Back in the city, the brothers’ lives returned to normal, especially Wang Ning’an’s. His busy job constantly swallowed up most of his time. Before Wang Cheng came to live with him, his routine had actually been extremely irregular. It only took Wang Cheng two days under the same roof to notice.
After dinner, Wang Cheng remembered what Eldest Brother had told him on Saturday night and went online to look up news about Changde Real Estate.
Sure enough, rumors that Changde Real Estate was heading for bankruptcy were everywhere. After the relevant authorities stepped in, several buildings with quality problems were uncovered. Once the news spread, Changde’s share price dropped rapidly, a sea of green all the way down. Investors rushed to sell their shares, while those who moved too slowly were left wailing in misery.
In the past, Changde Real Estate might still have found a way to suppress the matter. This time, however, it seemed to have offended someone it should not have. Orders had come from above to investigate Changde thoroughly, so no one dared step in to help. Power really was useful at critical moments. No wonder so many people chased after it.
After shutting down the computer, Wang Cheng divided the local specialties Mama Wang had packed for him and put them into the refrigerator. After thinking about it, he took some back out. Eldest Brother was still in the study with no sign of coming out, so Wang Cheng carried the food to Chu Yifeng’s apartment. He had heard movement earlier and knew the man was already home.
Wang Cheng rang the doorbell.
After a while, Chu Yifeng opened the door. Seeing it was him, he simply opened the door wider.
Wang Cheng stepped inside and casually shut it behind him.
“What is it?” Chu Yifeng turned to look at him. Wang Cheng had come over in his pajamas and seemed completely unaware of how casual that was.
“Boss, these are specialties from my hometown. The pork jerky is homemade and tastes really good, and these chestnuts are a specialty from Guanjia Village. My mom told me to share some with the neighbors, so I thought of you. You can try them whenever you feel like it.” Wang Cheng did not mind currying a little favor with his current boss. Mama Wang had packed so much for the brothers that they could not finish it even in half a month.
“Put them on the coffee table.”
Wang Cheng immediately set everything down. “Then I’ll head back to my apartment.”
“You’re in a hurry?” Chu Yifeng folded his arms and looked at him.
“A little. I came out without telling Eldest Brother. If he can’t find me, he’ll come looking.” More than anything, Wang Cheng did not want his brother to know about this visit. He had already sensed that Wang Ning’an seemed wary of Chu Yifeng and did not particularly want the two of them interacting.
“Your brother is Wang Ning’an, right?”
“How does Boss know?”
“I’ve heard he’s quite capable. With your brother’s ability, he’ll probably be transferred to his company’s headquarters before long.”
“Of course.” Most people liked hearing their family praised, and Wang Cheng was no exception. He already knew Eldest Brother was highly capable, an elite among elites. Wang Cheng did not think much of Chu Yifeng’s remark at the time. Only later did he understand why Chu Yifeng had said it.
Several peaceful days passed.
Wang Cheng’s company decided to recruit a few more employees. Since he was the least busy person there, the task was handed to him.
Within a few days of posting the job advertisement, more than a dozen résumés arrived. Wang Cheng skimmed through them. Most were from recent university graduates, while four or five applicants had work experience. None of the résumés stood out much. Zhang Yiheng had once told him that you could tell from a résumé whether someone had put real effort into it.
Wang Cheng selected three university graduates and two applicants with work experience, then notified them of their interview dates.
In the end, Changde Real Estate really did go bankrupt. The news took the front page of Shanhai City’s newspapers.
No one at the company reacted much, as if there were nothing surprising about it. Sometimes, it really was not only new companies that went bankrupt.
That evening, Wang Cheng received a call from Wang Ziyu.
Over the phone, Wang Ziyu told him what had happened in Guanjia Village during the days after they left. Madam Zhang was the main attraction. After Wang Ning’an refused her, she held a grudge and began spreading rumors outside, saying certain people became successful only to forget kindness and abandon their roots, obviously referring to the Wang family without naming them directly.
Mama Wang was not someone to bully either. She immediately fired back: when your family was doing well, why didn’t anyone see you helping your own brothers? The moment you need something, suddenly you want to talk about family ties. If someone refuses to help, now they’re ungrateful? What kind of logic is that? If you can’t teach your own child properly and her grades are terrible, what does that have to do with us? If you’re so capable, give birth to a better one yourself.
Mama Wang had every right to sound confident. Whether in Guanjia Village or Wangjia Village, it would probably be difficult to find another household whose children had turned out as well as hers.
Madam Zhang hated nothing more than people bringing up her son and daughter because neither of them had accomplished much. Son or daughter, it made no difference. Mama Wang’s words had slapped her directly in the face.
Wang Ziyu said Madam Zhang’s face had actually turned green with anger that day. Recently, Second Uncle’s family had been pulling every connection they could find, trying to get Wang Ningxiang into a university. Unfortunately, Wang Ningxiang’s score was so poor that it was almost impossible to work with. Some people accepted favors at first, only to regret it the moment they heard how low her score was.
“Second Brother, you should’ve seen it. That was the first time I ever saw Second Aunt so angry she couldn’t answer back. Mom was amazing. I haven’t felt that satisfied in ages.” Wang Ziyu sounded delighted.
“There might be even more satisfying things later.” From what Wang Cheng knew of Madam Zhang, there was no chance that woman would remain quiet. Who knew what else she would stir up in the future?
The siblings talked for more than an hour. Only when Wang Cheng heard Mama Wang calling in the background for them to go to bed early did he notice how late it was and finally hang up.