Chapter 25: Blank
Translator: Kim Guo Editor: Tehm
Everything went smoothly at the anniversary. Except for the routine arguments, nothing
bothered Huang Xuan. The kids took care of their own business, just as in the past years.
Huang Jianxuan was still in the hospital, and nothing had been heard about Huang Liming.
Huang Xuan’s mom returned his bank card. Besides the 16 million, 100,000 yuan had been
deposited in it as pocket money.
Huang Xuan was supposed to be happy, but the atmosphere in the family was getting weirder
and weirder—his mom seldom went to her office; his dad spent a lot of time staying at home,
and even lived in the ancestral residence, which had never happened before. Huang Qunsheng
was a scholar, who knew nothing about politics and had chosen to be away from the power
center of the family, but now, everything was unusual.
Zhang Xinyi shuttled between the company and the ancestral residence several days in a row.
Even the butler Zhou Lian was barely at home. Nobody told Huang Xuan what had happened.
He was confused when Huang Xuan demanded, “I need more energy.”
Huang Xuan was glad that he had something to do, although it would cost more money.
Zhang Haoji seemed to be busier than before. He used to travel to different cities with new
female companions; however, he had stayed in Nanjing these days and hadn’t been able to
make time for Huang Xuan.
Huang Xuan had to take a taxi to Fuxin construction site, which was as busy as before and
didn’t change a thing because of the depression of the family. Li Shenggang had become a
manager and had his own office, but Huang Xuan only cared about the generators.
Hearing that his young boss would come, Li Shenggang had been long waiting at the entrance
to the construction site, wearing a suit. The busy trucks threw up a cloud of dust as they roared
by, which fell slowly and stuck to Li Shenggang’s suit. The noises of the generators could be
heard clearly. Huang Xuan got out of the taxi with his brows knitted. Li Shenggang’s face had
been covered with dust by then, and there were heavy bags under his triangular eyes. It seemed
he hadn’t slept well last night.
“Didn’t sleep well?” asked Huang Xuan casually. To some extent, Li Shenggang had almost been
his immediate subordinate, maybe his first subordinate, although he loathed those triangular
eyes.
Li Shenggang blinked his eyes and said, “The generators are too loud at night.”
“Can’t they be put farther from the residential area?” Since the noises could be heard from here,
Huang Xuan could imagine how annoying they were during the night.
“There are 30 generators on the site.” Li Shenggang was embarrassed. “The construction is
rapid. Although the generators have been set at the foot of the mountain, the noises are still too
loud.” At this point, he peeked at Huang Xuan and continued, “I have stifled some complaints of
the workers, but I am afraid it won’t work for long.”
Huang Xuan could understand, but it was impossible to stop the generators, which Rolin would
oppose. Besides, there must be a place for them, anyway.
He stopped, looked around with his hand shading the sunshine, and then said, “Increase the
workers’ salaries as compensation.”
Li Shenggang seemed indeed under a lot of pressure. He didn’t decline. “It’s the only option
right now.” He peeked at Huang Xuan again. One month ago, he had been just a secretary,
whom could be bossed about by anyone, but now, he could almost boss everybody on the site
around, which all was attributed to this bigwig he had attached himself to. Nevertheless, since
Li Shenggang hadn’t done a satisfying job recently, he was worrying that this teenager might
suddenly lose his temper and throw him off the site, or even worse, let him go back to the
hopeless secretary position.
However, he had tried everything to deal with the workers’ anger. After nearly a month, it was
about to burst. He had been worried these two days that when he came to the site the next
morning, he would hear no rumbling of the machines or see a group of workers with iron sticks.
Right now, Huang Xuan didn’t seem to be unsatisfied. Li Shenggang wiped the sweat with his
suit quietly and followed Huang Xuan closely.
A neat row of generators was arranged at the foot of the mountain. At the front were the ones of
250 kW followed by the ones of 300 kW and 500 kW. Looking at the bustling workers, Huang
Xuan started to admire the man following him— the money he had given him had been only
enough for two weeks’ oil, but he had kept renting generators until the debt was as much as ten
million.
“How much is the debt now? Are they still willing to rent you the generators?” asked Huang
Xuan with a smile.
“Three million to the site’s account and more than four million to Shangcheng Technology
Company,” said Li Shenggang cautiously. “They don’t dare to refuse to rent us. It’s the only way
we can repay them. Although it is a little slow, better slow than none.”
Huang Xuan couldn’t help laughing and thought that only people like Li Shenggang could do
such things. Feeling the vibration of the ground, he took out a bank card and said, “Here is five
million. Repay them some first.” Then he took out another one and said, “This card is my own.
There is hundreds of thousand, which you can use to compensate the workers.”
Li Shenggang took the cards, hands slightly shaking. Seeing Huang Xuan was smiling, he was
relieved. The generators were much louder than a taking off plane. Huang Xuan couldn’t stand
them anymore. He looked at the empty barrels piled up in front of him. Six more barrels went
empty just now. Thinking of the oil price, Huang Xuan removed his eyes from them in fright.
He listened to Li Shenggang’s brief on these ten-odd days’ account as he was leaving, which
was finished quickly. When they were passing by the offices, Li Shenggang seemed to have an
urge to say something but the words were frozen on his lips. “What now?” wondered Huang
Xuan.
Li Shenggang laughed strangely and said, “Many people have wondered why we need so much
electricity. We used to connect the cord to the switch room, but the site doesn’t need so much
electricity either, so…”
Hearing this, Huang Xuan was shocked. He had gone out twice and left these things to Rolin. He
moved his lips and said to Rolin, “Rolin, what happened? Did anybody find out?”
“No records of the authority’s interference, but you can move the energy chain to a new spot.”
“Where?”
“How about a run-down factory?”
Rolin had never talked with Huang Xuan in a tone of discussion. However, Huang Xuan didn’t
notice the difference.
Huang Xuan looked at Li Shenggang, who was playing with ants. “It seems that he is suspicious,
but it’s Rolin’s business.” Huang Xuan believed Rolin should be able to protect himself and said,
“The electricity is supposed to be transmitted to the factory over the public circuit. Now that
some people have asked, I will have it connected in several days.”
As to how the electricity will be transmitted to the factory over the public circuit, Huang Xuan
thought it was none of Li Shenggang’s business. Anyway, he had given him an explanation. He
didn’t care whether he believed it or not. Leaving Li Shenggang in the dust, Huang Xuan got in a
taxi quickly.
Chapter 25: Blank
Translator: Kim Guo Editor: Tehm
Everything went smoothly at the anniversary. Except for the routine arguments, nothing
bothered Huang Xuan. The kids took care of their own business, just as in the past years.
Huang Jianxuan was still in the hospital, and nothing had been heard about Huang Liming.
Huang Xuan’s mom returned his bank card. Besides the 16 million, 100,000 yuan had been
deposited in it as pocket money.
Huang Xuan was supposed to be happy, but the atmosphere in the family was getting weirder
and weirder—his mom seldom went to her office; his dad spent a lot of time staying at home,
and even lived in the ancestral residence, which had never happened before. Huang Qunsheng
was a scholar, who knew nothing about politics and had chosen to be away from the power
center of the family, but now, everything was unusual.
Zhang Xinyi shuttled between the company and the ancestral residence several days in a row.
Even the butler Zhou Lian was barely at home. Nobody told Huang Xuan what had happened.
He was confused when Huang Xuan demanded, “I need more energy.”
Huang Xuan was glad that he had something to do, although it would cost more money.
Zhang Haoji seemed to be busier than before. He used to travel to different cities with new
female companions; however, he had stayed in Nanjing these days and hadn’t been able to
make time for Huang Xuan.
Huang Xuan had to take a taxi to Fuxin construction site, which was as busy as before and
didn’t change a thing because of the depression of the family. Li Shenggang had become a
manager and had his own office, but Huang Xuan only cared about the generators.
Hearing that his young boss would come, Li Shenggang had been long waiting at the entrance
to the construction site, wearing a suit. The busy trucks threw up a cloud of dust as they roared
by, which fell slowly and stuck to Li Shenggang’s suit. The noises of the generators could be
heard clearly. Huang Xuan got out of the taxi with his brows knitted. Li Shenggang’s face had
been covered with dust by then, and there were heavy bags under his triangular eyes. It seemed
he hadn’t slept well last night.
“Didn’t sleep well?” asked Huang Xuan casually. To some extent, Li Shenggang had almost been
his immediate subordinate, maybe his first subordinate, although he loathed those triangular
eyes.
Li Shenggang blinked his eyes and said, “The generators are too loud at night.”
“Can’t they be put farther from the residential area?” Since the noises could be heard from here,
Huang Xuan could imagine how annoying they were during the night.
“There are 30 generators on the site.” Li Shenggang was embarrassed. “The construction is
rapid. Although the generators have been set at the foot of the mountain, the noises are still too
loud.” At this point, he peeked at Huang Xuan and continued, “I have stifled some complaints of
the workers, but I am afraid it won’t work for long.”
Huang Xuan could understand, but it was impossible to stop the generators, which Rolin would
oppose. Besides, there must be a place for them, anyway.
He stopped, looked around with his hand shading the sunshine, and then said, “Increase the
workers’ salaries as compensation.”
Li Shenggang seemed indeed under a lot of pressure. He didn’t decline. “It’s the only option
right now.” He peeked at Huang Xuan again. One month ago, he had been just a secretary,
whom could be bossed about by anyone, but now, he could almost boss everybody on the site
around, which all was attributed to this bigwig he had attached himself to. Nevertheless, since
Li Shenggang hadn’t done a satisfying job recently, he was worrying that this teenager might
suddenly lose his temper and throw him off the site, or even worse, let him go back to the
hopeless secretary position.
However, he had tried everything to deal with the workers’ anger. After nearly a month, it was
about to burst. He had been worried these two days that when he came to the site the next
morning, he would hear no rumbling of the machines or see a group of workers with iron sticks.
Right now, Huang Xuan didn’t seem to be unsatisfied. Li Shenggang wiped the sweat with his
suit quietly and followed Huang Xuan closely.
A neat row of generators was arranged at the foot of the mountain. At the front were the ones of
250 kW followed by the ones of 300 kW and 500 kW. Looking at the bustling workers, Huang
Xuan started to admire the man following him— the money he had given him had been only
enough for two weeks’ oil, but he had kept renting generators until the debt was as much as ten
million.
“How much is the debt now? Are they still willing to rent you the generators?” asked Huang
Xuan with a smile.
“Three million to the site’s account and more than four million to Shangcheng Technology
Company,” said Li Shenggang cautiously. “They don’t dare to refuse to rent us. It’s the only way
we can repay them. Although it is a little slow, better slow than none.”
Huang Xuan couldn’t help laughing and thought that only people like Li Shenggang could do
such things. Feeling the vibration of the ground, he took out a bank card and said, “Here is five
million. Repay them some first.” Then he took out another one and said, “This card is my own.
There is hundreds of thousand, which you can use to compensate the workers.”
Li Shenggang took the cards, hands slightly shaking. Seeing Huang Xuan was smiling, he was
relieved. The generators were much louder than a taking off plane. Huang Xuan couldn’t stand
them anymore. He looked at the empty barrels piled up in front of him. Six more barrels went
empty just now. Thinking of the oil price, Huang Xuan removed his eyes from them in fright.
He listened to Li Shenggang’s brief on these ten-odd days’ account as he was leaving, which
was finished quickly. When they were passing by the offices, Li Shenggang seemed to have an
urge to say something but the words were frozen on his lips. “What now?” wondered Huang
Xuan.
Li Shenggang laughed strangely and said, “Many people have wondered why we need so much
electricity. We used to connect the cord to the switch room, but the site doesn’t need so much
electricity either, so…”
Hearing this, Huang Xuan was shocked. He had gone out twice and left these things to Rolin. He
moved his lips and said to Rolin, “Rolin, what happened? Did anybody find out?”
“No records of the authority’s interference, but you can move the energy chain to a new spot.”
“Where?”
“How about a run-down factory?”
Rolin had never talked with Huang Xuan in a tone of discussion. However, Huang Xuan didn’t
notice the difference.
Huang Xuan looked at Li Shenggang, who was playing with ants. “It seems that he is suspicious,
but it’s Rolin’s business.” Huang Xuan believed Rolin should be able to protect himself and said,
“The electricity is supposed to be transmitted to the factory over the public circuit. Now that
some people have asked, I will have it connected in several days.”
As to how the electricity will be transmitted to the factory over the public circuit, Huang Xuan
thought it was none of Li Shenggang’s business. Anyway, he had given him an explanation. He
didn’t care whether he believed it or not. Leaving Li Shenggang in the dust, Huang Xuan got in a
taxi quickly.
