Chapter 78: Su Weimin's Face Turned Pale

The vice president was demoted, reduced to a low-level employee. Such a punishment was already on the verge of outright dismissal—a precipitous fall from grace! For an ordinary person, this kind of blow would be unbearable; they would have resigned long ago. How could Zhang Kun possibly have the face to show up at the sales department and report for duty?

In Su Weimin’s eyes, this was undoubtedly Zhang Kun speaking in irony. This matter was simply impossible—any punishment should have fallen on Ye Tianlin, which would have made much more sense! The entire department was of one mind in this belief.

Zhang Kun glanced around, feeling embarrassed deep inside, but at this moment, pride was utterly useless. Compared to being fired outright, at least this gave him a sliver of hope. Perhaps, in the future, he could redeem himself through merit and regain recognition. For now, it was a chance to show the right attitude.

Without further hesitation, Zhang Kun raised his voice and said forthrightly, “I think you all must have misunderstood this matter. President Ye was absolutely right to tear up the contract! The Northern Capital Consortium never intended to do business with the Wang family of Yandu. Their plan was to wait for the Wang family to collapse, then acquire their assets at a low price and reap the greatest benefit!”

“It was I who acted on my own authority, making decisions without approval, and even privately accepted favors from Li Jiaojiao. The chamber of commerce found out, and I was directly demoted as a result. So that’s the truth of it—it had nothing to do with President Ye. Everything was due to my personal dereliction of duty!”

These few words immediately caused an uproar.

The entire sales department was in an uproar.

“What?” Su Weimin’s eyes nearly popped out.

“That was the reason?” Gao Yulan was deeply moved.

Standing to the side, Su Rulan was also incredulous. After all this chaos, it had ended like this—exactly as Ye Tianlin had predicted!

Zhang Kun patted his chest emphatically, swearing, “The chamber’s punishment is only right, and I accept it willingly. But you all must not misunderstand President Ye. If it weren’t for him tearing up the contract, things would have been much worse, and I would have been fired for sure. So, in a way, President Ye inadvertently helped me!”

Su Weimin swallowed hard, his mind buzzing, and he even detected a hint of flattery in Zhang Kun’s words. Could this really be true? How could tearing up the contract, the act of that fool Ye Tianlin, possibly have been the right thing to do?

“If that’s the case, was Li Jiaojiao really forced to go and beg Ye Tianlin in the end?” Su Weimin was thunderstruck, veins bulging on his forehead.

Zhang Kun nodded confidently and assuredly. “That’s right. The Wang family of Yandu has no other way out. In the end, they’ll have no choice but to come back and plead with President Ye.”

“Then just now, when Li Jiaojiao left without a word, was it really because she couldn’t swallow her pride?” Su Weimin suddenly remembered the agreement he’d just made with Ye Tianlin and found it hard to accept.

“Isn’t it obvious? Li Jiaojiao is just too proud! Oh my, our good son-in-law is truly remarkable. Just now, I was saying he had no business sense, but it turns out we were the ones who didn’t understand business!” Gao Yulan was so delighted she could hardly contain herself.

“This...” Su Weimin felt as though a stone was lodged in his throat.

Su Rulan, regaining her composure, finally saw the light and exclaimed, “So it was all because we didn’t understand Tianlin, and that’s why there was such a misunderstanding. Dad, aren’t you going to apologize to Tianlin? Do you even realize how out of line you just were?”

“Exactly! You stubborn old mule, always looking down on my good son-in-law. You even brought me along with you, saying all those harsh things, when in fact it wasn’t like that at all. My son-in-law is the one with real insight—he saw through the problems in the contract at a glance!” Gao Yulan declared righteously.

Su Weimin’s head was spinning, his heart filled with grievance. Unable to contain his embarrassment and anger, he blurted, “Wasn’t I just doing it for his own good? Otherwise, why would I have humbled myself to plead for him in front of Li Jiaojiao?”

“Dad, that’s enough. Still so stubborn? Is it really so hard to admit you were wrong?” Su Rulan said indignantly.

Reluctantly, Su Weimin pursed his lips. “Fine, fine, it was my mistake. I didn’t have the insight to understand his actions. Blame it all on me, all right?”

“What kind of attitude is that?” Gao Yulan glared at him.

At that moment, Ye Tianlin emerged from the office. He stood with his hands behind his back, a slight smile on his lips, his gaze settling on Su Weimin as he said calmly, “It doesn’t matter who’s right or wrong. What I care about is whether the agreement we made just now still stands. After all, everyone here witnessed it.”

Hearing this, Su Weimin instantly froze, a sickly green flush creeping across his face.