Ā Chapter 9
** She Wasn’t Home**
Cheng Yuan’s face darkened. He thought Rong Ci was using her status to get special treatment: “Secretary Rong, please adjust your work attitude. Do you think this is your home?!”
Rong Ci picked up her bag, her attitude unchanged: “If you’re unhappy, you can fire me right now.”
“Youā”
He had followed Feng Tingshen to Country A, but he also knew that Rong Ci had already submitted her resignation.
Although he was deeply trusted by Feng Tingshen, the company wasn’t his one-man show. He didn’t have the authority to tell Rong Ci to get out just because he wanted to.
What’s more, Rong Ci was well-regarded by Old Madam Feng. If Rong Ci went to her to complain, even if he was sure Feng Tingshen would strongly defend him, he wouldn’t come out of it unscathed.
Rong Ci ignored him, walked past him, and left.
Cheng Yuan’s face turned green with anger as he left the secretarial department.
Jiang Zhe saw his expression and asked, “What happened?”
Cheng Yuan told him.
Jiang Zhe was very surprised.
He was the one who usually had more contact with Rong Ci.
He also had a certain understanding of her character.
He couldn’t help saying, “This doesn’t sound like something Rong Ci would do. Could there be some misunderstanding?”
“There’s no misunderstanding. That’s exactly how it happened. In my opinion, Rong Ci is just using her status to get special treatment. She’s not as good as you always say.”
Jiang Zhe paused: “Maybe it’s because she’s about to resign and has started slacking off?”
But Rong Ci had still been working very actively lately, no different from before.
Just then, Feng Tingshen walked over from not far away: “What’s going on?”
“It’s Secretary Rong. She left work before finishing her tasks.”
“If you’re unhappy, just go through the procedures and fire her.”
It was clear that Feng Tingshen didn’t care about this matter at all.
Jiang Zhe and Cheng Yuan were taken aback.
Not because they thought Feng Tingshen was being too cold toward Rong Ci’s affairs.
But because from what Feng Tingshen said, it seemed he didn’t even know that Rong Ci had already submitted her resignation?
But wasn’t Rong Ci’s resignation his idea?
Had they misunderstood?
Just as they were about to speak, Feng Tingshen’s phone rang.
It was Lin Wu calling.
Feng Tingshen didn’t look at them anymore. He walked past them toward the elevator while answering the phone: “I’m off work now. I’ll be there soonā¦”
Jiang Zhe and Cheng Yuan looked at each other.
Jiang Zhe: “Maybe President Feng forgot?”
“That’s certainly possible.”
After all, Feng Tingshen had never paid much attention to anything concerning Rong Ci.
ā¦
On the other side.
Feng Jingxin was very close to Old Madam Rong.
Previously, whenever Feng Jingxin was home and Rong Ci went back to the Rong family home, she would basically bring her daughter along.
But now, although Feng Jingxin had returned to the country, she hadn’t called her even once in all these days. Instead, she called Lin Wu every day. Just a few days without seeing Lin Wu, and she missed her terribly.
In that case, there was no need for Rong Ci to force it.
Besides, now that Feng Jingxin and Lin Wu were so close, if her grandmother found out, who knew how angry she would be?
So this time when she returned to the Rong family home, even though Feng Jingxin was back in the country, she didn’t go to Feng Tingshen’s place to pick her up. She went back to the Rong home alone.
The road was a bit congested. By the time Rong Ci arrived at the Rong family home, it was already past 6 PM.
When Old Madam Rong saw her, her smile faltered. She reached out and touched Rong Ci’s face with some distress: “You’ve lost weight.”
Rong Ci’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. She said, “I’ve been busy with work lately.”
The old lady sighed: “No matter how busy you are, you need to eat properly.”
“I know, Grandma. I’ll be careful.”
Rong Ci sat down next to the old lady, rested her face on her grandmother’s shoulder, and drew some warmth from her.
When the old lady saw that the lamb stew was almost done, she instructed someone to bring her a bowl of soup to warm her up first.
Listening to her grandmother’s caring words, Rong Ci thought of what had happened recently, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Afraid that the old lady would worry if she found out, she quickly reined in her emotions and asked, “Auntie and the others haven’t come back from their trip yet?”
“No, they’re having too much fun. They said they’ll come back a week later.”
“What about Uncle? Does he have to entertain clients tonight as well?”
“Your uncle heard you were coming back. He turned down his social engagements and said he’d come home to have dinner with us. He should be back any minute.”
“Good.”
No sooner had they finished speaking than Rong Changsheng walked in.
When he saw Rong Ci, he smiled and said, “Xiao Ci is back?”
Then he frowned again: “Why have you lost weight? Have you not been eating properly?”
Rong Ci smiled: “I’ve been too busy beforeā¦ I’ll definitely eat more tonight.”
Rong Changsheng sighed. When the servants brought the dinner to the table, he kept piling meat onto her plate.
Rong Changsheng said she had lost weight, but Rong Ci could also see that he looked haggard.
Although she didn’t work at Rong Corporation, she knew that the company was struggling. Rong Changsheng was busy every day dealing with company matters, but he couldn’t turn the business around.
Over the years, there had been several projects where if Feng Tingshen had lent a helping hand, Rong Corporation would never have ended up in its current situation.
But except for the two times when Old Madam Feng had given a direct order, Feng Tingshen had never helped her.
She thought that if it weren’t for Old Madam Feng, given Feng Tingshen’s misunderstanding of her, he wouldn’t have helped her at all ā he would have crushed Rong Corporation instead.
Thinking of this, Rong Ci smiled bitterly. The delicious lamb in her mouth suddenly lost its flavor.
Knowing that it was difficult for her, even when he needed help, Rong Changsheng had never asked her to seek Feng Tingshen’s assistance.
After dinner, while the old lady was dozing off, Rong Ci handed Rong Changsheng a card containing seventy million yuan.
“Xiao Ci, Uncle doesn’t needā”
“It’s not doing anything sitting with me.” Rong Ci pressed the card into his hand. “I can’t help with anything else. This is all I can do.”
It was true that she had always been good at studying. She could do research and development, but she didn’t seem suited for business.
Fortunately, in her early years, she had secured several patents in artificial intelligence. The technology company she had co-founded with Yu Moxun and the others back then still gave her dividends every year. All told, she could easily rake in tens of millions a year even if she did nothing.
Rong Changsheng felt ashamed: “You’ve given Uncle money so many times already, but the companyā¦”
It was still barely hanging on.
“Uncle is just incompetent.”
“It’s very common for companies to invest heavily during a transition. Uncle, don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
At this point, she remembered what Yu Moxun had said to her when they parted that day: “The AI field is developing very rapidly now. With your development capabilities from back then and my operational abilities, if you hadn’t run off to get married back then, our company would probably be worth several hundred billion by now, and becoming the leading company in this field domestically in the future would be no problem. Fortunately, the AI field still has vast room for development. We still have a chance. I hope you can return as soon as possible.”
If she could still have the abilities she once had, after she returned to the company and made it develop even better, then she would be able to provide even more financial support to her uncle.
ā¦
When Feng Tingshen arrived home, it was already past 10 PM.
Feng Jingxin was rubbing her eyes: “Daddy, you’re back?”
“Yes.” He said coolly, “Go to sleep if you’re tired.”
“Okay. Good night, Daddy.”
“Yes.”
Feng Jingxin went upstairs to sleep. Feng Tingshen took the glass of water the butler poured for him, drank it, and then went upstairs as well.
The master bedroom was still pitch black.
It seemed empty.
Feng Tingshen paused. He turned on the light.
There was indeed no one there.
