Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 49 (Part 3)
Translated by Pure
Edited by Alkonost
Chapter 49.3 The Obnoxious Dog Can Not Be Allowed to Continue Barking Like This
Wang Jun was very efficient. Lin Jingzhe's house in the Dongtai Community had not even been cleaned up and he had already successfully contacted his senior.
In the drawing room of New Beginnings Real Estate, Lin Jingzhe locked eyes with the young man who came in after Deng Mai opened the door. He calmly smiled at his guest’s surprised face.
"Hello." Lin Jingzhe raised his hand to signal him to sit down, as if he didn't notice the latter’s offensive look of scrutiny. This baby face of his was really a burden at times, but he was used to it. However, in terms of appearance, it was obvious that the new arrival was much more eye-catching than him. "You must be Mr. Mao Dongqing? Nice to meet you."
From the time Mao Dongqing received a phone call from his classmate, to when he contacted Deng Mai for an interview, he had never expected that the person he was about to meet would be such a young man. Lin Jingzhe's appearance did not look the least bit intimidating. His gentle eyebrows and soft temperament didn't look like a businessman at all. He was a little hesitant, but in the face of Lin Jingzhe’s friendly greeting, he responded politely, "Hello Mr. Lin. Pleasure to meet you."
He sat down in front of Lin Jingzhe, and when he was invited to reach for the teacup, he suddenly realized that his sofa seemed to be placed closer to the coffee table. He raised his head and glanced at Lin Jingzhe in surprise, but the latter was quietly brewing tea with his eyes lowered. It was a very comfortable atmosphere, putting Mao Dongqing in a temporary daze. He then suddenly remembered that the Lin Jingzhe's gaze were very restrained and short when he first entered the room.
He couldn't help appreciating Lin Jingzhe's silent consideration. At the same time, he was also ashamed by his bad habit of judging people by their appearance despite being deeply hurt by it.
Lin Jingzhe deliberately placed the teacup a little closer to Mao Dongqing. After meeting in person, he realized how pertinent Deng Mai's description of Mao Dongqing's ‘very short’ was. The latter exceeded the category of ‘short’ in most men’s concepts. Visually, his height looked less than 1.4 meters, and his limbs were somewhat deformed. Just now, when Mao Dongqing was holding the cup, Lin Jingzhe glanced at him from the corner of his eye. The shape of his palm was somewhat unusual. Moreover, even though he tried his best to cover up when he walked, one could still notice his slight limp.
Based on all these signs, Lin Jingzhe already recognized who he was.
Mao Dongqing was quite a sensation among well-known domestic entrepreneurs in his previous life. Even before they met, Lin Jingzhe had faintly guessed his identity from the various descriptions given to him.
Lin Jingzhe’s previous high-end apartment in Yan City, for which he had to take a twenty year mortgage, was developed by Amaranthine Land Holdings, the real estate company where Mao Dongqing used to work. Different from Flux Realty’s high-end luxury housing route, Amaranthine Land Holdings targeted clients from middle to upper class, meaning that they had a larger population of clientele to work with. Their development projects were located in major cities across the country, with a good reputation and high recognition.
When Lin Jingzhe was still doing his research prior to purchasing that high-end apartment, the realtor had used the bitter entrepreneurial history of the executives in Amaranthine Land Holdings as a selling point. It was used as an argument to guarantee the developer's honor and fair pricing. Mao Dongqing's short but gloomy figure was squeezed into the group photo of senior executives. He looked out-of-place and comical, but no one thought it was funny.
After all, this unattractive disabled person was an acclaimed philosopher's stone in the real estate industry.
In order to keep him, the CEO of Amaranthine Land Holdings directly gave him stocks worth 1.5 billion. Moreover, his annual income, not including his dividends, was no less than 100 million. The net worth of this senior wage earner was probably much higher than that of many serious business proprietors in China.
But at this time, the person sitting in front of Lin Jingzhe has not yet been polished into the bright gem of the future. At present, he was just a dusty, inconspicuous, and even ugly grain of sand. He was immersed in the shadow of his first entrepreneurial failure, a failure that would be commonly mentioned after he became successful.
After graduation, he and his two dorm buddies pooled together one million yuan and rushed from Yan City to the special administrative region to start a major task. He was full of confidence in this and devoted all his energy, but when his career was just beginning to take shape, he was kicked away by his two partners.
It obviously hurt him deeply and continued to torment him even several decades later. Lin Jingzhe gently looked at his vigilant eyes. "Mr. Mao, we are schoolmates, and you can be considered as my senior brother. To be honest, I checked your information. I know that you have two years of business experience in the special administrative region. After learning about the commercial property development you took part in, I have great faith in your strengths."
Mao Dongqing looked into his gentle eyes, and didn't find the slightest hidden disdain in them. He lowered his eyes. In his ears, he could still hear the word his two good brothers blurted out when they had a dispute with him over the division of benefits– ‘Cripple’. He nervously took a sip of water.
Lin Jingzhe continued, "Presumably, you must have heard something about our company before your arrival today?"
Since this subject was in his area of expertise, Mao Dongqing finally loosened up. He nodded and said, "I am familiar with the ‘king land’ from Shiku Lane in the north of the city."
When he mentioned this, the distrust he had for Lin Jingzhe because of his young age gradually dissipated. Indeed, he had repeatedly studied every step of the ‘land king’'s transaction from the beginning to the end no less than a hundred times. He dug out all the minutiae that many people hadn't noticed. From Lin Jingzhe's loan, every subsequent step was so precise and bold that he could not help but be convinced.
He was also ashamed. Back then, he too was optimistic about the development of the north of the city, but he never considered using such a desperate risk to succeed. Even now, with a triumphant precedent, he still might now dare to do it. Lin Jingzhe may have had the same vision that he had, but Mao Dongqing did not share his strength in courage.
Lin Jingzhe caught the change in Mao Dongqing's face, so the smile on his face gradually became more sincere. He kindly said, "Since Mr. Mao has a good impression of me, I'll get straight to the point. You should have seen it when you came in just now, New Beginnings Real Estate lacks manpower. I heard that you returned to Yan City and brought a group of good brothers who followed you to start a business in the Special Administrative Region. I believe our company is the much-coveted stage where everyone can hone and show their strengths. Would you be interested, Mr. Mao?"
Mao Dongqing had come here for this very reason. In fact, he had the intention to join after learning about the history of New Beginnings Real Estate. The dozen individuals who had left the Special Administrative Region with him because they couldn't bear the sight of the other two senior figures. They quit because they didn’t share their sentiments of killing the donkey when the grinding was done[1]. After they all came back to Yan City, every day was a huge expense for the now unemployed individuals. Finding a job was on the agenda, but it was undoubtedly too far-fetched for so many people to be recruited by a large company at the same time. A small start-up company like New Beginnings Real Estate was undoubtedly the best choice. The team members were used to cooperating, and knowing each other and working together can get twice the result with half the effort. So, they were more inclined to stay together after arriving in Yan City.
What's more, Mao Dongqing had a good impression of Lin Jingzhe, and the salary offered was also very generous. After some hesitation, Mao Dongqing agreed to bring his team members the next day to New Beginnings Real Estate and started working officially.
The manpower problem that has been lingering in Lin Jingzhe's heart for a long time has finally been resolved. He, who had been pretending not to care all this time, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. However, their success was celebrated prematurely– Mao Dongqing showed up by himself the next day.
After arriving at the company, he almost shed tears when Deng Mai asked him about the people he had promised to bring the day before.
"Mr. Lin," He pushed open the door of the office, his voice trembling with anger and his eyes reddened, "Of the twelve people, I can only bring in six."
Lin Jingzhe looked at him in doubt, and then heard him grit his teeth and said, "A person in charge of a company called Qiqing Real Estate found our residence overnight. They offered three times the salary you did. I didn't think they were reliable, but several people were moved, and then everyone... just disbanded."
Mao Dongqing spoke briefly, but by looking at his face, Lin Jingzhe knew that the night before must have been very ugly.
These comrades who had fought side by side for so long, and now, they disbanded because of a difference in salary. Although this was human nature, it was a rather heavy blow for Mao Dongqing, who was still suffering from his previous entrepreneurial failure.
The smile on Lin Jingzhe's face faded after hearing the words ‘Qiqing Real Estate’. He nodded and comforted, "It's okay, I understand. Let’s start work as soon as possible. If you have any difficulties, the company can give everyone a part of their wages in advance to tide them over."
After he sent away the ashamed Mao Dongqing, Lin Jingzhe directly lowered his face and fell into his chair.
To be honest, he had always been reluctant to deal with Qi Qing and Jiang Qiaqia personally. They were eyesores; he preferred to stay away from them and allow himself to live more comfortably.
Even the last time he vented, he didn't beat the dog, but directly attacked the owner of the mutt.
However, the offensive power of that plot of land would not take effect in a short period of time. Granted, the obnoxious dog couldn't be allowed to continue barking unscrupulously like this.
Lin Jingzhe picked up the phone on the table, dialed Deng Mai's number, and said in a deep voice, "Come in. I need your help with something."
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Footnote:
[1] Killing the donkey when the grinding was done is an idiom which means to get rid of someone/thing once they have ceased to be useful
Translated by pure, hosted on puretl.com / do not repost!