Xie Qining sat in his father's car, carefully taking a bite of a milk bun, afraid his father would scold him again.
"If you're going to eat, finish it quickly," Xie Zhendong said sternly, sitting upright without looking at him.
He quickly stuffed the rest of the bun into his mouth and swallowed, fearing he wouldn't make it through the morning at the group if he didn't eat.
Feeling that he had finished eating, Xie Zhendong looked at him and asked impatiently, "What did you and your mother say?"
Xie Qining feigned ignorance, "We didn't say anything."
"Did I ask you to tell your mother to be careful of my female assistant? Wasn't that you?" Xie Zhendong said coldly.
Xie Qining smiled and continued to play dumb, "Did I tell my mother? Maybe I mentioned it casually, I don't remember."
"You, boy, don't do proper work at the group every day, do you want our family to have no peace?"
The more Xie Zhendong questioned him about this, the more Xie Qining felt his intuition was correct. He grinned at Xie Zhendong, winking, "Dad, we're both men, I understand. As long as you treat me well, I'll never mention this to Mom again..."
"You're threatening me!" Xie Zhendong hit him on the head, unable to bear it any longer.
"No, no, I wouldn't dare." Xie Qining dodged aside, covering his head.
Xie Zhendong didn't want to beat around the bush with him, saying, "Not letting your mother know is for her own good, but even if she knew, it wouldn't matter, we'd still live our lives as usual."
Xie Qining didn't dare to refute him directly and muttered, "My mom isn't as easygoing as Sasha. This is the consequence of you finding a wife from a suitable family. Can you afford to offend my mother's family?"
"Don't think I can't hear you muttering. If you dare to talk nonsense to your mother again, you'll be sorry." Xie Zhendong tried to suppress him with authority.
Xie Qining made a gesture of zipping his lips and pretended to be timid, "I absolutely dare not speak anymore."
"You have tomorrow off," Xie Zhendong said abruptly.
Xie Qining immediately smiled again, no longer holding back, and said, "Dad, what do you like about that Zhan Jiayi? She's so young and incredibly rigid. If you really want some fresh excitement, I have plenty of beautiful women to introduce you to..."
"Do you still want to come to the group with me tomorrow?" Xie Zhendong glared at him fiercely.
"No, no," Xie Qining waved his hand, feeling that he had caught a bit of his father's weakness. He took the opportunity to complain, "Dad, it's no use forcing me. I was born not to inherit these businesses. I just want to live comfortably and freely. You have a grandson now, so there's an heir. Why do you still insist on forcing me to work at the group every day?"
Xie Zhendong was so angry he could die, saying, "Do you know why I like Zhan Jiayi? Because she's capable and competent, and she's helped me a lot. But what about my own son? Besides causing me trouble, what has he ever done for me?"
"Dad, just play around with her, but don't be foolish and hand over the group's power to her!" Xie Qining became nervous.
Xie Zhendong said with amusement, "Don't you not care about these things? You want to let a newborn infant be the heir? Then why do you care who I let share the responsibilities of the group..."
"I care, of course, I care. If it weren't for the Xie family's assets, how could I rely on you to live a comfortable life?" Xie Qining was truly worried that Xie Zhendong would be deceived by someone like Zhan Jiayi.
"It seems you're not that foolish," Xie Zhendong said impatiently. "If you want to enjoy these assets but are unwilling to contribute, then these assets will inevitably fall into the hands of others."
Xie Zhendong's words left Xie Qining speechless for a moment.
He just wanted to eat, drink, and have fun, and didn't want to tire himself out, but now, it seemed no one else could be the heir.
His newborn son was too young. Did his father really intend to hand over half of the group's power to an outsider like Zhan Jiayi?
"Dad, I'll go to the group with you tomorrow." He felt that although he couldn't do anything for the group, he could keep an eye on Zhan Jiayi in the office.
Xie Zhendong didn't expect that provoking him with Zhan Jiayi would have some effect. He said earnestly, "I don't expect you to develop the Xie Group into something great, but you must at least learn to maintain it, to hold onto this family business. Only then can you pass it on to one of your children when they grow up, understand?"
Xie Qining hadn't thought that far ahead, he just didn't want outsiders to take advantage. He said, "Dad, then teach me how to keep the family business."
Xie Zhendong didn't agree immediately. He was filled with mixed emotions. This child, after growing up so much, had finally said something sensible today.
"If you want me to teach you, first prove you're better than Assistant Zhan."
...
No matter what Zhan Jiayi did at the company today, she felt Xie Qining's eyes constantly on her.
Previously, when this young master arrived at the office area, he would always lie on his desk and sleep. No one dared to manage him, nor was anyone assigned work to him.
Today, he seemed like a different person. Zhan Jiayi found it strange.
She went to Xie Zhendong's office, wanting to ask about Xie Qining's situation.
"Qining, he hasn't been sleeping at his desk since this morning. Can I assign him some tasks?" Zhan Jiayi asked.
Xie Zhendong looked up and smiled, "You are truly my lucky star. With you by my side, everything goes smoothly."
Zhan Jiayi looked at him inexplicably, "Is Qining not sleeping during work hours related to me?"
"This kid has no other skills, but he saw that my relationship with you is unusual. I deliberately used this to provoke him..."
"He knows about me and you..." Zhan Jiayi said in panic, "Then your wife and the Xie family also know? Will they do anything to me?"
Xie Zhendong stood up and came to her side, putting his arm around her shoulder and saying, "Don't worry, Qining is just guessing. I've warned him not to talk nonsense, he'll know what's appropriate, and no one else knows."
Zhan Jiayi relaxed. She knew she didn't have real power in the Xie Group yet. Once her relationship with Xie Zhendong was public, she would quickly be ousted by other members of the Xie family.
"From now on, we can't be too intimate in the group, right?"
Xie Zhendong released her and said, "Yes, in the group, we'll only discuss official business. If there's anything else, I'll come to your place."
With that, he sat back down at his desk and instructed, "From now on, you'll be in charge of Qining. Assign him some work, let him start with small tasks, like serving tea, fetching water, typing, and copying. Don't be too polite to him; what he needs most is tempering."
"Okay." Zhan Jiayi left his office, thinking of showing Xie Qining some company materials first.
Xie Zhendong had just said that, but Xie Qining was the young master after all. Who would dare ask him to serve tea and water?
Even if he was willing to serve tea and water, it was likely that no one would dare to drink tea served by the young master when he brought it to others.
Zhan Jiayi carried a large stack of documents and placed them all on Xie Qining's desk, saying impolitely, "Young Master, since you weren't lazy and sleeping today, take a look at these materials."