The two children’s shouts and laughter seemed to be right in front of his eyes. He used to force himself not to think about the past, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt like a fool.
It wasn’t until all the lights in the Baker family went out that he finally put out the cigarette in his hand, drove, and slowly left …
“Zoey , are you crying?” The two children looked up from their fairy tales at her standing in the doorway.
She hastily collected herself and just smiled and shook her head, “I was just in the kitchen helping Chen’s mom in making onion salad.”
“Yeah?” KK was skeptical.
Nini shook her head in disbelief as well.
“You guys shouldn’t be so smart sometimes, okay?” Zoey walked in helplessly and jerked the fairy tale books out of the two children’s hands, “Stay out of adults’ business and go to bed early. If you behave well, I’ll take you out for the weekend, wherever you want to go.”
“Is it okay to go to Uncle’s house?” Nini reacted so quickly that she almost blurted it out.
Zoey froze for a split second, and then, with difficulty, squeezed out a smile, “Change the place, okay? Uncle’s place isn’t a tourist place.”
“Oh …,” KK said, so frustrated and dejected, shrinking back under the covers.
Nini followed and slept in, “KK, Uncle must be angry with us! We shouldn’t have lied to him. I saw Uncle’s car in front of the school that day, but he drove away before people chased after him …”
“I’ve seen it too oh.”
“Is he coming to our school, looking for other kids?” Nini skimmed her little mouth a bit in disfavor, “He must have liked other kids to ignore us …”
KK stopped talking and just fell into a sad silence.
Zoey tucked them in, closed the door, and walked out in silence. And then, leaning gently against the doorway … all over, powerless …
…
The time passed without haste. From that night onwards, they really didn’t have any contact with each other. Zoey originally thought that she would not be able to adapt to pulling him out of her life. However, it turned out that life went on, the sun rose as usual, and she could still smile brightly, just …
When night falls, the heart, the empty piece, is so clear.
Clutching his papers, he pushed open the door to the president’s office and beat a hasty retreat into it.
“Hey!” Sea Gu, however, suddenly jumped out of the way, startling her.
She took a step back and looked at the bad grinning face, and smashed the paper in her hand on his shoulder without any good sense, “Are you young or not childish! All so big and still playing with this.”
Sea Gu took the heavy dozen of papers she was holding in her hand, “It’s not that I’ve seen you in a bad mood lately and wanted to tease you.”
“Am I in a bad mood?” Zoey gestured with her lower jaw at the papers, “They all need your signature. Go ahead, sign them and send them to the chairman for review.”
Sea Gu tossed the papers onto his desk and drew a signing pen, looking them over and signing them one by one before handing them to Zoey.
Zoey takes it and turns to go out.
“Hey.” Sea Gu called out to her from behind.
“Hmm?” Zoey looks over sideways.
“You’ve been looking really bad lately! It directly affects my mood at work.”
“Then I’ll do my makeup tomorrow.” Zoey spoke nonchalantly. Did she really look this bad? She’d tried so, so hard to adjust.
Sea Gu rolled his eyes helplessly, “Forget it, a poor foundation and makeup is useless. You can rest for two days, I’ll grant you two days of vacation.”
“No need. I don’t really need a vacation.” She’d rather work her ass off every day than be free, at least, it would give her no extra time to ramble on.
Sea Gu gave her a heavy look, the dark circles under her eyelids too thick for him to ignore.
Lips, pursed, eyes slightly become complex, looking at Zoey a look of desire to speak. This kind of Sea Gu is too strange, when has he ever stammered like this?
“What the hell are you trying to say?” Zoey turned and looked at him suspiciously.
“Been following the financial news lately?” He asked without thinking.
Zoey tilts her face slightly and shakes her head, “Haven’t been available.”
“Oh. Then take this and read it.” Sea Gu rummages through a newspaper and hands it toward Zoey.
Zoey looked at him strangely, “What is it?”
“You won’t know if you look.”
Zoey opened the financial newspaper and scanned it suspiciously, but because of the large headline, the whole person froze on the spot, and his mind was blank for a long time.
Only to see, on the newspaper, large black letters written – MY Group of companies in China, the president of Jerry Xiao face fall, the stock fell to pieces.
“How did this … happen?” Zoey looks up at Sea Gu.
Sea Gu seriously analyzed, “The bigger the company is, the tougher the internal struggle will be, and you should be mentally prepared to be replaced at any time. You have been working in MY company for so long, you should know that Jerry Xiao is in charge of that big project in the D district, both government departments and commercial unions attach great importance to that project, if it is successfully completed, MY company’s status in the country is bound to rise to a new level.”
“This I know.”
“There was an incident at the construction site, the building collapsed, eight people were killed and fifteen were injured, just enough to give people something to talk about.”
Eight dead and fifteen injured? Zoey’s jaw dropped in shock. This was a very serious, very bad accident. I remembered that eight years ago, the city’s leading construction company had lost several of its leaders to accidents like this.
Zoey subconsciously gripped the newspaper in her hand, Sea Gu looked at her, “Now the headquarter has given him an ultimatum to solve the matter of the project in D district. After such a serious incident, the stock has fallen to the ground, and even the bank loan and the headquarter’s grant have been withdrawn. It must be that someone at headquarters wants to take advantage of the opportunity to kick him off the horse, even if he can’t be killed, such a heavy blow is enough to make his power in the company greatly injured. He is now considered to be suffering from internal and external problems, and if he can’t solve this problem, he can only …”
Sea Gu put his hand across his neck and wiped it, “Ka-ching. The foundation he has built up in the country for so many years is wasted.”
He said, glancing at Zoeyagain, “Don’t be in such a hurry, he’ll always find a way.”
Zoey’s heart fluctuates, squeezing the newspaper and coming out of the president’s office. Taking out her cell phone, she unconsciously pressed the numbers, but the call never went out. The situation now, in the end, how is it?
…
In the evening, Sam Baker and Yami Hu were watching TV on the couch when Zoey returned from company.
On the TV, however, the news from today’s interview was playing.
Zoey caught a glimpse of the all-too-familiar figure and paused in her tracks, her eyes fixed straight on the screen.
Only to see that figure, surrounded by people, appear at the entrance of the company. And then, a large group of reporters swarmed up and surrounded his whole person.
In that moment, Zoey could barely see him, only the frantic flashing of the limelight, and the wobbling microphone.
“Mr. Zhan, may I ask what you think about this accident?”
“Is it because of tofu-dreg construction that there are collapses in construction buildings? Does this mean that all the buildings developed under MY company are at risk of collapsing at any time? How do you protect the safety of consumers then?”
“I’ve heard that there’s a lot of internal struggle going on in the company right now. Has the board of directors denounced you on this matter? Or has it made other disciplinary decisions?”
The protagonist who was surrounded by people, from the beginning to the end, did not say a word. Just slightly sullen face, lifting steps to the company. Only the security personnel and assistant Ah Feng intercepted the major media reporters: “Please make way, our president will not answer any of your questions. Now everything is still in the investigation stage, things are not clear yet, I hope everyone will not make up nonsense.”
“Mr. Zhan! Mr. Zhan! You can’t leave like this, at least give the public a reasonable explanation!”
“Mr. Zhan, your evasive behavior will only cause mY Group of Companies to lose even more credibility with consumers!”
…
In the midst of the chaos, Jerry Xiao’s figure completely disappeared from the scene, leaving only a mess. Zoey sat on the side with a bad look on his face, Sam Baker and Yami Hu exchanged a glance, before Sam Baker spoke up, “Zoey, it’s been a busy day, go up there and get some rest.”
“Dad, isn’t there a solution to this kind of thing?” Zoey looked at Sam Baker.
Sam Baker knew she was referring to Jerry Xiao. Initially unaware of who exactly their daughter was romantically involved with during that time, the two elders recently heard their two youngest talking about it, and in light of recent events, the two elders realized that the uncle the kids were talking about was Jerry Xiao.
“This kind of safety incident is quite common on construction sites. A lot of companies just hide it from the media so that they don’t make a big deal out of it. But this time, MY company isn’t just about casualties, it’s about the building collapsing. The government was extremely concerned about this matter. Originally, for a company as big as his, this kind of thing wouldn’t be able to shake his foundation. But on the contrary, there were people at the headquarters who wanted to move him, so it was kind of a test. If there was enough money to help him get through this robbery, everything would be fine. But, this money is not a small amount …”
“I know.” Zoey responded softly, “Dad, Mom, I’m going upstairs first.”
“Uh-huh. Go up and rest for a while, and come down later for some porridge for a late night snack.” Yami Hu urged her daughter.
Zoey tries to force herself not to think about his company, not to pay attention to him, after all these years, he’s too strong to be crushed so easily.
After talking with the kids and watching them finish their homework, it was after 11 p. m. when I got back to my room.
Zoey’s heart jumped hard when she received Feng’s call, even though she was surprised.
“Secretary Baker!” Afon’s voice, obviously anxious.
“Assistant Feng, is something wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?” Ah Feng has always been calm and steady in his work, and it’s rare to hear such a tone from him …
“You come and persuade Mr. Xiao, it’s already past eleven o’clock and he’s still in the company. Things are quite busy in the company lately, but his body is already like that, it’s not good to stay up like this.”
Zoey’s heart tightened, and she was almost ready to agree with him immediately. However, she still suppressed that mood and cast her eyes out of the window, “Isn’t Mrs. Zhan still here? Let her persuade her, it will definitely work.”
“Madam didn’t stay for a few days before she left. Now that the company’s situation is so chaotic, how would Mr. Xiao dare to let her stay longer? Staying is just worrying for nothing.”
Zoey’s hand, gently resting on the window sill, her fingers continuously tracing there, “I’m sorry, Assistant Feng, I may not be able to help you. He won’t listen to my advice, it’s better for you to go and persuade him properly.”
Feng sighed long and hard, “Secretary Baker, did you and the president break up?”