"Brother Chen, why is it you? Why did you call me today... Ah, dinner, I don't have time, I need to study, I have homework to finish today, so I won't go. You guys go ahead and eat!"
"Old Liu, why are you calling me? Dinner? No, I really have a lot of homework, and my current position isn't suitable. I'm already in the process of stepping down to a secondary position."
"Director Dong..."
Old Wang looked at his phone, utterly bewildered. In less than ten minutes, he had received over five calls, all from old friends, former superiors, and even board members he never had close contact with due to his previous rank. To his surprise, all of them were inviting him to dinner. Even a fool like Old Wang could tell that something unusual was happening. He also understood that he absolutely had to attend these dinners, otherwise, his chances of a comeback would be completely gone.
Thus, Old Wang left the school gate precisely on time, intending to hail a taxi to the hotel. Just then, an unpretentious Audi pulled up in front of him. The car window rolled down, revealing He Lan, Old Wang's former superior, who now held a position at the central bank.
"Brother Chen, why are you picking me up!" Old Wang exclaimed, flattered. Since arriving in Beijing, this was the first time someone had personally come to pick him up.
"Alright, hurry up and get in. I never remembered you being so hesitant!" Brother Chen said quickly. Old Wang, still in a daze, got into the car, was led into a private room, and found himself inexplicably seated at a table with food and drinks.
The dishes looked quite good, but to Old Wang, they tasted like wax. He felt extremely uncomfortable. The private room was filled with over a dozen people, all of whom were Old Wang's superiors, including three board members who were previously figures he could only dream of interacting with. Yet, here they were, enthusiastically toasting him and pressing him to drink. Soon, Old Wang's face was flushed.
"Leaders, my esteemed leaders, please stop pouring me drinks, I really can't drink anymore. If I drink any more, I'll be sleeping in the restroom!" Old Wang said, standing up with a wry smile after having consumed two bottles of baijiu. "Let's get straight to the point. What do you need me, Old Wang, to do? I'll do it with my life, alright?"
"Well said!" The leaders' faces immediately lit up. Then, Brother Chen spoke, detailing the dire situation GH was facing. He spoke with such emotion, tears and snot streaming down his face, as if GH was on the verge of bankruptcy the very next day.
"Brother Chen, and all the other leaders, I understand what you mean. I can call Boss Huang right now, but I don't know if my call will be effective. After all, we really hurt Old Huang badly this time. If we're honest with ourselves, was what we did something a human being would do?"
"Even a traitor wouldn't do something like this!" Old Wang was truly drunk, and the word "traitor" slipped out of his mouth.
"We had no knowledge of these matters. It was all the chairman's unilateral decision. He didn't go through us at all; we were kept in the dark!" A board member said angrily. The others also began to express their indignation.
What they said was half true and half false. It was true that they initially had no knowledge of these matters; it was all the chairman's autocratic decision, carried out by his loyal subordinates. They were indeed kept in the dark at first. The false part was that these matters weren't concealed for long, nor could they have been, otherwise, they wouldn't have deserved their positions. However, they hadn't intervened in any way, merely acting as passive bystanders, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, nor obstructing, content with the idea of staying out of it, or perhaps hoping the chairman would become the head of the World Bank so they could be promoted one by one. Who could have imagined that things would turn out this way, and GH itself would face its greatest crisis ever? Therefore, they were undoubtedly innocent bystanders kept in the dark.
"Very well, I will go and explain to Boss Huang. As for whether it will be successful, I truly cannot guarantee anything!" Old Wang said, and then he left the private room to make the call in the restroom.
Inside the private room, the leaders looked towards the restroom door with a mixture of anticipation and fear. After a considerable amount of time, Old Wang emerged from the restroom and announced, "Boss Huang has agreed. He will remain with our bank!"
Upon hearing this, many breathed a sigh of relief. However, Old Wang continued, "But esteemed leaders, to be frank, Boss Huang has been truly frightened by what happened this time. Therefore, to prevent similar incidents from happening again, he wishes to have someone he trusts in an important position within our bank, so he can feel at ease!"
"Good heavens, this 'someone he trusts' must be you!" all the leaders thought in unison, but not a single one dared to object. It seemed that to appease Huang He, Old Wang was about to soar to great heights!
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"Brother-in-law, don't you still have over 8 billion US dollars? Why make things so complicated!" Leng Zhiwen asked curiously while eating an apple. "We could have just transferred the 8 billion US dollars to the account and shocked those snobbish people!"
It was rare for her to visit Huang He, and she happened to catch him during a phone call, so she began to offer her whimsical ideas.
"This money is our trump card. It absolutely cannot be revealed unless it's a last resort. If a problem can be solved with wisdom, then it's better to use wisdom. Only when wisdom fails can we resort to this money!" Huang He grinned. "Besides, I'm counting on this 8 billion US dollars to continue generating more money. If it enters GH's account, this money will be monitored, and its use will be less flexible."
"And don't you think the outcome this time is excellent? Without spending a single cent, I've successfully secured a 200 million US dollar order for Jiangnan Guangdian, and it's also been a tremendous advertisement for our storage chips. Many foreign companies now know that we possess the world's best storage chips!"
"Furthermore, Samsung and HP Compaq are now at odds, Kingston's stock has plummeted, and those two banks... well, we'll find ways to deal with them later. In any case, those five are not going to have an easy time from now on."
"Finally, there's a dignified chairman who has to retire several years ahead of schedule, with his benefits reduced to freezing point, and his reputation completely ruined, burdened with the stigma of a traitor."
"Considering all these things together, don't you think it's more satisfying than simply showing off with 8 billion US dollars?" Huang He asked with a smile.
"Hmph, I don't think so. It's more satisfying to just flaunt 8 billion US dollars directly. Today's television audiences love these simple and brainless displays of power, you understand?" Leng Zhiwen said.
"Where did you get these ideas?" Huang He asked, somewhat surprised.
"Of course, from our Jiangnan Literary Network!" Leng Zhiwen said proudly. "Whenever I have free time, I go to those websites to read web novels. I've found that some readers are truly talented, and their comments are so interesting, more so than reading the novels themselves!"
"..." Huang He didn't know how to respond.
"By the way, brother-in-law, why did you agree to Old Wang's request? I think we should just switch to another bank and stop cooperating with these disgusting people at GH!"
"That's naturally because staying at GH is much better than going to another bank!" Huang He said with a smile.
"Why?" Leng Zhiwen asked, confused.
"It's simple logic. Do you think I'll receive more gratitude by bringing the entire Jiangnan Group to another bank, or by putting aside past grievances and continuing to stay at GH to help them stabilize the situation?" Huang He countered, and Leng Zhiwen stuck out her tongue.
"Moreover, if I go to another bank, I won't be able to establish such a strong relationship with Old Wang. Plus, I can use this opportunity to help Old Wang ascend directly to a high-level position in GH, and then use this to further promote cooperation between the bank and Jiangnan Wallet to develop payment services. This is an opportunity that can't be found even with a lantern. How could I give it up!" Huang He said with a smile.
"The grievances I suffered at GH this time must be compensated for and reclaimed from GH. Otherwise, if I go to another bank, I'll never get this compensation!"
"Alright, I can't figure out what you smart people are thinking. I'd rather comfortably continue being a little actress!" Leng Zhiwen shrugged. "It's just a pity that I just finished playing Li Xiaoyao, and now I have to play another male character. Brother-in-law, you promised me, this is the last male role I'll ever play!"
"Don't worry, what brother-in-law says is true!" Huang He vowed solemnly. Leng Zhiwen was currently filming the movie "Journey to the West". Although it was a movie, its shooting duration was even longer than a TV series. Especially the motion capture acting that required coordination with special effects made Leng Zhiwen quite arduous. Sometimes, a single shot would take 3-5 days to complete, which greatly worried many supporting actors, as the extended shooting schedule would affect their other projects.
However, Huang He, the big boss, had given the instruction that he didn't want speed, he wanted absolute quality, absolute special effects blockbusters. If the time extended, he would personally subsidize the film crew's wages. It was precisely thanks to Huang He's attitude that the film's production quality was very high. Huang He had already seen nearly 10 minutes of footage, with about two minutes of it featuring completed special effects. Seeing this footage, Huang He, who had returned from 2021, couldn't help but lament that even the special effects in Chinese films in 2021 couldn't reach the level of this movie. It was truly embarrassing.