Chapter 1 ✦ The company has a secret bylaw
As He Jianzhen put down his phone, his heart was still beating rapidly. He looked at his expression in the reflection of the floor-to-ceiling window. It could barely be considered calm. After taking a deep breath, he pushed away his distracting thoughts, turning to walk towards his daughter.
“Tongtong,” he tried to speak in an apologetic tone, “Daddy might need to go back to the office to work overtime for a while.”
The little girl was still staring at the screen, a little excited, “He got the golden ticket!”
She was talking about the little boy Charlie. He Jianzhen almost thought it was him. He waited patiently for the end of this part, for his daughter to react.
She pouted and was very unhappy, “But it’s so late! Can you still go to the school activity tomorrow?”
He Jianzhen got up to pack his luggage, “I’ll go, I’ll definitely go. Tomorrow I will go directly to your school. Go to bed after watching the movie, don’t wait for me.” He left some pocket money for her. “Don’t sleep in tomorrow morning, remember to eat breakfast. If you don’t have enough money, get it from here. Tomorrow we definitely have to participate in the event, right?”
The little girl put her arms around his neck and acted spoiled1[撒娇 (sajiao), acting cute / coquettish and unreasonably demanding, throwing child-like tantrums, etc.], “You better keep your promise.”
The child’s warm body temperature soothed his panicked mental state. He Jianzhen hugged her and kissed her forehead.
The sharp doorbell rang behind them. He Jianzhen’s eyelids twitched2[Sign of a bad omen.] violently and he let his daughter go.
Chen Xi was in a difficult position, only urging him to leave in a low voice. He Jianzhen followed him out without saying a word, the chaotic sound of footsteps falling the entire way.
It was raining lightly outside, and a black bulletproof Mercedes was hiding under the shade of a tree. He Jianzhen recognized it as the car specially reserved for the general manager3[The general manager in this company is the highest executive position, equivalent to a CEO or President in US / UK companies.] of the company. Besides the driver, there was also a bodyguard sitting shotgun. The tablet inside the car was playing the news—
“This evening, the police received a report that a plane crashed in the water reservoir of the satellite city4[Smaller municipality that is part of a larger metropolitan area, with a self-sufficient downtown core, unlike the suburbs.]. Thick rolling smoke is visible at the scene. Presently, casualties and the specific situation of the passengers are unknown. The police have rushed to the scene with the search and rescue team to carry out the rescue and salvage operation…”
He Jianzhen checked the time. It was ten past nine in the evening.
“What’s the situation now?” He asked vaguely.
The bodyguard answered this question, “I just contacted the police station. They confirmed that the aircraft wreckage has already sunk underwater. As for the specific location, the search and rescue team hasn’t found it yet. Whether or not a rescue is possible, they still need to find the plane first before deciding. The meaning of what the police station said is basically to expect the worst.”
“They couldn’t do a forced landing on the water?”
“According to the residents who reported the case, the plane caught fire before it fell into the water. It was burning very badly. There was a large-scale fire, and there was even a small explosion. It crashed headfirst into the water and failed to make an emergency landing. It was probably out of control.”
“Are you sure it’s this plane? The police confirmed it?”
“Someone took a picture of the plane. We checked the number on the wing. It really is the chairman’s private jet.”
He Jianzhen still found it hard to believe. How many years had it been since he heard of such a serious air incident, how could something like this happen?
Chen Xi explained the whole story to him, “The chairman’s entourage were originally expected to arrive at the airport here, at six o’clock tonight. They sent a confirmation message when they got on the plane. Then we lost contact. By six o’clock, the driver who was waiting at the airport couldn’t pick them up, so they called the general manager’s office. Office Manager Wei answered, and she also said she couldn’t contact them. At 6:30, Manager Wei was probably panicking a little, so she contacted the airport. The control tower was also looking for the plane, saying that the pilot contacted them once when the fire started, but lost contact soon after that. The director felt that something bad was going to happen, so she hurriedly called the police. And that was when the police station had just received the report5[From the residents.].”
“Who else was on the plane?”
“In addition to the two executives, there were also two secretaries and a marketing receptionist6[市场接待员 – Not sure what this position is, maybe the receptionist from the marketing/sales department??? Comment if you know.].”
He Jianzhen rubbed his temples, he was getting a headache.
The atmosphere was too heavy. Chen Xi turned off the tablet so the car could be quiet for a while.
A few minutes later, He Jianzhen spoke again, “Right now, who else knows about the situation? What about the executives? What are the vice general managers7[In this company, the Vice General Manager position is equivalent to C-suite executives, basically the executives one level below the General Manager.] saying?”
“I prevented them from notifying the executives. None of the VGMs know right now.”
“Do you think you can cover it up?”
Chen Xi was very serious, “Jianzhen8[Chen Xi speaks to him rather casually, calling him by his first name with no honorific here.], it’s not me coming up with a conspiracy theory. We really have to be careful. It’s fine if the crash this time was an accident, but what if it wasn’t? Then someone is trying to harm us. No one knows if there’s someone staring down our backs, or if there will be a follow-up. Whether it’s outsiders or people in the company, we can’t trust anyone right now. Before we get a clear answer, leaking out news will only make the chessboard more chaotic. This is also why I had to come pick you up right away. If someone is after you, if I can’t keep you safe, I won’t be able to give the chairman an explanation.”
Who would come to harm him? He was just a director of administration9[Basically, the manager one level below the Vice General Manager of the Administration Department. It’s called something else in Chinese but this would be the equivalent role in an American company. In this company, it is considered middle management.].
He Jianzhen felt that it was ridiculous, “I don’t have that much ability!”
Chen Xi looked at the driver in front, then at the bodyguard, weighing whether it was appropriate to speak in the car. In the end he said, “You aren’t aware. The company has a secret bylaw, called the ‘temporary person-in-charge clause’.”
He Jianzhen’s typical responsibilities were primarily logistics and back office services. He wasn’t familiar with the company’s Articles of Association10[The company’s constitution, details rules around how the company and the board of directors operates.]. This was the professional field of the company secretary.
“It was the chairman who proposed this bylaw at the beginning of the year. The bylaw stipulates that if the de facto person-in-charge11[The actual controller of the company, not necessarily the legal representative, but the person with final decision-making power.] of the company cannot perform his duties normally, a ‘temporary person-in-charge’ will be appointed immediately to take over the position of general manager, to ensure the normal operation of the company.” Chen Xi calmly recited the terms.
But the more he spoke, the more He Jianzhen’s heart sank.
“The ‘temporary person in charge’ is nominated by the chairman and passed by the Board of Directors. Before today, other than the members of the Board of Directors and Supervisory Board, and me, no one else knew.” Chen Xi looked at him deeply, “I don’t know how much ability you have, Jianzhen, but the one who was nominated by the chairman himself is you.”
He Jianzhen didn’t have a chance to say anything else. The car had already arrived at the company campus.
Wei Ning, the GM’s office manager, was waiting at the company door with the GM’s secretaries to receive him.
He Jianzhen pulled the car door by himself. He hadn’t opened it, and before he realized what was going on, the driver had already run over to open the door for him, and even reached out, full of respect, to support him. He Jianzhen was dumbfounded. He finally got out by himself while holding on to the car door, refusing to take the driver’s hand.
He was only thirty-five years old, not sixty. No need for help!
Manager12[主任, translates to director, but to avoid confusion, I decided to translate her position to “office manager”.] Wei bowed slightly to him, “He-zong13[-zong is a generic honorific for any “top leader” in a company, from the president to the CEO to the chairman, and possibly directors (C-suite executives) as well. So I decided to not translate it, but it would roughly translate to “Director-General” or “President”.].”
They were already considering him as the company’s highest decision maker. She made a gesture, inviting him to enter the building. He Jianzhen was surrounded by bodyguards, the office manager, this secretary and that secretary, as he walked into the office building.
The lobby was empty and quiet. Most of the employees had already left work at this time. Only the security guards were still there, playing on their phones at the front desk. They went directly up to the general manager’s office on the 8th floor, the top floor of the building.
Manager Wei explained the situation further as she walked, “All the directors, including the members of the supervisory board, have been notified. Two directors are on business trips, and they both simply appointed representatives. Everyone is here, and they are all in your14[She uses the formal you all throughout.] office. The executives haven’t been told yet, but the news is already out. We probably can’t hide it for long.”
Just as she was talking, her phone rang. She stared at the name on the caller ID and frowned, refusing the call. “The manager of the brand strategy department will be in attendance as a non-voting observer later. She needs you to decide on a unified attitude before responding to the media. The police station has contacted the captain of the criminal investigation team in charge of this aviation incident case. He is expected to meet with you in an hour to discuss the details of the plane crash.”
He Jianzhen listened carefully to every sentence, attentively remembering all the whos and whats. As soon as the elevator door opened, the general manager’s office was a left turn and ten steps away.
It wasn’t that He Jianzhen had never been here before, but his mood was different back then. This time, the tall and wide mahogany door was especially heavy for him, and he was startled by the six big characters of “General Manager’s Office”, shining on the door plate. Suddenly, he realized that he was not dreaming.
Manager Wei pushed the door open, and there was a small reception room outside, where 11 noisy people sat in a circle. These were the 7 remaining directors15[Since two are missing in action. Also, two people were on business trips and sent representatives.] and the 3 members of the Supervisory Board, and the last person was the brand strategy manager who was attending as a non-voting observer.
Seeing He Jianzhen, there was a sudden silence in the reception room. In the past, these were He Jianzhen’s leaders and superiors, and now they were all looking at him.
“He-zong.” It was still the chairman of the Supervisory Board who greeted him first.
Only then did the others greet him, one after another.
He Jianzhen was at a loss, his mind was suddenly empty. The office manager’s words, which he had just memorized carefully, seemed to have disappeared from his brain.
It was still Manager Wei who spoke for him first, “He-zong, sit down first, Xiao Zhang16[Little Zhang, casual way to refer to someone younger or a subordinate.], come and pour tea!” She took He Jianzhen to the centre seat, and said a few words to ease the atmosphere, “Having so many leaders rush here in the middle of the night, it’s really hard work. Drink some tea before talking. We people below can’t help much, we can only do a few small things to make the leaders as comfortable as possible. He-zong, if you need to contact anyone outside, leave it to me first. Don’t worry about this for now. I will stay here tonight, you can tell me if you need anything.”
She had been the office manager for more than ten years. She was older than He Jianzhen, and she was thoughtful and meticulous in her work. With her here, He Jianzhen was a little less nervous.
Chen Xi was in charge of presiding over the meeting, “The leaders have been invited here, mainly for two urgent matters. The first is to implement the ‘temporary person in charge clause’. He-zong will temporarily take over the position of the general manager to fulfill the general manager’s duties. So then the company can send out the red-headed documents17[Important official documents with a big red title.] and the internal emails tomorrow. The second is to think about what to say to the outside world. There will definitely be a press conference afterward, which will also allow our colleagues in the brand strategy department to move forward.”
All eyes present landed unanimously on He Jianzhen.
Only Chen Xi looked at the chairman of the Supervisory Board, “Dr. Song, please.”
The chairman of the Supervisory Board was surnamed Song, a returnee18[Someone who studied abroad and returned to China. In those days, returnees with a Western education were relatively rare, so they were held in extremely high prestige.] with a double doctorate, the chief scientist of the company, and a perpetual pillar of the R&D department, who took the technical and professional route. This was also a reason why he was the chairman of the Supervisory Board. He only did technology, so he was relatively simple.
“Leaders, He-zong,” Dr. Song got up and bowed to He Jianzhen, “Currently our situation is like this. Chairman Liang and General Manager Wu had an accident. The company is in urgent need of a top-level decision-maker who is familiar with the situation and can preside over the scene. According to normal procedure, in order to fill the positions of the chairman and the general manager, we must first hold a shareholder meeting. Through the shareholder meeting, the board directors are re-elected to form a new board. Then we hold a board meeting to elect a new chairman. Finally, the new chairman nominates a new general manager, and the board of directors will vote to approve the nomination. This entire process will definitely take a long time, holding many meetings over and over again, so the chairman proposed at the start of the year that under these circumstances, a general manager can be appointed temporarily to maintain the company’s daily operations for a period of time.”
…
“According to the terms of appointment, the interim general manager only has the position of general manager and is not a member of the board of directors. He has the right to observe the board meetings but he has no right to vote. The interim general manager is responsible for the company’s operations, and for implementing the company’s strategic decisions. He has the right to set up functional departments and recruit management personnel, and to form a management team centered around the general manager. The candidate for the interim general manager has been elected by the board of directors previously. Now we are here to hold a simple official appointment ceremony. Everyone, please take witness together.”
Dr. Song picked up the red letter of appointment, which had been prepared in advance.
The scene was peaceful, and no one raised objections.
That’s right, people already said that this decision was passed by the board of directors in advance. And those present here were all those who voted for He Jianzhen to be the interim general manager, back then. Of course, there would be no objectors.
But when He Jianzhen looked at the bright red letter of appointment, his hairs stood on end. He couldn’t believe it, they really wanted to appoint him? He would really be the general manager? How was it that the board of directors wanted to appoint him, but he himself was the last to know? Was this kind of thing really in accordance with laws and regulations?
Why him? There were so many vice general managers, so many experts, he was just a director of administration, a small middle-level manager, a back office logistics manager. Usually he managed eating, drinking, pooping, and peeing, how could it be him? The resolution was passed, but how could it be passed? What if he didn’t want to? What if he didn’t want to be the general manager?
He didn’t care whether the timing was right or not, “Dr. Song, can I say a few words first?”
This was the first time he spoke since stepping into this office. Dr. Song held the letter of appointment but couldn’t hand it over, so he politely made a gesture of invitation.
He Jianzhen smiled awkwardly, “This thing happened quite suddenly, the main thing is, I didn’t know that the company had this… ‘temporary person-in-charge’ bylaw, and I don’t know why I was chosen in the first place. But letting me be this ‘person-in-charge’, I think, do you need to consider this again…”
Dr. Song’s face froze, as if he didn’t expect him to say such a thing.
The atmosphere of the scene was suddenly a little awkward.
One director joked, “Look at us scaring people. Jianzhen, don’t be nervous, you can also choose to not accept it. The appointment is definitely your choice, and the company will not force people to be the general manager. But if you don’t want to, you have to say it now.”
—Was he really unwilling?
This was too absurd, He Jianzhen thought, how could the Old Heavenly Father ask him this kind of question? He simply had never considered this kind of thing!
Chen Xi came over and gave Dr. Song a push. Dr. Song stretched out his hand, and the little red booklet was only a finger away from He Jianzhen.
“He-zong, don’t worry, we will help you19[He’s being polite and using the formal you now.] and the company get through this difficult time together.” Chen Xi looked at him vigorously, “At this time, everyone will definitely have the intention to stand with the company through thick and thin, but you don’t have to stress too much. We are still here.”
He Jianzhen’s brain squeezed, and as if pushed by gods or ghosts, he took the red suede booklet.
Chen Xi finally showed a relaxed expression.
Dr. Song shook hands with him and smiled, “It’s okay, we’ll get through it.”
He didn’t know who took the lead in clapping, and then there was a round of applause in the small reception room.
He Jianzhen lowered his head, opened the little red booklet, and his name was written in it in prominent characters. He quickly closed it, as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have seen. Looking around in all four directions, he was greeted with congratulatory and satisfied eyes. He was dizzy and couldn’t remember the last time he was applauded by so many seniors and leaders. That time when he was promoted to the director of administration was far from such a big battle.
Several directors20[Directors from the board of directors, a much higher position than He Jianzhen’s previous role.] came over to congratulate him, saying some words of encouragement back and forth. He bore through it while smiling, his mind failing to comprehend what exactly he was doing.
At that moment, he knew he was a fully functional human being, but he wasn’t sure who he was.
(Control Tower: The place where the airport manages the take-off and landing of aircraft.
Supervisory Board: It is an institution that supervises and inspects the company’s business, finance, executives, and board of directors, and is a necessary institution for joint-stock companies. The supervisory board can propose the removal of directors and executives who violate laws and regulations or the company’s articles of association. When the board of directors cannot perform its duties normally, it can request the convening of an extraordinary board meeting or a shareholder meeting. There are at least 3 members of the supervisory board, and members of the supervisory board generally have positions in the company.)
T/N: Wow, a little over 3500 words. I translated it all in one go, and I’m tired! Some of the titles were hard to translate. I recommend reading the Characters page which goes into detail on everyone’s positions.
Also, if I make any mistakes, in general, please point it out. I don’t have an editor, and I try to go back and correct mistakes, but after translating for a long time, it all starts blurring together. I’m pretty thick-skinned when it comes to constructive criticism so feel free to leave a comment. Same goes for dead or incorrect links.
- 1[撒娇 (sajiao), acting cute / coquettish and unreasonably demanding, throwing child-like tantrums, etc.]
- 2[Sign of a bad omen.]
- 3[The general manager in this company is the highest executive position, equivalent to a CEO or President in US / UK companies.]
- 4[Smaller municipality that is part of a larger metropolitan area, with a self-sufficient downtown core, unlike the suburbs.]
- 5[From the residents.]
- 6[市场接待员 – Not sure what this position is, maybe the receptionist from the marketing/sales department??? Comment if you know.]
- 7[In this company, the Vice General Manager position is equivalent to C-suite executives, basically the executives one level below the General Manager.]
- 8[Chen Xi speaks to him rather casually, calling him by his first name with no honorific here.]
- 9[Basically, the manager one level below the Vice General Manager of the Administration Department. It’s called something else in Chinese but this would be the equivalent role in an American company. In this company, it is considered middle management.]
- 10[The company’s constitution, details rules around how the company and the board of directors operates.]
- 11[The actual controller of the company, not necessarily the legal representative, but the person with final decision-making power.]
- 12[主任, translates to director, but to avoid confusion, I decided to translate her position to “office manager”.]
- 13[-zong is a generic honorific for any “top leader” in a company, from the president to the CEO to the chairman, and possibly directors (C-suite executives) as well. So I decided to not translate it, but it would roughly translate to “Director-General” or “President”.]
- 14[She uses the formal you all throughout.]
- 15[Since two are missing in action. Also, two people were on business trips and sent representatives.]
- 16[Little Zhang, casual way to refer to someone younger or a subordinate.]
- 17[Important official documents with a big red title.]
- 18[Someone who studied abroad and returned to China. In those days, returnees with a Western education were relatively rare, so they were held in extremely high prestige.]
- 19[He’s being polite and using the formal you now.]
- 20[Directors from the board of directors, a much higher position than He Jianzhen’s previous role.]
Thank you for your hard work!❤