Chapter 78 The Legendary Old Huang

“All right, Kai, that's enough! I have a lot of work to do.”
“Can’t we talk about this after I’m finished?”
Chen Ni’s lovely face was creased with worry.
The atmosphere turned awkward in an instant.
Interrupted yet again, He Kai could only sigh. “Forget it. Someday, you’ll understand how I feel.”
With that, he left Chen Ni’s office looking utterly dejected.
His back seemed heavy with sorrow, but in truth, the face he turned away was twisted with rage!
This was a narrow-minded man, prone to extremes—the warmth he showed Chen Ni was nothing but a facade.
The moment he stepped out, Chen Ni immediately felt the pressure around her ears lift.
Sitting at her desk, she worried again, “If I have to work with him every day, how am I supposed to cope?”
She began to regret agreeing to her father’s request to join the company.
...
The factory was flooded with orders, and the work was nothing more than plugging components into circuit boards—anyone with a normal mind could do it.
There was no need for any real training. After breakfast, Chai Jin and his group were herded straight into the workshop and put on the assembly line for the entire morning.
Their backs and waists ached terribly.
There was an hour’s lunch break at noon.
After eating, Lao Huang, Liu Shan, and Chai Jin went to the small shop at the factory, each buying a bottle of soda.
There were a lot of people in front of the shop, so the three of them took their drinks and found a spot to squat nearby.
Lao Huang’s eyes grew glazed as he stared at the young women walking by, sighing, “Ah, youth really is wonderful, so full of vitality… We’re getting old.”
He spoke with mock solemnity, but no matter how he tried to hide it, he looked every bit the type who’d frequent the local salons back in a small town.
Chai Jin chewed on his straw, scanning the crowd in hopes of spotting Su Wenbin and the others.
Suddenly, Liu Shan said, “Look, isn’t that the young lady?”
“She’s really stunning! Why are the daughters of capitalists always so beautiful?”
Both men turned to look.
Chen Ni had already entered the crowd without anyone noticing.
She was very different from He Kai.
He Kai had joined the factory a year ago as the boss’s son, always carrying himself with arrogance, never speaking with the regular workers except to bark at them.
But Chen Ni was different. She believed that, on her first day, she should get closer to the workers.
It was the best way to discover the factory’s many problems.
Her presence immediately drew everyone’s attention.
After all, she was the owner’s daughter—no one dared approach her.
Chen Ni looked worried, surrounded by managers eager to flatter her.
Chai Jin glanced over with indifference and said nothing.
But Lao Huang nudged him. “Chai, don’t you know the young lady?”
“Listen, from someone who’s been around—when you’re out in the world, who you marry is crucial. If you pick the right one, your whole life can take off!”
“Look at me, I didn’t choose well!”
Chai Jin eyed him curiously. “You want me to pursue her?”
“Well… you young people are always so direct,” Lao Huang stammered, struggling to keep up.
“What I mean is, why not try dating her? She’s beautiful, and her family is loaded.”
Chai Jin smiled. “Her family’s that rich?”
“Are you kidding? I heard Boss Chen is worth tens of millions!” Lao Huang lit a cigarette, the gel in his hair sparkling in the sunlight.
Chai Jin couldn’t understand why this old fellow bothered styling his hair so elaborately just to work in a factory.
He shook his head with a smile, saying nothing.
Tens of millions—a fortune most people would never touch, putting her family among the local elite.
But compared to the hundreds of millions Chai Jin had tucked away, and the ambitions he harbored, it was still a far cry.
Seeing Chai Jin so unfazed, Lao Huang couldn’t help but offer some advice. “You should listen to me. Look at my life—I missed my chance. If I’d held out for a woman from a better family, would I still be drifting at my age?”
Liu Shan suddenly piped up, “Hey, Lao Huang, didn’t you brag this morning that your wife was the factory manager’s daughter? Now you’re saying she was just an ordinary woman?”
“Did I?” Lao Huang grew flustered. “Did I really say that?”
“Don’t think I forgot!”
“Jin, don’t pay attention to this old guy. He was just boasting that his father-in-law made a fortune in the eighties by speculating, and after he found out, he lost it all on gambling.”
“He’s nothing but a spendthrift, always pretending he worked so hard for his family. What a joke.”
“Uh… well!” Lao Huang wished he could disappear into a hole right then and there.
He hurriedly got up. “I’ll head back to the dorm. You guys go on.”
Back in their hometown by Lake East, Lao Huang had once been a legendary figure.
His legend was that he was the biggest spender at the local salons—a VIP client, as they’d say nowadays.
His wife died just a couple of years after they married, and it was his father-in-law who’d helped him climb the ranks in the factory.
He’d promised to take care of his father-in-law, so he always lived with him and his son.
Once the old man realized Lao Huang was reliable, he secretly handed over the tens of thousands he’d made speculating in the eighties.
From then on, Lao Huang changed—he never went out without styling his hair, and he squandered the family fortune.
Yet, for all his faults, he was loyal.
After the factory went under, he cared for his seventy-year-old father-in-law and his high school–aged son.
Life was hard—unbearably so—but he never thought of abandoning his duty.
He was a man full of contradictions.
Behind him, Liu Shan kept grumbling about Lao Huang, but Chai Jin interrupted, “Don’t be so harsh. Life hasn’t been easy for him.”
“Come on, let’s get back to the factory.”
He patted the dust from his trousers and stood up, Liu Shan following behind.
But as they passed near Chen Ni, Chai Jin thought again—there were thousands of people in the factory. If he tried to search for someone by himself, how long would it take?
If Chen Ni helped, he could probably find them in less than a day.
So he turned back toward Chen Ni.
Chen Ni had been hoping to talk more with the workers and learn their thoughts, but the managers around her kept her isolated with their obsequiousness.
Frustrated, she spotted Chai Jin approaching. Her large eyes widened in surprise, and a sweet smile bloomed on her face. “It’s you!”
Chai Jin smiled politely in return. “Hello, Miss.”
“Could you do me a favor?”