At the entrance of the Mei Group’s park.
“Ah, you’re finally back. If I knew earlier that you’d be looking for me so early in the morning, I wouldn’t have gone home last night and would’ve slept at the company to wait for you.”
Mei Zhongli couldn’t help but tidy up the collar of his suit. He was a spirited, hearty old man, and although his hair and beard were mostly white now, he as a person seemed to be full of elegance and grace. The only thing was that it seemed like there was something wrong with his left leg, so he limped as he walked and had to lean on a sturdy wooden cane. He switched his cane to his other hand, as if he was afraid to stumble into Nan Yang beside him. His grey-white beard couldn’t hide his face full of smiles. “How has your recuperation in Australia been these years?”
Nan Yang took a bite out of the candied strawberries in her hands and made a sound in response.
“As long as you’re healthy, that’s good. I’ll take you around to have a good look at the company this time since you’re back.”
“...”
Mei Zhongli took her through the main office area and pointed to a group of people who were preparing to start working. “This is the operations department. You can start working from here, and as long as there aren’t any big mistakes, I can support you to move up in the company. Right now, the company’s development is quite smooth, so if there are no accidents, then within a year…”
As he was speaking, two men walked up to him. One looked to be nearly sixty, with white sideburns, and the other was middle-aged, with unusually sharp eyes.
“Chairman Mei.”
“Hello, Chairman Mei.”
Liu Zhen and Sun GuoHui shook Mei Zhongli’s hand.
Mei Zhongli smiled and introduced them to Nan Yang. “It’s good timing to introduce you all. Liu Zhen and Sun GuoHui are, besides me, the two largest shareholders of the Mei Group.”
“This person is Chairman Mei’s daughter?” Liu Zhen squinted a bit and sized up Nan Yang, then looked towards Mei Zhongli. “I just heard Chairman Mei say something will happen within a year?”
“I’m getting older. I want her to take my place after a year,” Mei Zhongli smiled while looking at Nan Yang.
“Does Chairman Mei mean that managing a company is child’s play?” Liu Zhen’s expression changed. “Don’t blame me for saying things that aren’t easy to listen to, but if you had the intention to train her, why didn’t you start earlier by having her start from the company’s bottom rung and move up, step by step? She’s been idle until her thirties; with one sentence of yours, you want to make her, who doesn’t know anything when asked, manage the company? Isn’t that a bit too irresponsible?”
The smile on Mei Zhongli’s smile slowly disappeared. “Liu Zhen, are you trying to intimidate my daughter right off the bat?”
“The company was not formed and sustained by your sole effort. I can’t agree with such a rash decision.”
The aged Sun GuoHui tried to smooth things over. “Forget it, Old Liu, there are so many employees watching…”
Mei Zhongli raised his hand to interrupt Sun GuoHui. “He purposely picked this time to come and yell about this so the entire company can see the embarrassment.”
Liu Zhen gritted his teeth and smiled. “Chairman Mei, your words are too disillusioned.”
“Others might not know you, but do you mean to say that I don’t?” Mei Zhongli leaned on his cane and took a step forward. He looked like a completely different person from the kind old man previously; the look in his eyes could freeze whoever he was staring at. When he spoke, his voice was low. “Don’t think that I don’t know what goes on in your mind. If you want to swallow the Mei Group whole, then your appetite is much too big.”
Liu Zhen stared back at Mei Zhongli’s eyes, unwilling to back down. “I’m doing this for the Mei family’s good.”
Mei Zhongli just sneered.
“You do have most of the shares, but I have a good amount as well. I’ll say it here and now that as long as I’m in the company for a day, she shouldn’t expect to have any sort of power.” Liu Zhen spoke calmly, and after saying this, he turned around and left without looking back.
Nan Yang only stood to the side and watched them without saying anything.
Mei Zhongli looked around at the employees who were there to watch the show, sighed, and waved his hand to disperse the crowd.
“There’s no need to feel pressure. The entire company knows that you’re my daughter, so if you want to do anything in the company in the future, they’ll listen.”
“...”
The park was very large, and as the two of them chatted, they slowly arrived at the company’s cafeteria. Here, the employees that had just finished breakfast greeted Mei Zhongli as they passed by.
A handsome man in a suit walked over and nodded towards Mei Zhongli. “Chairman Mei.” He snuck a glance at Nan Yang and said, “This is...your daughter, right?”
Mei Zhongli pointed at the young man and smiled as he told Nan Yang, “This is Little Wang, the company’s Director of Operations.”
“Hello, my name is Wang ZiNan.” Wang ZiNan stretched his hand out towards Nan Yang.
There wasn’t much of an expression on Nan Yang’s face. She glanced at Wang ZiNan’s hand and bit into her candied strawberry again without moving.
Wang ZiNan’s outstretched hand stayed in the air awkwardly. Seeing how Nan Yang wasn’t going to pay attention to him, he could only dejectedly retract his hand.
Mei Zhongli was watching Wang ZiNan, and with a smile and a joking tone, said, “I’m telling you this early; don’t start having any ideas towards her just because she’s pretty. I’ve already arranged her marriage a long time ago, so if I find out that you’ve bothered her, then you’ll leave the Mei Group the next day, you hear me?”
Wang ZiNan let out an “Ah” of disappointment and sighed in regret.
“Go and eat, quickly, and give me the report by the end of the month.”
“Alright, Chairman Mei.”
Wang ZiNan looked at Nan Yang one more time, reluctant to part, and went to get his meal, crestfallen.
“I’ll take you directly to my office.”
“Okay.”
Mei Zhongli brought Nan Yang to his office on the 12th floor, and explained the company’s current situation to her on the way. No matter how large or small the matter was, he laid it all out, and when they saw this, the employees couldn’t help but turn their heads to the side and eavesdrop for a couple of sentences before they whispered at each other. And Nan Yang didn’t seem very interested; she kept her head down and kept eating the candied strawberries in her hand.
When the door to the office opened, there were two people waiting in there for a while. Mei Zhongli smiled and had Nan Yang go in first; after he entered, he asked the secretary to not let anyone come near the office.
The two familiar backs turned around, and it was Liu Zhen and Sun GuoHui that they’d met not long ago.
Mei Zhongli properly locked the office door behind them. Liu Zhen and Sun GuoHui glanced at the locked door and stepped forward.
Then.
They lowered their heads, and knelt down in front of Nan Yang with the devotion and decorum of a religious believer.
Mei Zhongli also put down his cane and held his unsteady left leg to slowly kneel down in front of Nan Yang.
“Liu Zhen, the 68th generation descendant of Founder Yun Tang, greets Her Eminence.”
“Sun GuoHui, the 65th generation descendant of Founder Bian ZiChen, greets Her Eminence.”
“Welcome back, Your Eminence.”
Mei Zhongli’s forehead was almost at the ground as he said this, reverent and respectful.
If someone accidentally came in right now, they would definitely think that there was something wrong with their eyes, or that they weren’t awake yet. Either way, three successful, elderly businessmen kneeling towards a young woman was really strange as hell.
Nan Yang raised her hand, motioning for them to get up, and found a corner of the sofa to sit down on. With the candy-stained toothpick in her mouth, she said,
“What play were you guys performing before? I was stunned while watching.”
Mei Zhongli replied, “Your last ID card has already expired, so I took the liberty to make you a new one with the identity of being my daughter. It was also to help you return smoothly from Australia and appear less suddenly in front of everyone, so that it’s more convenient for you to use the Mei Group to move around in the future. The ID card this time is still your original name. I didn’t dare to give you my surname, so I let it be spread that you follow your mother’s surname instead. Don’t worry.”
Liu Zhen earnestly said, “Weren’t you always uninterested in managing companies? I said publicly that I wouldn’t let you have any power so that you wouldn’t need to busy yourself with random things in the company.”
“Old Liu was quite considerate,” Sun GuoHui gently said as he smiled. “And we truly don’t want you to waste your time on such mundane things.”
“That’s right.” Mei Zhongli caressed his cane and lamented, “We’re getting old, and must arrange your future path for you. In the past, our ancestors ordered that all future generations of the three honored ones are to protect Your Eminence with all our power, and not a single one of us has dared to forget it. Fortunately Your Eminence has spent these three thousand years peacefully, and although there were ups and downs, we have managed to live up to our ancestors’ instructions.”
Every time they saw her, they couldn’t help but sigh, deeply moved. Just like—when old classmates see each other for the first time in a long time and don’t know what to say at first, they’ll tacitly understand each other and start to lament the gloriousness of youth.
Nan Yang was silent for a moment, then turned her head to look out the window. “...I saw her today.”
Mei Zhongli immediately knew who she was talking about, and couldn’t contain the joy in his eyes. “Did she recognize you?”
Nan Yang’s voice was extremely soft when she replied.
“No.”
“How could that be? Didn’t they say that she’d definitely remember this time?” Mei Zhongli responded in surprise.
“I don’t know either.” Nan Yang gazed at the snow on the windowsill, and her fingertips started to pick at the arm of the sofa. “Maybe...something is still missing.”
“How could that be...this…” Sun GuoHui started to frown and fell silent, deep in thought.
“Your Eminence, there’s no need for you to worry. No matter what, the three of us will find the reason why. Ah right, I arranged a betrothal for you, so you’ll have many opportunities in the future.” Mei Zhongli thought of the Zhu family’s daughter again, and suddenly felt delighted. “I basically watched that young woman grow up, and to make sure that your wait was perfect, I helped give her a name that is the same as your old friend’s. This child’s appearance is beautiful, and her personality gentle; Your Eminence will definitely like her.”
Nan Yang lowered her gaze and said, “...But just now, based on what she said, it was as if she didn’t want to get married to me.”
Mei Zhongli opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, not knowing how to respond.
“She may come to you later to break the engagement.” Nan Yang looked at the snow outside the window again. “If she really doesn’t want this marriage arrangement, don’t force her. If she wants to break it, then let her break it.”
“But, Your Eminence…”
“The course of her life is her own; there’s no need to have hers entangled with mine.” Nan Yang paused for a moment, and her voice became softer as she spoke. “Little Lizi, I know you made this engagement while thinking of me, and I’m very thankful. But nobody expected that she still hasn’t remembered me. Have you ever thought that maybe she already has someone she really likes? What if she doesn’t plan to spend the rest of her life with a woman? If we do things like this, what would she do?”
Mei Zhongli looked at Nan Yang’s eyes, and as she said these words, her eyes were filled with a heart-wrenching forbearance.
In the few decades that he’s known her, he was only able to see a slight, swaying light in her eyes whenever she talked about that person.
“...I understand. This matter...there’s no need for you to pay attention to it. I’ll take care of it.”
Mei Zhongli’s grip on his cane slowly tightened.
Liu Zhen looked at Nan Yang in trepidation, then looked at Mei Zhongli. He somehow felt like this matter was not going to end so easily.
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The author has something to say:
From noble master to grandmaster to Her Eminence, Nan Yang
Nan Yang: I’m old. [Looks towards the sky]