Chapter 732
Parents' Doubts
The man was none other than Su Tai, the chairman of Dongjiang Construction Group. Xu Bo'an hadn't seen Su Tai for quite some time since he left Dongjiang No. 2 Construction. However, Su Tai was accompanied by a very young girl, whose appearance was exactly like Su Tai's. Anyone with eyes could immediately tell that the girl was Su Tai's daughter.
Director Gao walked up to Su Tai and greeted him warmly and respectfully, "Chairman Su, what a coincidence, you're here too?"
Su Tai looked at Director Gao with great confusion and asked, "Who are you?"
Not long after his promotion, Director Gao attended two meetings at the group's headquarters. After each meeting, he would make sure to show his face to Su Tai to get acquainted with him, paving the way for his future promotion.
Director Gao was surprised that Su Tai didn't recognize him. However, he wasn't upset. In his mind, Su Tai was a high-ranking leader with countless subordinates, so it was normal for him not to recognize him after one or two encounters.
Upon hearing Su Tai's words, Director Gao smiled and said with a humble expression, "Oh, Chairman Su, I am Gao Jingzhi from the Steel Structure Processing Center. I was just promoted to General Manager. Do you remember me?"
Su Tai nodded and said with a smile, "Oh, now that you mention it, I remember you are Manager Gao!"
Manager Gao said, "Chairman Su, you..."
Before Gao Jingzhi could finish speaking, Su Tai suddenly looked up and saw Xu Bo'an in front of him. Without even paying attention to Gao Jingzhi, he walked towards Xu Bo'an with a smile on his face.
Gao Jingzhi quickly shut his mouth and followed behind Su Tai.
When Xu Bo'an was working at Dongjiang Second Construction Company, Su Tai took good care of him. So when Xu Bo'an saw Su Tai approaching him, he greeted him first, saying, "Chairman Su, it's been a long time!"
Before Su Tai could speak, Gao Jingzhi, who was standing next to him, said, "Xu Bo'an, you've already been fired by Chairman Su. You still dare to try and chat with him? Don't embarrass yourself here. Chairman Su doesn't want to see you again! Get out of here right now!"
Standing to the side, Gao Jingzhi's younger brother and sister-in-law felt a surge of satisfaction as they watched Xu Bo'an about to suffer a setback.
However, this feeling of satisfaction lasted less than a second before it was shattered by Su Tai's sudden slap.
Yes, as soon as Gao Jingzhi finished saying those insulting words about Xu Bo'an, he was immediately slapped across the face by Su Tai.
Su Tai showed no mercy in slapping Gao Jingzhi. Gao Jingzhi, feeling the intense pain, quickly covered his cheek and looked at Su Tai with a puzzled expression, saying, "Chairman Su, what's wrong? Did you hit the wrong person?"
Before Gao Jingzhi was the head of the steel structure processing center, he didn't even have the right to contact Su Tai, so he would never have had the chance to offend Su Tai.
He had only been promoted to head of the steel structure center for less than three months. Although he had taken advantage of the meetings to talk to Su Tai twice, Gao Jingzhi believed that he had performed very well in those two close encounters with Su Tai. Su Tai's attitude should have been that he was quite satisfied with him. There was no grudge between the two of them at all!
Gao Jingzhi had only said a couple of words to Xu Bo'an, so why did Su Tai suddenly slap him? At this moment, Gao Jingzhi had countless questions in his mind, which is why he asked Su Tai.
Su Tai looked at Gao Jingzhi with disdain and said fiercely, "Gao Jingzhi, is that right? I'll remember you this time. I'm going to beat you up!"
Upon hearing Su Tai's affirmative answer, Gao Jingzhi asked with disbelief, "Chairman Su, why is that?"
Su Tai looked at Gao Jingzhi with a stern expression and said, "Heh, you idiot, is there even a question? Bo'an is my good friend. How dare you treat him like this in front of me? And you expect me to give you a friendly face?"
Gao Jingzhi said, "But...but Xu Bo'an was fired by you personally!"
Su Tai said, "Who said I fired Bo'an? He resigned on his own. I really don't know how someone like you became the head of the steel structure processing plant! But from today onwards, you are no longer the head!"
Su Tai is a director of the group, and his word can decide Gao Jingzhi's life or death. When Gao Jingzhi heard that Su Tai wanted him to resign, he was instantly filled with despair. What should he do now? He had put in so much effort and sacrifice to climb up the ranks, and he was going to be resigned after less than three months in office? This won't do! This absolutely won't do. He couldn't let this happen.
Gao Jingzhi said, "Chairman Su, I finally became the general manager of the steel structure processing center. Please give me a chance. As long as you don't make me step down, I'll do anything you ask!"
Su Tai sternly rebuked, "The person you've offended is Bo An. Go and beg Bo An for forgiveness. If Bo An forgives you, I'll give you another chance!"
Hearing Su Tai's words, Gao Jingzhi felt like he had grasped a lifeline. He turned to Xu Bo'an and said in a pleading tone, "Xu Bo'an, oh no, Mr. Xu, what happened just now was my fault. I only said that because I believed what others said. I really didn't mean it! Please forgive me!"
Gao Jingzhi kept picking fights with Xu Bo'an today, taking every opportunity to mock and ridicule him. Moreover, his sister-in-law had dumped his cousin's annoying ex-girlfriend, so how could Xu Bo'an let them off so easily? He was determined to teach them a lesson today!
Thinking of this, Xu Bo'an looked at Gao Jingzhi and chuckled, then said sternly, "Heh, from the moment you entered the store, you tried to use your current status to put me in a bad position and kept mocking me. You still dare to say you didn't do it on purpose? Who would believe that? I don't accept your apology. Get out of here right now!"
Seeing that Xu Bo'an did not forgive him, Gao Jingzhi quickly knelt down in the direction where Xu Bo'an was standing, and said to Xu Bo'an with a sob in his voice, "I kneel to heaven, I kneel to earth, I kneel to my parents, but I, Gao Jingzhi, kneel down to you today. Can you forgive me now?"
Xu Bo'an bent down and looked at Gao Jingzhi with contempt, saying, "It's one thing for you to mock me, but you even dare to mock my parents! You still dare to dream of my forgiveness? Let me tell you, it's impossible!" Gao Jingzhi became anxious upon hearing Xu Bo'an's words and said, "Then I'll keep kneeling before you until you forgive me!"
Seeing Gao Jingzhi's behavior, Xu Bo'an looked down on him even more and said, "Since you like kneeling, as long as it doesn't bother us, you can keep kneeling! Nobody's stopping you!"
If Gao Jingzhi continues kneeling like this, firstly, it will affect the business of the gold shop, and secondly, if this matter is spread online, it won't be good either. Seeing that Xu Bo'an was determined not to forgive him, Su Tai said, "Gao Jingzhi, it's really shocking that a grown man like you is so shameless. Don't embarrass yourself here. Let me tell you, before I lose my temper, you'd better disappear from my sight, or not only will you be dismissed, you won't even be able to work as an ordinary worker!"
Gao Jingzhi's parents were farmers and his family was very poor. He worked hard to get into a large state-owned enterprise like Dongjiang Construction Group, and later he had the opportunity to bring his younger brother in. With these secure jobs, the family's life gradually improved.
If I lose this job, not only will I face the problem of finding another job in the future, but more importantly, how will I be able to cover up the boast I made in front of my relatives, and how will I be able to face people with my head held high in the future!
Although it was extremely unacceptable for Gao Jingzhi, a careerist, to be removed from his position as the head of the steel structure processing center, seeing how angry Chairman Su was, he knew that staying there would only backfire and make things worse. It was better to leave him behind than to fire him outright. As long as he could stay in the system, he still had a chance to turn things around!
There might be someone behind Xu Bo'an that Su Tai is wary of. Chairman Su's attitude might be a deliberate attempt to save face for Xu Bo'an. If Xu Bo'an isn't around, Su Tai can try to flatter him, and Su Tai might be so pleased that he might reinstate him.
Thinking of this, Gao Zhijing briefly greeted Su Tai, and then wisely got up and slunk away from the gold shop with his younger brother and future sister-in-law.
After Gao Jingzhi and the others left, Su Tai looked at Xu Bo'an with a smile and said, "Brother Bo'an, it's been a long time. Since we've met today, how about we have dinner together tonight? What do you say?"
Xu Bo'an said with a smile, "Great! Chairman Su, that's exactly what I was thinking too!"
Su Tai's daughter is named Su Xingran. She just graduated this year and returned from studying abroad. Su Tai brought his daughter to the jewelry store today to pick out some pieces of jewelry for her.
When Xu Bo'an was working at the Construction Group, Su Tai took good care of him. Today, Su Tai helped Xu Bo'an teach Gao Jingzhi a lesson in order to vent his anger. Xu Bo'an was very grateful to Su Tai from the bottom of his heart.
Moreover, this was the first time Xu Bo'an had met Su Tai's daughter, so he paid for all the gold jewelry Su Xingran had chosen.
Su Tai initially refused, but Xu Bo'an said it was a gift for meeting Su Xingran for the first time. After Xu Bo'an's repeated persuasion, Su Tai, knowing that Xu Bo'an was not short of money, gladly accepted it.
After buying the jewelry, the group walked out of the jewelry store together and then took a short stroll around the commercial street.
When it was time to eat, Xu Bo'an chose a Chinese restaurant that he had eaten at before and found to be quite good. After the group ate, Xu Bo'an and Su Tai chatted briefly about their current situations before leaving separately.
After parting ways with Su Tai, Xu Bo'an packed another dish on his way home, lying to his parents that it was his own late-night snack, but in reality, it was for Chen Shishi in the fish tank ecosystem.
Although a tiny person like Chen Shishi only needs three times the amount of food of an ant to fill her stomach, and can easily eat some sausages to stave off hunger without wasting money on extra food, Chen Shishi will be staying in the aquarium ecosystem for at least ten days to half a month. If she keeps eating snacks to stave off hunger, Xu Bo'an feels that it is not good for her health. If he really has something to do and can't go home, it is fine for Chen Shishi to eat some snacks occasionally to stave off hunger, but now that he is at home, he has to take good care of the tiny person Chen Shishi as much as possible.
Besides, Xu Bo'an has plenty of money right now, so packing up a dish can't be considered a waste at all!
After Xu Bo'an brought his parents home, he first put the packed groceries in his bedroom, gave some to Chen Shishi, and then went downstairs to sit in the living room and chatted with his parents while watching TV.
Tang Rongzhi spoke first to her son, Xu Bo'an, saying, "Bo'an, you told me before that you resigned. Although you told me the reason, I was still very worried about you. Today, that person only said a few sarcastic things to you, and Chairman Su dismissed him. To be honest, I'm actually quite happy to see that your former chairman still gives you so much face. At least it proves that you still have a high position in the chairman's heart, and at least it shows that you weren't fired by the company."
But then again, even though you were a leader at Dongjiang Second Construction Company before, you couldn't possibly have the chairman, such a high-ranking official, backing you up, could you? Tell Mom the truth, you haven't done anything illegal or disorderly outside, have you?"
To be honest, Xu Bo'an did this today for two reasons. First, Gao Jingzhi was always being so annoying and picking on him, which Xu Bo'an couldn't stand. Second, he had his own selfish reasons. After all, his parents were still by his side. If Xu Bo'an let Gao Jingzhi trample on him, his parents would definitely worry about him. In order to show his authority, Xu Bo'an would never forgive him, and doing this would also put his parents at ease.
Unexpectedly, his parents had new worries. But all parents are the same; they always have endless concerns about their children, which Xu Bo'an could understand.
Xu Bo'an explained, "Mom, what are you thinking? Don't you know your son? Am I the kind of person who would do bad things? The reason Chairman Su stood up for me is because we are very good friends!"
Xu Bo'an's father, Xu Jiancheng, spoke up again: "Dad, although I know you're doing quite well, such a high-ranking leader, even if he's your friend, wouldn't demote someone who offended you! That sounds a bit outrageous!"
Xu Jiancheng's question reflects the common mindset of ordinary people. In our daily lives, even if you are good friends with your boss, your boss would not offend another person because of you, much less demote or dismiss someone who is already in a leadership position because of you.
After all, being a leader these days isn't easy. If you easily demote or fire someone and offend them, you're just asking for trouble. Even your own father would have to think twice before doing something like that, let alone someone else.
Xu Bo'an patiently explained, "Oh, Mom and Dad, you can rest assured. Your son knows what he's doing. The fact that Chairman Su stood up for me like this only proves that your son is incredibly capable. You should be happy for me, so don't worry about me! Taking good care of your health is more important than anything else!" (End of Chapter)