Chapter 438 - 226: To Wear the Crown, One Must Bear Its Weight

Chapter 438: Chapter 226: To Wear the Crown, One Must Bear Its Weight

"Sir, President Pei is here."

Hearing Jiang Hui’s report, Su Chen paused from petting his cat. He had called Pei Rang just yesterday and told him to come to the Imperial Capital after the holiday. ’Why did he fly over the very next day? He’s a little too dedicated, isn’t he?’

’I feel like some kind of ruthless boss, making my people work during the holidays.’ After grumbling to himself, Su Chen said, "Just take him to the reception room. I’ll be right there."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Hui gave a slight bow and walked quickly toward the door.

Su Chen gently patted Yuanbao’s backside. The cat, who had been purring on his lap, tilted its head back, meowed at Su Chen, then hopped off his legs with a plump, sinuous grace. It didn’t forget to rub against Su Chen’s calf a couple of times before returning to its bed.

He wasn’t sure if it was a side effect of the animal affinity ability he’d gotten from a blind box, but Yuanbao had been incredibly clingy the past two days. Whenever it saw Su Chen sitting or lying down, it would run over and lie down beside him.

Last night was a prime example. He didn’t know how Yuanbao had gotten into his bedroom, but in the middle of a sound sleep, Su Chen felt like he was being crushed by something heavy, unable to breathe. In his groggy state, he thought he was having sleep paralysis. It took considerable effort to finally wake up.

When he did, he found Yuanbao’s chubby body lying on his chest, its big, fat head tilted up to look at him. Its glowing eyes made Su Chen jump. If he hadn’t reacted in time, he might have punched the poor cat.

Brushing some cat fur off his clothes, Su Chen strolled leisurely toward the reception room.

"Boss!" Pei Rang, who had been casually sipping tea and surveying his surroundings, saw Su Chen enter and quickly put down his teacup, calling out respectfully.

Su Chen smiled faintly and waved his hand. "We’re at my home, not the office. No need to be so formal."

As he spoke, he walked over and sat down opposite him. The ever-observant Pei Rang quickly poured Su Chen a cup of tea.

Seeing Pei Rang still standing, Su Chen shook his head with a smile. "You, honestly... anyone else would have sat down by now. Alright, stop standing. Do I really have to tell you to sit down?"

Hearing this, Pei Rang smiled and returned to his seat.

Although he heard Su Chen’s words, he knew he had to maintain a certain boundary. It might be fine for others to be casual, but it wasn’t for him. Pei Rang was very clear on this point.

If Pei Rang got too casual with Su Chen and lost that sense of reverence for him as the boss, there was no guarantee his own mentality wouldn’t change for the worse.

Pei Rang constantly reminded himself to maintain his awe for Su Chen, lest he stray from the right path.

He had gone from being a Wall Street fund manager to running a conglomerate that would one day be worth tens, or even hundreds, of billions. Pei Rang knew that Su Chen was the reason behind it all.

His own contribution was minuscule. Any other elite manager might have done an even better job.

Su Chen took a sip of tea before asking curiously, "Didn’t I tell you yesterday to come to the Imperial Capital after the holiday? Why did you fly over today? You should be at home spending time with your family."

"Er..." Pei Rang looked at Su Chen with some embarrassment, took a sip of tea, and then said, "Well, it just so happened that I was bringing my kid to the Imperial Capital to watch the flag-raising ceremony."

"When you called yesterday afternoon, Boss, I was actually at the Great Wall. Otherwise, I would have come to see you yesterday."

Su Chen was stunned. ’So, all my previous assumptions were just me reading too much into things.’

"Ahem... Is your kid at the hotel?" Su Chen quickly changed the subject.

"Yeah. My son and my wife were exhausted after a long day, so they’re resting at the hotel." Pei Rang sounded a bit wistful. It was his family’s first time visiting the Imperial Capital. They had come to relax, but who knew it would be this tiring.

Yesterday, they had woken up at three or four in the morning to go see the flag-raising ceremony. They spent hours just for a ritual that lasted less than ten minutes. It was exhausting, but the atmosphere filled Pei Rang with an immense sense of pride.

After that, they went to climb the Great Wall. Pei Rang finally understood why the saying "He who has not been to the Great Wall is not a true man" was so famous. The steps were so steep you had to use both your hands and feet to climb them; it was pure torture.

For someone like Pei Rang, who spent most of his time in an office, he would have given up and gone straight back to the hotel to lie down if not for his wife and child cheering him on with "We’re already here!" and "You can do it, Dad!"

Su Chen could see that Pei Rang was tired, so he didn’t waste any more of his time. He had Jiang Hui go to his study and bring back the file folder concerning the Zhangjiang Science City campus.

"Give it directly to Pei Rang." Seeing Jiang Hui return with the folder, Su Chen nodded in Pei Rang’s direction.

Pei Rang quickly took the folder from Jiang Hui and pulled out the documents inside.

"This is the transfer agreement for the innovation campus in Zhangjiang Science City. Go take a look and see if it’s suitable for the group’s headquarters. If it is, you can start handling the renovation plans."

Pei Rang briefly scanned the documents, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.

A campus of nearly two square kilometers—that was a massive area, a full three thousand mu. Even with the three high-rises and four low-rises already built as starter office buildings, there was still plenty of empty space, more than enough for the group’s future expansion.