Full Cup of Water - Chap 32
“It’s rare for Xin Qianyu to have a vacation. Zhu Zhu and Zhu Pu flew over to visit him.
Zhu Pu was always a person of leisure and had average abilities with no great ambitions. He relied on family connections to get by in his job. Zhu Zhu, on the other hand, had some talent but was put on idle status due to Xin Qianyu’s departure. So, overall, both Zhu Pu and Zhu Zhu were leisurely individuals with connections, and taking a vacation trip was not a difficult task for them.
Xin Qianyu hadn’t seen them for a long time and was happy to welcome them.
When Zhu Pu walked into Xin Qianyu’s apartment and looked around, he almost shed tears, ‘My goodness, do you actually live in such a shabby apartment? It’s practically “bare walls and empty space”!’
Xin Qianyu’s lips twitched, ‘This is minimalist style.’
Zhu Zhu pointed to a chair in the corner of the living room and said, ‘This is a work by the design master Hans Wagner.’ Then, Zhu Zhu sat on the simple blue sofa and said, ‘This one is an ercol sofa made in the UK.’ Zhu Zhu casually pointed to a floor lamp next to the sofa, ‘And this is from Marset, Spain.’
Zhu Pu was taken aback.
Zhu Zhu laughed, ‘These are all brands known for minimalist design. It’s normal if you don’t know them.’
‘I really didn’t know,’ Zhu Pu shrugged, ‘But from the way you talk, these seem to be expensive. That means Xiao Yu is doing well. If Xiao Yu is doing well, then I can rest easy.’
Surprisingly, Xin Qianyu felt a bit uneasy, ‘Are these things very expensive?’
Zhu Zhu was shocked, ‘You don’t know?’
‘I know about the lighting fixtures because I bought those myself,’ Xin Qianyu shook his head, ‘But these two chairs, the sofa, and the table were all brought by Su Zhong. He said they were second-hand items his assistant Thomas found in the market, not worth much. I thought they looked nice and estimated they cost about 5,000 yuan, so I accepted them.’
Upon closer inspection, it was indeed evident that these minimalist-style furniture pieces were second-hand.
‘Is 5,000 yuan enough?’ Zhu Pu breathed a sigh of relief, ‘I see that these are indeed second-hand, and although they’ve been well-maintained, they shouldn’t be worth much.’
Zhu Zhu sighed, ‘It’s precisely because they’re second-hand that they’re valuable. For example, this ercol sofa was made in the 1960s, and you can hardly find one on the market now.’
Xin Qianyu was genuinely surprised by this aspect, ‘I didn’t know about that!’
‘Well, never mind, never mind,’ Zhu Pu consoled him, ‘Otherwise, did you want to hire a truck to haul all this furniture back?’
Xin Qianyu fell silent for a moment.
Seeing that Xin Qianyu seemed to be burdened, Zhu Zhu tried to change the subject, ‘Although they are valuable, to outsiders, they’re just ordinary items. Even someone like me who enjoys collecting furniture doesn’t think they’re very valuable. You can afford to buy them yourself; there’s no need to feel indebted to him.’
It wasn’t really about the money for Xin Qianyu; it was more about the sentiment.
He didn’t think Su Zhong sent these things to make him feel indebted. Su Zhong’s intention was probably simple – he just wanted to give good things to Xin Qianyu.
Xin Qianyu rubbed his forehead, ‘Yeah, that’s true.’
Zhu Pu quickly got to the point, ‘What’s Su Zhong trying to be? Does he think he can make up for his mistakes by giving you two chairs?’
Xin Qianyu let out a weary sigh, ‘I think the breakup back then wasn’t entirely his fault.’
Xin Qianyu had initially used lies to package himself and get close to Su Zhong. Later, he was too preoccupied with his own grievances and didn’t communicate with Su Zhong. If Su Zhong’s mistake was not expressing his feelings properly, then Xin Qianyu also didn’t express his emotions properly. Blaming the complete rupture of their relationship entirely on Su Zhong might be unfair.
Hearing Xin Qianyu say this, Zhu Pu was astonished, ‘Xiao Yu, are you okay? Why are you reflecting on yourself?’
‘I’m not reflecting,’ Xin Qianyu coughed, ‘I’m just being rational. As a mature adult, you can’t entirely blame others for your mistakes.’
‘Who cares about who’s right or wrong?’ Zhu Pu waved it off, ‘In any case, our Xiao Yu is a rare gem and should be cherished.’
“Zhu Pu is really showing a strong bias, completely disregarding any rationality.
Zhu Zhu furrowed her eyebrows and realized things weren’t as simple as they seemed. “Xiao Yu, are you engaging in this kind of reflection and helping Su Zhong find remedies because you want to reconcile?”
Zhu Zhu’s words were very sharp, making Xin Qianyu feel uneasy. He instinctively shook his head, “Of course not!”
Zhu Pu nodded in agreement, “I support you! Don’t ever reconcile with Su Zhong!”
Xin Qianyu felt uneasy and asked, “Why?”
Zhu Pu was caught off guard by the question and couldn’t come up with a good reason, so he said, “A good horse doesn’t go back to eating old grass!”
“I think Xiao Yu isn’t a good horse, but rather the fragrant grass,” Zhu Zhu joked, “he’s the one being eaten.”
Despite having thickened his skin in the business world, Xin Qianyu couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by Zhu Zhu’s words.
Seeing Xin Qianyu becoming uncomfortable, Zhu Zhu changed the topic and asked about his work, “Are you sure you want to finish your MBA before returning to China?”
“Yes,” Xin Qianyu replied with determination and confidence, “I will definitely obtain my degree.”
Zhu Pu expressed concern, saying, “But are you comfortable letting Xin Simu oversee the IPO project?”
“Have you forgotten?” Xin Qianyu said, “M-Global is also joining the board.”
Xin Qianyu had a sense of trust in Su Zhong. He believed that as long as Su Zhong was involved, nothing would go wrong.
After seeing off Zhu Zhu and Zhu Pu, Xin Qianyu sat on the vintage sofa, feeling somewhat uneasy.
He picked up his phone and dialed Su Zhong’s number.
Su Zhong answered quickly, “Xiao Yu.”
Xin Qianyu wanted to ask about the sofa issue but decided against it and said, “I want to finish my studies here, so I’m entrusting you to come back to China and oversee the project.”
Su Zhong replied, “No problem, I’ll take care of it for you.”
Xin Qianyu instinctively tried to establish boundaries, “What do you mean by ‘help me’? You invested ten billion in Yu Zhuo, not my money.”
Su Zhong immediately corrected himself, “Right, I’m helping myself.”
After hanging up the phone, Su Zhong went to the CEO’s office to report, saying, “I’d like to return to China as soon as possible, can you help arrange it?”
The CEO’s blood pressure shot up again, “Zhong, are you playing with me? First, I arranged for you to go to the Asia-Pacific region, and now you want to come back. I arranged for you to come back, and now you want to go back to the Asia-Pacific!”
Su Zhong said, “It’s normal for people in this line of work to travel back and forth.”
The CEO was furious, “If you keep doing this, what authority do I have left? Anyway, unless you chop me down right here, I won’t agree to let you go back to Asia!”
Su Zhong explained, “I’m going back for a multi-billion-dollar IPO for a multinational corporation.”
The CEO said, “Then book your flight right away!”
Watching Su Zhong leave confidently, his assistant sarcastically remarked to the CEO, “You know, Su Zhong is quite arrogant. His behavior could really challenge your authority. If we allow him to continue like this without consequences, managing the company will become difficult.”
The CEO raised an eyebrow and asked, “So, do you have any suggestions?”
“I have a humble idea,” the assistant said in a low voice, “wait until he goes abroad, then gradually cut off his resources and block some of his information channels. His influence will surely diminish, and in less than three years, his performance will shrink by at least two-thirds!”
“You’re a genius!” the CEO said, rubbing his chin, “Once his income shrinks to one-third, we can hire him away for one-third of market salary to join our family!”
The assistant’s face stiffened.
The CEO pounded the table, saying, “Do you have a problem? He’s such a great money maker, straightforward, not causing trouble, and not seeking power or profit. He’s simply the best employee in the world! Even if he poops on my head, I wouldn’t mind! Do you understand?”
The assistant broke out in a cold sweat, quickly nodding, “I understand.”
It’s clear that the CEO of M-Global and the patriarch of Yu Zhuo Group are two very different styles of managers.
The Yu Zhuo patriarch is nepotistic and intolerant of defiance, while M-Global’s CEO values worth. For low-value employees, he doesn’t care if they’re his own grandchildren or great-grandchildren; he tells them to get lost. But when dealing with high-value employees, he is willing to be their grandson, or even great-grandson.
That’s why Su Zhong gets along well with him.
However, this might indicate that Su Zhong and the Yu Zhuo patriarch may have difficulty getting along. Because Su Zhong can’t flatter the patriarch and cater to his temper, and the patriarch would find it challenging to allow an outsider to meddle in family matters.
In fact, Xin Qianyu had already anticipated this to some extent.
Xin Qianyu made a call to his family to inquire about the situation.
Xin Mu said, “You might not believe it, but on his first day here, Su Zhong offended everyone in the board of directors.”
Xin Qianyu replied, “Why am I not surprised?”
