CH 2435

The middle-aged man had his back against the door as he held a pipe in his hand. Even when he heard the door opening, he did not turn around to look and just continued to stare quietly outside the window as he greeted his son in his bassy voice, “You’re back!”

His deep and low voice was like ripe, mellow wine.

“Father,” called the young man respectfully.

“Did you have a good holiday?”

“Yes. I have a good rest during this rare break.”

“Now that your vacation time is over, you should concentrate on your career again.”

“Understood.”

The chap’s cocky arrogance was very much tamed before his father. In front of this man, he maintained a humble and respectful attitude.

Gong Shaoying casually laid his pipe next to the windowsill and turned slowly to look at his son. Despite the signs of age on his handsome face, it retained the chiseled features and well-defined contours, which hinted of his youthful vigor.

He was dressed in a British-style, double-breasted suit, and his physique was just the right proportions.

It was hard to imagine that he was already forty-six years old.

One could see that this middle-aged man was exceptionally suave and striking during his prime.

Gong Jie had inherited the well-proportioned eyebrows, eyes, and contours from him.

The older man sized up his son and inquired leisurely, “So what plans do you have in mind for this year?”

“Father…”—his son paused, then hooked his lips into a conceited smile—”The African market is most valued by our group; unfortunately, that market has failed to live up to our expectations in the last three years, which is a pity, so I’m thinking: How about transferring that market to my name? I believe that gold mine can bring us immeasurable rewards.”

The older man gazed at him, narrowed his eyes, then burst into a chuckle. “How boastful you can be! You already have the North-American market, and now you’re telling me that you want the African market, too! That is very ambitious!” After saying that, he held his silence for a long time before snorting. “In retrospect, this is how I was in my younger days.”

Gong Jie smiled only to hear his father continue. “Still, you’re too ambitious for your own good. Aren’t you worried that you may invite trouble?”

“What’s there to be worried about?”

His father studied him for a while before shaking his head resignedly. “It’s not a good thing to be arrogant when you’re still young!”

He looked squarely into the older man’s eyes and gave a charming smile all of a sudden. “Father, my arrogance is the quality which you appreciate in me, isn’t it?”

“I do think well of your ambitions and self-confidence, but I have my worries about them, too.”

The young man slowly strode over to his father’s desk, saying, “Worries? This doesn’t sound like you at all, father. Your worries are redundant here; I need to be ambitious.”

The older man slowly got up from his seat and glanced at him, so the two looked straight at each other in this manner.

Despite his age, Gong Shaoying’s commanding presence had not diminished. He bore down on his son with his dignified stance for a long time before agreeing readily, “Alright, I grant you with the African market share if you insist on it, but you’ll have to give up the North-American market in return.”

The lad nodded to indicate his compromise.

“It is true that we’ve lost many opportunities on the African market. I hope that you can recover our losses at the minimum.”

“I understand.”

“Oh, and one more thing…”

His father seemed to recall something but stopped short of completing his statement.