However, at that very moment, a system prompt sounded in his mind.
"Detected a 'Letter.' Receive message: Yes/No?"
Jiang Chen's pupils contracted slightly, his eyes involuntarily widened, his mouth slightly agape, and his body trembled faintly. Jiang Chen realized his lapse in composure, but as he was looking down at the letter, President Ji likely hadn't noticed.
He folded the paper with both hands, and in his mind, Jiang Chen willed "No."
Then, he looked up at President Ji and said, "President Ji, please go attend to your work. If I need anything, I'll call you."
With President Ji's intelligence, how could he not understand Jiang Chen's meaning? Although he noticed Jiang Chen's momentary pause, which was clearly related to the letter's content, he was also curious about what Xu Shizhong had written to Jiang Chen.
Suppressing his curiosity, he thought that if there was anything important, Jiang Chen would surely seek him out after reading the letter. So, President Ji stood up.
"Alright, President Jiang, I'll go busy myself then.
There are secretaries and receptionists outside the door. If you need anything, you can ask her to arrange it, or you can contact me directly."
President Ji didn't forget to add at the end.
"Understood."
Jiang Chen added, "Oh, and tell everyone not to disturb me for now."
President Ji replied, "Understood, President Jiang, I'll arrange it."
After speaking, he pushed the door open, then turned and closed the door to Jiang Chen's office. The receptionist outside saw President Ji emerge and quickly stood up to greet him.
"Good day, President Ji."
President Ji nodded politely and instructed, "President Jiang has urgent matters to attend to right now. If anyone comes to report to President Jiang later, stop them and don't let them disturb President Jiang."
He finally added, "If President Jiang asks for me, be sure to notify me immediately."
The receptionist secretary immediately nodded in agreement, "No problem, President Ji, I've noted it."
"Good." President Ji nodded with satisfaction and walked towards his own office.
The receptionist secretary only sat down after seeing President Ji walk away, then quickly pulled out her phone to send a message to her best friend.
"Oh my god, sis! Didn't I tell you our Group was getting a new boss? The new boss came to the Group today, and he's so young and handsome!"
The other side immediately sent back a shocked emoji.
"Shocked.jpg Really, truly?"
"Really, truly!"
She immediately sent a photo she secretly took of Jiang Chen.
The other side replied:
"Hmm? This person looks so familiar…"
The secretary saw the text and immediately typed:
"Yes, every handsome guy looks familiar to you, but this is our Group's big boss!"
"No, I'm genuinely familiar with him, I just can't recall it right now."
——————
Inside the office, Jiang Chen watched President Ji leave, then quickly took out and opened the paper. The cold system prompt sounded in his mind again.
"Detected a 'Letter.' Receive message: Yes/No?"
Jiang Chen saw the prompt and silently willed "Yes" in his mind.
Jiang Chen felt a stream of images directly entering his mind, lasting seven or eight seconds. Jiang Chen closed his eyes to receive them, silently watching.
A moment later, Jiang Chen understood. It turned out that "Xu Shizhong" was arranged by the system from a parallel world. He was originally a disabled child in that parallel world.
The system saved him and arranged for him to come to Jiang Chen's world 40 years ago. From the moment he was chosen by the system, he knew his mission.
His mission was to establish the Xinghe Group and then hand it over to the person who would take it over in the future. With the system's help, "Xu Shizhong" was like a cheat code, rapidly expanding Xinghe.
It was also because of the system's existence that Xinghe miraculously achieved a market value of hundreds of billions without going public, and it had always been independently controlled by "Xu Shizhong."
Over the years, "Xu Shizhong" worked diligently, never marrying, and never forgetting his "mission." Now, he had finally waited for Jiang Chen and completed his mission.
He finally stated that all important management positions within the Group were filled by people he had personally selected, so Jiang Chen could rest assured in employing them, especially President Ji, whom he could completely trust. He also requested that Jiang Chen treat his old subordinates well.
Most of them had followed "Xu Shizhong" for over ten years. Finally, he left Jiang Chen a gift: the funds he had accumulated over the years, which he had barely spent.
"Ding, detected 'Xu Shizhong's' gift. Open: Yes/No?" The system's prompt sounded in Jiang Chen's mind.
Jiang Chen took out a Seven Stars cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and exhaled. He ignored the system's prompt and instead asked in his mind:
"System, after I took over Xinghe and 'Xu Shizhong' completed his mission, where did he go? Did he die?"
"Xu Shizhong has returned to his original world."
Jiang Chen pressed on, "And then? How did you arrange for him? Is he back to how he was before? Disabled? Alone and helpless?"
"This system once promised him that after he completed his mission, he would be given a healthy, peaceful, and prosperous life."
Jiang Chen breathed a sigh of relief. That was good. The Xu Shizhong in the system's vision had a good outcome. Although he had only briefly seen his life story,
the images of him missing limbs, abandoned by his parents in childhood, beaten by begging organizations as a child, then lying half-dead in a ditch as a teenager, gnawing on steamed buns scavenged from a trash can,
and finally, the system's appearance at the brink of his life—these scenes were still imprinted in his mind, making Jiang Chen deeply sympathetic to his plight before coming to this world.
It wasn't about the gift he left Jiang Chen or his connection to the system; this was simply the natural emotion of Jiang Chen as a normal human being.
Xu Shizhong's final image lingered in his mind. Jiang Chen murmured, "Shizhong, Shizhong, perhaps the loyalty of this life…"
Then, as if thinking of something, he asked in his mind:
"System, is this what you meant by 'world modification rationalization'?"
The system still replied coldly:
"Yes, Host."
Jiang Chen understood. He chose to open Xu Shizhong's "gift."
"Ding! Host has acquired 20,000,000,000 funds. Withdraw to bank card: Yes/No?"
The cigarette in Jiang Chen's hand dropped. This was the largest sum of money he had ever seen.
"Withdraw, definitely withdraw!"
Jiang Chen's phone vibrated. He excitedly opened the message.
"[China Merchants Bank] Dear customer, your account ending in 8888 has received a transfer of cash today: 20,000,000,000 yuan. Your current balance is: 20,084,838,610 yuan."
Jiang Chen counted it again and again. Indeed, it was two hundred billion and over eighty-four million yuan. At this moment, Jiang Chen didn't know how to express himself; he could only silently thank "Xu Shizhong" and even more, thank the system!!!
Ultimately, he was just an ordinary person before, but fortunately, his quick thinking and emotional intelligence were decent, which allowed him to appear at ease in front of President Ji and the other executives earlier.
However, if he were asked to deliver another high-quality speech, Jiang Chen felt he couldn't do it. That speech in the conference room had completely drained him.
Jiang Chen thought of "Xu Shizhong's" final request. Since he had accepted his gift, he had to act, and Xu Shizhong's experiences made Jiang Chen want to do something.
He lit another cigarette and pondered in his mind. Since Xu Shizhong said President Ji was reliable, then his original plan to replace people was unnecessary. Moreover, he would surely acquire more assets in the future, and entrusting Xinghe to President Ji's management gave him peace of mind.
An immature plan formed in his mind. Thinking of this, Jiang Chen, with a cigarette between his fingers, stood up and went to the office door, sticking out half his body, and said to the secretary sitting outside:
"Call President Ji, and also the Chief Financial Officer and the Chief Administrative Officer, to my office."
"Ah?!"
The secretary looked up, startled, and quickly looked towards the source of the voice. When she saw it was none other than Jiang Chen,
"Oh no, oh no, it's the big boss. Did he see me playing on my phone?"
Jiang Chen frowned at the flustered secretary who had stood up, saying, "Hey, did you hear me?"
"Yes… Yes, I heard you! President Jiang, I'll contact President Ji, Director Yang, and Director Li to come over right away," the secretary stammered, quickly using the desk phone to make calls.
Actually, it wasn't He Xiaomi's fault; usually, people would just contact her directly via the desk phone or press the call bell, state their request, and she would fulfill it. She hadn't expected the big boss to come out and call her directly, and to catch her playing on her phone.
"I wonder if the big boss will deduct my salary," He Xiaomi thought, but her hands moved without a pause, contacting everyone as Jiang Chen had instructed.
After Jiang Chen nodded, he returned to his office, sat in the boss's chair behind the desk, and waited for them to arrive.
Knock knock knock—
Soon, a knock sounded at the door.
Jiang Chen said, "Enter."
The door was pushed open, and it was indeed President Ji, Yang Fan, and Li Ziyan. Led by President Ji, they entered the office and greeted Jiang Chen respectfully.
"Good day, President Jiang." x3
"Hello, everyone. Come over there and sit down; I have something I'd like to ask and consult with you about."
After Jiang Chen finished speaking, he stood up and walked towards the conference sofa and reception area in a corner of the office.