Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 82 (Part 2)
Translated by Pure
Chapter 82.2 The Scared Witless Zhou Haitang
Lin Jingzhe went to Best Partner IT a few days later for another matter, but coincidentally thought of his sister's website, so he asked, "Has the link to that literary forum been updated?"
Liang Pi: "………………"
Lin Jingzhe finished sorting out the documents at hand, and when he raised his head, he met Liang Pi's strange gaze. His eyes were three parts worry, two parts shock, and five parts doubtful of life; they were full of emotions, and could be said to be full of information. Lin Jingzhe felt all his hair raise, he could not help but frown in doubt. "What? What difficulties did you encounter?"
"...None." Liang Pi wiped his face, and answered with difficulty, "No problem, it's already done."
"That's good." Now that Lin Jingzhe paved the way for his younger sisters, he finally felt relieved. Seeing Liang Pi rubbing his forehead tiredly, he worriedly asked, "Mr. Liang, are you feeling unwell?"
"...No." Liang Pi listened to Lin Jingzhe talking about the website as if there was nothing wrong, and lamented his own abilities were still lacking. He looked away in shame, "It's just a headache. Maybe I’ve been too tired recently due to the work related to financing of A, so I’ll be fine after we get through this busy period.”
"Work is important, but the body is the capital in the industrial revolution." Lin Jingzhe solemnly educated his young partner, and then turned the focus to proper business. "Mr. Liang, about the network fund I mentioned before, how should it be operated specifically?"
Hearing that they finally no longer had to talk about that terrifying forum, Liang Pi immediately relaxed and became serious. The network fund that Lin Jingzhe was referring to had nothing to do with Shen Tiantian and Xiao Miao, but his own idea of creating an independent public welfare project. The full name was the ‘National Law Enforcement Memorial Charity Foundation’.
This foundation was mainly designed to assist the families of law enforcement officers killed or injured in action. The building infrastructure was just about set up, but Lin Jingzhe wanted to take advantage of the simplicity of the early online environment and build a website to expand the foundation’s influence.
This foundation was a previously manifested idea after seeing the solemn black and white posthumous photos when he had participated in the anti-smuggling commendation. Originally, it was just an idea, but for some reason, public security had suddenly become more tense in several major provinces and cities in China. This was especially true in the southwestern areas, there were obituaries of the death of different police officers almost daily. Everytime he read the newspaper, Lin Jingzhe found it extremely unbearable, so he simply realized this idea in one go. Since the establishment of this foundation, in just a single month, they have raised nearly 10 million in donations.
Lin Jingzhe originally wanted to control the amount of money and limit it to between one or two million. After all, it was the first time he was running a charity foundation; management and operation needed to be explored. It might not be a good thing if the initial amount was too huge. He originally wanted to foot the whole bill out of his own pocket, but Xiao Chi stopped him. The latter explained that such a public welfare organization must regularly raise donations to expand its social influence and help more people.
When he suggested this, Xiao Chi then donated one million as an example. After the elders of the Shen family and the Xiao family heard about it, they also contributed generously and donated one to two hundred thousand yuan each. Even Shen Tiantian and Xiao Miao each donated their monthly pocket money of 500 yuan.
Lin Jingzhe simply organized a small fund-raising event in the Real Estate Alliance. Originally he was just testing the waters, but he had never imagined the sense of social responsibility ingrained in the businessmen in this era. When they heard that it was actually a fund to help the families of deceased law enforcement officers, several people, including Dai Gaofeng, directly wanted to donate in the upper millions.
The total number turned out too terrifying. With the thought that the initial funds should be fixed below a certain quota, Lin Jingzhe had to set a threshold. The maximum donation amount could not exceed 200,000.
Following his instructions, the amount of donations in the end still accumulated into a large sum of money. Dai Gaofeng remained very unsatisfied, complaining that this little amount was as meaningless as playing house. He urged Lin Jingzhe to quickly find a reliable manager and expand the size of the funds.
By then, the money had already far surpassed Lin Jingzhe’s goal. Unexpectedly, the well-informed Elder Fang had somehow caught wind of his act, took the initiative to come to his door, and forcefully stuffed a bankbook into Lin Jingzhe’s hands.
After the old man retired, he continued to pursue various conservation of cultural relics and national treasures but refused to fund his own grandson, Fang Wenhao’s stagnant company. It can’t be said that he had wasted all his wealth on antiques, but it was probably not far off, so Lin Jingzhe had no clue as to how the elderly had managed to save such a large amount of money.
However, Lin Jingzhe had no way to deflect his kind intentions, he failed to reject it in every possible way. Not long after he accepted this philanthropic offering, Uncle Zheng (Zheng Cunzhi), who he had only met once in Liyun Town and once at Yan City’s anti-smuggling commendation, also took the initiative to give him a sum.
Gao She’s advertising company has completed many orders by now, and probably earned quite a lot. He probably got the news from Liang Pi and Wu Wangfei a few days ago, and also insisted on contributing 150,000 yuan. With his loudhailer personality, Mother Zhou and the others were all gradually informed of his charity.
Inexplicably, Lin Jingzhe suddenly had a lot of money in his hands, and the interest given by the bank every day scalded his hands.
It was originally just a little self-comfort caused out of momentary passion, but since it has developed to this point, it could no longer be taken lightly. Therefore, Lin Jingzhe had been busy recently and had been bothered by this matter greatly.
Setting up and managing a small website was easy for the current Best Partner IT. Not to mention that it involved public welfare, so Liang Pi was very happy to help. During the in-depth discussion with Lin Jingzhe about the future development and planning of the charity foundation, he even momentarily forgot the collapse of the other party’s image in his heart due to that terrible forum a few days ago; the intense feeling of reverence for Lin Jingzhe was reborn again.
When they were about to part, although hesitated to speak, Liang Pi stopped Lin Jingzhe in the end.
"Mr. Lin..." he carefully worded his question, "Is it convenient to ask? How much did you invest in your sisters' literary forum?"
"One million." Although Lin Jingzhe didn't understand why the Liang Pi asked this question, he still answered happily, "They said they wanted to replace the original primitive framework and equipment of the website, such as the servers."
"Hahahaha——" Liang Pi laughed dryly. His heart ached for his cooperating partner’s one million. "For forums, upgrading servers isn't a necessity, you are too generous..."
He reckoned that the forum wouldn't be able to last too long; Lin Jingzhe had squandered one million yuan in vain.
Lin Jingzhe was baffled by Liang Pi’s ‘words of advice’. How could servers not be a necessity? This forum was the first endeavor Miaomiao and Tiantian have invested in together. The two sisters have put so much effort into it, how was this not ‘a necessity’?
However this dissatisfaction was not revealed on his face, Lin Jingzhe only said he would consider his suggestion, and said goodbye to Liang Pi after politely thanking him.
After leaving Best Partner IT, the smile on his face gradually disappeared. Lin Jingzhe scoffed.
Jealousy! Liang Pi was obviously jealous that he has two cute, well-behaved and intelligent younger sisters!
Jealousy truly is an ugly emotion!
******
When Lin Jingzhe got out of the car, he glanced at Lin Runsheng in the passenger seat, "Dad, are you okay?"
Lin Runsheng was as stiff as a piece of iron, with an ashen complexion, his ferocious look could scare a child into tears. He was obviously very nervous, but he still insisted on answering, "I’m fine, let's go."
The two got out of the car. Lin Runsheng looked at the majestic tall building in front of him. This was one of the most famous high-end communities in Yan City, and it was also the residence of Zhou Haitang's family.
His grip on the fruit basket tightened as he walked slowly and nervously behind his son.
He had taken the initiative to visit Zhou Haitang and Gao Sheng's family. As Shen Juanying said, after being absent for so many years, as an incompetent father, he had to at least express his gratitude to the kind-hearted families that had been taking care of his son since childhood.
Before coming, he couldn't sleep for several days due to the dilemma of being unable to decide what was the best present to bear during their meeting. It was only when Lin Jingzhe learned about this situation from Shen Juanying, his initial idea of giving gold bars was vetoed. His son had suggested that a basket of fruit would be a better gift.
Both the Zhou Family and the Gao Family were not short of money anymore. If the gifts were too expensive, the intention may be lost. On the contrary, presenting fruits were less likely to go wrong.
The door was opened by Gao Sheng, who was decked out in a Hong Kong style outfit. It was said that several male celebrities he met while filming commercials in Hong Kong helped him match the outfit. It looked pretty pleasing to the eye. When he saw that it was Lin Jingzhe, Gao Sheng smiled and hurriedly pulled him in. However, his action paused slightly at the sight of Lin Runsheng behind Lin Jingzhe.
His eyes became colder, but he hid it well. For Lin Jingzhe's sake, he kindly greeted him, "Hello, Uncle Lin."
"Hello." Lin Runsheng tried his best not to look too serious and smiled back.
Everyone was present, including Mother Zhou, who was currently very busy with the work related to their new factory. She had long told Lin Jingzhe that she wanted to meet Lin Runsheng; she wanted to see what this irresponsible father looked like.
Lin Jingzhe really did not wish for any contention to occur, so he had always been reluctant to bring Lin Runsheng over. He had mentioned this to Mother Zhou several times, so as to dispel some of the anger in her heart.
Zhou Haitang seemed to be intimidated by Lin Runsheng's outward appearance, and obediently followed Gao Sheng to greet him. Hu Yu, who has always been soft-spoken, also nodded at Lin Runsheng.
Under the hesitant greetings of the other two fathers at home and under the eyes of Lin Jingzhe, Mother Zhou gave in with a sigh, and took the fruit from Lin Runsheng's hand. "You are too polite. Since you are Jingzhe's father, you can treat this place as your own home, and you don't need to bring so many things."
Lin Runsheng also tried his best to show a kind smile. "It’s the least I can do. I am awfully ashamed, this is my first time here, I don't know what everyone likes to eat, so I just casually selected a couple varieties of fruit."
Seeing that the first meeting between the two parties began in a somewhat peaceful manner, Lin Jingzhe breathed a sigh of relief and introduced the two parties to enliven the atmosphere. Although Lin Runsheng didn't fulfill his fatherly responsibility very much, because of the grievances in his previous life, Lin Jingzhe didn't want to see the loud altercation between his childhood friends’ families and his biological father. Thus it was idle to be able to control the scene.
Although Lin Runsheng’s sociability skills were lacking, his nervous mood gradually calmed down. These two families were much more benevolent than he originally thought.
With the topic gradually on the right track, Lin Jingzhe safely handed over the control to the unacquainted elders. Gao Sheng secretly waved to him, indicating that he had something to tell him.
Seeing Lin Jingzhe's back disappearing behind the door of Zhou Haitang's room, Mother Zhou's deposition, which had always been polite, gradually became sharper.
Lin Jingzhe asked the profound-acting Gao Sheng, "What's so secretive for you to call me here about?"
Gao Sheng smirked and walked towards Zhou Haitang's desk. Zhou Haitang immediately realized what was going on and rushed to stop him, but he couldn't beat Gao Sheng's speed.
Gao Sheng quickly grabbed a large stack of test papers from the drawer and threw them into Lin Jingzhe's arms as Zhou Haitang screamed, "Don't look!"
Lin Jingzhe was full of doubts, he immediately flipped the papers upright, and frowned in disbelief.
"Damn." He threw away the test papers, took two steps forward and kicked Zhou Haitang in the butt. Zhou Haitang, who was still angrily chasing Gao Sheng, was knocked to the ground. Lin Jingzhe sat on top of him, giving him a couple fistfuls. "Are you kidding me!?"
Zhou Haitang almost cried out from the pain, but he didn't dare to fight back nor did he dare to knock Lin Jingzhe over. He could only raise his arms and cover his face pitifully to avoid his friend’s onslaught. "I really tried my best..."
"Those exams are all failing scores yet you have the audacity to say that you tried your best!?" Lin Jingzhe slapped him hard on the arm, "Twenty! Twenty points! How did you get this number? Please enlighten me! With your grades, you still want to change your major? Why don’t we change your brain instead?"
Gao Sheng squatted on the ground and laughed hysterically.
Zhou Haitang hurriedly covered his mouth. "Tone down your voice, what if my mom comes in? My mother doesn't know yet!"
"Christ." Lin Jingzhe held his forehead in pain. "No, what's the use of hiding your grades from your mother? You won't be able to change your major in the second semester, she’ll find out eventually."
