Unmatched Chapter 31

Chapter 31 Pajamas

They chatted on WeChat the entire way, and Zhao Shuyi didn’t stop even after passing security, continuing until the plane took off.

Xie Qi’s last message asked him, “How many days are you going for?”

Zhao Shuyi replied, “Two or three days, probably.”

That was the original plan, but the trip ended up taking longer than two or three days.

The plane landed at Shencheng Airport.

In late November, Fengjing City in the northern interior was already bitterly cold, but the temperature in the southern coastal city of Shencheng was still over twenty degrees Celsius. As soon as Zhao Shuyi stepped off the plane, he felt a rush of heat and impatiently loosened his collar.

In truth, there were few matters that required Zhao Shuyi to travel personally anymore, and this trip was not a typical business trip.

It’s a long story. Since he had decisively launched the Internal Investigation, in less than a month, those old directors who had claimed illness and gone into recuperation had all canceled their leave. Even Zhao Huaicheng’s heart condition was “cured,” and they reluctantly returned to work.

Their tactic of walking off the job to apply pressure was frustrating, but their return wasn’t entirely a good thing either. Whenever Zhao Shuyi tried to investigate something, people from various departments, prompted by their superiors, would find excuses to obstruct him. He had fired a batch of people for this—some dismissed, others demoted or transferred. Personnel changes were frequent, and everyone at the headquarters felt insecure.

The outside world judged Zhao Shuyi’s methods as overly aggressive, but aggressive methods were better than no methods at all. Zhao Shuyi deliberately intensified the conflict, seizing the opportunity to pull out all the Thorns in the Side. It was like scraping the bone to cure the poison—it had to be fast, fierce, and done in one go.

Besides the Internal Investigation, he hadn’t abandoned the reforms he had started planning before Zhao Fengli’s death.

Over the years, as the group expanded, they ventured into many industries. From their main business of communication equipment, electronic products, and various component research and development, they also moved into the smart home sector. They had many product lines, and not all of them were profitable. They also ran some businesses less related to technology; for instance, they were involved in clothing and had a sizable Apparel Division.

Zhao Shuyi had wanted to cut the Apparel Division for a long time. Although it was of a certain scale, it was poorly managed, and its performance had been declining year after year.

Specialization was key, and Zhao Shuyi neither valued nor believed they should value the clothing business. Therefore, he wanted to directly cut the division, sell off the sub-brands, or merge it with the Smart Home Division and transition its development.

His proposal met with opposition. Several high-level executives, led by Zhao Huaicheng, disagreed.

The essence of reform was restructuring management and reallocating resources. In other words, some people would profit, and others would lose. So, Zhao Shuyi was not surprised by the opposition from those with vested interests.

As for his Second Uncle, Zhao Huaicheng would find reasons to trip him up and oppose him personally, regardless of the proposal.

—Zhao Shuyi initially thought this was the case.

But as the investigation progressed, he suddenly realized that things might not be so simple. There seemed to be an unknown entanglement of interests between Zhao Huaicheng and the Apparel Division.

Zhao Shuyi’s current business trip was to thoroughly investigate this matter.

This was not his first time in Shencheng.

For Chaoyang Group, Shencheng was the second most important base after the headquarters in Fengjing City. The Chaoyang Technology Industrial Park was built here, and the clothing business also initially developed from Shencheng.

When Zhao Shuyi first graduated and returned to the country, he was unfamiliar with the group’s operations. The Old Master told him to gain experience at the grassroots level, and with a wave of his hand, threw him into the Shencheng branch.

Zhao Fengli had said, “Shencheng is your Second Uncle’s ‘old stomping ground.’ Have his subordinates guide you.”

So, Zhao Shuyi concealed his identity and started as a small clerk, staying there for a long time.

He mingled with the ordinary employees, listening to them discuss the group’s senior management—everything from personal abilities to private life gossip.

Zhao Shuyi was quite surprised at the time that his Second Uncle’s reputation was actually very good, perhaps because the private affair between Zhao Huaicheng and Qin Zhi had not been widely circulated.

Zhao Huaicheng had indeed made great contributions to the group. The performance in the Shencheng area was almost entirely due to him. The financial reports submitted to the headquarters every year were quite impressive, and several projects he spearheaded were listed as model cases. The Old Master praised him endlessly and told Zhao Shuyi to learn from him.

Zhao Shuyi didn’t think much of it then, assuming his Second Uncle was genuinely capable. It wasn’t until he was transferred back to the headquarters, gained experience, and broadened his horizons that he realized the water was deeper than he thought.

—The technology industrial park in Shencheng was the group’s most important research base, and Zhao Huaicheng had managed the coastal two-province market region centered in Shencheng. The annual research funds flowed into the industrial park through his hands, and only heaven knew how much he secretly embezzled.

What was more interesting was that the money Zhao Huaicheng embezzled was not all pocketed; some was used to rob Peter to pay Paul.

When the headquarters was short on funds, they would ask Shencheng for money. Zhao Huaicheng would simultaneously inflate performance reports for the headquarters and commit corruption through false accounting, creating a closed loop that earned him a good reputation for free.

It wasn’t that Zhao Shuyi hadn’t investigated his messy accounts, but Zhao Huaicheng had been away from Shencheng for many years, making the old accounts difficult to check. Many long-time employees had left, and the newcomers all claimed ignorance, leaving no starting point.

This time, Zhao Shuyi found some clues through the Apparel Division. He belatedly realized: how could the Apparel Division be managed so poorly on his Second Uncle’s turf? Was the decline from profit to continuous losses truly just due to incompetent management?

Zhao Shuyi had a suspicion, but he didn’t tip his hand. He found a legitimate reason—inspecting the Shencheng branch—and had the local senior executives receive him.

These people didn’t know his true intentions, but with the headquarters in turmoil, the branch was also uneasy. The General Manager, Zheng Hua, personally arranged the hotel and accompanied Zhao Shuyi for dinner. During the meal, he constantly flattered him and probed cautiously, testing the waters non-stop.

Zhao Shuyi disliked socializing, but he didn’t put on airs for his subordinates. He had just taken power, and winning people over was still very important.

While being tested, Zhao Shuyi also tested them. He deliberately let slip a few hints, making them understand that it was time to take a side and show their sincerity. If they performed well, there would be opportunities for promotion.

As for what counted as sincerity, Zhao Shuyi didn’t say explicitly, but these shrewd individuals understood.

The dinner lasted a full three hours. Zhao Shuyi maintained his composure throughout, appearing relaxed but mentally tense, and he was not in a good mood.

After the meal, he bid farewell to Manager Zheng and his entourage and returned to the hotel to rest, accompanied by Ye Zhao.

He hadn’t checked his phone much since landing today, and new messages had piled up, most of them from Xie Qi.

Zhao Shuyi quickly scrolled through them, and his brow involuntarily relaxed into a smile: Xie Qi, the fake supportive partner, could occasionally play a positive role.

He gave Ye Zhao a few simple instructions, told him to rest, turned and closed the room door, and called Xie Qi via voice chat.

The connection tone rang for a few seconds and was quickly answered.

Zhao Shuyi turned on the speakerphone, placed the phone by the bed, and changed his clothes while listening.

“Hello,” Xie Qi’s voice was low. “Why are you only replying now? Were you busy this late?”

Zhao Shuyi responded, “Just got back to the hotel.”

Xie Qi, whose brain was wired in a strange way, actually asked him, “Are you sleeping alone? Is there no one else in the room?”

“…”

Zhao Shuyi laughed out loud. “What else? Is the secretary going to share my bed?”

Zhao Shuyi was impressed that Xie Qi could hold onto this jealousy from morning till night. He took off his suit, unbuttoned his shirt, and hung them in the closet. His bare torso felt a little cold from the hotel air conditioning.

Zhao Shuyi put on his pajamas, leaned against the headboard, and switched the voice call to a video call.

Xie Qi’s face immediately appeared on the screen, with their bedroom at home as the background. The person seemed to be lying down. The phone camera shifted, and Zhao Shuyi saw his clothes in the frame.

“What are you wearing?” Zhao Shuyi wasn’t sure. “Are those my pajamas?”

Xie Qi immediately moved the camera, only showing his face. “Are they? Hmm… I must have grabbed the wrong ones after showering.”

“Grabbed the wrong ones? Our styles are completely different, you—”

Zhao Shuyi paused, suddenly realizing. The confusion in his heart turned into a subtle surprise, and he chuckled softly. “You have this kind of fetish, Xie Qi.”

“…”

Xie Qi was mortified. “What’s wrong with wearing your clothes? It was just convenient!”

“Oh.” Zhao Shuyi stared at the person on the screen and asked directly, “Do you want to have sex, or do you miss me?”

Xie Qi didn’t answer.

Zhao Shuyi understood. “Both.”

Xie Qi was thin-skinned and couldn’t stand his endless teasing and mockery. He tried to hang up. Zhao Shuyi said, “Wait.”

“Say it.” Xie Qi feigned impatience, glancing toward the edge of the screen, as if he didn’t want to look at him, which only made his embarrassment more obvious.

“Do you have anything important tomorrow?”

“No, why?”

Zhao Shuyi hesitated. “Do you want to come and keep me company?”

Xie Qi was stunned. “Is that convenient?”

“…”

Good question.

Zhao Shuyi had asked purely on a whim, without thinking too much before speaking.

In fact, he was only on a short business trip and would be back soon. There was no need to put Xie Qi through the trouble of traveling to accompany him.

Moreover, he couldn’t bring Xie Qi to the company, nor did he have time to constantly be with him. Even if Xie Qi came, they could only briefly be intimate at night, at most.

Logic told him to forget it and not make such an unreasonable request. But Zhao Shuyi didn’t know what was wrong with him; knowing it was unreasonable only made his heart stir more.

“It’s not convenient,” he answered definitively. “If you come, you’ll have to wait for me in the hotel. I’ll be very busy during the day and only free at night.”

Then he changed the subject. “But I want to see you, Xie Qi.”

“…”

Zhao Shuyi sounded like a devil tempting the other party to brave fire and water for him. “Don’t sleep with my pajamas tonight. Come and hold me instead.”