Chapter 828
Asking Forgiveness
Although Li Zhiqi was very reluctant to pay back the money out of his own pocket, his son just wouldn't agree, and he couldn't force him to pay in front of so many people; that would be too embarrassing for a big boss like himself.
So Li Zhiqi turned to Xu Bo'an and said with a smile, "A promise is a promise, I'll return the money!"
Li Zhiqi's business in Jiangcheng was quite successful. The reason he was so humble towards Xu Bo'an was twofold: firstly, he had indeed misunderstood Xu Bo'an earlier, and secondly, Li Zhiqi had learned from Lin Shan that Xu Bo'an was not a simple person.
Moreover, he had just learned that the old houses his son had invested in with Xu Bo'an, which no one else thought were worth buying, had actually increased in value by nearly three times. In addition, even Qu Feifan had been defending Xu Bo'an. All these things combined made Li Zhiqi feel that Xu Bo'an was a very capable young man with unlimited potential!
Such an outstanding young talent is not someone Li Zhiqi can afford to offend. If this person becomes very successful in Jiangcheng in the future, Li Zhiqi will definitely suffer if he offends him. Therefore, it might be beneficial for Li Zhiqi to be as humble as possible in front of Xu Bo'an.
Li Zhiqi, a seasoned veteran of the workplace, is one of the most shrewd and adaptable people, especially when facing talented young people like Xu Bo'an, where this trait becomes even more apparent.
After Li Zhiqi finished speaking, he looked at Xu Bo'an and kept observing the changes in Xu Bo'an's expression, because he was eager to get the answer from Xu Bo'an's expression.
However, Li Zhiqi observed for a long time but could not see any change in Xu Bo'an's expression, because Xu Bo'an's expression did not change at all. It would be strange if Li Zhiqi could see anything!
Xu Bo'an now knows that this matter is a misunderstanding. Li Zhiqi was also misled by Zhu Jiewen. Moreover, his son was investing several million yuan with someone who had no reputation. This is something that most people would find unacceptable. It is reasonable for most people to think that he is a fraudster. Xu Bo'an can understand this.
However, while I understand, if Lin Shan hadn't explained earlier, Xu Bo'an might have actually demanded the money back from Li Zhiqi based on his attitude, and would have taught him a lesson.
However, Lin Shan said that Li Zhiqi was not only his friend, but had also put in a lot of effort for the hotel's opening. If he were to argue with Li Zhiqi again, he would seem very unreasonable!
After a few seconds, Xu Bo'an looked at Li Zhiqi and said to him, "Chairman Li, since you are an old friend of Brother Lin and have been busy with the hotel recently, I will not hold it against you. Besides, that money was earned by me and your son on my own initiative. It does not need to be returned. You can keep it as a gift between us!"
Li Zhiqi was actually quite happy to hear Xu Bo'an's words, after all, it was more than six million, such a large number would be very tempting to anyone.
However, Li Zhiqi still maintained an apologetic attitude as he said to Xu Bo'an, "Mr. Xu, returning the money I made from buying the house to you is what I promised earlier. If I don't return it to you, I'll be breaking my word. I can't be such a faithless person. Give me a bank account number and I'll transfer it to you immediately! That's the only way I can express my apology!"
Xu Bo'an said with a smile, "Chairman Li, what happened just now was just a misunderstanding. I won't take it to heart. Besides, you've done so much for the hotel, why would I ask you to return that money? Qu Feifan was just joking around!"
Qu Feifan understood Xu Bo'an. Since Xu Bo'an had said that, he definitely didn't want the money. So he said to Li Zhiqi, "Chairman Li, now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, Brother Xu really means he doesn't want it anymore. You don't need to say anything more!"
Upon hearing this, Li Zhiqi was deeply impressed by Xu Bo'an. If Xu Bo'an had simply said he wanted to take back the money Li Jiayin had earned, Li Zhiqi, as a big boss, would have returned it in front of these people to save face. However, Xu Bo'an didn't do that; he simply said he didn't want it anymore. That was over six million yuan! Even as a big boss, Li Zhiqi considered it a huge sum, but Xu Bo'an just casually said he didn't want it anymore. This was enough to show Li Zhiqi Xu Bo'an's strength.
Li Zhiqi quickly said to Xu Bo'an, "Mr. Xu, you are truly a magnanimous person. Although this matter was a misunderstanding, I was the one who disrespected you first. Although you have already let it go, I still feel very guilty towards you. How about this, I will treat you to a meal later to express my apology. I hope you will do me the honor!"
Xu Bo'an said to Li Zhiqi very politely, "You're too kind. You're Brother Lin's friend, so you're my friend too. Just let me know if you need anything in the future! But your subordinate, Zhu Jiewen, is really unethical!"
Zhu Jiewen was already trembling when he learned that Xu Bo'an was actually the owner of this hotel. Now that his boss and Xu Bo'an were calling each other friends, he knew that he and Xu Bo'an were not on the same level at all, which made Zhu Jiewen even more afraid.
Upon hearing Xu Bo'an's words, Zhu Jiewen shuddered and lowered his head, not daring to utter a single word.
Li Zhiqi said, "Oh, Mr. Xu, what you just said about breaking the mirror was a slander by Zhu Jiewen. I'll deal with him for you right away!"
Although Zhu Jiewen knew that Li Zhiqi wouldn't treat him well if he returned to the company, he still instinctively wanted to avoid the consequences of his mistake. Instead, he turned to his boss and said, "Chairman Li, perhaps Xu Bo'an didn't break this large mirror. Maybe I misread it, which led to this misunderstanding!"
Zhu Jiewen thought that although he had deliberately done this to frame Xu Bo'an, it was impossible to do so now. That's why he said that. Anyway, no one had any evidence. By saying this, he could prevent people from blaming him or suspecting him.
Li Zhiqi scolded, "Mr. Xu just said that you broke it, so you broke it. You will clean this place up right now and replace it with an identical mirror!"
Xu Bo'an said, "There's no need to say that. Since I said Zhu Jiewen did it, I must have my reasons and evidence. We won't force anyone to do anything!" Then Xu Bo'an raised his hand and pointed behind Zhu Jiewen, saying, "See that? The surveillance camera is right behind you!"
Upon hearing Xu Bo'an's words, Zhu Jiewen turned his head and looked in the direction Xu Bo'an pointed. Sure enough, he found a camera standing quietly not far behind him. Zhu Jiewen couldn't hold back any longer and said in an incredulous tone, "No, impossible! There wasn't a camera here just now. How could there be a camera out of nowhere? This is impossible!"
After Zhu Jiewen finished speaking, Xu Bo'an smiled and said, "Why is it impossible? So you're saying that when you were doing something wrong, you checked if there were any security cameras around?"
Zhu Jiewen had already noticed the camera and realized that his actions had definitely been captured on camera, so he stopped trying to hide it and quickly said to his boss, "Chairman Li, there's a misunderstanding here. You must trust my character!"
Li Zhiqi looked at Zhu Jiewen and said, "I'll just ask you one question: Did you break this mirror?"
Zhu Jiewen said, "It's true that I broke it, but I had my reasons!"
Li Zhiqi looked at Zhu Jiewen angrily and said, "No matter what the reason, it doesn't make sense. Since you broke the mirror, why are you blaming Mr. Xu?"
Zhu Jiewen said, "I also mistakenly thought Xu Bo'an was a swindler, which is why I did this. He bought three of my houses a while ago, and they were demolished in less than two months. I felt there must be something fishy going on, which is why I did this to him."
Li Zhiqi looked at Zhu Jiewen and said, "Zhu Jiewen, no matter what, you are a top student. Now that your house has been sold, whether you make a profit or a loss is not something you should be concerned about. The fact that the other person made money from the house in such a short time can only be attributed to their good fortune. Your underhanded tactics against them only show that you have very low character! Stop making excuses. There are too many people coming and going. You should clean up your things quickly, otherwise, if you accidentally hurt someone, the consequences could be serious!"
Upon hearing his superior's words, Zhu Jiewen quickly replied, "Yes, I'll put all these things away right away! I hope you can forgive me this time; I'll never dare to do it again!"
Zhu Jiewen is a top student who has worked at his company for many years and is currently a high-level technical talent. If it weren't for today's incident, Li Zhiqi would have been considering giving him an important position in the future. However, he did something so unethical that Li Zhiqi is extremely disappointed in him!
He said to Zhu Jiewen, "A person's education and ability are certainly important, but a person's good morals are even more important than education and ability. I originally intended to give you an important position, but now you have ruined everything with your own hands. I simply cannot tolerate a person with low morals working in my company! From today onwards, you are no longer an employee of this company!"
After hearing his leader's words, Zhu Jiewen stood there dumbfounded. After a while, he quickly pleaded with Li Zhiqi, saying, "Chairman Li, I have been working for your company since I graduated. I have worked diligently and conscientiously all these years. I feel that I have done my best. Even if I have not made any great contributions, I have certainly put in a lot of hard work. How can you fire me like this?"
Li Zhiqi said, "Yes, I admit that you have done a good job over the years, but it is wrong of you to do such underhanded things behind Mr. Xu's back. I really can't keep you here!"
If Zhu Jiewen had offended an ordinary person, given his outstanding work ability, Li Zhiqi might have only taught him a lesson and not fired him. But he had offended Xu Bo'an, a young talent who was more capable than him in the same industry! Li Zhiqi simply could not keep him in the company any longer.
Keeping Zhu Jiewen in the company would be a disregard for Xu Bo'an, which is why Li Zhiqi made this decision decisively in front of Xu Bo'an.
Zhu Jiewen said to Li Zhiqi, "I only did that because I was confused for a moment. Can't you give me another chance?"
For someone as highly educated as Zhu Jiewen, finding another job after leaving Li Zhiqi's company would be quite easy. However, he absolutely cannot leave by being fired, as that would be a stain on his record and would severely limit his ability to find similar jobs in Jiangzhou Province in the future.
Moreover, he had been with Li Zhiqi's company for many years and had finally been promoted and appreciated by his superiors. If he were to switch to another company, he would have to start all over again, which was one of the reasons why he did not want to leave.
Li Zhiqi thought that Zhu Jiewen had been working very hard for so many years and was a down-to-earth and hardworking young man. Otherwise, he would not have brought Zhu Jiewen here today. If he really fired him, it would not be easy for Zhu Jiewen to find a suitable job in the same industry in Jiangcheng.
Li Zhiqi, considering Zhu Jiewen's diligence and hard work over the past few years, said to him, "You've offended Mr. Xu, so the company really can't keep you any longer. However, considering your hard work over the past few years, I won't fire you. You can resign voluntarily! Just write your resignation letter and submit it to me later!"
After hearing Li Zhiqi's words, Zhu Jiewen fully understood the meaning behind his leader's words. He realized that the reason his leader wanted to fire him today was because he had offended Xu Bo'an.
Zhu Jiewen knew that it would be useless to say anything to his superiors anymore, because the root of the problem was Xu Bo'an. Zhu Jiewen thought that as long as he could get Xu Bo'an's forgiveness, he would probably still have a chance to stay in the company.
Thinking of this, Zhu Jiewen said very politely to Xu Bo'an, "Xu Bo'an, oh no, Mr. Xu, I've worked at Chairman Li's company for many years and put in a lot of effort. I've finally gotten into a good position, and I really don't want to leave like this! What happened today was because I was momentarily blinded by greed. I promise I'll never do such a thing again. I hope you can forgive me this time, okay?" (End of Chapter)