Zhang Guicai's parents once again held Dong Bin's hand, their gratitude conveyed in their tight grip.
Dong Bin looked at the people who had been so aggressive towards him at the police station, now holding his hand, tearfully thanking him. He suddenly felt a shift within himself. Receiving recognition and gratitude from others seemed to bring him more a sense of accomplishment than indulging in the excesses of nightclubs.
For the first time, he began to ponder the purpose of his life and the meaning of existence.
After returning from Zhang Guicai's home, Dong Bin slept soundly. He woke up to find it was already evening. He hastily ate a bowl of instant noodles before rushing to the construction site's office.
Upon arrival, he discovered that the professional team his father, Dong Zhenhua, had summoned was already there, taking over the subsequent accounting audit. Dong Bin, who had been eager to dive in, suddenly found himself at a loss for what to do.
"What are you spacing out for?" Xiao Wenqiang asked, seeing Dong Bin standing dazed at the doorway.
Dong Bin snapped back to reality. "Dad, what can I do now?"
"It's good that you're proactively looking for something to do!" Xiao Wenqiang praised him. Then, leading Dong Bin out of the office, she headed towards the construction site. They couldn't disturb the professionals auditing the accounts.
"Xiao Bin, do you know what skills are needed to be a construction project manager?" Xiao Wenqiang asked Dong Bin as they walked.
"Technical knowledge? Managing the inflow and outflow of every material?" Dong Bin ventured a guess.
"It's best if you can understand these, but they aren't the most crucial," Xiao Wenqiang said, synthesizing the memories from Dong Zhenhua's mind and expressing them in her own words. "You're not like us from the old days. You don't need to personally handle everything. You just need to grasp the general process because professionals will be doing those tasks. If you are to be responsible for the entire project in the future, or even manage our entire company, the most important skill is to know how to utilize people's strengths."
"Utilize people's strengths?" Dong Bin asked, half understanding. "But you trusted Wang Sanyao so much before, and didn't he still exploit loopholes?"
Xiao Wenqiang was momentarily speechless. If the original Dong Zhenhua's family hadn't faced trouble back then, he would have definitely been able to keep Wang Sanyao in check. After Xiao Wenqiang inhabited the original body, she admitted to herself that she had indeed overlooked this aspect. However, she couldn't say this to Dong Bin. With a wry smile, she replied, "Yes! Dad wasn't good enough at utilizing people's strengths. So, in the future, you must learn from my experience and keep your eyes wide open."
"But Dad, even you can't read people's minds. How can I possibly see through them clearly?" Dong Bin was self-aware.
"You are still young, after all. You have plenty of time to gain experience. In fact, you can observe things in daily life. For example, those so-called friends you often hang out with—have any of them contacted you since your incident?"
Dong Bin shook his head. "Actually, we've rarely been in touch since I came to Yangliu County."
"That means you aren't that important to them. You were just generous with your money, and they enjoyed themselves with you. Now that I've called you here, your credit card is suspended, and you can't treat them as lavishly as before, so they feel you're useless."
"It's not entirely like that... Maybe they've been very busy lately too," Dong Bin mumbled in his defense.
"Even if they're busy, it's unlikely everyone is busy! Xiao Bin, don't deceive yourself," Xiao Wenqiang said sharply.
"Then I can make new friends. It's not like those few are the only people I can befriend," Dong Bin retorted softly.
"New friends, are they still from those two clubs you met? Look at these new friends you haven't known for long. They call you 'brother' when drinking. After the construction site incident and you were taken to the police station, has even one of them proactively contacted you?"
"Maybe they don't know yet!" Dong Bin still held onto hope.
"Wake up, Xiao Bin. Yangliu County is just a small place. A death is a major event. What happened this morning would be known throughout the county by evening, let alone it's already the third night."
Dong Bin gradually lowered his head. After a long while, he asked, "Dad, then who do you think around me is worth deepening relationships with, worth being friends with?"
"Whether they are worth being friends with, I don't know yet. But there's one person I currently find quite reliable."
"Who?"
"It's the new foreman, Xiao Zheng, Zheng Kai!" Xiao Wenqiang said, looking into Dong Bin's eyes. "Although he's new, from what I've seen recently, he's a very responsible person. When he first took over, and unlike you whose name was on it, he could have distanced himself. But you see how he's been working tirelessly these past few days, putting in his best effort. Today, some workers were causing a fuss, wanting to quit, and it was he who stepped forward to calm everyone down. I think this Zheng Kai is someone who gets things done."
Dong Bin nodded but remained silent. He felt a similar impression in his heart. He also remembered that when the incident occurred, Zheng Kai was the first to come to him to report the situation.
That night, Dong Bin and his father walked around the construction site several times, talking a great deal. It seemed that as he grew older over the years, he spoke less and less with his father. Sometimes, he even considered deliberately doing something outrageous just to get his father's attention. But his father was entirely focused on his work and had no time for him.
Dong Bin now realized how disgraceful his past self had been, living a life of constant indulgence and drunkenness, only to find emptiness in his heart. He resolved to change himself from now on and become a new person.
Looking at his father under the dim lamplight, he suddenly noticed that his father had graying hair. A pang of sadness washed over him: "Has Dad gotten this old already?"
Dong Bin had few memories of his mother from childhood. As he grew older, he also learned that his biological mother had once tried to harm him and his father. At this moment, Dong Bin, who had always felt hurt by his own mother's treatment, suddenly realized that the man beside him had endured no less pain.
Later, after nearly a year, under the guidance of his father, Dong Zhenhua, Dong Bin gradually managed to bring the construction site back on track. The sections with quality issues were all demolished and rebuilt.
Once Xiao Wenqiang saw that Dong Bin could basically handle things, she returned to Yuncheng. The judgments for Sun Guihua, Sun Liang, and Xu Xinyi had also been handed down. Sun Guihua and her son Sun Liang were sentenced to eight and ten years respectively for poisoning and intentional injury. Xu Xinyi was sentenced to nine years for poisoning and incitement to injure.