Sail across the sea

Chapter 443 A Choice Must Be Made
As it turns out, Peng Yueyue was overthinking things.

After reviewing the resume Peng Yueyue submitted, Gao Fan and Gu Kunquan went downstairs together to greet Fu Yiming and invited him to their office upstairs for a meeting.

In Gao Fan's words, the company is still just a makeshift operation, and it's not time to establish a strict hierarchy. Society still holds some prejudices against private enterprises, and putting on too much airs at this stage would give the impression of being a nouveau riche, which wouldn't be conducive to attracting talent.

Hearing this explanation, Peng Yueyue felt much more at ease, realizing that she hadn't said anything wrong.

Gao Fan was curious about Fu Yiming, a graduate of a prestigious university who had spent nearly 20 years holed up in a small county town, but Gu Kunquan found it quite ordinary. Such things were not uncommon during the political movements; Zhou Xiaoyun at the fertilizer factory was a case in point. If Gao Yiping hadn't recognized her talent, Zhou Xiaoyun would probably have remained quietly wasting her time at the fertilizer factory.

"Director Fu... uh, how about I call you Senior Brother Fu? Doesn't that sound more friendly?"

After the guests and hosts were seated, Gao Fan smiled and asked Fu Yiming.

"I'm ashamed," Fu Yiming said. "I'm here to join Canghai Chemical. From now on, General Manager Gao and General Manager Gu will be my superiors. You can just call me Old Fu."

Gu Kunquan said, "It depends on the occasion. In formal occasions, we need to use a formal form of address, but in private, we don't need to be so polite. Actually, Gao Fan usually calls me Lao Gu."

"Many of my older colleagues in the company call me Xiao Gao, and some call me Xiao Fan," Gao Fan said with a smile. "As Senior Brother Fu should know, I am from a fertilizer factory family. Many people in the company are either my elders or my childhood friends. I feel a little awkward when they call me General Manager Gao."

"Hehe, that's because President Gao is so approachable," Fu Yiming complimented.

He's a man of social experience; he wouldn't be so reckless. He knows that your boss is being polite to you, so you absolutely mustn't be too formal with him, especially when you're not yet familiar with each other.

Gao Fan didn't mind the issue of address. He explained that he called Fu Yiming "senior brother" because he couldn't find a better way to address him; he couldn't very well call him "Old Fu." After all, he and Fu Yiming weren't very familiar with each other.

"Senior Brother Fu, I'd like to know, why would you be willing to condescend to apply for a job at a small company like ours?" Gao Fan asked, getting straight to the point.

Fu Yiming said, "President Gao is too modest. Canghai Chemical is definitely not a small company. Not to mention in Cangtang, it is well-known throughout Maolin Province. Nowadays, many companies in China are finding it very difficult to earn foreign exchange through exports, but Canghai Chemical's chemical cleaning agents can be exported to Japan and its vitamins can be exported to the United States, which is quite remarkable."

"Compared to the big companies in Shanghai and Guangzhou, this small achievement is nothing but a firefly's light. With your talent, Senior Brother Fu, if you wanted to go into business, applying to those big companies would be a piece of cake. Why did you come here?" Gao Fan asked.

Fu Yiming said somewhat awkwardly, "Maybe it's a flaw in my personality. When I graduated from university, I actually had the opportunity to go to some big cities, but I didn't really want to participate in sports, so I chose to go back to my hometown to work. As a result, I've been staying in Cangtang for 18 years. Now, if you ask me to go out again, I'm really not used to it."

“But you chose to leave your job and come to a private company like ours,” Gao Fan said.

Fu Yiming sighed: "I'm still a little unwilling, and I want to do something. Just now downstairs, that lady said something very good. By the way, she said it was something you said, Mr. Gao: China is undergoing a great transformation unseen in a century. I think that's very well said. It's something I've always wanted to say, but I haven't been able to summarize."

"So, what do you think you can do here at the company?"

"I don't know either. To be honest, after I was assigned to Cangtang, I joined the Cultural Bureau. Back then, management was very chaotic; nobody cared what I did at work, so I often spent my time reading in the library. Oh, and for a while the library was closed, but because I worked for the Cultural Bureau, I could freely enter the stacks and take a lot of books home. Uh, don't get me wrong, after the movement ended, I returned all the books I took home to the library. I'm quite self-disciplined in that regard."

"He doesn't deceive in the dark, nor does he slack off in the dead of night. Director Fu truly has the integrity of an intellectual." Gu Kunquan, standing to the side, dangled a scholarly air, showing off his classical Chinese proficiency.

Fu Yiming smiled at Gu Kunquan as a thank you for the compliment, and then continued, "By the time the movement ended, I had gotten used to this kind of life of reading and self-cultivation. At that time, I thought it would be good to live like this for the rest of my life. Actually, there was an opportunity at that time. The county wanted to transfer me to the county party committee office as deputy director. The main reason was that the county leaders appreciated my writing skills and wanted me to write some materials. I refused."

“I saw in your resume that you went to the local history office when the county established it last year. Did you think the local history office was more suitable for studying?” Gao Fan asked.

Fu Yiming said, "I originally studied history, and compiling local chronicles is a good fit for my major. I think I'm already in my forties and haven't accomplished anything yet. If I can compile a local chronicle of Cangtang County, it will be a way to give myself some closure."

"But the Cangtang County Annals haven't been compiled yet, and you've come here again. Why is that?" Gao Fan's question was sharp.

Fu Yiming chuckled self-deprecatingly: "If I said I was bowing down for a pittance, wouldn't that seem disrespectful to the company?"

“It’s only human nature, there’s nothing wrong with that.” Gao Fan smiled.

Fu Yiming's answer really had a Peking University vibe to it, a kind of arrogance ingrained in his bones.

Of course, this arrogance has also been eroded by time. If it were a naive young man fresh out of Peking University, he wouldn't have added the phrase "disrespectful to the company."

"At first, I just wanted to come and visit the company. Everyone says that Canghai Chemical has good benefits, with salaries two or three times higher than those in county government offices. Prices are rising sharply now, and at my age, I have elderly parents to support and young children to raise. It would be a lie to say I don't want to make money."

Fu Yiming had already spoken frankly, so he no longer tried to hide anything.

Or perhaps it was because he found himself getting along well with Gao Fan, and he felt that keeping things to himself would be too petty.

"So what now?" Gao Fan sensed the shift in his tone.

"Just now, downstairs, I changed my mind. I've decided to join the company, if General Manager Gao and General Manager Gu can give me that opportunity."

"Downstairs? You mean, just because you heard that phrase 'a great change unseen in a century'?"

"Yes, I suddenly realized. I studied history and I know that at critical junctures of great historical change, people must make choices."

(End of this chapter)