Love Me Harder, Mr. Fu - Chapter 50

“New Chairman, huh? Interesting” he smirks watching the live conference on his tablet. His eyes are glued to the screen, never leaving it from his sight. “Guess I need to meet this new Chairman. Here I come, Shi Lian or Miss Chairman.” His hands involuntarily shoving into his jet black hair, a habit of his which he seems to like. He hasn’t been in China for a while and since his purpose here is over, it’s time for him to head back, to his mainland.

**

Shi Lian’s live meeting conference has been watched by thousands and thousands of people, from commoners to elite. Fu Zichen is one of them. He, like Evelyn, had watched the entire conference in one sitting with full attention on the screen. When he was mentioned, he couldn’t help smiling. He has told his manager not to disturb him during the live meeting and damn the manager was surprised that his boss is focusing on something other than work. Zichen wanted to go there personally but due to some reasons, he couldn’t. He has been longing for her since the morning. He couldn’t sleep properly as his unconscious mind was occupied by Shi Lian’s thoughts.

After the amazing interaction, they had yesterday night, it’s just getting hard for him to be separated from her. He craves for her, more than anything he did in his life. He thinks of calling her but what will he say? That he misses her and cannot help thinking about her? No way he is going to say that. After all Fu Zichen is a man full of pride. Maybe he can ask her about the business or discuss their future collaboration? Argh! What excuse should he make to call her? He is getting frustrated because of no idea popping in his mind. Never mind, he will just call her anyway, decided he. He dials her number he took from her earlier at the restaurant after some lame logic.

“The number you have dialed is currently switched off. Please try again later” says the robotic girl inside the phone.

He hangs the phone and keeps it aside. Maybe she is busy, ponders he, and to settle his heart at ease, he left her a message. He then diverts his attention back to his work which he left unfinished just to watch the live conference.

**

“Meeting’s over. Thank you fr your patience” she smiles as the staff leaves one by one. The meeting took almost an hour. She thought it would hardly take only half an hour at most but you cannot predict anything in advance. The staffs were frank and asked various questions which she answered without any mocking. They interact quite well and Shi Lian was able to connect with them. she checks her watch and to her surprise, it’s past 4 o’clock. She has to arrive home at 5 so she has only one hour with her to do the rest of her work. About introducing herself and visiting all the departments, she decides to do it tomorrow as there’s not much time left.

She reaches Ruxi’s office and knocks before entering just like she used to do every day. Ruxi pops her head from the pile of papers and her face relaxes when she finds Shi Lian at the door.

“You don’t need to knock. You are the Chairman now. You are the head here” she tells her and gestures her to come in.

“I know but it’s just so foreign to me. it’s like all of a sudden, my world has changed drastically. I need time to get used to it” she chuckles, embarrassed at her own words.

“You have to get to used to all the staff calling you Chairman, have to get used to attending numerous meetings without any complaint, have to get used to being a Chairman.”

She nods understanding what she means. She has to act too fast but not recklessly. She promised in front of thousands of people and the other half watching her life to stable the month within three months. She regrets making such a rash decision but there’s no going back now. She has to seek out everything and plan carefully by today to proceed faster.

“About the Nova collection, what’s your thought on that?” ask Ruxi, sipping her black hot coffee.

“I haven’t asked father yet”

“Have you asked Mr. Fu?”

As soon as his name pops up, her mind goes to yesterday’s wild lovemaking scenes. She tried not to think about it anymore as she already couldn’t sleep properly yesterday due to it but yet she can’t escape. “Why should I ask him?” she asks, avoiding Ruxi’s gaze.

“Because we are business partners? You have signed the documents and it says, he holds 38% of the company’s assets making him the biggest shareholder. And the opinions of shareholders and directors matters. You need to discuss this with him and other higher-ups. That’s how important they are” Ruxi deciphers in her teacher’s tone which she uses while she explains something.

Any public limited or private limited company has shareholders who contribute capital towards the setting up and running of the company. While in the case of private limited companies, the shareholders are usually the promoters and a few close friends or family, the public limited companies have a large body of shareholders drawn from all walks of life. The shareholders of any company have a responsibility to ensure that the company is well run and well managed. They do this by monitoring the performance of the company and raising their objections or giving their approval to the actions of the management of the company. Whereas many shareholders act through institutional and large investors as their representatives, minority shareholders have the option of expressing either their disapproval or agreement at the Annual General Meetings of the companies.

“Oh, and Mr. Jiang will be arriving tomorrow” informs Ruxi in a casual tone. Shi Lian does not a single clue who is this Mr. Jiang. She ponders, thinking deeply if she perhaps heard this name but she cannot remember because she never heard of this person before.

“Um..who is this Mr. Jiang? Is he someone of high importance?” implores Shi Lian, bewilder.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you” Ruxi slaps her forehead in a way to show her forgetfulness. She then continues, “Jeon Jingguo or better known as JJ is the CEO of Mo Corp. He was away for six months due to some family issues and since then he hasn’t come until now. I thought he won’t be back sooner but anyway it’s good he is back. He is a money monster that’s what people named him. He is a genius when it comes to fiancé and money and no one can beat him in his zone. He will be of great help to you Shi Lian. His timing is really great I must say.”

“I never heard of him before” she puts in words. No one in the company talked about it in the past three months and she nearly thought that this company has no CEO. She never asked about it directly, she just made her in her head and that’s that. “Is he coming because the Chairman got changed? Is he going to come and beat me?”

“What? No!” Ruxi laughs at her fatuity. “The condition in Seoul is stable now so he is returning. That sly fox cannot keep himself from work, workaholic as he is.” Ruxi elucidates while she smiles. He may be close to her because they work together. Is he her boyfriend? A thousand thoughts arrive her mind before she manages to reciprocate.

“I see” she mumbles.

Shi Lian takes her to leave and travels to her own and new office, the Chairman’s office. It is the same office her father resided in, the same chair he sat in, and the nameplate in which her name is engraved now was once her father was there. “Mo Shi Lian” she reads out her name written on the gold nameplate, placed on the big cherrywood desk.

She forgot to check her phone after she had a conversation with Eveyln and then she got busy so there was no time for her check. She switches it on and is surprised to see one call and one text from a familiar one. Both are from Fu Zichen, and she wonders what he says. She opens the message box.

‘Congratulations. I called you. If you are free, call me back’ that’s what the text says. Her mouth is curved into a smile and she cannot hide it. She feels good reading his message. She hesitates to call him because, after yesterday, she cannot face him. She typed back with a ‘Thank you’ and turned off her phone. She is not ready to face him, maybe later she will but for now, it’s best if she keeps him at a distance. She shakes her head to stop thinking too much and do her work. The work is endless. The world will end one day but the work will not, she thinks and grimaces.