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He Jianshan’s appointment with Min Jia had been postponed. The reason was because Min Jia’s company was releasing a new movie. She was busy with promotions, so they decided to reschedule their appointment for later. When Lin Hui received the news, he wasn’t sure whether he felt relieved or tormented.
For the past couple of days, he’d been dealing with some issues regarding one of the investment companies under Wanzhu. He Zhao was in charge of this company. Normally, a subsidiary shouldn’t have to report each and every decision to the corporation. However, He Jianshan had set up a one-person department within the corporation, and Lin Hui was the head—Risk Control Manager. He wanted Lin Hui to keep an eye on things.
Lin Hui didn’t actually know what exactly he was supposed to be “keeping an eye on”. The investment company was run by a rather professional group of people. All he needed to do was regularly report on how things were doing to He Jianshan. If he had any doubts about something, he’d bring it up and let him make a decision. Today, two documents from the investment company had shown up at the same time. One was an ordinary investment application. It needed to be looked over and signed by the risk control manager. The other document was sent to him by Manager Zhou Xiaofei. It said that President He Zhao was interested in pursuing a project. He claimed it had good prospects, a strong team, and a broad market. In short, he praised it to high heaven. However, after a detailed evaluation, they didn’t really approve of this appraisal. Zhou Xiaofei said it very bluntly. The project was for the sake of cheating money out of them. However, He Zhao’s friend had been the one to recommend this project, so He Zhao was now determined to invest.
A disagreement had arisen because of this.
Lin Hui understood why Zhou Xiaofei threw this difficult issue over to him. The corporation was, in the end, surnamed He. If He Zhao really wanted to invest, there was nothing they could do about it, but Zhou Xiaofei’s team didn’t want to take the responsibility for it. It was better for them to make things absolutely clear. If something went wrong, don’t come crying to them. Lin Hui actually believed in the team from the bottom of his heart. They had a lot of experience. Even if this project wasn’t going to bring in a lot of money, they could still close their eyes and go along with it. The only issue was that they didn’t know what hidden dangers might be involved with this project, which may ultimately affect Wanzhu’s reputation.
After Lin Hui thought about it, he temporarily put the application on hold. He reported the matter to He Jianshan, but He Jianshan had no response. Instead, he asked casually, “What do you think?”
Lin Hui tactfully replied, “Manager Zhou’s evaluation has a lot of data to back it up. It makes sense.”
“I’ll be going to Qiushan Gardens for dinner tonight. I’ll find you tomorrow to finalize this issue.”
“Alright, President He.”
Qiushan Gardens was the area in which He Zhao’s family lived. He Jianshan would go back to their villa for a family dinner every month. According to Lin Hui’s observations, He Jianshan had a really good relationship with his grandfather, but he had a rather delicate relationship with He Zhao. He didn’t seem to love him, but he didn’t seem to hate him either. They seemed more like distant relatives than father and son. To put it bluntly, if it wasn’t for these family dinners, Lin Hui would have suspected that He Jianshan’s parents were long gone.
What Lin Hui didn’t know was that this family dinner was actually a request from He Jianshan’s grandfather. When people get old, they tend to yearn for a full and happy family. No matter how much money a person earned, it couldn’t replace the people by their side. Before the old man went abroad for his recuperation, he clasped He Jianshan’s hand and said earnestly, “Your father’s been like this all his life. He might be a little stupid, but he’s got a good heart. Try to understand him.”
He added, “Go home for dinner every now and then. I’m a father myself. I know he wants to see you.”
He Jianshan felt that his father’s family was already complete. His father didn’t necessarily need him. However, when he looked at the wrinkles on the old man’s face, he decided not to say anything.
When He Jianshan arrived at Qiushan Gardens, the housekeeper was already preparing dishes. He Zhao was sitting on the sofa and looking at his phone. His stepmother, Jiang Qing, and his half-brother, He Jianchuan, were talking and watching television. It looked like the perfect picture of a happy family. However, when He Jianshan appeared, the atmosphere fell silent. He Jianshan was already accustomed to it. He just wanted to get this dinner over with and head back. He still had a video conference scheduled for nine o’clock.
The sound of chopsticks hitting the dishes and chewing could be heard every now and then throughout dinner.
He Zhao took a couple of bites. He looked at He Jianshan and hesitated for a long time. In the end, however, he spoke up first. “How have you been recently?”
“Good.”
“Is everything going well with the company?”
“Everything’s going smoothly.”
He Zhao paused. He took another bite. Then, he asked, “How is Old Zhao’s daughter doing at the company?”
“Old Zhao?”
“Zhao Tao. I mentioned it to you last time. His daughter started working at Wanzhu. Two days ago, Old Zhao said that he wanted to invite you to dinner.”
“Oh. You should ask Lin Hui. I’m not too clear on the details.”
He Zhao changed the subject. “Your brother will be graduating from university next year. You should let him shadow you for a bit, learn a little something.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He Jianshan glanced at He Jianchuan. He Jianchuan practically had his head buried in his bowl. He said lightly, “He can stay in each department for a period of time, one, to familiarize himself with how the company operates, and, two, to see if there’s any department that he prefers. You can ask Lin Hui to arrange it.”
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Jiang Qing glanced at He Zhao. She quickly pushed one of the dishes in front of He Jianshan. She said with a smile, “Xiao Shan, eat some more. Hong jie‘s stewed bamboo shoots are amazing.”
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“Risk? That’s not right. The project was recommended by Old Yang, Yang Kunmao. Old Yang’s been my friend for more than ten years. There’s no way he would defraud me. Besides, there’s no such thing as zero risk these days.”
“This and that are two different things. If this was a personal investment of yours, I wouldn’t say anything, but, since this has to do with the company, I’m going to act according to the risk evaluation.”
He Zhao was a little anxious. “But I’ve also investigated this project. I even visited the site. I don’t think there’s an issue.”
“I looked it over with Lin Hui. The investment model—”
He Zhao couldn’t hold back his anger. “Is Lin Hui my son, or are you my son? Why are you always bringing up Lin Hui?”
There was silence.
He Jianchuan straightened up in his seat. He didn’t even breathe. He secretly glanced at his mother and quietly asked, “Who’s Lin Hui?”
Jiang Qing shot He Jianchuan a look and motioned for him to shut up.
He Jianshan was very calm. “Business affairs should be dealt with in a professional manner. Everything you mentioned has to do with the company. Lin Hui is my assistant. Who should I bring up if not him?”
He Zhao frowned. “Do you think having your brother learn from you is just business as usual?”
“If you think that this is a personal matter, have you considered asking him what he wants to do?”
Everyone looked towards He Jianchuan.
He Jianchuan looked at his parents. Then, he looked at He Jianshan. He Jianshan’s eyes were cold and aloof. He didn’t look any different from before. He couldn’t help but shovel another bite of food into his mouth. He chewed for a bit. Then, under everyone else’s scrutiny, he shrank into his shoulders and said, “I-I want to be in a band.”
He Zhao slammed his chopsticks onto the table.
The meal ended on an unhappy note.
He Jianshan drove back to where he lived. The decorating at his place was rather cold and simple. As a whole, it looked very serious. The only exception was the beige sofa in the living room because it had been given to him by Xue Pei. It was soft enough for a person to sink into it. He Jianshan sat on the sofa and loosened his tie. Then, he didn’t move. The familiar environment didn’t help him relax at all. When faced with the empty room, he just felt tired. After who knows how long, his phone started making a beeping noise, reminding him of the video conference in fifteen minutes. However, He Jianshan was a little tired. He didn’t want to hold a meeting.
He called Lin Hui.
“Hello? President He?”
“I… have something to do at the moment, so I won’t be holding the meeting.”
“Alright, President He. I’ll inform everyone later. Should I push it back to tomorrow?”
“…Let’s talk about it later.”
Lin Hui found this strange. He Jianshan was rarely this ambiguous. His requests were always crystal clear. Furthermore, He Jianshan would usually inform him at least half an hour in advance if he needed to reschedule. He wouldn’t inform him right before the meeting was about to start. It seemed as though he was just making an excuse in order to skip out on the meeting..
“What are you doing?” He Jianshan’s voice sounded once again.
Lin Hui returned to his senses. He glanced at the ELEME bag in front of him and said, “I just bought takeout. I’m getting ready to eat dinner.”
“You’re having dinner this late?”
“…I ate some snacks from the other departments this afternoon. I wasn’t very hungry, so I pushed dinner back a little.”
“What did you order?”
“Beef noodle soup.” Lin Hui quickly notified everyone that the meeting was canceled. Then, he put the phone on speaker and placed it on the table. After untying the plastic bag, he started taking out his dinner.
He Jianshan heard the rustling sound and asked, “Won’t the noodles be soggy by the time it gets delivered?”
Lin Hui helplessly replied, “It’s not soggy yet, but it will be if we keep talking.”
A soft laugh came from the other end of the phone. “In that case, go ahead and eat. Goodbye.” Then, he hung up the phone. Lin Hui was left staring at his phone, deep in thought.
As he ate his noodles, he wondered what exactly happened to He Jianshan at Quishan Gardens. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have canceled a meeting at the last minute or wasted time talking about irrelevant things. They had worked together for so long. Although Lin Hui wasn’t as afraid of He Jianshan as the others, he still knew that He Jianshan wasn’t the kind of person who would call just for the sake of chatting. A lot of people privately said that He Jianshan was like a robot, but He Jianshan wasn’t a robot.
He might seem invincible, but Lin Hui knew that he got tired too.
After Lin Hui finished his noodles, he stared at the phone for a while. Then, he called He Jianshan.
The call quickly connected. “Hello—”
Lin Hui swallowed nervously. “President He, it’s me. It’s like this. You… The project in Ninghai…”
He Jianshan interrupted him. “Lin Hui, it’s off-work hours right now. The report can wait until tomorrow.”
Lin Hui was dumbfounded.
Both of them fell silent. All that was left was the faint sound of breathing. After a while, Lin Hui said dryly, “What did you have for dinner?”
“Stewed bamboo shoots.”
“That sounds nice.”
He Jianshan changed positions and lay down on the sofa. He recalled the taste of the bamboo shoots. “It was pretty good.”
“Oh, my beef noodles were also really good.”
He Jianshan suddenly remembered that he seemed to have seen Lin Hui eating noodles a few times before. He asked, “Do you like noodles?”
“Ah? It’s okay.”
The phone call was quiet.
“I—”
“You—”
“You first—”
“Go ahead—”
The phone call became quiet again.
A strange feeling rose up in Lin Hui’s heart. The two of them had suddenly become very clumsy, but this kind of clumsiness wasn’t supposed to appear on He Jianshan. Lin Hui’s heartbeat started speeding up for no reason at all. He took a deep breath. He felt that he might’ve had too much to eat. The reason he made this phone call was because he felt that He Jianshan might need someone to accompany him. It sounded a little unbelievable, but, even if he was wrong, Lin Hui was still willing to go out on a limb and do this.
He calmed his heart. He Jianshan started speaking again. “Do you get takeout often? You don’t cook?”
“It’s annoying to cook for just one person. I’m lazy.”
“Lazy?” He Jianshan’s voice sounded a little surprised. “You’re lazy?”
Lin Hui recalled just how meticulous he was in the office and decided to lay out all his cards. “I’m lazy when I’m at home. What about you, President He? Do you have a housekeeper who prepares all your meals for you?” A person as busy as He Jianshan must have someone to take care of the cooking and cleaning.
He Jianshan said, “No, I don’t like having outsiders in my house.”
This was truly outside of Lin Hui’s expectations. He asked, “Do you do the cooking yourself? What about the cleaning? Do you do it?”
“I don’t really do a whole lot, so it’s pretty easy to pick up after myself. Of course, I do have someone do the cleaning every now and then. As for cooking, the supermarket delivers fresh food to my door every week. If I have the time, I cook for myself. If not, I have the restaurant deliver food.”
Lin Hui was truly stunned. “You can cook?”
He Jianshan was silent for a bit. “That’s not particularly unusual, is it?”
Lin Hui sourly thought to himself, “What kind of person is this? He’s a god in the business arena and an expert at housekeeping! He’s way too perfect!”
He was momentarily at a loss for words, but He Jianshan added, “If you have the chance, you should come over and try some of my cooking.”
Lin Hui’s heart almost stopped.
It was just a polite remark. Still, if He Jianshan had said this to him half a month ago, he might’ve stayed up all night out of happiness. Now, however, he couldn’t help but recall that unfulfilled appointment waiting for He Jianshan.
This was destined to be a one-sided love.
When faced with the prospect of He Jianshan getting married, Lin Hui would often think to himself, “It’s going to happen sooner or later. It’d be best if I could give up on him sooner. The sooner I let go, the sooner I can start over.”
However, most of the time, he still found himself hoping, “Let me keep loving him. Just a little bit longer.”
Lin Hui tightened his grip on his phone. “Okay, I’m looking forward to it.”
It was like drinking poison to quench his thirst.