Chapter 703
He's already backing down.
At this moment, Chen Zhengqian's mind was racing, trying to figure out how to resolve this awkward situation so that he wouldn't let his father down!
Just as he was racking his brains for a solution, Zheng Gaoyang looked at Chen Zhengqian with a serious expression and said, "Are you Chen Weiqiang's son from Dongjiang Mining Group?"
Zheng Gaoyang had just heard Xu Bo'an say that Chen Zhengqian was the son of the top executive of Dongjiang Mining, and he immediately knew that the young man in front of him was Chen Weiqiang's son.
Dongjiang Mining Group is a subsidiary of Jiangzhou Mining Group, and Dongjiang Mining has been developing rapidly. In recent years, it has been one of the top-ranked enterprises among the subsidiaries of the provincial mining group. The leaders of these enterprises often attend meetings at the provincial group. Zheng Gaoyang may not remember the names of the management of other branches and subsidiaries with relatively poor performance, but as the most prominent among the subsidiaries, Zheng Gaoyang naturally knows that the head of Dongjiang Mining is Chen Weiqiang.
Of course, the reason why Chen Weiqiang was so closely watched by Zheng Gaoyang was because this guy relied on his own merits to overshadow his master, acted like a local bully, and was somewhat hostile to Zheng Gaoyang, an outsider.
Originally, Chen Weiqiang, as a reserve cadre of the new leadership team of Jiangzhou Mining Group, was likely to be promoted to the level of deputy general manager of the provincial company before retirement. However, with the arrival of Zheng Gaoyang, an outsider, in order to cooperate with his work, the superiors respected Zheng Gaoyang's opinion and postponed the promotion of deputy leaders, which was equivalent to temporarily freezing personnel transfers. This delayed Chen Weiqiang's progress.
Of course, this was Chen Weiqiang's own idea!
Normal personnel appointments follow strict procedures; it's impossible for all the good things to fall on Chen Weiqiang alone!
Furthermore, a higher rank can have absolute power; even Chen Weiqiang had to bow down to Zheng Gaoyang. As his son, Chen Zhengqian naturally had no choice but to submit to Zheng Gaoyang as well! After all, he was just arrogant and domineering, not stupid!
Upon hearing Zheng Gaoyang's question, Chen Zhengqian lowered his head and said in an extremely humble manner, "Yes, Mr. Zheng."
"Hmph!" Zheng Gaoyang snorted coldly and said in an icy tone, "Do you think that just because you're Chen Weiqiang's son from Dongjiang Mining Group, you can do whatever you want?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Zhengqian quickly and humbly said, "No... no, Mr. Gao, I was just confused for a moment. Please forgive me."
Zheng Gaoyang looked at Chen Zhengqian and smiled contemptuously, saying, "Heh, what a convenient excuse for being confused for a moment. Does being confused for a moment mean you're not wrong? In broad daylight, you not only made things difficult for others in the restaurant over a seat, but you also had the person who instigated you spit into their plates. I really don't know how you could do such disgusting things. What kind of upbringing did your father give you!"
In an attempt to clear himself of responsibility, Chen Zhengqian hurriedly said, "Mr. Gao... Mr. Gao, the one who made things difficult for them over the seating arrangement was my brother. He was also the one who spat on them. It really wasn't me!"
After Chen Zhengqian finished speaking, he glanced at the young man who had just spat. The young man, seeing Chen Zhengqian's gaze, instantly understood his meaning. He knew Chen Zhengqian wanted him to take the blame. He had done this many times for Chen Zhengqian before, and Chen Zhengqian always rewarded him handsomely afterward. Thinking of this, he quickly said, "Yes...yes, I did it. It has nothing to do with you, Brother Qian!"
Zheng Gaoyang said to Chen Zhengqian's henchman, "Get out of here, this is none of your business!"
Chen Zhengqian knew without a second thought that they were lying. When he entered the restaurant, he saw that it was Chen Zhengqian who spoke first, and that group of people surrounded Xu Bo'an and the others. Anyone with eyes could see that Chen Zhengqian was the leader of this group.
Zheng Gaoyang looked at Chen Zhengqian angrily and said, "Heh, you really know how to find a scapegoat. Do you think people will believe your few words? There are surveillance cameras in the restaurant. In broad daylight, you called so many people to the restaurant to take them away. You not only seriously disrupted the restaurant's business, but also threatened their personal safety. Do you know that this is illegal?"
Seeing that he couldn't deny it anymore, Chen Zhengqian quickly admitted his mistake, saying, "Yes...yes, President Zheng is right, I was wrong!"
Zheng Gaoyang pointed at Xu Bo'an and the others and said to Chen Zhengqian, "The person you should apologize to is not me, but them!"
As the son of the top executive of Dongjiang Mining, Chen Zhengqian was used to being arrogant, and he was extremely unwilling to apologize to Xu Bo'an and the others.
However, the person now asking him to apologize to Xu Bo'an and the others is his father's boss. These days, there are countless cases of second-generation tyrants ruining their parents' lives. Chen Zhengqian naturally doesn't want to repeat the same mistake. Although it might be a bit embarrassing right now, it's much better than having a bad life in the future.
He thought to himself, what if he apologized and the other party would let him off the hook?
Having no other way to protect himself at the moment, Chen Zhengqian walked up to Xu Bo'an, Shi Changliang, and Qin Shuyu with this hopeful thought, and said very reluctantly, "I'm sorry!"
Xu Bo'an chuckled and said, "Speak louder, I can't hear you!"
Chen Zhengqian cleared his throat and raised his voice, saying, "I'm sorry!"
Xu Bo'an was no saint. How could he possibly forgive Chen Zhengqian for his shameless behavior and a casual "I'm sorry"?
Xu Bo'an changed the subject, saying, "Do you think your disgusting behavior can be resolved with just an apology?"
After Xu Bo'an finished speaking, he picked up the plate of steak that Chen Zhengqian's underling had spat into, placed it in front of Chen Zhengqian, and said, "This plate of beef is the one your underling spat into. I see you were quite pleased with your underling's behavior! You even said you'd give him a raise. I see you're very interested in this plate of beef that's been spat on. Now eat it and I'll forgive you!"
When Chen Zhengqian heard Xu Bo'an tell him to eat the plate of beef that his subordinate had spat on earlier, he felt extremely uncomfortable. He found even his own spit disgusting, let alone someone else's. If he actually ate it, he would feel nauseous and vomit. If he really ate the beef that had been spat on, he would feel nauseous every time he thought about it.
Seeing Chen Zhengqian's resistant expression, Xu Bo'an said, "Have you thought this through? If you don't eat, I won't forgive you! You know the consequences."
Because Xu Bo'an had saved Zheng Gaoyang's son at the service area before, and because Chen Zhengqian had acted disgustingly first, Xu Bo'an knew that Zheng Gaoyang would definitely stand on his side. However, Xu Bo'an's contact with Zheng Gaoyang was only that short time at the service area, and he didn't understand what kind of person Zheng Gaoyang was. He wasn't sure how Zheng Gaoyang would deal with Chen Zhengqian.
This does not mean that Xu Bo'an needed Zheng Gaoyang's help to deal with Chen Zhengqian.
With Xu Bo'an's current strength, even without Zheng Gaoyang present, he wouldn't take Chen Zhengqian's men seriously at all. He could easily defeat them one by one, making them cry for their parents. Even dismounting Chen Zhengqian's father wouldn't be a problem.
However, with Zheng Gaoyang, the head of the provincial mining group, around, Xu Bo'an can at least take this opportunity to annoy him first.
With a pained expression on his face, Chen Zhengqian pleaded with Xu Bo'an, "Mr. Xu... Boss Xu, could you do this? I'll pay for the steak, and I'll settle all your orders. How about this, can I not eat it?"
Xu Bo'an glared at Chen Zhengqian with a wicked smile and snapped, "Do you think I care about the cost of this meal? I told you to eat, so eat! Don't give me any more nonsense!" Chen Zhengqian looked miserable, glancing at Xu Bo'an and then at Zheng Gaoyang, trying to find a way to intervene. Zheng Gaoyang simply gave Chen Zhengqian a cold look and remained silent. Instead, he took out his phone and snapped a picture of Chen Zhengqian. After the crisp shutter sound, Zheng Gaoyang sent the photo to his office manager.
Then, without any hesitation, he calmly sent a voice message in front of everyone present, saying, "Check this person's background. I heard that he is the son of Chen Weiqiang from Dongjiang Company, a subsidiary of our group. Verify if it's true."
Upon seeing Zheng Gaoyang's actions, Chen Zhengqian immediately tensed up. Although Zheng Gaoyang had not made any statement about Xu Bo'an's disgusting behavior, his actions were undoubtedly the biggest threat to him.
This looks like they're about to expose it.
His father's official position was in Zheng Gaoyang's hands. If he didn't do as Zheng Gaoyang said, he would definitely bring shame to his father. If he really ate that plate of beef that had been spat on, as Zheng Gaoyang said, he felt disgusted just thinking about it, let alone eating it.
But Chen Zhengqian knew perfectly well which was more important: his father's official position or eating this plate of beef that had been spat on. Judging from Xu Bo'an's attitude, he was determined to eat it today.
Chen Zhengqian knew that Zheng Gaoyang was on Xu Bo'an's side, so he could only give in to Xu Bo'an now. As long as he could get Xu Bo'an's forgiveness, Zheng Gaoyang should not make things difficult for him anymore. In this way, his father's position should not be threatened.
After a long period of mental preparation, Chen Zhengqian felt a wave of nausea wash over him as he looked at the plate of beef that had been spat on. In his final desperate attempt, he pointed at the underling who had spat into the steak and looked at Xu Bo'an with pleading eyes, saying, "Mr. Xu... Mr. Xu, this piece of beef was spat on by this bastard. Why don't we let him eat it? After all, we'll eat it anyway. Is that alright?"
Seeing Chen Zhengqian's repeated refusals, Xu Bo'an angrily rebuked him, "Chen Zhengqian, my patience is limited. I said you can eat it, so you have to eat it. I'll count to three. If it's within three, you'd better eat it all up. I'll just consider this a bad luck bite from a dog. If you don't finish it, I can only say that you'll have to bear the consequences! Think it through."
Having heard Xu Bo'an's words, Chen Zhengqian naturally knew that he had no choice but to take responsibility for this disgusting situation.
Knowing full well that there was no way to reverse the situation, Chen Zhengqian seemed much more at ease.
He immediately picked up the plate containing the steak that had been spat on and said to Xu Bo'an, Shi Changliang, and Qin Shuyu, "What happened today was my fault. Thank you all for giving me the opportunity to apologize!"
After speaking, Chen Zhengqian picked up a small dish of jam dipping sauce from the table next to him, poured it over the steak, then brought the plate to his mouth, closed his eyes, and took large bites of the sweet steak dipped in jam. Although he still felt incredibly nauseous, the strange sweetness at least masked the urge to vomit.
Seeing Chen Zhengqian's actions, Xu Bo'an and Zheng Gaoyang began to look at this young man with new respect.
This kid may be a scoundrel, but he's a man of principle, at least a real guy, much better than those hypocrites.
As for the minor matter of adding jam, Xu Bo'an immediately let it go and ignored it.
After all, this doesn't violate the conditions he just proposed.
In just two or three minutes, Chen Zhengqian swallowed the whole large steak on his plate.
Chen Zhengqian touched his mouth, noticing a lot of sauce on the back of his hand. He didn't seem to care, casually wiped it off with a wet wipe and tossed it on the table. He looked at Xu Bo'an with a frank expression and said, "Mr. Xu, I was blind to your greatness today. This is my own fault. Thank you for the opportunity. Please tell me if there's anything else you can do to correct it!"
Xu Bo'an raised his hand and pointed slightly at Shi Changliang, saying, "Xiao Liang, tell me, can we forgive him for this?"
"Ah!" Shi Changliang was taken aback, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.
Chen Zhengqian was caught off guard by Shi Changliang's sudden move.
Chen Zhengqian just backed down like that? That shouldn't be the case. The Chen Zhengqian I remember was an arrogant bastard who wouldn't even give face to the King of Heaven himself.
Why are you backing down so easily!
He was indeed very angry when he was offended, but with the help of Xu Bo'an and Zheng Gaoyang, he managed to save face. But now that things have come to this, what should he say and what should he do?
Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, Shi Changliang became even more nervous and hurriedly waved his hand, saying, "Never mind, you can go."
Chen Zhengqian raised his hand and gave a respectful bow with a touch of江湖 (jianghu, the world of martial arts and chivalry) air, then prepared to leave.
Xu Bo'an casually added a harsh remark from behind.
"My younger brother is kind-hearted, just remember that. If you ever disagree with me again, feel free to come to me. But if you ever have any ill intentions towards him again, don't blame me for not giving you another chance."
Chen Zhengqian gritted his teeth, composed himself, stopped, turned around, and said "I understand!" before leaving without looking back.
Xu Bo'an turned around and looked at Shi Changliang and Qin Shuyu, and instructed, "Alright, we can't eat this meal now. You two sit somewhere else for a while. I'll chat with President Zheng for a bit and then come over!" (End of this chapter)