Apex Predator - Chap 12

Shen Dai was distracted all morning due to Uncle Heng’s words earlier.

In fact there were many things he knew all too clearly that didn’t need to be pointed out, but people were given over to self-deceit, to bargaining, to trying their luck, to avoidance, to letting their reason and emotions battle it out endlessly.

He needed to exercise more self-control, or at the very least try not to be a “bother” to Qu Moyu.

One of his younger female colleagues walked over, interrupting his gloominess: “Shen-shixiong, the professor asked to see you in his office.”

“Got it, thanks.”

Not only was Professor Liu one of the world’s foremost experts in the domain of Rare Earth research, he also happened to be Shen Dai’s mentor. It was under his guidance that Shen Dai had secured a place in the talent programme and joined the country’s top Research Institute in Rare Earths at the Xingzhou corporation. He was the person that Shen Dai respected the most, not just because of his contributions to academia, but also the fact that he was a Beta that had forged his way upwards amid a sea of Alphas.

“Professor.” Shen Dai came into the office. Picking up Professor Liu’s teacup in passing, he chided, “I told you so many times not to let your tea steep for so long. It’s not good for the body. Plus you water the plants with it all throughout the day, killing one pot after another.”

“There’s no taste if it’s too diluted.” Professor Liu pulled out a draft from a stack of documents. “The document for the annual stakeholder meeting is quite well-written,” he commented.

“Thank you, Professor.”

“It’s just nice that you were the one who wrote it, you can present it this time around.”

“Eh?”

“These people…”, said the Professor, with disdain. “They’ve postponed the timing of the conference three times now. I’ve had to change my ticket over and over. Up till now I’ve yet to visit the mine in South Africa. Anyway I can’t wait any longer, I’ve already told them that I’m leaving tomorrow. Just do the presentation on my behalf.”

Shen Dai was a little taken aback, “Isn’t it supposed to take place at the start of the coming month?”

“Exactly. You’ve been working on the subject matter on a daily basis. What more is there for you to prepare? Besides, you’ve already participated in one of these before. All you need to do is explain a little about our achievements and future plans. In any case they probably won’t understand much of it.”

This so-called annual stakeholder meeting was actually a presentation of all their work the year before to the group executives, major stakeholders and investment representatives. Every year, their group would receive several hundred million in funds and would need to explain to the paymasters all they had been up to. This meeting could well be a critical one.

Which meant also, that in his capacity as chief executive officer, Qu Moyu would definitely attend.

At a loss, Shen Dai replied, “Professor, you may be being a little too optimistic. This is the annual stakeholder meeting after all. What if I get thrown a few tricky questions? Aren’t you worried that I won’t be able to handle it? They may not know about Rare Earths, but they do know about financial earnings.”

“And this year we have results. With results comes confidence. What’s there to be afraid of?” said Professor Liu, hitting the table, his eyes determined. “You need to be aggressive, do you know what I mean? If they bring up money, you bring up future returns. Just keep countering them. As long as there are no major problems it’ll be fine. The higher-ups have already given me word that there won’t be any budget cuts this year, which explains why I dare to leave.”

“Alright, in that case, when will you be back?” Shen Dai had a feeling that this wasn’t going to be that easy. At the pitching phase, investors would more often than not pose a few difficult questions on purpose. Call it a kind of psychological compensation. After all, money thrown into water would still produce a sound, while there was no shortage of scientific research projects that had gone on for many years without producing any results.

“I’m not sure. The mine’s reserves have yet to be verified, but the concentration of neodymium and dysprosium is not low. I may need to stay a little longer. As your colleagues are still stuck in Gansu, you and Zimei will have to take charge of things here for the time being.”

“Alright, don’t worry, Professor.”

Over the past few days, Shen Dai had stayed back late to prepare his speech. This was even more nerve-wrecking than his thesis, at least if he had messed that up it was his own business, but to mess this up would implicate the entire research team. Despite the professor telling him to relax, he didn’t dare at all be negligent.

One evening, Shen Dai and Qu Moyu both returned at the same hour – the first time seeing each other face to face since the other day.

Shen Dai greeted him with a slight nod: “Good evening, President Qu.” He thought to himself that Qu Moyu would surely not bring up that insignificant matter of the dish he prepared. He wasn’t about to either, he would pretend as if nothing had happened, be it what he had said when he was drunk, or his unwelcome advances after sobering up.

“Back so late, did you work overtime?” asked Qu Moyu, nonchalantly.

“That’s right. Recently there’s been a bit more of that.”

“I hear Professor Liu is letting you speak at the annual stakeholder meeting.“

“Yes, the professor urgently needed to go prospect the mine in South Africa.” Shen Dai added jokingly, “I’m a little nervous. President Qu, please go easy on me when the time comes.”

“I won’t be the only one you need to face. There are also the group executives, major stakeholders and investor representatives.” Looking down at him, Qu Moyu continued “Be well prepared, when the time comes, do not panic, say whatever needs to be said. I’ll speak with them in advance.”

“Thank you very much President Qu.” Shen Dai felt a sensation of warmth in his heart. Qu Moyu was just so perfect. That it was impossible not to like him was not Qu Moyu’s shortcoming but his own.

“The subject matter which your team is researching has the most potential out of any in the entire institute. The board is extremely confident as well and are unlikely to cut your funding. If the prospecting goes well at the mine in South Africa, it’s possible that the funding could even be increased.”

“That’s great to hear. The professor is very optimistic about the South African mine.” replied Shen Dai happily.

Qu Moyu nodded, “Go to bed a bit earlier then.”

Shen Dai replied softly, “Goodnight.” As soon as he said this word a bit of sweetness and sourness emerged in his heart. Goodnight was unlike good morning, which was often said at school or work. The person you greeted goodnight was normally someone close to you, so this word was imbued with a layer of ambiguity.

The first time saying goodnight to Qu Moyu openly.

Returning home that weekend, Shen Dai brought with him as usual some vegetables and daily necessities. But the moment he walked in, he felt that the atmosphere was a little off. His grandmother was sitting on the sofa waiting for him, looking displeased.

“Grandma, you haven’t made food yet? Then I’ll do it.”

“There’s no rush.” Patting the seat next to her, she said, “Come over here. Let’s talk for a while.”

Shen Dai knew he couldn’t sidestep this one. As he sat down he resolved to tell the truth.

“Where did you suddenly get so much money to be able to pay off the debt?” His grandmother had an incredulous look on her face, continuing, “And I still thought that it was a hoax when I picked up that call. When you brought me to the doctor the last time you said that you had gotten a bonus, how on earth could you have gotten such a large bonus?”

“Grandmother, don’t worry. Let’s have a talk.”

She took in a deep breath. “Alright. We can talk, but you need to tell me the truth.”

Shen Dai nodded his head: “The reason I didn’t tell you was that I didn’t know how to put it, also, I was afraid that you would get mad.”

“The money. Did you get it through honest means?”

“Perfectly honest.”, answered Shen Dai, as if in a hurry, “Whatever it is please don’t start getting crazy ideas. The truth is…the money came from the You family.”

His grandmother’s eyes widened. Her tone of voice suddenly became severe. “The You family?” She hated You Xinghai to the bone for ruining her son.

“Grandmother.” Taking his grandmother’s hand, he asked gently, “Can you wait for me to finish?”

His grandmother lowered her head slowly, her chest was still heaving. “Why would the You family give you so much money? It’s just not possible. Why?”

“The reason might sound hard to believe, but it’s true.” Briefly he recounted the matter of needing to replace You Baiyue as part of a contractual marriage.

She remained silent for a long time, grasping Shen Dai’s hand tightly, yet was unable to say a word, her tears quietly rolling down.

Shen Dai felt his heart tighten on seeing this. Wiping her tears away gently, he said, ”Grandmother, I know you prefer for me not to have anything to do with the You Family, and it’s not as if I went looking for them either, but we are in dire need of money, and this cooperation doesn’t hurt me in any way. I’m still going to work as usual, living my life as usual, while managing to pay off the debt. What was left over could still cover changing apartments and treating your illness. This money has helped us a great deal.”

“I know.” replied his grandmother, her voice choking with sobs. “It’s because I know all this that I feel terrible. None of this should be your responsibility. It’s bad enough that your father turned out to be such a wastrel. Your grandfather and I didn’t bring him up well, but you have no blame in this. After all that, for you to have to earn money to support the family and to go this far to repay the debt, it’s really setting you back.”

“But it’s not a setback. It won’t be long before we renounce our marriage. We just need them to complete the partnership, which should be very soon now.” Forcing a smile, Shen Dai said, “Grandmother, look on the bright side. This is all great news! The You family has been going downhill the past few years and You Xinghai still has his son to worry about . Not only have we gotten their money, but we get to see them suffer. Isn’t that great?”

“He gave you ten million. It’s such a large amount of money. Could it really be as simple as getting the marriage certificate?” She continued, “You Xinghai is too much of a bastard. I really worry that he has something else planned.”

“He won’t. I was really his last resort. I’ve already received the money and spent it, what more can he do to me now?”

She shook her head with apprehension. “I sure hope you’re right. And your…the person that you got married to. Who is it? How does he treat you?”

“It’s a stranger. We’ve only met a few times. He’s polite.” Patting his grandmother on her frail back, he added, “There’s no way that this cooperation will last long. Once the matter is finished and we’ve divorced, it’ll be nothing more than a line in my marital history. Isn’t it more than worth it to pay such a small price for us to live a normal life?”

Though the first part of what he said was a lie, the rest was completely true. The contract might have stipulated a duration of five years, but the reason for this wide margin was to protect the interests of Qu Moyu. In practice, there was no way that the marriage would go on for that long. Very soon, this forced connection between Qu Moyu and him would disappear.

She sighed, “No matter what you do, you must never get too close to the You Family.”

Shen Dai thought of You Baiyue, and then for some reason also thought of Qu Moyu. His brow wrinkled slightly. He replied, “I won’t.”

“But then…”His grandmother seemed to want to say something but was unable to find the words. “But then…although it’s just a partnership, since you’re married, would they still expect you to…”

In an flash he understood what she was having trouble saying out loud, “Not at all. I’ve already told you, we’ve only met a few times. We don’t see each other except on official business.”

Hearing this, his grandmother let out a sigh of relief, “That’s good, that’s good. Omegas are the most prone to losing out. Whatever you do, you need to be sensible and remember your father’s mistakes.”

Shen Dai’s eyes darkened. There was nobody who understood this more than him, after all, he had been the price of that mistake, and yet was still forced to use his own self to bear the consequences of mistakes not made by him.

With a low voice, he answered, “I understand.”

1. Gansu (甘肃) is a province located in the northwest region of China. It is an important province for mining in China as it is rich in mineral resources. The province is also known for its abundant reserves of rare earth minerals.