Return to 88: Starting from Marrying My Sister-in-law

The roar of the airplane engines still lingered in my ears, and the humid, sticky air of Changsha hit me in the face.

Lu Yang wore a formulaic smile, but his sharp gaze swept over Jiang Wanli's ashen face and slightly trembling body—the last vestige of his strength after the extreme blow.

When Lu Yang casually tossed out the "two hundred million RMB" and "five-year contract," he clearly caught the flicker of flame in Jiang Wanli's eyes that had been forcibly extinguished before it could reignite, and the fingers that were clenched into fists in his pockets, instantly stiffening to the extreme.

"Okay, I agree!"

Jiang Wanli's voice was dry, like sandpaper rubbing, and each word was as heavy as a thousand pounds.

The moment he finished speaking, he swayed noticeably, and if his assistant hadn't caught him in time, he would have almost collapsed to the ground.

It wasn't the instantaneous collapse of a loser, but more like a once-standing wall suddenly crumbling under immense pressure in its final moments.

Lu Yang's lips remained curved, but a barely perceptible sigh swept through his heart.

He stepped forward and reached out to pat the shoulder of his former older brother, now his defeated foe.

Jiang Wanli recoiled as if stung by a scorpion, avoiding this belated, symbolic comfort.

His gaze drifted blankly over Lu Yang's shoulder, landing on the neon lights outside the airport, blurred by the rain. He spoke in a hoarse and weary voice, "President Lu, the company handover is a complex and multifaceted process... all waiting for you to return and take charge."

Two hundred million US dollars turned into two hundred million RMB, and for the next five years, his personal freedom was confined to this company that no longer belonged to him.

Encourage him to cheer up.

What will he use to cheer himself up?

Lu Yang didn't say anything. In public, it was better to say some things in private. So, he casually withdrew his hand, which was less than two hand spans away from Jiang Wanli's shoulder, who had shrunk back.

His expression turned serious again.

"Okay, let's go!"

Lu Yang walked with his head held high through the group of Wan Yan Company executives led by Jiang Wanli. Everyone made way for him and lowered their heads, anxiously awaiting their fate.

Some people opened their mouths, but considering that there were many people around, even if they were anxious, they couldn't rush to curry favor with the new boss at this time. If they didn't do a good job of flattering him, they might incur the new boss's displeasure, which would be a loss.

As the saying goes, a new broom sweeps clean, and each of these actions will cause his subordinates to cry out in alarm, fearing they will become the chicken in the idiom "kill the chicken to scare the monkey."

Moreover, Wan Yan Electronics' situation is more complicated. It was originally a rising technology company in a sunrise industry with its own flagship products. It should have been able to realize its grand ambitions and make the company bigger and stronger.

While not every manager will achieve financial freedom, at the very least, they will reap substantial rewards as the company rapidly expands.

But the result?

A perfectly good company that was on the rise was destroyed by them in just a few years.

Although the person primarily responsible is the former boss, the president, and the autocratic founder Jiang Wanli, who has just promised to hand over all his shares and rights and admit defeat.

However, it's hard to guarantee that once the new boss takes office, he won't carry out a bloody purge of these former executives who were promoted by the previous boss. After all, time has proven that these people haven't been able to achieve anything.

It seems rather uneconomical to spend money to support them!

"boss……"

"You must be tired, let's go to the office tomorrow..."

It turned out that Xu Siqi felt sorry for Lu Yang after he got into the car because he had been frowning and hadn't relaxed at all. He even rubbed his temples and looked very tired.

Lu Yang shook his head, noticing that her face was also pale. "You've been working non-stop, taking a flight for over ten hours with me, you must be tired. You don't need to come to the company with me. Go home first, you haven't been home in a long time."

Xu Siqi shook her head, forced herself to cheer up, bent down to take over Lu Yang's work, and placed her two small hands on Lu Yang's temples, gently massaging them clockwise.

Lu Yang couldn't help but let out a groan.

After thinking about it again, since there were no outsiders here and Xiao Jiu, who was driving, was one of his own, he simply took off his shoes, lay down, and rested his head on Xu Siqi's lap. This way, he wouldn't have to bend over and put more effort into massaging her.

Xu Siqi whispered, "I don't want to go home."

She knew that Lu Yang owned a property in Xingcheng, a villa, and that it was in the same neighborhood as her family's villa, less than a hundred meters away.

From the bedroom on the second floor of her villa, you can see the view of the yard of the stinky boss's villa when you open the window.

However, even though she knew this, the lousy boss hadn't given her a key, so she couldn't bring herself to ask if she wanted to move in.

What about Lu Yang?
I can guess what she's thinking even with my eyes closed.

If you don't want to go home, it means you want to spend more time alone with him during this period. Fine, I have several properties in Xingcheng, one of which is a villa next to your house. I'm sure you know that. But it's still too dangerous here. In order to avoid being discovered by your mother, the deputy director of the provincial TV station, let's go somewhere else. Let's go to Nanyuan Community. The property management has already cleaned everything in advance, and the housekeeping company has also been arranged to go there first. Xiao Jiu, you can take me to the company first, and then drive Assistant Xu there.

There is no doubt about it.

Lu Yang said that Xu Siqi didn't need to follow him around later.

Tell her to go back and rest first.

Then it definitely counts, but the interpretation of the word "go home" needs to be changed here. It's not going back to Xu Siqi's parents' home, but going back to their own "little home".

Xu Siqi covered her mouth and gasped softly, a fleeting look of surprise crossing her face.

Her fingers, which were resting on Lu Yang's sides, tightened slightly. "This villa...you...you haven't taken anyone else there, have you?"

Lu Yang closed his eyes and frowned slightly. "Am I the kind of man who would bring disreputable women home?"

Xu Siqi hurriedly said in a flustered manner, "No, no, don't misunderstand, I... I didn't mean that."

She was so excited that she didn't even know where to put it.

Lu Yang understood what the girl meant. She was asking if the landlady knew about the villa's existence, whether she had ever been there, and whether his sudden move-in would cause any problems...

Anyway, she was just worrying about this and that... Lu Yang was just teasing her.

"Okay."

She was about to cry.

Lu Yang stopped teasing her, reached out and took her small hand in his large one, turned his face to press it against her warm belly and said, "Silly girl, this villa was specially prepared for you. Only you and I know about it. No one else will know. In a few days, I will transfer the property to your name..."

Xu Siqi's body trembled slightly.

He was both excited and terrified, and stammered, "I...I don't want your house."

She now owns a house, but it's in Shenzhen, a tiny two-bedroom apartment that she bought after saving up for several years.

But how could Lu Yang listen to her?

He wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing closer, and said sleepily, "Don't talk anymore, it's decided then, I'm going to sleep for a while."

Sure enough, within two minutes, a soft snoring sound could be heard in the car.

Xu Siqi lowered her head and stared at Lu Yang's profile, looking at it again and again.

Finally, I couldn't help but laugh, and this time it was a genuine laugh!

……

"The company's articles of association will remain the same, as will the personnel. I will not fire anyone, whether they are senior executives or junior staff. However, starting next month, everyone will be subject to performance evaluation. I will have someone compile a table of evaluation criteria. Those who pass will stay, and those who fail will be eliminated and leave."

After Lu Yang took office, he did not carry out any major reforms to the company. Instead, he continued to use all the previous management personnel and did not change any of the company management regulations that Jiang Wanli had set.

Oh, right, two people's positions have changed. Jiang Wanli has now stepped down as the company's president and is now solely responsible for the company's product laboratory, where he is in charge of developing the next generation of VCD technology, or rather, DVD technology, because Lu Yang privately spoke to him about it.

"Many foreign technology giants are now researching a new generation of audio-visual technology based on MPEG video decoding chips, with the aim of circumventing our VCD patents."

"Brother, do you know what this means?"

“Once they succeed and develop new audiovisual technologies that are a generation ahead of ours, then when our products want to go overseas and expand into overseas markets, they will charge us high patent fees.”

Even if the country improves its patent law in the future, they might extend it domestically. If our products want to use their patents, we'll have to pay them hefty patent fees. Otherwise, even domestically, we'll face significant difficulties unless we refuse to adopt their next-generation technology and continue using the old ones. But if that happens, our borders will likely be forced open.

“Countless more advanced, more sophisticated, smoother, and better audio-visual products will flood into our country like dumping, sweeping through our market and taking all the money that originally belonged to us from the pockets of ordinary people.”

"How should we choose then?"

"We have no choice but to choose the least damaging option, even if it means squeezing out the teeth. We have to accept the other party's hegemonic terms, pay tribute, and pay the full patent fees, while also winning a chance for development in the future."

"Brother, are you willing to accept this? Do you really want to see this outcome?"

"I do not want to."

"Therefore, I have always insisted that patents are not just a hegemonic regulation for foreign companies, nor are they a magic weapon for them to blackmail companies in emerging markets. We can also pursue patent hegemony ourselves. If we have a patent, we should apply for it. Whether we need it or not is another matter. If we don't have it, we should find a way to acquire it. The future is obvious, and we cannot just focus on the present."

"Brother, do you believe me?"

"If you trust me, then help me develop this new audiovisual technology and beat these foreign giants to the punch. You are the inventor of VCD, and you are the most authoritative in making progress based on MPEG video decoding chips. Everyone else is drawing on a blank sheet of paper, but you are the only one adding color to an already drawn pattern."

"You must believe in yourself. If we succeed, our future will be bright, and the company will have a promising future. I can promise you that as the top contributor, if Wan Yan Company goes public one day, even though you no longer have any shares in the company, I can make the decision that you won't be treated unfairly. You will get 10% of the company's technical shares. How about that?"

By appealing to his emotions and threatening him with benefits, Lu Yang's goal was to squeeze every last drop of value out of Jiang Wanli.

As for whether this promise will be fulfilled in the end, that depends on whether Jiang Wanli himself really has the skills. If he can develop the DVD technology before those foreign giants and bring huge benefits to the company, Lu Yang will not hesitate to give up 10% of the company's shares.

"I will be stationed at the company for three months. I will be in charge of the company's development direction during these three months. After three months, a new president will take office."

As the chairman of the group, Lu Yang naturally could not stay in Xingcheng forever and continue to serve as the president of Wanyan Electronics.

He has a brighter future ahead of him.

He had begun to have a clear idea of ​​who the new president of Wan Yan Electronics would be, but he needed to observe him more and train him for a longer period of time.

"Meeting dismissed."

Lu Yang kicked all the company's senior executives out.

Only Xu Siqi remained.

Lu Yang stared at her, who was diligently taking meeting minutes, and asked, "Do you have anything to say?"

Xu Siqi looked up in confusion, "Huh!??"

Lu Yang walked over, snatched the pen from her hand, pulled her up, and stared intently into her eyes, saying, "Don't play dumb in front of me. I'm asking you, do you have any ideas about the next president of Wan Yan Electronics?"

Xu Siqi tried to pull her hand away, but couldn't. She looked up at Lu Yang pitifully and said, "I... I don't have such big ambitions. I just want to stay by your side."

She was still the same as before.

Lu Yang's eyes held a mixture of relief and melancholy, even a hint of unfounded disappointment. He waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, hold back your tears. Continue working on your meeting minutes, but don't regret it. I gave you a chance."

Xu Siqi immediately stopped crying and started laughing, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her fingers. Chen Yueya smiled and pouted, saying, "No way! I don't want to regret it. I don't care, I'll follow you for the rest of my life. Wherever you go, I'll go. I'll be your secretary and assistant for life, unless..."

What will happen when you stop wanting me?

Lu Yang covered her mouth.

"Waaaaah... I'm suffocating!"

She held her breath for almost three minutes, nearly suffocating. Like a drunkard, she couldn't even stand and collapsed into Lu Yang's arms. (End of Chapter)