Chapter 37#

Although Fu Jinchi had been granted a favor by Fu Weishan and allowed into the board of directors, at present he only held the title of “director.”

Compared to him, the other directors all held formal positions within the company.

For instance, the former director who had stepped down still firmly occupied the position of Chief Financial Officer, a role he had held for many years—his influence was on a completely different level.

Hardly anyone was like Fu Jinchi, holding nothing but an empty title.

A wealthy idler in name only.

But of course, that was the normal situation.

For Fu Weishan to agree to let an illegitimate son become a director was already the limit. Only a fool would actually assign him a real position.

With a position comes real power.

If the boss intends to sideline someone, how would the departments below dare to take that person seriously?

Early that morning, Fu Jinchi leisurely arrived at Yinghan, and just as leisurely was politely escorted out by the HR department.

Aside from a formal appointment letter, there was no onboarding process for him to complete.

The HR director, all smiles, tactfully conveyed the notion of an “independent director.”

Such a role does indeed exist in listed companies—someone who holds no internal position and appears to stand above internal affairs—but it had nothing to do with Fu Jinchi. As a direct relative of the chairman, he didn’t even qualify for that role.

They were entirely different things. Bringing it up vaguely and mixing the concepts together was simply a convenient way to gloss things over.

Fu Jinchi, however, didn’t seem to mind being given the cold shoulder.

Thick-skinned enough, he refused to leave the company. That morning, Fu Weishan happened not to be in. The HR director secretly called the administrative department, and both sides complained about the headache. In the end, they assigned him an empty office on the far end of the 24th floor.

Should a barebones director even have a private office? No one dared make that call.

But they couldn’t just let him wander around the office either—it would look improper. Better to stall until the president returned.

And so came the scene of Fu Jinchi and Ji Chen standing at the office door.

Although the cleaning staff did routine cleaning, a room left unused for a long time inevitably accumulated dust. A swipe of the hand revealed a thin layer.

On top of that, someone had piled promotional materials, lightbox displays, and signage inside. There were stacks of outdated documents and company brochures on the floor. Like a broken-window effect, things had piled up more and more, making the room look like a storage closet.

Standing in the messy office, Fu Jinchi gave a wry smile, looking somewhat disheveled.

Even Ji Chen felt indignant on behalf of this self-proclaimed “new director.”

Ji Chen could sense that Fu Jinchi was being treated coldly, but he didn’t know why. He was somewhat slow to pick up on things; even if he had occasionally heard insiders discuss a certain sensitive figure, their words were too obscure and coded for him to connect it to the man before him.

Aside from their chance encounter at the banquet, he still knew almost nothing about Fu Jinchi.

Part of that was due to Fu Weishan deliberately keeping things hidden.

Although Ji Chen knew about the recent turmoil, Fu Weishan had never mentioned the maneuvering at the shareholders’ meeting to him privately.

Much less would he voluntarily admit to family disgrace—his elderly father having produced another son.

It wasn’t that Fu Weishan had exceptional emotional control; it was simply embarrassing to say.

Out of male pride, speaking of it plainly would damage his image of maturity and wisdom.

Nine out of ten men would boast in front of someone they were trying to impress; the remaining one might not boast, but at least wouldn’t show weakness.

That was roughly the psychology at play.

So at this moment, not only was Ji Chen not wary, he was quite surprised. “You’re saying this office was arranged for you by the admin department? They didn’t even have someone clean it first?”

Fu Jinchi only replied innocently, “They’re probably very busy.”

Ji Chen immediately became enthusiastic. “Don’t worry, I’ll go ask them.”

Fu Jinchi quickly stopped him. “Don’t. Just quietly find me a chair from somewhere else. I can handle the rest myself.”

Ji Chen thought he was worried about causing trouble. “It’s fine, this is part of their job.”

Fu Jinchi lowered his eyes. “Forget it. Given the situation… I should have expected this.”

Ji Chen looked at him in confusion. “What situation? What do you mean?”

Seeing his bewilderment, Fu Jinchi seemed a little surprised. “You don’t know?”

Meeting Ji Chen’s puzzled gaze, he curled his lips slightly. “It’s nothing. Maybe it’s better that you don’t… You should get back to work. No need to find a chair. Oh, and one more thing—you’d better keep your distance from me.”

Ji Chen was gently turned away with a polite smile and escorted out.

In his eyes, Fu Jinchi no longer appeared as composed as he had on the balcony at the banquet. There was now a subtle trace of restraint and endurance.

Back in the secretary’s office, Amy had no work at hand and was touching up her eyeliner in a small mirror—perfect for gossip.

“A director? You didn’t know?” She glanced around and quickly hushed him, whispering, “Then the person you met must be President Fu’s older brother. They just had a meeting last week. But we only call him that in private—don’t ever mention it to his face.”

“Why?” Ji Chen leaned over the partition.

“Well… it’s old news. He’s the child of a mistress.”

“Just because of that?”

“Isn’t that enough? Being born to a mistress—that alone is the original sin!” Amy said mysteriously. “Rich families, illegitimate children—it’s like something out of a melodrama. Not often you see a real one in person, right?”

The way she referred to him as a “thing” and “a real one” made Ji Chen feel uncomfortable.

Fu Jinchi’s gentle yet faintly disappointed expression suddenly reminded him of the man’s earlier denial about being “born in Rome.”

He hadn’t quite believed it then, but he hadn’t expected such a background behind it.

“Even if he’s a mistress’s child, the child is innocent, right? You can’t blame him for that,” Ji Chen frowned.

“Hey, keep your voice down!” Amy hurriedly gestured, lowering her tone. “If you want to sympathize, fine—but do it quietly. And don’t show it in front of President Fu.”

“Why not? President Fu isn’t unreasonable.”

Amy sighed in exasperation. “Why can’t you understand? He’s the mistress’s son. What logic can you expect there? No matter how reasonable, do you think President Fu wouldn’t dislike him? Why do you think no one cleaned his office? Nobody wants to get on the boss’s bad side.”

Seeing Ji Chen hesitate, Amy tried to persuade him further—at the very least, this illegitimate son didn’t need sympathy.

To be fair, she wasn’t entirely wrong: in terms of life circumstances, he had already won. He held shares, received dividends, and could live comfortably without working. All he had to bear was a bad reputation—was that really something a struggling employee should pity?

Moreover, Amy’s instincts told her that Fu Jinchi was no simple character.

Admiring his model-like appearance from afar was fine.

But judging by his behavior, he was anything but upright.

Most people despised infidelity. As for how they viewed the child of such an affair, it depended on the child’s conduct.

Only those who kept their heads down and lived quietly could be seen as innocent.

Someone like Fu Jinchi, who brazenly inserted himself into the legitimate family’s domain and clearly intended to fight for the inheritance, violated mainstream moral standards.

So Amy wasn’t entirely wrong. On an individual level, he belonged to the type burdened with “original sin.”

A wolf with ambition—his intentions condemnable.

But Ji Chen, as the story’s protagonist, was clearly kinder than Amy.

Seeing Fu Jinchi endure subtle slights all morning, he softened.

…After all, the man had once helped him out.

Ji Chen was willing to repay that kindness.

At lunchtime, employees headed to the cafeteria. With nothing to do, Fu Jinchi blended into the crowd.

But instead of sitting at the executives’ table, he got his own food and sat in the employee dining area.

It was peak time, and every other table was full. Only his table was empty, drawing many curious glances.

As if he were something contagious to be avoided.

Amid the faint whispers, Fu Jinchi ate with elegance, calm and composed—yet somehow still pitiful.

Ji Chen approached with his tray and sat across from him. “Is anyone sitting here?”

“Oh, it’s you.” Fu Jinchi smiled helplessly. “Of course not. But are you sure you want to sit here?”

“Yes,” Ji Chen said, meeting his gaze, his eyes bright like stars.

*

Amy, to be fair, truly couldn’t understand where Ji Chen’s boundless, indiscriminate kindness came from.

She had already made things crystal clear—so why was he getting even closer to that problematic figure?

At the very least, he shouldn’t make it so obvious.

If Yan Zishu were at the company, he would probably have an answer: the protagonist’s kind-hearted character setting must not collapse.

Fu Jinchi had practically put on a display of grievance right in front of him—if it didn’t draw concern, that would be strange.

Yesterday was Sunday. Fu Weishan had a last-minute social engagement and had to go to a winery far out in the suburbs, staying overnight. Helen, being a female secretary, found it inconvenient to accompany him, so Yan Zishu received the notice and hurriedly packed to go on the short trip.

Afterward, they returned directly to the company. By then it was already noon, and they had missed the Monday morning meeting.

During the lunch break, most employees were resting, each in their own peculiar ways.

Before even arriving at the company, Yan Zishu had already been bombarded with messages from various departments, all complaining about a troublesome newcomer. He quietly asked Amy and made his way to the rooftop. Pushing open the glass door, he saw two figures sitting on a bench beside the small rooftop garden.

The older man had strikingly handsome features in profile, speaking about something unknown; the younger, student-like boy looked up at him, his eyes filled with sunlight.

Yan Zishu stood at a distance, watching the scene, momentarily unsure whether he should approach.

Before seeing the two of them together, hearing about the awkward events of the morning from Amy had left him feeling both amused and exasperated. He also knew that Fu Jinchi was not someone who could ever sit still—given the slightest opportunity, he would stir up new trouble.

Only now did he recall a plot point he had unconsciously overlooked: the villainous boss would also fall in love with the protagonist.

As for why he had overlooked it—perhaps it was simply too hard to imagine that someone like Fu Jinchi would fall desperately in love with anyone.

But the plot… was the plot.

After a moment, he straightened his expression and walked over.

The two were so absorbed in conversation that they only noticed someone approaching when footsteps sounded behind them.

Yan Zishu slightly lowered his head and placed a hand on Ji Chen’s shoulder. “So this is where you are chatting. President Fu was just looking for you.”

Ji Chen’s eyes lit up. “He’s back? Then—”

Anyone unaware might think they hadn’t seen each other in ages. Love could make people blind; one day apart felt like three autumns.

Ji Chen hesitated, glancing at Fu Jinchi. Fu Jinchi quickly said, “We’ve already been chatting for quite a while. You should go.”

The rooftop was left with just the two of them.

Yan Zishu glanced at Fu Jinchi, nodded, and turned to leave.

“Wait.” Fu Jinchi stopped him. Yan Zishu paused for just a fraction of a second before his wrist was caught.

Still seated on the bench, Fu Jinchi looked up at him with a smile. “Did you enjoy going out with my younger brother?”

“It was just work,” Yan Zishu replied. “Probably not as enjoyable as you having fun at the company.”

“Oh? You have your work,” Fu Jinchi said, his gaze faintly obscure. “But saying I’m having fun would be unfair—I have my work too.”

His words were ambiguous, but Yan Zishu understood exactly what he meant.

Yan Zishu fell silent and slowly pried his hand away. “Can’t you ever just stop for a while?”

“No,” Fu Jinchi answered without hesitation. “Not until the day I die.”