On My Way - Chapter 8

Chapter 8 - Class Is a High Tower

Old Feng once told me that class is a high tower; those who wish to climb to the top must be prepared to be crushed to pieces.

He said this just after we had been robbed.

A problem had arisen at the project, and Old Feng was rushing me to the scene when several cars suddenly swerved out and forced us to a stop. As I was still dazed, a deafening roar erupted.

It was a gunshot.

I had always imagined gunshots to be the crisp, sharp sounds from the movies, but the reality was overwhelmingly loud, as if it had detonated inside my brain.

After those two young kidnappers fired shots into the air, they dragged us from the car, pressing their still-warm gun barrels against my temples. I wanted to beg for mercy, but I found my teeth were chattering uncontrollably.

Old Feng remained relatively calm, saying in English, "We will give you all our money, just let us go."

The kidnapper looked even more nervous than us, constantly yelling and screaming. The problem was that we had rushed out in such a hurry that we didn't have much cash on us.

He moved to grab Old Feng’s bag.

This time, Old Feng didn't let go.

The bag contained the laptop, along with all the classified documents and data; the loss would be immeasurable.

But at a time like this, who dares to wrestle with death-defying thugs?

The kidnapper was incensed. He loudly ordered Old Feng to let go immediately, or he would blow his head off with a single shot.

"Director Feng! They have guns! They really will pull the trigger!" the driver shrieked, his voice trembling.

Old Feng finally released his grip.

The kidnapper grabbed the bag and rummaged through it wildly. Old Feng suddenly glanced at me.

...No way, right?

Before I could react, Old Feng suddenly lunged forward to seize the gun! The kidnapper was caught off guard, and the gun was knocked from his hand!

His accomplice let out a furious roar and immediately raised his weapon to aim at them.

"STOP!" I screamed, raising the gun and aiming it at the accomplice.

Relying on the unspoken understanding between Old Feng and me, I had already grabbed the weapon the moment it was knocked loose.

He hesitated for only a fraction of a second. In that brief moment, Old Feng already had the first kidnapper pinned beneath him, while his own back was exposed to the accomplice's line of fire.

The gunshot rang out.

Amidst the ringing of my ears, I slumped to the ground in a daze.

Old Feng tied up the struggling kidnapper and stumbled over to my side, pressing my head into his chest. "It’s over, it’s over, Dongxue."

I looked up at him, trembling, then looked at the black boy who had fallen not far away. He was groaning in agony as blood, dark to the point of being black, spurted from his shoulder.

I had been the one to fire first.

A later investigation revealed that the driver had betrayed us. He knew Old Feng carried money, so he deliberately led us down a back road and arranged for two rookie kidnappers to split the loot with him fifty-fifty.

He just hadn't expected that Old Feng had been a soldier and had undergone professional close-quarters combat training.

Nor did he expect that I would actually have the nerve to pull the trigger.

But that is a story for another time.

While we were waiting at the police station, I asked Old Feng, "Director Feng, haven't you always taught us that when we encounter robbers, we should just give them the money immediately?"

Old Feng glared at me. "The money can be given, but who is going to bear the consequences of leaked data? You?"

Having spent so much time with him, I knew he was just grumpy, and my own nerves had toughened up. "I still think life is more important."

Old Feng then uttered that line: "Class is a high tower; those who wish to climb to the top must be prepared to be crushed to pieces."

He came from a rural background, having emerged from the mountain valleys through military service before grinding his way up on construction sites. With no pedigree and no background, everything he had today was earned by risking his life.

After he said that, seeing that I was still shaking violently, he lit a cigarette for me.

"Don't inhale it yet, just puff it out. Slowly... That's it."

That was the first cigarette of my life; he was the one who taught me to smoke.

The tobacco strangely smoothed my frayed nerves, and to my surprise, I didn't choke on it at all.

Old Feng looked at me and smiled, saying in his Sichuan dialect, "I knew I didn't misjudge you."

At that moment, his eyes were full of proud, warm light.

Later, despite all the chaotic messes that followed, I knew that at least for that one moment, Old Feng truly considered me his most prized disciple.

I had also truly... well, never mind. I am not someone who invests much "sincerity" in the workplace anyway.

I stayed in Africa for six years. After six years, the project was completed successfully, and we returned home.

Old Feng was transferred back to the headquarters and promoted, while I became a project manager at my original company, despite everyone under me having better seniority and credentials than I did.

The environment domestically was far more complex than in Africa. The first hurdle was that in Africa, Old Feng had absolute authority, and no one dared to whisper a word (of course, even if those African brothers did, we wouldn't have understood them).

But now, Old Feng was essentially my "imperial sword"—everyone knew I had his backing. Yet, I couldn't just draw that sword and kill someone every time they rolled their eyes at me!

So, I spent every day collecting eye-rolls in every imaginable form.

I had to finish the project at the fastest possible speed to truly secure my footing.

During that period, I was either fawning over the client or sucking up to everyone in the company, living like a character in a song-and-dance drama, until finally, I landed a project.

I drank three beers at home to celebrate, while my grandmother sat trembling, keeping me company with a Sprite.

It was an incredibly small project with a low budget and a client whose ideas were whimsical; the business projection showed a hidden loss of six million, so no one wanted to take it.

I didn't want to either, but I had no choice. I was backed into a corner.

If I wanted to avoid a loss, I had to complete every node precisely on schedule, and I couldn't spend a single cent more than necessary.

Whether I succeeded or failed depended entirely on this one gamble.

During that time, I was busy with meetings, busy压 negotiating prices with suppliers, and busy playing mind games with the subcontracting project managers. When I got home, I would black out before I could even take my shoes off, and when I opened my eyes again, it was dawn.

Yet, things still went wrong.

The foreman and our chief engineer got into an argument. By the time I arrived, the situation was already in complete disarray.

Because we had no money, the small subcontractors we chose were the cheapest ones. But if the quality wasn't up to standard, the first person to die would be me.

That was why I had invited Engineer Li, the most meticulous person in the company, to be the gatekeeper.

How meticulous was he? He would turn back to re-wash his hands if the order of steps was wrong. Because he was so rigid, he had previously dragged down a project and had essentially been marginalized by the company.

I just needed a serious person to ensure the bottom line for this project.

But the problem was, every time he went to the site, he would find a pile of issues. Nothing met the standards, so he would send it back for rework. Reworking meant rushing the schedule, and over time, the construction team was filled with complaints.

This time, it wasn't strictly following the construction plan again. Words weren't delivered well, and the foreman pointed at his nose and started cursing.

The workers were hot-blooded and surrounded the two men so tightly not even a drop of water could get through.

"The construction plan was already finalized! Look, this is clearly substandard..." Engineer Li’s face turned red as he stammered to defend his position.

"I think you look substandard! We've modified this plan four times already! You demand high standards, then give us the time! Yet you're rushing the schedule like you're chasing our ghosts! What is this?! Our brothers' lives aren't lives?!" The foreman, who was from Shaanxi, was so angry he was practically jumping.

Just then, someone spotted me and immediately sent a tip-off: "The manager is here! The manager is here!"

The crowd parted automatically for me like Moses dividing the sea.

Everyone was looking at me with subtle expressions—a mix of worry that the project would fail and a genuine hope that I would be the one to go down in flames...

I didn't look at the foreman; instead, I gave a direct order: "Call the person in charge over! Stop encouraging the workers to make trouble while you stand there watching the show!"

This was an old trick on the construction site: if there was a disagreement, they would incite the workers to beat people up.

Their boss arrived soon. He had a thuggish face, and as soon as he walked in, he started cursing his workers: "I only stepped out for a second and you bastards are starting trouble again! Trying to get yourselves killed, huh?!"

I interrupted him: "President Chen, there have been three quality defects. I have the authority to kick all of you out. You know that, right?"

President Chen was taken aback, then sneered, "This is the first time I've heard such talk. Why don't you say that again, President Ren? I didn't hear you clearly!"

I took a step forward, standing openly right under his fist.

"If you want to leave, then leave. If I try to stop you, I'm the one who's a bastard." I said, "You think you’ve got us cornered because we're rushing the schedule, right? But let me tell you, if I really smash this plate, I have plenty of other projects to take on."

Of course, I was bluffing. What was I, really?

But their expressions all changed. Clearly, the rumors—vague as they were—between Old Feng and me were having their intended effect.

I slammed my hand on the table, enunciating every word: "And let me put it this way: if it comes to that, you won't be able to get a single project in the future! I guarantee it!"

In a place like a construction site, being reasonable only makes them think you're weak.

You have to act like you have someone powerful behind you; that's the only way they’ll be afraid.

President Chen’s face changed as quickly as a Sichuan mask-changer’s, and he began to smile fawningly: "Why let things get this heated! Our company relies on President Ren to make money!" He immediately turned around and roared at the workers: "Get back to work! If you have the energy to watch the show, use it to do the job carefully! Make things easier for Engineer Li!"

The workers, who had been on the verge of violence just moments ago, scattered immediately.

Only our company's people were left. I said to Engineer Li: "Brother Li, you didn't do anything wrong. You’ve been wronged in this matter."

His eyes reddened instantly. He clumsily took off his glasses to wipe them: "Ah, I'm fine, I'm fine..."

I looked around at the others and said: "I know you don't like me. But everyone who came here has had their own difficulties at the company. In a word: if this job fails, either you pack your bags and leave, or you'll have no hope of promotion in this company for the rest of your lives. If it succeeds, everyone gets paid, and I guarantee this will be the starting point for you to take a big step forward."

This was clearly also a bluff, painting a pie in the sky.

But clearly, these marginalized company employees were encouraged. This time, the people I chose were just like me—they were in desperate need of a chance.

After the fight concluded, I started the meeting, calculating the volume of work for every public area and every component clearly. After calculating the work volume, I calculated labor; after labor, equipment. It was so detailed that the workload for every area and every person was crystal clear.

If you want to do a good job with little money, you have to rack your brains and calculate like this.

When I could finally get off work, I felt so lightheaded that I felt I could collapse onto my bed at any moment.

As I was walking down, I realized it had actually started to snow.

Fine, delicate snowflakes were drifting down from the deep blue sky.

Watching them, I thought to myself, only a city in the south could have snow this romantic.

In the city where I grew up, heavy snow would wrap the entire metropolis like thick cotton batting.

Just then, I saw the person standing at the entrance.

Tall, in a gray-blue overcoat with a white scarf, he was waving at me under the warm yellow streetlamp.

He looked clean and cool, yet his smile was very warm: "Ren Dongxue! I've been waiting for you for a long time!"

It was Cheng Xia.