Chapter 30#

“This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival happens to be on a Sunday. If you want to stay overnight at the old residence, you need to…”

“I won’t stay overnight. I’ll come back the same day. It doesn’t matter if it’s a bit late.”

“Okay, understood.” Yan Zishu drove Fu Weishan to meet a client.

Since he started leading projects, the frequency of him acting as Fu Weishan’s driver and arranging his schedule had decreased accordingly. Helen could handle these daily tasks very well. But after all, he was still the chief assistant, and sometimes traveling with the president was inevitable.

Especially during holidays, he needed to drive Fu Weishan back to the Fu family residence to attend gatherings with relatives and friends.

Ordinary families focus on family reunions during holidays. The Fu family also reunited, going through the motions every year with a grand sense of ceremony.

But for wealthy and influential families, gathering together was more like social networking, where the purpose of connecting interests outweighed connecting feelings.

In previous years, Fu Weishan was most impatient dealing with these relatives. Recently, Yinghan Group had been frequently hit by public opinion storms. Although it hadn’t reached the point of serious injury, burning real money on public relations every day was annoying, and there was even less mood for holidays.

This year, Yan Zishu had a faint premonition that something might happen.

After all, Fu Jinchi had unreservedly revealed to him his “collusion” stance with Third Uncle Fu.

Yan Zishu hadn’t realized the implications at the time; he was busy considering how this might affect him. It wasn’t until after enduring a terrible movie and thinking about it again upon returning that he realized Fu Jinchi seemed very confident, telling him this without fear that he would inform Fu Weishan.

However, Fu Jinchi was right; he had figured Yan Zishu out halfway.

In the face of unknown disputes, Yan Zishu indeed preferred to be a double agent, or at least it was better to remain silent.

On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, because many people returned to the old residence, it wasn’t convenient to have the reunion dinner at a large round table, so it was usually done buffet style. Besides the Chinese dishes prepared, there were also small porcelain plates with exquisite cut mooncakes, otherwise no different from banquets outside.

Fu Weishan dealt with relatives, exchanging greetings one by one, with no shortage of people taking the opportunity to ask him for various benefits.

Yan Zishu compressed his presence in a dull suit, following by his side.

Passing by other people’s chat circles, Yan Zishu occasionally caught a snippet of conversation.

“I heard Old Six saying he wanted to retire a few years ago. I said he was born to toil, and it was still early. Is he really willing to retire this time?”

“Retirement procedures have started, so do you think it’s true? He’s reached the age, and his grandson is so big. Can he not accept old age?”

“So fast? If he drops the burden, who will take over at Yinghan? Is it decided?”

“I’m not too clear about their affairs. There seems to be a shareholders’ meeting in two months. We’ll know then.”

Third Uncle Fu came out with a few old guys, surrounded by nephews in twos and threes. At their age, compared to imported Western clothing, they preferred to arm their pretentiousness with Tang suits, with various patterns of fortune and longevity, differing only in color. At first glance, they looked like a string of old Calabash Brothers.

Fu Jinchi followed beside Third Uncle Fu, dressed casually but calculatingly as usual, chatting and laughing with several dandy disciples.

That day, when everyone had almost arrived, in front of Fu Weishan, Third Uncle Fu also mentioned the “Old Six” facing retirement, who was actually a current director of Yinghan Group, and sentimentally praised his contributions to the company like a speech.

Then, seemingly unintentionally but unexpectedly, he suggested letting Fu Jinchi enter the board of directors to take over.

“We have all seen how much Jinchi has done in the half year since he returned from Hong Kong,” Third Uncle Fu said with a chuckle. “Don’t blame me, an old man, for being conservative. No matter what time it is, brothers of the same family are the ones who share the same breath and branches. What do you think, Weishan?”

He was playing with two shiny walnuts in his hand, his tone completely like ordinary chat.

The originally lively living room remained lively, only the voices of the crowd on this side became lower.

Some were surprised and gasped quietly, while others had heard the rumors early and were just waiting to watch the tigers fight from the mountain.

From a not-too-far, not-too-close distance, Yan Zishu looked up at Fu Jinchi.

Fu Jinchi smiled humbly, but like most of the Fu family here, he wouldn’t give his lackey a straight look at all.

Fu Weishan couldn’t be bothered to give the illegitimate son a look: “Third Uncle, changes in board personnel require a vote to be approved.”

Third Uncle Fu said: “That’s true, that’s true. I’m just making a proposal. The company should follow whatever procedures are necessary.”

Fu Jinchi remained gentle and cultivated: “Thank you, Third Uncle, for your high regard. I really cannot undertake such a heavy responsibility.”

Fu Weishan felt annoyed and irritable seeing his hypocritical face, wishing he could punch him.

Third Uncle Fu hurriedly said: “Don’t say that. You should know that many people have high hopes for you.”

Most people didn’t expect that Third Uncle Fu would suddenly show favor to Fu Jinchi.

It’s no wonder others were surprised; the relationship between this uncle and nephew had always been lukewarm before.

Yan Zishu’s memory even stopped at Fu Jinchi writing a check to Li Chang’an but secretly inciting him to gamble in Macau, and Li Chang’an was someone who knew how to please Third Uncle Fu, that was all. This connection seemed negligibly far-fetched.

But he soon realized he had it backward.

Also blame Fu Jinchi for always telling only half the truth, easily leading people’s thinking astray.

In reality, since he could casually give Li Chang’an a check, who knows how much he promised Third Uncle Fu behind the scenes?

As for Third Uncle Fu, it wasn’t as hard as climbing to heaven to befriend him: he was rarely a particularly pure person—purely pursuing profit.

Well, one loves to give money, the other loves to receive money; it would be strange if they didn’t hit it off immediately.

When Yan Zishu pulled back his thoughts, a clan uncle next to him was laughing and saying: “Oh my, Third Brother, you worry endlessly. Don’t just think about your nephew. Speaking of which, your Xiaoyu also graduated from university this year, right? Doesn’t he plan to do something?”

Third Uncle Fu was disdainful: “Him? He graduated, but he’s lazy as hell every day. I can’t be bothered to manage him.”

This Third Uncle Fu’s own son, the named Fu Xiaoyu, was right next to him. Hearing this, he curled his lips unhappily: “Anyway, you never see the good in me.” He was immediately scolded by the clan uncle: “Don’t say that; your father does everything for your own good.”

Immediately, the clan uncle said: “I remember Xiaoyu studied art, didn’t he? Then he can actually go to Yinghan to get some training.”

Singing the same tune, it turned out they not only wanted to stuff people into the board of directors but also into other positions in the company.

However, Fu Weishan had a legitimate reason to refuse Fu Jinchi, but refusing Fu Xiaoyu consecutively would be a bit unkind.

After all, this was Third Uncle Fu’s own son. Fu Weishan said casually: “Let Fu Xiaoyu report to the HR department when he has time.”

Third Uncle Fu thought for a moment: “That’s good too, just make sure not to spoil him. Let him start from the most basic position.”

Actually, Fu Weishan didn’t care about Fu Xiaoyu at all, nor did he bother to ask what position was arranged for him.

Once at the company, the HR department would figure it out; they had experience arranging for princes and nobles.

Hearing this, Fu Xiaoyu rolled his eyes on the spot: “Come on, are you kidding me? Do I have to serve tea and water?”

Third Uncle Fu looked displeased: “Fine, fine, you’re capable. You tell me what you can do?”

Fu Xiaoyu rolled his eyes: “I’m a returnee after all; I should at least get a somewhat senior position.”

Fu Xiaoyu didn’t feel his words were shocking at all; he had been accustomed to being spoiled since childhood.

As for Third Uncle Fu, the more polite his words, the more they had to be heard in reverse. It was clear that arranging a low position for his son wouldn’t do.

The clan uncle smoothed things over: “Just see if there are any positions with more business exposure where he can grow quickly?”

Fu Weishan couldn’t refuse directly, so he simply threw the pot to Yan Zishu: “You arrange it. See which department has a vacancy.”

After thinking, Yan Zishu didn’t close the door completely: “In that case, he can come to the President’s Office for a transition first.”

Saying “enter the President’s Office” was, of course, for a nice-sounding title; in reality, it meant the secretariat.

And the subtext of “transition” was to deal with the scene first, and then send him elsewhere depending on the situation.

Hearing this, Fu Xiaoyu showed a barely satisfied expression: “Assistant to the President? It’s passable. It seems Brother Chang’an is a Vice President. I just graduated, so I won’t ask for too much. As long as I can be promoted within two years.”

*

So after this family banquet, the secretariat welcomed another ancestor. One who dreamed of reaching the sky in a single bound as soon as he entered.

That day when Fu Xiaoyu opened his mouth, Yan Zishu could feel Fu Jinchi’s mocking gaze cast over him, almost tangible.

Was he mocking Fu Xiaoyu for his wishful thinking?

Or mocking him, Director Yan, a scholar meeting a soldier, encountering an utterly clueless fool today.

For Yan Zishu, this was the only interaction with Fu Jinchi that day that could be called interaction.

Lasting two seconds.

No matter how intimate they had been in private, outside, they were still clearly distinct strangers.

And this Fu Xiaoyu indeed seemed to have a not-very-high IQ. What was rare was that his EQ was equally low.

If it were a normal person, learning later that they wanted to “usurp the throne” in front of the rightful owner, shouldn’t the reaction be social death or embarrassment?

Fu Xiaoyu didn’t. Instead, he felt very self-centeredly that “this person isn’t anything special. If he can do it, why can’t I?”

Then he found Yan Zishu an eyesore because of this, deliberately targeting Yan Zishu often and finding fault with him in the office.

He had no ability, but high aspirations and low skills, a strong desire to perform, and thought the world revolved around him.

To put it harshly, the influence of a gentleman ends in five generations. Among these children of the Fu family, more grew up crooked than straight.

Yan Zishu didn’t pay much attention to him either, just showing that for the sake of Third Uncle Fu, he would make concessions and pretend to be deaf and dumb.

What Yan Zishu was more concerned about was what Fu Xiaoyu’s father cared about at that level—the shareholders’ meeting to be held this quarter.

The shareholders’ meeting reflects the will of the shareholders and exists to make decisions and vote on major issues of company operations.

The previous public opinion storm had not completely subsided. After hearing this keyword, Yan Zishu came back and guessed: Could this storm be a petty trick adopted by Third Uncle Fu and Fu Jinchi to shake the major shareholders’ confidence in Fu Weishan and win over votes?

Because if you look at it from the outside, you will find that these black materials were always kept at a rather subtle level: they could cause some trouble for Yinghan Group and damage its reputation, but the blow to the stock price was still limited and did not constitute a devastating injury.

If it was really done by a competitor, it seemed a bit merciful, as many black materials were not hammered to death; but if it was Third Uncle Fu, he should be happy to see such a situation, which could weaken Fu Weishan’s prestige without damaging his own interests as a shareholder.

Is it possible that Fu Jinchi agreed to help Third Uncle Fu achieve this?

And the condition Third Uncle Fu exchanged was to help him enter the board of directors?