The next day.
When the manager came to the villa to pick him up, Liang Xiao was still collapsed on the bed, mentally and physically dazed and barely conscious.
President Huo, who had recently been residing in various presidential suites, had rarely returned home. By all rights, he should have gone back to handle company affairs that required face-to-face meetings.
The secretarial department had cautiously inquired three times, but Huo Lan had remained by Liang Xiao’s side all night. Only after Liang Xiao woke up, and they had breakfast and talked for a while, did Huo Lan finally hurry out the door.
Duan Ming found a moment to come in and, seeing the slowly withering Liang Xiao, couldn’t suppress his curiosity: “What happened?”
Liang Xiao responded with a deathly despair: “I don’t know…”
Duan Ming was confused: “Then why are you so distressed?”
“That’s exactly why I’m distressed—because I don’t know.”
Liang Xiao blacked out whenever he drank alcohol, and this time was particularly severe. Holding his head with a hangover, he complained: “President Huo still won’t tell me what happened.”
It was one thing for their President Huo to always be tight-lipped, but this time even the butler was being mysteriously secretive. No matter how much he asked, the butler insisted that Mr. Liang had been very well-behaved and hadn’t done anything all night.
Duan Ming tried to comfort him: “Maybe you actually were well-behaved this time…”
“I thought that at first too,” Liang Xiao sighed deeply. “But I simply can’t convince myself that the row of little snowmen in the refrigerator were made by President Huo playing with his pheromones for no reason.”
Duan Ming: “…”
Liang Xiao only had vague impressions of last night. He hazily remembered Huo Lan saying he was going to make it snow, leaving for a while, then returning with sobering soup.
While Huo Lan was feeding him the soup, Liang Xiao had a flash of inspiration and tickled President Huo’s sensitive spot.
…
Liang Xiao wasn’t sure if President Huo’s slightly hoarse voice this morning was because of this. Feeling dejected and wilting, he clutched his water cup and sipped sadly: “What if President Huo is traumatized and never lets me drink alcohol again?”
Duan Ming’s eyes widened: “You want to drink again?”
“You never know,” Liang Xiao couldn’t help imagining future scenarios, preparing for contingencies. “What if someday we need a little alcohol to set the mood…”
Duan Ming stared at him for a long time before taking the water cup from his hands and replacing it with a thermos.
Liang Xiao took a sip and brightened: “It’s sweet! What kind of soup is this?”
“Lotus seed and osmanthus soup. President Huo was worried about your hangover and had it prepared to soothe your nerves.”
Duan Ming added: “Drink it all, clear your head, and get some more sleep.”
Liang Xiao: “…”
Duan Ming patted his shoulder: “When you’re asleep, you can have everything in your dreams.”
—
Xingguan, CEO’s office.
With the CEO rarely present in the office, Xingguan’s department heads diligently seized the opportunity to deliver their work summaries.
“…Considering traffic fluctuations, the monthly revenue hasn’t been significantly affected.”
The Operations Department, reporting last, submitted their statement: “Influenced by ‘Year-End,’ year-on-year figures show stable growth.”
“However, considering the acquisition of Long Tao, liquid capital remains relatively insufficient,” the Finance Department added. “In the first half of the year, all departments will need to coordinate to increase income and reduce expenditure.”
The Marketing Department head noted: “President Huo has already agreed to participate in a variety show, personally setting an example in generating revenue for the company.”
The Public Relations Department head, who had received an official letter with the deeply impressive phrase “must spend day and night with Mr. Liang, sharing all meals and daily activities,” was taken aback: “Isn’t President Huo—”
“President Huo is not,” the Marketing Department head cut him off. “All departments will actively respond, increasing income and reducing expenditure, doing everything possible to gather abundant liquid capital for the company.”
Huo Lan: “…”
Huo Lan pressed his forehead and interrupted their righteous discussion: “Enough.”
During his days in Jiangnan, he hadn’t neglected company affairs and was well-informed about most reports, with his forecasts generally accurate.
Huo Lan briefly noted a few new items and put down his pen: “In the first half of this year, all departments will have a heavier workload. Thank you for your hard work.”
“It’s not difficult,” the Administrative Department head said. “We genuinely want to swallow Long Tao whole.”
All the department heads had been personally promoted by Huo Lan and had fought alongside him. They still had vivid memories of those challenging times.
Back then, Xingguan had been in a precarious position, and Long Tao had repeatedly taken advantage, poaching artists and seizing resources by any means necessary. Combined with underhanded tactics, they had almost driven Xingguan to the edge.
“Those were truly difficult times,” the Administrative Department head reflected nostalgically. “If not for Feiyang Pharmaceuticals’ financial support…”
“…” Huo Lan now got a headache just hearing the name “Feiyang”: “That’s in the past. No need to bring it up again.”
“Even if you don’t mention it, we remember.”
The Administrative Department head, with tears in his eyes, said: “You told us back then to go all out, that Feiyang would be our backup.”
Huo Lan: “…”
Huo Lan didn’t want to hear any more and closed his laptop: “Meeting adjourned.”
President Huo had never enjoyed listening to praise and flattery. Whenever anyone started down that path, they would be mercilessly sent away.
Several department heads, reminded of their backs-against-the-wall struggle from years ago, were emotionally stirred. Not daring to let President Huo hear them, they consciously exited the room to chat quietly elsewhere.
The Secretary Department head stayed behind: “President Huo.”
Huo Lan nodded: “Speak.”
Seeing that Huo Lan was prepared, the Secretary Department head felt relieved and handed him a document: “Long Tao has submitted a letter of acquisition intent, but their price differs quite significantly from our estimate.”
Huo Lan took it, briefly looking it over: “Ignore it.”
“Alright,” the Secretary Department head nodded. “Then… we’ll stick to our original plan, further squeezing their survival space, leaving them with no bargaining chips.”
The Secretary Department head hesitated before asking: “Do we need to increase the pressure? They still have a lifeline and may not be willing to concede.”
“No need,” Huo Lan said. “Maintain the right balance and be wary of them biting back.”
The Secretary Department head quickly nodded: “Understood.”
Huo Lan briefly reviewed several reports and, seeing that the department head still showed no intention of leaving, looked up at him.
The Secretary Department head shuddered under his gaze and didn’t dare hesitate any longer: “President Huo, our cash flow… it’s better to be cautious.”
“Back then when we said we were fighting with our backs against the wall, we actually had a backup plan.”
The Secretary Department head continued: “This time Feiyang Pharmaceuticals is still in Phase IV clinical trials. Regardless of success or failure, they won’t be able to spare extra funds to support us…”
Huo Lan closed his eyes briefly and pressed his forehead: “No need to call the full name.”
The Secretary Department head was taken aback: “Huh?”
The butler reminded from the side: “Just call it Pharmaceuticals.”
The Secretary Department head understood and couldn’t help feeling ashamed, deeply reflecting on his lengthy and redundant report: “Understood.”
“Even a lean camel is larger than a horse,” the Secretary Department head simplified his message. “After the acquisition of Long Tao, we’ll need funds to integrate and revitalize it, and there might be a shortfall.”
Huo Lan: “There won’t be.”
The Secretary Department head was taken aback: “Why? Where will the money—”
Just as he was about to ask where the money would come from, he suddenly realized what this meant. His heart rate quickened as he lowered his voice: “Are you… going to reorganize the branch families?”
When the old President Huo was still around, many of the Huo Group’s subsidiaries had been embezzling funds—companies with no revenue that nevertheless devised ingenious ways to funnel money from the main family.
In recent years, with the critical situation, Huo Lan had struggled enough just keeping the Huo Group out of crisis. He hadn’t had the capacity to spare energy dealing with these issues.
Lately, the branch families had become increasingly unrestrained, even collaborating with Long Tao to cause trouble. It was indeed time for reorganization and accountability.
“It’s unrelated to Xingguan,” Huo Lan said coolly. “I will handle each one individually.”
The Secretary Department head was completely reassured and quickly nodded: “Good.”
Xingguan’s business operations had always been outstanding. With the funding issues resolved, the rest wouldn’t be a problem. The Secretary Department head put away his report and left the office with peace of mind.
Huo Lan closed his eyes, pressed his forehead, and leaned back in his chair.
“They brought it upon themselves.”
The butler closed the door and returned, speaking softly: “Don’t overthink it.”
Huo Lan lowered his hand: “I know.”
“If it weren’t for them back then…”
The butler still found it difficult to accept when thinking about it now. Not wanting to upset Huo Lan further, he changed the subject: “Fortunately, you met Mr. Liang back then.”
Huo Lan opened his eyes, his expression softening somewhat.
Seeing his mood improve, the butler couldn’t resist cautiously inquiring: “Last night… why did you have me lock away the diary that was originally meant for Mr. Liang to see?”
Huo Lan: “…”
Although the butler could help translate for him, he genuinely wanted to know: “Our pharmaceutical company has such a nice name, why can’t we mention it—”
Huo Lan stood up and quickly left the office without looking back.
—
In the following days, President Huo strictly required all reports to be concise and severely prohibited anyone from mentioning the name of the Huo Group’s pharmaceutical company.
Mr. Liang returned to the film set and, during breaks from filming, persisted in completing one hundred college entrance exam practice questions every day.
“Truly moving,” Duan Ming, who was keeping track of progress on set, couldn’t help but comment. “If you had been this motivated back then, couldn’t your college entrance exam score have been higher?”
“I couldn’t have done any better,” Liang Xiao said, buried in a battle with trigonometric functions. “I copied every practice book I could find.”
Duan Ming was curious: “How many did you copy?”
Liang Xiao thought for a moment: “Dozens of pounds worth.”
Duan Ming was stunned and reached out to feel Liang Xiao’s forehead.
Liang Xiao was quite serious and nodded: “Really.”
The practice books were all purchased by weight as recycled books, just twenty cents per pound, costing very little.
With no one by his side who could explain the problems, unable to understand or memorize the questions, he could only copy them over and over.
Back then, young Liang Xiao had copied practice books until he was dizzy. He saved money to buy a calendar and marked the exam day with a huge cross, crossing off each day as it passed.
After using countless pens, afraid to write in cursive, he would cry while copying, thinking he would never finish.
Duan Ming felt his heart ache listening to this: “And you were aiming for 600 points…”
Embarrassed and angry, Liang Xiao snapped out of his memories and coldly snatched the yellow peach yogurt from his manager’s hand.
“Does Mr. Liang have plans this evening?” the butler had just arrived with Liang Xiao’s lunch and smiled as he provided a straw. “There’s a physical examination scheduled. The doctor will come to you.”
Liang Xiao came back to his senses and noted it in his phone: “I’ll be back early.”
Having received such meticulous care lately, and with the weather getting warmer each day, Liang Xiao felt his health had improved considerably: “It’s really not necessary to check so often. President Huo is too worried.”
Beyond the checkups, during their last return to the capital, Huo Lan had brought back chefs who worked with a nutritional team to comprehensively address his health and nutrition.
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
