The “Little Meng” family was waiting on the sidelines like hungry wolves, intent on usurping the Meng family’s position. Meanwhile, as the heir to the Meng family, his own business talent was far from maxed out. If he simply waited, it was entirely possible the Meng family would end up ruined in his hands once the right opportunity arose.
To break the deadlock—how to break the deadlock?
This was the first question the person about to take over his position had to consider.
As a family enterprise that had been passed down for many years, the recent crisis was a blessing in disguise; most of the equity had been consolidated back into his hands. Now, the Meng Corporation had the necessary conditions for a major overhaul.
Indeed, while it was a mess, it was also an opportunity. All it lacked was that one person to shoulder the burden.
Did Zhou Fengyang have that ability? He did.
The proposal detailed every clause; Meng Lingyao sighed with emotion—the man was truly a talent.
He was the talent Meng Lingyao needed, but whether this talent truly wanted to carry the weight of the Meng Corporation was another story.
No wonder Qian Linhao said it depended on whether he had the courage to take on this “hot potato,” which included resolving the man’s personal troubles and whether the Meng Corporation had the strength to retain a character destined to soar.
“I can’t figure it out. Although Mr. Zhou has some trouble on his hands, it shouldn’t warrant applying for this position. It’s a waste of your talent. To be honest, the Meng Corporation is somewhat unworthy of a talent like you.”
Zhou Fengyang smiled instead. “President Meng, I have the confidence to reach my previous achievements and even far exceed them. Do you think I will always be a character drawing a fixed salary? I will be your partner. As for whether we are worthy or not, that cannot be defined yet.”
Regarding Meng Lingyao’s question, Zhou Fengyang did not hide his ambition at all.
“I look forward to the arrival of that day.” Meng Lingyao was satisfied. He looked at the other with a beaming smile and raised the wine glass next to him. The two had reached an agreement.
“However, I hope the company arranges a role no less significant than my own for my wife. She is equally outstanding and will bring achievements to the Meng Corporation no less than mine,” Zhou Fengyang stated his condition.
“If she has the ability to crush the competition, I have no objection,” Meng Lingyao said, essentially agreeing. “Though I fear it won’t be that simple.”
“Rest assured, President Meng, we are prepared to meet the challenge.”
“Then… a pleasure to work with you.” Meng Lingyao extended his hand, acting exceptionally friendly.
“A pleasure to work with you, President Meng.”
Throughout this meal, both parties achieved a satisfactory result; naturally, both host and guest were happy.
…
With the candidate settled, Meng Lingyao felt completely relaxed as he parted ways with Zhou Fengyang. Qian Linhao had witnessed the entire confrontation between Meng Lingyao and Zhou Fengyang, even subtly guiding the conversation from the side.
When a person is outstanding enough, it shows easily—not to mention his resume was clear and verifiable.
Seeing the relaxation in Meng Lingyao’s eyes, he spoke with a teasing tone, “President Meng, so you’re very satisfied with the person?”
Meng Lingyao glanced at him, saw the smile curling on the other’s lips, and rolled his eyes without any regard for his image. “You’re asking what you already know. Brother Qian, you’ve learned to be wicked. That’s not good.”
When a beautiful person rolls their eyes, it is still a pleasing sight.
Qian Linhao laughed, shrugged, and didn’t take the bait, but instead mentioned another matter: “But those troubles surrounding him—is President Meng really not worried?”
Zhou Fengyang, formerly the Vice President of the China branch of a multinational trade enterprise, had worked there with his wife for over a decade. However, due to power struggles, his wife was targeted by someone with higher authority, and he was framed by a rival leading to a major error. He was sidelined into a marginal role during the internal strife. Originally, he was to be demoted after his defeat, but he burned his bridges, “flipped the table,” and exposed much of the original company’s inside dirt, leading to him being blacklisted within the industry.
Although this happened in another city, he had moved his family to this city to start over because he no longer had a place to stay in his original home.
“When you have too many lice, you stop worrying about the bites,” Meng Lingyao tossed out.
As the saying goes, when you have many lice, they don’t itch; when you have many debts, you don’t worry.
“True.” Qian Linhao shrugged. “What does the Meng Corporation have to fear now? Might as well huddle together for warmth.”
Actually, their Meng family wasn’t doing much better.
Everyone was equally miserable; might as well huddle for warmth.
Qian Linhao thought this and said it out loud, which earned him a deep, cold stare from Meng Lingyao. He whispered a haunting sentence: “Brother Qian, your performance score for this month is 0. I’m docking your bonus.”
Meng Lingyao looked at the truth-telling Qian Linhao. His Chief Secretary was far too active—why speak such harsh truths when he was so happy?
“…” Qian Linhao fell silent and said dryly, “Is it too late to retract that statement?”
Is this necessary? Can’t I just shut up?
Meng Lingyao smiled without speaking, giving a look that let Qian Linhao interpret it for himself.
Qian Linhao: Not “hee hee.”
Meng Lingyao: Hee hee.
…
Since Zhou Fengyang officially joined the Meng Corporation, the workload Meng Lingyao needed to handle decreased significantly. Some non-confidential, important tasks were gradually handed over to him, which also served as a test.
If he wanted to tear off a piece of territory within the Meng Corporation and gain respect and prestige, this was a necessary process. If he didn’t even have that much skill, there was no need for him to be at the Meng Corporation.
If the goods don’t match the label, it’s a problem, but excellent people are naturally excellent everywhere. Meng Lingyao could give him some time to prove himself.
Similarly, as one of the conditions for Zhou Fengyang’s employment, his wife—also a capable “iron lady”—joined the fray.
They became a husband-and-wife alliance within the Meng Corporation, starting a profitable struggle against other competitors.
Because many employees had left the Meng Corporation and many new ones had been recruited, it was actually much easier for this couple to establish prestige now than it would have been in the old Meng Corporation.
As for whether Meng Lingyao would be completely sidelined or even schemed out of the company—the amount of equity currently in his hands and under his management was a staggering figure. Furthermore, there were now three major forces in the company; while there were smaller branches, the main force had formed a “tripod” stance.
The newly entered Zhou Fengyang’s wings were not yet full, while Uncle Sun and Qian Linhao were genuine veteran employees of the Meng Corporation. As the precious legacy left to him by his father and brother, Meng Lingyao sneered at those petty worries.
If he was really schemed against by his own close confidants, he deserved to be “stupid to death.”
…
The greatly reduced workload gave Meng Lingyao more leisure time to escape from the busy work.
This made Qi Zhongjing very happy. After all, Meng Lingyao had been genuinely busy on weekdays, and Qi Zhongjing knew the current state of the Meng Corporation; if he wanted to spend time with Meng Lingyao, he had to distinguish the right occasion and time.
He hoped Meng Lingyao’s world only contained him, but he also hoped Meng Lingyao could walk side-by-side with him.
It was a contradiction, but he accepted it well—provided Meng Lingyao didn’t fall for anyone else and turn him into a “mad dog.” Most of the time, Qi Zhongjing wore a human skin and disguised himself as perfectly normal.
Meng Lingyao having free time was definitely most beneficial to him, as he could feel the time spent with Meng Lingyao growing longer.
It was truly wonderful.
Because of this, they finally had time to go out on dates and do things ordinary couples do. Having secretly flipped through countless “Love Manuals” in the background, Qi Zhongjing felt he had mastered various romantic techniques and the things one should do in a relationship.
Unfortunately, he didn’t realize that no matter how many books you read, it’s just “talking about tactics on paper”—it’s useless.
Dating Expert: X
Dating Newbie: ✓
But for the other person—the one who hadn’t developed this relationship toward romance at all—it was a total train wreck.
For example, today, a slightly free Meng Lingyao agreed to Qi Zhongjing’s date invitation to cooperate with him in playing this so-called “marriage game.”
After all, he couldn’t refuse certain requests attached to the transaction; this began the moment he agreed to the so-called marriage and became Qi Zhongjing’s fictitious husband.
The spirit of the contract—no matter how trashy Meng Lingyao was, he still had that.
However, although he and Qi Zhongjing belonged to the same social class, he lacked the cells to appreciate so-called “high art” and had no great pursuit of it.
Today, he and Qi Zhongjing were watching a world-renowned opera performance. This was the first performance of the year in China for this “treasure” opera troupe. Tickets had long been sold out, and Qi Zhongjing had prepared VIP seats that offered a complete view of the stage—a perfect spot for both sound and scenery.
And what was Meng Lingyao doing? He was sleeping.
Amidst the high-pitched operatic singing, he was sleeping soundly.
Having no interest in opera, he started feeling drowsy shortly after the performance began. His head nodded intermittently, and his eyelids eventually gave way and closed.
Furthermore, Meng Lingyao found it exceptionally easy to sleep there; it was incredibly hypnotic. Forced to accompany Qi Zhongjing to enjoy something that held zero attraction for him, what else could he do besides sleep?
Qi Zhongjing knew his arrangement was a failure, but simultaneously, acting as Meng Lingyao’s pillow made him quite happy.
Show off high-class taste: [Struck Out]
Starting from the moment Meng Lingyao closed his eyes to sleep, Qi Zhongjing gave himself a failing grade for today’s date.
By the end of the performance, Meng Lingyao had slept so deeply that he hadn’t said a word to Qi Zhongjing or shared a single look.
How could he appreciate the preparations made for this date? In his heart, Qi Zhongjing deleted that “Love Manual” that gave advice from his reading list; it was absolutely a book with zero reference value.
Meaningless trash!
Afterward, Qi Zhongjing took Meng Lingyao to try watching movies, strolling through the streets, soaking in hot springs, going on trips…
They tried all the romantic scenarios found online, but unfortunately, the results were poor.
Qi Zhongjing was jumping through hoops trying to close the distance with Meng Lingyao, but unfortunately, Meng Lingyao’s brain was on a completely different wavelength. He only twisted the original intentions of everything Qi Zhongjing said or thought.
To Meng Lingyao, company affairs had become quieter lately, but he unexpectedly had a “second job”: accompanying Qi Zhongjing to various meaningless activities. He didn’t know which of Qi Zhongjing’s wires was crossed to make him run around everywhere, giving him the feeling of being “re-employed after being laid off.”
It was more mentally taxing than work. At least at work, he could cause trouble for his subordinates, rather than being troubled by Qi Zhongjing now.
Annoying, so annoying, but he couldn’t show it.
He just had to cooperate with a forced smile.
Who told Qi Zhongjing to be the creditor, the benefactor, and the Party A of the contract?
He had to face him with a smile.
Naturally, regarding Qi Zhongjing’s attempts to make “romantic bubbles” rise in his heart…
Meng Lingyao could only express regret that he felt nothing. After all, who could develop so-called “romantic feelings” for their boss while at work? He wasn’t crazy.