After hanging up the phone, Ji Rui picked up his suit jacket and bag and walked out of the office. Lin Ling heard the noise and stood up to face him.
"President."
Looking at Ji Rui’s injured forehead, Lin Ling’s eyes involuntarily shrank. She was afraid that if Ji Rui was in a bad mood, it might affect her.
"If there’s nothing else, pack up and leave work early. See you next year!"
Ji Rui rarely showed his empathy towards his subordinates, and this kindness left Lin Ling pleasantly surprised.
"Thank you for your understanding, President. Please take good care of your injury. See you next year!"
Ji Rui did not respond to her words, just nodded expressionlessly and left with large strides.
Lin Ling’s ntion of understanding referred to the sses Ji Rui often had to clean up for her.
Ji Rui entered the elevator, pressed the button for the basent, and pursed his lips while watching the numbers flash downward. A slight sigh unconsciously escaped his mouth.
He was slightly startled to hear his own sigh.
Was he really that forgiving to Lin Ling?
Speaking of which, compared to Lin Ling, who was much less competent, Ji Rui was actually quite harsh on Le Tong!
Looking back, if Ruo Letong’s work performance was as passable as Lin Ling’s, she would probably have been scolded harshly by him already.
But when it ca to Lin Ling, he couldn’t bring himself to utter those harsh words.
Because he knew Lin Ling had already tried her best, and with her abilities, doing what she had accomplished was her limit.
But Le Tong was different!
Indeed, she was different!
When Ji Rui realized that, at so point, he had started using different standards to judge and demand from Le Tong, his injured forehead suddenly felt exceptionally painful!
There is soone, no matter where she stands or what she does, he would naturally use a different standard to asure her and set expectations.
What does that an?
Because he particularly disliked her?
Or because she...
At that thought, Ji Rui’s forehead throbbed violently as if it would split open. He closed his eyes, trying to stop himself from delving deeper into the issue with Le Tong.
Ji Rui was a stubborn and competitive person. When faced with a challenge, his first reaction was to conquer and resolve it.
But on the issue of Le Tong, no matter how much he thought and tried, it always felt like he was walking into a dead end, going in circles, only to face an insurmountable wall in the end!
Confusion, helplessness, anger—emotions that rarely appeared after he matured enough to control the big picture—were always easily stirred by Le Tong. Most infuriatingly, the person who stirred these emotions would always leave decisively as if nothing had happened afterward...
The elevator doors opened with a "ding," saving Ji Rui from indescribable pain and helplessness. He darted out of the elevator like an escape.
Ji Rui silently got into the car, closed the door, said nothing, and leaned back against the seat with his eyes closed.
Xiao Li glanced at him through the rear-view mirror, assuming he was exhausted after handling so much today, and didn’t ask further, expertly backing the car out of the spot. He heard the man, with his eyes still closed, say, "Go pick up Baobao."
As the car drove down the road, Ji Rui never opened his eyes. His mind was filled with a ss of thoughts, not about the workers’ strike during the day, nor the annoying issues from the old man, but about Le Tong.
This morning during breakfast, Baobao kept muttering, "Daddy, Sister’s place is having heavy snow... Do you think Sister can endure it?"
At that mont, Ji Rui felt annoyed. He wanted to say, your sister is an adult; whether or not she can endure it, she should be aware of it herself. It’s not for you to worry about, kid.
But afraid of hurting his beloved son’s feelings, he held back and said nothing.
Ji Rui opened his eyes, staring at the Bauhinia outside, whose branches and leaves were trembling under the north wind.
He had seen many tis Le Tong shrinking into her coat as she left work, a southerner who was both afraid of the cold and frail. Could she really handle such a frigid place up north?
"President?" Xiao Li in the driver’s seat called out when he saw Ji Rui opened his eyes through the rear-view mirror.
His voice halted Ji Rui’s thoughts that had traveled a thousand miles away, silently despising himself.
The workers’ strike, the old man’s matters—each was a botherso issue he chose not to think about!
Yet, he was thinking about this silly woman who had nothing to do with him, who had no feelings for him, and who had left behind a ss to run to that godforsaken place to suffer for herself?
Was there sothing wrong with his head? Or was he just being masochistic?
"President, the person who transferred money to the workers is adamant that he was once a Ji Family employee and, because he received unfair treatnt, instigated this strike."
Xiao Li reported on the follow-up of the strike incident in detail to Ji Rui, who now had a mocking look in his eyes.
"What a joke! Is this unfair treatnt really worth him spending over a million to instigate a strike?"
Clearly, this person was lying.
But if he insisted on claiming this as his motive, it seed the police had no way to deal with him.
A person with money could be this reckless, couldn’t he?!
This was a truth Ji Rui understood, so after speaking, he fell into a new silence.
Perhaps, having lost his mother at a young age and having no other relatives besides the old man, his strong desire for family connection had made him weak.
Even knowing that his mother’s death could not be disentangled from the old man and his current beloved wife, over the years, he couldn’t bring himself to purely hate the old man.
Indeed, he did hate the old man! But at the sa ti, he couldn’t help but hold a sliver of hope, hoping the old man would place him on the sa level as his two beloved sons.
Perhaps this is a primitive instinct within everyone, a yearning for family.
And so, he spent many years in the tornt of love and hate. In his youth, in order to regain control of the Ji Family, within the Ji Family, when facing the old man, his convenient mother, or even the Ji Wen and Ji Wu brothers, he didn’t dare to be too flamboyant, enduring humiliation for years until he was strong enough!
The arrival of Baobao greatly eased the relationship between father and son. At that ti, Ji Rui even considered, since the Ji Family was now back in his hands, perhaps he should wipe away the past grievances, as they were, after all, father and son.
But such harmonious scenes were nothing more than illusions. The current Ji Rui had completely given up on the old man!
In the face of the benefits of the old man’s two beloved sons, Ji Rui, this son, and Baobao, this grandson, were worth nothing in the old man’s eyes!
The truth often wounded more deeply than any weapon.
Therefore, Ji Rui had always been reluctant to delve too deeply into the real reason behind his birth.
But the old man repeatedly used harsh realities to remind him that Ji Rui, this son, was nothing more than a crucial piece the old man used to win his mother’s heart and acquire the Glory Group!
User Comments
0 comments from readers