Chapter 47

He spun his ID badge deftly around his fingers, chuckling and shaking his head. "You don't need to put me on a pedestal. I know exactly what I'm capable of. Before I came to the company, my brother told me to work with the Archives Department and organize the project files from the past ten years. That way, I can familiarize myself with the company's business development and operating procedures without holding up your work."

He openly used the brothers' joke from that morning to brush Zhou Fan off.

Zhou Fan frowned. That was not what the boss had told him yesterday. Li Rongyu had specifically instructed him to personally supervise Li Rongxiu's internship. Whenever there was a meeting or business negotiation, he was to bring Li Rongxiu along to listen in. Zhou Fan understood that Li Rongyu wanted to help Li Rongxiu become familiar with the company's management and operations as quickly as possible. Even just now, the boss had told him to take Li Rongxiu to intern with the Secretarial Department. If that was the case, how could the boss issue two completely contradictory orders in the span of a single day?

Though he weighed the matter inwardly, Zhou Fan showed no suspicion on his face. He smiled at Li Rongxiu. "The boss has already given instructions regarding your internship. I hope we can work together happily from now on."

It was a tactful yet firm rejection of Li Rongxiu's suggestion.

Li Rongxiu smiled and agreed, though he was growing a little impatient inside. He had always disliked this sort of small talk and politeness with overly obvious motives. Fortunately, Zhou Fan knew a little about Li Rongxiu's temperament as well. After exchanging a few courteous words, he shifted the conversation to work.

Just as they were speaking, a sudden commotion arose from the shared office area outside. Zhou Fan's expression immediately darkened. He pulled open the office door, walked into the passage between the cubicles and the supervisor's office, and shouted, "What are you making such a fuss about?"

Chapter 47

In the Secretarial Department's shared office area, several employees had gathered around a computer in one of the cubicles. A young man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight walked over with a frown. He wore a white CK shirt with the sleeves neatly rolled up three times, making him look both refined and capable. His expression was grave. Holding a laptop, he turned the screen toward Zhou Fan and said, "This news was just posted online. The Shidi Expressway Bridge in T Country, which was completed a year and seven months ago, has suffered varying degrees of water damage and landslides after days of heavy rain. Fortunately, the local authorities had completely sealed off that section of the road to hoist steel box girders, so there were no casualties. However, both the T Country government and the media believe the collapse occurred because the construction quality was substandard..."

Zhou Fan's face grew darker still. He took the laptop and quickly scanned the information online before asking, "I remember this expressway was constructed jointly by Li Meihua and Shen Hongsheng, wasn't it?"

"That's right. The project was originally completed jointly by our two companies. The stretch of road where the problem occurred happened to be Hongsheng's section. But the issue is that Hongsheng's infrastructure projects in T Country have all been acquired by Meihua. Now that something like this has happened, the T Country government and outside media won't care who was right or wrong. They'll only care who is responsible... We're worried that someone might exploit this news and damage Meihua Infrastructure's long-standing image and reputation in T Country."

It could even affect the rest of Li Meihua's infrastructure projects in T Country.

Li Rongxiu followed behind Zhou Fan, remaining silent as he watched coldly. As someone reborn with memories of two lifetimes, Li Rongxiu had paid unusually close attention to every move made by the Shen family in his previous life because of Shen Manyao. Therefore, he was certain that in his previous life, the Shidi Expressway Bridge in T Country had never suffered a collapse. Even in the year he was reborn, that road had remained solid and sturdy. If that was the case...

Li Rongxiu blinked and said to Zhou Fan, "No matter what, we should tell my brother first."

Zhou Fan nodded and immediately took the elevator straight to the top floor with the laptop.

Inside the executive president's office, Li Rongyu had already learned of the news online. His expression was not very good either. Still, he immediately called the Public Relations Department and instructed them to begin crisis management—only to be stopped by Li Rongxiu.

With no one else present besides Zhou Fan, Li Rongxiu simply got straight to the point. "Big Brother, do you think someone could be behind this?"

"You mean..." Li Rongyu asked thoughtfully. "You suspect the Shen family?"

"The Shen family has always been utterly ruthless. They would even sell out their own family for profit. And Shen Yingbo has been in business for so many years—he has never been one to take a loss. Back then, being forced by circumstances to hand over the T Country infrastructure projects entirely to Meihua was already a helpless move. I wouldn't find it strange at all if they did something that harmed others without benefiting themselves." Li Rongxiu sneered.

"But we have no evidence. We can't make reckless claims based solely on suspicion," Li Rongyu said with a deep frown.

Zhou Fan echoed him from the side. "Exactly. We have no evidence. Besides, if the Shen family truly wanted to use this incident to frame Meihua, why would they sabotage their own construction project instead of damaging a section built by Meihua? That wouldn't do them any good either."

"Probably because of the construction blueprints. I remember Dad once saying that Meihua's confidentiality measures were excellent. For large infrastructure projects like this, in order to prevent commercial secrets and core technologies from being leaked, no one besides Meihua—not even the client—has a truly complete set of blueprints. If the Shen family wanted to cause damage without making too much of a scene, they could only work from the construction structure itself. Besides, the Shen family's infrastructure projects have already been acquired by Meihua. They no longer have a market in T Country, so even if their image takes a slight hit, it won't affect their actual interests. Meihua, on the other hand, acquired Hongsheng in full and has already split up and integrated Hongsheng. If this goes badly, we may get dragged down by this incident."

After hearing Li Rongxiu's analysis, Zhou Fan said with some disagreement, "But Young Master Xiu, your argument is entirely based on the assumption that they are guilty. Isn't that a little too extreme?"

If they investigated and handled public relations according to Li Rongxiu's theory, it would be fine if the truth really matched their suspicions. But if there were even the slightest error, Li Meihua would become a laughingstock.

Li Rongxiu froze at those words. He understood Zhou Fan's meaning. These words were not directed at him, but at the matter itself. Yet Li Rongxiu had no way to use his experiences from his previous life as proof.

"Evidence is uncovered through investigation. There's no wall that can keep out the wind forever. If the Shen family did it, they'll definitely have left traces behind." Li Rongxiu slowed his speech this time. Looking at Li Rongyu meaningfully, he added, "I'm only worried that they have someone on the inside in T Country. They may have already destroyed the evidence. If they really did that, ordinary people would never be able to find proof of their sabotage."

Li Rongyu's heart stirred at this. He immediately thought of the website Shen Yujun had given Li Rongxiu. But Zhou Fan was still present, and Li Rongyu did not want unrelated people to know about Li Rongxiu's connection with Shen Yujun. He nodded and said, "No matter what, we need professionals to investigate first. We can't jump to conclusions based solely on the T Country government and media's side of the story. But the Public Relations Department still needs to handle the crisis. We have to make Hongsheng's relationship with Meihua clear. Even if the final investigation turns out to be unfavorable to Meihua, we can't take the blame for the Shen family."

Zhou Fan understood that Li Rongyu had drawn his line. Since Li Meihua had fully acquired Hongsheng's shares and legally assumed Hongsheng's debt obligations, even if they ultimately had to provide moral compensation because of the collapse, Li Meihua would never accept responsibility. Li Meihua's reputation absolutely could not be damaged.

Li Rongxiu's first meeting after his rebirth ended quickly and briefly. Since it was work hours and Li Rongyu was busy with official matters, he only chatted with Li Rongxiu for a few moments, asking whether he was adapting to his first day at work. After receiving an affirmative answer, he let Li Rongxiu leave.

They walked out of the executive president's office one after the other. While waiting for the elevator, Zhou Fan extended his right hand to Li Rongxiu and smiled. "First, I need to apologize to you, Young Master Xiu. Although you haven't had formal work experience before, a tiger father does not raise a dog son. I shouldn't have doubted your work ability because of your past."

No matter what, it was already impressive for a sixteen-year-old boy to possess such keen business instincts and clear logic. As for Li Rongxiu's extremity, from another perspective, it could also be called taking an unconventional approach. At the very least, it gave them another direction from which to consider the problem.

But more importantly, Zhou Fan had seen from Li Rongyu's attitude just how much he cared about Li Rongxiu. A man called a robotic workaholic, a man who hated doing anything unrelated to work during working hours, a man who became so absorbed in work that he had no time for anything else—yet even amid his busy schedule, he still remembered to ask whether his younger brother was adapting well on his first day at the company...

Zhou Fan had to admit that Li Rongyu's concern for Li Rongxiu was genuine. He clearly hoped his younger brother would achieve great things and intended to teach him how to stand on his own, rather than offering the superficial affection so common among wealthy families, where people acted close until their interests clashed and they turned their backs on one another.

The reason Zhou Fan had taken the initiative to show goodwill toward Li Rongxiu was also because he had noticed that Li Rongxiu had already sensed his disdain. He was somewhat worried that Li Rongxiu might complain about him to Li Rongyu behind his back. Although he had great faith in his boss's rationality, he had no desire to test his boss's brother-con complex.

Looking at the outstretched hand before him, which represented friendship or perhaps something else, Li Rongxiu smiled faintly and reached out to shake it. "Secretary Zhou, just call me Rongxiu. It doesn't seem quite right to call me Young Master Xiu at the company."

He did not mention the slight unpleasantness from earlier again.

Seeing this, Zhou Fan also let out a breath of relief and said with a smile, "Then you can call me Vincent."

Li Rongxiu nodded, only to hear Zhou Fan continue, "The boss has an engagement at noon, so he probably won't be able to have lunch with you, Rongxiu. How about we go to the employee cafeteria together? Meihua's employee meals are actually pretty good."

Li Rongxiu had originally planned to call Alan and the others at noon and have everyone eat at Imperial Residence together. But after hearing Zhou Fan's suggestion, he considered it briefly and agreed. Though he personally did not care whether his image at the company seemed approachable, he had to consider his grandfather, father, and eldest brother's reputations. He felt it would be better to follow the rules. During his internship, he should try to fit into the department as much as possible. Even if he could not truly become one with the employees, he should at least avoid standing out too much.

With that thought, Li Rongxiu said with a smile, "How about this? Let's skip the employee cafeteria. Since it's my first day at work, I'll treat everyone in our department to lunch outside—somewhere not too far away. You're more familiar with the area, so you pick somewhere reasonably priced with a nice environment."

Zhou Fan understood immediately and said, "Then let's go to the buffet across the street from the company. It's ninety-eight yuan per person. They have seafood, barbecue, fruit, salad, and everything else, plus complimentary drinks. The environment is pretty good too."

This was more than ten years ago. For ordinary people, ninety-eight yuan for a buffet was somewhat expensive. But considering the spending power of the foreign companies and white-collar workers around the business district, as well as the variety of ingredients offered by the buffet, it was a fair price.

Whenever Meihua employees grew tired of employee meals and wanted to gather outside, they often chose this place. And for someone like Li Rongxiu, a diamond-tier second-generation rich kid, this amount of money was even less worth mentioning.

Whether it was Zhou Fan's quiet instructions or the effect of the lunch invitation, Li Rongxiu could clearly feel that his colleagues in the Secretarial Department treated him much more naturally when work resumed that afternoon.

That also made Li Rongxiu secretly breathe a sigh of relief. As an outstanding wastrel among wastrels, he did not care about other people's opinions or attitudes, but that did not mean he enjoyed being completely out of place with everyone around him. Nor did it mean he liked the awkward atmosphere of being secretly watched.