Hearing Lin Xiwen's words, Ye Jin almost laughed aloud.
[Huh? Mother-in-law actually wants Xu You to be a regional manager! Someone as proud and arrogant as Xu You might storm out on the spot!]
[Then again, maybe not. Perhaps Xu You will sleep on brushwood and taste gall, enduring humiliation for his white moonlight! I wonder which matters more: his white moonlight or his pitiful pride.]
Because of his background, Xu You had a strong sense of pride.
During his school days, he never let outsiders see him studying away through the bitter cold. He only studied by lamplight late at night after returning home, then took first place year after year, cultivating the image of an academic god.
After graduating from university and starting work, he likewise presented himself as someone who cared nothing for fame or fortune and only wanted to work diligently, but in private, he actively pursued his boss's daughter. Even knowing she wanted him to take over so she could keep fooling around after marriage, he gritted his teeth and accepted.
But this also made him even more insecure and conceited, so when his father-in-law urged him to leave after his performance fell short, he would rather forgo compensation than lose the claim that he had resigned voluntarily.
How could someone as proud and arrogant as Xu You tolerate going from president of the Asia division to a mere general manager of the East China region?
Xu You stood frozen. Wasn't she supposed to appoint him as the new president of the Su Group? How had that turned into a regional manager?
After a long while, Xu You finally reacted. Clinging to a little hope, he said, "Xiwen, this is wonderful. The fact that you're still in the mood to joke proves things are much better than I expected."
But Lin Xiwen gave him no hope. "I'm not joking. The Su Group is short-staffed everywhere right now. After considering your abilities as a whole, I think you should still be capable of handling the position of general manager of the East China region."
Xu You was no true fool, after all. Realizing that Lin Xiwen did not want him to take over the Su Group, his expression immediately darkened.
"Xiwen, you know I used to be the president of a multinational group's Asia division. How could I only be capable of managing a single region within China? Besides, at a time like this, where are you going to find a suitable professional manager to help you run the Su Group?"
[Is he starting to threaten her? But aren't professional managers of your caliber a dime a dozen? If all else fails, Mother-in-law would do better herself!]
Lin Xiwen remained perfectly calm. The more flustered and furious Xu You became, the more it proved she had hit a sore spot, and the easier it would be to achieve her aim.
She immediately added more fuel to the fire. "I assigned your position based on your abilities. Don't you know how capable you are? What was the revenue when you were in charge of Group A's Asia division? How much had it grown compared with before?"
Faced with these questions, Xu You immediately grew uneasy.
Did Lin Xiwen know the real reason he had left his job? His father-in-law had clearly promised not to tell outsiders! That old bastard!
He wanted to walk straight out, but just then, the image of a young Gu Jingxian smiling at him surfaced in his mind.
No, he couldn't give up just like this. He had to fight one more time for her!
Besides, he had no other suitable offers at hand. He could not stay unemployed at home forever.
Xu You softened his tone. "Xiwen, we've known each other for years, after all. I came here to help you without begrudging the trouble. Even if I haven't made any contributions, I've at least put in the effort. Why say such harsh things?"
"Harsh?" Lin Xiwen sneered. "I only asked you a few questions about your performance, and you call that harsh? Or do you know your performance sounds pretty bad yourself?"
[Hahahaha! This is the first time I've realized Mother-in-law has such a sharp tongue. How did I insult you? By repeating what you did.]
Ye Jin was laughing wildly inside and only barely managed to control her expression. Her earlier worries had vanished completely.
[Looks like Mother-in-law already knew what Xu You was capable of. If you ask me, she's still too softhearted, actually planning to give him a manager's position.]
Xu You, meanwhile, was so furious that he cast all his earlier "lofty ambitions" of sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall for his white moonlight to the back of his mind. He raised a trembling hand and pointed at Lin Xiwen.
"I came to help you out of kindness, yet you're so ungrateful. In that case, there's no need for me to press my warm face against a cold backside. I'll take my leave."
With that, Xu You turned and walked toward the door, but his steps were unusually slow. Clearly, he was hoping Lin Xiwen would suddenly come to her senses and beg him to return.
How could Lin Xiwen fail to see what Xu You was planning? She found it amusing, but her contempt for him only deepened.
Just then, Ye Jin's wistful sigh came again.
[Sigh, even his white moonlight can't compare with what little face he has. A man's pitiful pride!]
Lin Xiwen could not help sighing inwardly either. She truly had not expected this to be Xu You's true face.
He had little ability, and even his love for Gu Jingxian mattered less than his own face. He really was a trash man.
Yet in the original novel, this very trash man had joined forces with Xie Haoyu and destroyed everything she cared about!
Her lowered hand involuntarily tightened around her skirt. She would never let them off easily!
Everything afterward went smoothly. Without Su Yang disrupting things, although a few small shareholders with outdated views voiced their opposition along the way, an arm could not wrestle a thigh. In the end, Lin Xiwen successfully became chairwoman and CEO of the Su Corporation Group with over eighty percent support.
Zhou Wanqing also attended the board meeting on behalf of the Zhou Corporation. She was as flamboyantly dressed as ever, wearing fiery red lipstick, without a trace of fatigue on her face. There was no sign at all that she was in the midst of a divorce storm.
What surprised Ye Jin even more was that Zhou Wanqing actually voted in support of Lin Xiwen.
[Huh? Zhou Wanqing is actually this magnanimous?]
Ye Jin could not help thinking of the follow-up gossip about Su Yang and Zhou Wanqing she had seen online.
Thanks to the melon-eating netizens everywhere, along with the Zhou Corporation deliberately letting things spread, the gossip online was quite comprehensive.
After Su Yang woke up in the hospital, his vice president reported that the Zhou Corporation had already withdrawn its investment and that, unless he found a new source of funding, he would go bankrupt within a month. Hearing this, he fainted again.
This time, he only regained consciousness the following day. He struggled out of his hospital bed, then went running to the places Zhou Wanqing frequented, weeping bitterly as he tried to intercept her.
Finally, after staking out those places for a day and a night, he caught Zhou Wanqing in the lobby of an upscale beauty salon just after she had finished a treatment. He wept bitterly before her, promising to break things off completely with Chen Ruxue and never have a disloyal thought again.