But then Yaohui Hua said, “What about you think about it now?”
I laughed, “President, it’s not my turn to think about this. And I can’t.”
Yaohui Hua also laughed, “Don’t you want Leon to take this position?”
“Whether or not he sits in this position has no impact on my life. He’s already a vice president and already a man in charge, and taking the next step up would only give him more responsibility, but there’s no impact on my life.”
Yaohui Hua nodded, “Yeah. If I step down, there are actually only two candidates, and that’s Chenxin and Leon. Chenxin was relatively stable, but far less capable than Leon. But Chenxin spent more time at headquarters and entered the board earlier, so there were more people supporting Chenxin. So what Leon needs to do is to get the votes of those who support Chenxin. Once he does that, then he can take that seat.”
“President, I suddenly want to ask why do you want to talk to me about this subject. My word doesn’t count for anything, and it really doesn’t matter how do I think.”
Yaohui Hua sipped his tea gently, “You’re the first person I’ve talked about this. As for why I wanted to speak to you, it’s because from you I want to find out if Leon has any plans to succeed from me. Also, you’ve been in the group for only a short time and haven’t been involved in many factional battles, so you can be considered a fresh man, you view things more simple and real. The onlookers see most clearly. It’s just an idea that I have, and I don’t have a complete plan as to when I’m going to retire and in what way.”
“President, I’m afraid you can’t ignore one person’s opinion on this matter. Her opinion is the most important.”
Yaohui Hua looked at me, “You mean Xiang Feng?”
I didn’t say anything, sort of a default.
“Do you think she’ll support Chenxin or Leon, or someone else? We can’t let that undeserving Moyun Feng sit here, can we? Xiang Feng is a bit selfish, but she’s not that confused, and besides, I wouldn’t allow her to do that.” Something complicated flashed in Yaohui’s eyes.
I shook my head, “I don’t know how Aunt Feng will choose and act. But I know that she will not support Leon. Leon and Aunt Feng have never been on good terms, and everyone in the group knows that. Aunt Feng has also been trying to suppress Leon, and if it weren’t for your secret support, Leon might not even be able to get on the board.”
“No, no, no.” Yaohui waved his hand, “If you think that Leon won’t make it to the board without my help, then you’re really underestimating him. Leon has countless fierce ways to defeat Xiang Feng’s party, he was just giving me respect and didn’t want to provoke family strife while I was in power, so he has been enduring. If they fight with each other, I’m the most awkward person. I’m the only one who understands what’s on his mind. Otherwise, with his strength, how could Moyun Feng’s party be a match for him. If they sent him over the edge, he could directly his connections with the underground world to make those people’s families broken up.”
I was stunned. I’ve never really thought about that question. I never thought there would be such a deep tacit understanding between Leon and Yaohui. Even I have never reach to that level. It seemed that I still didn’t really know much about Leon. He has been a man who doesn’t let people see through him easily.
“This time he sit on the boards and messed with Moyun Feng, that was because he knew I had acquiesced in his doing it. Otherwise, he would have done that long ago. It’s because he’s giving me respect so that he’s not messing around. Being so thoughtful, he deserved to be my best son. It seems that I criticized him for being reckless, but I knew he could see a bigger picture that others couldn’t. Only Leon takes over my position will Hua Group have a brighter future.”
Yaohui was very impressive, and the business tycoon could be very touching once being tender.
“That’s why I want you to pass on this message to Leon, so he can come up with his own foolproof plan. He’s going to have to climb up on his own to convince the whole Hua Group and take full control of the situation after I step back.”
Perhaps this was the ultimate purpose of Yaohui’s visit to me today, to passed on a message.
“As for why I didn’t just talk to Leon, rather I wanted you to pass on a message, ask Leon and he’ll tell you.” Yaohui said.
“Well, I’ll bring him your words by all means.” I answered.
“In the future, I hope you’ll assist Leon better, he looks tyrannical, but actually he has a kind heart. You are also a kind child, help Leon more in the future, you have a long and difficult road ahead of you. You can understand what I mean.”
I nodded my head, indicating that I understood.
I certainly understood, even if Leon did pull through sitting in that position, Xiang Feng’s party would also keep making him trouble, and if he’s not being careful enough, he would fall from that position. The higher he stood, the harder he fell.
After I chatted with Yaohui for a moment, he offered to leave. I walked him to the door of the office, then he warned me to say these words only to Leon.
Sending Yaohui away, I returned to the office and thought of calling Leon, but I thought it would be better to talk with him in person, so I didn’t call him.
However, I found out that Leon hadn’t returned when I off the duty. I called him and he said he had a dinner party so that he would come back home later.
I ended up waiting until twelve o’clock at night before he came back with a strong smell of alcohol. The smell was so strong, yet he looked fine when he’s walking, he was not so drunk apparently.
He said he was having dinner with some leaders from the city hall, but these leaders brought some subordinates who were very good at drinking. He couldn’t stand drinking so much wine, so he spilled some wine on his clothes when nobody was watching, that’s why he smelled so bad.
I kind of wanted to laugh that a person who fancied himself like he would play this kind of trick. He said he couldn’t help it, those people were brought out by leaders who specifically trained to drink, they were professionals, and drinking with those people for real would have been impossible, he would only end up in hospital.
“Then you should train a few professionals too, and bring them with you the next time you have a party, so you can be relieved” I tried to be smart.
“It’s a good idea, but all those professionals are women. You wouldn’t be jealous if I took a woman to the party?” Leon stared at me.
“Huh? A woman? That can’t do!” I denied decisively.
“That’s it. There aren’t many parties that need me to drink so much wine like this, and it’s fine, I can cope with it. Why are you up so late? You have something to say to me?”
“There’s something very important.” I nodded, “Very important.”
“Oh, you’re pregnant?” Leon began to dream.
“That’s not true, it’s more important than that, the President went to see me today and he asked me to bring you a message that he’s ready to retire and are going to live abroad for two years, so that you can think of a way to succeed his position.”
I thought Leon would be very surprised, but he acted very calmly. “What did you say to him?”
“I just said I would bring the word, no comment.”
“Well, okay, I know.” His reaction was really faint. It made me confused, was he really not interested in that position?
That’s not possible. What kind of man is not interested in power?