Chapter 43: Birds of a Feather Flock Together
Hearing the commotion, Uncle Guo moved swiftly from his own room, pulled open the door, and grabbed Little President Shou, who was just about to leave for a meeting. “Wait a minute, didn’t you say you wanted to rent an apartment?”
Shou Jiaxunâs face was as sour as if he had just learned his fiancĂ© was cheating on him. He coldly dropped a sentence to Uncle Guo: “You decide for me.” Then, he strode away with large steps.
Liang Bo hurriedly grabbed his laptop, which was still downloading the recording tool, and chased after him.
“Yunfeng Advertising,” where Liang Bo had applied and was now employed under Shou Jiaxun, was actually the advertising department of “Guoran Trading.” To the outside world, they were two separate companies, but in reality, their office management was combined.
The nominal big boss of “Guoran Trading” was Guoran, but the person who was actually too busy to let his feet touch the ground, handling both money-making and administration, was Shou Jiaxun.
Therefore, although Little President Shou had a beautiful, likable, and approachable face, his intimidating presence in the company far exceeded that of Uncle Guo.
The fact that everyone was a bit afraid of him meant his popularity wasn’t exactly great.
Before the company went public, no one could control his “one-man rule,” but if he continued down this path after listing, he might very well be kicked off the board of directors.
Yet, Shou Jiaxunâs emotional intelligence didnât seem to be the problem.
Liang Bo kept one eye on the computer screen and the other scanning the timer on his phone, cutting the progress bar on the charging recording pen every time the clock hit the mark. When the conversation density was particularly high, he had to make a cut every five minutes; otherwise, organizing the transcript later would be a nightmare.
Assistant Liang, clearly busy with his hands, was mentally lamenting something unrelated to the meeting: “Shou Jiaxun trusts and relies on Guoran too much. He probably hasn’t even realized this issue himself.”
For an ad agency, the PPT for a creative proposal was equivalent to a pilotâs plane, a sailorâs submarine, or the heavy artillery in an armyâs handsâit required repeated tempering and refining.
Even if Shou Jiaxun were pleasant and amiable, the pressure on his planning team wouldn’t be small.
And in todayâs creative brainstorming session, President Shou not only kept a stink face the entire time but also offered almost no positive feedback.
Or perhaps, looking at it from another angle, the proposals he didn’t comment on at all were the ones with good evaluations?
Liang Bo was nearly suffocating just taking the meeting minutes, so one could only imagine that the copywriters and creatives might be wanting to hang themselves on the spot… or band together to strangle their boss.
With nearly an hour left before lunch, President Shou predicted they wouldn’t finish the meeting, so he ordered Assistant Liang right then and there to order a meeting lunch.
Liang Bo bowed slightly with an apologetic smile, carefully asking everyone what they wanted to eat.
The reason he was walking on eggshells was that he had already seen several colleagues turning green in the faceâhard to tell if it was from holding in their bladder or holding back their rage at President Shou.
While Liang Bo was ordering food on his phone, his biological father sent him a message asking him to call back. He could only reply: “In a meeting.”
At twelve o’clock, his dad messaged again: Free yet?
Liang Bo replied: Wait a bit, still not done.
At 1:40 PM, Father Liang called directly. Liang Bo hung up and sent a follow-up text: Emergency?
His dad: I want to meet your boss.
Liang Bo replied: Not the right time yet.
When Liang Bo and Shou Jiaxun were on a business trip in North America, a similar conversation had already occurred between him and his dad.
So, the other workaholic was a bit “fired up” this time, texting back a demand: Are you working or selling your body?
Liang Bo struggled for a moment before replying to his dad: I want to pursue him. If it’s not an emergency, just wait a bit longer.
Fine, the workaholic on the other end finally compromised.
It wasn’t until after two in the afternoon that the “King of the Rat Race” President Shou finally wrapped up the meeting. Liang Bo hurriedly called his dad back to ask if something was wrong at home.
Father Liangâs tone was hesitant. “It’s not a huge matter, but your grandfather hasn’t been feeling well lately. Your second and third uncles suggested he go abroad for recuperation for a while.
I was thinking, maybe we should drop the matter with ‘Guoran’…
If your grandpa leaves now, and you return empty-handed after a while, I’m afraid there won’t even be a place for you to stand when you come back.”
“Thatâs not a huge matter?” Liang Bo furrowed his brows, lowering his voice. “I’ll go back tonight to see Grandpa. Maybe once he sees me, his mood will improve, and he won’t want to go anywhere.”
“Mmn, sigh…” Father Liang sighed. “Actually, over these years, I’ve made peace with a lot of things. You should just let nature take its course. The most important thing is not to follow your father’s old path.”
Assistant Liang fell silent for a moment, his expression tightening until it mirrored the stink face Shou Jiaxun had worn during the meeting. “Father’s matter was an accident. I will definitely walk the path he couldn’t finish.
Those people who just sit back and reap what they haven’t sownâwhat right do they have to delusionally think they can squeeze me out?”
“Stop talking about it,” Father Liang coughed into the phone. “Your grandfather still hasn’t made a will. If this drags on for a few more years, it will likely follow the statutory succession order.
Whether you accept it or not, you’ll have to accept that fact when the time comes.
Taotao, you’re still young. Keep a peaceful mindset. The most important thing is to live your own life well, do you understand?”
“Mmn, I know,” Assistant Liang said with a compromising tone, though his expression remained unchanged.
His dad probably knew he couldn’t persuade this stubborn donkey of a son immediately, so he sighed again. “So, what’s the plan? Should I tell your grandpa you’re coming home for dinner tonight? Can you confirm it? You won’t break your promise because of overtime again, right?”
“I won’t. Even if the sky falls tonight, I’ll go home first,” Assistant Liang swore an oath, then hung up and slowly strolled back to his workstation.
Late last night, Shou Jiaxun had teased Liang Bo, saying Liang Bo could find a familiar feeling in him. Liang Bo had denied it decisively at the time, but in fact, Shou Jiaxun wasn’t wrong at all.
Most people couldn’t adapt to Shou Jiaxun’s work rhythm. Even if they barely managed, the pressure would be immense.
But Liang Bo wouldn’t, because his whole family was like this.
When Assistant Liang was with President Shou, not only did he not feel pressured, but he actually felt very grounded, enjoyed it, and felt a sense of security.
Twenty years ago, when “Fanrong Group” was first founded and Liang Bo had just started forming memories, his grandfather was a workaholic who lived in the company server room.
His two fathers were the same; pulling all-nighters writing code in the office was a common occurrence.
There were even a few years when Liang Bo’s crib and toddler bed were placed right inside his two fathers’ office.
Liang Bo grew up playing in his dad’s and grandfather’s offices.
It was as if the company was their real home.
It wasn’t until Liang Bo’s Alpha father died from a sudden illness that his grandfather seemed to wake from a dream. He began to pay attention to remarrying and his two younger sons, seeking family warmth and developing a longing for pastoral life.
The old man, having white hair burying the black, suddenly realized the true meaning of life. There was technically nothing wrong with making such a choice.
But objectively, his “realization” caused psychological damage to the family of his eldest son.
The eldest son who had worked sleeplessly, risking his life to build the business with him, sacrificed himself for the rise of “Fanrong Group.” Did his death only serve to prove that his dedication was “not worth it”?
So now, some irreconcilable differences had emerged between Liang Bo and his grandfather.
Grandfather didn’t want to see his grandson follow the eldest son’s old path, hoping Liang Bo would be a bit more mediocre, a wealthy idler.
But every time he expressed this sentiment, Liang Bo felt his grandpa was negating and betraying his dad. This, in turn, made him grit his teeth in hatred toward his two “freeloading” uncles, feeling they had stolen everything that should have belonged to his father.
And in fact, they indeed “stole” it.
If Liang Guorui’s eldest son hadn’t died, “Fanrong Group” likely wouldn’t have had anything to do with the two younger sons that followed.
So in Liang Bo’s view, letting his two uncles be “wealthy idlers” was already them taking advantage of his dad. Now they actually wanted him to get out of “Fanrong”? What right did they have?
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