his car into Haoyuan and smash it to pieces so no one could play.
After finishing the call, Liu Jun hurriedly ate the crispy duck. This restaurant’s crispy duck was made perfectly – crispy outside and tender inside, very delicious. But facing an elegant lady, asking him to chat while gnawing on duck bones, even with Liu Jun’s good mentality, he couldn’t do it. He could only gnaw roughly and throw away many bones with good meat still attached. Now with Liang Sishen out taking a call, the golden opportunity was fleeting.
Soon Liang Sishen came in, head slightly lowered, corners of her mouth containing a smile. Before sitting down, she smiled at Liu Jun again, apologizing – she looked like her mood had improved. Liu Jun thought to himself that the imposing Mr. Song was quite good at handling his wife. Seeing only half a duck head left on the plate, Liang Sishen laughed: “I was only out for such a short while, and you swept up all the crispy duck. No way – order another half. I only had a small piece just now. I wonder if the half we reorder will be the original mate of the previous half.”
So when her mood was good, her appetite improved too. Liu Jun called the waiter for another half crispy duck. Here, Liang Sishen said, “I forgot another point just now – what if that great benefactor also has a paper lantern-like sickly body…”
“Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Better short pain than long pain – better I suffer than you suffer. Grit your teeth mentally and be like Ah Q for a bit – naturally, your mood will improve.”
“Do you often vent like this?”
“I used to think anger could always be vented, but now I increasingly find that many things make people suffocated to death, suppressed until there’s no spirit left. I can only go fight with taekwondo instructors – only after being beaten down by the instructor do I finally regain some human spirit.”
“Racing is also an excellent venting channel.”
The two chatted more and more congenially. After eating and parting, Liang Sishen left Liu Jun her phone number, asking him to include her in future exciting and fun activities. Liu Jun looked at her slender eggplant-like figure: “What kind of exercise can you handle?”
“I’ve done boxing, mountain climbing, exploration…” Seeing Liu Jun’s face full of disbelief, she also laughed. “Give me some face – I was quite the athlete before having children. Alright, alright, I’ll practice parallel bars when I get home. Don’t leave me out of future fun activities with Dongdong – make sure to tell Dongdong too.”
Later, Liu Jun found the main group who had moved to a karaoke hall and relayed Liang Sishen’s request to Shen Huadong. Shen Huadong was so shocked that one eye became big and one small. With Liang Sishen there, did he still want to have fun? That would be more tiring than him alone taking three girls in one car. The key was that taking care of Liang Sishen meant responsibility without pleasure. If Liang Sishen brought Song Yunhui along behind her, he’d be dead – he’d have to drag out his old man to control the situation. With a group of poker-faced big shots, what would he have fun with?
Liu Jun had a great time at karaoke. His previous few business entertainment visits to karaoke had left him with a very poor impression of such places, thinking them dens of filth. Today, it was all friends – everyone found a big private room to drink, sing, and dance, all spontaneous, making such a ruckus that it was incredibly energetic. When they got hungry from singing, everyone decided to find another place to eat. Liu Jun didn’t even know how many lipstick marks were on his face – when he wiped with a tissue, the paper was full of colors.
The group didn’t need to drive – they went directly to a hotel next door. Liu Jun and Shen Huadong only had eyes for their wild circle, not realizing someone was sitting in a corner watching their revelry. That was Yu Shanshan. Yu Shanshan had finished shopping with her colleague and found a place to eat, unexpectedly seeing the true faces of two so-called outstanding young men. So this was what studying abroad meant – learning this kind of foreign airs and graces, men and women being so casual in public. Seeing the girls around Liu Jun always brushing against him when talking, while Liu Jun accepted all comers, Yu Shanshan’s heart felt like needles piercing it. She also didn’t know Liu Jun was so familiar with Shen Huadong – she began to suspect whether these two had performed a double act in front of her.
Yu Shanshan’s colleague had met Liu Jun several times. Seeing Liu Jun driving a convertible sports car with a beauty in broad daylight had already made her angry. Seeing Liu Jun living it up at night, she angrily grabbed Yu Shanshan’s phone, found Liu Jun’s number, and dialed. Yu Shanshan had no idea – she just stared blankly with a bitter face at Liu Jun’s indulgence.
Liu Jun saw it was Yu Shanshan’s number and didn’t know what was wrong. He immediately sobered up, left his seat, and answered the call. But he heard it wasn’t Yu Shanshan’s voice on the phone – another woman’s voice cursed him as a playboy. He was somewhat baffled, hung up, and returned to continue eating. After dinner, they continued to bars, playing until exhausted with hoarse throats before taking taxis home for a good sleep. The next day, he seriously put on a tie and returned to the company for work, once again a serious, hardworking, outstanding young man. After so many days back in China, he had finally reclaimed his past carefree life.
The administrative manager could be said to have endured winter cold and summer heat, finally obtaining the compensation check for the work-related death from the relevant department. Liu Jun saw the amount on the check and said, strangely, “Just this little? One-time payment, or is there more later?”
“One-time. Because the deceased’s parents both have income sources.”
“If I’d known the compensation would be so delayed and the amount not high, we might as well have bought commercial insurance for employees. Of course, that’s not up to me. Please have the family come collect the money.”
What Liu Jun didn’t expect was that the work-related death employee’s family didn’t dare to come. After such a commotion during the accident, neither Liu Jun nor the administrative manager dared go to the deceased employee’s family home to deliver money, while the family was also afraid that coming to Tengfei would bring them no good. Both sides harbored wariness. Everyone could only agree to meet at the bank where they’d withdraw the money.
As soon as Liu Jun arrived at the bank with the cashier, he saw the deceased employee’s parents and sister, and brother-in-law – four people. He handed the check to the four people. Seeing the amount matched the figure they’d gotten from participating in the compensation meeting, they silently turned to the corporate window to cash out without even looking at him. Liu Jun had the cashier follow them while he went to the personal window to withdraw 100,000 yuan, directly carrying a stack of money to the family of four who were counting money at the corporate window, placing his money together with that pile.
“This is my expression of regret. No amount of money now can make up for the enormous loss you’ve suffered. I’m very sorry.” Liu Jun said this while bowing deeply. Getting up and seeing the family’s surprise, he pulled the cashier away. When leaving, unlike when arriving, four pairs of eyes all watched Liu Jun until he disappeared outside the door.
The personal compensation of 100,000 yuan – Liu Jun had never mentioned this to the administrative manager beforehand, and of course, the deceased employee’s family wouldn’t have known. After that accident, Liu Jun often thought of a life soaked in blood, of the deceased employee’s parents’ desperate grief, and of the conflict between both sides and the improper final resolution. Today, he just wanted to use his conscience to tell those parents that he wasn’t the villain who killed their son, he wasn’t a tyrannical local tyrant, he wasn’t a bastard who didn’t understand reverence for life – he wasn’t a bad person.
But his method of handling the problem at the time had errors.
In the two-plus years since returning to China, he continuously encountered new problems, continuously sought solutions, and continuously accumulated experience. His attitude toward problems changed from initial surprise and even indignation to familiarity and proficiency. Now, when encountering daily problems, he was already adept. If last year’s work-related death accident happened today, he believed he could handle it better – he would know where to advance, where to retreat, how not to violate his principles or weaken his interests while considering the other party’s feelings. Indeed, his frequency of getting beaten at the taekwondo gym was getting lower and lower.
He was maturing – he hadn’t slammed tables and risen for a long time. When he slammed tables now, his heart rarely had impulses but was earnestly considering countermeasures.
Compared to Liu Jun’s maturation speed, Qian Hongming’s daughter Xiao Suihua grew as fast as bamboo shoots in a spring bamboo grove. Qian Hongming was busy with work, and the heavy responsibility of raising the child mostly fell on Jiali. Jiali always silently and smilingly shouldered all household duties, but sometimes she couldn’t manage alone. Fortunately, she knew Liu Jun would respond to one call, more effectively than reciting “Open Sesame.”
When Shen Huadong was looking for Liu Jun in the evening, Liu Jun was accompanying both Jiali and Xiao Suihua who had fevers, getting medical treatment and injections. So when Liu Jun saw Shen Huadong’s call, he reflexively said: “No time for dinner.”
Shen Huadong said disappointedly: “However you look at it, we’re not just fair-weather friends – we’re brothers in suffering. I’m looking for you on serious business. I’m in a meeting at Shi Yiji and hope you’ll come. Definitely will give you a surprise.”
“I really can’t get away. Accompanying a friend at the hospital. Listen to the environment…” Liu Jun pointed his phone toward a child being injected and crying loudly. Shen Huadong had to ask for the hospital address. After hanging up, Liu Jun saw Jiali looking at him very guiltily and quickly said: “This friend usually doesn’t call me for serious matters – don’t worry. Xiao Suihua is asleep – you close your eyes for a bit, too. I’ll watch the IV drip.”
“Xiao Suihua feels especially secure seeing Uncle Liu holding her.” Jiali felt very secure in her heart too, having long known Liu Jun was a responsible friend. She closed her eyes with peace of mind to rest quietly – the high fever left her without strength to be strong.
Shen Huadong rushed over with a pile of blueprints, seeing what seemed like a family of three scene before him. He was dumbfounded for a full minute until a nurse, blocked by him, pushed him aside, and he came back to his senses. He walked to Liu Jun, saw Liu Jun purse his lips, signaling him to be quiet. Looking around at the extremely busy injection room, he could only go outside to wait. He didn’t know who that tiny child and the gentle young woman beside her were to Liu Jun – he was confused.
Shen Huadong waited a full twenty minutes before seeing Liu Jun carrying the child, patiently matching the sick woman’s weak pace, walking out of the injection room. Liu Jun was surprised to see Shen Huadong waiting patiently: “You really have something extremely important? I’ll send Jiali home, then you find a place to eat – I’ll come find you immediately. Haoyuan – it’s close.”
“Mm, Mr. Wang asked me to find you. Originally Mr. Wang was also in the meeting room but couldn’t wait for you. I’ll wait for you at Haoyuan.” Shen Huadong waved goodbye to Jiali, who, though sickly, still managed to smile at him, thinking Liu Jun had found quite a good wife.
Liu Jun sent Jiali and her daughter home, watching the nanny smoothly take over before rushing to Haoyuan. This young master Shen Huadong rarely sat eating in the main hall. A big man sat across from him, talking to Shen Huadong about something. Liu Jun went over and sat down, seeing that the big man was rather thin with a tough, clearly defined face. Only his pair of slightly protruding eyes full of red veins looked somewhat sickly, like someone with serious hypertension or similar rich man’s diseases. After Shen Huadong’s introduction, Liu Jun learned this was Lei Dongbao. Being scanned by Lei Dongbao’s eyes that commanded respect without anger, Liu Jun somehow couldn’t connect Lei Dongbao with paper lanterns or local tyrants.
Shen Huadong grabbed Liu Jun and urgently asked who the mother and daughter at the hospital were and what their relationship was. Liu Jun explained it was Qian Hongming’s wife, but Shen Huadong stubbornly didn’t believe it, persistently being unreasonable. Lei Dongbao, listening on the side, got annoyed and said goodbye before leaving. Once Lei Dongbao left, Shen Huadong exhaled and immediately stopped questioning. “Uncle Lei cares too much about the younger generation. Every time I come to Haoyuan, he drags me into caring about work and life, asking this and that. Fortunately, he doesn’t like you.”
“Didn’t he let you eat last time?”
“That was when they had internal contradictions. Don’t eat first – look at the blueprints. Mr. Wang said you could understand them without me explaining.”
Liu Jun originally wanted to say he was starving to death and wouldn’t look at blueprints. But hearing it was Mr. Wang’s instruction, he obediently unfolded the drawings. Mr. Wang often called him, telling him that Shi Yiji was being led by Mr. Wang, pioneering cooperation with universities and increasing investment in new product development. Engineers who jumped ship from Shi Yiji also told Liu Jun that Shi Yiji’s technical team was developing a series of products Liu Jun had painstakingly researched, reportedly making good progress. Liu Jun wanted to know their research progress – coincidentally, it was delivered to his doorstep. Seeing the first general drawing, he already understood. Shi Yiji’s massive investment had produced results.
Shen Huadong carefully observed Liu Jun’s expression before asking: “From now on, you’re not the exclusive one anymore, right?”
“You called me to a meeting at Shi Yiji for this?” Liu Jun rolled up the blueprints and put them away. “To do a technical evaluation for you?”
“Mr. Wang is very excited and hopes you’ll participate in the evaluation. My dad and I hope to talk with you about how to divide the market since we’re making the same products.”
“Divide? With Shi Yiji’s equipment production capacity, how many pieces of fat meat do you plan to leave for me?”
“Don’t be impatient. Do you know how much our R&D investment was? Just what we gave the university was five million, but the university was extremely sluggish and only completed the mathematical computation part. Yang Xun now complains about bankruptcy every day we meet – he’s heartbroken. We’re also clear that with such a huge investment, recovery will be extremely difficult. At least for a considerable period, Shi Yiji will operate at a loss…”
“Isn’t that perfect for making Yang Xun want to retreat? Isn’t that exactly your calculation?”
“Yang Xun has already retreated – he decided to focus on real estate.”
Liu Jun was shocked. His first reaction was to ask: “Did Yang Li also withdraw? What about Director Dong?”
“Yang Li withdrew, Director Dong stays. Why don’t you ask how your Tengfei should handle this? Between us two, given the current situation, we’re either competitors or partners.”
“We can be competitors, but we definitely can’t be partners. The sizes of our two companies determine that I can only cooperate by being subordinate to you. Right? So you want me to attend a meeting at Shi Yiji – you’re already treating me as a colony?”
We sign a price offensive and defensive agreement. We need to jointly maintain product prices – everyone benefits. If our two companies fight a price war, both will be hurt.”
“I won’t be a colony.” Liu Jun flatly refused. “This market isn’t big but isn’t small either. If I become a colony, I can only barely survive. Before long, even if you don’t want to, your father will eliminate me.”
“Competing with us gets you no benefits. As a listed company, we have at least one thing you can’t handle – I can dump products to suppress you. Go home and think it over carefully.”
“Don’t be so fierce, okay? The knives in your words are too sharp.”
“I see you have no sense of crisis at all – I have to wake you up.”
“Even without you waking me up, I know there are two roads ahead – competition means crashing to death, signing means being tied up to slowly starve to death. You’re asking me to decide how to die – how do you think I should decide?”
Shen Huadong pondered for a while: “Sorry, Liu Jun. But in business matters, it can only be this way.”
Liu Jun looked at Shen Huadong, understanding the implication – that in business matters, what did friendship matter? They could turn against each other anytime. But he said nothing. He had envisioned this outcome for more than just a day or two. Faced with considerable profits, manufacturers would naturally rush to develop products one after another. He just hadn’t expected it to be Shi Yiji, hadn’t expected that under the Shen family’s leadership, Shi Yiji was beginning to accomplish something. This was the most frightening thing. He thought for a while and could only smile helplessly. “I was just enjoying a few days of peaceful life, and you’ve shattered it all. No wonder when I finally managed to sleep early a few days ago, I felt jumpy thinking these good days were too unreal.”