Chapter 4373 — Promotion
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Chai Laoshi, how about you help me run the Weihu Branch from now on?" Wei Zhao suddenly proposed.
Rather than forcing himself to take the field in haste, it was better to hand things over to this professional. Never mind the rest—at the very least, he had already witnessed the man's bookkeeping skills, and Chai Laoshi was a deputy steward besides, one who had even provided evidence against Wei Zhaotong. Asking him to help was only natural.
"Truly?" Chai Laoshi was overjoyed at the words and hastily said, "Thank you for your trust, Deputy Chairman. I will do my utmost to soothe everyone in the branch and guarantee that no trouble arises."
"Heh, then it's all on you," Wei Zhao said with a faint smile.
"Yes!" Chai Laoshi nodded emphatically. Small wonder he was so excited—after all, Wei Zhao was an outsider, and by the looks of it a rank amateur besides. This so-called help in running the branch was in truth equivalent to temporarily assuming the steward's post, and that was a rare opportunity indeed.
Chai Laoshi had languished in the position of deputy steward of the Weihu Branch for more years than he could count, always diligent and never once erring, yet the steward's seat had remained forever beyond his reach.
The reason was simple: to become a branch steward, one needed first a dazzling record of achievement to show, and second a powerful backer at the Zhongdao headquarters. Neither could be dispensed with. Wei Zhaotong was a textbook example, while he, Chai Laoshi, had not a shred of either.
But now the opportunity had finally come. Everyone knew that once one could sit in the acting steward's chair, the true steward's seat was not far off!
If all went smoothly—testifying against Wei Zhaotong and helping Wei Zhao run the Weihu Branch—that alone would be a great merit. And if he could seize this chance to win the favor of Wei Zhao and Hong Zhong, then he would have his backer too. The two conditions that had once seemed impossibly distant were suddenly both met. How far off could the steward's seat be?
Chai Laoshi was no fool. Having reasoned it all out, he quickly found his footing, and immediately strode out in high spirits to help soothe the crowd, leaving Wei Zhao alone in the reception hall, baffled. Just moments ago the man had been meek and deferential—how had he suddenly become a different person?
"Here's hoping this one can be propped up," Wei Zhao muttered, scratching his head, then followed him out. If this Chai Laoshi proved useless, taking over the vast Weihu Branch afterward would become truly thorny.
"How did it go?" Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao asked the moment they saw Wei Zhao come out.
"All smooth. From here on, it's up to this one to see whether he can hold things together." Wei Zhao pursed his lips and gestured at Chai Laoshi.
"Heh, a spineless coward like that? If even he could hold things together, the sun would rise in the west!" Wei Zhaotong, trussed up to one side, sneered at the words.
At that moment Chai Laoshi had been puffing himself up, preparing to address the whole crowd, but Wei Zhaotong's ill-intentioned mockery deflated him on the spot, and he began to cower and shrink as he had before.
He was, after all, a timid and honest man. After years of being trampled by Wei Zhaotong, a shadow had long since taken root in Chai Laoshi's heart. Even his earlier private delivery of evidence to Wei Zhao had been forced out of him. To expect him to stand up to Wei Zhaotong openly, face to face, was truly asking too much.
Over the past few years, though Wei Zhaotong had not yet fully controlled the Weihu Branch, he was already nine parts of the way there. Not only was Chai Laoshi, the deputy chairman, thoroughly sidelined, but the rest of the crowd did not dare oppose him either. Just as now—a single careless remark from him, and the looks in everyone's eyes turned subtle once more.