215 What Arena? (2/2)
One of the young men sighed. ”If only we had Mr. Zuo's background. Think about how exciting it would be to host a cruise party every year.”
Ye Shuang smiled. ”I'm sure Mr. Zuo will invite all of you for his annual party. It is actually much more relaxing to be the guest than the host for a cruise party.”
”I suppose you have a point,” another young man said excitedly. ”Hey, have you heard? This time Celebrity XX will be invited to the party as well.”
Ye Shuang took a sip of the wine and added, ”You're talking about that XX? I fear she will not have the time. According to insider information, she is currently staying at home to nourish the fetus, so she will not be wandering around for the next two months. I believe she will borrow some big event to release this news. Now that you mention it, it might be Mr. Zuo's invitation. 'Invitation to a lavish cruise party but unable to attend due to pregnancy' or something like that.”
”Wow! You know about that as well‽”
It was then that Madam Zuo appeared beside them. She smiled and said kindly, ”I hope you all are having a good time.”
The group of youngsters hurried to make their greeting. The terms 'Madam Zuo' and 'Auntie' were repeated so many times. After Madam Zuo waved her hands to show that she was there to talk to Ye Shuang, the rest of the group talked for a few more minutes before they dispersed on their own.
”Xiao Ye is quite impressive. You seem to know almost anything and everything.” Madam Zuo had been listening to the group conversation earlier. She realized that it was Ye Shuang who was handling the tempo and rhythm of the conversation. No matter the topic that was started, he would be able to pick it up with some interesting tidbits.
More importantly, Ye Shuang knew how to hold himself back. When he was done, he would take a step back and give other people their chance to speak. That way, everyone would have a chance to give their view, and there would be no awkwardness of being ignored or abandoned. At the same time, a habit was cultivated that they would turn subconsciously to wait to listen for what Ye Shuang had to say whenever they finished a topic.
After this went on for a while, the small group naturally held Ye Shuang at its center. Even though the other people might not have realized it, Ye Shuang had already acquired the leader's position. Ye Shuang smiled. She put the wine glass down and very gentlemanly held Madam Zuo's shoulders as she led the old lady to the center of the room. She added politely, ”It's just that I have some random interests, but in terms of mastery, of course, it is not able to rival the professionals.”
Madam Zuo had helped her husband take down the world when she was young, so she was not a common woman who only knew how to cook and do laundry. After she heard what Ye Shuang had to say, the smile on her face grew deeper. ”Then what does Xiao Ye think after having these conversations with so many people?”
Ye Shuang thought about it. ”Not much, but I feel like Madam Zuo is quite similar to Mrs. Zuo—you're both wonderful support to your husbands.”
Madam Zuo glanced at Mrs. Zuo, who was welcoming the employees from the Si Hai Organization graciously. She nodded and then shook her head, sighing. ”This daughter-in-law of mine was taught by her mother and family rules. There is nothing really wrong with that, but she is lacking when it comes to human interaction. When Yuanhang was going to marry her, we thought nothing of it, but we discovered later that combining these two together was like putting two negatives together—it did not turn positive but created a vicious cycle.”
More complaining‽ Ye Shuang glanced at Madam Zuo with confusion and realized that the Zuo family's members were all so easy to get close to outsiders.
The younger generation aside, Madam Zuo and Elder Zuo sure were unique in their own way. They had met for the first time and had not seen each other at other occasions. Even though she had helped their youngest son once, there was no reason for them to share their problem with her during their first meeting, right?
Ye Shuang thought about it but could not come up with an answer. Since she could not figure it out, she decided to just ignore it. After all, it was not going to affect her negatively, perhaps this was their natural personality.
Madam Zuo noticed the silence from the man beside her. However, unlike her husband, she did not treat face as something that important, so she continued her question. ”Xiao Ye, what do you think about our Si Hai Organization?”
Ye Shuang did not know how to answer. She shrugged and told Madam Zuo in a helpless voice, ”Madam Zuo, if you have any questions, please just ask me directly. Both Elder Zuo and yourself like to go around in circles. I'm afraid that I might fail to understand what you're trying to say and end up wasting your time.”
Madam Zuo nodded. ”In that case, I will ask you directly. Who do you think the traitor at the Si Hai Organization is?”
Then she paused. Seeing the contemplation on Ye Shuang's face, Madam Zuo also started to think.
The talk of a traitor was something that had been bothering Elder Zuo and Madam Zuo. The Si Hai Organization had so many hotels under their name, and that was not counting the other investments and international businesses. To manage so many departments that did not seem to be connected was not easy and definitely not doable by someone who had normal power.
Even if they had a high position, at most, they would be able to assess the information within their job scope easily. To find out the managers for the other product chain in the Si Hai Organization and have enough ability to make them interested, that person had to be someone close to Zuo Yuanhang's status. For example, the information and personal data of the people who were approached—this was not information that was assessable to anyone.
Such a powerful traitor was a deadly danger for the Si Hai Organization—that was obvious to all. However, other than that, the two elders of the Zuo family were worried that people might make up of this opportunity to create chaos. The six people that had been selected out by Zuo Yuanhang, if any one of them was touched, it would create a ripple effect throughout the Si Hai Organization.
”I'll be honest. I hope Madam Zuo won't think that I am trying to sow discord. Anyone has the possibility to turn because few people are willing to stay under another person's rule forever. However, we are all business people and know what kind of choice will be the most beneficial for us.” Ye Shuang thought about it and led Madam Zuo to the corner and lowered her voice. ”I've met the few people at the party today. There are two clever people with ambition, an idiot with ambition, a loyal employee with no ambition, and an opportunist looking for an opening.”
Of the six, one of them was absent. Apparently, they were sick and thus resting at home.
Madam Zuo thought about it and asked, ”Who is this opportunist?”
”I'm not going to give a name just in case you might think I'm trying to turn some enemies. I can only tell you the man has left to make two calls in the middle of the party. It sounded like it was for the sake of business. Other than the Si Hai Organization, he has invested plenty to start another chain hotel business in Chaohai.” Ye Shuang smiled. ”Technically, there is nothing wrong with this; it is his prerogative to invest in his business. After all, the Si Hai Organization belongs to your family and not his. It is not that hard to understand the man wanting to start something of his own.”
Even though Madam Zuo did not care that much about the company, when she was playing mahjong with her sisters, she would still receive some news. There had been a recent brand rising up in Chaohai, so after some comparison, she understood what hotel Ye Shuang was referring to.
At the beginning, she had already discussed this with her husband, saying that this hotel's management and design was so similar to their own. Even the advertisement method and promotional effects were very familiar. She did not know what was happening then, but now she finally understood everything.
”It is normal for this to happen eventually.” Madam Zuo sighed. She patted Ye Shuang's hand. No matter which side this child was standing on, at least this information was beneficial to her family. ”Your ears sure are sensitive. How did you manage to catch so much information from a phone call?”
Ye Shuang smiled but did not say anything. It was impossible for her to tell Madam Zuo that the man actually was talking on the phone at the gate outside the house. Furthermore, all the information had been revealed by the person on the other side of the line. The man only gave simple responses like, ”Okay”, ”Yes”, and ”Understood”. Other people would not have suspected that there was something wrong. Therefore, it was not that the man was not careful; he was just unlucky to have run into an alien like Ye Shuang.
Seeing Madam Zuo's low mood, Ye Shuang held the lady and walked around the party. ”It is normal for people to do something like this. If you have the ability, who would want to work for others forever? He has his own family to look after. However, I think you don't need to worry about him. I don't think he is the traitor. At least for now, he needs to rely on the channels provided to him by the Si Hai Organization to survive. He is not going to harm you before his own business has found its footing.”
It was not simple to discern who the traitor was. After all, Ye Shuang did not have that much information on her hands. Furthermore, she was not going to get to know everyone at a party. At most, she could only have an impression of people. To get to the bottom of the truth, she would have to wait until the cruise. With the cooperation from Zuo Feiyang and the people from the Xi Hwa Organization, she would be able to find out who the real culprit was.
Madam Zuo walked around the party with Ye Shuang, but she still could not tell what Ye Shuang was after. She could only sigh and retreat.Filial and worthy sound the same in Chinese.