<— Prev — TOC — Chapter 3 ✦ Sleep at my place tonight
“Xiao He1[Little He]?” He Jianzhen recognized him by his voice, so he covered his face with his hand, “Don’t turn on the light!” The bright light went out immediately. The man’s voice was soft and gentle, “Okay, I won’t turn on the light.” He Jianzhen closed his eyes, shrinking his shoulders, as if after the lights were turned off, he could disappear in the darkness. Behind him, he only heard a sigh. Someone squatted down by his side, patting his back while wiping his face with a handkerchief. He Jianzhen felt the icy handkerchief and thought to himself, fortunately this person was Tang Litao. He was in a daze. He didn’t think he would accidentally go into Tang Litao’s office, and vomit all over the floor. Fortunately, he had a decent relationship with him. Otherwise, a bigshot vice general manager2[Reminder: In this company, Vice GM is at the same level as a C-suite exec.] who was in charge of the sales and marketing system for the entire corporate group, and a big leader who took over 7 billion yuan in orders3[Almost 1 billion USD in sales.] every year, condescending to wipe his face. He couldn’t afford it. It was also because Tang Litao just behaved differently from others. Everyone in marketing was a professional scoundrel, and they couldn’t go without the smell of meat4[荤腥, a Buddhist term which doesn’t only refer to meat, but also fish, strong smelling spices like onion and garlic and so on, as well as the consumption of alcohol. Basically, vices you’re supposed to not indulge in.] in three sentences. Young, fresh graduates went in for a few years, and every single one would drink like a ginseng soaked in a vat5[<img src=”https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Insamju_%28ginseng_liquor%29.jpg/800px-Insamju_%28ginseng_liquor%29.jpg” alt=”Ginseng liquor”>], all white and fat. But Tang Litao was different. 46 years old, well-maintained and with a refined temperament. Normally he was very gentle and mild, he never acted pompous and boastful after getting drunk, and he didn’t put on airs as a boss. All the pretty little girls in the marketing centre loved to go on business trips with him, going on and on about Tang-zong6[-zong is a generic honorific for executives.], worshiping him so much that they regarded him as their idol. He was a veteran employee of the company, conquering the world with the original founder7[The first chairman of the company.]. It was said that he had a lofty background. Out of all the executives, his academic qualifications were the most impressive. He could speak three foreign languages, and he was sent by the government to study abroad8[In his era, it was a big deal for the government to sponsor people to study abroad, basically it means he must be one of the top students in the country.], majoring in international politics. Originally, he planned on becoming a diplomat. After returning to China, the company gave him a sincere invitation to join. In the early 1990s, he was offered an annual salary of 100 000 yuan9[Considering inflation, 100k yuan in 1990 is around 300k yuan now or roughly $40 000 USD. Doesn’t seem like a lot, but the average yearly salary in China in the 1990s was like 300 yuan (not sure how true this is, of course). He just graduated and he was making 300x more than the average person.]. But Tang Litao was certainly worth it. He came from a liberal arts background, and at first, he didn’t know a single thing about aviation technology. But if someone doing sales didn’t know anything about the products, how could they explain it and sell it to customers? He sent himself down to the production line for a year, following a senior shifu[Master, respectful way to anyone who would take you as an “apprentice”, like craftsmen, technicians, etc. It means this employee was probably a production technician, rather than an engineer.] to learn from the basics. After a year, he was as familiar with the entire product line as breathing. In the third year he joined the company, the total sales doubled just like that. The market centre issued a six-figure year-end award that year, and the extravagance was even featured in the local news. At this point, for some of the company’s major receptions, the chairman didn’t have to go, but Tang Litao had to be there. For someone like this, He Jianzhen only dared to keep him in his heart and think about him, not daring to touch, not even daring to get too close. It wasn’t because Tang Litao treated him poorly, but because he treated him too well. Tang Litao helped him with both of his key promotions. Every year, when the marketing centre distributed year-end bonuses, the administrative department could still get a cut. According to Tang-zong, the administrative department was responsible for the rear10[The administrative department is also called logistics, which means the rear army, in Chinese.]. Without the rear, the marketing centre running in front couldn’t feel at ease. He said it so confidently that he was just short of announcing that the administrative centre was his godson11[Basically means that he’s their patron or benefactor, but the insinuation is that he’s their sugar daddy. Comes from powerful eunuchs in imperial China, who had been sterilized and couldn’t have children, adopting younger and less powerful eunuchs as their “godsons”, which were commonly alleged to be sexual quid pro quo relationships.]. A bigshot vice general manager took care of a small middle-level manager too well, and inevitably people would suspect impropriety. Putting the five words “hidden rules in the workplace12[Sexual quid pro quo relationships.]” in front of He Jianzhen, he became timid. It was true that he liked this person, but if the other party wasn’t serious, he didn’t want to just have a fling. “Don’t sit on the ground, okay?” The bigshot vice GM rubbed the stomach of a director of administration, “Do you still want to throw up?” He already saw his most embarrassing moment. It seemed too hypocritical to care about face now. He Jianzhen regained his senses a little, holding Tang Litao’s arms as he stood up. With weak legs, he moved over to the small sofa. In the pitch dark, Tang Litao turned on the air conditioner for him, and went to boil water. “Don’t be so busy, I’m fine,” He Jianzhen felt apologetic, taking the initiative to turn on the light. “I’m really sorry, I’ve made you laugh. I’ll ask the aunt13[The cleaning staff.] on duty to come and clean it up for you later.” Just as Tang Litao was about to speak, he saw the bright red wound on his head, and was very displeased, “Who scratched it?” If he didn’t remind He Jianzhen, he almost would have forgotten. It was too late to cover it with his hands now, so he could only lie, “No one… I accidentally…” It wasn’t a complete lie. Mrs. Wu made a scratch, but it was him knocking it on the stairs a second time, that made the wound so big. Tang Litao turned around to get the little medicine box, taking out iodine and cotton swabs. He Jianzhen was scared when he saw him approaching, so he lifted his hands and moved back, “Don’t14[He Jianzhen is very polite and still using the formal you even here.]!” Tang Litao grabbed his shoulders, raising his voice, “What are you moving for!15[Taotao is angery :< his baby got hurt :<]“ He Jianzhen was startled, he had never seen him get angry before, showing his majesty. He didn’t dare to move, letting the wet and cold cotton swab rub against his forehead. In this posture, Tang Litao was almost hugging him. On the man’s body, there was a faint scent of Tibetan incense. He didn’t know where it came from. He Jianzhen felt relaxed when he smelled it. His mind emptied for a while, and his two eyes became fixed on the shirt button on the other man’s chest. Tang Litao lowered his head and saw his obedient expression. His anger was instantly extinguished, the sudden fierceness was put away, and it was still the gentle and kind leader again, “How old are you, and you can still make yourself like this.” He Jianzhen blushed from his gaze, and was even more ashamed, unable to even lift his head. He glanced at the office door out of the corner of his eye. Fortunately it was closed. With this door closed, it seemed as if the chaotic and collapsing world was isolated outside, and inside was the reality he was familiar with. Tang Litao still called him Xiao He, he was still He Jianzhen, the airplane crash had never happened, and there was no appointment in crisis16[The original Chinese title in the raws, which is a phrase meaning “accepting an appointment in times of crisis”.]. His heart had returned to its place again, “Why are you still at the company so late?” “I just came back from a business trip. I have an appointment with the chairman to report tomorrow morning. I still need to work on the report tonight.” Tang Litao pointed to the suitcase by the door. It wasn’t so easy to be a bigshot leader, they frequently had to get off the plane at night, and go straight back to the company with their luggage to work overtime. He Jianzhen figured that he still didn’t know what had happened outside. Remembering Chen Xi’s warning, he was afraid to tell him. “Then do what you need to do, you don’t have to worry about me. I… can I sit here for a while?” He didn’t want to go out right away and face reality, “I’ll leave in a bit.” Tang Litao gave him a deep look, and brought him a blanket, “Sleep for a while if you’re tired, speak up if you need anything.” In fact, he couldn’t stay for long. There were still people looking for him everywhere. Perhaps Chen Xi had noticed that he was missing by now. But as soon as he saw Tang Litao, He Jianzhen’s butt was glued to the sofa. He didn’t want to move, subconsciously feeling that this place was the safest. For a long time, he hadn’t had the chance to quietly sit in the same room with Tang Litao. In the first place, Tang Litao was busy, traveling for business all year round. He didn’t spend much time in the company. These last few years, after being promoted to middle management, He Jianzhen was also under a lot more pressure. Before tonight, they hadn’t seen each other for almost half a year, let alone sitting together and having a chat. But when times were really tough, it was still this person who was by his side, giving him room to breathe. He Jianzhen suddenly had an impulse, “Tang-zong…” Tang Litao tilted his face a little, indicating that he could speak. He Jianzhen got stuck again. What could he say? Should he say that he hadn’t finished thinking about being the general manager, or that he wasn’t sure if he could do the job well, or if this was what he even wanted? What could Tang Litao help with? Could he still turn back time to three hours ago? Someone knocked on the door outside, it was probably Chen Xi. How fast. He Jianzhen’s expression changed, staring at the door in fear. Tang Litao looked at him, and said, “Come in.” Sure enough, it was Chen Xi. When he saw He Jianzhen, he blurted out, “He-zong, we…” Tang Litao’s eyes sharpened, and his cold gaze slashed across Chen Xi’s face. Chen Xi looked disheveled. He was originally supposed to be called “He-zongjian”17[He Jianzhen’s previous position was xingzheng zongjian, the Director of the Administrative Department. Chen Xi speaks too fast and calls him by his new title.]. One character was missing, and the cat was out of the bag. Tang Litao was such a shrewd person. If he started asking, Chen Xi would definitely not be able to resist. Although in terms of rank, they were at the same level18[Chen Xi’s position (company secretary) is technically an executive role at their company.], Tang Litao had a high status in the company, and he was one of the original veterans. Chen Xi was younger than him. In front of this vice general manager, he had no choice but to bow down by a measure. “Chen-zong is here so late?” Tang Litao moved out from behind the desk and blocked He Jianzhen slightly. Chen Xi didn’t dare to directly grab people, “There’s something urgent, I implore you to let He-zong…jian[General Supervisor He.] come with me first.” With hardly any warning, Tang Litao made an about-face, “Can’t you see he’s vomited like this, and he’s even injured, how did this happen? Even the management cadres can’t be abused like this. If there’s something urgent, go find Zhu Li (Administrative Department Vice President, He Jianzhen’s immediate superior). I’m taking Xiao He to the hospital now!” Chen Xi’s face was about to collapse, “Jianzhen…” He Jianzhen knew he shouldn’t make things difficult for him, so he gritted his teeth, mustered up his courage, and took a step away from Tang Litao’s side. Tang Litao immediately blocked him with his arm, so he had to say, “How can I keep bothering you? I’m fine. I’ll go back once Chen-zong and I finish.” Tang Litao narrowed his eyes and threw him a stern glare. He Jianzhen was also afraid that he would ask more questions, so he softened his voice, “I’m really in a hurry, I’ll explain it to you later.” Tang Litao finally moved out of the way. He Jianzhen took off the blanket and returned it to him, very grateful, “Don’t work too late.” You can hide on the first day but you can’t hide on the fifteenth19[Comes from the Chinese novel Legend of the Luliang Heroes by Ma Feng and Xi Rong, a story about resisting the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese War. You can hide from a disaster on the first day of the month, but you can’t hide past the fifteenth. Basically, it means you have to solve problems by facing them.]. The mess wouldn’t disappear just because he ran away. The press conference still needed to be held. The brand strategy department recommended giving an open and honest response as soon as possible. They also needed to explain things to the investors. Those directors20[Directors of the Board of Directors.] thought they should delay as much as possible, to avoid speaking more and making more mistakes. The two sides started arguing in front of He Jianzhen. The manager of the brand strategy department was young and enthusiastic. Not fearing authority, she still wanted to defend her professional opinion. Without interjecting, He Jianzhen stared at the clock on the wall, spinning his pen in a daze. He was finally annoyed by the noise, and loosened his grip, letting the fountain pen drop to the floor with a clack. Immediately, all was quiet. This interim general manager held his stomach and exclaimed repeatedly, “Ow, Office Manager Wei, do you have Po Chai Pills21[Traditional Chinese medicine for stomach pain.]? I just threw up earlier. You guys talk first, don’t worry about me.” The office manager rushed to get the medicine. Chen Xi knew that he had indeed vomited, and became nervous, “Why don’t we go to the hospital?” The group of people below also persuaded him. He Jianzhen smiled pretentiously, “I’m really sorry, why don’t we leave it at that for today. Tomorrow morning, Dr. Song and I will go to the scene to check out the situation. Then the company will send out internal emails to explain what happened. We don’t have to be in such a rush for the press conference. Everyone from the brand strategy department should stay back with Office Manager Wei. Let’s continue discussing how to write the internal emails. I’ll trouble Chen-zong to please arrange for sending the senior leaders back for now. It’s already very late today, everyone should rest early.” The manager of the brand strategy department wasn’t stupid. She knew it wasn’t appropriate to argue at this time, making a sound of agreement. After dismissing everyone, He Jianzhen kept back the office manager Wei Ning and the manager of the brand strategy department, to write the draft. He was only responsible for giving opinions. Chen Xi was the company secretary22[Not actually a secretarial position. He’s in charge of making sure the board of directors complies with legal requirements, and other things like communicating with shareholders and disclosing material information to investors.]. He was in charge of the company’s public announcements. He was also familiar with the media, so he stayed back along with the brand strategy department to create a unified message for the public. It was already two in the morning when the four of them finished. Chen Xi took another call from the police station, and arranged to go to the reservoir site at 5:30 in the morning to check out the situation. They were afraid there would be too many people if they went late, and the news would be leaked out. He Jianzhen went to the lounge of the general manager’s office to take a shower. Chen Xi told him to sleep there at night. Looking at the big, empty, and sumptuously-decorated room, he felt a little apprehensive. As soon as everyone went out the door, he turned around and left, not wanting to stay inside a moment longer. He wanted to call his daughter, but then he remembered that it was too late and He Tong was probably sleeping. He couldn’t disturb her now, so he put away his phone again. Ever since Chen Xi picked him up from his place, his cell phone had been turned off. He hadn’t turned it on, because he was afraid people would call him. Now he opened it carefully. Sure enough, there were a lot of messages and missed calls. Before he could look at them in detail, a call cut in. He looked at “Tang Litao” on the caller ID. His finger shook and he picked it up, “Tang-zong”. It seemed as if Tang Litao was here to check work progress, “Are you finished?” “I’m sorry, I made things difficult for you today,” He was talking about the confrontation with Chen Xi in the office. Tang Litao said steadily, “What identity are you using to tell me this?” This meant he already knew. Chen Xi’s misspoken words, He Jianzhen’s injury, the two people and their abnormal behavior in the middle of the night… there were too many details, this old fox couldn’t overlook them all. And if Tang Litao wanted to find out about anything in the company, it wouldn’t be too hard. Both ends of the phone were silent. After a while, He Jianzhen finally said, “Are you still in the company?” The man hummed in agreement. He Jianzhen walked towards the elevator, “I’m going over to your office.” The vomit at the office door had been cleaned up. The air conditioner had been turned on, and there was no smell left in the room, as if nothing had happened at all. He Jianzhen stood under the door frame watching Tang Litao work. The scene was exactly the same as when the two first met. Back then, He Jianzhen was still an intern in the administrative department who hadn’t passed the probationary period yet. The manager asked him to go to the 7th floor to deliver office supplies to the market centre’s Director Tang23[Tang-zongjian. Same as He Jianzhen’s previous level. He Jianzhen was a new grad, so this was roughly 14 years ago, when Tang Litao was around 32.]. He was dense and thickheaded, and didn’t think he could just hand things over to the department clerk. How could a leader pick up office supplies by himself? So he really ran up to knock on the Director’s door with a box of printing paper in his arms. Tang Litao started laughing right away when he saw him. He even cooperated with him, standing up politely to receive the supplies, saying thank you for coming, I just happened to be in a hurry to print things. He asked for He Jianzhen’s name, and said it was a good name, and then asked what school he graduated from, and praised him as a top student. He Jianzhen was batted around and came out of the office in a dazed state. When he got off work, his mind was still full of that man’s smiling face. “Chen Xi did the right thing. It was correct to bring you here right away, and control the spread of the news. If he didn’t do this, I would also go and give him some trouble.” Tang Litao opened his own lounge for him, “Sleep at my place tonight. Tomorrow morning, I will accompany you to the reservoir site. It’s useless for Dr. Song to go. Even if he goes, he can’t make a decision, just let him stay in the laboratory with peace of mind.” He Jianzhen originally just wanted to explain things to him face to face, “I’ll just go back to my own office, I have a folding bed there.” “Why is there so much nonsense,” Tang Litao frowned and pushed him in, “Settle down, it’s only a few hours in total, and tomorrow there’s enough for you to toss24[To make a fuss (to toss), but also to be tossed. Basically, he’s saying stop making trouble because trouble will come to you tomorrow.].” “Then you yourself…” He continued to ask, but the door was closed without mercy, and there was no response. There was a piece of Tibetan incense burning in the lounge, with a calming scent. He Jianzhen took a deep breath. He couldn’t resist lying down on the bed, rolling up the quilt and wrapping himself up inside. He was truly tired, he didn’t even have time to take off his outer clothes, and he fell asleep in a daze. T/N: Taotao’s subtle style of eating tofu can’t be called eating tofu, it’s more like sidling up to tofu, stealing tofu essence while no one is watching 🙂 But don’t worry, things will progress!
Assigned CEO Chapter 3 ✦ Sleep at my place tonight
[Little He]
[Reminder: In this company, Vice GM is at the same level as a C-suite exec.]
[Almost 1 billion USD in sales.]
[荤腥, a Buddhist term which doesn’t only refer to meat, but also fish, strong smelling spices like onion and garlic and so on, as well as the consumption of alcohol. Basically, vices you’re supposed to not indulge in.]
[<img src=”https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Insamju_%28ginseng_liquor%29.jpg/800px-Insamju_%28ginseng_liquor%29.jpg” alt=”Ginseng liquor”>]
[-zong is a generic honorific for executives.]
[The first chairman of the company.]
[In his era, it was a big deal for the government to sponsor people to study abroad, basically it means he must be one of the top students in the country.]
[Considering inflation, 100k yuan in 1990 is around 300k yuan now or roughly $40 000 USD. Doesn’t seem like a lot, but the average yearly salary in China in the 1990s was like 300 yuan (not sure how true this is, of course). He just graduated and he was making 300x more than the average person.]
[The administrative department is also called logistics, which means the rear army, in Chinese.]
[Basically means that he’s their patron or benefactor, but the insinuation is that he’s their sugar daddy. Comes from powerful eunuchs in imperial China, who had been sterilized and couldn’t have children, adopting younger and less powerful eunuchs as their “godsons”, which were commonly alleged to be sexual quid pro quo relationships.]
[Sexual quid pro quo relationships.]
[The cleaning staff.]
[He Jianzhen is very polite and still using the formal you even here.]
[Taotao is angery :< his baby got hurt :<]
[The original Chinese title in the raws, which is a phrase meaning “accepting an appointment in times of crisis”.]
[He Jianzhen’s previous position was xingzheng zongjian, the Director of the Administrative Department. Chen Xi speaks too fast and calls him by his new title.]
[Chen Xi’s position (company secretary) is technically an executive role at their company.]
[Comes from the Chinese novel Legend of the Luliang Heroes by Ma Feng and Xi Rong, a story about resisting the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese War. You can hide from a disaster on the first day of the month, but you can’t hide past the fifteenth. Basically, it means you have to solve problems by facing them.]
[Directors of the Board of Directors.]
[Traditional Chinese medicine for stomach pain.]
[Not actually a secretarial position. He’s in charge of making sure the board of directors complies with legal requirements, and other things like communicating with shareholders and disclosing material information to investors.]
[Tang-zongjian. Same as He Jianzhen’s previous level. He Jianzhen was a new grad, so this was roughly 14 years ago, when Tang Litao was around 32.]
[To make a fuss (to toss), but also to be tossed. Basically, he’s saying stop making trouble because trouble will come to you tomorrow.]