Who would dare to use their power and status to protect whom?
Wan Yun back then... serves as a cautionary tale!
After the meeting, Li Ruiqing went to Li Ruiyu's house. The two brothers sighed for a long time in the study and finally decided that Li Ruiqing should call Xu Zhengyang. After all, so many things had happened in the past few months. It would be too outrageous to let Xu Zhengyang keep causing trouble.
When Xu Zhengyang received Li Ruiqing's call, he was inspecting the work at the headquarters of "Zhengyang International Logistics Group" in Fuhe City.
Currently, the headquarters of Zhengyang International Logistics Group is temporarily located on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th floors of Ronghua Group Building.
The headquarters building of "Zhengyang International Logistics Group" is currently under construction in Haizhu City in the south, and is expected to be completed and occupied by the end of the year after next.
Wu Juan, Zhan Xiaohui, Deng Wenjing, and Xu Rouyue accompanied Xu Zhengyang as they walked through the company premises. They introduced the various branches within the company, the number of branch offices currently being developed externally, the countries and cities the company could reach for freight, and the planned expansion projects, among other things.
Hearing his phone ring, Xu Zhengyang took it out, glanced at it, then turned to the group with a somewhat apologetic smile and nod. He then took a couple of steps to the side and pressed the answer button.
"Second Uncle, is something the matter?"
"Zhengyang, is now a good time? There are some things I'd like to discuss with you." Li Ruiqing's voice was calm, as if it were nothing serious.
However, Xu Zhengyang didn't really think that nothing serious had happened to him. Why would Li Ruiqing, such a busy man, call him for no reason? So Xu Zhengyang smiled and said, "Then I'll call you back in a bit."
"good."
After hanging up, Xu Zhengyang smiled and walked up to the four people, saying, "Can I borrow one of your offices to make a phone call?"
"Let's go to my office," Xu Rouyue said with a smile.
The other three naturally didn't say anything. Xu Zhengyang smiled and walked towards the elevator with his sister.
Upon reaching the next floor and stepping out of the elevator, Xu Zhengyang encountered a young man hurrying along. The young man appeared to be a year or two older than Xu Zhengyang. Upon seeing Xu Zhengyang and Xu Rouyue, the man paused slightly, then smiled and asked Xu Rouyue, "Rouyue, who is this?"
"Ah. He's my brother." Xu Rouyue's cheeks flushed slightly, as if she were a little nervous.
"Ah, it's the chairman. I've met you once before, but it's been years since we last met, so I didn't dare to recognize you." The young man extended his hand and introduced himself in a generous manner: "Chairman, hello, my name is Xue Ziyi, and I currently work in the company's information department."
Xu Zhengyang paused for a moment, then remembered who the young man in front of him was. He extended his hand to shake the other's and smiled, "I remember you, Xue Ziyi. Hmm, not bad, a moderator on the Fuhe City Information Port Forum, right?"
"Chairman, how did you know?" Xue Ziyi was taken aback. "That happened several years ago."
"Hehe, let's talk again when we have time. I have some things to do." Xu Zhengyang smiled, but didn't answer. He waved his hand, signaling Xue Ziyi to go about her business, and then walked to the office with his sister.
Xue Ziyi stood there, thinking hard, but couldn't remember what had happened.
Xu Rouyue secretly took a half step down and glanced at Xue Ziyi.
However, Xu Rouyue's little action did not escape Xu Zhengyang's notice. He suddenly wondered if his sister and Xue Ziyi had something going on. As soon as this thought popped into his head, Xu Zhengyang immediately put it aside and stopped thinking about it.
His younger sister is growing up, and it's inevitable that she'll fall in love. As her older brother, he can't very well use his divine sense to secretly spy on her thoughts.
Upon entering the office, Xu Rouyue poured her brother a glass of water and then left, not wanting to disturb his phone call. She knew her brother's identity was extraordinary; since he needed to find a secluded place to make the call, it must be something important that couldn't be known by others.
Xu Zhengyang walked behind his desk and sat down, then dialed Li Ruiqing's number:
"Second Uncle, what is it?"
"Oh, I see." Li Ruiqing considered for a moment and said, "We've done pretty much everything over the past few months, and the impact has been quite significant... On your end, shouldn't you take a break? Everyone needs time to process this, no matter the level. It's really hard to adapt if things continue like this."
Xu Zhengyang paused for a moment, then realized what Li Ruiqing was referring to, and said, "Second Uncle, I usually delegate this matter to my subordinates. As you know, I rarely get involved in these things... So, once the rules are set, it's probably not good to change them."
“What I mean is, slow down a bit, don’t go too fast,” Li Ruiqing added.
"Second Uncle, you don't need to worry too much about this matter." Xu Zhengyang thought for a moment and said, "To tell you the truth, these matters are currently being handled entirely by... the old man. I think he knows what he's doing, don't you think?"
Li Ruiqing was stunned on the other end of the phone.
Is the old man taking care of it?
So, it seems there's really no need to worry too much about this. To put it bluntly, the old man considers things far more thoroughly than anyone else; he couldn't possibly have been unaware of this situation, and he certainly foresaw the outcome as well.
"Well, in short, we still need to be mindful of limits. Let's keep in touch and discuss things more often," Li Ruiqing said, nodding in agreement.
"Okay, contact me anytime if you need anything," Xu Zhengyang said with a smile.
After hanging up, Li Ruiqing looked at Li Ruiyu with a wry smile and shook his head helplessly.
Li Ruiyu frowned and said, "Zhengyang doesn't agree?"
“It’s not that Zheng Yang disagrees, but…” Li Ruiqing said with a wry smile, “Brother, do you know who is in charge of the relevant matters on Xu Zheng Yang’s side right now?”
Li Ruiyu shook his head.
"Old man..."
"Huh?" Li Ruiyu was stunned.
After a long pause, Li Ruiyu said, "The old man once said that our current positions are the highest we can go, and we shouldn't move up. If we go any higher, we'd be incompetent. He was absolutely right."
"Yes." Li Ruiqing sighed, thinking to himself, no wonder that in the previous meeting, after thinking for a while, the leader directly and resolutely demanded that the crackdown continue without any mercy.
Those who truly reach that position do not do so through luck. They must be superior to others in every aspect, including intellect and courage.
...
After speaking with Li Ruiqing on the phone, Xu Zhengyang got up and walked out. This was no small matter, but Xu Zhengyang didn't want to pay too much attention to it.
The reason is simple: if he were to get involved in such matters, every single incident would infuriate him. He might lose his temper and immediately disregard all rules, personally taking action to deal with a few scoundrels to vent his anger.
But then I think about the news I've been seeing lately, how another official has fallen from grace here, and how many people have been implicated there.
Xu Zhengyang couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. Sigh, how could he not retaliate?
With such a severe and thorough crackdown, shouldn't the world be largely restored to peace within two years? At the very least, it will be a deterrent!
This is different from previous anti-corruption campaigns. With the gods and ghost messengers of the three capitals and six prefectures under the Heavenly Court investigating, cases will be uncovered one after another. Once a case is caught, there will be no way for a single person to escape.
Who wouldn't be afraid?
Recalling the words Ouyang Ying had excitedly mentioned when he casually browsed the recent work situation in the Heavenly Court that day, Xu Zhengyang felt very relieved. He had often been complained about and misunderstood for his actions, and had hesitated before, after all, he had deviated from part of the Heavenly Way. The intervention of gods in the affairs of mortals was a double-edged sword that had both advantages and disadvantages for mankind.
That day, Ouyang Ying said, "Brother, oh no, sir... lately, every time we take down a criminal gang or bring down a few corrupt officials who abuse their power and wreak havoc on the area, many local people are grateful that Heaven has eyes and that justice prevails..."
Even Ouyang Ying, a deity who had only recently begun her work as a deity, was so excited.
Moreover, Xu Zhengyang felt even more relieved, and suddenly felt that everything he had done was worthwhile!
Xu Rouyue and Deng Wenjing were waiting for Xu Zhengyang outside, but Wu Juan and Zhan Xiaohui did not come up to this floor. Xu Zhengyang was not surprised, after all, as senior managers in the company, they still had many things to deal with.
Accompanied by the two, they toured the third floor again. After listening to Xu Rouyue's brief account, Xu Zhengyang smiled and said, "That's good. If the company encounters any difficulties, just remember to let me know."
Deng Wenjing smiled and said, "What difficulties could there be? The company has sufficient funds and a full complement of personnel. As for expanding our business, we can't trouble you any further, sir."
Xu Zhengyang smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Go ahead and get busy. You don't need to keep following me. It won't do if you delay your work."
"Alright, I'll be going now. Please let us know when you leave, sir, so we can see you off." Deng Wenjing bowed and turned to leave.
Xu Zhengyang checked the time; it wasn't even 11:30 a.m. yet. He decided to go to his sister's office with her, saying, "I'll treat them to lunch. They don't come to the company often, so it'll be a bother for them."
"Yes, brother, you're really good at being a hands-off manager!" Xu Rouyue said with a smile, linking her arm with her brother's.
Xu Zhengyang laughed heartily, but in his heart he was thinking, "I, the hands-off boss, have just as many things to think about every day as you do."
After entering the office and exchanging a few casual words, Xu Rouyue suddenly said, "Brother, I want to ask you something..."
"Hmm?" Xu Zhengyang raised his eyelids and smiled, "Speak, what is it?"
"Let's make this clear first, you're not allowed to overthink it," Xu Rouyue said, her face slightly flushed.
"Hehe, okay, I promise you, go ahead and say it." Xu Zhengyang agreed cheerfully.
Xu Rouyue hesitated for a moment before asking, "Do you know Xue Ziyi?"
"Well, I guess so. We met once, and a few years ago when I had just learned to use the internet, we had some exchanges on the forum of the Fuhe City Information Port, but he doesn't know about that," Xu Zhengyang said with a smile.
"So, what do you think of him as a person?" Xu Rouyue asked, her pretty face flushing even more.
This is practically a clear indication that they've given themselves away without being asked.
Xu Zhengyang sighed inwardly, but he wasn't really angry. After all, his younger sister was already a 26-year-old young woman who had never been in a relationship. In today's society, a beautiful young woman like her who had never been in a relationship at 26 was practically an anomaly.
"What? Are you in a relationship?" Xu Zhengyang asked with a smile.
"What? I told you not to think like that." Xu Rouyue blushed even more and said coquettishly.
"Alright, alright, I won't overthink it." Xu Zhengyang smiled and said, "A few years ago, Xue Ziyi was a good person with decent character. His family background was average, you could call him an ordinary person... But I don't know what he's like now."
"Oh," Xu Rouyue responded softly.
Xu Zhengyang asked again, "Did he pursue you? Or do you have feelings for him?"
"He...he's been very good to me..." Xu Rouyue blushed and honestly admitted it indirectly.
"Have you two officially started dating?" Xu Zhengyang's expression remained smiling, but his tone became more serious.
"I...I haven't agreed to him yet." Xu Rouyue's voice was so soft it was barely audible.
Xu Zhengyang nodded, closed his eyes, and quickly used his divine sense to retrieve Xue Ziyi's life and character over the past few years through the Nine Provinces Record. After a quick glance, he used his divine sense to go to Xue Ziyi's office and directly probe into Xue Ziyi's mind.
Since it concerns his younger sister, Xu Zhengyang naturally had to treat it as a serious matter!
Xu Rouyue watched as her brother closed his eyes, seemingly deep in thought, and her heart began to pound with anxiety. Her dependence and trust in her brother were tinged with a hint of fear. Her mind was in turmoil, filled with apprehension and unease. She feared her brother might disagree, or that he might discover Xue Ziyi's past misdeeds or ill intentions…
About twenty minutes later, Xu Zhengyang opened his eyes and sighed.
Xu Rouyue was startled, and tears welled up in her eyes.
"She's a nice person... just a bit stubborn and prone to being a pushover..." Xu Zhengyang smiled, reached out and ruffled his sister's hair, and said, "She's fine."
“Brother…” Xu Rouyue straightened up and shook her head, feeling both ashamed and angry. She was angry that her brother had sighed just now, which had almost made her heart jump out of her throat.
Xu Zhengyang smiled, glanced at his watch, and said, "Alright, it's almost twelve o'clock. Let's go downstairs for a meal."
"Mmm." Xu Rouyue's face was flushed, but she was in an extremely good mood, pursing her lips and beaming with joy.
As he reached the door, Xu Zhengyang turned back and said, "Oh, right, call that kid over."
"Huh?" Xu Rouyue was taken aback and said, "Isn't this... not a good idea?"
"What's wrong with that?" Xu Zhengyang said nonchalantly, "I need to teach him a lesson, give him a heads-up, so he won't dare to bully my sister in the future..."
Xu Rouyue's pretty face flushed red like a ripe apple, and she playfully punched her brother.
However, she was secretly overjoyed, but also a little nervous. How should she tell Xue Ziyi? After all, she hadn't agreed to his proposal yet.
Just as they hesitated and reached the elevator, the elevator doors opened, and Zhan Xiaohui and Wu Juan hurriedly stepped out with tense expressions.
Upon seeing Xu Zhengyang, Wu Juan's expression calmed down slightly. Suppressing her anxiety, she said calmly, "Chairman, something has happened at the company."
"Hmm?" Xu Zhengyang glanced at Zhan Xiaohui, then turned his gaze to Wu Juan and asked, "What is it?"