Full Cup of Water - Chap 5
Kevin usually did not babysit and neither did he enter the parent group. He even had to discuss this with his wife. When he got home, Kevin brought up this matter with his wife.
But who knew that his wife would frown upon hearing it and say, “Actually, I don’t understand you. Why do you insist on not getting along with him? Wouldn’t it be nice to have an acquaintance of ours in the kindergarten?”
Kevin did not expect even his own wife to oppose him. His eyes turned red with anger and he yelled, “What do you know as a housewife? Do you know how much stress I have in the company? Do you know how many accomplishments that kid Su Zhong has robbed me of? You don’t know anything! You only know about shopping, facials, and bags! Are you lecturing me now?”
Kevin’s wife had no income and relied on her husband to support her. When scolded, she had to keep her mouth shut and swallow her pride. Seeing his wife being scolded until she could not lift her head, in addition to a look of shame and anger without daring to refute, the resentment in Kevin’s chest suddenly dissipated by half. He was in a better mood, so he did not continue being angry. He lit a cigarette and started smoking by himself.
Kevin’s wife was quite aggrieved, so she complained to her best friend.
Her best friend, who worked in a securities firm, turned and told her colleague about it. Her colleague’s colleague happened to have business dealings with Jones. As soon as Jones heard that something was up with Kevin, he told Su Zhong, “Kevin seems to want to make your boyfriend lose his job.”
Su Zhong listened quietly and did not say anything.
But Jones inexplicably felt a chill.
In actuality, Xin Qianyu had not been idle recently. Xin Qianyu had asked someone to find out who had badmouthed Su Zhong. It was easy to find out it was Kevin.
Learning that the “enemy” was Kevin, Xin Qianyu was immediately worried about Su Zhong’s situation. He hurriedly said to Su Zhong, “Do you know who exposed you on the Internet?”
Su Zhong said indifferently, “It should be Kevin.”
Hearing Su Zhong’s words hitting the mark, Xin Qianyu was particularly surprised. “How did you know it was him?”
Su Zhong said, “I guessed.”
Xin Qianyu was shocked: ……
Xin Qianyu really did not know what to say.
Compared with Xin Qianyu’s agitation, Su Zhong, the “person involved”, seemed a lot calmer.
However, Xin Qianyu was not such a calm person, and the indignation on his face was not diminished by Su Zhong’s calmness. Xin Qianyu said hatefully, “He is so unkind, so don’t blame me for committing an injustice! He has to be taught a lesson!”
Su Zhong still looked indifferent. “How are you going to ‘commit an injustice’? ”
Xin Qianyu stared blankly and shook his head. “I haven’t thought about it yet.”
As he spoke, Xin Qianyu looked distressed again, as if thinking about which of the top ten tortures of the Manchu Dynasty would be better suited for Kevin.
“Don’t concern yourself over him.” Su Zhong said. “He’s not worth it.”
Xin Qianyu smiled angrily. “You are so good-tempered. I can’t bear it.” After saying this, Xin Qianyu realized that his tone was a bit harsh and his “little white flower” persona had collapsed slightly, so he immediately relaxed his tone. “Zhong Ge, he’s now working hard to deal with you. You’re tolerant of him now, but he may not treat you the same way in the future.”
“Who said I was going to be tolerant of him?” Su Zhong was puzzled. “I just said, you don’t have to worry about him.”
At that moment, Xin Qianyu had not figured out what Su Zhong meant.
When Su Zhong said, “You don’t have to worry about him”, Xin Qianyu understood it as “Don’t worry about him and let it go this time.” However, Su Zhong’s true meaning was “You don’t have to worry about him. I will take him down”.
When Su Zhong said, “Don’t commit an ‘injustice’ because of him”, Xin Qianyu understood it as “Don’t commit an ‘injustice’ because of him. Don’t hurt him”. However, Su Zhong’s true meaning was “Don’t commit an ‘injustice’ because of him. I’ll ‘uphold justice regardless of relations’”.
Within two days, Su Zhong reported in his real name that Kevin used inside information to carry out rat trading. Kevin was arrested. Although there was a high probability that he would not go to jail even if he was sentenced, he would be on probation. However, the point was that he would not only have to spit out the ill-gotten gains but would also be banned from practicing.
In other words, Kevin not only lost his job but also completely ruined his own future.
In fact, Su Zhong had noticed Kevin’s abnormality very early on. Kevin was a person with a strong sense of vanity. He drove a nice car, wore high-end goods, frequented upscale clubs from time to time, and lived in a mansion with a wife and son. His wife was full-time with no income, but she always wore famous brands. Even her child wore Burberry clothes and studied in the best private kindergarten in the city. With Kevin’s income alone, it was simply impossible to support such a life. However, Su Zhong was not the kind of person who was keen to study the lives of other people, so he did not care too much about Kevin’s abnormality. Kevin had secretly tried to trip Su Zhong. But secondly, what was most unbearable to Su Zhong was that Kevin actually wanted to set up Xin Qianyu.
This could be regarded as touching Su Zhong’s bottom line.
Su Zhong’s temper was actually good, but once a good-tempered person was angry, it would be genuine fury.
Xin Qianyu was quite confused when he saw the news of Kevin’s arrest, and for a moment, he did not think that it was Su Zhong who had done it. After all, in his heart, Su Zhong was the kind of quiet and beautiful man who was at peace with the world. He really did not expect Su Zhong to easily report and trample Kevin to death.
Xin Qianyu couldn’t help asking him, “Did you really just take him down like this?”
Su Zhong said, “I didn’t take him down. He did it himself.”
What was unexpected to Xin Qianyu was that Su Zhong usually behaved like a monk, but once he did something, his knife fell quickly and ruthlessly, which was surprising.
Xin Qianyu paused, then said, “I thought you would care about the long friendship with him, and you wouldn’t go to such an extreme.”
Su Zhong replied, “I’m that extreme.”
Su Zhong’s tone was still indifferent as usual, but with an oppressive force that was hard to ignore.
The matter of Kevin’s rat trading quickly made the news and there was a lot of discussion within the industry. This had a certain impact on the company’s image. The boss, David, was quite surprised to learn that it was Su Zhong who reported it. As far as he knew, Su Zhong was a person who was at peace with the world. It was impossible for him to hold something against a colleague for no reason.
David called Su Zhong into the office and asked him with a smile, “I heard you reported Kevin?”
Su Zhong nodded and replied with a straight face, “Yes. I got rid of the black sheep for the company. You’re welcome.”
“…” David wanted to blow open his head with a punch, but he could only grit his teeth and smile. “Well, I thank you!”
“You’re welcome.” Su Zhong replied briskly.
David choked.
Su Zhong asked, “Is there anything else?”
David thought to himself, I’ve been in the arena for decades, and this is the first time I’ve seen such an employee. Does he know who’s paying him?
David had been the regional president for more than 20 years, so it was difficult for him to empathize with the workers as he did at the beginning. For him, the most important thing was management. The major factor affecting his management was that the employees were untamed.
However, Su Zhong’s level of “untamed” could be completely forgiven. The first reason was that most of the time, Su Zhong was obedient. It was just that sometimes, he behaved with low emotional intelligence. If you let him do something, he would generally do it well. This was the second and most important reason. Su Zhong could do everything David asked Su Zhong to do. There was nothing more important than this. Because Su Zhong was very capable at work, David was very tolerant of him.
David just smiled and did not continue to pursue Su Zhong’s “ruin of a colleague” which had affected the company’s reputation. He knew that it was useless to talk politics with people like Su Zhong, a “technology level” person. If Su Zhong really had the intention to engage in office politics, with his business ability, he would have become the director very early on, and not stopped in this position of manager.
In fact, as a boss, he liked this kind of person with strong abilities but low emotional intelligence, because such a person had the ability but no ambition, and was suitable for being an instrument. Wasn’t the so-called “employee” just an “instrument”? For the boss, having instruments on hand was still the most important.
David smiled and talked to Su Zhong for a bit, and then told him, “Rui Lei has taken over your job. Now she’s a celebrity manager. Her performance has improved a lot. Maybe she’ll catch up with you soon.”
David’s words sounded a bit provocative. If it was a normal employee, there would be a feeling of crisis, but Su Zhong was not a normal employee. He was unconcerned. “Then congratulations to her.”
David was originally worried that Su Zhong would be at odds with Rui Lei as a result, but now it seemed that Su Zhong was really a piece of wood, and there was no competition or jealousy. David did not know if he should be assured or sigh.
In other words, Rui Lei took over Su Zhong’s position and revealed her face in the financial program. Because of her beauty and eloquence, she started to get recognition and her performance improved.
At the same time, she was also busier. Now that there was a new assistant named An Su in the office, Rui Lei’s work pressure had doubled.
An Su: “Teacher Rui Lei, for this 70-million budget project, what’s the budget?”
Rui Lei: “…seventy million.”
An Su: “Teacher Rui Lei, what’s the surname of the Chen Group’s chairman?”
Rui Lei: “… the surname is Chen.”
An Su: “Teacher Rui Lei, then…”
Rui Lei’s temper reached a critical point, but she had to endure it because An Su was David’s son. She did not dare to get angry with David’s son. She could only smile gently and said, “I’m a little tired. Could you help me make a cup of coffee?”
“Okay, no problem.” An Su agreed and went to the pantry, achieving a moment of peace for Rui Lei.
However, An Su soon came back with coffee. Rui Lei looked silently at the black coffee and said, “What about sugar and milk?”
An Su said in surprise, “I thought a delicate woman with a quality of life like Teacher Rui Lei would only drink espresso without adding any sugar and milk, not drink that kind of impure and unorthodox fancy coffee…”
Rui Lei was stiff from An Su’s words, and her fist tightened.
However, no matter how tough Rui Lei was, she had to be flexible, because An Su was David’s son. Moreover, he was an only child.
Thinking of this, Rui Lei couldn’t help but sympathize with David: such a shrewd and capable financial elite, and his only heir turned out to be a big fool.
Rui Lei found that she could not stand An Su anymore, so she kicked him over to Su Zhong. Su Zhong looked cold, but he was actually very easygoing. Rui Lei offered to exchange her assistant with Su Zhong’s, and Su Zhong had no objection.
For Su Zhong, whichever assistant he had made no difference.
In fact, Rui Lei had selfish motives in doing so. Previously, when Su Zhong had become a “celebrity”, David hinted that he would make Su Zhong the director. But now, the “celebrity” was Rui Lei, and Rui Lei was doing a good job. Didn’t that mean Rui Lei could also hope to be the director?
If Su Zhong made David unhappy, then the position of director was Rui Lei’s.
Rui Lei said to herself, Su Zhong was someone with a low EQ, and I’m guessing that he wouldn’t get along with An Su. If Su Zhong offends David’s precious only son, wouldn’t my chances of becoming the director be even greater?
Rui Lei asked her new assistant to make her a cup of fancy coffee. Drinking coffee with sugar and milk, Rui Lei was in a happy mood.
Thinking of what An Su had said about a delicate woman having to drink espresso, Rui Lei wanted to vomit.
She drank a latte and watched how An Su would get snubbed by Su Zhong.
The other people in the office were also in the mood for a good show, wondering what turmoil this silly son of the boss would cause as an assistant to the low EQ Su Zhong.
However, to everyone’s surprise, there was no storm at all.
It turned out that the most annoying thing about An Su was that he often took great pains to ask some intellectually-challenged questions.
But when facing such questions, Su Zhong would not get angry. In this regard, Su Zhong was like Siri. Whatever you asked, he would tell you the most objective answer in a calm and almost mechanical tone.
Without feelings, anger, or boredom.
Moreover, Su Zhong drank espresso.
When David saw that An Su had become Su Zhong’s assistant, he also asked about the situation with concern. Su Zhong commented objectively, “Your son’s IQ is not very high and his learning ability is relatively low. He’s not very suitable for this industry.”
Hearing the other party’s evaluation of his precious son like that, David had to be angry regardless of his generosity and said with an angry laugh, “His IQ is not high? Is it similar to your EQ?”
Su Zhong said, “Maybe even a little lower.”
David stiffened, his fists clenched.
To a certain extent, Rui Lei’s plan to “use An Su to make David dislike Su Zhong” had achieved preliminary results.
However, what was unexpected to Rui Lei was that An Su actually fell in love with Su Zhong.
Rui Lei, Jones, and Su Zhong were colleagues who had a better relationship. They often had lunch together, and An Su joined them to eat. When he looked at Su Zhong, his eyes were full of admiration. Moreover, An Su only poured tea and gave paper towels to Su Zhong alone, completely ignoring that there were two other seniors, Rui Lei, and Jones, at the dinner table. This display was too obvious. Jones and Rui Lei looked at each other knowingly.
However, Su Zhong was still behaving like a person who was not involved, just doing whatever he wanted.
Rui Lei complained to Jones privately, “I don’t think Lao Su should be called ‘Su Zhong’. He should be called ‘Yu Zhong’ instead. ”
Jones was puzzled. “Why? ”
Rui Lei covered her laugh with a hand. “Because ‘Wu Dong Yu Zhong‘. ”
Jones gave a sputtering laugh, waved his hand, and said, “Even you can make such corny jokes!”
Rui Lei said, “Do you think An Su knows that Su Zhong has a boyfriend? If he knew, would he continue to pursue Su Zhong?”
Jones smacked his lips when he heard this and said, “This matter has nothing to do with us, so don’t worry about it.”
According to Jones’ thinking, Su Zhong was their old friend and ally in the workplace, while An Su was the only son of the boss, so the relationship was very sensitive. No matter what conflicts occurred, they would be in a difficult situation, so it was better not to get involved.
Rui Lei had another way of thinking: unlike Jones, who was content with the status quo and felt that it was good to be a fund manager, Rui Lei had already silently regarded Su Zhong as a competitor for the position of investment director, and naturally hoped that Su Zhong would get into some big trouble that would be difficult to resolve.
And An Su’s admiration was obviously big trouble that was not easy to resolve.
Xin Qianyu did not know that a young newcomer in the workplace was in love with his man, nor did he know that his man was being targeted by a young mature woman in the workplace. He was about to leave the kindergarten. In the past few years, Su Zhong had become a celebrity fund manager from an analyst, but Xin Qianyu had not been idle. He had already rotated between the group’s middle schools, elementary schools, and kindergartens, and his mother said he was qualified enough to return to the headquarters for management.
He had just left the kindergarten, went home to rejuvenate for a few days, and was ready to go. He planned to return to the headquarters as the “prince” to make his mark. Xin Qianyu was packing up some materials when he saw a flash on the phone screen. It was a message from Zhu Pu: “Your man really doesn’t care about your career plan? You went to teach at a middle school for a while, then at a kindergarten for a while, and now you are the boss. Doesn’t he find it strange?”
Xin Qianyu curled his lips and replied, “It’s because he respects my freedom, so he doesn’t ask about my work.”
But the truth was that only Xin Qianyu knew. Su Zhong did not even know that Xin Qianyu had changed positions several times in the past few years. Su Zhong only knew that Xin Qianyu taught English, but he did not know anything else, and he never asked.
Xin Qianyu sighed and put away his mobile phone. Right then, he heard the doorbell ring.
“Who could it be at this time?” Xin Qianyu thought that it was a little strange, but still walked to the entrance and opened the door. Standing outside the door was a smooth-skinned young man. He looked at Xin Qianyu with an inquiring gaze, which made Xin Qianyu very uncomfortable, not to mention the unspeakable hostility in this young man’s eyes.
Xin Qianyu asked, “Who are you? ”
The young man replied, “My name is An Su…”
Xin Qianyu frowned. “Who?”
Xin Qianyu did not remember knowing anyone named An Su.
But An Su knew about Xin Qianyu from Rui Lei. An Su inquired with a few more people and learned that Xin Qianyu was an idler who had achieved nothing. He depended on Su Zhong to live in a big house and wear branded goods. An Su looked down extremely on such parasites because these kinds of gold-digging parasites reminded An Su of the vixens who seduced his father.
However, An Su never at all considered his coming to challenge Xin Qianyu. What was different from the mistress who had forced his own mother from the palace?
Xin Qianyu’s pretty face gradually merged with An Su’s memory of the mistresses kept by David. An Su’s contempt for Xin Qianyu became a bit stronger, so he raised his voice unconsciously, and said with some arrogance, “I’ll give you a million. You leave Su Zhong!”
Xin Qianyu was shocked. “What???”
