Chapter 222 - It’s Not Too Late To Fix the Situation
Translator: Lav
Editor: Seliniaki Ilikia
When they exited the restaurant, Yang Ruicai was waiting outside, just like how Wei Qing predicted he would be. Except this time, he didn’t have his nose in the air. He bent his back, bowing with a broad smile on his face.
“Miss Song, Young Master Wei…Young Master Shi…” His method of addressing them had all changed.
“Alright, you two can chat. I’ll send Shui Ye back to her hotel.” Wei Qing waved his hand. The hospital wasn’t far and Shi Lei could go back himself after he was done.
Yang Ruicai didn’t dare to speak immediately. He bowed as he walked Song Miaomiao and Wei Qing to the car and didn’t straighten up or stop waving in farewell until after the car had driven a long distance away.
“Manager Yang, that’s enough. They lost sight of you a long time ago. If you have something to say, hurry up and spit it out.” Shi Lei was more composed now. He had met the secretary of the munic.i.p.al committee, he had seen the vice mayor, he was even bossing around the daughter of a former member of the standing committee. A mere Yang Ruicai really was nothing in his eyes.
Yang Ruicai pulled a smile onto his face and said, “Young Master Shi, are you going to the hospital?”
Shi Lei nodded. “Let’s chat while walking,” Yang Ruicai then suggested. “I will go greet your parents on behalf of my company. The company will not shirk its responsibilities. We are definitely the ones at fault.”
Wei Qing had previously mentioned that this would happen. “Alright, we’ll talk while walking,” Shi Lei said.
Yang Ruicai then gestured “please” and allowed Shi Lei to go first. He followed behind. “The company has made the decision overnight that we will remove all of Qin Huaiyuan’s duties,” he said carefully. “The higher echelon of the company will hold a meeting tomorrow and fire him from the Kaixuan Group.”
Shi Lei shot a glance at Yang Ruicai and shook his head. “Manager Yang, can we talk about the more significant things? Qin Huaiyuan is bound to be sentenced, so does it matter whether your company fires him or not?”
Yang Ruicai smiled awkwardly and began to speak with even more caution. “Because of the event with Young Master Shi’s parents, the company has arranged for people to perform a thorough check of the employees who were getting fired and they noticed a rather big problem. Older staff like your father who have contributed greatly to the factory through the thick and thin should definitely not be on the list. Hence, the company decided to remove part of the list created by Qin Huaiyuan and call a few older staff members, including your father, back. Dahua Electronics will announce this tomorrow, and I was also temporarily appointed by the company to stand in for the position of factory director as well as the general manager.”
“So Manager Yang has been demoted?” Shi Lei was slightly surprised.
“No, no, it’s only temporary. When the company finds a new candidate, they will arrange for someone to replace me. This mainly depends on whether I can manage things appropriately.”
Shi Lei understood that the demotion was real. Although it was temporary, the company had to see the aftereffect. If Shi Lei expressed any dissatisfaction, Kaixuan Group would most likely throw Yang Ruicai there, unable to keep his current position as the a.s.sistant general manager. Hence, he could only bow and bend his knees to beg for forgiveness, since he would only have a chance of being reinstated to his former position if Shi Lei expressed that this was all over.
What were you doing earlier? You thought that just because you have some money you could bully the poor and the powerless. Now you have to pay the price.
“Also, the company believes that more responsibility should be given to an old comrade like Mr. Shi Zhongping. He has worked for so many years and Mr. Shi is very clear with the situation inside and outside the factory. According to our understanding, Mr. Shi’s relationship with others in the factory is extremely good. So I, as the acting factory director and general manager, hope that Mr. Shi can take the role of manager in the factory’s office after he recovers.”
Shi Lei stopped in his tracks, shocked. “You are letting my father be the manager? What about Li Peisong?”
“That person only knows how to flatter people and he is on the same side as Qin Huaiyuan. The first thing I will do tomorrow when I step in is fire him.” Yang Ruicai finally found some self-confidence after mentioning Li Peisong.
“You’d better ask my father about this later. I can’t decide for him.”
Yang Ruicai nodded. “Our company is very sincere about this and Dahua Electronics needs older staff like Mr. Shi the most. Other than this, there’s nothing to talk about regarding the house. It belonged to your family anyway, so we will pa.s.s the land certificate to Mr. Shi as soon as it’s given to us. Also, if Mr. Shi takes up the position of manager in the factory, he should theoretically own a house with three bedrooms and two living rooms in the factory director’s building. As to Mr. Shi suffering from the vicious attacks of those troublemakers, the company has expressed that they will take full responsibility of the medical expenses, and are intending to give a million yuan as compensation for psychological trauma. Young Master Shi, are you satisfied with this?”
“Tell my father about this after he’s recovered,” Shi Lei said. “Manager Yang, to be honest, I have no grudges to hold with your lot whether in the past or in the present. If it wasn’t for Qin Huaiyuan ordering people to injure my father, we would have probably never come in contact with each other for our entire lives. As for you, although I indeed have some complaints to make about you, I understand that it is normal behavior, since there is a tendency to help the people close to us. Something happened to your company and it’s understandable for you guys to minimize your losses. So I’m not planning to seek any responsibility from your company. I even didn’t plan to let Wei Qing and Song Miaomiao intervene on this matter because I was afraid that too many people with significant backgrounds would get involved. So if the purpose of doing all these things is to please and satisfy Song Miaomiao and Wei Qing, then I don’t think you should bother. And honestly, my Shi family isn’t tight on money. Although our previous condition wasn’t too good, it definitely won’t be like that in the future. You should consider the so-called compensation and promotion more and check if my father actually wants it. However, I do think that it is necessary for you to check the list of workers who are getting fired thoroughly. Many people, like my father, have spent more than twenty or thirty years of their lives working for the factory. And they are all over fifty years old. They were fired so easily, but what kind of jobs can they find after they were fired? The younger ones are fine. Even if the older ones aren’t as good as them anymore, you need to consider the reality of the situation and take more care of them. There’s nothing to blame for the company wanting to earn more money, but it’s always better to have some human warmth between people, right, Manager Yang?”
“What Young Master Shi said is very reasonable. That’s exactly what the company’s higher echelon thought, and they therefore re-examined the list.”
Shi Lei waved his hand. “Enough. Don’t tell me this. You and I both know the situation perfectly well. Regardless of that, it’s not too late to fix the situation. The workers who remained won’t feel steady if you hurt the hearts of other workers. Who knows when it would be their turn? When you are flushed with success, have more consideration for others.”
With that said, Shi Lei headed straight for the hospital. Yang Ruicai broke out of his daze and quickly followed.
When he arrived at the hospital, Shi Lei’s mother was filled with worry as she held his hands and said, “s.h.i.tou, are you okay?”
Shi Lei smiled and let his mother sit down. “Mom, rest a.s.sured. Everything’s fine. Oh right. Let me introduce you. This is Manager Yang, who works for Kaixuan Group, which Dahua Electronics belong to. He’s here to temporarily stand in for Qin Huaiyuan. He found me and expressed that the company is very shocked about Qin Huaiyuan’s mess and that he had to come and pay you a visit.”
Shi Lei’s mother immediately tensed up, but Yang Ruicai grabbed her hand and spoke with a sorrowful tone, “We are the ones who haven’t been doing our jobs properly…”