96: People Xu Jinzhong admires

Xu Jinzhong stood up, bowed slightly, and then walked towards the office door, preparing to leave.

Suddenly, Xu Jinzhong's movement to push open the door and leave stopped, as he recalled Jiang Chen's request. In an instant, a person's figure appeared in his mind.

A person who was not only intelligent and emotionally mature but also highly capable, someone even he admired greatly.

Xu Jinzhong even felt that if he hadn't met Jiang Chen, he would never have been able to surpass her in his lifetime.

Thinking of this, Xu Jinzhong stopped, turned around, and returned to Jiang Chen's front.

Jiang Chen looked at the returning Xu Jinzhong with a puzzled expression: "What's wrong, Jinzhong? Is there something else?"

"Chairman Jiang, I just suddenly thought of someone, someone even more capable than me. I think she should be able to meet your requirements."

Jiang Chen was interested upon hearing this. Someone more capable than Xu Jinzhong?

"Who?"

Xu Jinzhong smiled slightly, not playing coy, and said directly, "Chairman Jiang, you know this person too. She is Manager Zhu Zhe, the General Manager of my former employer, the Shenzhen Mandarin Oriental Hotel."

Zhu Zhe?

Jiang Chen recalled the short-haired woman who had greeted him upon check-in. To be honest, her appearance was already a bit blurry in his mind.

"Zhu Zhe is more capable than you?"

"Yes."

Xu Jinzhong nodded: "Manager Zhu's ability is perhaps the strongest I've ever seen. She rose from a customer service department employee to the General Manager of a large hotel in just five short years after graduation."

"Not only is she capable, but her intelligence and emotional maturity are also top-notch."

"Chairman Jiang, to be honest with you, if it weren't for the platform you gave me, I don't think I would ever be able to catch up to Manager Zhu in my lifetime."

Jiang Chen was very surprised to hear this: "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Xu Jinzhong replied with great certainty. He wasn't belittling himself, but speaking the truth. Zhu Zhe's ability was not only stronger than his but also highly convincing.

Jiang Chen trusted Xu Jinzhong implicitly. His abilities were obvious to all, even Ji Jun spoke highly of him. And yet, this extremely capable Xu Jinzhong so highly praised Zhu Zhe, even stating directly that he was far inferior to her.

Since Xu Jinzhong said so, then he would have to meet this Zhu Zhe properly.

Thinking of this, Jiang Chen said to Xu Jinzhong:

"Alright, you contact Zhu Zhe first and see if she is willing to be my secretary. If she is willing, I will personally interview her."

If Zhu Zhe truly had the substance Xu Jinzhong described, then he certainly wouldn't let such a talent slip away. And if she demonstrated strong abilities, Jiang Chen wouldn't be stingy in providing her with a platform for development.

Xu Jinzhong nodded solemnly, "Yes, Chairman Jiang."

"Hmm, you go get busy."

"Yes."

Xu Jinzhong bowed slightly and exited Jiang Chen's office.

----

After leaving Jiang Chen's office, Xu Jinzhong returned to his own office and called in his assistant, Yu Zhenglun.

"Xiao Yu, what's my work schedule today?"

Yu Zhenglun held a tablet and checked Xu Jinzhong's schedule for the day.

"You have no appointments this morning."

"After two o'clock this afternoon, you have two appointments with people who want to see you."

Xu Jinzhong didn't recall anyone making appointments with him. He asked Yu Zhenglun, "Who are the appointments with?"

"One is Wu Xiaolong, the Chairman of Hongfa Real Estate, and the other is Qu Wei, the General Manager of Huangting International."

Xu Jinzhong got a headache as soon as he heard these two names. He had met them at a Shenzhen real estate developers' exchange meeting.

After Wu Xiaolong learned of his identity, he had constantly tried to curry favor with him, inviting him to dinner from time to time, with the aim of getting Xinghe to invest a sum of money in Hongfa Real Estate through him.

Wu Xiaolong wanted to use this money to join a Qianhai development zone led by the government. No matter how much Wu Xiaolong talked it up, even secretly promising many benefits.

But Xu Jinzhong remained unmoved. Ji Jun had previously told him that this development zone was merely a superficial project for the performance of a newly appointed deputy official.

So Xu Jinzhong refused without a second thought, but he didn't expect this Wu Xiaolong to make an appointment to see him.

As for the other person, Qu Wei, his purpose was much simpler. Because Huangting International was embroiled in debt disputes, he had been trying to sell a shopping mall in the city center under its umbrella to solve some of its financial difficulties.

Xu Jinzhong's appearance became their best option. Xinghe was not only a fellow real estate developer with Huangting International but also had exceptionally strong financial resources, so Qu Wei also latched onto Xu Jinzhong.

Regarding this shopping mall for sale, Xu Jinzhong had previously considered whether to take it over, but after Ji Jun redefined Xinghe's strategic policy last month.

Xu Jinzhong completely abandoned this idea. The new Group strategy decided not to continue expanding into commercial real estate but to maintain the status quo.

Now that Qu Wei had an appointment to see him, he must surely be coming about the Huangting Plaza matter.

Thinking of this, Xu Jinzhong said to Yu Zhenglun: "You push back these two appointments. Tell them that Xinghe currently has no plans for investment or acquisition."

Yu Zhenglun nodded and began operating something on the tablet.

"Xiao Yu, how is the investigation into Secretary He's matter progressing?"

Then Xu Jinzhong asked him about the matter he had instructed him to investigate yesterday.

Yu Zhenglun's expression became serious, "Secretary, through the network department, the chat records secretly retrieved from the computers have been locked down, but..."

"But what? Speak quickly."

Xu Jinzhong gestured for him to speak his mind.

Yu Zhenglun took a deep breath, "Based on the timeline, it can be confirmed that the initial rumors originated from our Board of Directors Office, and the number of people... almost everyone said a few words."

Hearing this, Xu Jinzhong got a bit of a headache. Almost everyone said a few words, which meant everyone was involved. But the law doesn't punish the masses, and he couldn't possibly fire everyone, could he?

But thinking of Jiang Chen's attitude... after a moment of contemplation, Xu Jinzhong made a decision, giving an order to Yu Zhenglun in a voice devoid of emotion;

"Don't worry about that so much. Find the few who were the most vocal and fire them directly. As for the other employees in the Board of Directors Office, transfer all of them from headquarters to frontline grassroots positions below."

Yu Zhenglun broke out in a cold sweat listening to Xu Jinzhong's words. The Board of Directors Office had over thirty people, and this order from Xu Jinzhong would almost replace everyone in the entire Board of Directors Office.

Yu Zhenglun, a 26-year-old young man, was frightened by Xu Jinzhong's ruthless methods, as he decided the fate of over thirty people with a single sentence.

He quickly nodded heavily, "Yes, I understand."

"Oh, and personally go and give each person in the network department who participated in this investigation half a year's salary as a reward and have them sign a non-disclosure agreement. Absolutely do not let them reveal any information about this investigation."

After receiving Jiang Chen's signal, Xu Jinzhong had no more qualms about what he was doing. However, having the network department retrieve employees' computer chat records was ultimately irregular and illegal. If even a bit of it leaked out, it would cause a huge negative impact on Xinghe.