MG CH19

Fu Jinchi sat in an empty bar booth for half an hour, realizing he had been played.

To be precise, he knew it before he even came. How could someone like Ben invite him for a drink out of nowhere?

It was like a silent demonstration, or rather, a complaint.

From a certain chief assistant whom he had messed with first.

However, Fu Jinchi still showed up. It was a long night, and he had nothing better to do. The waiter politely reminded him that there was a minimum charge for the booth, so he, like any ordinary white-collar worker who carefully manages their finances, readily moved to the bar.

He sat there with a drink, and constantly, men and women flocked to him, some for his looks, others for the logos on his clothes. They were like waves crashing against rocks in the sea, hitting a wall, then retreating dejectedly.

Fu Jinchi thought of that face, which seemed eternally composed yet cold as ice, and instantly lost interest in everyone else.

Of course, this time, he had definitely offended the other party.

Stirring up trouble, creating mischief, utterly boring—Fu Jinchi had a precise self-awareness of his actions.

At his core, Fu Jinchi was a destroyer. Yan Zishu’s previous assessment of him as a “troublemaker” was quite accurate.

Many times, he didn’t feel life had any meaning, but he just couldn’t stand to see Fu Weishan doing well.

And he especially disliked seeing anyone subservient and devoted to Fu Weishan.

An old song played in the bar: “Since you are not an immortal, it’s inevitable to have worldly thoughts. Put righteousness aside, and put profit in the middle…”

Fu Jinchi listened for a while, then a naturally innocent smile spilled out.

After finishing a few drinks alone, the night was almost over.

As he left, Fu Jinchi casually handed the waiter a thick wad of tips.

The waiter was flattered, practically regretting having driven him from the booth: “Oh? Thank you, sir! This is too much!”

Fu Jinchi smiled and gestured: “That mole under your eye looks like a friend of mine. Consider it fate.”

Within the Yinghan Group, the project in collaboration with Dongyun Bank progressed systematically.

The project team was now mostly assembled. Like any collaborative team, there were those who were particularly diligent and capable, and naturally, those who shirked work. Especially in a company with strong family characteristics, Yan Zishu couldn’t weed out all the parasites.

However, his management style, as cold and rigorous as his personality, had a certain deterrent effect on the team.

But there were still some who wouldn’t be managed.

For example, the project’s Deputy General Manager, Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan was actually the person Vice President Li Chang’an had tried to promote. Although he didn’t become the overall project head, he was later still inserted into the team, holding the position of second-in-command. But clearly, Zhang Yan wanted to be the primary head.

Ben grumbled under his breath: “If the approval document is even slightly off, the legal department sends it back without even changing it, and they don’t say what the problem is. The whole process has to be redone, and in the end, it’s still because Zhang Yan’s subordinate’s data wasn’t updated. Last time, I even saw Zhang Yan ordering a pile of milk tea to butter up the legal department; he’s super familiar with them. I think they’re deliberately colluding.”

Yan Zishu glanced at him and asked: “Do you have any evidence for saying that?”

Ben mumbled: “It’s just a complaint… the actual processes are handled by the secretarial department, so others get blamed.”

Yan Zishu then mildly reprimanded him: “Then you shouldn’t say such things casually.”

At first, when Ben was scolded into silence, he would humbly reflect on himself with trepidation.

Later, he realized that the subtext of these words was—a gentleman’s revenge is best served cold; why make a fuss now?

As for Zhang Yan, every time he saw Yan Zishu at the company, he would outwardly greet him very warmly, putting his arm around his shoulder and calling him “brother.”

A common scenario would be Zhang Yan shouting from afar, “Oh, Director Yan!” Yan Zishu would simply say, “What ‘Director’? You can call me Old Yan or Little Yan, just don’t call me ‘Director.'” Zhang Yan would then say, “Oh, no, I must call you that. You can’t mess with job titles, haha!”

It was so exaggerated that others couldn’t bear to watch.

However, in fact, Yan Zishu himself felt that as project general manager, his daily time spent with Fu Weishan naturally decreased significantly. And because Fu Weishan had given him this project with reservations, that sense of estrangement slowly emerged.

In the past two meetings, Zhang Yan deliberately sang a different tune, and Fu Weishan showed signs of favoring Zhang Yan.

This mindset seemed to view whoever could offer direct remonstrance as more loyal.

So, outside of work, Yan Zishu assigned Ben the second task that a “petty person” was suited for.

He casually said: “The secretarial department is short-staffed right now. Considering the time, shouldn’t Ji Chen be back soon?”

Ben was astonished when he heard this request. He didn’t think Yan Zishu seemed to like Ji Chen.

Yan Zishu certainly didn’t particularly like Ji Chen, but this matter didn’t depend on his personal preferences.

He patted Ben’s shoulder, just as the Vice President had patted his own: “You just need to follow instructions.”

His tone was so confident that Ben gave up thinking and complied.

Just as there is a philosophy for being a boss, there is also a philosophy for being a subordinate.

The philosophy of a subordinate is: if your boss is looking at you unfavorably recently, either do something to please him, or shift his attention elsewhere. The former resolves conflicts, the latter deflects them.

Therefore, it was enough for Fu Weishan to favor Ji Chen.

Previously, when Ji Chen resigned, Fu Weishan had given him a “preparation for final exams” holiday.

This meant that Fu Weishan would eventually have Ji Chen return to the company.

To use Fu Jinchi’s words, since he was coming back anyway, why couldn’t Yan Zishu use it as an opportunity?

As for the plot’s perspective, this was not contradictory to Yan Zishu finding ways to deal with him later.

On the day of the dispute, there were three people involved, including Ji Chen. Ben privately went to find the “slightly more polite” employee. The next day, this polite guy told the HR department that Ji Chen’s assault was actually due to malicious provocation and was somewhat excusable.

There were no surveillance cameras in the emergency exit, so the situation that day relied solely on verbal accounts.

Previously, Ji Chen only insisted that the other party had “spoken disrespectfully” but stubbornly refused to repeat the specific vulgar words they used. However, it was undeniable that he had initiated the physical altercation, so the outcome of the handling was to punish both sides, with Ji Chen bearing more responsibility.

But now, the polite guy produced a short audio recording—yes, when Ji Chen overheard them badmouthing him, he instinctively secretly started recording on his phone. Although he hadn’t thought about what it could be used for, it clearly came in handy now—proving that the disrespectful person had indeed said insulting words like “apologize to your mother.”

As for the polite guy himself, after starting the recording, he only said controlled, softening words like “there were wrongs on both sides, let’s step back,” which, whether pleasant or not, at least contained no cursing, so he wasn’t afraid.

With this evidence proving that Ji Chen was first provoked by insulting language from other employees, his outburst and use of fists became excusable.

No, not just excusable. If this incident were elevated, it would prove that there was indeed a phenomenon of older employees bullying interns within Yinghan.

The long-delayed investigation results, which were originally going to be dismissed, suddenly became very favorable to Ji Chen.

Yan Zishu brought the HR Director with him to Fu Weishan’s office to report the matter.

The HR Director wiped his sweat: “This matter is indeed a lapse in our employee management… Our Yinghan has always had an excellent reputation, who knew there would be instances of older employees bullying new ones? How can this be? But the key is, thanks to CEO Fu’s timely appeasement of that intern’s emotions, preventing him from impulsively resigning, there’s still room for rectification, otherwise, the company’s image would have suffered losses now!”

This statement, in its first half, indicated the serious nature of the incident, and in its second half, made Fu Weishan appear to be a strict and fair handler of affairs.

Seeing Fu Weishan nod slightly, the HR Director breathed a sigh of relief.

Yan Zishu then also said: “I will personally make a trip to explain the investigation results to Ji Chen and apologize.”

Fu Weishan agreed.

Ji Chen was called out of the self-study room by his black-framed glasses roommate.

Hearing Yan Zishu relay a similar statement to the HR Director’s, he was instead flattered: “No, no, it’s also my fault…”

Yan Zishu, however, said: “Actually, I also need to apologize to you.”

“Why?” Ji Chen was confused.

“I used to be very cold towards you sometimes—” Yan Zishu pushed up his glasses, “—it was because you would influence CEO Fu’s judgment.”

“Ah? What?” Ji Chen’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“You should understand that for someone of CEO Fu’s stature, managing a large conglomerate like Yinghan is like steering a giant ship. Astute decision-making is a leader’s most important quality,” Yan Zishu said. “But ever since he met you, he has become someone who acts on emotion… The influence you have on him is greater than you imagine. Do you understand what this means?”

In a sense, breaking down his every sentence, it wasn’t entirely false.

However, the emotional implications were entirely up to individual interpretation.

Ji Chen’s eyes widened: “I… I don’t quite understand. Are you saying CEO Fu…”

“I’m just expressing a very personal opinion,” Yan Zishu said truthfully in a calm tone. “You can think about it slowly. But if you come back to work, I’m sure CEO Fu would be very happy.”

He left it at that, withdrawing and leaving Ji Chen to fall back into a state of confusion.

The black-framed glasses guy was about to go eat but saw his roommate still staring blankly at the entrance of the academic building: “Hey, what are you daydreaming about?”

“If someone says I influence their judgment, what does that mean?” Ji Chen asked him, not without distress.

“Ah, you still need to ask about that?” The black-framed glasses guy scratched his head. “How does that not sound like a line from an 8 PM TV drama?”

The black-framed glasses guy was indeed worthy of being someone trained in the drama club.

He did advise Ji Chen: “In this day and age, some people still use such ambiguous language to confess their feelings. Be careful, a ‘player’ is the real deal.”

Ji Chen’s heart softened, and he immediately shook his head, defending Fu Weishan: “He didn’t say that, and I’m sure he’s not that kind of person.”

Perhaps people have a rebellious psychology. When the black-framed glasses guy, without understanding the situation, labeled Fu Weishan a “player,” Ji Chen’s instinctive reaction was to feel offended: it was too arbitrary for outsiders to judge him negatively without knowing the specific circumstances. At least for Ji Chen, Fu Weishan would teach him Western dining etiquette, would specially come to see his performance, and would have the driver take him home…

Thinking of Yan Zishu’s downcast eyes and lonely tone, Fu Weishan even took on a somewhat pitiable hue in his heart.

And a voice kept urging him: “Isn’t love just about the secretion of hormones, and two people trying it out together?”

Ji Chen eventually softened.

Amidst his internal struggle, the time until summer vacation flew by quickly; the exam week itself was only about half a month.

When Ji Chen finally mustered the courage to return to the company, this time the HR Director, without a word, put him back in the secretarial department.

Everyone was busy at the time. Ben looked up and saw a handsome boy carrying an old-fashioned backpack, walking in behind the HR Director. He wore a drab suit worth a few hundred yuan, but his dull attire couldn’t hide his fair and translucent skin, apple-like cheeks, cherry-red lips, and moist almond eyes, looking just like an immature high school student.

Like a little white rabbit who had wandered into a jungle world.

Helen put her arm around Ji Chen’s shoulder: “Although there were some misunderstandings before, the company has already handled what needed to be handled, and we won’t bring it up again. Now, let’s welcome Xiao Chen back to our department. Everyone, please take good care of him, let’s work together and make progress together.”

Ji Chen immediately bowed deeply: “…After I return to the company, I will work even harder. Please take care of me.”

As a result, his movement was too large, and his forehead hit the corner of the desk with a thud.

He clutched his head. When he looked up, a red mark appeared on his fair skin, and physiological tears gradually filled his eyes.

The secretarial department immediately began to chatter, some expressing concern about his forehead, others welcoming him with a flurry of words.

Ben curled his lips. He was already depressed, and now he was both depressed and amused. He secretly took a photo and shared this scene with Yan Zishu. He was clever now; they used a separate communication app that left no records when talking about topics outside of work.

Ben complained: “Alright, our department has just brought back another ‘ancestor’.”

Yan Zishu saw it and just replied: “Don’t provoke him, that’s all. I trust your work.”

Only then did Ben’s mood brighten a little.

However, when he switched to the WeChat interface, he saw Yan Zishu immediately add another message: “Is next week’s regular meeting report PPT done yet? When can you give it to me?”

Ben: “Shit!”