pressions on Su Cun and his father’s faces, he softened his tone to prevent an argument."I believe in him."The crowd was taken aback and looked towards Su Cun's mother, Zeng Ke.Zeng Ke turned her gaze...Chapter Twelve Ordinary

Sighing, he turned off the light and lay in bed. He gazed out of the window at the dark night sky. In moments like these, he enjoyed reflecting on recent events and contemplating deeply. His mother had opened a store in Grid City, and he felt that he too needed to do something meaningful. The stationery retail market was currently experiencing a period of prosperity, but every boom inevitably comes with its own set of challenges.

I believe once the market opens up further, traditional marketing methods will struggle to keep pace with the dynamic and prosperous environment; true bottlenecks will emerge from that point forward. As they say, today is cruel, tomorrow is cruel, and the day after tomorrow is still cruel, but the day after that is full of promise. However, many people perish in the dawn just before this promising future arrives.

Will I die in the darkness just before the dawn

Su Chen dreamed of a vast plain, with banners and flags standing tall, sturdy horses, and an army of a million soldiers looking up at him. He was their commanding general, overseeing this mighty force. Across the plain flowed a river, beyond which loomed towering cliffs, from where beams of rosy light rose brilliantly into the sky, creating a scene reminiscent of Greek mythology.

When he woke up, it was already morning the next day. The dawn's rosy light in his dream had become the sun shining on him now, but the scene from his dream still lingered vividly in his mind, and he wondered if this dream signified a premonition. Could he truly become the commanding general of an army as suggested by his dream

Su Licheng was somewhat depressed during the company’s strategic research meeting. The head office had other plans for him as the newly appointed deputy director of corporate management, assigning him to take over a gift factory in the city's outskirts owned by one of its affiliated groups. This gift factory had been operating at a loss for nearly a year and previously belonged to a state-owned enterprise before undergoing restructuring. Even though external capital was injected afterward, most of it was still under the control of Greater Wu Construction, which held it on behalf of the government, making it akin to a semi-state-owned enterprise.

However, this factory no longer adapted well to market changes; its products were unsold, leading to losses in state assets. The municipal authorities had already considered shutting down or leasing out the factory to other companies.

This matter fell back onto Greater Grid Construction, and at the company’s strategic research board meeting, Vice President Mu Kai proposed Su Licheng's name, recommending that he be tasked with resolving issues related to the Longsheng Gift Factory.

Mu Kai was a vice president of the company, the second uncle of Xu Zhen's son Xu Jianchuan, and held a master’s degree in civil engineering from South China University of Technology. He represented a faction within the head office that opposed Xu Jianchuan and Zhuo Junjian. The primary difference between Mu Kai and Xu Jianchuan lay in their differing views on personnel appointments.

After the patriarch, Xu Zhen, gradually withdrew from company affairs, most decision-making power was handed over to Mu Kai and Xu Jianchuan. Both sides were merely pretending to cooperate while harboring mutual suspicions. Mu Kai had the support of a majority of the company’s senior figures; he was unhappy with Xu Jianchuan's practice of appointing outsiders and fostering his own clique, leading them to engage in open and covert rivalry. Zhuo Junjian's previous expulsion from Xiahai nearly cost him everything thanks to Mu Kai’s maneuverings.

Mu Kai was naturally upset today. By a twist of fate, Zhuang Jianjun had built Xinghai Square and accomplished great feats, even bringing along Su Licheng who was planted in the position of deputy minister.

Zhuang Jianjun intended to voice his differing opinion and wanted Su Licheng to participate in the Second Ring "Vienna Apartments" project. This was a lucrative deal, a model humanistic living district located at the Cultural Palace on West Second Ring Road, which was heavily invested in by the headquarters. Many eyes from provincial, city-level governments, as well as the construction industry were watching this place closely. With the strong support of various factions, Su Licheng's placement here would undoubtedly yield substantial benefits.

However, Mu Kai and some others raised objections, arguing that if Su Licheng was a talent who could add fuel to the fire, then transferring him to manage Longsheng Gift Factory would better utilize his skills compared to having him join the apartment project which merely added icing on the cake.

The Longsheng Gift Factory was indeed a burden. Throwing this burden at Su Licheng; wasn't Old Grandpa hoping to heavily rely on cadres who emerged from building Xinghai Square This was heavy reliance! When things go wrong, then it would be Xu Jianchuan's problem for appointing the cadre, as city leaders were watching closely. Even Xu Jianchuan couldn’t protect them, thus their reputation within the company would inevitably decline, leading to more people considering switching sides. The network of connections gained wouldn't be insignificant.

This dual-purpose plan was clearly arranged by Mu Kai. After the meeting ended, Su Licheng left the venue dejectedly with his documents in hand.

Xu Jianchuan's face turned somewhat grim, and Luo Jianjun didn’t say a word either. Everyone knew that the gift factory issue forced down from the city government was long mired in institutional rigidity and deep-rooted problems; the municipal commerce bureau had once advised on strategies for the gift factory, yet their seemingly reasonable forward-looking business opinions mysteriously failed. The factory struggled to turn losses into profits despite trying several projects, leading to increasingly heavy investments with a bleak future.

No one wanted to take on such a burden of a bleak-futured factory, and entrusting this task to Su Licheng could reveal the pressure involved.

After the meeting dispersed, as Mu Kai walked away, Li Yuhé beside him chuckled lightly: "General Manager Mu, you’re really quite high-handed."

Li Yuhé had already clashed with Luo Jianjun and Su Licheng in Xiahai, having orchestrated the work stoppage incident at the Fourth Engineering Bureau. He was naturally delighted to see Su Licheng fall from grace.

In the afternoon when Su Can returned home, he saw his father, Su Licheng, already poring over documents early on; this was not typical of his character. During mealtime, through Su Can’s subtle probing, he learned about the situation.

This was clearly making his father uneasy, preparing to set him ablaze. If his father couldn't withstand it, then naturally, this fire would burn onto Zhuang Jianjun and Xu Jianchuan's heads as well.

The Longsheng Gift Factory will inevitably collapse if it continues like this. The re-employment issue for over a hundred workers would be a huge challenge. Who would take on this factory In the past, the gift factory was quite powerful in Ge City and had once handled the supervision of tourism souvenirs for the city. Now, however, due to its single-minded sales approach and rigid design ideas, it has lost its competitiveness and is struggling to survive. To revitalize this factory, one must solve the employment problem for the original hundred or so workers who generally have low educational levels and have spent their entire lives in a single manufacturing industry. Which private factory would have the courage and capability

The question is: Who would be willing to take it on

Mother Zeng He still had some concerns, "If this issue can't be resolved within the deadline and they stop production and withdraw from the factory, that will become another mess. You'll get dragged into this too. As the person responsible for this, you might even end up shouldering the blame for the laid-off workers of the factory later on. What kind of situation is this"

After dinner, Su Licheng sat at the table, picked up his teacup and drank a couple of sips without realizing that it had gone cold. He then put down the tea cup and picked up some documents, rubbing his forehead while sighing softly: "I'll go to the factory for an inspection tomorrow afternoon. After seeing it, I’ll make notes."

Su Cen furrowed his brow deeply as he sat on a sofa next to Su Licheng, holding the documents and studying them carefully. He had already decided in his mind that he would accompany Su Licheng tomorrow.

Since entering high school, Su Licheng hadn't needed to worry about his son's academic performance anymore, which somewhat comforted him despite seeing Su Cen sitting beside him instead of focusing on his studies.

Su Cen’s behavior at school was rather ordinary. His mediocrity had almost made the entire class forget that there was a transfer student like him.

Xiao Yunchun maintained a certain distance from Su Cen. With such a large number of students, all kinds of rumors naturally circulated in No. 27 Middle School. Occasionally, Su Cen would hear news about Tang Wu from the grapevine—such as how someone in some class had privately asked about her or that she was seen at the audience seats during a ball game.

Xiao Yunchun would also mention these things and describe Tang Wu as an unapproachable person, indirectly hinting to Su Cen that his previous little flirtation with Tang Wu could now be considered over. At most, it was a beautiful memory. With Tang Wu currently being very popular at No. 27 Middle School, she might not even remember him anymore. Even if he acknowledged her as an acquaintance, others might gossip about them, and if she didn't recall their relationship, wouldn’t that be awkward After all, students here in one of the top schools nationwide could be quite vicious with their tongues.

Su Cen did not comment on this. Seeing his indifferent expression, Xiao Yunchun stopped asking questions about Tang Wu and no longer used her as a topic to talk with Su Cen. Sometimes she would even initiate conversations with him after class, introducing him to others: "This is my former schoolmate, Su Cen."

Other girls would gaze at them curiously before jokingly bowing their heads in greeting and saying, "It's an honor." After a brief chat, they would leave, having met the same-class student Su Cen.

In physical education class, Xiao Yunyun would occasionally sit next to Su Cun, who rarely participated in any activities. Watching the sunlight gradually set, they were both insignificant here. Unlike at Xiahai No.1 High School where every move of hers would be noticed, if she sat alone with Su Cun there, gossip would spread like wildfire by the next day.

Now, they could chat freely; only a few girls who knew Xiao Yunyun well would glance over while cheering for the boys playing soccer. A couple of boys in class who had their eyes on Xiao Yunyun might stare at them with a hint of jealousy.

Until the school interview program broadcasted next Monday, time flowed peacefully without any ripples or hidden currents.

Xiao Yunyun found herself enjoying watching Su Cun's smile. His eyes, tinted by the setting sun, held something profound.

In this school, many people carried confident expressions and smiles, but none had a gaze as deep as his, hinting at numerous secrets unknown to others.

Xiao Yunyun remembered how many people evaluated Su Cun: "Is he the transfer student He doesn't seem that impressive."

"He's soft-spoken and quite ordinary. Never mind him; let’s talk about who performed best in Class 7 versus Class 14's soccer game. I think Liu Wei was really cool, don’t you"

“I heard he likes the lead actress of TV station Sun Man. You didn't know That makes you seem out-of-the-loop,”

Su Cun stood up and patted his rear end. "It's time to gather, let's go."

Xiao Yunyun snapped back from her reverie, looked at the gathering crowd in the distance, smiled, and stood up. When she looked at Su Cun again, she noticed that the depth of his gaze had vanished.

Looks like I was overthinking it. After all, Su Cun is just an ordinary person, just like me.轉碼失敗！請您使用右上換源切換源站閱讀或者直接前往源網站進行閱讀！