Chapter 214: Husband Teaches You How to Be a CEO

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Li Yan didn’t need to wait until he finished washing up to hear the sound of them opening the door and going out. In this regard, he wasn’t a professional; sometimes, women get along better with each other. At least... the two of them probably wouldn’t end up fighting, right?

After all that, he felt a bit worried, of course, he had no mood to continue sleeping.

Li Yan also wanted to lie in bed and watch TV, to see if he could catch some more shut-eye. But this idea was soon defeated by his craving for a cigarette.

Last night, finding his way to the mine in the dark took quite a bit of time, and returning was the same. On such a cold night, walking alone through the night was boring, with no danger, and no one closely monitoring him, of course, he smoked one cigarette after another. In the end, when he returned, his cigarettes were all smoked up, and he hadn’t brought many with him this time either.

When he arrived at the store, Li Yan found that everything here was indeed shipped over, and regular cigarettes were almost twice as expensive as outside!

In fact, he had bought a lot of things yesterday afternoon, but clothes and such—different stores, different times, different prices—were not as familiar to him as biscuits, chocolate, and instant noodles, which he hadn’t bought for a long, long time, so he wasn’t clear on the specific prices. Only cigarettes, which he frequently bought, hence he was sensitive to their prices.

But even if they were twice as expensive, when the craving hits, you still have to smoke. Anyway, it’s convenient; there’s no need to buy a whole carton. After paying, Li Yan immediately tore open the pack and took one out.

"Sorry, you can’t smoke here, could you please go outside?"

Hearing the store clerk’s words, Li Yan nodded slightly. He didn’t intend to smoke there, it’s just that the previous events left him a bit irritated, and without a cigarette, once he bought them, he naturally wanted to light one up.

Walking outside, he had just lit the cigarette when he felt someone following him out. The footsteps were vaguely familiar. He turned his head slightly to see Zhang Yurong!

She seemed to have just been in the store too, maybe blocked by the shelves, or maybe he was too focused on the cigarette prices to notice her.

"Buying something?" Li Yan greeted her and quickly looked around. At this moment, most tourists were out playing; there were other unfamiliar tourists nearby but luckily no company colleagues.

Zhang Yurong shrugged, "Just browsing around, Hai Fu and Wen Qianyi, I don’t know where they ran off to..."

Li Yan’s heart skipped a beat, contemplating whether her words were casual or with an intention. Could it be she came to the room to find me as well? Saw them and didn’t come in? Saw them leave?

It’s getting more complicated! Is it time to lay all cards on the table? He could manage things with Wen Qianyi, but including Hai Fu in the mix, he feared Yurong would never accept that.

When silence is suspicious, Li Yan had a good cover—he took a deep drag of his cigarette, and by the time he exhaled, he was calm. "Phew—can’t find them, didn’t join anyone else? I just got up."

"Others..." Zhang Yurong pursed her lips, "Maybe I’m too antisocial, haha, nobody wants to hang out with me."

By her expression, it didn’t seem like she discovered what happened with those two, otherwise, given her fiery nature, she wouldn’t be so relaxed. This revelation eased Li Yan and he also noticed Zhang Yurong’s behavior was vastly different from her usual CEO demeanor, resembling more of a self-deprecating lonely girl.

"Haha...you got it wrong, it’s not that they don’t want to hang out with you, they’re just too intimidated to!"

"Oh, why? Afraid I’ll cut their bonus?" Yurong joked.

"It’s not good to talk here, let’s go over there!"

"That observation deck?" Zhang Yurong glanced over, she had already been there yesterday.

It’s a rather high observation platform, though it can’t provide a bird’s-eye view of the whole island, it’s still nice for overlooking the resort area. Watching the scenery and sea from there was pleasant. But because it’s winter, going up there was pretty cold. So aside from new tourists taking a quick look, not many people go up. New arrivals only stay for a while before coming down.

"Yeah, our company folks probably all went up there yesterday, right? So no familiar faces today. Haha, even if others don’t hang out with you, your dear husband will!"

"...!"

The last sentence was quite warming to Zhang Yurong, after all, it showed someone still cared for her. Yet, "your dear husband" sounded so cheesy and sappy that it almost made her shudder.

She started walking, remarking, "If you keep using words like that, I definitely won’t want to hang out with you! Gives me goosebumps!"

"Haha!" Li Yan laughed, walking along with her, and then explained the previous issue, "Let’s talk about why everyone’s afraid of you. Because you hardly ever play, in the company, you’re synonymous with work, responsibility, and performance...which equals pressure! If you suddenly ask about a report or cooperation, wouldn’t they immediately scramble to report back? That’s a mood killer, right? Even if you say nothing, having you, this big shot, around while playing makes everyone nervous."

Zhang Yurong paused and then smiled, but there was a hint of regret and loneliness in her eyes.

She wished she could fit in and play with everyone, but she knew it was a luxury! For one, she lacked such experience and might find it hard to integrate, creating pressure. Also, as a young CEO, she had to maintain some distance from subordinates to hold authority. Being too familiar would erode that fear.

Li Yan, always observant, gauged her feelings, then softly said, "I understand your struggle. As a leader, you need to maintain authority. But also consider the approach, let your husband teach you how to be a CEO!"

"Hmm?" Yurong was amused by his serious tone, "What? You’ve been a manager long enough to teach me CEO tricks?"

"I’m no leader, but I learn from big leaders. The principles of leadership and strategy are universal."

Zhang Yurong hesitated, reflecting, she really hadn’t thought of that before.

"That’s what a leader should do! You rarely engage with grassroots employees, so their impressions of you are often hearsay or surface-level. At events like this, you should participate a little with the grassroots, don’t spend too much time, just briefly play and encourage fun. They’d be thrilled and your influence would spread with positive impact. They’d see the high-up, goddess-like Zhang CEO as approachable and amiable. But, with VPs, directors, managers, maintain distance,"

"What you’re saying..." Zhang Yurong slightly tilted her head, "actually makes some sense."

"Of course it makes sense. Presidents do the same. They might attend elementary school events, meet students, but keep a distance from cabinet members, governors—their method is just their own."

"But with Hai Fu, Wen Qianyi..."

"You can’t have no friends, right? Hai Fu is different from other senior staff, she was specially promoted by your dad; she’s grateful to him as a mentor, like your senior sister, surely the most loyal. You don’t have to worry about her slacking off due to closeness or being arrogant."

Zhang Yurong nodded in agreement, "True, sister Hai Fu is like my real sister, watching each other grow over the years."

Hearing Zhang Yurong mention growing with Hai Fu made Li Yan sweat a little, wasn’t this a bit melodramatic? Shouldn’t it be Hai Fu watching her grow up? On reflection, despite their age difference, with one starting low and slowly rising, another starting a company right out of college, they really did grow to their current heights together.

"Uh..." Li Yan remembered long ago, once hiding under Hai Fu’s desk when Zhang Yurong came into her office. Hearing their conversation, he mischievously asked, "Ever suspect Hai Fu has a crush on your dad?"

Zhang Yurong was startled; she did consider that when seeing Hai Fu over thirty without a boyfriend, but it had been clarified back then. She glared at Li Yan, "Don’t talk nonsense! Say that again, I’ll tell my dad!"

Li Yan chuckled sinisterly, said no more, of course not revealing he eavesdropped back then.

(Thanks for yesterday’s support: Yagami Light II, reader 16026772, Hidden Angel, Cp Pampas, Moo Zha, dongmin8061, Yose’s Sorrow, Deep Love in the Celestial River, No Name) (To be continued, for following parts, visit www.qidian.com, more Chapters, support the author, support legitimate reading!)