Chapter 20: Submitting Resignation
"Uh, I’m an employee at this company!" Ye Xing couldn’t help but be a little stunned. He hadn’t expected to run into Mr. Zhou here. This was, of course, the very same Mr. Zhou whom Huang Jinbao, the owner of Jinsheng Hotel, had introduced to him yesterday morning to buy a dish of Boiled Fish in Hot Chili Oil.
"Ye Xing, you know Governor Zhou?" A glimmer of hope, mingled with deep suspicion, flashed in Chen Feng’s eyes. After all, Ye Xing was just an employee at her company, while Zhou Chenghui was the governor of the Construction Bank—someone even she had to curry favor with. Logically, two people from such completely different social standings should have no reason to cross paths.
"Know him? Of course, I do! I just bought a dish of Boiled Fish in Hot Chili Oil from Mr. Ye yesterday!" Zhou Chenghui hurriedly took the teacup from Ye Xing with both hands, his voice filled with excitement. "President Chen, you have no idea, Mr. Ye’s fish is absolutely magical. My son developed child anorexia a while back, and it was worrying me to death. But yesterday morning, after he ate the Boiled Fish in Hot Chili Oil that Mr. Ye cooked, his symptoms were more than halfway gone in an instant. The look on the attending physician’s face... Haha! It still makes me laugh just thinking about it."
"Is that true? Is Ye Xing’s cooking really that good?" Chen Feng asked, astonished.
"Of course, it’s true. And the flavor of that Boiled Fish in Hot Chili Oil was absolutely heavenly." Zhou Chenghui couldn’t help but swallow. "I wonder when Mr. Ye might have some free time," he asked hopefully. "Would it be possible to cook another one for me?" He’d actually snuck a couple of bites of the last fish on the drive back to Luoxian County. The aroma had been so tempting he almost couldn’t stop himself from eating more. But the thought of his son’s anorexia gave him the strength to resist, and he brought the fish to his precious boy at Kangming Hospital.
"Haha, Mr. Zhou, if you want to eat Boiled Fish in Hot Chili Oil, you can get it at Boss Huang’s Jinsheng Hotel now," Ye Xing said with a small smile. His partnership with Jinsheng Hotel had already begun.
"What? Huang the Fatty has it there? That’s great! It’ll be so much more convenient whenever I want to eat it from now on," Zhou Chenghui said happily.
"Well, anyway, since Governor Zhou and Sister Chen are discussing business, I won’t disturb you." Ye Xing said as he prepared to leave the room.
"No disturbance, not at all. I was about to head back myself," said Zhou Chenghui.
A thought suddenly struck Chen Feng. She looked at Ye Xing, her almond eyes pleading, and said softly, "Ye Xing, since you know Governor Zhou, could you please put in a good word for Sister Chen? Ask him to be a little flexible."
"Uh, how am I supposed to help with that... I don’t even know what’s going on." Ye Xing’s gaze shifted between the two of them.
Zhou Chenghui paused, sat back down on the sofa, and placed his briefcase beside him. He said in a serious voice, "Here’s the situation. President Chen came to me seeking a five-million-yuan loan. However, based on the circumstances and materials she provided, our Construction Bank would normally only be able to approve a loan of two or three million at most."
"’Normally?’" Chen Feng’s eyes lit up, keenly catching the hint of leeway in Zhou Chenghui’s tone. Instantly, her beautiful eyes turned to Ye Xing with even more desperation. Red Phoenix Publishing Co., Ltd. was in the middle of a business expansion and was in urgent need of a capital injection. If this loan didn’t go through, the company’s growth would inevitably be stifled. They would miss a golden opportunity for development, and expanding later on would be much more difficult.
Ye Xing considered for a moment. ’Asking for favors uses up social capital,’ he thought. ’But Sister Chen is a good person. And as my own business grows in the future, I might need the help of Red Phoenix Publishing Company myself.’ He immediately turned to Zhou Chenghui and said, "Governor Zhou, Sister Chen is my boss, and she’s taken good care of me. If you can help her, I hope you will!"
Putting everything else aside, the simple fact that Ye Xing’s Boiled Fish in Hot Chili Oil had cured Mr. Zhou’s precious son’s anorexia meant that Zhou Chenghui already owed Ye Xing a significant favor. Ye Xing believed that as long as it wasn’t too difficult a request, the governor would likely agree.
"Alright! Since Mr. Ye has spoken up, of course I’ll help with this!" Zhou Chenghui nodded, then turned to Chen Feng. "However, I hope President Chen understands one thing. Based on the materials you provided, the Construction Bank really can only release three million. It’s not my intention to make things difficult for you, President Chen."
"Yes, yes, of course, I understand. Thank you so much, Governor Zhou." Chen Feng was overjoyed. She turned to Ye Xing. "Ye Xing, thank you so much!" She knew, of course, that the governor’s willingness to approve the loan was entirely on account of Ye Xing. Otherwise, she and Governor Zhou weren’t close; why would he help her? She just never expected Ye Xing to have so much influence. It was a delightful surprise.
Afterward, Zhou Chenghui and Sister Chen began to sign the loan agreement, while Ye Xing left the office to get a resignation form from the girl at the front desk.
The receptionist was back at her desk by now, and Ye Xing went right up to ask her for the form.
"Ye Xing, are you really resigning? You should think it over carefully. I think starting a business is risky; it’s better to have a steady salary. Besides, our company is about to expand, so the prospects are pretty good." The receptionist handed the resignation form to Ye Xing, trying to persuade him. Ye Xing was quite popular in the company; after all, he was handsome, good-natured, and naturally well-liked.
"Haha, I know. I wouldn’t be resigning so rashly if I wasn’t reasonably confident," Ye Xing said with a laugh as he started filling out the form.
Seeing that Ye Xing’s mind was made up, the receptionist could only smile and say, "Well, I wish you great success in your business then! You should come back and visit us often!"
"Yeah, I definitely will!"
Filling out the form was quick. It was mostly basic information like name, age, and phone number, plus the reason for leaving. Ye Xing finished it in no time. "Is this right? Did I miss anything?"
The receptionist took the form from Ye Xing and looked it over. "Yep, it’s all filled out, nothing’s missing. Next are the signatures. For the General Manager’s signature line, you just need to get Sister Chen to sign. For the Chief Editor’s signature, you can get the acting chief editor of your Group Three to sign it."
"Acting chief editor?" Ye Xing asked, confused.
"Yeah. Group Three doesn’t have a chief editor, so Sister Chen just announced it this morning. It’s that Liu Zixuan. Of course, he’s only the *acting* chief editor!" The receptionist’s eyes flickered, and she couldn’t resist trying to persuade him again. "Ye Xing, your performance is so good. If you just worked for another two months to get the seniority, you could have definitely competed for that chief editor position."
Ye Xing’s mood soured. ’I couldn’t care less whether Liu Zixuan is chief editor or not. The main problem is having to ask *him* for a signature.’ He really didn’t want to deal with the guy at all.
’Ah, forget it. I should stay positive on my way out. No need to make things unpleasant.’ Steeling himself, Ye Xing walked over to Liu Zixuan’s desk, handed him the resignation form, and said very politely, "Could you please sign this?"