Chapter 36 Frame One Event

under the wind.Suddenly arriving happiness perhaps isn't about beautiful women or rapid progress in studies and career. Sometimes merely doing what one couldn't do before step by step can also be a ki...Chapter Thirty-Six: The One-Upmanship Event

Su Cen didn't expect that his progress and actions were also gradually changing his father's personality. Hearing about his father boldly standing up in the company committee meeting was already a major step forward compared to his later life where he was soft-spoken and gentle.

Finally, he had been slowly transforming his parents' deeply rooted ideas and altering the destiny of their entire family, bit by bit.

After the mid-term exams ended, two days of classes concluded, followed by a weekend. In the evening, Su Cen went to his family's shop for dinner. He saw that there was a steady flow of people in the store. Wang Yue, who worked the morning shift, had already left earlier in the afternoon. Li Yulian, working the night shift, was helping Su Cen’s mother, Zeng Ke, prepare meals. Upon seeing Su Cen enter, she hurriedly smiled and said, "Su Cen is here! Are you hungry Dinner will be ready soon!"

Su Cen gave her a smile. This middle-aged woman had the same lack of confidence and confusion that his mother experienced right after being laid off. Even though she got along well with Su Cen's mother, she was rather nervous when seeing Su Cen. After all, hearing about him from Zeng Ke, she couldn't help but feel a bit fearful towards this high school student who wasn't much older than her son.

Su Cen knew that this was how others should feel about him at present. He still kept a relatively low profile; if he were to be more ostentatious, wouldn’t he become a monster in the eyes of those around him

In the shop, most of the people were nearby students, and there were also passersby taking a walk after dinner. Looking around, even with a large store like Su Cen's family’s, it felt somewhat crowded. Su Cen roughly estimated that the number of people here was at least three times more than those who would flow through their small shop in the future.

Looking at his mother's accounting ledger, in just one week, there were already dozens of thick pages filled with records. The daily sales revenue ranged from two to four thousand yuan per day, and the monthly sales revenue was roughly seventy to eighty thousand yuan. Zeng Ke truly felt the benefits brought by the municipal designated procurement unit signboard.

Zeng Ke pinched Su Cen's cheeks hard before wrapping her arm around her son’s shoulder and pointing at the categorized shelves, “Your suggestion for rearranging the shelving last time was indeed good; now the entire store looks more spacious. The T-shaped division with office supplies on the left and cultural products on the right really does play a crucial role in facilitating customer flow and has better purposefulness… Oh well, I don't understand all those things you learned from books anyway! Anyway, my son will definitely be stronger than your mom and dad!”

Su Cen rubbed his sore cheek. This was the kind of treatment he used to receive when he was young; after growing up, with Zeng Ke running the shop day and night under immense pressure from life, tired out and worn down by her efforts, coupled with his own growth, such warm scenes had become fewer.

"Just look at this shelving unit; it uses large glass panels as carriers for the merchandise. As more people come, it's easy to injure themselves on the edges of these glass panels. Moreover, cleaning is troublesome and transportation isn't convenient due to its weight. Last time your father rearranged the shelves, he almost strained his back! That’s why I suggested we replace this shelving unit."

Su Cun landed on the finger that Zeng Ke had extended towards him; there were a few cuts on it. Every morning, his mother would wake up very early to clean and organize the shelves, wiping off dust and cleaning products until her hands were cut by the sharp edges of the glass panels. Su Cun felt a pang in his heart and nodded, "We definitely need to replace them sooner or later; these shelves will eventually be phased out. The best would be to use detachable rear shelf boards made from lightweight alloy plates which are both clean-looking and easy-to-move. Mom, you can go check the building materials market sometime soon; they should have custom-made ones available now."

Seeing Li Yulian and Zeng Ke exchange surprised glances, Su Cun understood that Xiahai City must already have such new shelving units by this stage, though it might still be considered quite avant-garde. His mother was also considering the possibilities.

"Recording everything in a ledger isn't much of an issue, but with increasing foot traffic, ledgers will become more and more complex. We should probably get a cash register," Su Cun continued to suggest. The fact that his mother increasingly accepted his suggestions and proposed new ideas was undoubtedly good news. If this trend continued, it would only be a matter of time before he convinced her to open a branch store.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about this recently as well! It's only a matter of time until such practices are phased out!"

Unbeknownst to him, Su Cun had been providing his family with many forward-thinking suggestions lately, and phrases like "it will eventually be phased out" were becoming a sort of mantra. Zeng Ke’s addition at this point also carried an urging tone; she firmly believed in her son's words.

Su Licheng entered carrying a tea cup then started serving the meal. Seeing his father's furrowed brows, his mother asked, "Has it not been resolved yet What did they say"

"I handed over all the documents for the Lin Nan and Kōnggǎng projects to Deputy Section Chief Ma Nan who promised to report them to the investigation group at the Group Headquarters. I think that no matter how arrogant Zhao Chengrong is, he won't be able to get away with it much longer! From the very start, I pointed out issues in these two projects; there are definitely corrupt dealings between him and Accountant Shen. Otherwise, why would his retirement pay be higher than our regular salaries now I heard that Accountant Shen got into an argument with him last time, even threatening him verbally. It seems Zhao Chengrong didn't dare to do anything to him either. Everyone knows about these matters; how can Zhao Chengrong ban them or stop them from happening Now that the issues have come up, he has no choice but to deal with it!"

Zeng Ke frowned slightly, "What if Deputy Section Chief Ma Nan doesn’t report your documents to the investigation group... Or if there are people loyal to Zhao Chengrong within the Engineering Group Headquarters… What if we can't bring him down"

Su Licheng was startled as though he had just realized something. Deputy Section Chief Ma Nan might be a deputy section chief, but if he were on the same side as Zhao Chengrong and suppressed Su Licheng’s report to help Zhao Chengrong through this crisis, then it would likely be Su Licheng who suffered next.

In fact, this was not a decision that Father Su Licheng made willingly. Zhao Chengrong had originally been just the director of the information department and on equal footing with Father's administrative department. Later, relying on his eloquent tongue, he surpassed Father and climbed to the position of Deputy Director of the Fourth Branch of the Provincial Construction Engineering Group in Xiahai, becoming a deputy section chief. He then began to become arrogant and continuously suppressed Father, who was once his competitor.

On first impression, Zhao Chengrong appears efficient and shrewd; inside his home, there are patched-up leather sofas that give off an impression of simplicity and cleanliness, reminiscent of a scholarly family background.

In reality, the Fourth Branch where Father worked in later years was ruined by Zhao Chengrong. He embezzled from construction funds, falsified accounts,消極應對工程項目，最終這些問題逐漸暴露出來。蘇燦對此本來就冇有興趣，在後來與父母的交流中才大致瞭解這些情況。

He never expected that these small-channel rumors he heard about in the future would become important evidence now.

This time, when Father's pent-up resentment exploded during their confrontation, he began to use gathered materials to attack Zhao Chengrong. Su Cen understood that there was definitely something wrong with Zhao Chengrong and that if Father continued to pursue it, his corruption would inevitably be exposed; no one could cover it up.

After the rebirth, Su Cen's thoughts became more mature and far-reaching. He even started considering that Zhao Chengrong’s downfall was just a matter of time. The key question was: what benefits would come from personnel adjustments after Zhao Chengrong fell

Looking at Father, who was still struggling in internal company conflicts and going with the flow due to his frustration, Su Cen felt a slight stir in his heart. Life always requires some changes.

However, he needed to handle this matter appropriately. Su Cen smiled at Father, saying, "Dad, you're doing great! I admire you more and more!"

"This kid!" The smile now might be the only one truly coming from the heart in recent times under immense pressure for Father.

“I feel that merely retreating will ultimately accomplish nothing. Just as you told me before, taking a step back won't lead to a broader horizon. We can retreat further to gain a wider perspective. But with cliffs behind us and fierce tigers ahead, and the sky remaining gloomy, suffocating us, we must have ways to break through this oppressive atmosphere. We need the sky to no longer obscure our vision. We must show those who think of us as sheep that even silent sheep can have sharp teeth!”

The family was stunned; the mother spat out, "This child has become cultured and reasonable!" Although she showed disdain in her words, she felt extremely proud inside.

Su Licheng had a pent-up frustration deep within his chest that seemed to be stirred up by Su Can's remarks. He heard his son's word of admiration earlier and saw the respectful look in his eyes, which reminded him of the fervent spirit he felt during his military days. His mind cleared up, and he regained confidence that he hadn't had in the past ten years.

He reached out to pat Su Can on the head, nodding firmly, "Don’t worry, son. At worst, I’ll be laid off and work for your mother!"

Not being afraid of losing was already a step towards victory.

A rumor spread quickly within the company that Deputy Section Chief Mao Nan had frequently approached the inspection team when they were investigating Zhao Chengrong, and there were even rumors that he held evidence against Zhao Chengrong, waiting for the moment to make the final blow.

Mao Nan came home on this late night and turned on the light on his table. He looked at the thick files in the brown paper bags from Su Licheng, recalling the cold glances Zhao Chengrong gave him when they passed each other in the company hallway today.

The ambition he initially wanted to hide was ignited by Zhao Chengrong's gaze.

Under the light, Mao Nan reached out and clenched the two files tightly.

The third disciple-level character appeared; "A Lifetime of Not Being Drunk" brothers took the lead and started to become powerful~""Oh, it's the recent biology reference test... page 5, I accidentally lost it..." Su Cen smiled faintly. Hearing Tang Wu’s tone sound cold as ice, he subconsciously felt that she was politely asking...