Chapter 3
Edward Quan ·
12
The door slammed shut.
Su He was still crying and patting Fu Huaichuan’s back, looking utterly helpless.
I folded my arms.
“You’ve ruined tonight’s dinner, Mr. Fu. And the Hongjie deal with it.”
She shrieked at once.
“How dare you speak to him like that? He’s this ill, and you’re still making spiteful remarks!”
“Is your heart made of stone?”
Fu Huaichuan looked at me with fury and disappointment.
“I never knew you were so cold, Lin Jiao.”
“Do you think about anything besides projects and contracts?”
I almost laughed.
If someone this stupid and irresponsible could keep the chief executive’s chair, I was the one who deserved to sit in it.
I picked up my bag and reached for the door.
Behind me came a heavy thud.
Fu Huaichuan had collapsed.
13
Su He screamed and rushed to him.
“Mr. Fu! Don’t scare me!”
“I’ll… I’ll carry you to hospital!”
Gritting her teeth, she struggled to haul him upright.
She had barely lifted his upper body when she slipped.
“Ah!”
Her hands opened instinctively.
His head struck the floor with a thump that hurt just to hear.
She fell, too, and sat on the floor, covering her face and sobbing.
“What do I do? What do I do?”
I looked at the unconscious man. A large swelling was already rising on his forehead.
For a moment, I closed my eyes.
For the sake of our two years together, I called 120.
14
The ambulance came quickly.
At the hospital, the emergency doctor frowned over his test results.
“Acute gastric injury with a drug reaction. What did he eat tonight?”
Su He jumped in, still sounding rather proud.
“My stomach-soothing porridge! I added astragalus, codonopsis, Chinese angelica, coptis, aconite root…”
The doctor adjusted her glasses.
“These herbs are incompatible. He’s been poisoned by a drug interaction.”
“What nonsense!”
Su He flushed and raised her voice.
“What do you know about traditional medicine? I made it for his own good! You don’t understand—”
“I know how to read a test report,” the doctor cut in coldly. “If he drinks this porridge again, he may go straight to intensive care.”
Su He choked on her reply.
Eyes red, she stamped her foot, gathered her son, and fled.
At last, the ward was quiet.
Fu Huaichuan opened his eyes. His forehead was swollen, his voice hoarse.
“Where’s Su He?”
“She left.”
I stood beside his bed.
“Fu Huaichuan. We’re finished.”
His expression darkened.
“You don’t need to be jealous. There’s nothing between Su He and me.”
I bent slightly and met his eyes.
“You think far too highly of yourself.”
“I’m not leaving because I’m jealous. I’ve had enough of your stupidity.”
“And your job?”
“From now on, it’s mine.”
I left the ward and immediately called Chairman Li.
“I propose an emergency online shareholders’ meeting.”
15
The meeting began at ten.
I went straight to the point, sharing three items on the screen: the restaurant’s surveillance footage, the emergency report on his poisoning, and the recordings and messages proving that Fu Huaichuan had unilaterally tried to cancel the Hongjie dinner.
“Mr. Fu repeatedly refused to attend today’s meeting with President Zhao.”
“After I requested Chairman Li’s help, he brought Su He and her six-year-old son into the private dining room and allowed her to criticize our client to his face.”
“He then vomited at dinner after drinking the porridge she had mixed up herself.”
“President Zhao left. The Hongjie project, worth almost two hundred million and forty percent of our revenue, is on the brink of collapse.”
Silence filled the meeting.
After a few seconds, Chairman Li spoke.
“Huaichuan has made a serious mistake. But he laid the company’s technical foundations.”
“Su He must be dismissed immediately. As for Huaichuan… let him keep his post while we review his conduct.”
I wasn’t surprised.
Chairman Li was Fu Huaichuan’s senior from the same academic program. I had expected him to protect him.
“If he’s responsible for our core technology,” I said evenly, “basic judgment is all the more essential.”
“This goes beyond personal embarrassment. He’s jeopardized our reputation with our largest client.”
“I propose that I serve as acting CEO. Within a week, I’ll visit Hongjie, apologize to President Zhao in person, and win back the contract.”
“If I fail, I’ll resign.”
Another long silence.
Then Chairman Li sighed.
“Put it to a vote.”
Fifteen minutes later, the result appeared.
More than eighty percent in favor.
Starting tomorrow, I would be acting CEO, with full authority to recover the Hongjie project.
Fu Huaichuan was removed. Su He was dismissed.
By the book.