Chapter 50
Fu Yuqing was seated in his office with a dark expression on his face. He had his people investigate the issue Shi Nuan reported in the meeting. Shengyuan's orders had indeed dropped. It wasn't news to him as he had noticed the decline quite some time ago, but the numbers had dropped drastically recently.
Fu Yuqing didn't know what Shengyuan's plan was. Past experience told him that even if their accounts were full of problems, Shengyuan would just ignore it. Fucheng was an independent company and wasn't related to Shengyuan. Shengyuan backed them up because he had saved someone from the Fu clan years ago which prompted the Fu clan to give them preferential treatment.
Fu Yuqing thought he could depend on them forever, but it seemed like Shengyuan was going to stop helping them.
"Dad, what happened?" Fu Xicheng too could not understand Shengyuan's motives. "What is Fu Chengyan trying to achieve?"
Fu Xicheng didn't like Fu Chengyan at all. He was feared and loathed that man.
They had the same surname, but there was a vast gap between them. Fucheng had to depend on Shengyuan to survive, and his father would always remind him to flatter those from the Fu clan. Despite their best efforts, Fu Xicheng could count on one hand the number of times he had met Fu Chengyan in person.
Fu Chengyan had a God-like existence in Jiang City. Back then, Fu Xicheng wanted to use their familial ties to get to know Fu Chengyan, but the man didn't give him the chance to do so.
Going by seniority, Fu Chengyan was Fu Xicheng's uncle. This fact upset Fu Xicheng.
Fu Yuqing frowned when he heard Fu Xicheng's childish remarks. "I told you Fu Chengyan is harder to fool than his father. Didn't I tell you to get to know him? How is it going?"
"What else? You know how hard it is to get to establish a relationship with Fu Chengyan." Fu Xicheng's anger bubbled up when he thought about it. "You saw him at Mr. Shi's birthday, right? When you greeted him, he ignored us." Fu Xicheng spat the words through clenched teeth. "How long do we have to keep flattering him, huh?"
"Do you think I enjoy living like this?" Fu Yuqing frowned. "If it wasn't for Shengyuan Group behind his back, I would've just ignored him!" Fu Yuqing continued, "Find out why Fu Chengyan started reducing their orders. There's also the department store to deal with. If our products can't be sold in Shengyuan's department store..."
Fu Yuqing felt a headache building up. "How will our company go public?"
"Go public?" Fu Chengyan's fingers drummed the table. He swept his gaze over Zhou Zheng before asking, "You mean Fu Yuqing's company is aiming to go public this year?"
"Yes." Zhou Zheng replied seriously. "I received reports about this. Fu Yuqing is indeed greedy. How dare he go public with that tiny company? Plus, they are using Fu clan's name to gain recognition!" "Interesting." Fu Chengyan closed the file he was holding. There was a hint of laughter in his eyes. "They want to use Shengyuan to advance further?" Fu Chengyan stood and slipped his hands into his pockets while staring at the view from the 27th floor. "The higher you stand, the more beautiful and magnificent the view is. But, the more dangerous it is too."
Zhou Zheng raised his brows at Fu Chengyan's back. "You're right, Mr. Fu."
Fu Chengyan curved his lips up in a smile. "Fu Yuqing isn't that capable." Go public? "We'll see what happens."
"Yes!" Zhou Zheng answered. He hesitated before saying, "Ms. Shi..."
Fu Chengyan turned, his sharp gaze landing on Zhou Zheng.. Zhou Zheng froze and straightened his back before swallowing. "Your wife, well. She went back to work at Fucheng today." "Mm?" Fu Chengyan raised his brows. "Say it!"
"Mr. Li gave her a hard time." Zhou Zheng replied as he glanced at Fu Chengyan cautiously. He mumbled to himself, Mr. Fu is acting strangely recently. Is Ms. Shi his true love? "Mr. Li?" Fu Chengyan narrowed his eyes. "How did he give her a hard time?"
"There's something amiss with Fucheng's accounts. She must've realized that something is wrong and mentioned it during the morning meeting. After the meeting, Mr. Li went to her and gave her a hard time!" Zhou Zheng thought he should inform Mr. Fu about this since he already married Shi Nuan.
"Okay." Fu Chengyan nodded. "Anything else?"
"Oh, and the Yun family..." Zhou Zheng trailed off before saying, "It's about Yun Shen."
Fu Chengyan raised his hand and gestured for him to continue. Zhou Zheng cleared his throat. "I spread the news as you instructed me to, so the Yun family found out that Yun Shen had made a deal with Shi Jingzheng. Yun Mu was terribly upset with Yun Shen, so his family lectured him hard." Zhou Zheng continued, "Yun Shen promised to invest 200 million in Shi Jingzheng's Huancheng. Although Yun Chengzhi didn't agree verbally, he seemed to have consented silently. Even so, he should be unaware of that deal between Yun Shen and Shi Jingzheng."
Fu Chengyan snorted, "Yun Chengzhi? He's cunning. Do you think he's that clueless?" Fu Chengyan waved his hand. "Make it short!"
"Anyway, Yun Shen won't let Shi Jingzheng off easily. I'm certain Shi Jingzheng won't get that 200 million for now." Zhou Zheng smirked at that man's misfortune. "The Yun family took action before you could do anything. But if Yun Shen has a falling out with Shi Jingzheng, then Mrs. Fu..."
"No!" Fu Chengyan cut him off. "She isn't a kid anymore. There are some things that she has to experience for herself so she'll learn the lesson. That way, she won't be fooled again." Fu Chengyan said with a glint in his eyes. He adjusted at his tie before asking, "Anything else?"
"That's all."
After Zhou Zheng left, Fu Chengyan stood in front of the windows for a long time. He stared at the people downstairs. From a distance, they were not more than small specks of black. A smile lit up his face. When Shi Nuan received Fu Chengyan's call, she was following up on an order. She was stunned when she noticed the caller's name was "Darling".
Biting her lips, she was certain she didn't save his number as "Darling". Was it Fu Chengyan who changed it?
But when did he get the chance to go through her phone and change his name?
Shi Nuan furrowed her brows. When she saw the flashing screen, she did a double-take and hurriedly swiped at the screen to answer it. "Hello?" "It's me." Fu Chengyan's low voice answered. Why did the man seem pleased?
Shi Nuan bit her lips and said nothing. Fu Chengyan's smile gradually disappeared when Shi Nuan remained silent. "Mm?"
Shi Nuan shuddered and laughed dryly. "Yes. What's up?"
"Can't I call you if nothing's up?" Fu Chengyan raised his voice into something akin to a whine. "Your voice tells me you're reluctant to answer my call!"
Shi Nuan was speechless. She pursed her lips and answer in resignation. "You can't even see me. How would you know I'm reluctant? My voice?" Shi Nuan continued, "I'm working right now. Why are you calling me?"
"You're busy?" Fu Chengyan held his phone in one hand while he signed documents with the other. When he saw the content, his face fell. The man shot a sharp look at his secretary and ordered, "Ask the Head of Finance to come see me!"
His cold voice travelled through the phone. Shi Nuan figured that he had business to deal with and told him, "You must be busy. I'll hang up now!"
"Wait!" Fu Chengyan cut Shi Nuan off. "How do you know I'm busy? Give me a second." Fu Chengyan placed his phone aside and tapped the table with his fingertips while he glared at Secretary Li. "I hired you to solve problems for me, not to create more. What is this?"
Fu Chengyan pointed at the price. "Explain."
"Mr. Fu, I..." Secretary Li was obviously frightened. Fear was written plainly on her face. "I don't know!"
"You don't know? You're a Harvard graduate, but can't read this report well? How dare you ask me to sign this problematic report, hmm?"
Fu Chengyan's voice was icy as he asked, "Where is the Head of Finance?" He pressed the intercom, and Zhou Zheng came in not long after. "He's on his way." Zhou Zheng glanced at the person who was trembling and felt sorry for her. "Mr. Fu, what about her?"
"She can't even prepare a report well. I don't think she should continue working here."
Fu Chengyan's words signaled Secretary Li's dismissal. Everyone had been envious when she got the job as a secretary in Shengyuan Group. As the saying goes, 'the higher you climb, the harder you fall' – if Shengyuan fires her due to her negligence, she wouldn't be able to stay in the company. No company in Jiang City would hire her too. No one dared to go against Shengyuan Group.
Secretary Li's face paled as she slumped to the ground. "Mr. Fu, please listen to my explanation. I didn't do this. This..."
"Mm?" Fu Chengyan glanced at her. "Say it!"
"It's the Head of Finance. He told me to do it. He said if I give you the document, you'll sign it for sure." Secretary Li revealed everything in fear. "You've never personally approved anything from the finance department before, so..."
"So?" Fu Chengyan narrowed his eyes. There was a dangerous glint in his gaze. "So you think I'm an easy target? You should know what will happen if you leave Shengyuan." "Mr. Fu, please give me another chance. I..."
"Zhou Zheng!" Fu Chengyan shot Zhou Zheng a look. The man immediately understood and replied, "Yes, Mr. Fu!" He glanced at Secretary Li. "Stand up. Come with me."
Fu Chengyan drummed his slender fingers on the table for a while before picking up his phone. "Are you still there?"
"Yes." Shi Nuan was a little shocked. "I'm still here. But you should focus on work. We can talk later."
"Ha!" Fu Chengyan burst out laughing. There was a hint of laughter in his eyes. "Did I scare you?"