Chapter 2: A Dispensable Preface

A Dispensable Preface

In September 2011, on Mount Jiulong in Jixian, two young men in their twenties walked along a mountain trail. One had sword-like eyebrows and star-bright eyes, his high-bridged nose reinforcing his confident bearing. He looked relaxed, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, his face seemingly fixed in a perpetual office-director smile. The other man was visibly aggrieved, brows tightly furrowed, as if the injustice suffered by Dou E had befallen him personally.

The living Dou E said, "I'm not taking Old Pan's project. I came here to do technical work, not to be a paperhanger!"

"The company has to make money, doesn't it? You know perfectly well how much sales quota Old Xia carries every year. If we really did things your way, the board would have Old Xia out by the end of the quarter." The relaxed one soothed him. "If you sat in Old Xia's seat, you'd have to do the same."

"The ass decides the head?"

"That just means the thing under the ass is scarcer than the head. Brother, in a company like ours, idealism has no future."

"So from now on we compete in the market with products like these?"

"You know perfectly well who sits on the board. The product isn't what matters most."

"Then what matters most?"

The relaxed one paused briefly, his face still wearing that office-director smile. He glanced at the lawsuit of a face opposite him and said, "Politics."

The aggrieved man fell silent. His name was Liu Minyou, twenty-eight years old. He and the relaxed Chen Xin were university classmates. After graduation, Liu had gone on to graduate school, while Chen Xin had taken a job directly at a subsidiary of this monopoly enterprise. By 2009, when Liu Minyou finished his degree, Chen Xin had already switched from technical work to management and married the daughter of the largest board member. His wife's looks were several rungs below Chen Xin's own — Liu Minyou called it a political marriage. Chen Xin maneuvered with ease among the various chiefs and the board, had become general manager assistant and office director, maintained excellent relations up and down the hierarchy, and this year was in line for promotion to Assistant Regional Commander manager. He talked about "stressing politics" all day long.

Liu Minyou, on the other hand, came from a rural background. After graduate school, Chen Xin had helped him get into the current company, where he now served as project lead and was a key technical backbone. He still couldn't even afford a house. His girlfriend Yin Wanqiu's parents vehemently opposed their marriage because of it, and Yin Wanqiu pressed him to buy a house every few days. Lately he'd been utterly frazzled. In terms of career prospects, he knew himself that he couldn't compare with Chen Xin — perhaps because he didn't understand this so-called politics.

By now the two had rounded several bends on the mountain path and reached Huanghuayu, the highest peak of Mount Jiulong. Looking around, they saw mountains ringed them on all sides, ridge upon ridge of layered green, the last faint wisps of mist curling through the valleys — like a fairyland. Both men felt their hearts open wide, as if even the air had grown much fresher.

After gazing for a while, Liu Minyou found a tree trunk and sat down on his own, taking out his phone to check the news. Chen Xin, still smiling, sat down opposite him, opened his bag, and handed over a bottle of cola. "Brother, the company has a lot of problems. If you want to reform it, you first have to blend into it. Without power, all ideals are just empty talk. When you have time, you could read some biographies and history books — then you'll understand."

"You think I'm still worrying about company matters?"

"Oh? Then what is it? The big life decision?"

"Close enough. Yin Wanqiu's family wants me to buy a big apartment, 105 square meters. I'm still sixty thousand short just for the down payment. How about lending me some?"

"No problem. But you'll have to take that lousy project of Old Pan's."

Liu Minyou rolled his eyes. "You bastard, looting a burning house. Did he promise to help with your deputy GM promotion? My project team is not a bargaining chip for you leadership types."

Chen Xin's eyes swiveled. General Manager Xia, because of mistakes at a higher leadership level, was already certain to be replaced. Chen Xin had already decided to switch his allegiance to General Manager Pan. Once Pan became the next GM, he too would enter the ranks of Assistant Regional Commander managers. Of course he couldn't explain any of this to Liu Minyou right now.

"Heh heh, what looting? This is proceeding from the company's overall interests. Only when the company develops can individuals develop. Once I'm deputy GM, I can raise employee status and help you realize your technical ideals. How about it?"

Liu Minyou's brow furrowed again and again. Clearly he went through some mental struggle before agreeing. "Fine then. But when the time comes, you'd better remember what you said today."

Chen Xin clapped his hands. "Brother, you're a straightforward man. For the overtime pay, find your own receipts — I'll handle the processing. But I need the deliverables before the fifteenth of next month. Now let's head down the mountain."

As he spoke, Chen Xin looked up at the sky. The scene before him suddenly froze his standard-issue smile onto his skin. Liu Minyou followed Chen Xin's gaze. An enormous pyramid-shaped flying object had silently come to rest in the sky diagonally above them. Its gleaming, metallic body rotated slowly in the air. Beside it, a much smaller flying object of identical shape orbited the great pyramid. Chen Xin's mind went completely blank. He pointed at the sky. Before either of them could react, a white spiral of light appeared above the great pyramid, turning slowly. The area where the two stood was enveloped as well. Chen Xin suddenly felt as if time itself had vanished. An instant later, white light surrounded them on all sides, and both men lost consciousness.