Chapter Sixty-One: Faultless is Merit

Paradise Group’s ongoing issues with Changhe Group have stirred a public uproar, while internally, two personnel changes have left many feeling anxious, worried they might be sent to places like the Western Continent on a whim. For some of the old guard, it feels like a time of internal turmoil and external chaos, a crisis threatening survival, yearning to petition Chairman Zhang Tianyi, urging Zhang Yurong not to be so aggressive.

However, this is only the opinion of some. Lin Fenni’s shift has clearly given some in the PR department hope for advancement, her reallocation providing a chance for others to step forward and advance. Wen Qianyi’s situation is just an example. It’s believed that soon, she will remove the "acting" title and formally become the Director of the Business Department.

The company’s polarized reactions were within Zhang Yurong’s expectations. She understood this would not be a concern for most people, as for the majority, personnel changes and external conflicts were unrelated to them. They just wanted to do their daily work well.

Over the next two days, Zhang Yurong was exceedingly busy. Last week, she had already indirectly taken over the PR department, quickly gaining an understanding of various aspects, including personnel. Now, she effectively kicked Lin Fenni out and immediately launched a full-scale public opinion campaign. She coordinated the revelation of the true story behind the anthrax virus incident at the Prince Hotel online, but the effort was limited to the internet and media. She herself did not formally appear.

Out of caution, she did not arrange for any actions on Changhe Group’s stocks.

This outcome evidently exceeded Changhe Group’s expectations. Upon investigation, they found that the proxy lawyer indeed suffered a theft and had reported it. The person contacting the lawyer could do nothing but prepare to withstand accusations. Before fully disclosing the situation, he attempted to contact the nickname 5261941 registered on a forum, expressing willingness to pay for the return of the audio and documents.

With Li Yan’s directive, 526 was agreeable, stating that the matter could be resolved with a cash transaction, no police involvement needed. As long as the money was received, the items would be returned or destroyed, and the original posts would be deleted from the internet. Once Changhe Group discovered this information, computer experts from the company were immediately deployed to trace the person behind it. Despite their efforts, they failed, realizing it was the work of a computer expert, making police involvement ineffective.

At the same time, they feared the items were in the hands of Paradise Group’s technical team. Surprisingly, real demands for money were made, and Paradise Group’s reactions did not appear as if they possessed the evidence. This led them to decide to resolve the issue with money, preparing fifty thousand in cash to fulfill the demands of 5261941.

Lin Fenni wasn’t foolish. From Zhang Yurong’s initial involvement to eroding her authority and finally relocating her, she understood she had been exposed. She just lacked evidence or was given a way out.

Things had reached such a point that she had nothing more to say. She certainly wouldn’t truly go to the Western Continent, so she submitted her resignation to the company.

The other high-level executives in the company were adept at handling things. Initially, they didn’t realize anything wrong with Lin Fenni’s adjustment, but after she resigned, combined with Zhang Yurong’s recent focus on the PR department, they began to sense a pattern. This reassured some, believing a president wouldn’t force someone out without a reason that couldn’t be publicly disclosed! 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

...

While everyone was busy, Li Yan seemed to have vanished, as he was the boss, missing from work with some random excuse. Apart from Jiang Xueyin expressing some dissatisfaction to Zhang Yurong, others remained calm, knowing that managers have their own work, overseeing the big picture, rather than planning and analyzing the minutia in the company.

On Friday night, Li Yan routinely drove Zhang Yurong to her family home for dinner. Last week, she missed family dinner as she went to see Yu Xiaodi, prompting her mother Yang Yun to call several times over the week. Even though Zhang Tianyi was recuperating at home and had delegated major powers to his daughter, he was still fully aware of the company’s recent friction with Changhe Group. However, he understood companies go through various trials and couldn’t protect her forever, so he allowed his daughter to handle it entirely.

Upon arriving at the Zhang Family home, Li Yan found Jiang Xueyin also present. He wasn’t sure if Jiang Xueyin’s home was in S City or elsewhere, but as Yurong’s cousin, it was normal for her to occasionally join such family gatherings.

Having returned home after work and arriving in the same car, it was already dinner time, and they directly joined in the prepared meals. Perhaps due to missing the week before or Jiang Xueyin’s presence, the atmosphere was more lively, everyone eating happily, even Yurong ate a bit more than usual.

After the meal, Zhang Tianyi called Li Yan and Zhang Yurong into his study. Whether through news or Yurong’s calls, he hadn’t fully grasped the matters face to face. The company was his heart’s work, his "child." Though he intended to train his daughter and decided not to intervene, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t steer or give advice on significant directions.

Zhang Yurong recounted the events of the past two weeks to her father, believing that his more extensive life wisdom and business experience would see more details and further reach.

Zhang Tianyi listened to her account, nodding frequently.

Once she finished, Zhang Tianyi offered his evaluation: "Well done!"

Zhang Yurong chuckled, "Dad, I’ve said so much, and you’re just placating us? From your perspective, or as a bystander, where might we still be lacking, and what areas should we pay attention to?"

Zhang Tianyi responded with hearty laughter, "Yurong, your dad is still the Chairman of the Board, still needs to attend meetings, and understand the company affairs. But the one managing the company now is you. This old man shouldn’t interfere too much, just support you."

Yurong felt a bit dizzy, what kind of talk was this. "Dad, you founded the company from scratch, and over the past thirty years, you’ve weathered countless storms. How could I compare to you? You’re not being bossy; instead, you’re providing guidance with your rich experience!"

She remembered how her father had always liked Li Yan, and now it seemed like a good time to have him say something helpful. She turned to look, but Li Yan seemed uninterested, listening drowsily, almost on the verge of yawning repeatedly. This left her feeling helpless, so she kicked him lightly.

Soon after, she saw Li Yan open his eyes wide, looking at her with a ’Are you finished?’ expression, making her want to pinch him a few times so he’d be a bit more cooperative. She grumbled internally: This guy, it seems like he’s getting less and less into acting...

What she didn’t know was that Li Yan used to put in a lot of effort and cooperate in acting. The two of them would show off their love together, but it could only fool her mother. The old fox Zhang Tianyi could still sense it. After the two had a conversation, where Zhang Tianyi revealed his relationship with Li Yan’s father, Li Tang, and why he was adamant about entrusting his daughter to him, Li Yan learned more, and his feelings toward Yurong changed. Since then, he no longer deliberately acted but genuinely treated them like family.

However, since that event was a secret conversation just between the father-in-law and son-in-law, Yurong had no idea. So from her perspective, Li Yan seemed to have changed recently, not being as passionate or attentive as before.

"What do you think?"

Li Yan shrugged, "I think... Dad not making any comments means he feels there’s no problem. Often, not making mistakes is an achievement in itself. Even if Dad took action himself, he couldn’t just crush Changhe Group with one move. Randomly wiping out a business of the same level; novels don’t even write it this way and even dramas that try to fool housewives wouldn’t dare to be this exaggerated. Right?"

Yurong was at a loss for words; asking him to help, he ended up complicating things.

The little actions of his daughter, Zhang Tianyi, naturally noticed. He laughed and said, "That’s right. Li Yan makes a good point. Managing an enterprise, you shouldn’t be too greedy for achievements; often, making no mistakes is an accomplishment. The friction with Changhe Group will be long-term, and the negative impact is temporary. They are equally large; otherwise, they wouldn’t be competitors. Neither of us nor they can swallow the other whole. As long as the decision-makers don’t make a major directional error, neither side will suffer greatly.

So, I listened to your arrangements, knew you were headed in the right direction, and that’s enough. At this time, thinking about depressing their stock price or attacking their shares are lose-lose strategies. In fact, when I just said ’not bad’, it was a compliment to Li Yan’s performance. He played a role at key moments a few times, and I doubt that usually, he might feel underutilized and not bother to participate."

Zhang Yurong humbly accepted the advice, but she was a bit exasperated about her father seeing nothing wrong with Li Yan.

Seeing Zhang Tianyi smiling, Li Yan let out a wry smile: "You flatter me."

...

They went out to eat some fruit, chatted for a while, and then Yang Yun tried to have them stay over again, but Yurong had been really busy these few days. Staying here would definitely make it impossible to work, so she had to return.

Initially, it wasn’t a big deal, but as they were leaving, Jiang Xueyin insisted on tagging along, expressing that she hadn’t been to Yurong’s new place yet and would definitely like to visit their new home!

On the drive back, watching Jiang Xueyin driving behind them, Yurong let out a wry smile: "What do we do? Xueyin is coming, we definitely can’t make her leave again tonight, right?"

Li Yan chuckled: "Are you worried that she wants to sleep with you, or are you afraid I’ll want to sleep with you?"

Yurong said helplessly, "Whether she sleeps with me or not, she’ll find out we... sleep in separate rooms. If it spreads to relatives..."

"How about this, I happen to have plans to drink with friends tonight, I’ll stay out late so I won’t come back. And you, just say I don’t like others going inside, and stay with her in the guest room. That way, she won’t be able to see us or the situation in the bedroom."

"You’re not coming back?" Zhang Yurong looked at him a bit surprised.

"..."

(Thanks to the brothers who rewarded me yesterday: Cavalry, Ayiguli, しょぅけん, dongmin8061, Me, the Most Unique, Indestructible Bookworm, zjun971210, Book Friend 090218020120174, Book Friend from Taiwan, Cp Pampas) (To be continued, to find out what happens next, please log in to www.qidian.com, for more Chapters, support the author, support legitimate reading!)