Fight the Landlord, Fall in Love

Chapter 11 - What Are You Doing Hiding Behind the Door?

When Tang Kai had made his ‘cook me meals for a week’ request, Sun Zinan had felt it was too simple. But when he began to prepare for it, he actually found it quite difficult. It wasn’t because Professor Tang was hard to please. One of them lived at the western edge of the city while the other lived in the north, near Tianhai University. They were separated by half the city. Moving in with either of them would cause traffic on the way to work every morning for the other. They could only hastily meet up when neither of them were busy.

Sun Zinan finished a large project at work at the end of May. He thought he could finally fulfill his promise, but after he finished buying all the ingredients, Tang Kai went abroad for a conference. When he finally returned two days later, he was just in time for graduation. The entire campus was as busy as a chaotic zoo. So they dragged it out until July. When Sun Zinan saw that summer vacation was starting, he wondered, was it finally time for them to sit down and eat a good meal together? But on his way home from work, the old man called. Without even a single word of greeting, he directly asked Sun Zinan to bring Tang Kai home for the old man’s birthday banquet.

Sun Zinan was speechless. “Nothing has even happened between us yet...what identity do you want him to come over with? Besides, if you want him to come then pick a better date. Won’t it be awkward to deal with the chaos of so many other people? We’re not going.”

Sun Ying, “Aren’t the two of you getting along very well? Why can’t you take him home to meet me? The ugly daughter-in-law has to see her in-laws eventually. If he doesn’t come now, are you going to hide him from me for the rest of your life?”

“That’s not what I meant...” Sun Zinan often spoke to his own father like he was talking to the deaf. “Forget it, Tang Kai’s university is currently busy so I don’t know if he can come. Let me ask.”

“Don’t blame me for not letting you know.” Sun Ying threw out his final trump card. “The invitation has already been sent to the Tang family. Even if Tang Kai doesn’t come, you have to come meet Tang Zhenhua. Make your plans accordingly.”

Sun Zinan thought this type of ‘acting first then reporting’ tactic was the most annoying. He said burningly, “I got it. I’m hanging up if there’s nothing else.”

He threw his phone down onto his desk and it made a loud clanking sound. The Yu Liang who had just pushed the door to come in was so scared he jumped back outside. Like a marmot, he cautiously stuck his head out. “Director Sun.”

“Come in.” Sun Zinan’s face sank as he spoke. “What are you doing hiding behind the door. Scared of mousetraps?”

Yu Liang shuffled up to him in small steps, looking like a eunuch awaiting his emperor. “Director Sun, there’s a strategy meeting at nine thirty. It’s time to go downstairs.”

The meeting room.

Sun Zinan sat at the head of the table, a pen held between his fingers. His gaze fixed heavily upon the powerpoint projection, deeply pondering.

The project director’s voice continued, “...In conclusion, I recommend making the sanatorium ecological park a supporting entry into the industrial chain along with the main product. A more complete management service system will also help us improve our industrial distribution and develop the healthcare market in more depth.”

“En.” Sun Zinan didn’t express his thoughts and turned to the other executives instead. “What are everyone’s opinions, tell me what you think.”

Commercial director Jian Zhengde said, “It’s feasible. Most genetic testing companies are now facing this issue. Customers pay a lot of money for these tests, but how do you interpret the tests? People without professional expertise won’t be able to tell anything. What if a major disease is detected early? If we can pair it with a medical facility, we can do ‘early discovery early treatment.’ That would obviously be good.”

“What you said sounds good, but it’s a big problem in practice.” Vice president Wang Geng interjected, “Building an ecological sanatorium is all about real estate development. Our company doesn’t have any qualifications in that field, so we can only cooperate with real estate developers and become a part of their infrastructure. Or, we can work with local governments and wait for them to invest in the construction of a tourist health center before we make a move. But the only ecological center in China is the Dihua Valley Center in Zhongxiang City. The southwest is too remote and far away.”

Several executives argued over this issue for about twenty minutes, but the main point of disagreement was still over the feasibility. Most of them advocated opening up to new fields and not stubbornly sticking to a top-notch genetic test product. Only a few continued to insist that the ecological park was a dead end; not only did it deviate from the general direction of the biotechnology sector, it would also pull down the competitiveness of their company.

Sun Zinan continued to ponder and concluded noncommittally, “There’s no rush to make a proposal. We need to recheck the feasibility. Project director, come to my office. If no one has any other questions, let’s end this meeting.”

Five minutes later, project director Liu Cheng came to his office. Sun Zinan threw over the files for the project report and pointed at the sofa. “Sit.”

Liu Cheng was a middle-aged man in his forties. He had a technical background. Although he was balding, he didn’t look too shabby, and could be considered one of Sun Zinan’s hand-picked confidants.

The year Sun Zinan had entered Hongsen Biotechnology, during the process of reorganizing this shabby little health products company and wrestling power from the previous management which was unwilling to give up, the previous project director under the Diabetes Genome Development that Sun Zinan had placed high hopes on screwed up the ‘oral insulin’ case that greatly damaged the company’s reputation. Afterwards, Sun Zinan had fired the project director and the entire development team in rage, leaving only a second team led by Liu Cheng. Recklessly, with nothing left to lose, they collaborated with Dongfang University’s gene sequencing data and managed to research a slightly more sensitive single molecule liquid biopsy technique for detecting diseases. This barely met the threshold for early detection of diabetes.

Coincidentally, the government held a conference that autumn to announce a new policy that provided a large amount of support to domestic healthcare and research industries. A spring wind had come. Hongsen managed to hitch a ride in this wind of opportunity and took the chance to completely transform the company’s direction. They then formally entered the health industry.

Liu Cheng had followed the right boss; he was promoted to project director and turned from a ‘seller in a healthcare products pyramid scheme’ to a company executive. Sun Zinan was very tolerant towards him—after all, they had been friends through thick and thin. But it had become difficult for him to turn a blind eye towards Liu Cheng’s performance for the past half year.

“Speak your mind,” Sun Zinan told him.

Liu Cheng clenched at his fingers nervously, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. He cleared his throat and recited the powerpoint. “Director Sun, this...I think the ecological park can be the next step towards connecting with the industry. Once we begin with the genetic testing, we can also offer health management services and accurate medical diagnoses...”

“It sounds good in theory,” Sun Zinan responded. “But this kind of ecological park is a psychological comfort program, and I don’t think it’s something you’d want to focus on.”

Liu Cheng took a deep breath and said, “I’ve only recently changed my way of thinking. No matter what the opportunity is, I think we should seize it since we have the government’s policy support. We have to seize the initiative.”

This time, Sun Zinan finally nodded his head. “That’s reasonable.”

Liu Cheng visibly breathed a sigh of relief. His back was dripping with perspiration. He lowered his head for a moment, then realized Sun Zinan was closely examining him.

“What’s wrong, are you feeling uncomfortable?” Sun Zinan asked.

“No.” Liu Cheng answered automatically. Only after he had replied did he awkwardly backtrack to fill in the gaps of his response. “I had a quarrel with my family, it’s not a big deal.”

“Okay,” Sun Zinan said. “I don’t have anything else, you can go back to work.”

“Yes.” Liu Cheng got up and left.

Sun Zinan waited for the office door to close completely before reaching for the phone on his desk. He leaned back completely and made a phone call as he nestled into his director’s chair.

“It’s me, Sun Zinan.” He said calmly, “Can you check for me if Liu Cheng has brought any of his family members to the company for tests recently? Send the results to me. Keep it a secret.”

First floor of Yinhong Tower, a remote corner at the end of a corridor.

“...I already brought this up at the company.” Liu Cheng was scanning his surroundings, weasel-like and shrinking like a thief as he spoke in a small voice. “I don’t have any authority over its approval...I’ve already completed your request. Director Sun, you can’t go back on your words!”

He suddenly became agitated, but immediately realized he couldn’t make loud sounds. His voice was heavily restrained as he said anxiously, “...I can’t do that! If I’m discovered I’ll...”

The sounds of an elevator opening its doors came from the other end of the corridor. Liu Cheng was immediately alerted. He looked left and right, then scurried off with his phone screen covered.

A moment later, a large green plant next to the vending machine began shaking and Yu Liang emerged, his face covered in dead leaves. He held a milk tea in one hand and frowned in the direction Liu Cheng had left in, wondering if he had just accidentally heard some shocking secret.

A hand appeared from behind and landed heavily on his shoulder.

All the hairs on Yu Liang’s body rose up as if electrified, and he shivered violently as he leapt forward with his eyes closed, screaming “Ao!” The hand caught him and fished him back.

Vice president Wang Geng’s voice rang coldly from behind. “What are you shouting for, did you run into a ghost in broad daylight?”

Yu Liang, “...”

He was very close to dying on the spot.

“Wang Wang Wang Wang Wang vice...” He broke free of Wang Geng’s grip, unsure how much the other had seen or heard. He stammered, “Hello vice president.”

The other man was taller than him by half a head. Although he had a handsome aura about him, he didn’t look like someone who was easy to get along with. “Don’t give people nicknames. Is my name Wang Wang Wang?”

Yu Liang, this child, didn’t know if he had been scared silly or what, but he even nodded his head with a solemn frown.

Wang Geng almost laughed in astonishment. He couldn’t resist pulling the leaves out of Yu Liang’s hair as he asked, “What are you doing here?”

Yu Liang timidly raised the can in his hand, his expression more akin to someone who had been caught smuggling hand grenades. “Buying milk tea.”

Wang Geng glanced at the flowery packaging and said unceremoniously, “Childish.”

It was indeed childish. The company only had tea and coffee in its kitchenette. Yu Liang had wanted to drink something sweet, so he had snuck off like a thief to this remote vending machine.

But if it wasn’t for this little craving of his, Yu Liang would have never caught that vague but strange phone call.

Wang Geng leisurely threw the leaves back into the flowerpot, then looked down to see Yu Liang staring timidly up at him. As if he had just summoned up a great deal of courage, he stumbled through his question. “Vice, vice president Wang, why are you also here...”

Wang Geng laughed silently, thinking to himself that although this little guy was a coward, he was still very loyal.

“I came to smoke,” he replied.

Yu Liang subconsciously sniffed and actually found the faint smell of a cigarette mingled with the clean scent of Wang Geng’s cologne. It wasn’t an unpleasant smell, and even had a bit of charm that was difficult to put into words.

Wang Geng had been convinced by his foolishness. He couldn’t resist gently nudging at Yu Liang’s back. “Break time is over, go back and work. Don’t slack off.”