Shen Qiang reckoned that most of the customer representatives had come, and after finis.h.i.+ng all the tasks at hand, he rushed to the Exhibition Hall. But what he saw was a scene of chaos, and he walked over with a frown.
"What"s wrong with the staff of Tengfei? How can they treat an old woman like this?"
"Even if the old granny is a rag picker, she earns her living by herself."
"In my opinion, this old woman is worthy of respect. Although she is old, she can still be financially independent. However, the staff of Tengfei looks down on her."
"So, we don"t want products of this unscrupulous company..."
"Let"s go. I can"t stand to stay here another minute."
Some of the customer representatives took the lead to walk outside, while others looked back. At first, only a few followed them, but then more and more left. In the end, only some staff remained in the hall.
"What is going on?" Shen Qiang asked the manager.
The man twitched his lips and glanced at the security guards. "Ask them. I can"t do anything about them. They always cause trouble."
Ever since the a.s.sistant in the Sales Department embezzled public funds, some partners and consumers started to criticize the company. They wanted to regain the consumers" trust, but everything was destroyed by the security guards.
"What do you mean? You despised the old granny and wanted us to drive her away, and now you"re putting all the blame on us. The security guards started arguing with the manager of the exhibition.
"Why are you doing? Can someone make it clear? " Shen Qiang slapped the table before everyone quietened down.
"The old granny who often comes to pick up trash wanted to use the toilet, but the customers had already come, so we didn"t let the granny in. Who would know she…"
The two security guards at the entrance were also regretting their decision. They didn"t mean to keep her out.
" I don"t know what to say to you. Where is she?" Shen Qiang"s head was about to explode. It had only been a short while since he left and there had already been such a big mistake. He hurriedly chased after her, but the old granny had disappeared.
He stood at the door for a moment, then he decided to appease the customers first. When the granny came back, he would apologize to her and ask for her forgiveness.
Shen Qiang sighed and prepared to go back to the hall. Suddenly, a few reporters rushed out from behind him and surrounded him, "Third Young Master, may I ask who gave the order to beat the old granny?"
"Third Young Master, is your company always so rough with elderly people?"
"Third Young Master, people are scolding your company for being heartless and treacherous. Do you want to explain?"
Where did these reporters come from? Shen Qiang was stunned. His expression was horrible.
"My friends, you misunderstood us. It"s a misunderstanding. We will find the old granny and apologize to her." Shen Qiang said dry and incoherently.
"Third Young Master, may I ask how your company"s manager, Mr. Shen Yan, is going to handle this?" The reporters" questions came one after another, making Shen Qiang sweat.
Xia Yu was eating at home. She browsed the web page, and a video shocked her so much that she dropped the bowl in her hands.
An old woman cried her heart out in front of the reporters, "I know I"m a rag picker, a dirty old woman. I don"t dare to pa.s.s by companies like Tengfei."
The reporter asked, "Why don"t you dare to pa.s.s by their doors? What happens if you do so?"
The old granny wiped her tears as she said, "They may tell me to get lost, or just smash my wheelbarrow."
The reporter continued to ask, "Then why did you want to get in today?"
"When I got near Tengfei, I suddenly had a stomachache. I wanted to go to the public washroom, but I couldn"t walk fast. So, I asked them to let me in, but they said that I was dirty and they would not let me in…. "Pointing at her dirty pants, the old granny burst into tears.
Xia Yu was sure that the old granny in the video was the one that Shen Qiang knew. He usually took care of her very well. It must have been done by those sn.o.bbish people when Shen Qiang was not around.
What should they do now? After she cried in front of the reporters, the company"s image was destroyed. Xia Yu picked up her bag and rushed back to the company.
She called Liu Sijie on the way, "a.s.sistant Liu, please find Old Granny! You must find her as soon as possible!"
"I"m looking for her." Liu Sijie had also seen the video, and Shen Yan was dealing with reporters in person.
When Xia Yu arrived at the company, Shen Yan was apologizing to the old granny and consumers through the media, "I"m sorry. As the CEO of Tengfei, I have an inescapable responsibility for the matter. I sincerely apologize to the granny…"
Xia Yu bypa.s.sed the reporters, quietly went into the company and came to Shen Qiang"s side, pulling his sleeves.
Seeing Xia Yu was here, Shen Qiang"s tears immediately started flowing, "Sis, it"s all my fault. I messed up and implicated the second brother."
"No one wants an accident. The key thing right now is to find a way to make up for it." Xia Yu took out a tissue to wipe his tears off, "It is not the time to cry. The old granny has a good relations.h.i.+p with you. We must find her, and whether she can forgive us depends on your att.i.tude.
"I will ask for her forgiveness, even if I kowtow to her." Shen Qiang said with red eyes.
"You sneak out the back door with me. Don"t let the reporters see us." Xia Yu pulled Shen Qiang along, and they went to the back alley. Luckily, there were no people around, so they left without worry.
"Is this the right way? We did screw Young Master Yan, but the company may collapse. "
They were just about to walk forward when a familiar voice came. Xia Yu stopped and pushed Shen Qiang, indicating him to hide with her and listen to what they would say.
"The company belongs to the Shen Family, not your family. Why are you worried?""
"I"ve been working here for many years, and I have feelings for it."
"Don"t worry. The company won"t go down. As long as we can get rid of Shen Yan, the company will still be the company."
"But look what we have done. How many people are working? Everyone was watching the farce. "
"What can they do but watch the farce?"
How could they… Shen Qiang gritted his teeth and was about to rush out, but Xia Yu stopped him, "The more critical the moment is, the calmer we need to be. Let"s go. Don"t let them find us."
After walking out of the alley, Shen Qiang could no longer remain silent, "Sis, they"ve already said that. Do we still need to endure?"
Xia Yu sighed, "Right now, everyone is panicking. Your big brother"s guys are stirring up troubles. if we fight with them now, there might be another accident."
"So, we just let them do what they want?" Shen Qiang was so angry that he punched the wall. What a f.u.c.king wimp he was!
"We must solve problems one by one. It"s no use worrying." Xia Yu was much calmer than Shen Qiang. She sent messages to several of her media friends, begging them to provide her with clues on the old granny.
"Do they know where she is?" Shen Qiang asked.
"Didn"t you see the reporters interviewing her?"
"You"re right. Why didn"t I think of that?" Shen Qiang also called his familiar media friends.
They received feedback soon saying that the granny was sent to the interview venue by a group of bodyguards. After the interview, they sent her away in their car. No one knew where she was going.
It was just as she had expected. The granny had been used by someone. According to what the reporters said, those people must have been keeping a close eye on her, so it would not be easy to find her.
That would be too bad. And it was just the beginning. In a few days, the media and the public had reacted so fiercely, and in a few moments, even if the company did not go bankrupt, Shen Yan would surely step down.
"Sis, what should we do?" Shen Qiang said with high anxiety. Second Brother needed their help.
"It"s hard to find her, but we have to." Xia Yu exhaled and said, "The old granny often comes here with her wheelbarrow. She can"t walk too far. So, she must live nearby. We can show her picture to people. Maybe someone knows."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Shen Qiang said as he rushed forward.
Xia Yu grabbed him tightly. "What"s the hurry? Don"t scare others."
"Right, right, right." Shen Qiang patted his head and took a deep breath to stabilize his emotions.
"h.e.l.lo, aunt. Do you know this granny?" Xia Yu walked into a small supermarket in front of her and asked a woman. The supermarket was in a small alley, so the business was not good.
Xia Yu bought two bottles of water after entering the store. After chatting with the old lady for a while, Xia Yu s.h.i.+fted the topic to the old granny. There were a lot of cardboard boxes in the supermarket. The granny should come here often. People working in the supermarket might have seen her before.
She was right. The woman saw the photo on Xia Yu"s phone and recognized her," She is a rag picker. I knew her life is hard, so I sold boxes to her at a low price. She often helped me clean, and I saved all the boxes for her. We got familiar with each other. However, I found that we always had less money after she left, so I became suspicious of her. One day, she came again, and I pretended to be not in the market. I hid to observe her and saw her stealing the money. "
"Stealing your money?" Shen Qiang could not help but say, "That old granny is self-strengthening. How could she do this?"
She had refused Shen Qiang"s charity. How could she be a thief? Shen Qiang would be the last to believe it.
Xia Yu didn"t know her well, so she couldn"t defend her. Since this woman knew her, Xia Yu wanted to get more useful information from her.
She gestured at Shen Qiang not to speak and continued to ask, "What happened next?"
"She was caught red-handed by me, so she cried and begged me for forgiveness. She said n.o.body cared about her. Her daughter and son-in-law abandoned her. She was desperate and had no choice but to steal money. What could I do? I couldn"t send her to the police station but let her go." The woman shook her head.
"Auntie, do you know where she lives? Or where does her daughter live?"
"I don"t know. What happened? Did she steal something from you as well?" The woman looked at Xia Yu with sympathy, "I talked to her before. She didn"t live with her daughter and son-in-law. Even if you find her daughter, I don"t think she will admit it."