Chapter 20: Wounding Qiao Jie

After I finished speaking, Sun Dajun remained silent.

He suddenly turned sharply and walked out of the ward.

Qiao Jie hurriedly grabbed Dajun's clothing,

"Dajun, my son, you can't do this; your father is right. Admit your mistake to your dad; if you want to get an official post you must heed your father's words."

Sun Dajun shook off Qiao Jie's hand and walked away without looking back.

Only Qiao Jie remained before me, sobbing as she said, "Yan Sheng, no, Er Hai."

All the countless mistakes are my fault; please don't try to argue with the child.

He's still young; I have apologized to you on the child's behalf. I beg you not to dismiss him—if you fire him, what can he do? That would ruin him.

Hearing Qiao Jie's plea, my heart became very troubled.

This Sun Dajun has a temper as explosive as his grandmother Da Leizi's.

His grandmother Da Leizi has a fiery temper, but acts with restraint; her words in North Mountain Village carry absolute authority.

This guy inherited only Da Leizi's temper, not her intelligence.

Seeing the crying Qiao Jie, I could only wave my hand and say, "Alright, I understand. You may go; I'm tired."

I'm truly exhausted; I gave an interview this morning, met Xixi, and spent the entire afternoon in meetings with Xiao Hua and others.

I wanted some peace tonight, but she and Dajun showed up again.

This constant bickering left me mentally weary.

Qiao Jie hurriedly came to my side,

"Er Hai, let me rub your shoulders. Dajun is short‑tempered, but after all he's the son you raised. If you don't need him, who will you use? Xiao Hua has already suggested it; just promote him. In the future, Dajun will definitely take care of your old age and see you off."

When I heard Qiao Jie bring this up again, and Xiao Hua too, my anger flared once more,

I shouted at Qiao Jie, "I'm not dead yet; what 'old‑age care and see‑off' are you talking about? Are you just hoping I die."

As soon as I said that, Qiao Jie started crying again.

"Er Hai, I didn't mean that. After all these years, Er Hai, considering what we have been through, please don't make things harder for Dajun any longer."

"In the past, you had the nerve to bring it up. Hmph, you forgot about Li Jiayou's matter; oh, and Dong Shu as well," I said deliberately to Qiao Jie.

Hearing me say that, Qiao Jie's face froze for a moment,

then she looked at me,

blankly saying, "Er Hai, you still haven't forgotten those things. After you speak to me like that, how can I even have the face to live?"

I suddenly felt my words had been too harsh.

Indeed, we're both of advanced age; why keep exposing each other's flaws?

After finishing, Qiao Jie covered her face, cried, and walked away.

Watching Qiao Jie's sorrowful silhouette, I wanted to chase her, to apologize, but the pain in my body stopped me.

I lay helplessly on the bed, my mind recalling the times I spent with Qiao Jie,

Qiao Jie is a kind woman,

At that time I was desperate in Beishan, married into Qiao Jie's family; Dajun had just learned to walk then, and over the span of more than twenty years, time flew by.

Our first date was at Hama Spring in Beishan,

Qiao Jie knew I was ill and saw my despondent demeanor.

Qiao Jie tried so hard to cure my illness, but to no avail.

I left Beishan to work at Niushiling; during a winter there, while I was watching a construction site, Qiao Jie crossed mountains to see me—I'll never forget her, dressed in snow.

My dear, this was a phrase we often used when we were happy together.

I once swore to spend a whole life with Qiao Jie.

But that oath was utterly useless; everything turned to fleeting smoke.

I didn't share a lifetime with Qiao Jie,

but chose to leave her.

Qiao Jie raised Dajun and Zhengzheng at Niushiling.

Until I brought them to the county town.

All I can give Qiao Jie is money; I can give nothing else.

Seeing Qiao Jie cry as she left today, I felt a pang of heartache.

Over the years I've owed Qiao Jie far too much.

Moreover, my words just now hurt her deeply.

How could I utter such reckless words?

In Qiao Jie's world, aside from Dajun, there's only me left.

The love Qiao Jie gave me sometimes surpasses that of ordinary spouses.

If I hurt her again, she would suffer immensely.

I fell into deep self‑reproach.

It seems I must promote Dajun, this Vice President.

Only then can I ease my inner pain and repay the love Qiao Jie once gave me.

Qiao Jie now devotes all her thoughts to Dajun; she hopes Dajun can become a leader in the Group Company.

She also hopes I can give Dajun a second chance, but my differences with Dajun aren't easy to explain to her.

First promote Dajun, then we can soothe Qiao Jie's heart.

Just as I finished thinking that, my phone rang.

I saw it was a call from Xiao Feng.

Xiao Feng asked me over the phone: "Our Chairman Zhao, when will he return to Zaocheng? He's back, but he didn't even tell me."

I said: "Xiao Feng, you don't know, I'm busy as a donkey now, the company has run into big trouble."

Xiao Feng said: "Is it about unpaid wages? Ah, you just won't listen to me, insisting on taking such big steps. The cash flow must have run into trouble."

Before I developed the three new projects in Xin Cheng, Xiao Feng had specially come to talk to me.

Her meaning was that I should stay steady and not rush ahead recklessly.

Actually, those three new projects were mainly what Xiao Hua really wanted to develop.

He described to me how wonderful the future would be, how much money a single project could easily make.

I believed Xiao Hua, and took Xiao Feng's advice as wind in the ears.

I could only smile bitterly: "Xiao Feng sister, ah, I regret it. Now the Group Company is fraught with troubles; I can't explain it in a sentence or two. When will you come to the ward? I want to show you the company's financial statements."

You also know, I'm not good at finance; the company's finances have always been handled by Zhou Wei.

After this car accident, Zhou Wei has remained unconscious,

Then the company blew up.

It owes over 100 million in workers' wages, and still has 420 million in loans to repay.

I looked at the financial statements sent by the company's Accountant Xiao, but I couldn't make heads or tails of them.

I always thought the company had money; how did the profits from these years suddenly disappear?"

Xiao Feng said: "Zhou Wei still hasn't recovered; ah, I truly feel sorry for Zhou Wei.

I and Zhou Wei have said before, that Xiao Feng is not very reliable.

You two are just too kind.

Xiao Feng is actually a person of Xiao Hua's couple.

How would he listen to you?

Moreover, your company's accounts are really a mess. Zhou Wei once showed me them,

signing for reimbursements, financial expenditures—you've let too much slide.

I don't know what you've been busy with.

All day you're either going to award ceremonies or running around collecting prizes.

These company issues are just trouble. Enough, I won't bother you with this any further.

Wait until I return from Hainan, then we'll talk.

I said: "You went to Hainan? When did you go?"

Xiao Feng said: "It's been a week. Lao Ye has retired; he wants to build a hotel in Hainan, and I came over to have a look."

"Ye Ge has retired." I asked.

"Yeah, it's time; he should retire." Xiao Feng said.

"Back then, without Ye Ge's help, I couldn't have gotten ahead at Qi He Kuang. Ah, time really flies. Ye Ge has retired. If I were healthy, I'd definitely find Ye Ge for a drink and wish him a happy retirement." I said.

Xiao Feng said: "What's there to celebrate about retirement? It's just being old and useless. Jianqiang, I'll talk about the company's materials when I get back. Don't get worked up.

"If Zhou Wei's side really can't be fixed, we should have foreign experts take a look."