Chapter 51: Wholly Acquired
A plane from Mainland China slowly landed in Zurich Airport.
Qian Wenhuan did not move. He silently watched the young man beside him, who packed his coat, bade farewell to Qian Wenhuan, then got off the plane under the guidance of the stewardess.
“Sir, the plane has landed... Sir?”
By his side, a short-haired stewardess prompted him in a soft voice.
“Huh? Oh, oh, right...”
Only then did Qian Wenhuan recover his senses. He looked around at the nearly empty cabin and hurriedly gathered his belongings.
“Hey, this pa.s.senger forgot to take his books!”
At this moment, another flight stewardess suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
“Ah, what do we do?”
A few of the stewardesses immediately congregated and started twittering. “Should we bring these books to the airport storage and notify the owner?”
“There’s no need for that...”
Qian Wenhuan sighed suddenly. Dragging his suitcase, he walked past them. “That pa.s.senger probably doesn’t need these books anymore.”
Even as he disembarked from the plane, Qian Wenhuan was still somewhat in a daze.
He could not believe that someone could learn an entire language in just over ten hours.
He even wondered if there would be a large group of people rushing up to him when he stepped off the plane, with flowers and cameras, telling him that they were only filming a reality prank show for a TV program.
What a shame that the s.p.a.ce outside was empty. There were no flowers or cameras, let alone a large crowd.
Qian Wenhuan wordlessly turned on his phone. However, as soon as he did so, he received notifications for seven or eight miscalls.
These were all from a superior in his company.
As he was the sales manager of the Preston Biotechnology Company, his only superior was the general manager, who was also a member of the board of directors in the company.
When he saw these miscalls, Qian Wenhuan shuddered and snapped out of his hazy wonderings.
Soon after he pressed Return Call, an angry voice with a Swiss accent snarled through the phone. “Mateo, why aren’t you here yet!”
Qian Wenhuan’s name in Switzerland was Mateo.
“I just got off the plane, Boss.” Qian Wenhuan felt rather powerless. “It’s not like the plane would speed up for me. Why? Did the company send a car for me?”
“Take a taxi yourself. This afternoon, the company is conducting an internal examination of all employees in preparation for welcoming someone important.”
“Someone important?”
Qian Wenhuan frowned. “What happened at the company? Who’s this someone important and why didn’t you mention this before?”
“Sigh...”
The person on the other end of the call suddenly sighed and sounded much older. “Mateo, our company is about to be wholly acquired...”
That was it?
Qian Wenhuan secretly heaved a sigh of relief. In that case, he had nothing to worry about. Based on his business capabilities, he did not think that he would be laid off by the new boss.
Nonetheless, on the surface, Qian Wenhuan lowered his voice and tried to sound solemn. “Wholly acquired – who’s this person?”
“I don’t quite know either. I only know that this was orchestrated by the chairman,” the voice replied, “Still, I heard that the buyer is a company from China.”
“A company from Mainland China?” Qian Wenhuan’s eyes lit up. “When is our guest arriving?”
“By afternoon, apparently. It’s twelve now, so you only have time for a quick lunch.”
The voice on the call sounded weary. “Although I was reluctant, the other party made an offer we truly couldn’t refuse. After all, you know as well that our company has been in a slump for a while.”
“I know. I heard that the previous two research studies of our life sciences laboratory had all failed,” Qian Wenhuan replied.
“That’s right. Because of this, I’ve asked you to come back earlier.”
His superior continued. “After all, with some advanced preparation, you should be able to stay on based on your abilities, eh?”
“In that case, I’ll forgive you for bossing me around all these years, Mr. Wynn.” Qian Wenhuan smiled gently.
Over the past years, even though this crabby old man had always been strict, he was not a bad man in essence. If they had not been boss and employee, they might even have become friends.
“That’s enough, who cares about your forgiveness. Just come back quickly.”
The voice mumbled this final line and hung up.
...
By the time Qian Wenhuan returned to the company, almost all of the over-hundred employees were there. A few company executives dressed in suits were standing in the lobby, waiting for their guest.
“Mateo!”
Mr. Wynn with his head of white hair beckoned and Qian Wenhuan walked over at once. “Boss, don’t we have to go over to greet that person?”
“The chairman has already brought the other directors to the Royal Hotel to welcome him.”
Mr. Wynn shook his head. “However, the other party doesn’t seem to care about ceremonies like this. My main purpose this time is to introduce all of you to him.”
“Thank you for taking the trouble, Boss.” The managers all bowed their heads in grat.i.tude.
“It’s nothing. It’s time I retire, anyway. It doesn’t matter whether I keep this position.” Wynn wore an indifferent expression.
Before they could say anymore, a few Mercedes-Benz drove up outside the lobby.
Everyone perked up. These were the cars of the directors.
As the cars stopped before the company building, a stream of men in business suits got out.
“Let’s go, lads. Come with me to welcome your future boss.” Wynn called out to the group and moved on ahead.
Qian Wenhuan was daydreaming for a moment and was instantly left behind by the group.
He could only helplessly trot behind to keep up with them.
Several directors and managers surrounded the car door so tightly that not even an ant could get through. For a moment, Qian Wenhuan could not squeeze in at all and could only listen to the conversation from the fringes.
“Honorable sir, you’re really shockingly young. How should I address you?”
“Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Wynn. Just call me ‘Chen’.”
Huh?
Outside the group, Qian Wenhuan suddenly felt mystified.
Why was this voice so familiar?
No!
It was not just familiar in an ordinary way!
Qian Wenhuan could bet that he had heard this voice just recently...
However, before Qian Wenhuan could figure it out, the group had parted abruptly and a young man with dark hair and dark eyes appeared before Qian Wenhuan.
The young man had deep, abstruse eyes. Due to these eyes, one could not guess his specific age despite his extremely youthful countenance. He seemed to be only twenty years old and he seemed to be over thirty at the same time.
“You are...”
When he saw how the other person looked like, Qian Wenhuan froze as if he was struck by lightning.
“Let me do the introductions. This is Mateo, the manager in charge of product operation and sales in our company. Like you, he’s from Mainland China.” On one side, Mr. Wynn introduced them.
“I know. We’ve just parted ways two or three hours ago.”
Chen Chen extended his hand to Qian Wenhuan who stood rooted to the spot and said in terrifyingly accurate German, “Wouldn’t you say so, Mr. Qian?”