On My Way - Chapter 30

Chapter 30 - Abandoning Reason for a Man

I went back to report to Zhao Yu.

"Director Zhao, I went to discuss a partnership with Beicang Transport. They’ve agreed to co-transport materials with Weisheng Company. Although their fees are a bit higher, overall, we’ve actually reduced our costs."

Zhao Yu had just finished playing basketball; he was panting while drinking a soda. After a long pause, he said, "Not bad. I’ve heard Beicang is a notorious pack of hooligans. To get to this point, that’s impressive."

"It’s not because I’m impressive," I said with a grimace. "Do you know Engineer Yu from the Provincial Architectural Design Institute?"

"Ah! Yu Fuchao? Didn't he retire early due to illness?"

"His daughter is an accountant at Beicang Transport."

Zhao Yu was stunned by this massive piece of gossip. He said, "What! What is she doing working as an accountant in this backwater?"

I sighed, silently adding in my heart: Working as a part-time young mistress of the house.

The young master of Beicang Transport was called China, which means "wolf" in Mongolian.

This young master had studied art at a university in Russia, returned home, and driven a Harley everywhere while playing around under the guise of "inspecting projects," eventually making his way to the S-Construction site.

Because of my aggressive cost-cutting measures, I had gained quite a reputation among the transport companies, and he had learned of me through that.

But that wasn't the important part. What mattered was that while inspecting the site, he met Yu Shixuan.

When a twenty-year-old "young master" pursues someone, it’s like dry wood meeting a raging fire—except this fire was fueled by stacks of cash.

Roses were sent by the truckload; confessions were made via drone; every date took place on a luxury cruise ship.

Yu Shixuan had likely just had her self-esteem wounded by Cheng Xia’s rejection, so she plunged headfirst into this passionate, whirlwind romance and decided to follow the young master back to the grasslands.

Engineer Yu, naturally, did not agree.

She was the youngest daughter of a high-level intellectual family in a first-tier city, raised with the best things, receiving the best education, holding a decent job with a bright future, and she was beautiful and lovely to boot.

Quitting her job to go to Inner Mongolia with the son of a local tyrant?

No one in their right mind would agree to that.

But one’s legs belong to oneself. No one could have expected that on the day Engineer Yu and his wife went on a company retreat, she climbed out the window to escape and caught a flight to the grasslands.

They lived on the ninth floor.

Shakespeare himself would have raised a glass to such drama.

That was why Engineer Yu had suffered a heart attack and ended up in the hospital.

I had brushed shoulders with this shocking gossip, and what I was seeing now was the aftermath of the story.

The young master’s office was quite crude—the tables and chairs were dilapidated, and a large deer head hung on the wall.

Yu Shixuan was in the courtyard playing with the dogs. She didn't look like she had changed at all; in fact, she looked even more beautiful.

She wore a white Chanel skirt suit, her makeup was exquisite, and every single strand of hair had been meticulously cared for. The huge, ferocious Tibetan Mastiffs wagged their tails around her, making her look all the more slender and delicate.

The young master watched her through the window with eyes as tender as water.

Then he turned his head to look at me, and the idol drama instantly transformed into a crime thriller.

He said, "How can Director Ren come alone to discuss a partnership? Is your word worth anything?"

The manager from Weisheng was already wiping sweat off his brow on the side.

I ignored his imperious attitude and said softly, "Director Zhao has the final say in everything regarding the construction site. As subordinates, we naturally have to help share the burden for our leaders, don't we?"

"My father chatted with Director Zhao before." He sneered, leaning back in his boss chair. "Director Zhao didn't think much of us then, but now that he needs our help, it’s not going to be the original price."

Money is the lifeblood of a construction site. If Zhao Yu heard this, he would have grabbed a shovel and fought him to the death.

I was about to speak again, but at that moment, Yu Shixuan walked in and whispered, "You are not allowed to make things difficult for Sister Dongxue!"

With just that one sentence, the situation took a turn.

This young master, China, finally and impatiently agreed to a joint transport venture with Weisheng, though their team’s price was double that of Weisheng’s.

I didn't say anything, only adding, "I’ll go back and discuss it with Director Zhao. We are definitely very sincere about this cooperation."

Yu Shixuan and I didn't exchange too many pleasantries. When I left, she came out to see me off.

"Are you with Cheng Xia?" she asked.

"Yes."

"I guessed so." She smiled and then said, "As expected, there’s no such thing as pure friendship between men and women."

She asked again, "Do you think I’m really stupid?"

I looked at her, not understanding if she was asking about her past with Cheng Xia or her current choice.

I simply said, "Of course not."

"I have no choice." She smiled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You’ll understand later. I really have no choice."

Bathed in the sunset over the grasslands, she looked breathtakingly beautiful.

It was a beauty entirely different from Harina’s—a beauty forged by meticulous care, financial resources, and the doting protection of parents who held her in the palms of their hands. That was how her innocence and delicacy were cultivated.

"Love is no fun when it just follows a logical path anyway, and besides, you two are both talented and good-looking—you really are a match," I lied without a hint of guilt. "If you ever find it boring here in the future, come find me to hang out."

——

In truth, although this incident with Yu Shixuan was melodramatic, it was a good thing for me.

Beicang Transport probably wasn't that desperate to do this business.

It was likely that they were just used to being local bullies and felt insulted that we had chosen a trucking team they looked down upon. They felt they had lost face, so they deliberately wanted to be a nuisance.

Being able to resolve it with a joint transport plan was already a blessing.

However, Zhao Yu disagreed.

"It’s not just a budget issue; more importantly, I, Zhao Yu, do not accept threats. Using such low-life tactics to secure a contract is no different from robbery!"

I said, "A mighty dragon can't crush a local snake. Besides, in a place like this, the waters run very deep."

Places where few people tread aren't necessarily pure; they can also be savage.

—I had learned this lesson back in Africa.

In the backyard, besides the transport trucks, there was a Cullinan parked.

The bag Yu Shixuan was carrying and the entire set of Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry she wore were worth nearly two hundred thousand.

I didn't believe that a trucking fleet in a small county could generate such high profits.

Furthermore, I discovered that among the dogs, there were quite a few hounds, and the deer head on the office wall was still stained with fresh blood.

Hunting and possessing firearms—both of these acts were blatantly illegal.

He was no longer just an ordinary spoiled brat; he was a madman who disregarded the law. We, as ordinary people, couldn't afford to provoke him.

Zhao Yu still disagreed: "If we give in to this Beicang Transport today, tomorrow the Xicang Company and the Nancang Company will both come to cause trouble and extort us. We’d be like people grinding a stone in the buff—spinning around and embarrassing ourselves!"

I persisted a little longer.

I said, "Director Zhao, I understand how you feel, but we are only here for a short-term project. Fighting with them is a pure waste of time..."

S-Construction was no small enterprise. If it really escalated, we certainly wouldn't be afraid of a local tyrant.

However, we were just employees. Successfully completing the project was more important than anything else. It wasn't worth risking our lives against them; it would have been better to just swallow our pride.

Old Feng had taught me that.

But Zhao Yu was different from Old Feng. Whether it was about the project or people, he possessed a sense of justice that bordered on recklessness.

He ultimately insisted on not changing the trucking team, assigning men to guard the roadside and instructing them to call the police immediately if they encountered trouble.

But in reality, the police were useless; without actual damage, they would at most offer a verbal reprimand, and our transport time would still be delayed.

But Zhao Yu stood his ground against them to the very end.

Whenever Beicang Transport set up a roadblock for us, we set up two on their transport routes.

On the other side, Zhao Yu personally led the trucking team. Whenever he encountered a Beicang truck, he would slam on the gas and charge toward it.

The truck driver would have to swerve the steering wheel in a panic, the two vehicles missing each other by mere centimeters. When they got out, the drivers would be shaking from head to toe.

After that, no one dared to intercept our transport trucks again.

Later, the boss of Beicang Transport came to see Zhao Yu in person.

The boss had a strange name: Teng seventy-two. He was round and chubby, with a beaming smile, not looking at all like someone who could produce a son as sinister and thuggish as China.

The two of them talked for an hour.

After that, no roadblocks ever appeared on the road again.

I felt deeply ashamed of my own lack of courage at the time, and when I called Cheng Xia, I even said, "Director Zhao is a real man. If I had listened to him earlier, I wouldn't have been trying to be clever by going to Beicang, only to end up swallowing a bellyful of resentment."

This was the first time I was truly convinced and impressed.

I even had a thought that I would stop overthinking things and just do whatever the leadership told me to do.

—For that thought, I paid the most painful price of my life to date.