Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat
Chapter 458 - 458 453 A Down-to-earth Guy (Three More)

Chapter 458: Chapter 453: A Down-to-earth Guy (Three More) Chapter 458: Chapter 453: A Down-to-earth Guy (Three More) What should I do?

How was he supposed to know what to do?

Manager Zhao was also furious inside, thinking, “You’re asking me what to do about a mess your stepson caused?”

“Call Jiang Yan for me, and I’ll talk to him.”

Manager Zhao had no choice but to take out his phone and dial Jiang Yan’s number, but after the call connected, a mechanical female voice responded, “Hello! The user you are trying to reach is currently unavailable…..”

“The call isn’t going through; the signal might be poor on his end.”

Manager Zhao said, hanging up and redialing, but five attempts all yielded the same “unavailable” automated message.

Manager Zhao’s eyes darted around, as if he’d realized something, but he still wore a look of distress and told President Zhuang, “I can’t get through; I called him before coming, and he said he was going to the library to read. The signal is probably bad there.”

“Really?”

President Zhuang was somewhat skeptical; Jiang Yan usually spent the entire day at the factory every Saturday, not returning until seven or eight in the evening.

Of course, he knew that with things having escalated to this point, it was unrealistic to expect him to come over as before. But he hadn’t anticipated that these two lads would literally tear their faces off as they said they would, not caring about face at all and directly stationing two legal officers in their factory.

President Zhuang was starting to regret it now. He felt he had underestimated these two young men, who not only conducted their affairs flawlessly but had also set a trap for him. And when it came to falling out, they truly spared no feelings.

He felt a headache coming on.

He waved his hand, signaling Manager Zhao to leave, and then asked his secretary to call for He Gong.

“He Gong, didn’t you tell me before that Jiang Yan is a very down-to-earth young man?”

“Yes,” He Gong nodded affirmatively, “Xiaojiang has never been sneaky or slippery at work. He always completes plans on schedule and is very punctual.”

“Punctual?” President Zhuang caught the keyword in He Gong’s statement, “Does he hate people who are not punctual?”

“Of course.”

He Gong understood what President Zhuang meant by asking this, but he was not as calculating as the president and couldn’t think so far ahead, so he was puzzled about why the factory would abruptly cancel the ‘Feixue’ order on its own.

“President Zhuang, I can understand wanting to cultivate a successor and wanting to introduce advanced technology and management, but what I don’t understand is this: Does so-called reform and innovation mean going back on your word? Orders scheduled for the first half of the year are just canceled out of the blue. Isn’t that a bit childish?”

Previously, to establish Zhuang Shengkai’s authority, not only was he given the position of deputy general manager, but President Zhuang himself took sick leave quite readily and went to a sanitarium with his wife. Therefore, President Zhuang had only returned recently.

However, just because he was away didn’t mean he was unaware of what Zhuang Shengkai had done.

“He Gong, Shengkai has studied abroad for many years and is full of ambition. I have to give him the opportunity to try. We’ve been partners for a long time, and you’ve watched him grow up. Out of respect for me, can’t you just help him out?”

Help?

How should I help?

He Gong’s brows furrowed tightly as he remembered the words Jiang Yan had said to him last night. He asked President Zhuang, “Do you mean the factory will be handed over to him in the future?”

“After all, I’m already in my sixties. How many more years can I continue to work? Moreover, the constant updates and upgrades in electronic products are truly dazzling to me. The most important thing is, some of our domestic products really can’t measure up to foreign ones. Old He, don’t be so set in your ways, talk more with Shengkai. Maybe that will open your eyes and change your perspective all at once.”

He Gong looked at President Zhuang without saying a word, but he already had a clear idea in his mind.

Seeing this, President Zhuang thought He Gong had taken his advice and smiled, “I know you and Jiang Yan get along very well. To be honest, I really like the lad, and if possible, I truly want to keep him. But I also know that Xiaojing would definitely mind, so we shouldn’t be engaging in such behavior of stealing someone else’s corner. But about the initial production of HI keyboards and mice, could you please see if there’s a way to have Jiang Yan sign the authorization contract?

If he doesn’t sign, we can’t sell these things; it’s a quantity of several tens of thousands, amounting to no small sum.”

He Gong shook his head, “President Zhuang, it’s not that I don’t want to help you, but that I can’t. Just like in the beginning when Young Master Zhuang stopped the ‘Feixue’ orders, I advised him too, but he didn’t listen. Conversely, I don’t have the face to approach Xiaojiang.”

President Zhuang wasn’t angry upon hearing this, after all, the two had been working together for many years and wouldn’t hold a grudge against He Gong over such a matter. And he actually understood in his heart that He Gong was dissatisfied with Zhuang Shengkai.

But he couldn’t keep persuading him, he could only take things one step at a time, hoping that as they work together longer and gain a better understanding of each other, things might improve.

At the same time, he was still pondering that the key issue now lay with Jing Junyang; it was obvious that Jiang Yan listened to him, so he had to find a chance to smooth things over with Jing Junyang.

When that kid made a ruthless move, it truly was beyond his imagination.

…

The ripples from the electronic factory didn’t reach Jing Junyang and Jiang Yan, mainly because the two couldn’t be bothered to squabble with them anymore and had handed it over to the legal affairs and Chen Huan to settle.

What the two needed to do most now was to find a factory.

Having connections makes everything easier, and Jing Junyang’s uncle, through a friend in the judiciary, found a bicycle factory being auctioned off for him. It was large and spacious, most importantly well-located, only six kilometers away from Beijing University.

Jing Junyang was not short of money. He bought it immediately and then planned renovations and recruitment.

The two were extremely busy and had no time to spare for the electronic factory. By the end of September, once that batch of orders was completed and the legal affairs along with Chen Huan had sorted the tail-end issues with ‘Feixue’ and the electronic factory, they cut ties with the electronic factory completely and had no further contact.

In the meantime, President Zhuang called Jing Junyang countless times, inviting him for tea and meals, all of which were declined on the pretext that he was too busy.

Jiang Yan’s excuses were much more varied than his: aside from speaking seriously with He Gong, whenever someone else sought him out, he was either in class, taking exams, or accompanying his girlfriend to buy clothes, watch movies, wash dates… an endless variety of reasons.

Zhuang Shengkai also called them a few times, but they never picked up.

By the end of October, the ‘Feixue’ electronics factory had completed its renovation, and a large advertising sign was also hung at the entrance.

By mid-November, the necessary equipment had arrived one after another. Jiang Yan called He Gong, openly and formally inviting him to ‘Feixue’ to be the director of engineering and research and development. He Gong agreed and even brought ten people with him when he came.

He had no choice but to agree. Ever since Zhuang Shengkai returned, his new research and development projects were stopped one after another. Any improvement plans for old products were also rejected by him, as he was single-mindedly focused on having him work on the products of the overseas orders he had taken on.

He Gong looked at them himself, but he didn’t feel their function or style was more advanced than ‘Feixue’s. Only the English logo on them seemed more stylish than the Chinese ones, but of course, that was what Zhuang Shengkai had said—he didn’t think so.

Processing products for others and eventually having to affix their logos on them might bring plenty of orders and many exports, but that wasn’t what He Gong wanted…