Chapter 245 Giving Rose a Shoulder Rub
Li Ziheng realized that he had spoken too quickly and said the wrong thing, so he immediately scratched his head in embarrassment and stopped talking.
Rose chuckled and shook her head, kindly reminding him, "Watch your words in the future. You are Master Heng now, so you should be a bit more steady."
"I learned my lesson!"
Li Ziheng nodded.
Not long after, the two arrived at Rose's private study.
The study was still filled with Chinese elements, such as the mahogany desk and stools, but the most eye-catching item was the Chinese lounge chair where one could lie down and rest.
The lounge chair was very large, with a small tea table placed in the middle.
On the tea table sat a set of blue and white porcelain tea ware that was clearly worth a fortune.
After sitting down, Rose began to brew tea skillfully.
Seeing this, Li Ziheng also sat down. As soon as he sat down, Rose asked, "What kind of tea do you usually like to drink?"
Li Ziheng replied, "I don't really drink tea much usually."
"Coffee?"
Rose smiled while brewing tea, "Drinking too much coffee isn't good for your health. On the contrary, drinking tea not only refreshes you but also lowers blood pressure and strengthens the heart."
In the time it took to speak, Rose had already brewed a pot of tea.
She poured a cup for Li Ziheng, and instantly, a refreshing fragrance of tea wafted into his face.
Li Ziheng picked up the cup and drank it all in one go. To be honest, although it tasted plain at first, there was a hint of lingering sweetness after swallowing it.
"Sister Mei, your tea skills are pretty good!"
Li Ziheng praised sincerely.
Rose frowned slightly, "Tea skills? Are you praising me or mocking me?"
Li Ziheng was stunned and immediately said, "Of course I'm praising you."
"At least you know how to speak!"
A faint smile appeared on Rose's face again.
Li Ziheng went straight to the point and asked, "Sister Mei, you called me over this time; what is it about?"
When it came to serious business, Rose's tone suddenly became a bit stern.
"Master Yan took a fancy to you and chose you as his successor. Is this how you manage the people under him?"
"Uh—"
Li Ziheng gave an awkward smile.
Although he had taken over Song Huaiyan's power and industries, he had paid no attention to them and left everything to Little Wu to manage.
"Although Little Wu is a confidant Master Yan chose for you, you must understand that when a person holds too much power, it breeds ideas they shouldn't have."
"Master Yan should have taught you not to test human nature with profit or power!"
"Because human nature is something that cannot withstand testing the most."
Rose picked up her teacup, took a small sip, and continued, "I know what you are thinking, but I want to remind you that if you take the position, you must do the job. Since you've taken it over, you should manage it well."
"Don't let the foundation Master Yan spent years building be destroyed in a moment just because of temporary laziness."
Li Ziheng was not stupid. For Rose to suddenly tell him this, she must have received some bad news.
"Sister Mei, if you know something, please speak frankly."
"A new king brings new ministers. I already know about the Four Great Gods of Wealth. I agree with your approach, but your subsequent arrangements were somewhat lacking in consideration."
"How so?"
"The four people you arranged later were indeed well-behaved at first, but recently I received news that they have started to misbehave."
Rose put down her teacup, reached out, and took out a red mobile phone from the tea table drawer.
She unlocked the phone, tapped it a few times, and then handed it to Li Ziheng.
Li Ziheng took the phone in surprise and saw records of the recent deeds of those four people.
Looking at these deeds, Li Ziheng frowned frequently and almost couldn't help but swear.
Logically speaking, although these four were spies planted by Song Huaiyan beside the Four Great Gods of Wealth, counting it up, the Four Great Gods of Wealth were also their bosses.
But after the bosses were arrested, not only did these people not think about treating their bosses' families well, they took advantage of their bosses' downfall to occupy their wives and daughters.
What was worse, some even ruined their bosses' sixteen-year-old daughters, going so far as to take both mother and daughter.
Looking at these materials, Li Ziheng couldn't help but clench his fists and cursed in a low voice, "These four beasts!"
Rose was actually quite gratified by Li Ziheng's reaction. She said softly, "Getting angry is useless. What you should think about now is how to discipline them!"
"Discipline? They've done things worse than beasts. Shouldn't we just directly..."
Before Li Ziheng could finish his sentence, he saw Rose give a bitter smile and shake her head.
"Li Ziheng, you must understand that human nature is dark. When they possess power, they will do their best to satisfy their desires."
"Money, beauty, status! These are things everyone desires. They are humans too, and humans cannot avoid this."
"It's the same for you. If you didn't have desires, how could you have ruined Master Yan's two daughters in one breath?"
Rose ignored Li Ziheng's embarrassed expression and continued on her own, "As their boss, you are like this, yet you expect the people under you to be any better?"
Li Ziheng defended himself, "Sister Mei, you can't say that. Yiyi, Little Ya, and I are in mutual love and hit it off! I didn't force them!"
"That is your business, no need to explain to me. I only look at the results!"
Rose rolled her eyes at Li Ziheng and added, "Men being lecherous is natural. You are human too, so naturally, you can't avoid it. But you must understand your identity. Since you agreed to manage these people,
you should supervise them well and not let them do things that break the law and harm society."
Li Ziheng knew he was in the wrong, so he replied with a good attitude, "I understand. I will discipline them properly later."
Rose asked with interest, "Oh? Then how do you plan to discipline them?"
"I haven't thought about that yet for the time being."
Li Ziheng scratched his head.
"I knew it!"
Rose sighed and said with a bit of disappointment, "Master Yan predicted these things before he left. Later on, I will assist you in managing the people below."
"However, my energy is limited, and I don't want to manage too much, so you had better quickly cultivate a trustworthy person, support them to a position of power, and let them deter that gang of people for you."
"That would be great. Then I'll have to trouble you, Sister Mei!"
Hearing this, Li Ziheng immediately became happy.
He really had no interest in this mess left behind by his future father-in-law.
If possible, he just wanted to be a hands-off boss and live a good life with An Ya and Song Yiyi.
Li Ziheng's relieved expression somewhat irritated Rose.
Rose's face darkened, and she scolded angrily, "Don't you think about slacking off, kid. I said, although I will assist you, I won't manage too much. If you want to be a hands-off boss, fine, then hurry up and cultivate your own confidant."
"I don't know how to cultivate a confidant, and I don't know many people. It seems there isn't anyone suitable..."
Li Ziheng smiled awkwardly.
Suddenly, he thought of a person.
Perhaps that kid could be trained to help him manage the people below.
Li Ziheng asked for help shamelessly, "Sister Mei, I know a friend. His character is not bad, but regarding training him, can you help me?"
"Heh—"
Rose was amused by anger, "We aren't related by blood or kin. Are you planning to squeeze me dry? You're relying on me for everything?"
Li Ziheng giggled, "How are we not related? You are Master Yan's woman. Counting it, I'm also considered half a son-in-law to you!"
He originally wanted to flatter her and say something nice so Rose would agree when she was happy.
But unexpectedly, as soon as he said this, Rose's face instantly flushed red, and she cursed, "Bullshit!"
"Master Yan and I are just old acquaintances. Watch your mouth, kid. If you talk nonsense again, be careful or I'll tear your mouth apart!"
Seeing that Rose was really angry, Li Ziheng quickly apologized, "I misspoke. Sister Mei, please calm down. I won't talk nonsense in the future."
"Hmph—"
Although Li Ziheng had apologized, Rose still seemed to have some lingering anger.
Li Ziheng spoke softly, "Sister Mei, I've already apologized, so please don't be angry anymore. How about I rub your shoulders as a way to make it up to you?"
"Really? Then come on! If you rub it comfortably, I might be happy and forgive you."
Rose glanced at Li Ziheng, then turned her back to him.
Li Ziheng was dumbfounded.
He just said it casually, so why did she take it seriously?
But since he said it himself and she gave him the chance, it would seem a bit hypocritical if he didn't do it.
"What, I gave you the chance, and you're still unwilling?"
"No way, here I come!"
Li Ziheng gritted his teeth, took off his shoes, stepped over the tea table, and came behind Rose.
He sat cross-legged on the inner area of the lounge chair, placed his hands on Rose's fragrant shoulders, and began to gently knead them.
"The pressure is a bit heavy, make it lighter!"
"Oh!"
"Too light, make it a bit heavier."
"Oh!"
"The range a bit wider."
"Oh!"
...
He originally thought it was just a simple shoulder rub to deal with it and go through the motions.
But unexpectedly, he rubbed for an entire hour.
Li Ziheng's hands were getting a bit sore, but Rose still didn't show any sign of stopping.
Li Ziheng tilted his head, looked at Rose's profile, and asked tentatively, "Sister Mei, has your anger subsided yet?"
"Still a little bit left, you... rub a bit more!"
Rose's voice sounded a bit different from before.
Her voice was quite normal before, but at this moment, it carried a trace of panting.
Li Ziheng suspected that he had heard wrong. Just as he was about to say something, he unexpectedly discovered that Rose's ears had turned very red at some point.