180: Chapter 180 Returning Home in Glory to Start a Business

Cheng Beixiao stood in the arrivals hall of the international airport, holding up a pickup sign, his palms drenched in sweat.

He had been working at DYB for almost four years, rising from a procurement specialist to supply chain director. The total value of the contracts he had handled was enough to buy half of Huaqiangbei.

But he had never met the big boss in person.

All instructions were issued through his work phone, or relayed over the phone by Ms. j.a.r.v.i.s.

He was only responsible for execution, implementation, and handling domestic compliance procedures; he didn't even know the true backgrounds of the upstream suppliers or downstream clients.

He was the only official employee in the entire domestic branch. Even the receptionists and cleaners were outsourced temporary workers who left right on the dot.

There was overtime pay for extra hours, and allowances for business trips.

The only problem was that, aside from him, there was probably no one else in the entire branch!

At least up until now, not only had he never met the boss himself, but he hadn't even seen any other colleagues!

Seeing the transaction volume of the projects he handled reaching tens of billions, Cheng Beixiao always felt like he had joined a somewhat sketchy company.

Today, he was finally going to meet the big boss, and it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous.

In fact, he had received a notice half a month ago saying that the boss was returning to the country.

Over the past half month, he had refined the reception plan over and over again, arranging everything he could possibly think of.

In the end, just like in the past, Ms. j.a.r.v.i.s. had arranged all the plane tickets, hotels, and vehicles; he only needed to do the legwork.

On the day of the pickup, Cheng Beixiao didn't sleep well all night. He double-checked the flight number and arrival time three times, drove to the airport three hours early, and even scouted out the parking spot beforehand.

The car was a Maybach S680 rented by the company, complete with a dedicated driver. He had agonized for a long time over whether to upgrade to a higher standard, but in the end, Ms. j.a.r.v.i.s. replied with just two words in the email: "Sufficient."

Standing at the arrival gate, Cheng Beixiao watched waves of passengers push their luggage out, repeatedly rehearsing his first words of greeting in his head.

Just then, a young man wearing a dark gray casual suit and pushing a carry-on suitcase walked straight toward him, looking down at the pickup sign in his hand.

"Cheng Beixiao."

Cheng Beixiao straightened his back reflexively.

"Mr. Fu? I'm Cheng Beixiao! The car is ready, please follow me!"

Fu Haoran nodded.

Only after speaking did Cheng Beixiao realize that his big boss had no entourage, no assistant, and no bodyguards—he was pushing his carry-on suitcase all by himself!

"Just you?" he blurted out.

"Yeah. Let's go." Fu Haoran strode forward.

Cheng Beixiao froze for a moment, then quickly caught up and eagerly took over the carry-on suitcase.

"Mr. Fu, I'll take you to the hotel first—"

"No need, let's go straight to the restaurant."

As the car drove out of the airport, Fu Haoran sat in the back seat, looking down and scrolling through his phone.

Cheng Beixiao stole a glance through the rearview mirror. This man, who controlled a multinational corporation and held tens of billions in projects, didn't look much older than himself—thirty-something at most. Leaning back in his seat and scrolling through his phone, he looked no different from any ordinary passenger.

Three years and nine months.

That was how long Fu Haoran had been abroad.

The welcome dinner was set at the best seafood restaurant in Rong City, with two large round tables arranged in the private room.

Today was the weekend, and the room was packed with relatives from the Fu family.

Uncles, aunts, cousins, not a single one was missing. Even a few distant relatives who usually had business dealings with them had come.

Hosting a welcome dinner for Fu Haoran was just a pretext; what they really wanted was to see how well the Fu family's son, who had been abroad for several years, was actually doing.

Fu Haoran dressed very casually, wearing a white T-shirt under his dark gray casual suit.

He carried in several bags from the duty-free shop—Estée Lauder sets for his aunts, imported liquor for his uncles, and Nintendo Switches and AirPods for his peers, one set for each family.

Third Aunt took the bag, looked inside, and said with a smile, "Oh, Haoran, how thoughtful of you. This stuff is so expensive at domestic counters."

Third Uncle Fu Jianguo was not so polite.

He picked up his wine glass, took a sip, swept his gaze up and down Fu Haoran, and said, "Haoran, you've been abroad for several years now. What are you doing these days?"

The Fu family used to be considered well-off among their relatives. Old Fu ran a hardware factory, and Fu Haoran had always been the model of the "ideal child" in the family.

Unfortunately, the economic climate worsened later on, and Fu Haoran couldn't find a decent job after graduation.

In the end, he was sent abroad.

Fu Haoran's family was also struggling. Especially over the last two years, business at the factory had been tough, so Old Fu rarely mentioned his son in front of relatives anymore.

Third Uncle's family was different. His daughter was studying abroad and would return as an elite returnee. He had been holding his breath for several years, and today he could finally vent it.

Fu Haoran thought about it. He could earn tens of billions of US dollars a year, but he also had to spend almost as much.

In the end, he didn't make a profit or suffer a loss, so it was hard to say whether it was good or bad.

So Fu Haoran replied truthfully, "It's alright, somewhere in the middle."

"Which company?" Third Uncle pressed. "A foreign enterprise or a domestic one?"

"I started my own company. It's currently in the startup phase, and we do a bit of everything."

"A startup?" Third Uncle smiled and put down his glass. "Starting a business, huh? That's good. Young people have drive."

"It's just that the entrepreneurial environment hasn't been great these past few years. Several companies in our industrial park went under last year. By the way, is your company large?"

Fu Haoran thought to himself that his company was neither a Fortune Global 500 enterprise nor a regional hegemon, and he even had to walk on eggshells around the The Pentagon and Congress.

One must have some self-awareness; how could he claim his company was large?

So Fu Haoran continued to answer truthfully, "It's okay. The company is currently in an expansion phase, and we're still short-staffed. We're just trying to survive in the cracks."

Sitting opposite him, his cousin Fu Wanqing twitched her lips.

She had been studying in America for four years and would graduate next year.

During these four years, she had changed her major three times, failed several courses, and finally chose communication studies—the easiest major to get by in—to scrape together enough credits.

Her graduation project was ghostwritten by someone she paid, and she had never lifted a finger for group assignments, relying entirely on her teammates to carry her.

Yet, she curated her WeChat Moments to look extremely sophisticated. Her location tags were always high-end restaurants and resort hotels, her photos always showed her holding a cocktail, her captions were always in English, and she was never short of foreign male companions.

On her Twitter account, there were even explicit photos of her sticking her tongue out at white men.

As for this habit, it was no big deal—just a habit of sticking her tongue out involuntarily when she got high.

Then it was captured by her friends as a keepsake.

Youth, after all, always needed to be squandered a little.

However, Fu Wanqing had a troubling issue recently.

And that was how to stay in America.

To stay in America, she first needed a stable job, but she had sent out over thirty resumes, and all of them had gone unanswered.

As time went on, Fu Wanqing grew increasingly anxious, but she claimed otherwise: "I don't want to stay anyway. There are more opportunities back home."

Upon learning that Fu Haoran, her distant cousin, had actually worked in America for over three years and seemingly even had a green card, Fu Wanqing immediately felt resentful.

But then she realized that since Fu Haoran was actually starting a business in America, even if he was just partnering with someone, wouldn't it be incredibly easy for him to arrange a job for her?

"Whatever, I'll swallow my pride and have him arrange a job for me first. Once I get the green card, I'll bail."

"Or I could marry a foreigner. If all else fails, I'll marry an honest international student, and then divorce them when the opportunity arises to regain my freedom."

Thinking of this, Fu Wanqing put on the persona of a sweet, sensible girl next door.

"Cousin Hao, does your company in America have any job openings?" Fu Wanqing asked sweetly. "I majored in communication. My English is good, I have an international perspective, and I understand communication."

Fu Wanqing thought about the various direct messages on her Twitter, which included "enthusiastic" requests like "wanna hook up?" and "wanna smash?" She felt she was practically made for this line of work.

Fu Haoran didn't really want to hire anyone. It wasn't that he couldn't afford to keep a loafer around, but rather that his line of business was hard to explain to his family.

If he hired a big mouth, it would be inevitable that everyone they knew would find out he was an arms dealer, which would tarnish his reputation.

Moreover, his factory was quite remote, and a young girl might not be able to handle staying there.

It would be fine if she just quit and left on her own, but he feared she would complain to the family and accuse him of abuse.

To Fu Haoran, who hated trouble, Fu Wanqing was nothing but a burden.

"Haoran, you're her cousin. It wouldn't take any effort to arrange something for Wanqing. Are you really not even going to help with such a small favor?" Third Aunt began her moral kidnapping.

"She studied abroad for four years and is fluent in English—"

Fu Haoran was a bit displeased; he detested being morally kidnapped the most.

Especially for someone who had been beaten down by both society and the Samsara World, moral kidnapping was the last thing he cared about.

"Since Third Aunt thinks my cousin is so outstanding, I can help. However, there is still a basic threshold, which is a hard requirement," Fu Haoran said, flashing a harmless smile.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

Before Third Aunt could even react, Fu Haoran spoke directly: "Fu Wanqing, do you have a portfolio?"

"A portfolio?" Fu Wanqing was stunned for a moment.

"You studied Communications, right? Have you ever written drafts? Shot videos? Managed any accounts? Can you appear on camera?"

Fu Wanqing opened her mouth, and after a long while, she said: "——I studied Communications theory, not short video production."

"What about brand strategy? Have you ever done a complete communications plan? Can you do data analysis? Can you pull an Excel pivot table?"

"——The school didn't——didn't teach these outdated things."

"Then what did they teach? Tell me about it."

"Are you guys learning to cultivate internet celebrities, or creating viral hits?"

Rendered speechless, Fu Wanqing's face flushed red. Finally, she exploded: "Seriously? You're just a startup, why do you have higher requirements than a big tech company? I'm here to intern to help you out, why are you digging into my background?"

Fu Haoran laughed: "Do you expect me to tell others that this is a nepotism hire who knows nothing?"

"That wouldn't be good. It's fine while I'm here, but if I'm not around, Fu Wanqing would easily be ostracized and wouldn't be happy working here."

"You all know that foreigners are straightforward—they say what they think. If a foreign employee can't stand it and bullies Fu Wanqing, should I fire a capable and honest employee, or keep a nepotism hire?"

"Third Aunt, we've gone abroad now. We can't bring this domestic dross with us. We have to be fair and just."

"You told me yourself that the air abroad is sweet, that the quality of people abroad is higher, and that they don't play favorites."

"I'm just doing things the way they do abroad. What, is it okay to use double standards when it comes to your own daughter?!"

Fu Haoran's words were too devastating; Third Aunt's family didn't know how to retort for a moment.

Flustered and exasperated, Third Aunt slammed the table: "Haoran, what do you mean by that?!"

"Wanqing studied Communications, her English is good, and she has an international perspective. It's a perfect match."

"Just arrange an internship position for her, issue a simple certificate, and get her visa renewed first."

Fu Haoran sipped his tea, unhurriedly saying: "Third Aunt, I can't do that. It doesn't comply with company regulations. This is a startup; if I take the lead in violating company rules, the team's morale will crumble. If morale crumbles, the team becomes impossible to lead."

"Wanqing is so excellent; gold will shine wherever it is."

Fu Wanqing was embarrassed and angry, feeling that Fu Haoran was deliberately trying to humiliate her.

Actually, she guessed correctly; Fu Haoran was doing it on purpose.

Fu Haoran felt that since he had been caught in the rain, he should tear up everyone's umbrellas so that those who came after could experience the rain too.

If he didn't let others fall into the same pits as him, how would they ever know his suffering?

Fu Haoran hadn't forgotten that as a civil engineering graduate, he had done all the dirty and tiring work, and in the end, he was even sent to America to work as a laborer.

Why should others be able to sit back and enjoy the fruits of someone else's labor with just a word, when he had wanted someone to guide him too?

Looking at Fu Haoran's matter-of-fact expression, the more Fu Wanqing thought about it, the angrier she got.

"As expected, he's a loser who couldn't even get into a big tech firm. He started a small company—to put it nicely, it's a startup; to put it bluntly, it's just a self-employed business."

"All this talk about rapid expansion and being in a limbo—it's just him paying himself a salary, living hand-to-mouth."

"That's why he's making things difficult for me—he's afraid that if I go to his company, I'll discover his secrets."

To some extent, Fu Wanqing was right; Fu Haoran was indeed afraid that she would discover his little secrets and then go around gossiping.

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Fu Haoran's mother hurriedly tried to smooth things over: "Haoran, since the foreign company doesn't need anyone, what about domestically? This shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Fu Haoran had a headache; the domestic branch was just an empty shell; they hadn't even hired a cleaner.

Arranging for someone to work there suddenly was a bit of a hassle.

"Go ahead, tell me what onboarding documents you need this time." Fu Wanqing was full of confidence, feeling that with her overseas degree, getting a domestic job should be a piece of cake.

"A medical report from a Grade-A hospital, a certificate of no criminal record, and degree verification." Fu Haoran casually picked a few requirements, preparing to stall for time.

Fu Wanqing's face turned pale instantly.

A medical report.

The first image that flashed through her mind wasn't a medical examination center, but that private clinic in America.

That was where she went alone for her third surgery during her junior year.

She couldn't let anyone get hold of her medical report.

Her medical insurance records contained archives of those surgeries; once they became part of the onboarding documents, nothing could be hidden.

"You're doing this on purpose." Her voice suddenly rose half an octave. "You're deliberately making things difficult for me. What kind of crappy startup requires a medical report for an internship? If you don't want to hire me, just say so; is it necessary to be so excessive?"

Everyone at the table was stunned, not knowing why she had suddenly exploded.

Fu Haoran was also baffled and asked in return: "It's a standard requirement. What's the problem?"

"No problem!" Fu Wanqing stood up abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor with a harsh screech. "I'm not going! Who cares about your crappy shell company!"

She turned and rushed into the restroom.

Third Aunt followed awkwardly, muttering, "What's wrong with this child today?"

The table was silent for several seconds. The relatives looked at each other, not knowing how the meal had turned out like this.

After much effort, Fu Wanqing was finally brought back.

Seeing his daughter slighted, Third Uncle decided to regain some face.

He cleared his throat and deliberately changed the subject: "Haoran, how long are you staying this time?"

"Half a month. I'll leave after attending the Zhuhai Airshow."

"An airshow?" Fu Wanqing finally found an opportunity to speak again, her voice neither too loud nor too soft. "Is it the kind of exhibition that sells small private planes and model airplane toys? Is your company setting up a booth there?"

"Something like that." Fu Haoran didn't deny it. "We are selling planes."

He didn't say what kind of planes they were selling, and the people at the table didn't press him.

Selling planes—it must be those small propeller planes that rich kids play with. A few young people pool their money to tinker with one, take it to the airshow to set up a booth; if they can sell it, great, if not, it's just for show.

No wonder he hadn't come back for several years; it turned out business wasn't going well, and he was too embarrassed to return.

Fu Wanqing felt much better.

Something like a sense of superiority only exists when there's a comparison.

His cousin Fu Minghui, sitting nearby, held his beer glass and suddenly leaned in, speaking loudly: "Haoran, you're in your thirties now, right? Do you have a partner? Have you bought a house for marriage?"

The whole table went silent for a second.

Fu Haoran's mother, sitting at the head of the table, paused, put down her chopsticks, and said softly: "We saved up for a marriage home for him years ago——but the developer's capital chain broke, and it's been an unfinished project for over two years. They can't deliver the property."

Third Aunt shook her head and sighed: "Oh my, that's truly——in this market, buying an unfinished building is the most frustrating thing. Didn't you go to the developer to make a scene?"

"We did, but it was useless." Fu Haoran's mother smiled bitterly.

"If you ask me, you shouldn't have tried to save that little bit of money back then. Look, you lost big because you were penny-pinching."

"You didn't get the house, and the money is gone too."

Third Aunt shook her head and sighed, her tone filled with unconcealable superiority: "Oh my, that's just too frustrating!"

"I told you back then that when buying a house, you have to buy from a large state-owned developer. You didn't listen; you had to be cheap and buy from a small developer. Now look, you've lost both the money and the house, and it's going to affect Haoran's future marriage."

Fu Haoran looked at the expression on his mother's face, placed his teacup back on the table, and spoke: "Mom, Dad, there's another important reason I came back this time: I bought a house by the river, and I haven't had a chance to live in it yet."

"Since we have time today, let's go take a look."

The whole table went silent for a full three seconds.

"By the river?" Third Uncle was the first to react. "Where by the river? The Emerald Bay area?"

"Something like that."

"Houses over there aren't cheap." Third Uncle paused. "Haoran, are you serious? You bought one?"

"I bought it, it's already renovated, and it's just been sitting empty."

Fu Haoran's mother stared blankly at her son, her lips moving, but no words came out.

Third Uncle stood up first: "Then let's go take a look! We have nothing else to do after eating anyway!"

"Sure, sure!" Fu Wanqing also stood up, a smirk of anticipation for a show hanging on the corner of her lips.

She was just itching to regain the face she had lost at the dinner table.

A house by the river?

It's probably that newly opened development for first-time buyers on the other side of the river, with a unit price under 20,000; you just need to scrape together the down payment to get in.

She wanted to see what kind of house this cousin from a "startup" could possibly buy by the river.