Financial Workplace Survival Guide – CH 098

Chapter 98 ☆, Are You Willing To Make A Deal With Me?

Xin Xin received another death threat.

Wang Zhuo had vanished without a trace, and she had countless doubts about whether she had been lured into an unnecessary trap. Was this person she had once trusted so much the one who betrayed her?

But now, she didn’t care anymore.

It was just a few threatening text messages; just delete them. Besides, if they had the ability to actually hurt her, why would they threaten her instead of harming her directly?

The truth would eventually come to light.

Zheng Zaochuan became unusually anxious and fearful, and every day he seemed to be possessed by Tang Sanzang, urging Xin Xin to take a vacation.

Xin Xin remained calm and accepted Zheng Zaochuan’s cautious and preferential treatment, which she even somewhat enjoyed.

In Xin Xin’s view, Zheng Zaochuan used to be indifferent to everything, but subtly, he had truly changed. For example, he would never have shown his helplessness or anxiety before.

However, his worries were now clearly evident.

“I really can’t take a long leave of absence. I’m not the company boss. Besides, Su Chengjie’s matter has been going on for so long. What if this time it has nothing to do with him at all? I can’t run away from this.”

Zheng Zaochuan didn’t care about any of that. He only knew that if he left this place of trouble, Xin Xin would be temporarily safe. Besides, he didn’t understand Xin Xin at all.

She knew perfectly well that the company wouldn’t go bankrupt without her, but she still insisted on going to work.

It was as if her life’s mission was to become a work machine.

When Xin Xin first started working, the economy was at its peak, and the capital market was booming. At that time, almost no one wanted to take a vacation; everyone was dreaming of buying a car in three years and a house in five.

Now, more than a decade later, she had become accustomed to the endless busyness and struggle. She sadly realized that the struggle, far from discouraging her, had instead fueled her fighting spirit.

Zheng Zaochuan asked her, “What will I do if something happens to you?”

Xin Xin smiled and said, “You will find someone else.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a tear glistened in Zheng Zaochuan’s smiling eyes.

Xin Xin was startled. “I was just kidding.”

Zheng Zaochuan’s expression remained unchanged, a hint of bitterness mixed with seriousness. “Xin Xin, perhaps you don’t understand. You’re the person I’ve lost and regained countless times in my years of struggling against my selfish nature. I don’t even dare to listen to jokes like this anymore.”

Xin Xin rested her head on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll be good and go home on time. You can take me home every day.”

Zheng Zaochuan paused for a moment, then said, “Zhao Xi called me.”

Xin Xin jumped up in surprise. “What’s he doing?”

“He asked me to persuade you to leave Jiangcheng.”

Xin Xin was taken aback. “Why didn’t you threaten me?”

Just like in the past, he resorted to coercion, bribery, and forceful obstruction. This wasn’t an uncommon tactic for Zheng Zaochuan.

Zheng Zaochuan thought for a moment and said, “No, because you don’t want pampering and protection; you want respect.”

Even though she had been moved countless times by Zheng Zaochuan’s words, this time was enough for Xin Xin to remember for a lifetime. Yes, Zheng Zaochuan had spoken of what she had been searching for in relationships all her life.

Respect.

Love could happen in many situations: the boundless love of parents for their children and the tolerant love of a boyfriend for his girlfriend.

However, respect wasn’t only difficult to find in relationships between men and women but also difficult to find in parent-child relationships.

Xin Xin felt lucky.

“Once I finish these projects, I will take my regular vacation.”

Zheng Zaochuan said in a serious tone, “I really mean it; it isn’t a strategy.”

Zhao Xi was also worried about Xin Xin, and his temper was gradually worsening.

Things were getting worse; he complained all the time, saying things like, “Your boyfriend doesn’t believe me and can’t control you at all.”

Xin Xin ate heartily and casually complained about Zhao Xi, “No wonder you got divorced. All you think about is controlling your wife. Who can stand you?”

Zhao Xi was both amused and exasperated. “You’ve been ungrateful for my kindness. You’re getting bolder and bolder. I’m still your boss.”

Xin Xin made a face at him. “You better treat me well; who knows if I will become your boss in the future?”

Fortunately, everything had been peaceful during this period, and even the death threats that appeared from time to time in the past few days had subsided.

Xin Xin was willing to believe it was a feint.

But Zheng Zaochuan was worried that this was the calm before the storm, since the enemy was in the shadows while Xin Xin was in the open.

Unexpectedly, during Xin Xin’s last workweek before her planned vacation, the enemy suddenly emerged from the shadows and revealed their hand.

In Xin Xin’s memory, every time Su Chengjie saw her, he gave her a very strong sense of oppression, like a villain in a suspense movie.

But this time, his image completely overturned Xin Xin’s perception of him.

During lunch break, as soon as Xin Xin stepped out of her office, a man stood up from the sofa in the reception room.

A head of gray hair came into Xin Xin’s view.

At first, Xin Xin didn’t recognize the well-dressed man who looked tired. But soon, he blocked her path and extended his hand, saying, “Miss Xin, it’s been a long time.”

In a flash, Xin Xin thought of him, but just like last time, she didn’t reach out.

She didn’t know if he used to dye his hair and hadn’t touched it up, or if he really encountered a difficult situation that caused his hair to turn white overnight.

The former arrogance had vanished from his shrewd face, replaced by intense anxiety that seeped through every detail.

“I want to talk to you.”

Xin Xin said coldly, “Mr. Su, we are complete strangers. I don’t know what we can talk about.”

Su Chengjie said, “Miss Xin knows that we should speak frankly. If you give me the information you had in the past, I can return Hanhai to Zheng Zaochuan.”

This deal took Xin Xin by surprise. She never imagined that the information she had collected would be so valuable. Su Chengjie had gone so far as to kidnap her and commit a criminal offense to obtain Hanhai. But now, he was willing to return Hanhai for the information she had collected, information that had no connection to him whatsoever.

This showed that the value of these materials was far greater than what Xin Xin discovered.

Xin Xin hesitated, but all the documents in her hands had already been taken away by Wang Zhuo. Although she still had some backup electronic documents.

Faced with enormous profits and temptations, Xin Xin inevitably wavered.

Su Chengjie smiled slightly. “Miss Xin, Zheng Zaochuan gave Hanhai to me without hesitation back then. You were the manager in charge of Hanhai’s financing project at the beginning, so you know better than anyone how much effort Zheng Zaochuan put into this company.”

Old fox.

Xin Xin hesitated for a moment; Su Chengjie was clearly pressuring her. Almost instantly, she was ready to agree.

But her long-standing negotiation experience made her instinctively retort, “Mr. Su, I find it strange. If you’ve already reached the point where you need to reveal your hand to me, why don’t I wait? Either you’re already at your wit’s end, and if something happens to you, Zheng Zaochuan will naturally find a way to take back Hanhai. If nothing happens to you, this isn’t your hand at all; you’re just trying to trick me.”

Su Chengjie was caught off guard. He was most proud of his ability to judge people, so he concluded that Xin Xin would definitely compromise for Zheng Zaochuan.

It was true that Zheng Zaochuan sold Hanhai for Xin Xin, but he said it at this critical juncture, gambling with Xin Xin’s feelings.

When you were in trouble, he was the first person to give up his most precious possession for you.

If you couldn’t, did it mean you didn’t love him very much?

Couples deeply in love were prone to acting impulsively due to irrational emotions. Moreover, Xin Xin’s actions against him were also because of Hanhai.

Su Chengjie visibly panicked. “What exactly do you want? You’re only after Hanhai. I will give it back to him.”

Xin Xin lowered her head, countless emotions passing through her heart, ultimately settling on a light and airy story.

That story was about malicious stock price manipulation and about the Fengchun Group’s acquisition of a food factory, which ultimately led to the suicide of a female worker.

This story, steeped in history and recounted by Wang Zhuo, who was over fifty, carried a high degree of credibility and impact. It wasn’t until today, when the story was being recounted, that Xin Xin realized how much she cared about its veracity.

“Mr. Su, can you tell me if this story’s familiar to you?”

Su Chengjie listened to the story expressionlessly, then suddenly laughed, a pure malice emanating from his face.

“I see, I see. What a great and magnanimous mind.” He laughed and clapped, then his tone suddenly became urgent. “Miss Xin, you studied economics for a few years in school, and now that you’ve graduated, you think you can dictate everything, right? You think you’re so great, right?”

Su Chengjie was a cunning person, but at least he was a hypocrite. Now that he had taken off his clothes, his true colors as a street thug were immediately apparent.

“Do you know what the situation was like back then? The capital market was already a mess, and then the state-owned enterprise reform happened, and countless small factories went bankrupt during the transformation. Do you think I, Su Chengjie, am some kind of villain? Without private entrepreneurs like us, could China’s capital market have developed to where it is today? When they were saving the economy, they greeted us with smiles. When they didn’t need us anymore, they found an excuse to get rid of us.”

Xin Xin was frightened by the aggressive glint in his eyes. “Changes in the environment aren’t an excuse. People can’t treat human life as worthless.”

Su Chengjie even spat on the ground, disregarding his image, “Treating human life like dirt? How many people have lost their jobs? How many people have gone bankrupt and started over? These people died, and you blame the company? Blame the entrepreneur? Miss Xin, I accept that you investigated me for your lover’s sake; the victor’s always right. But you stand on your moral high ground to criticize me, trying to make me believe I’m wrong—that’s impossible. Don’t you, Xin Xin, have any profit-seeking behavior? Aren’t you striving for commissions? I’m an entrepreneur; I make profits—that’s my job.”

This was the first time that capitalists of Xin Xin’s stature had confronted each other.

Zheng Zaochuan had reminded her countless times that Su Chengjie was a ruthless person through and through, unlike those academics who made their fortunes by riding the wave of high technology.

Those who had lived through the bloodshed of the knife believed that capital was always right.

Xin Xin felt suffocated, but her remaining rationality told her that this person was sophistry.

“If you think you’ve done nothing wrong, why are you even standing in front of me? If you haven’t broken any rules, why are you worried about the information I have?”

Su Chengjie felt as if he had been doused with cold water, his fervent expression turning into a deathly silence.

“I understand; you don’t want to make a deal with me. Is that it?”

Xin Xin neither confirmed nor denied it, saying, “I will think about it.”

Su Chengjie chuckled twice, nodded, and said, “Alright, alright, you can consider it. Have you ever wondered where the person who told you this story is now?”