Chapter 216: Chapter 203: Calculations
Yin Meng didn’t actually expect her grandfather to say such things, after all... a communist party member and an old stalwart of the nation...
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Yin Meng whispered, "I thought you’d offer Mingxu to the nation, Grandpa..."
As soon as she said this, Su Xiaomeng burst out laughing.
Yin Shaohui glared at her, "Has the Yin Family done too little for the country? Oh, I’m retired, do I still have to provide talent for the army? Then what are those newcomers for? Right now, I’m just Shan Mingxu’s grandfather."
With her grandfather’s words, Yin Meng felt at ease.
Shan Minglang was also intimidated by his grandfather, basically convinced that his big brother wouldn’t be able to join the special forces, no matter which unit it was.
On the way home, Su Xiaomeng and the two kids sat in the back seat, and she kept staring at Yin Shixiu from the rear right...
"Got something to say?"
Yin Shixiu, upon sensing someone’s gaze, asked.
Su Xiaomeng leaned forward, lying on the back of the passenger seat, "How much money do you really have?"
The car swayed, Yin Shixiu cleared his throat and couldn’t help but chuckle, "Why are you asking that?"
"You realize that your words in front of my second sister and brother-in-law just made them think I’m an idiot, right?"
"...Oh? Is that so?"
"Stop playing dumb!"
"So... what does madam plan to do?"
Su Xiaomeng raised her eyebrows, "My dad handed all his money to my mom, and then he just got some pocket money each month."
"So?"
"Shouldn’t you hand over all your money too? At least give me the payroll card, this card, that card, shouldn’t you let me manage them?"
"Um... it’s not impossible, but could you give me a more convincing reason?"
Yin Shixiu asked.
Su Xiaomeng was stunned for a moment. She was just joking, not expecting him to say "it’s not impossible"...
She squinted her eyes, thought for a while, and then said, "Now that you have a wife and kids, shouldn’t all the money be spent on the three of us? Why do you keep so much money on you? To keep a mistress?"
The car swayed again, Yin Shixiu glanced at her, "Can you trust me a bit more?"
"Hmph."
Su Xiaomeng laughed a little, then automatically switched the topic, "By the way, is that second brother-in-law really taking advantage of you?"
"Not just the second brother-in-law, it’s the whole family."
"So... are you just going to let them take advantage of you?"
Yin Shixiu curled the corner of his mouth, "Does your husband look like a pushover?"
"Um... you do look like one. Although I’m not very clear about the company’s operations, but since the project that second brother-in-law is working on belongs to the company, even if it incurs losses, wouldn’t it be covered by the company?"
"The portion the company covers was stipulated when the project started. Any excess would have to be filled by him personally."
"Um... okay, a few million... is astronomical to me, but it shouldn’t be much for the second sister and brother-in-law."
So thought Su Xiaomeng, but unexpectedly, Yin Shixiu curled the corner of his mouth again.
"Why... why are you laughing so wickedly?"
Su Xiaomeng felt a chill run down her spine from his grin, realizing... Yin Shixiu certainly had a counter move.
Indeed...
"He has money, but no brains. If he straightforwardly handed this project over to me, it would just be a matter of two percentage points of equity. He wants to save face, so he doesn’t bow down, yet he wants shares because he’s ambitious."
"And then?"
Su Xiaomeng didn’t quite understand.
"The development of an affair depends on many factors; who does it, when, where, and in what state, all produce vastly different results. With Yu Hongguang’s personality, he certainly wouldn’t resign himself to losing a few million, so the project will continue, and the pit will be dug deeper..."
"But didn’t you say even if the project dies, it would just be four or five million?"
"If I didn’t say that, how could he dare to go all out?"
Su Xiaomeng swallowed her saliva, "How... how much will he lose?"
"If he lets go by April, it would be a bit less than twenty million, but if it extends to May... I don’t know."
"What’s happening in May?"
"The current international political and economic situation is very turbulent. This year, there might be a financial storm. Word has it that the United States might introduce new economic policies, so whether or not the storm comes will depend on the new U.S. economic policy."
Su Xiaomeng pinched her fingers, then looked at Yin Shixiu in shock.
It’s only January now, and he’s already calculated what might happen in May... Earlier, in front of her parents, with a straight face and without flinching, he led her second brother-in-law into his trap filled with so many pitfalls in his speech. Who would’ve thought?
However... could that second brother-in-law really be so dumb? To just fall into her husband’s trap like this?
It’s obvious the project would be a massive loss, why keep at it?
"What’s wrong?"
"Shixiu, I now believe what Yin Meng said before..."
"What did she say?"
"That I was step by step manipulated into your hands..."
"...Cough, cough, don’t listen to her nonsense. Do you think manipulation was necessary?"
Yin Shixiu hurriedly said, "Just a slight beckoning of my hand and didn’t you just stroll over?"
Unexpectedly, even Yin Shixiu did not foresee that Shan Mingxu’s matter would cause the entire Yin Family to be troubled until the Spring Festival.
Shortly after New Year’s Day, A University’s campus was shrouded in a tense and oppressive finals atmosphere.
The first two weeks were manageable, with only some elective course assessments, and Su Xiaomeng was able to keep up.
By the weekend, she even went back once more to the Yin Mansion with Yin Shixiu and the kids.
The two elders of the Yin Family and third sister Yin Shihua’s family were still tangled up over Shan Mingxu’s issue.
So, as Su Xiaomeng and Yin Shixiu stepped into the hallway with the kids in their arms, they saw the whole family sitting in the living room discussing it.
Seeing Yin Shixiu and Su Xiaomeng arrive, Yin Shihua immediately dragged Yin Shixiu over, "You said back then, why punish him by sending him to the army? Now it’s gone overboard! Fourth brother, you have to clean up this mess for me! I don’t care!"
Yin Shixiu saw that his third sister was so helpless that she was blaming him and was also at a loss.
The two children were moved to the elders’ embrace, as Su Xiaomeng and Yin Shixiu sat down on the sofa.
Yin Shixiu asked leisurely, "Have you contacted Mingxu? What did he say?"
"He said there’s nothing to talk about. Since he’s joined the army, he won’t return without achieving something notable."
As Yin Shihua spoke, it felt like a thousand pounds were weighing on her heart, unbearably heavy.
"Well, doesn’t dad know Mingxu’s immediate superior? Can’t you just stop him from signing up?"
It would have been fine if Yin Shixiu hadn’t asked, but upon asking, the old man’s face turned dark...
"What happened?"
Compared to his wife, Shan Munan appeared calmer on the surface, and said, "Actually, Mingxu is acting out of impulsiveness. According to his squad leader, the Special Forces battalion commander provoked him a bit, and he couldn’t take it, so he challenged them."
Yin Shixiu was dumbfounded, and Su Xiaomeng, listening, thought it sounded like something Shan Mingxu would do.
Shan Munan continued, "The person is the commander of the Special Forces battalion, and Mingxu, that boy, ignorantly wanted to challenge them one-on-one, ending up unable to lift his head after losing. He then started clamoring to join the Special Forces."
Yin Shixiu shook his head, "He’s been there for more than half a year, still such a childish fool."
"You’re just talking nonsense!"
Yin Shihua immediately slapped Yin Shixiu on the arm.
"Sister, don’t be anxious yet. Even if it’s the Special Forces, if dad speaks up, can’t he stop it?"
"He couldn’t stop it."
Shan Munan said, explaining why the old man had such a black face.
"The Special Forces commander might actually think Mingxu is a good prospect and doesn’t intend to reject his application. Dad spoke... and the commander said..."
Shan Munan scratched his head and glanced at Yin Shaohui...
Yin Shaohui, also holding onto his pride, but in front of family, put aside his face and said with some irritation, "They said that it’s every Chinese man’s duty to safeguard the country, and every soldier on the battlefield is a son of parents. Which soldier’s parents are willing to send their son into life and death? So why, in his case, is the child’s life especially precious?"
"They also said, Commander, you know well that besides obeying military orders, a soldier needs to rely on the passion in their heart. As long as Shan Mingxu wants to participate, they wouldn’t refuse him."
Yin Shixiu listened to these words and could imagine the old man feeling so stifled he couldn’t speak at the time.
After all... what the commander said was indeed reasonable, and the old man... understood.
Yin Shihua gave Yin Shixiu a look, "See, what are we going to do now, tell me!"
Yin Shixiu suddenly smiled, then looked at Yin Shihua, "Sister, do you think it’s that easy to become a Special Forces soldier?"
"...What do you mean?"
"You might not know, but dad should know."
"Even if Mingxu signed up for the selection, he still has to pass to become a Special Forces soldier. From what I understand, during a unit’s recruitment, half of the list of volunteers is first crossed off, leaving at most five or six dozen people. Then there are rounds of selection, and by the end, the number of people remaining might be fewer than one hand."
Yin Shihua blinked... that seemed to be the case.
It was the first time Yin Shixiu saw his third sister so foolish... truly a case of emotions clouding judgment.
"It’s true what you say, but, but what if he passes?"
Yin Shihua asked.
Before Yin Shixiu could speak, Yin Shaohui answered, "Fourth brother is right, the selection for the Special Forces unit isn’t something just anyone can pass, it’s indeed unlikely Mingxu could pass..."
But despite saying so, Yin Shaohui still harbored doubts in his heart. What Fourth brother suggested, he had considered, only... his grandson, he still believed, would surpass others no matter what.
So even though he verbally acknowledged that Mingxu might not pass the selection, in his heart, there was still that tiny bit of expectation, thinking his grandson... has that capability.
And precisely because he had that tiny bit of expectation, he wanted to stop him from the start of registration, but who knew it’d end in such disappointment.
"Sister, the information about the Special Forces is classified, but if you really want to understand the selection criteria, you could still research some materials around, and compare it with Mingxu to see if he has the potential to get through."