Chapter 89: Recruiting Such a Character

Chen Anlong cast a dissatisfied glance at Tang Jun as he left, then turned back to Jiang Fan with a smile: “Do you have plans tonight? If not, I’ll take you out to a hotel for some fun.”

Jiang Fan lifted his injured hand and said, “I’m hurt right now, can’t work.”

Chen Anlong waved his hand to explain, “I’m not asking you to work for me tonight. I’m inviting you for a drink. ‘Longing Hotel’ in Houjie has brought in a batch of girls from the mainland—really stunning. Want to go have some fun?”

“Thanks for your offer, but my hand hurts, so I can’t drink. And if I mess around with girls, my wife would probably castrate me.”

Having declined, Jiang Fan walked straight toward the office building. Seeing that Jiang Fan didn’t give him any face and wasn’t interested in chatting, Chen Anlong looked at his back and muttered regretfully, “I’m just asking for trouble, bringing in someone like him. Now I can’t afford to offend him easily.”

Tang Jun didn’t understand why Jiang Fan suddenly turned hostile.

Jiang Fan wanted to confront him, to hold him accountable for giving the withered fruit to the security team and exposing his actions to outsiders.

Unlike Tang Jun, Jiang Fan had no such scruples. Having just rejected the boss, he didn’t shy away from others and went straight to Tang Jun’s office.

He pushed open the door without so much as a greeting, launching immediately into complaint: “If you didn’t want to buy fruit, you could have just said so. Why did you tell those bastards in the security team about me picking out the fruit?”

Tang Jun realized it was because of this trivial matter that Jiang Fan was angry. He gave a bitter smile: “Some of those fruits were already rotten. If I said it to your face, it would hurt your pride. If I took them but didn’t eat them, it would be wasteful. So I did a little favor. Can you really blame me?”

Jiang Fan felt as if he’d suffered a great injustice and insisted, “I made it clear that day—I was a boss for the first time and wanted to find a sucker to make a profit. Bosses like you aren’t short on a few melons and dates.

If you didn’t want them, you could have fed them to the dog. Why give them to those bastards in the security team, and then spread the story that I was selling rotten fruit? Now others think I’m just like you, a heartless capitalist.”

Hearing Jiang Fan lump him together with Chen Anlong, and call them ‘heartless capitalists’ without restraint, Tang Jun felt a bit hurt. He paused before replying, “I was born into a poor family too, not some capitalist. My achievements weren’t because of my uncle’s help, but through my own effort.

Before I came to the mainland, I relied on myself, and with friends opened a modestly successful trading company in Kaohsiung. My uncle saw I had business ability, asked me to sell the company, and gave me shares to help him here.”

To gain Jiang Fan’s trust, Tang Jun recounted his own upbringing.

During his recounting, Jiang Fan noticed the fluctuations in Tang Jun’s expression and voice. When he touched on particularly painful memories, his face twisted in agony.

Coming here to demand answers ended up with the other revealing deeply held matters. Jiang Fan felt somewhat embarrassed.

To give himself an out, Jiang Fan continued, “If you didn’t want to waste the fruit, sending it off is fine, but why did you have to tell Zheng Xiaolin about me deliberately picking out rotten fruit? He told Brother Hui, and now my reputation is ruined.”

Whenever Jiang Fan was embarrassed, he had the habit of scratching his head, a gesture that made him look especially honest.

Tang Jun picked up on Jiang Fan’s attempt to shift the focus. He realized he had indeed overlooked Jiang Fan’s antagonism with the security team; when chatting with Zheng Xiaolin, he hadn’t avoided anyone and had treated the matter as a joke.

Tang Jun followed suit, saying, “That was my mistake. I’ll pay attention next time, all right?”

With his grievance settled, Jiang Fan remembered Chen Anlong’s promise to have Deputy Manager Li make a deep apology and provide extra meals for the staff.

He went to the second-floor logistics department and confirmed that Chen Anlong had indeed given orders—over the next two days, lunch and dinner included an extra chicken leg for the staff.

Finally, he headed to the factory’s broadcasting room. The broadcaster on duty said no broadcast notice had been received.

“You bastards, how long do you plan to drag this out?” Jiang Fan muttered. Chen Anlong’s promise had been made less than an hour ago, but Jiang Fan hadn’t considered that writing a statement might take time and grumbled impatiently.

Leaving the broadcast room and preparing to head downstairs, he passed the HR department where he saw Manager Liu leaning over Shen Tingting’s desk. Both wore smiles and whispered together.

Jiang Fan smiled to himself, thinking that Shen Tingting’s work stress should be much reduced now.

He went to lie on the lawn beside the basketball court, his favorite spot during idle hours at the factory.

Seeing the clock hanging on the dormitory wall, with less than an hour left until the afternoon shift ended, his mood grew restless. He muttered, “That stubborn woman, is she not coming back again today?”

Missing Wang Wenyu, Jiang Fan worried she might come to the factory gate and be unable to find him. He got up, ready to wait for her at the entrance.

Passing the office building, he noticed Manager Liu standing at the foot of the stairs, watching him.

He asked casually, “Is there something you need?”

“Deputy Manager Jiang, I’d like to talk to you. Would it be appropriate?”

Seeing that she was no longer making things difficult for Shen Tingting, and remembering his own harsh words that had wounded her, Jiang Fan replied kindly, “Why wouldn’t it be appropriate? If you have something to say, go ahead.”

Manager Liu glanced at the two security guards in the gatehouse nearby and whispered, “It’s inconvenient here. Let’s go to the basketball court.”

They sat down on the stone steps beside the court.

Manager Liu hesitated, afraid to mention Gou Biao and anger Jiang Fan. She stalled for a moment, then began politely, “Thank you for not holding a grudge about the past.”

Jiang Fan saw her hesitation and guessed her thoughts. He spoke plainly, “My feud with Gou Biao won’t spill over to you. If you have something to say, just say it.”

Hearing Jiang Fan mention Gou Biao, Manager Liu said, “I worked together with Gou Biao and made money I shouldn’t have. Each month, aside from living expenses with him, I didn’t take a penny of that ill-gotten gain, but I was still involved.

I’m just a worker; job opportunities are controlled by others. This matter involves some higher-ups, so I can’t tell you all the details yet.”

Manager Liu paused, staring at Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan asked, puzzled, “You tell me this but don’t finish—what are you trying to say?”

Manager Liu had only hinted at the ill-gotten money, wanting to gauge Jiang Fan’s attitude. Seeing him calm and not probing further, she continued, “If one day you learn the truth and want to go after Gou Biao, could you keep me out of it? I’m afraid…”

She choked up, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Jiang Fan worried others might think he’d done something to Manager Liu and quickly tried to comfort her: “Why are you crying all of a sudden? What’s wrong? Take your time and tell me.”

“I never want to go back to my husband’s hometown. I’m afraid of losing my job here.”

Speaking of the burden weighing on her heart, Manager Liu buried her head in her knees and sobbed softly.

Jiang Fan assumed it was because she’d gotten involved with Gou Biao and now felt unable to return to her husband’s hometown. He didn’t know how to comfort her, so stood awkwardly by, waiting for her to quiet down before saying anything.