The next morning, after washing up, when I began to make some simple breakfast for myself, Wenbei Su’ s car arrived. He came to pick me up to the headquarters, probably because he was worried about me going there for the first time. He wanted to give me some relief.
I asked him if he had eaten breakfast and he said no, so I asked him if he wanted to try my simple breakfast. He asked me how simple it was. I laughed and said it was bread and milk with a fried egg.
He said OK. Having something to eat was just good.
We sat at the old mahogany table for breakfast. He told me that the president of Nanhe Group’s board, his father, Jianye Su, would meet me in person today. And he told me not to be nervous. His father heard that I was excellent, so he wanted to see me.
I took a light sip of bread and thought to myself, why should the president want to see me, a manager of the subsidiary?
“It’s Second Brother that recommended me, right? Otherwise, with my status, I’m afraid I wouldn’t deserve a meeting with the president.” I looked up at Wenbei, asking.
He didn’t deny it, “Yes, actually he has heard of you for a long time, but he never has the chance to meet you. I’m sure if he sees you, he will like you. If he recognizes you, no one will dare to bully you again.”
Weibei actually wanted to make me feel safe, or find someone to protect me. To make sure I could have a peaceful life, he really did a lot.
“Thank you, Second Brother. In fact, I’ve been in jail before, I really don’t need to force myself to get into upper class. If the president knows my experience and background. I’m afraid he’ll stop you from seeing me. I don’t want you to get into any trouble.”
“You were framed and I know that, so you don’t have to look down upon yourself. And my father is also a reasonable man and would never underestimate you because of your past. Don’t worry. He will like you.” Wenbei encouraged me.
…
The building of Nanhe Group’s headquarters located at the central part of Yang City, the land price of which was extremely high. ‘Nanhe Group’, the two words, shined in the sunlight, and these words were said to be autographed by a major official in the capital, which showed the illustrious background of Su family.
Wenbei and I took a private elevator straight to the floor of the president’s office, but Jianye hadn’t arrived yet. The assistant told us to wait in the reception room and brought us good tasting coffee.
Wenbei told me that I didn’t have to be nervous, but I actually wasn’t. I was a man who had been in jail before and how would I be nervous about meeting the president of a company? It’s best if he approved of me. If he didn’t, I would just leave.
After waiting for about half an hour, a man from the president’s office came and said the president invited us to his office.
Wenbei was in the front and I followed him into his office.
Jianye was in black suit, dark shirt and tie, a total gentleman. Before saying anything, he laughed first, “Ha. I got stuck in traffic and was late for a while, I’m so sorry, this must be Nala, right?”
“Yes, president. I’m Nala Yao.” I nodded to greet him.
He came over to me and stretched out his hand to shake mine, but he kept watching my face. After realizing it was a bit rude to look directly at me, he quickly looked away and I saw the surprise from his eyes. Yes, it’s surprise.
I knew why he was surprised, because I looked like his daughter, who had passed away for a long time.
As a father, he should be with mixed feelings at this point, for I was also a mother. If I suddenly saw someone who looked like Alex, I would be very excited too.
But Jianye didn’t show any emotion and just invited me to have a seat. Since then, he never stared at me again and just had the normal eye contacts with me during conversation.
“President, Nala Yao did a great job over there, boosting the sales by 50% in a month, but she has been dismissed by the headquarters. And someone made up some rumors to vilify her, so please make a wise decision.” Wenbei said.
Jianye hesitated a moment it. There was no immediate response.
It’s a tactic unique to big wigs who would listen first, but wouldn’t immediately show their attitude. Even if they had a judgment, they wouldn’t say it out impulsively. Thinking more can reduce mistakes.
“Well, the company is so big that some misunderstandings are inevitable. Wenbei, you shouldn’t get excited. If Nala is really a talent, we won’t give her up.”
Jianye here called my sacking a ‘misunderstanding’ showed that he’s downplaying it and he didn’t want to dig more about it. Both Wenbei and I could feel it.
I made eye contact with Wenbei and I saw some disappointment in his eyes. Maybe he felt that I had been wronged, while Jianye was not doing justice, making him quite unpleasant.
I didn’t want Wenbei to show his dissatisfaction. I was an outsider, and it wouldn’t be good for me if the seniors at Nanhe Group had a grudge against me.
I laughed, “Mr. Su is right. Misunderstandings are perfectly normal. I don’t mind at all.”
Jianye nodded, “You’re very generous. On behalf of the group, I’d like to thank you for everything you’ve done for the group and apologize to you.”
That’s a lot of respect for me. He didn’t insist on others’ accountability, but he was willing to apologize to me as a president of the board. I naturally had no reason to say anything more.
“President, what does the company plan to do with her next job?” Wenbei asked.
Jianye looked at me, “I heard that you were involved in M&A of Lanhai Technology before, and now it has grown into a very large technology company, and I hear it’s getting ready to break away from Hua’s and run a separate IPO. Hua’s is a real visionary. We’re really left behind in investing in technology. But we’ve mended our ways and invested in a tech company which is doing well, so we want you to be the CEO of that company. What do you think?”
I looked at Wenbei and he mentioned me to say yes quickly.
I got promoted from a sales director in a small company and now I was going to be the CEO of a tech company, which could be a blessing. I was supposed to say yes right away, but I was a little nervous. Because of my experience, I had just gotten out of jail, and if I went to be the CEO and the staff knew this, would they still be obedient? Would they think I was qualified enough to be their leader?
As I hesitated, Jianye saw my hesitation, “If you have any problem, you can always tell us. If we can help you, we will try our best. And I will personally give you my utmost support. We hope that you will also lead our tech company into a prospective one for Nanhe Group.”