CH 9

It was a new week. Li Fenghai, the general manager of the real estate company, returned to report on a project. While he was here, he scheduled a dinner with Lin Hui.

Li Fenghai was usually away on business trips all year round, bouncing from place to place. He was about ten years older than He Jianshan, but he was young in his heart. He got along well with Lin Hui, so, every time he returned to the company, he would call him up for a meal. He Jianshan just so happened to have an event to attend. Lin Hui didn’t need to go with him. Since he didn’t have anything else to do that night, he readily agreed.

An Ni was joining them as well. As soon as An Ni heard that Li Fenghai would be paying, she decided that she would be going too. Li Fenghai had quit drinking recently and An Ni wanted to have soup, so the three of them decided to have Cantonese.

The dinner table was Li Fenghai’s home court. He had always been talkative. Plus, he’d been working in this industry for more than twenty years. He had traveled all around the world and seen a lot of interesting and incredible things. As soon as they sat down, he started prattling on and on. Lin Hui and An Ni didn’t even manage to eat that much. Rather, they spent all their time laughing.

Lin Hui was sipping herbal tea as he listened. He laughed. “Your experiences are truly one of a kind. It’s quite interesting.”

Li Fenghai glanced at him. “What? Are you jealous? I can ask President He to transfer you over to the real estate company.”

An Ni quickly jumped out as soon as she heard this. “Nope, absolutely not. Mr. Li, if you try to take Assistant Lin away, I will be the first to oppose.”

Li Fenghai didn’t understand. “President He can’t live without Assistant Lin, but what does that have to do with you?”

“You don’t understand! The rest of us need Assistant Lin even more than President He! Think about it. If Assistant Lin leaves, who’s going to handle President He?”

Li Fenghai instantly defected to the other side. “You’re absolutely right.”

Lin Hui quietly watched their little performance and was absolutely dumbfounded. “Let’s not exaggerate too much, okay?”

An Ni pointed towards Mr. Li. “Look at Mr. Li. He’s been in Wanzhu for forever, but he’s still terrified in front of President He.”

Li Fenghai laughed and agreed. “Both of you joined the company a lot later. When President He just started taking over the company, there were tons of people who didn’t accept him. They all said that he wouldn’t even last a year. Look at him now. Anyone who’s seen his skills is bound to be a little afraid of him.”

Lin Hui watched as the things they said got more and more outrageous. He couldn’t help but speak up to salvage his boss’ reputation. “I think President He just has a serious look to him. He’s actually very, um, gentle.”

Li Fenghai was truly a bit curious. “You started working with him right after graduating from college, right? Were you not afraid of him at all?”

Lin Hui smiled and shook his head.

He was an inexperienced newcomer hired to be the assistant to the boss of a large company that he’d only ever seen on television. It was impossible for him not to be nervous, especially since this was a job outside of his major. He wasn’t even sure whether he was qualified for the job. But he wasn’t afraid. Lin Hui didn’t think he would ever be afraid.

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.

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As he was taking notes, he muttered to himself. “… 20% … 28.51 million …”

“It’s 28.57 million. The contract with Jiarong has a supplemental agreement added to it.”

Lin Hui looked up.

The weather was bad that day. The heavy rain seemed to be swallowing up the entire city. Everyone who walked in or out of the main entrance of the building was more or less soaked in rain. Lin Hui saw that the man in front of him was wearing a dark trench coat. A few drops of water slid down the hair behind his ears and landed on his shoulders, creating a wet spot. He was rather tall. His body blocked the light coming in from the hallway. From where Lin Hui was sitting, this person felt like a mountain.

Lin Hui quickly realized that this was He Jianshan. He hurriedly stood up and said, “Hello, President He. My name is Lin Hui. The company has arranged for me to be your assistant.”

He Jianshan nodded and walked into the innermost office.

Lin Hui’s office was next to He Jianshan’s office. There were other departments on this floor. Originally, there weren’t any extra rooms, but it wasn’t appropriate for him to be placed in other departments. Thus, the company changed what was originally a small reception room into an office. After He Jianshan left, Lin Hui thought for a bit. Then, he picked up the notepad he’d just bought and went to He Jianshan’s office.

“President He, my intercom number is 822. If you ever need me, you can just call me directly. I will be in charge of arranging your schedule from now on. If I make any mistakes, please be sure to correct me. Also, if you have any personal requests, you can go ahead and let me know.” During his training, a colleague had said that He Jianshan was a person with high demands. Lin Hui ran through everything he’d just said in his mind. He felt that there shouldn’t have been any problems with it.

He Jianshan was in the process of reviewing documents. He still had a pen in his hand. The pen hadn’t moved ever since Lin Hui started speaking. When Lin Hui finished speaking, he didn’t reply immediately. It wasn’t clear what he was thinking.

Lin Hui actually felt really uneasy. He kept getting the feeling that He Jianshan looked rather helpless. Lin Hui didn’t understand why he would have such a reaction, but he didn’t back down, earnestly watching He Jianshan, patiently waiting for a response.

It was still raining outside. The crappy weather outside made the atmosphere inside the office seem even more solemn.

He Jianshan finally put down his pen. Lin Hui watched him as he stood up and stretched his hand out toward him. His eyes were calm, like the ocean.

“Hello, Lin Hui.”

Lin Hui hesitated for a moment. Then, amongst the pitter patter of wind and rain, he accepted He Jianshan’s hand.

And so, just like that, Lin Hui began his career as an assistant at Wanzhu. He originally thought that it would take a bit of time for the two of them to get used to each other, but, surprisingly, he ended up taking to the work a lot faster than expected. This was mainly due to the fact that He Jianshan wasn’t as much of a stickler as Lin Hui thought he’d be. He strove for perfection and was strict about work, but Lin Hui was already pretty demanding of himself in the first place. He worked carefully and diligently, so he was able to keep up with He Jianshan’s demands.

Plus, when it came to administrative issues such as schedule adjustments, arrangement of personnel, system optimization, He Jianshan tended to go with his suggestions. Whenever Lin Hui asked He Jianshan about these things, He Jianshan would always reply with “What do you think?” or “Is there a better option?” or “Could you draw up a better proposal?” Gradually, Lin Hui came to realize that He Jianshan didn’t need an obedient subordinate. He needed a colleague who could actually help him with his work.

He Jianshan chose him.

From the moment he stretched out his hand, Lin Hui should have understood. He was being trusted.

When Lin Hui realized this, there was an inexplicable eagerness in his heart. It was as if he’d gone back to his school days. Everyone would always try their hardest in order to get a little red flower from the teacher, and Lin Hui was undoubtedly the best of them all. The difficult life in his youth had helped sharpen him. Those sixteen years of his life that he’d spent as a student was just the beginning. Lin Hui probably didn’t even realize it himself, but, from the moment he decided to apply to Wanzhu, the trajectory of his life had completely changed.

He would not betray He Jianshan’s trust.

He would not disappoint He Jianshan.

After a few rounds of food, the conversation jumped from He Jianshan to celebrity gossip before finally looping back Wanzhu. An Ni asked Li Fenghai why he suddenly decided to quit drinking. Li Fenghai sighed helplessly. “It’s obviously because I’m getting old. You can’t fight old age. I’ve got a lot of pressure on me now. I can’t keep goofing off like you young folks.”

An Ni’s lips curved into a wry smile. “I bet your wife yelled at you for drinking too much.”

Li Fenghai didn’t seem ashamed about being exposed at all. Rather, he coolly admitted it. “This is what you call romantic teasing. I bet a single guy like Lin Hui would never understand.”

Lin Hui had an indifferent expression on his face. “I don’t really drink much even at dinner parties.”

“You usually attend those dinner parties with President He. He definitely has to drink. You must’ve had to take him home.” An Ni suddenly thought of something. “By the way, has he ever gotten drunk before? I can’t imagine it.”

Lin Hui thought back to all the dinner parties that he had attended and found that it was rare for He Jianshan to get drunk. To be exact, it was rare for him to even drink very much. He didn’t know if it was because he had a high tolerance, but, most of the time, he was able to maintain a clear and sober expression. No matter how much he had to drink, it never really showed on his face. Lin Hui sometimes thought it peculiar. Most days, He Jianshan was unsmiling. He made the people and atmosphere around him feel very solemn. However, when he was at the dinner table, he would exchange toasts with others, laughing and smiling. Those Wanzhu employees that thought he was AI must have never seen him chatting and smiling at the dinner table. He was like the best actor in the world. Once he was fully engaged in a performance, you simply couldn’t take your eyes off of him.

Lin Hui shook his head. “I don’t think he has.”

Li Fenghai wasn’t surprised. “President He has always been able to hold his alcohol. He Zhao, on the other hand, can’t really hold his drink.”

An Ni smiled and said, “It looks like President He gets his alcohol tolerance from his mother.”

Li Fenghai put down his chopsticks. “Do you know who President He’s mother is?”

An Ni blanked. “Isn’t it Yao Qianyi? She was a famous dancer. Unfortunately, she passed away in a car accident. Outsiders might not know, but Wanzhu employees probably all know of her. President He founded the Honeypot Project because of her.”

Lin Hui’s eyebrows slightly twitched, but he didn’t say anything.

An Ni added, “Before, there were posts online saying that she was the top student in her department when she was in college. She was an incredibly gifted dancer. Later, because of her pregnancy, she almost gave up on dance. After giving birth, He Zhao encouraged her to take up dance again, and we all know the rest. She had a very successful dance career. It’s just a shame …”

“I’ve read all of that stuff before too. That’s on the better end. It’s at least somewhat reliable. Did you know? When President He first took over the company, there’d be some breaking news every couple of days exposing him. It would be stuff like ‘President He is illegitimate’ or ‘Yao Qianyi didn’t die in a car accident’. Oh, there was also someone who was just making baseless claims, saying that the He Family killed his son. It didn’t matter how outrageous it was. As long as it was posted, a ton of people would start eating it up!” Li Fenghai found himself at a loss for words just mentioning it.

Lin Hui frowned when he heard this. “What kind of nonsense is that? If President He isn’t from the He Family, why would the old man hand the company over to him?”

“People like reading about celebrity gossip. It’s all just entertainment to them. It doesn’t matter whether it’s true or not.”

The more Lin Hui listened, the more disgusted he became.

Over the years, there had been all kinds of gossip and news about Wanzhu on the Internet. The so-called secrets of this wealthy family were naturally one of the more interesting pieces of gossip. However, no matter what the truth really was, one of the protagonists in this story was dead and the other had a new family now. All that was left was He Jianshan. He stood alone, allowing others to speculate about him as they wished.

Even after dinner was over, Lin Hui was still thinking about those wild and illogical rumors about He Jianshan. When he thought back to He Jianshan’s delicate father-son relationship with He Zhao, he couldn’t help but feel a little anxious. As he was driving, he suddenly received a call.

“Hello?”

The voice on the other end of the phone hesitated. “Excuse me, i-is this Lin Hui?”

Lin Hui glanced at the screen. It was an unfamiliar number. It shouldn’t be anyone that he knew. He replied, “Yes. Who are you?”

What followed was a bit of clamor. The voice on the other end of the phone rang out once more. “Can you pick me up? I’m at the Qushui Police Station …”

Lin Hui slowed down. He checked the phone number again, trying to make sure that he really didn’t know the owner of this number.

“Who are you?” Lin Hui asked with a frown.

“My name is He Jianchuan. I’m He Jianshan’s younger brother.”

Lin Hui slammed on the brakes.