Chu Shichen suddenly became busy. The loan had to be finalized before the second round of communication.
The door of the president's office was locked. Xiang Mingzhang went to Hangzhou. Chu Shichen went in and out all day long, and every time he couldn't help but take a look.
In order to concentrate manpower, Chu Shichen led the business team to stay in the research room, and he was in charge of completing the fine-grained analysis report together.
This report is Xiang Yue's bargaining chip. Chu Shichen strives for perfection. The more complete the content is, the greater the initiative they will have in front of Hu Xiushan.
After working overtime for two days without taking off his clothes, Chu Shichen met with Hu Xiushan for the second time after the report was completed. They met in Hu Xiushan's office and the conversation lasted for two and a half hours.
Hu Xiushan was very satisfied, and the project was in urgent need of financial support, so subsequent progress was rapid.
Xiang Yue, the official, and the bank interacted smoothly. Before signing the contract, Chu Shichen seized the opportunity to hold a meeting.
1. The air conditioner in the meeting room was on high. Everyone took off their coats and put on shirts. Chu Shichen was always neatly dressed. He stood on the podium, only his black hair was a little messy in his haste.
There were several topics arranged on the whiteboard. Chu Shichen was holding a thick black carbon pen and writing as he spoke. His writing was elegant and smooth, and he finished it in one go.
"The loan plan will soon come to an end. To put it bluntly, our small favor to Hu Xiushan will come to an end." Chu Shichen said, "The other party understands what we want - the selection requirements. Therefore, we need to strengthen our contact with the selection team."
He drew up a list of tasks and distributed them: "Supervisors, please check if any adjustments are needed."
The project manager said, "Secretary Chu, there is a general manager of the selection team on Party A's list, but he is not in contact with any company."
Chu Shichen said: "We have already cooperated with Hu Xiushan. You will know if the general manager will look at Xiang Yue differently after you give it a try."
The manager nodded: "Okay, I'll arrange it as soon as possible."
After the promotion meeting, competing companies all thought that Xiang Yue had failed and were laughing at him. More than one company was ready to take his place, but they did not know that Xiang Yue had struggled back to the top.
Xiang Mingzhang had been keeping the news to himself, and Chu Shichen held the same attitude, reminding him: "The date of the second round of exchanges will be announced soon, and all companies are stepping up their efforts. We just need to understand Xiang Yue's situation. We have tasted the price of being in the spotlight once, and there will never be a next time."
Everyone obediently promised that during this period of time, whether working together or leading, as the plan was completed step by step, the project team was unanimously convinced by Chu Shichen's opinions.
After the meeting, Chu Shichen wiped the whiteboard clean and was packing up when his cell phone rang.
Xiang Mingzhang sent a photo of West Lake.
Chu Shichen saved the photo. The West Lake on a cold winter day was not as sparkling as the water under the clear sky. It was a cold gray-green color. He liked it and said: It turns out that light makeup and heavy makeup are always suitable.
After reading the reply, Xiang Mingzhang put away his phone and returned to the car.
On the morning of the second day after arriving in Hangzhou, Xiang Mingzhang met the general manager Yao Jingcheng at the trading company.
Yao Jingcheng took his mother's surname and was Yao Zheng's only son.
Xiang Mingzhang contacted the Yao family through Xiang Yue in the name of cooperation. He did not want to waste time beating around the bush and made it clear that he hoped to meet Yao Zheng in person.
Yao Jingcheng was a filial son and refused at first because Yao Zheng was old and had been living in seclusion in recent years and did not like socializing.
Xiang Mingzhang insisted again and again. After all, Xiang Yue's initiative to cooperate was rare, and his status as vice president was also intimidating. Yao Jingcheng had to deal with it several times, and finally let Yao Zheng relax and asked Xiang Mingzhang why he wanted to meet.
Xiang Mingzhang wanted information about the Shen family, but he had no relationship with the Shen family, so he had to lie - he said that he seemed to have found the descendants of the Shen family and came to verify it.
Yao Zheng finally agreed to meet.
Xiang Mingzhang was wearing a well-tailored suit. It started to drizzle halfway through the journey. When he arrived at the villa where Yao Zheng lived, he got wet and cold after walking a short distance after getting off the car.
The western-style house was elegantly decorated. Yao Jingcheng accompanied Xiang Mingzhang and led him into the reception room on the first floor.
Yao Zheng was sitting on the sofa. He was in his seventies, looked very wealthy, with his silver hair neatly combed. His eyes behind his reading glasses were bright and clear.
Xiang Mingzhang stood in front of the coffee table and took the initiative to say, "Ms. Yao, I am Xiang Mingzhang. Mr. Yao should have mentioned this to you."
"Mr. Xiang, please take a seat." Yao Zheng said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "I have long stopped caring about business matters, and I don't know the current business methods, but sincerity is always important."
Xiang Mingzhang sat down on the sofa opposite and said, "I am not upright enough to use the cooperation to do private things. If it is offensive, please don't bother with the juniors."
Seeing that he was frank and did not have the arrogance of a powerful person, Yao Zheng softened his attitude a little: "Mr. Xiang, what do you mean by descendants of the Shen family?"
Xiang Mingzhang prepared his story: "By chance, I met a person who has a close relationship with the Shen family, but I am not sure. I found Mr. Shen Zuorun's tomb and then found you."
Yao Zheng was in his seventies after all, so his reaction was a little slow: "… This is unlikely."
Xiang Mingzhang asked: "What do you mean?"
Yao Zheng said: "The Shen family was once a famous family in Ningbo, with many relatives and friends, but unfortunately the war prevented them from reuniting. Some fled, some were scattered, and their wives and daughters were sent overseas. The situation was turbulent for years, and communications were not well developed, so those who left basically lost their whereabouts."
Xiang Mingzhang didn't expect that the information that he had tried so hard to find out would be easily known at this moment. He suppressed a trace of hope and asked: "You know so much, are the Yao family and the Shen family old friends?"
Yao Zheng waved her hands to deny it. She heard it from her grandfather Yao Qi'an, who recalled the story.
The Shen family had opened a bank at Ningbo Port for several generations and was one of the richest families at that time. The Yao family was just an ordinary small family and was poor. Yao Qi'an started working for the Shen family at the age of twelve and grew up with Shen Zuorun, who was a few years younger than him.
Shen Zuorun was a very courageous man who took charge of the family business at an early age. At the age of 20, he decided to establish a wholly Chinese-owned bank and join forces with his colleagues to compete with foreign capital.
Yao Qi'an followed the Shen family and left Ningbo and became the housekeeper of the Shen Mansion.
Until Shen Zuorun passed away, Yao Qi'an took Shen Zuorun's body back to his hometown for burial.
Xiang Mingzhang thought to himself, it turned out that they were a master-servant relationship. His wife and daughter took refuge overseas, so only the loyal servant could take care of the afterlife. He asked, "So the Shen family had no other relatives at that time?"
Yao Zheng said: "There is another son, Master Shen."
Xiang Mingzhang was very surprised. It was impossible for the only son of a family business that had been passed down from generation to generation to stay out of it. "Then didn't Young Master Shen go back to Ningbo at that time?"
Yao Zheng felt a surge of sadness: "This was a knot in my grandfather's heart all his life. He couldn't rest in peace until his death."
Yao Qi'an brought Shen Zuorun back to Ningbo in late autumn. In the early spring of the following year, Young Master Shen announced to the public that he was returning to his hometown to observe mourning. In fact, it was a cover. He did not tell anyone where he was going.
Yao Qi'an used to take care of the Shen family on a daily basis and had long noticed that Young Master Shen was secretly participating in anti-Japanese activities. The "organization" had made arrangements, but he did not dare to ask.
But he watched Young Master Shen grow up, and felt heartbroken whenever he got hurt. He couldn't bear to see Young Master Shen wandering around alone, so the two of them made an agreement before they parted.
Young Master Shen promised Yao Qi'an that he would send a letter to report his safety after he settled down in the new place. When the war was won and the wounds were healed, he would definitely return to Ningbo and ask Yao Qi'an to witness that he would confess his guilt and kowtow in front of Shen Zuorun's grave.
For a letter of safety and a reunion, Yao Qi'an waited for the rest of his life and dared not leave his hometown.
Even though Xiang Mingzhang was usually calm, he was moved after hearing this: "So, Master Shen didn't go back?"
Yao Zheng sighed: "There were many rumors during those years. Some said he was missing, some said he escaped overseas to reunite with his family, and more said he was assassinated by the Japanese army."
Whenever Yao Qi'an heard this, he would lose his temper and stop people from talking nonsense. However, year after year, he still couldn't get any news from Young Master Shen. He began to waver and was hit hard by the vague speculations.
Yao Qi'an became increasingly hopeless. He believed in Buddhism and went to the temple every day to burn incense and pray to Buddha to bless Young Master Shen. In his later years, he would become worried and uneasy if he took even one step out of the temple, so he became a monk.
Yao Qi'an chose his own Buddhist name, I forgot to ask for it.
Xiang Mingzhang understood that "Wangqiu" was Butler Yao. He remembered the poem mentioned by Chu Shichen and asked, "Is there any explanation for the word 'Wangqiu'?"
"It comes from a poem." Yao Zheng said, "My grandfather never went to school. He said that Young Master Shen always recited this line when he was a child, so he remembered it."
Yao Qi'an used "Wangqiu" as his Buddhist name, which also means forgetting all thoughts.
Xiang Mingzhang felt unspeakable: "Where on earth did that Young Master Shen go?"
No one knows, not even Yao Zheng: "After he closed the bank, there was no news of him."
Xiang Mingzhang asked: "Did he close the bank?"
Yao Zheng said: "He is the president of Fuhua Bank."
Xiang Mingzhang's held breath suddenly relaxed. The mysterious character whose traces had been erased and who had been the bank president for the last four years was finally revealed. It turned out to be Shen Zuorun's only son.
This distant, unknown person made Xiang Mingzhang confused. He pleaded, "Ms. Yao, your grandfather had deep feelings for Young Master Shen, so he must have left behind more information. Can you tell me more?"
During the conversation, Yao Zheng relaxed his guard. The young master Shen left Yao Qi'an a fortune that could support several generations. This changed the Yao family's destiny and gave her the capital to start a business.
From her father to her brother, and then to her youngest daughter in the family, and later her child Yao Jingcheng, generations will continue to hold memorial ceremonies for Shen Zuorun. This was Yao Qi'an's last wish, and it is also the Yao family's way of repaying the favor.
Yao Zheng thought for a moment and asked Yao Jingcheng to bring a wooden box. It was sturdy and heavy, and judging from its color and style, it was an old item that was over a hundred years old.
There were so many treasures in the Shen Mansion that Young Master Shen only left behind a few of the most important ones, but Yao Qi'an treasured every one of them. When he left, he packed up Young Master Shen's old things and took them back to Ningbo for safekeeping. The old wooden box was opened, and it had two layers, the first layer was divided into five-pointed grids, and each grid contained an item.
In the largest center compartment was a white-glazed box the size of two fists, a Song Dynasty style. Yao Zheng couldn't hold it firmly, so Xiang Mingzhang held it with his palms, and it felt warm and cool to the touch.
Yao Zheng said: "Grandfather said that Master Shen is very busy with official duties and cannot sleep well, so he has to burn incense every night to help him sleep."
The carvings on the lid of the incense box were covered with a layer of dirt. Xiang Mingzhang bent down and sniffed. Besides the stale smell, there was a very faint fragrance, very similar to the Canaan incense on Chu Shichen's clothes.
The second item was a jade abacus, which was the size of a palm, and each bead was exquisitely crafted. Xiang Mingzhang remembered what Chu Shichen said, "Moving beads is like using an abacus."
Yao Jingcheng was curious: "Why is it so small?"
Yao Zheng said: "Young Master Shen used it when he was five years old. It was a birthday gift from Mr. Shen. As a result, he learned how to play it and he would always make a jingling sound wherever he went."
Xiang Mingzhang thought this sounded familiar. On the upper floor of the music store, Team Leader Zhao once asked Chu Shichen why he learned to play the pipa. He was also five years old and played the jade abacus...
Chu Shichen also said that his mother found it annoying and vulgar to settle accounts, so she taught him to play the pipa to cultivate his sentiments.
At this time, Yao Zheng picked up another small thing, a thin triangle, and pondered for a few seconds: "Oh, this is a plectrum, used for playing the pipa."
Xiang Mingzhang felt his throat being grabbed, and he couldn't breathe even though his Adam's apple rolled. "... Is this also Master Shen's?"
Yao Zheng recalled: "Mrs. Shen taught him to play the pipa. The child's fingers were tender, so he used a plectrum at first, but it was later discarded and collected by his grandfather."
Xiang Mingzhang was in a daze. He thought Chu Shichen was making it up. Why was his experience exactly the same as Young Master Shen’s
Yao Zheng felt sorry for herself. She remembered that when Yao Qi'an returned to Ningbo, he brought back a pipa made of small-leaf red sandalwood, which was a valuable antique.
Mrs. Shen was the daughter of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Salt Administration, and the pipa was her dowry. Young Master Shen asked Yao Qi'an to bury the pipa together with Shen Zuorun.
Yao Zheng picked up the most beautiful item in the box, a square seal pad with a gilded crystal surface. Young Master Shen only left the matching official seal of the bank president.
"I loved it when I was little and always played with it secretly," she said with a smile. "My grandfather often scolded me, saying that it was made by a royal craftsman in France and took three months to make."
Xiang Mingzhang was shocked again.
The top layer of the wooden boxes was almost gone, leaving only a box. Yao Zheng couldn't remember what it was used for, and his impression was that it was always empty.
Xiang Mingzhang picked it up. The box was flat and wrapped in moon-white satin. He opened it and found a layer of black silk stretched inside the box, with a shallow round depression in it.
Yao Zheng said: "It looks like a jewelry box, but it's too small for bracelets and too big for rings. It's even more inappropriate for pairs of earrings."
Xiang Mingzhang was distracted for a moment. He reached into his bosom, took off the pocket watch from his collar, and put it into the box. It fit perfectly like a mortise and tenon joint.
He couldn't help but suspect that this pocket watch was once Master Shen's old possession.
Yao Zheng was still a little skeptical at first, but when she saw the pocket watch, she believed Xiang Mingzhang's story of meeting the descendants of the Shen family. She said, "Young Master Shen has a pocket watch that he loves very much and never leaves it with him."
Xiang Mingzhang asked: "Is it custom-made in Switzerland?"
Yao Zheng thought carefully and said, "It seems so... But the watch chain is made from Mrs. Shen's necklace."
Chu Shichen once said that a lady’s necklace might come from her mother… Xiang Mingzhang felt as if his heart was being grabbed and tightened.
He didn't care and lifted the empty first layer of the wooden box, revealing some yellowed paper pages underneath.
His voice was deep and hoarse: "Can I see it?"
Yao Zheng nodded. It was a pity that paper materials were difficult to preserve and some of them were lost during several moves.
Xiang Mingzhang picked up the top one, which was Young Master Shen’s overseas graduation certificate, a Bachelor of Business degree awarded by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
The weather in the south is humid, and the paper has become moldy. The handwritten foreign words on it have become blurred. Xiang Mingzhang put it aside on the coffee table and picked up a plan.
The traditional Chinese title is about the research and decision on the anti-currency denomination. The entire text is handwritten and contains a large number of special characters. It was a kind of encryption method popular among money houses in the early years.
Then there was a stack of things similar to bills, which recorded the details of the materials donated and organized by Fuhua Bank. There were a total of forty-nine bills left, which means there were at least forty-nine transactions.
Yao Zheng said with emotion: "Master Shen is just like his father, young but with extraordinary ambitions."
Xiang Mingzhang asked: "How old was Master Shen at that time?"
Yao Zheng calculated: "Born in 1918, he would have been 27 years old by 1945."
Twenty-seven years old, Chu Shichen is also twenty-seven years old.
Both layers of the wooden box were empty, but Xiang Mingzhang's thoughts were boiling and burning in his chest.
Suddenly, Yao Zheng opened the secret compartment in the box and found a photo hidden inside.
The only old photo of Master Shen left in the world.
The back of the photo was facing up, with two lines of words written on it. Xiang Mingzhang took it out carefully, and his fingers couldn't help shaking the moment he saw it clearly.
It was written in neat small characters with a wolf hair brush, and the handwriting seemed familiar.
—Today is my birthday, Lingtuaner and I.
Signature: Autumn of the 32nd year of the Republic of China.
Xiang Mingzhang's heart was trembling, and he could hardly calm down: "Autumn's birthday."
Yao Zheng said: "Yes, so the courtesy name is 'Qing Shang'."
Xiang Mingzhang blurted out: "I hope Qingshang is false again, Qingshang... Shen Qingshang."
He repeated it over and over again, his palms full of sweat. He held the photo and turned it over to the front, and his breathing stopped for a moment.
A black-and-white photo with yellowed corners, of a prominent Shen Mansion, under a tree in front of the steps in the autumn breeze, Shen Qingshang is tall and handsome, holding a pure white Persian cat in his arms, with an agate ring on his left hand holding the cat.
There was a faint smile on that face, his lips were slightly parted, the wind blew his hair away, and his eyebrows and eyes were as beautiful as distant mountains dotted with cold stars.
Clean, calm, and brilliant.
Xiang Mingzhang seemed to have a cardiac arrest and stared at Shen Qingshang in the photo.
Staring at this face that he wished to see every day, thinking about it in his mind, the face that showed joy, sorrow, anger and anger all in a graceful and proper manner, exactly the same as Chu Shichen's.
Canaan incense, jade abacus, rosewood pipa, French seal.
Business school, four years as president, small regular script handwriting, a smart white cat.
Pocket watch.
Everything about Chu Shichen and Young Master Shen matches.
Even if the research is wrong, even if one side's statement is false. Even if it is just a coincidence. Even if it is a ghost, a combination of circumstances!
But what about the photos
What's the meaning of the face in this photo?!
Xiang Mingzhang's blood boiled, but his hands were cold and trembling. He pinched a corner of the old photo with all his strength, and he didn't know how to call the people in the photo.
Yao Zheng looked at him in surprise: "Mr. Xiang, are you okay?"
After a long while, Xiang Mingzhang asked hoarsely, "What is his real name?"
Yao Zheng replied: "The highest good is like water, and the highest good is like water."
—Shen Ruozhen.
(End of this chapter)