"Don't give me that!" Chu Zhoutong lost interest in joking with Chu Mu and slammed his hand on the table seriously. "Who was it that told me last time they weren't coming back? Your mother has come to me so many times, and I've been humiliating myself in front of her for your sake. And now, you want to go back on your own? Chu Mu, you handled the tourist matter very well this time. Even the higher-ups approved a commendation for you. Bringing this up at a time like this, you're ruining your own future, do you know that?"
Chu Mu gathered the materials on the table and put them in the drawer before casually sitting down opposite Chu Zhoutong. "You've been in this industry for at least thirty years. You know better than I whether I've ruined my career. It was just a few years earlier, this position..." The handsome, arrogant man pointed to the chair behind the desk, his tone light, "...it probably doesn't matter who you put here, why bother having me collect achievements?"
Chu Zhoutong was so angry that he felt a lump in his throat from the young man's retort. The uncle and nephew sat on the large sofa, looking at each other, neither willing to look away first. After a long while, perhaps Chu Zhoutong was getting old, or perhaps he was simply letting out a long sigh with a hint of regret in his eyes. His tone was no longer businesslike, but rather carried the helpless air of a patriarch. "You, you... you're good in every way, except you're not ruthless enough, you can't bring yourself to do it. If you had held on for another three or five years, this chair of mine... sigh."
Chu Mu added some hot water to Chu Zhoutong's teacup, his expression becoming serious. "It's all the same."
Where can anything be the same? Public officials who return after serving a certain period will inevitably be promoted. This is an unchanging truth, whether in the business world or the world of the powerful.
Chu Zhoutong took out a stack of applications, neither too thick nor too thin, from his gray jacket that was lying to the side, and slowly put on his reading glasses to look at them. "After you submitted them to the department, they were reported to me the next day. They didn't dare to process them, and ultimately thought it was a family matter."
"But you'd better explain yourself clearly. Why are you being transferred back? Is it because of that girl who came to Germany with you? And what about the two of you...?"
Chu Mu shook his head with a slight smile. "What does it have to do with her?"
Chu Zhoutong breathed a sigh of relief. "Then what was it for? At first, I thought you submitted it because you were unhappy, so I didn't take it seriously. It wasn't until you called me yesterday that I realized it was quite serious, so I came to ask you in advance. Even if you want me to approve it, you have to explain it clearly."
Yes, for what reason... Chu Mu also wanted to ask himself why he submitted the transfer application as if he had gone mad.
It was shortly after he returned to Germany. After Shu Yi'an called him that afternoon, he suddenly had this thought while looking out the window at a mother walking down the street with her son. Since returning to Germany, he had thought of that woman several times a day. He remembered her sleeping on the sofa in the Lake Garden villa waiting for him, remembered her pouting and ignoring him, remembered her lying pitifully in the hospital bed but still forcing a smile and telling him not to apologize.
Thinking of so many images of Shu Yi'an, Chu Mu's mind was filled with the reluctance he didn't want to admit.
So, on that sunny afternoon, Chu Mu submitted his first transfer report since taking office. That's why he told Shu Yi'an, who had come to France, to go back together at the end of the month, because that would be his last month in Germany, and if they went back together, he might never return.
It's a real shame that his transfer application was rejected shortly after the department dared not approve it. Just then, the two were arguing, so Chu Mu thought angrily, "She doesn't appreciate it anyway, so why should I go back under pressure? Forget it..."
It wasn't until he saw the file again that Chu Mu truly felt how much he owed and failed Shu Yi'an. He thought that he should at least leave this place to truly overcome the hurdle in his heart.
“I’m already thirty years old. If I don’t go back soon, my son will start to worry.”
Chu Zhoutong's hand trembled slightly as he held the application, then he grinned happily. "Is that really the reason? If it's truly for your wife and my grandson, I'll approve your resignation, let alone a transfer!"
Chu Mu watched with a sinister look as Chu Zhoutong signed his name without hesitation, thinking to himself, "Shu Yi'an, you really are something else... Look, apart from me not cherishing you enough, everyone else is willing to sacrifice me for you."
Author's Note: Aren't Chu Mu and Chu Zhou, this pair of highly intelligent uncle and nephew, hilarious?!
Chapter 21
Shu Yi'an went to the company to resign the next morning. When she got up, she stared blankly at the clothes in the dressing room for a long time. After thinking it over, she still chose the clothes she wore most often.
The company starts work at 8:30 in the morning. At 9:00, Shu Yi'an stood under the tall building and couldn't help but feel a little sad. She had been here for two whole years since graduating. Although she hadn't felt much joy, she hadn't felt much hatred either. Although the Brian incident had left a heavy shadow on her, it was only about that one person. Now that she was about to leave, that feeling of loss was slowly spreading from the bottom of her heart.
As soon as Shu Yi'an entered the cubicle, the quiet atmosphere in the office was broken. Everyone stopped what they were doing and whispered among themselves as they looked at her.
Xiao Ke's secretary, carrying a folder, walked calmly towards her, as if she had been waiting for a long time. "Hello, Ms. Shu."
Shu Yi'an stopped and nodded back to her, "Hello, Vivian."
"Mr. Xiao instructed that you are here today to process your resignation. Please follow me this way."
The personnel department was on the floor above the cubicles. As Vivian and Shu Yi'an entered the elevator, the men and women in the cubicles suddenly became noisy.
"Hey, did you hear? The French headquarters is furious. Brian has really been taken to the police station, and what about Han Yi from our company and his... well, that one."
"Han Yi? Wasn't she doing it voluntarily? This has been known throughout the company for a while now..."
"The official announcement from them led to the investigation of all relevant personnel in our company. I guess Brian suffered a loss with Shu Yi'an."
"Sigh... But speaking of which, what kind of background does Comrade Yi'an have? How could he handle the French?"
“Didn’t you see her husband last time? Think about it, this is what a husband is. Her parents and in-laws might not even have this much!” A male colleague holding a water glass pointed with his thumb.
"Alright, alright, let's get to work. We don't have that kind of luck."
"Yes, yes, everyone, let's all disperse."
The resignation process was very simple; after confirmation, it involved signing a series of termination of employment contracts. Because it was a foreign company, they had very strict requirements for their employees, usually with a two-year contract system. Shu Yi'an's contract was due to expire in a month and a half.
Vivian pointed to a clause on the A4 paper and explained, "President Xiao said he wouldn't pursue the breach of contract fees you would have to pay for leaving early. Once you sign this, all that's left is for the executor to sign. You can go in by yourself in a bit."
Following the direction Vivian pointed, Shu Yi'an saw the nameplate with the words "Executive President" shining brightly on the door at the end of the corridor.
Xiao Ke sat in his office early, even earlier than he usually arrived. Only after hearing three clear, slow knocks did the tension in his mind begin to ease slightly.
"Please come in."
Shu Yi'an was wearing a pale yellow top and light gray jeans. Unlike her previous professional attire, she looked much younger, like a student who had just graduated from school.
Shaw raised his eyelids and glanced at her impassively, then pointed to the row of sofas below the window. "Sit down."
"Thank you, Mr. Xiao." After settling properly on the sofa, Shu Yi'an handed him the resignation agreement that was waiting for Xiao Ke's signature. "This is my resignation paperwork."
The previous phone call had already left Shu Yi'an with some resentment towards Xiao Ke, so it was inevitable that she would feel a little awkward when they met again.
Xiao Ke glanced at the consent form she pushed towards him, then suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question in a deep voice, "Shu Yi'an, do you feel good about yourself?"
Startled, Shu Yi'an looked up and met Xiao Ke's deep eyes. She didn't flinch, and answered him in a clear, gentle voice, "Why do you ask, Mr. Xiao? I'm fine."
After hearing this, Xiao Ke chuckled, half-mocking and half-self-deprecating, then stood up and walked to the window, his voice carrying a hint of helplessness. "Shu Yi'an, if I had met you earlier, you definitely wouldn't have given such an answer."
Shu Yi'an watched Xiao Ke's retreating figure, her heart sinking even lower.
She paused for a moment, because the thing she feared most had happened.
Xiao Ke knew Shu Yi'an was smart, and since things had already come to this point, there was no need to hide anything anymore. Looking down at the bustling crowd below, he began to express the heaviest emotions he had kept hidden in his heart.
“I never thought you would get married. It was only when I saw your husband after leaving the hotel that I realized that some things just don’t go as you expect. You love him very much, I can see it in your eyes, but Shu Yi’an, a happy woman shouldn’t be like this. In front of her lover, she should be arrogant, even domineering.”