Chapter 23
Coming back to work, time always passes by quickly.
Unbeknownst to him, the sky outside had darkened, and the roads were illuminated by the interwoven golden threads of streetlights. The nearby shopping center stood out in the darkness with its bright lights.
Lin Yushu focused on the various reports in his hand until his phone vibrated, disrupting his concentration.
【Song Qiming: Aren’t you coming back yet?】
【Song Qiming: Wowo is angry.jpg】
Reading the messages, Lin Yushu suddenly remembered that Song Qiming was still waiting for him at home. Checking the time, it was already past 8 pm, and soon the security would cut off the power in the office building. It was time for him to go back.
His fingers swiftly danced across the screen as a new message popped up.
【Lin Yushu: Coming right away.】
With no traffic at night, it took only about ten minutes for Lin Yushu to drive his Honda Civic back to his residential complex.
Upon returning home, he leisurely changed into his casual attire and selected a bottle of red wine from the wine cabinet. Just as he finished these tasks, the doorbell rang.
“Come and taste this,” Song Qiming stood outside the door, holding a large plate in his hand. “I made pizza.”
Lin Yushu was a bit surprised. “You can cook?”
“I can’t.” They hadn’t exchanged their slippers yet, so Song Qiming casually put on his own slippers and carried the plate into the living room, placing it on the coffee table cluttered with reports. “I gave it a try. It’s fish-flavored shredded pork pizza.”
Lin Yushu: “…”
Lin Yushu followed him to the coffee table and sat cross-legged next to Song Qiming. “Italians would kill you for this.”
“They won’t.” Song Qiming handed a slice of pizza to Lin Yushu. “I’m Chinese, they’ll forgive me.”
It was unclear where he got his confidence from.
Lin Yushu took the pizza from Song Qiming’s hand and took a bite. It was salty and dry, just as he expected—a true dark cuisine.
He calmly placed the pizza back and picked up his wine glass, taking a sip of the red wine to cleanse his palate.
Song Qiming didn’t notice Lin Yushu’s subtle action and looked at the cluttered coffee table, asking, “What’s this?”
“My work.” Lin Yushu picked up one of the reports he had only read halfway through and circled the table’s headings with a red pen. “This is the investment performance of Green Pine Capital for this year.”
Green Pine Capital was one of the investment firms that collaborated with the Shao family’s business. The Shao family had invested billions of Chinese yuan in Green Pine Capital’s projects.
“An 8% return rate.” Song Qiming read out the number on the report. “Seems not so great.”
“Please remove the ‘seems’.” Lin Yushu used the red pen to circle several areas on the report that he was highly dissatisfied with. “They don’t participate when they should, they don’t withdraw when they should, and they have the audacity to show me this garbage with an 8% performance? You probably can’t understand the feeling of working with idiots.”
Anger was a personal emotion, such as when Song Qiming mocked Lin Yushu’s white underwear—he would get angry but not to the point of being furious.
However, being furious was an advanced version of anger, where nothing and no one seemed pleasing.
Thinking about it, although Song Qiming often annoyed Lin Yushu and made him angry, he had never reached the level of fury.
“I understand.” Song Qiming said, “I don’t want to work with idiots either, so I want you by my side.”
Lin Yushu put down the red pen, picked up his wine glass again, and asked, “Are you so sure that I’m not an idiot?”
“Sure,” Song Qiming took a sip of his wine. “I can tell you have ideas just by observing how you drive.”
Lin Yushu had never heard of such a way of judging a person before. But thinking about it, it made sense. Driving not only tested a person’s driving skills but also their mental resilience, reaction speed, and more. If Lin Yushu could outperform Song Qiming on the racetrack, it might not necessarily mean he was better than Song Qiming, but at the very least, it indicated that he wasn’t a fool.
“When you asked me if I would help you that day,” Lin Yushu finally brought up the matter at hand, “I can help you, but we must establish some ground rules.”
“Go on,” Song Qiming showed interest and placed his wine glass back on the coffee table.
“First, you’re not allowed to talk to me at work.”
Song Qiming raised an eyebrow. “Why? Just to avoid suspicion?”
“Yes,” Lin Yushu casually swirled the wine glass in his hand. “Shao Guangjie is the ‘crown prince’ of Yong Xing, and I don’t want to offend him. The same goes for you. Until you are fully prepared, don’t provoke him either.”
Song Qiming frowned. “Is he really that intimidating?”
“It’s not him, it’s his grandfather, your grandfather,” Lin Yushu took a sip of his wine and continued, “Last year, Shao Guangjie caused a sharp drop in Yong Xing’s stock price due to the electric car incident. Some external directors proposed to remove him from the CEO position—it was a reasonable suggestion considering the significant losses he caused to the shareholders. But your grandfather directly called a shareholders’ meeting and dismissed that director.”
Song Qiming interrupted, “How can you be so sure that my grandfather would support him over me?”
“I’m not certain,” Lin Yushu placed the wine glass on the coffee table and adopted a serious expression, “but what I can be sure of is that if conflicts arise between the two of you, the old master won’t be pleased. And if I fail to prevent such a situation, I’ll be the one to suffer.”
For Shao Zhenbang, both Shao Guangjie and Song Qiming were important to him. But that wasn’t the case for Lin Yushu.
Shao Zhenbang entrusted him to secretly control the direction of negotiations, hoping that his grandson and step-grandson could peacefully coexist.
If these two ended up in a messy conflict, Shao Zhenbang would only see it as Lin Yushu’s failure.
“You think about these things a lot,” Song Qiming seemed to understand Lin Yushu’s concerns and no longer dwelled on the matter of speaking at the company. “What about the second rule?”
“The second rule is that you have to inform me in advance about any plans you have.”
Lin Yushu didn’t want to be manipulated by Song Qiming again. That feeling was really unpleasant.
“Okay,” Song Qiming agreed. “And the third?”
“The third rule is that you’re not allowed to do anything that harms the interests of the Yong Xing Group,” Lin Yushu spoke earnestly. “The reason I chose to help you is that I also hold company stock options. If the stock price rises, I benefit as well. Shao Guangjie has been the CEO for a year, and his performance has been evident to everyone. So, the simple purpose of my investment in you is for my own benefit. If you harm Yong Xing, you’re harming me. If you truly do such a thing, I won’t show any mercy.”
“Okay,” Song Qiming didn’t hesitate.
“Don’t agree so quickly,” Lin Yushu interjected, “When I mentioned not harming Yong Xing’s interests, that includes not fighting over the family assets. Internal conflicts within the Shao family will definitely impact the company’s stock price, so don’t entertain any ideas about the inheritance.”
“Don’t worry,” Song Qiming chuckled helplessly. “I care more about the company’s stock price than you do.”
Lin Yushu couldn’t deny that.
If the company’s stock price collapsed, Song Qiming would overnight go from being a billionaire to penniless.
Since Song Qiming agreed to all three conditions, Lin Yushu raised his wine glass and said, “Here’s to a successful partnership.”
Song Qiming also raised his glass and clinked it against Lin Yushu’s. “To a successful partnership.”
Both wine glasses were emptied, and as Lin Yushu was about to refill them, Song Qiming suddenly pulled out a sheet of A4 paper from a pile of reports and curiously asked, “What’s this?”
The A4 paper contained a few bold words: Investment Analysis.
A flash of panic crossed Lin Yushu’s mind, and he quickly reached out to snatch it. “It’s nothing.”
“‘Song Qiming’s Advantages?'” Song Qiming blocked Lin Yushu’s hand with one hand and held the A4 paper up high with the other. “Knows more about cars than Shao Guangjie… More recognized in the car enthusiast circle…”
Lin Yushu treated Song Qiming and Shao Guangjie as two investment funds, and this investment analysis was his analysis of the two.
Or rather, a boring analysis.
He must have accidentally printed it while printing the reports.
“…Clear-minded, with a clear purpose…”
Song Qiming continued reading the contents on the A4 paper, and Lin Yushu grew increasingly anxious. He pounced on it directly. “Give it back to me!”
“…Handsome… Well-endowed…” Song Qiming leaned back, pushing Lin Yushu away, and burst into laughter. “What are you constantly thinking about?”
“None of your damn business!” Lin Yushu got even angrier and pounced forward again. However, Song Qiming, afraid of dropping the paper, grabbed Lin Yushu’s collar and pushed him back. As a result, Lin Yushu’s two buttons on the chest popped open, revealing a significant portion of his chest.
The alcohol made his cherry-like nipples appear even rosier, hiding timidly behind his home clothes, afraid to show themselves. Song Qiming stared straight at Lin Yushu’s chest, his gaze gradually growing intense.
Realizing that he had been too aggressive, Lin Yushu noticed that he had practically pinned Song Qiming to the carpet.
He swiftly snatched the A4 paper and was about to step back, but at that moment, Song Qiming suddenly circled his waist and, caught off guard, pulled him into his embrace.
“Say it again,” for some reason, Song Qiming’s voice was deeper than usual, “Whose are you?”
_________________________________
Lin Yushu: Definitely not yours.
“if I fail to prevent (conflicts from arising between you two), I’ll be the one to suffer”… I can’t tell if the author is being ridiculous or it’s just normal real life rich ppl being ridiculous making an investment director responsible for whether his two grandsons can get along in his own company…. Life wtf? It doesn’t make sense at all? I didn’t realize investment managers also meant you’re in charge of making sure the company doesn’t fall in turmoil due to inner working conflicts in multi-corporation company (!??!!) Like that’s definitely the CEOs job no???? Or the management?? Or the chairman?? Or the vice president?? Or any one other than the person who just manages your assets to invest in making more money ……..Right??? Am I crazy?
D: why do none of these ppl even talk about secretaries or assistants? Do they have none? Is it just the mc out here??
He had already mentioned there were only 10 employees in the Executive Office, which is one of the XY Group’s branches. Not sure about any company, but some countries and fields have different working culture. I don’t know enough about the investment niche to comment on it lol. I do know in my country you can see many people being forced into “informal” occupations by their bosses. Based on his personality, I assume he accepts those requests to curry favor with the Shao family because he’s aiming for the CEO position of this branch.