In the skylight swimming pool on the top floor of the Bomanjia Building, the morning light filtered in from all directions, turning the water surface light blue. Xiang Mingzhang swam two thousand meters. In the last half of the swim, a familiar figure walked onto the shore.
After reaching the finish line, Xiang Mingzhang came out of the swimming pool, his muscles dripping with water.
After Xu Liao’s last phone call, he stayed one more day and rushed back from Ningbo last night. He came to report in person early in the morning. He handed over a towel and said, “Mr. Xiang, there is new progress.”
Xiang Mingzhang took the towel and draped it over his shoulders, then walked to the rest area. There was a breakfast on the table, and next to it was a folder brought by Xu Liao.
Xiang Mingzhang opened the file, pulled out the information inside, and said, "You've worked hard, have something to eat."
Xu Liao picked up his knife and fork, and said as he ate, "The price of that cemetery is one of the highest in Ningbo, which means the Yao family is well off. I investigated based on this idea and locked on the target."
Xiang Mingzhang looked through it carefully. The Yao family's ancestral home was in Ningbo. They had been wealthy for three generations, so it was estimated that their ancestors had some wealth.
After the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy, the Yao family followed the trend of the times and founded a trading company. The business was doing well, and later the family moved to Hangzhou.
The founder of Yaojia Company is Yao Zheng, a lady over 70 years old.
Over the years, Yao Zheng has been funding the relocation and care of Shen Zuorun's tomb. Every year on Qingming Festival, she would make a special trip back to Ningbo to pay homage.
Xiang Mingzhang asked: "Are the Yao family and the Shen family relatives?"
Xu Liao said: "We have not found any connection. It is unlikely that they are relatives. Maybe they are old friends or close friends."
During the war-torn times, many people could not even take care of their closest relatives. To be able to persist for decades in taking care of the affairs of an outsider after his death, the friendship between the two parties must be quite deep.
Xiang Mingzhang turned a page and saw information about a temple. He was a little surprised: "What is this?"
Xu Liao was not sure whether it would be useful, and said: "I also found out that this is a local temple in Ningbo. It was originally unknown. Ms. Yao donated a large sum of money to help renovate it. Every Qingming Festival, in addition to worshiping Shen Zuorun, she also goes to the temple to burn incense."
Xiang Mingzhang asked, "Ms. Yao believes in Buddhism?"
Time was tight, so Xu Liao only hurriedly inquired a few words in the temple and said: "She offered a tablet to a deceased monk, mainly to worship that person."
Xiang Mingzhang stared at the information of the monk, whose Buddhist name was "Wangqiu" and who died in 1969.
It was a long time ago and no more content could be found. Xiang Mingzhang calculated the time and found that this monk was a few years older than Shen Zuorun and had lived in the same era.
Maybe the two knew each other
Xiang Mingzhang returned to his apartment and changed his clothes. Unconsciously, he was wearing a serious black suit. He opened the watch cabinet, which displayed more than a dozen expensive watches. The plain silver pocket watch was placed in the center compartment.
"Swastika" pattern, Buddhism.
Xiang Mingzhang was shocked. Could the monk be related to the pocket watch
Can the originally broken clues be connected with this information
Chu Shichen said that he was influenced by his elders who believed in Buddhism... Could it be this monk with the Buddhist name "Wangqiu"
Xiang Mingzhang denied it immediately. He was probably out of his mind. "Wangqiu" passed away in 1969, and Chu Shichen is only twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old now. It is impossible for the two of them to have any intersection.
Downstairs of Bomanjia Apartment, Xu Liao's SUV was parked on the side of the road. After Xiang Mingzhang got out and got in, he started the engine and asked, "Mr. Xiang, are we going to the company?"
Xiang Mingzhang made a prompt decision and said, "Go to Old Xiang Yue."
The Yao family runs a trading company, which is also well-known. If you rashly contact them in your personal name, you may arouse the other party's vigilance. Old Xiang Yue started out as a trader, and his business covers both domestic and foreign countries, so it is much easier to get in touch with them.
In any case, Shen Zuorun's tomb has been found. As long as we contact the Yao family, especially Yao Zheng, we will definitely be able to learn something about the Shen family.
When they arrived at the old Xiang Yue's headquarters, Xiang Mingzhang said before getting off the car: "You just need to know what we found."
Xu Liao had helped Xiang Mingzhang with many things, but this time he was confused. He didn't know why he was investigating a banker from the last century, but he didn't say much and said, "I understand."
Xiang Mingzhang said with relief: "The brandy is good, I'll thank you another day."
After getting off the car, Xiang Mingzhang took out his mobile phone and sent a WeChat message to Chu Shichen.
In the president's secretary's office, Chu Shichen read the message and issued a temporary notice in the system, postponing the morning meeting to three o'clock in the afternoon.
In the afternoon, Xiang Mingzhang rushed back in time for the meeting. During the interview with Lan Xin, Hu Xiushan tacitly agreed that the second exchange meeting should be held in advance and the project team should start preparations as soon as possible.
Although Chu Shichen was in charge of business affairs, he still sat in the secretary's seat during the meeting. Xiang Mingzhang was next to him, so it was convenient for him to talk: "Nothing happened this morning, right?"
"Nothing special." Chu Shichen said, "Does it count if the gladiolus has just opened a bunch of flowers?"
Xiang Mingzhang hid his smile with his cup and took a sip of water: "It counts. Whatever happened in the secretariat counts."
There have been a lot of meetings, big and small, recently, and everyone is not so particular about it. Everyone is in a relaxed posture. Chu Shichen supports his temple with his left hand and plays with a pen between the fingers of his right hand.
In the middle of the meeting, the project manager was speaking, and Peng Xin's cell phone on the table lit up. According to regulations, making or receiving calls was generally not allowed, but Peng Xin didn't think twice and immediately ran out of the meeting room to answer the call.
Everyone looked at each other, guessing that it was not an ordinary call. Xiang Mingzhang said, "Please pause for a while."
Three or five minutes later, Peng Xin ran back and said excitedly: "Mr. Xiang, Secretary Chu, Hu Xiushan's secretary just contacted me to discuss our plan further."
Everyone was excited to hear the news. Chu Shichen nodded calmly. The other party responded faster than he expected. The funding issue was indeed the Achilles' heel of the project.
Xiang Mingzhang said: "Shichen, you continue to be responsible."
Chu Shichen couldn't help but turn his head to the side, then took over the topic: "Now that we have a reply, we need to produce a detailed analysis."
The business team members nodded one after another, and the supervisor said, "We have been preparing."
Chu Shichen said: "After Hu Xiushan has reviewed it, we can go beyond the information level and arrange for the actual interaction between the government and the bank. Xiang Yue is at the center of the leverage, and we must take into account both the efficiency of the process and the final effect."
Peng Xin said: "Regarding the issue of demand..."
"Don't worry, the other party understands." Chu Shichen was confident, "Director Peng, you keep in touch with Secretary Hu Xiushan, I think you will gain something."
Along with the overall plan, Chu Shichen's strong edge was revealed.
The meeting ended and everyone went out.
Chu Shichen closed his notebook. It was working hours, and in front of a group of colleagues, the usually rigorous Xiang Mingzhang did not call him "Secretary Chu".
He asked: "Mr. Xiang, why did you call me by my name just now?"
Xiang Mingzhang said: "You are not a secretary in the project team, but you don't have a temporary title either, so I will just call you by your full name."
The two of them came out of the conference room and turned into a long corridor. Chu Shichen said, "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter what you call it."
Xiang Mingzhang stopped and asked, "Aren't you aggrieved?"
Chu Shichen shook his head. His experience was too profound. A title in a company was as light as a speck of dust. He had never even considered it.
In this world, his new journey has its ups and downs, and he encounters experiences everywhere.
As for wealth and fame, which he had grasped and then abandoned, Chu Shichen said: "I just want to do my job well and run the company well. Other things are insignificant."
Xiang Mingzhang admitted that he was biased. If someone else said this, he would think it was hypocritical, but when Chu Shichen said it, he believed it without a doubt.
However, as a boss, it is not right to be biased. Xiang Mingzhang just went through the motions and questioned: "Everything else doesn't matter? Didn't you ask me for overtime pay before?"
Chu Shichen retorted: "I have read the Labor Law. I want overtime pay because I abide by the law."
"Then what else do you want?" Xiang Mingzhang hinted, "For example, the favor of the superior, the appreciation of the superior... the selfishness of the superior."
Right in the company, Chu Shichen was too embarrassed to listen any further. He took two quick steps and looked up, and saw a copy of Wang Xizhi's "Preface to the Lanting Poems" hanging on the wall of the corridor.
Chu Shichen thought for a moment and asked, "Superior, do you like Wang Xizhi's calligraphy?"
Xiang Mingzhang said: "If you don't like it, you might hang Yan Zhenqing."
Chu Shichen said: "I like it too, and I also like a line of poetry by Wang Xizhi."
Xiang Mingzhang asked: "Which sentence?"
This was exactly what Chu Shichen wanted. He responded to the previous joke with a poem: "It is not my business to compete for the first place. I only seek in silence."
Xiang Mingzhang was stunned, Jingzhao forgot to ask...
Is it pure coincidence, or is there some kind of connection
Chu Shichen was so focused on appreciating the calligraphy that he didn't notice Xiang Mingzhang's reaction. He memorized this poem when he was practicing calligraphy in his childhood. Only by calming down and forgetting desires can one achieve that state.
Whenever he didn't write well enough, he would repeat these two sentences over and over again. The housekeeper, who was serving him pen and ink, complained that his ears were getting calluses.
When he reached the end of the volume, Chu Shichen turned around and found Xiang Mingzhang standing still. Just as he was about to speak, the sound of his cell phone suddenly echoed in the corridor.
Xiang Mingzhang picked up the phone, took a look at it, and answered it without leaving any trace.
Chu Shichen vaguely heard a voice of "Vice President Xiang", which should be from old Xiang Yue. He tactfully walked forward a little further and could no longer hear the call.
Xiang Mingzhang said, "Is there any news?"
The call ended five minutes later. Xiang Mingzhang caught up with the one he had fallen behind, a distance of more than ten meters, which was enough for him to make a decision.
Walking up to Chu Shichen, Xiang Mingzhang said, "I'm going on a business trip."
Chu Shichen didn't expect it to be so sudden: "Is it the business from Old Xiang Yue?"
"I guess so." Xiang Mingzhang said, "You are fully responsible for Hu Xiushan. Just follow your pace."
Chu Shichen nodded, not forgetting his secretary's duties: "Where are you going? Do you need to book a plane ticket?"
Xiang Mingzhang said: "Very close, Hangzhou, Zhejiang."
Chu Shichen was surprised and said, "You dreamed of going on a business trip to Zhejiang without me, and it actually came true."
Xiang Mingzhang said: "Let's go tonight."
"So urgent?" Chu Shichen asked, "How many days will you be gone?"
Xiang Mingzhang was not sure either. After going around in circles and piecing together information, he had come to this point. He didn't know whether this trip would reveal the truth or end in vain.
He was even a little scared, afraid of learning a truth that he couldn't accept.
Xiang Mingzhang never wanted to suffer any loss. He opened his hands slightly, asking for a sense of security from the "source" of everything, and said, "Let me hug you."
Chu Shichen said nervously: "No—"
Xiang Mingzhang had already rushed over and raised his hand to press on the back of Chu Shichen's neck. He didn't know which was more painful, the sharp suit collar or his fingertips with thin calluses.
Chu Shichen's whole body was stiff, and Xiang Mingzhang's muscles and bones were loosened.
Xiang Mingzhang asked: "Do you have anything to confess?"
It is not reasonable for a subordinate to tell his superior, but Chu Shichen's mind was shaken... He had forgotten the old image of that land, and murmured: "Zhejiang has a pleasant climate, please take a look at the scenery for me."
(End of this chapter)