Short, Light, Free

Chapter 95: Smoke and Business I

June 3rd, 2017.

My name is Lu Qiao. I’m a third-year student at Beijing University.

I major in quite a reputable course – Marketing.

However, from how things were looking, I would probably remain unemployed after graduation.

Not because of poor grades, of course. Beijing University is one of the best after all.

My grades have always been good and I’ve always been in the top three.

It all began with my dad. I’m sure you’ve heard of sons cheating their fathers of money?

What about the other way round?

My father is Lu Ba.

Since young, I’ve been fed and clothed well thanks to him.

I’m sure you’ve never heard of the Roadcat Sports Car...

It was established in 2006 and was a sports car brand in China. It mainly produced SUVs and sedans. As of June 2008, the company’s sold over 2,600,000 cards.

Yes, our family was doing great then.

...

But it did not prevent my father from turning into a gambling addict.

Before 2008, my dad was an honest man who ran his car factory diligently.

Within two years, his excellent work attitude pushed his company into the top 15 car brands of China. His company showed no signs of slowing down. It was the black horse in the business world.

I still have no idea who was the son of a b*tch that brought him to Macau.

From then on, things got out of hand.

My dad became a regular customer, visiting Macau almost once a week.

I didn’t know what he played in there, but he quarreled with Mom every day.

When things got heated, he would hit Mom.

After a year of abuse, she finally had enough.

In 2009, my mom reported him to the media, causing a hit to his reputation. However, with money and power, he managed to tweak the story so that in the eyes of the public, Mom was an adulterer.

Divorce was brought up and because I was still in elementary school, Dad bribed the judge and panelists to secure custody.

No matter how much evidence and sincerity Mom had, all of the news outlets were reporting about her ‘affair’ so it was an obvious decision for the judge.

Unable to bear public criticism, Mom jumped off a building that night.

I wasn’t involved in the custody case and I only heard about it from Grandma a long time later.

I hated my dad but I said nothing.

2009 happened to be Roadcat’s heyday, but those in the loop understood that the court case sealed its fate.

That year, I was placed in every evening class possible and only returned to Grandma’s house on the weekends.

Even though I was under Dad’s care by law, I never saw him again after middle school.

After my college entrance exam, Grandma said that she wanted me to get into Marketing.

She wanted me to save Dad’s company.

She only knew that the company was deteriorating but she did not know the reason why. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that the company was in deficit thanks to Dad. With his name, he managed to borrow money to repay debts, pulling down a wall to build another.

At its peak in 2009, Roadcat sold 220,500 cars. By the end of 2014, sales had dropped progressively to 21,400.

Even with the deteriorating sales, Dad had no intention of stopping. He continued losing money, selling 17 factories and nine authorized stores in the process.

In 2016, he was left with two shops and a factory.

At the end of 2016, Roadcat subcontracted 90% of its production line to Ford and only 1971 cars were sold that year.

Start of 2017, also three days ago...

Dad called me.

He stood outside the school gate, waving to me. He was missing three fingers.

We sat at a coffee shop nearby, two cups of coffee on the table.

“What happened to your fingers?”

With a bitter smile, he said, “Spent 30,000 last month to learn some tricks from a master. I was told that there wouldn’t be a problem, but I got caught and this was the punishment. I tried tracking down the master for my money, but he was nowhere to be found.”

“You’re not trying to borrow money from me, are you? I have no money. I work to save money for school. I’ll have to pay 5,000 for year four,” I declared.

“I’m not here to talk about money. I feel that I’ve let you down,” he told me.

“Then what do you want to talk about?” I asked.

“I’ve done you wrong and I plan to give whatever I have left to you. There’s still a factory and two shops, and I’ve given you the rights to them. The documents have been signed. These are all that I have for you...” he answered.

“Signed? You signed those on my behalf?” I asked, astonished.

“Just accept it. I have nothing else I can give you.”

I nodded helplessly.

“And I can’t visit your grandmother anymore. I plan to get a job and spend the rest of my life in the city. There’s no need for you to look for me. It will be better for us this way.”

He stood up, placed a hundred dollar bill on the table and walked away.

I looked on as his figure disappeared into the crowd, thinking that he had turned over a new leaf.

I was being naive, of course. That afternoon, I received countless calls from banks and creditors.

I switched my phone off frustratedly.

The next morning, I made my way to the factory.

The employees were already at work when I entered.

“Are you Boss’ son?” a bespectacled man asked as he approached me.

“Yes, I’m Lu Qiao,” I introduced myself.

“I’m the accountant, you can call me Glasses. The employees haven’t been paid for two months now. Did your father give 500,000 to you when he handed the company over?”

“500,000? Wait, um, speaking about money, can you tell me what’s going on with those calls from creditors?”

“You dad’s been borrowing money with the company’s name. Now that you’re the only legal person in charge of the company, these debt collectors are going to be after you,” Glasses explained.

“No, no! I didn’t sign anything or even give my thumbprint. I haven’t even read the contracts so why have I become the only legal person?” I shouted in disbelief.

Startled, Glasses covered my mouth as other workers dropped what they were doing and looked over.

He whispered, “Listen to me if you don’t want these people to kill you.”

I nodded and he released his hand.

He smiled. “Guys, this is Boss’ son, also our new boss. You guys will be getting paid in due time. Continue to work hard and sales will improve. The company will treat you well. Keep it going, people!”

Everyone smiled and went back to work.

Glasses then pulled me to the office on the second floor.

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