I AM

Chapter 25

"That didn't sound too bad, but I still lost time," Shen Wei leaned back and closed his eyes. "When will this end?"

When you remember your past, all three men thought to themselves.

This morning, Shen Wei had a surprise visitor.

"My dear cousin. I must apologize for not visiting you, and also for missing the last couple meetings," Zhu Jiu sneered, obviously not feeling apologetic at all. "I wasn't allowed to come to work for a while, so I decided to use the time and go on a trip."

Three months ago, Shen Enterprises opened up a special boutique, offering spa services. In addition to selling upscale clothing, shoes, bags and other accessories for both men and women, one could also get a facial, haircut, manicure, massage, the whole works. A person could walk in wearing only a t-shirt and jeans, and walk out fully decked out and party ready. This was the flamboyant Zhu Jiu's project, and although it was not Shen Wei's style, he understood that there were definitely people who would use the services.

The soft opening was successful, with all appointment slots taken. There were a few glitches, as could be expected. Tweaks were made, based on the customers' comments, and all seemed to fall into place. On the day of the grand opening, Zhu Jiu proudly stood on the small platform, with his wife next to him, and began his speech. Then his new mistress Zhang Danni walked up onto the platform and tried to push his wife off. That sparked a fight between the two women, and Zhu Jiu, unable to handle either one, ended up with a black eye and some bruises from the flying fists. It was a total fiasco! Shen Wei and some other board members personally contacted all those who had appointments, and gave them some spa items. Zhu Jiu was reprimanded for allowing such a shameful display of his personal life, and was unofficially suspended for two months, but he stayed away for an extra month out of spite.

Shen Wei knew that overseas travel was nearly impossible due to COVID, and he had heard reports of Zhu Jiu being spotted in various parts of the city, at an five-star hotel, at an expensive restaurant, and he had been seen buying bags and shoes for his new mistress. But he said nothing to keep Zhu Jiu's pride intact.

"Well, I'm glad you had some quality time for yourself. You worked very hard on your boutique, which is doing quite well," Shen Wei said.

"Hmph, you just had to bring up that place and rub it in my face," Zhu Jiu plopped himself onto the couch, crossed his legs and inspected his fingernails.

"I did not mean it in that way, but since you brought it up, I will say this. You are family, but we are also running a business, and I can do only so much, even for you," Shen Wei said in a quiet voice, as he walked over and sat down. "Yes, it was unfortunate that things got a little out of hand," he said tactfully. "But the boutique is a solid idea and will do well. You should not walk away from it."

Shen Wei did not mention that as part of damage control to the disasterous grand opening ceremony, Shen Enterprises was hosting a fancy gala as part of a fund-raising to provide COVID-relief items and vaccinations to the rural areas of China. Most of the attendees would definitely use the new boutique.

"Whatever. I've invested so much time and money in it. I know you will keep it running smoothly, with or without me, and you'll take credit for it, too," Zhu Jiu looked away.

"If you walk away from it, someone else will take the credit eventually. No one will remember who set it up, and clients will only remember who is taking care of them now. I'd like to say that the grand opening 'disturbance' is probably already yesterday's news. You need to make sure that it stays that way," Shen Wei said gently. He looked at his watch and stood up. "Sorry, I need to head out for a bit."