Chapter 100 I Might Have to Go First

Jiang Xianbang made a fortune out of digging the ancient graves and reselling antiques. It was considered that he reached the pinnacle of his career now. Only Jiang Xianbang himself knew what a price he had paid and how many people he had offended in the path of thorns. And he was also clear that if he stood higher, there were more people hoping that he would fall down. Especially when his backer lost power, those opponents who had been trampled underfoot would gather to attack him. Even those he had not offended would take the chance to hit him when he was down, for the sake of interests.

Therefore, Jiang Xianbang had to train his successor. Firstly, as he said, since he spent his whole life building his own business empire, there would be someone to inherit it. Secondly, there were some people, who followed him and rose all the way to the top. He was unwilling to embroil them in his trouble after he fell.

It was a pity that Jiang Xianbang had been out of luck and had not met a young man who deserved his special training. He did not see the light at the end of the tunnel until Qin Sheng emerged. Qin Sheng had some advantages. First, Jiang Xianbang had an acquaintance with Qin Sheng’s grandfather. Second, Qin Sheng had a calm disposition and was able to conduct himself with propriety. Sometimes, he was decisive and heartless. For example, he killed Zhou Wenwu, which meant his comprehensive strength was not bad. Finally, as a bigwig in Jiang Xianbang’s eyes, Elder Qin could help his grandson grow into an excellent young man. How could he not pave the way for his grandson?

However, Jiang Xianbang was not anxious to start training Qin Sheng because he wanted to respect Qin Sheng’s choice and let him gradually integrate with his social circle. Moreover, he needed to test Qin Sheng’s abilities. After all, everyone might misjudge others. Hence, he offered this exercise to Qin Sheng. Especially, this affair was more complicated and related to the gray area. Whether Qin Sheng would fix it or not would depend on his own abilities.

After that, Jiang Xianbang left Shangshan Ruoshui. As for the small thing that happened today, it meant nothing to him. Little Zheng was a small partner, so Jiang Xianbang only needed to give face to him and the conflict between them would be settled.

Xu Lancheng called all the management into the office and announced that Qin Sheng would be suspended for a week and his salary of one month would be deducted. He also comforted Qin Sheng and said that Qin Sheng had good intentions and did this for artists in Shangshan Ruoshui, but he was a bit impulsive.

The result disappointed Wang Haichao, who thought Qin Sheng would get fired and did not expect that he received a one-week suspension and lost a month’s salary. However, it was the big boss’s decision. No matter how dissatisfied Wang Haichao was, he would not be able to change the result. Anyway, Wang Haichao was overjoyed at it because he thought this event suppressed the high-profile Qin Sheng so that he would not dare to do anything at will in Shangshan Ruoshui.

As she heard what Xu Lancheng said, Ms. An had guessed that Qin Sheng had a special relationship with the big boss. The appearance of the big boss and the final result confirmed her guess.

Receiving the one-week suspension, Qin Sheng came to the changing room to change his clothes and was about to leave. All the staff members in Shangshan Ruoshui had already learned about the punishment decision. Lyu Yuan came to find Qin Sheng with Tang Wan and Song Siyu. As the party of the matter, Tang Wan had not received any punishment, which made Tang Wan guiltier.

“Manager Qin, I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I let you be wronged,” Tang Wan said, her eyes filling with tears.

Qin Sheng shook his head and replied with a wry smile, “It’s not a big deal. Why are you crying like this? I haven’t been fired. It’s just a one-week suspension. That’s good. I’ve been a bit tired lately. I can take this opportunity to have a good rest.”

“Manager Qin, you will be my idol in the future.” Song Siyu was a good talker and flattered Qin Sheng.

Qin Sheng quipped, “Your idol has been suspended. You dare not follow suit.”

Lyu Yuan walked over and patted Qin Sheng’s shoulder, saying, “Buddy, I haven’t misjudged you. You’re braver than me. If I were you, I would definitely not dare to do it. Now I think you are more suitable than me to be a manager. At least you deal with that problem from our standpoint.”

“People should consider the situation and know what they should do and what they should not. No matter who got involved in this matter, I’ll help them. If things happened again, I’ll make the same decision. I can lose my job but have to hold my bottom line,” Qin Sheng said flatly.

Waiting for him to get dressed, Lyu Yuan, Tang Wan, and Song Siyu walked Qin Sheng out. Qin Sheng said with a smile, “You should keep a low profile during my one-week suspension. If Wang Haichao causes you any trouble, you can ask Deputy General Manager Chang for help.”

Then Qin Sheng walked away when the trio was still confused about what he meant.

It was already five o’clock. Qin Sheng suddenly remembered that he had promised to have hot pot with Lin Su today. He was too busy to check his text message just now. As expected, taking out his phone, he found Lin Su had sent him a text message: when and where.

The three words swept his bad mood away. He quickly dialed Lin Su’s number. It was not long before the phone was connected. Qin Sheng half-joked, “The strong woman, don’t you work overtime today?”

“It seems that you want to owe me this hot pot forever?” Lin Su, who had just finished the meeting, chuckled and said. Qin Sheng had not replied to her text message and she thought he should be busy, so Lin Su did not take it seriously.

Qin Sheng continued to tease Lin Su. “I thought that you casually said it yesterday. I heard from my university roommate that he had been asking you out for half a month and you had been ignoring him. If he knew that you and I would eat hot pot, I wonder whether he would hate me.”

“Well, then I will continue to work,” Lin Su said coldly.

Hearing this, Qin Sheng immediately said in a serious tone, “Okay, it’s my fault. I will find the place first and go there to wait for you. I will text you and tell you my location.”

Hanging up the phone, Qin Sheng immediately used the phone to search the Web for some tasty hot pots in Chengdu and Chongqing. Finally, he chose Xiaolongkan Hot Pot, which was located at the intersection of Huaihai East Road and Tibet South Road, at most 20 minutes away from Poly Plaza. It was relatively convenient for Lin Su.

When he arrived at the restaurant, he did not expect to see a long line in front of the door. It was a good thing that he came earlier and there were only more than 20 consumers before him, so Qin Sheng was waiting in line for Lin Su.

When he was standing in line, Qin Sheng took a call from Hangzhou. It was the man who was in charge of contacting him. The man over the phone said in a low voice, “Mr. Qin, I am Zhao Quan. Mr. Jiang asked me to contact you. I want to know when you will arrive in Hangzhou and I can go to pick you up.”

“I have something to do now, and I haven’t bought a ticket yet. I will tell you later when it’s settled,” Qin Sheng said in a thoughtful tone because the man’s voice was extremely cold and chilled him.

The man named Zhao Quan replied, “That’s good, you save my number and contact me later. I will no longer bother you.”

Hanging up the phone, Qin Sheng was lost in thought. He wondered how troublesome things would be so that Jiang Xianbang let him personally go to Hangzhou. In fact, Qin Sheng was somewhat reluctant to go, especially when Jiang Xianbang asked him to get rid of the man. Returning to the city, Qin Sheng told himself that he would not have others’ blood on his hands unless it was necessary. Zhou Wenwu was an exception, because he really provoked Qin Sheng. However, Qin Sheng did not know what would happen this time.

When Qin Sheng was in a daze, Lin Su arrived. She waved at Qin Sheng in the distance and said hello to him, but Qin Sheng had not noticed it. Lin Su finally found Qin Sheng being in a daze as she drew near.

“Are you thinking about the beauty?” Lin Su, dressed in heels, patted Qin Sheng and asked.

Qin Sheng came to his senses and said with an embarrassed smile, “Hey, I was thinking about something and absent-minded.”

“I said hello to you, but you ignored me. Someone said yesterday, I have great charm,” Lin Su said with a slight smile.

Qin Sheng quipped with a meaningful look, “Just look at the eyes of the men around you. Then you’ll know whether you are attractive or not. I wonder how many men will go back to kneel on washboards this evening.”

This was true. The moment Lin Su came in, all the men lining up at the door fixed their eyes on Lin Su and sighed that they were lucky to be here and meet such a gorgeous girl, who was tall and slim with the outstanding temperament and good taste in clothes. She was not an ordinary beauty.

However, when Lin Su stood in front of Qin Sheng, these men sighed with despair. “Why is the pretty woman with such an ordinary man? It looks like a flower is inserted in the cow dung and the good cabbage is ruined by the pig.”

“Nowadays the washboard is not popular. They will be thrown into the washing machine directly,” Lin Su whispered.

Qin Sheng sighed inwardly, “Women always have the most poisonous hearts!”

When Qin Sheng was about to get up and let Lin Su sit, the waiter shouted their number. Qin Sheng subconsciously took Lin Su’s arm and said, “You’re in luck. You’ve just come and it’s our turn now.”

Lin Su slightly frowned. Although she was unable to adapt to it, she did not disentangle herself from his grip. Fortunately, Qin Sheng released her arm after taking a few steps. Otherwise, Lin Su would definitely feel uncomfortable.

Sitting down, Qin Sheng helped Lin Su put the coat and bag into the bamboo basket, handed the menu to Lin Su, and said with a smile, “You know, I am not a picky eater, so you can order first and I will add some dishes later.”

Lin Su did not refuse and began to order. She chose a few dishes before she handed the menu to Qin Sheng. Qin Sheng only added a plate of Huanghou. After all, two people could not eat much and he was unwilling to waste food.

Lin Su tied her hair as she asked, “What were you thinking about? You were so deep in thought.”

Qin Sheng said honestly, “I am going to Hangzhou for a business trip tonight, just thinking about things over there.”

“A business trip tonight? Why do you hurry to leave? How long will it take?” Lin Su casually asked. Anyway, Qin Sheng was an old friend of hers and they kept no secrets from each other at that time, so when she saw him again, there was no estrangement between them, even though they had not seen each other for two years.

“Maybe a week, or longer.” Qin Sheng replied with a faint smile.

Lin Su responded with “Mmm” and did not make further inquiries. She asked, “The flower in the morning. Did you send it over in person?”

“I want to pursue you, so I should show some sincerity, right?” Qin Sheng said with a smile.

Lin Su did not know whether to laugh or cry as she said, “Only give me one rose. How stingy you are! But, thank you very much.”

“You said that you only like the single white rose. Since you like it, I will send one every morning,” Qin Sheng said with interest.

Lin Su shook her head and replied, “No, you don’t have to do that. It’s too troublesome.”

Qin Sheng did not say anything. Anyway, as long as he had time in Shanghai, he really intended to send a white rose to Lin Su every morning. He had to make more efforts and pay more. Otherwise, Lin Su would not accept him easily.

All the dishes were set on the table, but the soup of the hot pot had not boiled. At this time, Lin Su got a call. Seeing the caller ID on the screen, Lin Su picked up the mobile phone and said, “Sorry, I need to take a call.”

It did not take long before Lin Su came back. Her face looked unnatural. Before Qin Sheng could ask, Lin Su spoke. “Qin Sheng, sorry, I might have to go first.”