Chapter 28 - Beginning Work (1/2)

Chapter 28: Beginning Work

Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Translations

The water in the pond outside pattered, the bamboo wheel was spinning.

“Liu XinTian is too quiet recently. Ever since Tong Xin was investigated by the police, he hasn’t made any moves.”

Lu Shang glanced through the curtains at the bamboo watermill below, he let the curtains down, “What about Li Yan?”

“We haven’t received any word on him yet, but we have placed people near the places he might go to; once he surfaces, we will immediately take him into custody.”

“Don’t let him get away.”

“Understood.”

After the meeting ended, Lu Shang and Meng XinYou stayed behind to talk.

“You went way overboard this time, flying military helicopters to the city directly. I was scolded by my grandpa because of that, you know.” Meng XinYou continued, “I didn’t even dare tell him it was you, so I had to take the blame for you.”

Lu Shang poured her a cup of tea, smiling, “Yeah, it’s my fault.”

Meng XinYou took the cup, which was handed to her, then with a regretful expression, she said, “This will be the last time I help you, Lu Shang. I’m getting married soon.”

“Is that so? Congratulations.”

Meng XinYou giggled, “Can’t you at least give me some kind of reaction? I don’t know, maybe show some sadness?”

“My little sister is getting married. It’s a cause for celebration.” Lu Shang’s phone rang after replying; he picked up the call.

The room was quiet, so Meng XinYou could hear everything on the other side of the phone.

After she heard Lu Shang scrupulously going through the details with the person on the other side of the phone, she couldn’t help but ask after Lu Shang hung up, “Aren’t you used to doing stuff under the table already? Why are you going through the trouble to registering him for a job interview?”

“I don’t want him to think that everything is easy.” Lu Shang smiled lightly as he replied.

Being a leader for such a long time, seeing Tong Yan’s development and all the people that came and passed, Lu Shang understood better than anyone how a talented individual was nurtured. At the same time, he knew what would break a person.

“The internship isn’t just so that he could get a certificate out of it, I want him to get some field experience.”

Meng XinYou stared at Lu Shang, feeling a little jealous, “If only you cared about me half as much as you cared for Li Sui, then I definitely wouldn’t get married.”

Lu Shang pursed his lips together slightly, but he just said, “If you are getting married, then I wish you the best. You can let Aunt Lu stay at my place, I won’t ill-treat her.”

Meng XinYou’s expression stiffened, then quickly returned to normal, “When did you notice?”

“The first year she began working in the Lu family.”

Meng XinYou said feeling a little depressed, “You ignored it for so long? Aren’t you even a bit wary since I’m observing you through her?”

Lu Shang didn’t reply. Though Lu Shang had announced his relationship with Li Sui was that of a benefactor, if Aunt Lu wasn’t there, he and Li Sui would definitely sleep in separate rooms. Only later on, it sort of became a habit for Lu Shang, so it continued.

“But she wasn’t sent to you by me,” Meng XinYou continued. “It was my father who did it. He is always wary of people; he is also used to being in control. So, when it came to my generation, a lot of things are out of our hands. I can only promise you that I won’t stand against you, but as for the rest, I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

Lu Shang replied, “I understand.” Emotions played no part in business, that held even more truth in politics. Moreover, clearing all the obstacles for one’s child was understandable.

Lu Shang had had this serious disease looming over him since he was a child; he had also considered that if one day he really died, what would happen to Tong Yan. Uncle Yuen might be able to keep some of his estate properties, but without the Lu family’s name, all the relations his family had built would be gone. No matter how much money there was, with those relations, the riches would just become a target.

Thinking about it, being resourceful was still the most reliable. No matter where one went, even if they threw everything away, they’d still have means to survive quite merrily. Once a person reached a higher level in society, there would be new restraints, but if someone wanted to harm another, they’d still have to consider if they were on par. That was why Lu Shang was in such a hurry to arrange all these for Li Sui, he wanted to nurture Li Sui into a truly independent person, independent from Lu Shang himself, and independent from Tong Yan.

Meng XinYou found that she was unfamiliar with the Lu Shang now. Everything that had happened, Lu Shang’s actions, they were all out of Meng XinYou’s predictions. It was as if Lu Shang had already made a decision, but as for what that decision was, even Meng XinYou couldn’t tell.

“Your actions in recent days are so abnormal, even I don’t understand anymore.” Worry surfaced on Meng XinYou’s face; she asked, “Don’t tell me that… you have given up on the heart transplant?”

Screeching of peacocks came from outside; the sound was not pleasant at all. Their conversation was interrupted as Lu Shang lifted up the bamboo curtain. Lu Shang saw Li Sui and Zuo Chao arguing around a peacock, so he raised his voice from the upper floor and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Lu Shang.” Li Sui raised his head quickly, “Brother Zuo wants to kill the peacock for hotpot.”

Lu Shang glanced at the beautiful blue feathers on the ground, and he said, “It’s a shame to kill it, just let it go.”

“Do you hear? He said to let it go.” Li Sui took the knife in Zuo Chao’s hand. The two of them fought for a bit, both with swift, eye-pleasing moves.

“I’m going back now,” Meng XinYou lifted the bamboo curtains at the door. She looked at Lu Shang one more time, then turned around and left.

During lunch, the peacock was lucky to have survived, as they had a pot of bamboo shoots and chicken stew instead. After the meal, they Lu Shang and Li Sui had no more plans, with nothing to do, Lu Shang brought Li Sui to get two tailor-made suits.

To be honest, there was really no need to wear something so formal for an intern position. However, once Lu Shang saw Li Sui put the suit on, Lu Shang decided that he won’t let Li Sui change out of them so soon. Lu Shang’s instincts weren’t wrong, no matter how Lu Shang looked at Li Sui now, he was sure that Li Sui belonged in the workplace.

Li Sui was used to wearing casual clothes; suits were a lot more uptight than his usual clothes, so he couldn’t stop fiddling with his tie. Li Sui asked, “Do I look weird in a suit?”

After the field trip, Li Sui’s skin was tanned a bit, he also built more muscle. The childishness in his angular face had faded, making his aura collected yet fierce.

“It suits you,” Lu Shang smiled and left a short comment.

Though Lu Shang and Li Sui were working in the same company now, to avoid any rumours, Lu Shang didn’t go in with Li Sui. Uncle Yuen drove them to a street nearby where Li Sui got off, then he walked to work on his own.

Li Sui noticed that he wasn’t the only intern, when he went to get the work pass, there were seven to eight other graduates starting as interns like him. All of them were under a female manager called Zhao’s management.

“Your job today is to understand the company’s working, grasp the company’s rules and system. You will also have to remember the names and faces of all the managers of different departments. When I ask you to deliver documents to the managers for signing, I don’t want any of you to be unable to remember who they are. Understand?”

Everyone nodded, then manager Zhao spoke again, “Also, read through the documents I gave you, each of you will have to hand in a report to me after reading the documents. Next week, the company is going to have a cultural week, you will have to team up to make a video, which will be played in the cultural week.”

None of them replied when they heard that they have to make a video except one. Li Sui glanced at his work pass; his name was Li Bai.

Though Li Sui had been to Tong Yan numerous times before, he mostly went straight up to the top floors housing the directors’ offices; the people here had never seen him before, which prevented a lot of unwanted trouble. After walking up and down the floors, Li Sui finally managed to familiarise with all the departments. Five o’clock had just passed, everyone in the office was already gone. Li Sui tidied up his documents and things; he wanted to wait for Lu Shang, but after some thought, he gave up on the idea, as he didn’t want anyone thinking that he colluded to get the position. Li Sui left through the back door.

The train station was just a five minutes’ walk away from Tong Yan. Not long after Li Sui turned at a corner, he saw a black private car parked at the road. The car window rolled down, showing half of a familiar face.

Li Sui didn’t expect Lu Shang to wait for him here, his heart skipped a few beats. Promptly, he got in the car.

“You are getting off work so early today?”

Lu Shang smiled lightly, “Even if I leave early, they can’t do anything about it. So, how is it?”

“It’s fine,” Li Sui replied. “It’s also more challenging than I thought.”

After some thought, he asked, “The manager overseeing us, do you know her?”

Lu Shang knew what Li Sui was trying to ask, “Don’t worry, she doesn’t know you.”

That really make Li Sui feel more relieved. He wasn’t worried that the manager would do anything to him if she knew. However, as a newbie in the workplace, Li Sui wanted a fair challenge, the last thing he wanted was to get praises or promotions due to his relationship with Lu Shang. Lu Shang could clearly understand Li Sui’s thoughts of testing his own strength.

Li Sui began getting more and more busy, even busier than Lu Shang. During the day, Li Sui had to go to Tong Yan for work. After work, he had to rush to driving lessons. Then at night, he had to study for the exam Lu Shang had signed him up for. Usually, after going through the whole day, Li Sui would be so tired that he couldn’t even speak. Every time it came to that, Li Sui would begin to wonder how Lu Shang endured through all of these for so long.

Li Sui was still stuck in front of his computer even though it was way past his usual bedtime. It pained Lu Shang to see him wrecking his body like that, so he knocked on the door to the study, “Are you still not going to bed?”

Li Sui turned his head around, and with a sorry expression, he replied, “I am making a video, but I’m not familiar with this software. I tried a few times but still couldn’t get it to work properly.”

Lu Shang walked over to have a look at Li Sui’s computer. He was making a promotional video for the company’s cultural week. In past years, they’d hire someone specially to make the video, but it seemed that this time, it was given to the interns as their first challenge.

Lu Shang thought for a bit, then said after yawning a little, “Well then, I’m going to bed now.”

Li Sui stared at Lu Shang leaving in a trance; it seemed like Lu Shang was not planning to help him. Li Sui was quick in learning new things, but the technology was still a huge barrier. At the age when others were playing with computers, he was still homeless on the streets. Though Li Sui had worked hard, he had ten years less of experiences on computers—just his typing speed alone was a lot slower than everyone else’s.

It was late at night and autumn was approaching, so the weather was turning colder bit by bit. There were sometimes gusts of strong wind, blowing leaves around. Li Sui went to pour himself a glass of warm water, then he opened some online forums to read on other’s experience with the software.

Lu Shang read through half of a book on the bed, but there was still no sign of Li Sui. Lu Shang picked up a coat to keep himself warm, then opened the door to the study again. Li Sui’s head was leaning on the back of the chair, he was asleep. The monitor showed that the video had just completed processing and was currently loading.

Lu Shang waited for it to load and had a peek at the product; the graphics might not be exquisite, but the video was still well-made, the effort could be seen clearly, it was at a good enough level to be played on the big screen. For a newbie to be able to make this was quite extraordinary; it showed how much heart Li Sui had in his work.

After two weeks of consecutive intensive work, Li Sui was exhausted, and the eyebags under his eyes were evident. Lu Shang didn’t like seeing Li Sui suffer, but he didn’t interrupt him, either. Lu Shang left his coat behind, placing it on Li Sui, then he quietly left the study.

The cultural week had soon arrived after that, and an exhibition was set up in the company. Usually, Lu Shang wouldn’t attend something like that, but this time, he broke his usual habits and walked around the exhibition. Lu Shang’s appearance in the audience shocked the event host; he was very scared that he’d get his lines wrong.

After the end of the video, a long round of applause was given by the audience. Lu Shang stared at the name at the end of the video and frowned.

During dinner, Li Sui didn’t say a word while eating. Lu Shang knew that he was thinking about something, so he tried asking Li Sui about it.

“I’m fine,” Li Sui replied.

“Are you thinking about the video?”

Li Sui said, “You know already?”

Lu Shang nodded and said, “Yeah, I heard it from someone else.”