Fu Duoduo's flushed face instantly turned pale with anger.
She wasn't his type? She had overthought things?
She snapped the box shut and pushed it back, her expression displeased.
"So you weren't trying to pursue me? You need my help with something? What can I, Fu, help Young Master Zhan with?"
Through their interactions over this period, Zhan Jingchen had come to understand her to some extent, knowing that some things could be discussed.
He then explained his plan to acquire Pei's Corporation and enlist Pei Kexin's help, and how she refused.
"Originally, I didn't want to approach her again. Nancheng is full of talent, and she isn't indispensable. But my investors like some of the cases she's worked on and specifically requested her, so..."
"So you want me to persuade her for you?"
"Miss Fu is an intelligent woman and likely doesn't want to handle things in a crude or unpleasant manner."
Zhan Jingchen was still quite proud.
He wanted Pei Kexin to join his team, but he didn't want to give her too much face.
"Let's be direct. I want her to join my team, but I don't want to beg her; I want her to beg me. Can you do it?"
Fu Duoduo: "??"
Zhan Jingchen continued, "Don't worry, as long as she's willing to join, salary won't be an issue. And your benefit isn't just this necklace."
Fu Duoduo had just started her own business and would need the support of a strong backer in the future. Zhan Jingchen's words struck a chord with her.
However, getting Pei Kexin to beg to join his team felt too embarrassing.
"May I ask what annual salary you plan to offer her?"
Zhan Jingchen, with his deep pockets, said, "Don't worry, she won't be shortchanged. If she's willing to go, she'll be offered the annual salary of a Sales Director at Zhan Corporation. A base of 4 million, with no upper limit. How much she can earn will depend on her own abilities."
Fu Duoduo gasped inwardly.
Sales Director at Zhan Corporation? A base of 4 million?
My goodness, this is indeed the Zhan family, truly wealthy.
Given Pei Kexin's sales capabilities, plus the prestige of Zhan Corporation, her base salary plus commission would easily reach tens of millions a year.
Tens of millions a year was far better than staying at Pei's for several years. Such a good opportunity, anyone who didn't seize it was an idiot!
After they parted ways, Fu Duoduo sat alone in the coffee shop for another half hour. After some thought, she drove to the First People's Hospital.
She found the Neurology Department and wandered the corridor for a while. After gathering her emotions, she squatted on the floor of the corridor and made a video call to Pei Kexin.
Pei Kexin was wearing pajamas, at home, reviewing the previous month's financial statements from the foreign trade company sent by Gu Wei.
Seeing Fu Duoduo's video call, she answered it casually.
For several seconds after connecting, there was no movement from the other end, so she had to stop her work and pick up the phone.
"What's wrong? Why aren't you talking?"
On the other end of the call, Fu Duoduo hugged her knees, her face buried in her lap, looking as if she had a stomachache.
Pei Kexin rarely saw her looking so dejected, and her heart tightened.
"What's wrong? Where are you? Why are you dressed like that? Are you not feeling well?"
Fu Duoduo seemed to have lost her soul, her eyes blankly staring at the phone screen, not speaking.
Seeing her like this, Pei Kexin knew something had happened and quickly stood up, clutching her phone.
Just as she was about to ask her what was wrong and where she was, she saw people in white coats walking around behind her, and someone pushing a wheelchair past.
"Why are you at the hospital? Are you sick? Did you go alone? Why didn't you tell me? Which hospital and which department? I'm coming to find you now."
As she spoke, she was about to change her clothes when Fu Duoduo finally spoke in a half-dead voice.
As soon as she opened her mouth, tears began to fall.
"Don't come looking for me. I don't want to see anyone right now. Kexin, help me, something has happened to my family..."
Fu Duoduo cried bitterly on the phone, and it took several minutes of broken speech to explain everything.
Her father's company was facing a cash flow crisis. Last year, they had mortgaged everything they could, including their house and cars.
They thought that with the success of this investment and the recovery of the final payments, they could turn things around. Who knew that the person who invested in him ran a shell company, a complete con artist, with headquarters overseas. Once they took the money, they disappeared.
Her father had invested more than 200 million yuan in total, and now he had lost everything. He couldn't repay the bank loans, and his properties and cars were about to be auctioned.
If the call hadn't reached her today, she wouldn't have known.
Her father was so anxious that he had been admitted to the hospital. Their family was ruined.
Pei Kexin was greatly shocked. Fu Duoduo's family had encountered such a major crisis! A deficit of over 200 million, and their house and cars were to be auctioned!
The key was that Fu Duoduo herself was also preparing to start a company and had just invested over 3 million yuan.
With her father incapacitated, she would surely be affected, losing another 3 million yuan for nothing!
Looking at Fu Duoduo's helpless state, Pei Kexin only regretted her own powerlessness.
Her foreign trade company with Gu Wei was too small, and it had just started, with a monthly turnover of only a little over a million yuan.
Even if she sold the company now and gave all the money to Fu Duoduo, it wouldn't be enough to cover half of the deficit.
"Can I help you pay the bank interest first and postpone the auction date? I'll try to think of a solution during this time?"
The company was her uncle's lifelong endeavor, and it couldn't be lost like this.
Moreover, without their house and cars, their entire family would be left to wander the streets.
Pei Kexin couldn't accept this for Fu Duoduo.
Fu Duoduo hugged her knees and shook her head incessantly.
"There's no time. It's not like I can just postpone it... Our family is truly finished. Kexin, I really don't know who to ask for help. At this time, I can only rely on you."
"I don't want our family to be ruined like this, and my father can't die like this. Please, help me."
Pei Kexin was also extremely anxious.
"It's not that I don't want to help you, but you know the strength of the Pei family... But don't worry, I'll help as much as I can. I'll go back and beg them now. Even if I have to kneel before my elder brother and the others, as long as I can borrow money, I'll do anything."
Fu Duoduo wiped away her tears and looked at her with disappointment, as if wishing she were steel.
"Why do you have to go back and beg them? How much money can they have? Besides, even if you kneel before them, what will they give you?"
Pei Kexin: "Then I..."
"Ask Zhan Jingchen! You have such a capable ex-husband. At this time, no one else can help me. Why don't you ask him?"
Pei Kexin's eyes widened instantly.
Zhan Jingchen?
She had thought of everything, but never him.
Could he be considered an ex-husband?
"Duoduo..."
Fu Duoduo started crying again.
"My father was just given a critical illness notice and rushed into surgery. My mother is also crying as if she's about to lose consciousness. Sob, sob, I know this puts you in a difficult position and makes you lose face, but I really have no other choice..."
"How about this, if you can't bring yourself to ask him, I will!"
"I'm sorry, I'm using your name to approach him and causing you embarrassment, but I truly have no other way. Compared to face, I value my parents' lives more. Sob, sob, Kexin, please help me..."