Disobedience To Control chapter 34
Your Watch
The next morning, Jin Shuming took the earliest flight to Jiangcheng.
Song Siheng and Jin Shuming arranged to meet alone at a suburban clubhouse. Song Siheng hadn’t slept well for two consecutive days, with faint dark circles under his eyes.
He reserved the innermost private room of the clubhouse, with a huge screen shielding it from the outside.
Jin Shuming wore thick glasses and a military jacket, looking as if he had just returned from an outdoor hike. He plopped down on the sofa in the private room, and looked up at Song Siheng. “Looking so haggard. All because of the last incident with EM?”
Song Siheng raised his hand and gestured for the waiter in the private room to leave before answering, “What do you think about this matter?”
Jin Shuming tilted his head and adjusted his glasses. “You suspect me?”
Song Siheng smiled and shook his head. “No. You wouldn’t dare.”
Jin Shuming clicked his tongue. “Am I that timid in your eyes?”
Song Siheng shrugged. “You’re not timid. You’re cautious.”
Jin Shuming said, “Damn. Rare to hear a couple of compliments from you. Have you found out? Who did it in the end?”
Song Siheng paused for two seconds, looked away, then shook his head. “Still investigating.”
Jin Shuming was puzzled. “Then why did you call me all the way here?”
Song Siheng took off the tie clip from his suit and pushed it in front of Jin Shuming along the table.
“What’s this supposed to mean?” Jin Shuming didn’t understand his intention.
“I need you to do something for me.” Song Siheng looked into his eyes.
The pale gold tie clip reflected a faint light under the chandelier.
Jin Shuming crossed his arms and looked back at him. “What is it?”
“I’m offering you a new job.” Song Siheng pointed to the tie clip with his finger. “A new company is going to be launched in Jiangcheng. You’ll be the general manager, with full authority over research and development. I’ll put in 30 million, the Lin family will put in 70 million as your startup capital.”
Jin Shuming stood up in disbelief. “What charity are you doing? Giving me money to start a company?! I’ve only done research and development, I won’t take up the role of general manager.”
“Take it easy.” Song Siheng raised his hand to signal him to sit down, continuing to explain, “You’ll only be the nominal general manager and shareholder. I’ll be in charge of all the operations behind the scenes. I’ve already drafted the proxy agreement. But rest assured, I’ll offer you a higher salary and greater authority than you have now.”
Jin Shuming, usually decisive and resolute, was silent at this moment. He pushed up his glasses frame and pondered for a long time before looking up again. “This can’t be so simple. Are you trying to use me to deal with Xu Lang?”
“No wonder you’re the top science student, Mr. Jin. You hit the nail on the head.” Song Siheng applauded, “I’ll have you resign from the North City branch office in a high-profile manner. Xu Lang doesn’t have a deep foundation in Jiangcheng. If he finds out that we’re enemies and you’ve come to Jiangcheng, he’s likely to seek your cooperation. Then you can smoothly establish contact with EM and infiltrate his supply chain. Once he makes a breakthrough, I and the Lin family will fully support you until your new product surpasses EM’s market share.”
Jin Shuming leaned back. “I won’t do anything illegal or unethical. I’m not stupid.”
“Naturally, you won’t. It’s just normal business competition.” Song Siheng picked up the glass of ice water in front of him and swirled it gently, “If the cooperation doesn’t work out, and you haven’t signed a contract, everything will be clean and above board.”
The ice cubes hit the glass wall, making two crisp sounds. The water droplets rolled between the square inches, and the water surface remained clear and transparent.
Jin Shuming stared at Song Siheng as if he had seen a ghost. “Damn it. How can you be so ruthless? Just because someone snatched your deal and copied your plan.”
Song Siheng put down the glass, sneered, “This is just the beginning for him. Do you think he eagerly took up the post of deputy general manager of EM’s China region just to push out two new products and take one production line? When his influence truly penetrates into the North City, your northern branch office can also be abandoned.”
Jin Shuming was stunned, silent for about half a minute.
He frowned, pondered for a moment, but still had one question unanswered, “Why did you ask me to do this? Why not use your trusted secretary, Li?”
“Xu Lang is not stupid. Li Ke has worked for me for so many years, he knows everything. If I used Li Ke, it would be like blowing my cover. Only you are the safest.”
“Aren’t you afraid that I’ll tear up the agreement and run straight to Xu Lang?”
“If you could run, you would have done it already. And the line with Young Master Lin was drawn by me. If you run, I also have the ability to make the Lin family withdraw their investment.”
Before this meeting today, Song Siheng was sure that Jin Shuming would agree to participate in this gamble. Over the years, he had long understood Jin Shuming’s thoughts.
Jin Shuming, on the surface, seemed dull and rigid, but he was actually proud and had a fierce spirit. If used in the right place, he was a good tool.
“How about it?” Song Siheng raised his eyes to meet his, pushing the tie clip forward half an inch again, “Deal?”
The doubts in Jin Shuming’s eyes disappeared completely, and he stood up and shook his hand back and forth. “Deal.”
Song Siheng quickly stood up from his chair, put on his coat again, “I have something else to attend to, so I’ll leave first. I won’t accompany you for a drink today. If you haven’t eaten yet, just order something here.”
With that, he patted his arm and walked out the door.
“Oh? Take this with you, I’m not wearing a suit!” Jin Shuming raised his tie clip behind him and said as he chased after.
Song Siheng didn’t look back, but he raised his arm and waved it twice before leaving straight away.
It wasn’t until Song Siheng got into the car that he opened his phone and dialed a number. “Li Ke, next week, contact journalists from industry journals and websites, and release some inside information in the name of our employees. Just say that Jin Shuming, the head of the North Branch of Sicheng, is planning to split from the headquarters due to ideological differences and intends to join Jiangcheng’s Lin Real Estate to establish a new company.”
Song Siheng completely moved back to his apartment in the city center.
Before that weekend, Li Ke had arranged for a thorough cleaning service to come over, as well as a gardener to trim the weeds in his yard.
On that day, Song Siheng also took the time to visit the villa. He collected a few clothes he had brought before, ready to take them back to the apartment again. Without cleaning for a few days, the wrinkles on the bed were still visible, and the quilt was casually scattered on the side, looking as if someone had just slept there for the night.
Song Siheng pulled open the curtains to dispel the remaining odor in the room, then picked up his clothes and walked out of the room, heading to the staircase.
“Boss.” The cleaner saw him coming out of the inner room and called him from downstairs.
“What’s up?” Song Siheng leaned over and asked.
“We found a box in the basement gym, we don’t know if it’s useful, do you want to keep it?”
Song Siheng, without wearing glasses, glanced down and it looked like just an ordinary white box. “Throw it away.”
The villa was soon cleaned spotlessly, the floor was as clean as new, the appliances were all turned off, and all traces of life had been wiped away.
The roses and the birthday cake were also thrown onto the garbage disposal truck, disappearing along with the early spring breeze.
Half an hour later, Song Siheng packed up his things and prepared to leave the suburban villa. He sat in the driver’s seat, taking one last look at the yard of the villa.
The gardener was trimming the lawn from south to north with a lawnmower.
Buzzing—With the low-frequency cutting sound, the extremely lush evening primrose growing by the fence was shaved inch by inch.
Song Siheng’s car window was not closed, and the scent of weeds filled the air. He took a deep breath, then started the engine and drove away.
February was so short, just after Valentine’s Day, it seemed to be coming to an end soon.
Jiangcheng had a lower latitude, and spring arrived earlier than in other cities each year. There were already signs of early cherry blossoms budding in the municipal parks.
The gas tank of the sports car was running low again. Before heading back to the apartment, Song Siheng turned to a gas station. Night fell, and there was still a hint of chill in the evening breeze in Jiangcheng.
After refueling, he parked the car in a nearby parking space, then got out and walked to the convenience store next to it.
The convenience store still had the heating on, and the noisy welcoming music hadn’t changed.
Song Siheng walked to the freezer on the side of the convenience store, looked up and down, and finally took only a bottle of mineral water.
At that moment, the electric sliding door of the convenience store opened again, and the welcoming music played once more. Song Siheng subconsciously followed the sound, and saw a huge teddy bear standing at the entrance, holding a box of promotional yogurt in its paw. Its massive body swayed as if it could fall over at any moment.
For some reason, Song Siheng’s heart tightened for a second. Then he watched as the bear approached, stopping next to the shelf in front of him.
“Ah, it’s so hot—” There was a muffled voice from under the headgear, and the next second, the bear lifted its paw and slowly removed the headgear.
Song Siheng walked to the checkout counter to pay, but his gaze remained fixed on the teddy bear.
The headgear was thrown to the ground, and the person underneath revealed their face. Song Siheng glanced at it but then turned away.
Under the headgear were completely unfamiliar features.
“I won’t take this part-time job again in the future, this headgear is too stuffy and hot.” The person under the bear headgear said to their companion who came in behind them.
The companion was dressed in a turkey suit, with red and yellow feathers all puffed up. “Yeah, it’s exhausting. I’d rather wash dishes at a restaurant.”
Song Siheng inexplicably let out a sigh, and he placed the bottle of mineral water on the checkout counter.
“Check out.”
The cashier behind the counter was squatting down, seemingly picking up something from the ground.
“Just a moment.” The person behind the counter nodded and prepared to stand up.
Song Siheng was originally looking down at his phone, but he saw out of the corner of his eye a clearly defined hand reaching out from the side of the checkout counter. And on the wrist of this hand, there was a dark green watch that he was extremely familiar with.
“Hello, let me scan your…” The person behind the checkout counter smiled and spoke to him, but the moment their eyes met, they suddenly fell silent.
Spring played a trick. The winter in Jiangcheng seemed far from leaving.
📢Author’s Note
Little Sheep: No matter how hard it gets, I won’t sell my watch.