TYRPSM Chapter25

The two of them were exhausted from fighting and sprawled out together on the sofa. Du Cheng still couldn’t quite accept the fact that Nie Yunshen and Shu An were dating, asking several times, “Are you two really together? Will you break up in a while?”

Nie Yunshen gave him a lazy glance, but what Du Cheng saw was murderous, dagger-like intent in his eyes.

“Alright, alright, pretend I didn’t say anything.” Although the matter seemed to be a done deal, Du Cheng couldn’t help but try to push back a little. “Actually, as long as you two don’t say anything, who would know you’re in this kind of relationship?”

“I would know.” After working in risk control for so many years, he still possessed basic professional ethics. Moreover, his relationship with Shu An could very likely make his future judgment on the Lans Group’s projects biased. As a risk control professional himself, he decided it was better to plan ahead to avoid such a situation.

Du Cheng gave a long sigh. “Heaven wants me dead! Without the Lans Group, my plans for this year are definitely ruined. It’s already the third quarter, damn it, where am I supposed to find another client as big as the Lans Group!”

Nie Yunshen remained silent. After Du Cheng wallowed in self-pity for a long while, he stood up and straightened his clothes. “Forget it, I have to go find clients right now.”

Nie Yunshen called out to him and apologized. Du Cheng rolled his eyes. “Don’t get mushy on me. If you two actually make it to the finish line, I’ll give you a massive red envelope!”

Although the ongoing projects wouldn’t end so quickly, Du Cheng still prepared for the possibility that the Lans Group might repay their loans early and pull out; after all, for a client like the Lans Group, plenty of banks were lining up to beg for a partnership.

However, a week passed and not only was there no sign of the Lans Group pulling out, but their CFO, Sister Ning, even indicated an interest in partnering with Bank F on new projects.

Du Cheng felt that happiness had arrived too suddenly, but while brewing coffee in the pantry, he overheard two junior assistants from the Risk Control Department whispering nearby.

One said that Director Nie had been acting a bit strange these past two days, handing over many important tasks to XXX as if he intended to promote him. The other countered that it wasn’t a promotion, but rather that Director Nie might be resigning; they had heard recently that senior management at J Bank had offered to headhunt him as their CRO for double his current annual salary.

Du Cheng stopped drinking his coffee and turned to leave. When he reached Nie Yunshen’s office, he was told that Director Nie and the Big Boss were in the conference room.

“Crap, he’s not actually going to resign, is he?”

Du Cheng silently turned back to his own office and intentionally left the door open—his office was situated between the conference room and Nie Yunshen’s office, so if Nie Yunshen came out, he would see him immediately.

After waiting for nearly two hours in such an agitated state to the point where he began to wonder if Nie Yunshen had left Bank F directly from the conference room, Du Cheng finally saw Nie Yunshen’s figure flash past his door.

Director Du sprang from his chair like a bandit and rushed out with zero decorum, snatching the passing Director Nie and dragging him inside before slamming the door shut with a bang.

Outside, their colleagues were so accustomed to this “love-hate” drama playing out every few days that they didn’t even twitch an eyebrow.

Nie Yunshen leaned against the door panel, clutching his chest and feigning the look of a startled young bride, asking in a shrill voice, “You hooligan, what are you trying to do to me!”

“Shut up!” Du Cheng, never one to beat around the bush, got straight to the point, “Are you hiding something from me again?”

Nie Yunshen thought about it solemnly. “Yes. I’m spending my birthday this year alone with Shu An; I can’t bring you along.”

“Damn it!” Du Cheng’s simple-minded brain was instantly derailed. “You are the textbook definition of choosing lust over friendship, you know that? How many years have we worked together? How many days have you even known him…”

“I’ve known him for thirteen years.” Nie Yunshen reminded him quite seriously.

Choked into silence, Du Cheng could only hurl a forceful “Screw you” before saying, “Don’t give me that useless crap. Is there anything else you’re hiding from me?”

Nie Yunshen thought hard again and nodded. “Yes.”

“Spit it out.” Du Cheng said.

“Jerome Chan is being transferred back to the U.S. headquarters in two months.”

Du Cheng froze for a moment. “And?”

“And, I might be getting promoted to CRO of Bank F,” Nie Yunshen said with a grin before patting Du Cheng’s face, which had turned to stone from shock. “Better hold onto your Nie Ge’s leg tight; otherwise, I’ll block whichever of your future cases I feel like blocking.”

“It’s not like you aren’t already blocking them…” Du Cheng shook his head, rescuing his face from Nie Yunshen’s hand. “Wait, you mean you’re being promoted to CRO? Not resigning?”

“It’s a long story.”

Originally, Shu An had already instructed the finance department to begin preparing for the business transfer a few days ago. However, Nie Yunshen felt that he couldn’t let Bank F lose a good client because of his personal reasons, and even more so, he couldn’t let Du Cheng down. After discussing it with Shu An, they agreed it was better for him to resign. Though Shu An felt sympathy for him, he respected all his decisions. As a result, Nie Yunshen formally submitted his resignation letter to Jerome Chan three days ago.

To his surprise, Jerome returned the resignation letter untouched and personally flew over from S City to meet him and ask for the reason behind his resignation.

Faced with this superior who was both a mentor and a friend, Nie Yunshen didn’t hide anything and told him everything about his relationship with Shu An.

Jerome was surprised after hearing this, but not because Nie Yunshen wanted to resign; rather, it was because Nie Yunshen had chosen a same-sex partner and was willing to make career concessions for his lover. In his words, same-sex couples are very common abroad, and the level of acceptance is high, but in China, being able to tell others that you like men so calmly is something that requires courage.

Nie Yunshen didn’t feel particularly strongly about this; after all, his family’s attitude toward him liking men was simply “as long as you’re happy,” so his coming-out journey wasn’t nearly as rocky as others might assume. As for Shu An’s side, because Chairman Huo hadn’t managed his own relationships well, he couldn’t be bothered to interfere in his son’s love life. There was almost no pressure from either set of parents, and his friends all knew his orientation, so he didn’t feel that admitting he liked men required any great amount of courage. To him, it was a perfectly ordinary thing, just as common as a man and a woman dating with nothing special about it.

So, he merely smiled at Jerome and waited for the other party to approve his resignation.

However, Jerome told him something else entirely: “I will be leaving China in two months to transfer back to headquarters.”

Nie Yunshen was surprised to hear this news because Jerome had done an outstanding job in China, and they all believed he was the undisputed choice for the next CEO of Bank F China.

Just as he was about to ask “why,” Jerome gave him a second shock; or rather, a surprise.

“I recommended you to Mr. Miller last week to take over my position.”

Mr. Miller was the current CEO of Bank F China.

Nie Yunshen sat bolt upright. After his initial shock, he gave Jerome an apologetic smile. “Jerome, I am incredibly grateful for your trust and recognition, but I…”

Jerome waved his hand. “Nie, the reason I recommended you to Mr. Miller is that I believe you have a unique vision and insight regarding risk control. You can lead our risk control staff to help Bank F move forward more steadily and further. At this moment, you have also made me believe even more in your professional ethics that you won’t let yourself do anything to harm Bank F’s interests in the future. So…”

Nie Yunshen looked at Jerome; he had a good idea of what the other party was about to say next.

Sure enough, Jerome met his gaze with a smile and continued, “So I do not intend to approve your resignation. I hope that when I next come to China, you will still be my colleague.”

Nie Yunshen didn’t agree immediately, so Jerome shared some of his views on the Chinese financial industry and Bank F’s future market positioning.

Bank F was a foreign bank and the risk control policies it currently implemented still adhered to international standards and processes, which didn’t actually work in China. Chinese enterprises have significant peculiarities; the unique national conditions and policies mean certain risk control methods simply aren’t applicable. Therefore, Jerome believed there had to be a Chinese person to develop a more refined, “grounded” risk control system that integrated local characteristics. Without a doubt, Nie Yunshen was the most suitable candidate in his eyes.

To be honest, such an opportunity was indeed very attractive. Moreover, once he was promoted to CRO, he would no longer directly handle any of the Lans Group’s projects. This would ensure continued cooperation between the Lans Group and Bank F while preventing his relationship with Shu An from affecting his work; he truly had no reason to insist on resigning anymore.

And so, the matter reached a perfect resolution.

After hearing the whole story, Du Cheng sighed repeatedly about how some people just have all the luck. A handsome, wealthy, and devoted “overbearing CEO” just falls from the sky, and more importantly, the guy gets a promotion to boot, effortlessly reaching the pinnacle of life. Why couldn’t he encounter such good fortune?

“I might as well just turn gay too. Ask your CEO Shu if he has any more good men around him with a similar net worth, similar looks, a similar build, and who are also gentle and affectionate.”

“Work hard and stop dreaming.”

Nie Yunshen patted his shoulder, pulled open the door, and walked out. As he walked, he pulled out his phone to call his own gentle and affectionate good man. Hearing that sexy, smiling voice on the other end, he lowered his voice slightly but said with high spirits, “I have some good news to tell you.”

[The end of extra 2]