When I handed the phone to Lu Wan, I lay back on the sofa, feeling at ease, and started watching TV.
On the phone, Lu Feng began begging Lu Wan.
"Sis, I really messed up this time. Please help me!"
Lu Wan's face turned dark with anger as she said, "How can you do this and face our late mother?"
I actually knew Lu Wan's character well enough to understand that her words meant she was going to help Lu Feng.
After all, a few thousand yuan isn't much, but if Lu Feng kept doing this repeatedly, it wouldn't be a solution.
"Little sis, I promise this will definitely be the last time. If you help me this once, I'll definitely find a job and take good care of dad."
I have to say, Lu Feng is pretty shrewd—he knew to bring up their father.
You see, Lu Wan's biggest weakness is her own father. She would do anything for him without hesitation.
I saw tears fall from Lu Wan's eyes and couldn't help but feel sorry for my wife.
Lu Wan thought for a moment and said, "Okay, bro, I'll help you this time, but if this happens again, don't come to me."
I knew my wife's income; she didn't have much money and lived a fairly frugal life.
I expected she might ask me to lend her money, but she didn't.
She went back to her room, apparently making a phone call.
Who she was calling, I had no idea.
Half an hour later, my wife came out of the room, still with tear stains on her face.
I understood that she was having a hard time. Although she was a teacher, she was accustomed to scrimping and saving, never willing to spend on herself.
I guessed that she must have used her savings to help Lu Feng cover the debt. But if that bastard didn't repent, this would be an endless abyss.
My wife said to me, "Honey, I want to talk to you about something."
I frowned and asked, "What is it?"
She said, "You see, my brother isn't doing well. Since you're now the sales manager, can you help him find a job? Maybe get him into your department?"
I knew exactly what kind of person Lu Feng was. He was only fit to be a salesman.
Besides, I just assigned Zhao Hu to the department, and things were still unstable. Adding someone else would complicate matters.
Besides, recruiting was HR's responsibility. Even if I tried to pull strings, I'd still need approval from Manager Sun in HR.
Seeing I said nothing, my wife—smart as she is—knew this would be difficult.
Perhaps because she greatly wished for her brother to succeed, she pressed on: "You managed to get Zhao Hu in; why can't you arrange something for my brother too?"
Women are like this—family ties matter deeply.
As for me, although Lu Feng was my brother-in-law, I knew that my relationship with Zhao Hu was much stronger than with Lu Feng.
To be frank, there was no real bond between Lu Feng and me.
Besides, my reputation in sales wasn't good. Almost all my colleagues believed I had inappropriate relations with many women. If I brought Lu Feng into sales and his big mouth started talking, how would I explain this to my wife?
I thought a moment and said, "When Zhao Hu came in, the department was short-staffed, but now we're full. If we suddenly hire someone without a valid reason and have to pay another salary, what will the boss think?"
Hearing this, my wife said nothing and turned back to her room.
Honestly, my words had selfish undertones, but they were true. I trusted my wife would understand.
Maybe because of my bad mood today, it was bound to be another sleepless night.
To ensure work would proceed smoothly tomorrow, I had to take sleeping pills.
I slept soundly, and by morning, my wife had already prepared breakfast for me.
I wanted to express some apology to her, but at that moment, it felt like I would only look guilty if I did.
After breakfast, I greeted my wife and drove my BMW X1 straight to the company.
However, when I arrived, I saw a crowd gathered in front of the building, all looking up at someone on the roof.
My first instinct was that someone was about to jump.
Recently, media reports exposed companies where employees under great stress tried to commit suicide by jumping.
I wondered if our company was experiencing the same.
To be fair, labor intensity had increased due to new product development, and workers were under pressure.
But when I looked closely, I realized this wasn't the case.
The person on the roof was the security guard at the door—he had run to the office roof early in the morning.
I suddenly recalled an incident three years ago when a young man tried to jump because Ren Tingting wanted to break up with him. Could this scene be repeating?
With time, more people gathered in front of the building to watch the drama unfold.
As a leader, I knew I had to step in.
I called out to the guard, "Fang Wei, what on earth is going on?"
Fang Wei gave me a cold look and said, "Tell Ren Tingting to talk to me."
It seemed this guy was bone-deep infatuated with that woman.
Unfortunately, people tend to rise in life. Since Ren Tingting had moved on to some young stud, she no longer cared about him.
I thought this but said, "Fang Wei, don't be impulsive. I'll get Ren Tingting right away."
With that, I went to find Ren Tingting.
Logically, it was work time, so she should be at the office.
I headed for the sales department first.
There, I found Ren Tingting sitting at her desk, eating breakfast.
Damn, that woman was truly carefree.
Without saying a word, I grabbed her and started pulling her outside.
Ren Tingting resisted with all her strength, saying, "Manager Zhao, what are you dragging me off for so early in the morning?"
I said, "Fang Wei is up on the roof, about to jump. Don't you want to go see?"
Ren Tingting shook her head: "If he wants to jump, let him. One less person in this world doesn't really matter."
Hearing that, I knew she must have no feelings left for Fang Wei.
If she said that outside, it wouldn't be so bad, but this was the company. If someone really jumped, it would be a huge problem for us.
I realized I had to scare her a bit, so I said, "Ren Tingting, if Fu Xin really dies, you won't be working here anymore. You'd better leave right away."
Only then did Ren Tingting reluctantly follow me to the front of the building.
Fang Wei, seeing Ren Tingting arrive, became more agitated. He stared at her and said, "Tingting, what did I do wrong? Yesterday, you went to a hotel with that pretty boy."
Hearing this, I knew once things turned sexual, there was no turning back.
It appeared that Ren Tingting had been ignoring Fang Wei lately, making him very suspicious.
Hearing Fang Wei's words, Ren Tingting's expression changed. Though she was known as a "woman of the factory," she still cared about her dignity.
At least no one had ever openly insulted her to her face.
Maybe that was why she was willing to face Fang Wei now.
Her face grew cold like a layer of frost.
"Fang Wei, don't say things without evidence. I told you I broke up with you because we aren't compatible. Everyone has the right to choose their own fate. I don't want you messing with my life."
From her tone, it sounded like they had quarreled last night and she had given him the coldest answer.
Otherwise, Fang Wei wouldn't have climbed to the roof, acting so desperate and losing face in front of the whole factory.
"Tingting, you know how much I love you. For you, I severed ties with my wife and don't even see my son anymore. If you want to break up, I'll jump off this building."
Hearing this, I felt this man was not only pathetic but also had serious character flaws.
If he did jump, I wouldn't feel sympathy—in fact, I would hope he did it quickly.
At this moment, Zhang Zhiyuan arrived in his car. Seeing the scene, he was furious.
His company was already in turmoil, and now this happened. He probably wanted to kill the guard on the spot.
Everyone moved aside to let him through.
Standing in front of the building, Zhang Zhiyuan said to Fang Wei, "Fang Wei, what's going on here?"
I knew Zhang Zhiyuan was thinking, "If you want to die, do it somewhere else, not here at our company."
Fang Wei ignored him and said to Ren Tingting, "Tingting, my fate is completely in your hands. Give me an answer. If I don't get one, I'll jump."
Hearing this, Zhang Zhiyuan and I both grew anxious. Zhang especially looked like an ant on a hot pan.
Recently, the environmental protection department frequently inspected the company, citing product pollution.
Since we dealt with chemicals, it was true there'd be an impact, which Zhang Zhiyuan fully understood. Now he hoped to smooth things over to keep production running.
But if Fang Wei jumped and the police got involved, things would get complicated.
Zhang Zhiyuan called Ren Tingting over and said, "Tingting, you know how hard it is to run this company. You have to help me stop him from making a scene. Why don't you agree with him for now? Once he comes down, we'll kick him out. How does that sound?"
Hearing this, Ren Tingting's face immediately turned dark.
Indeed, no woman wants to do this because it means she's giving someone another chance.
What if Fang Wei harassed her again in the future?
But now, the situation left her no choice. If she refused, no matter what happened, she would have to leave the company.
The boss hated people who didn't listen to orders.
Ren Tingting thought for a moment and said, "Alright, Boss Zhang, I'll give it a try."
Hearing this, Zhang Zhiyuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.