Rebirth in 1985

Chapter 277: Demoting the ‘prime’ to the ‘deputy’

The reason why Lu Shaohua fell into deep thought was because Old Deng was coming to his production base. This was a really big event. It was possible that Old Deng's arrival would bring a great impact to Phoenix Group. You know, a former top leader's southern tour would always receive unusual attention from the coal media. Since there was a coal media, the production base would also be exposed.

Although Lu Shaohua did not want to let the outside world know that there was a Phoenix Group company in Shenzhen so quickly, the situation had changed. No matter how hard he tried to conceal it, it would be futile. As long as Mr. Deng arrived, the four big words "Phoenix Group" would appear in the sight of others.

Truth will come out sooner or later. Even if it has come to this, there is no need to conceal it any longer. Just make it public. You can also take this opportunity to do some publicity, build momentum for the company, and raise the profile of Phoenix Group.

After taking a deep breath, Lu Shaohua smiled and said calmly, "Brother, now that you are back home, I want him to take over Phoenix Security. What do you think?"

"Hmm?" Chen Guobang frowned. As far as he knew, the general manager of Phoenix Security Company was Li Kai, who was also one of the special forces who followed Chen Guobang to the Soviet Union. Now Lu Shaohua wanted to hand over Phoenix Security to him. Isn't that competing with Li Kai for power? "Xiaohua, shouldn't you think about it carefully?"

Chen Guobang has his own concerns. Lu Shaohua is the boss and he has the final say on who will be the general manager. However, Chen Guobang is afraid of causing misunderstanding among his comrades. After all, it is a bit unreasonable to remove a position without making any mistakes.

"Oh?" Lu Shaohua didn't think much about it, but after hearing what Chen Guobang said, he suddenly came to his senses. He cursed himself for not thinking it through, and said, "Well, I'll find a time to talk to Brother Li Kai."

Originally, the position of general manager of Phoenix Security was prepared for Chen Guobang, but Chen Guobang was in the Soviet Union at the time and could not leave, so Lu Shaohua had to settle for the second best and just find someone to take over. He thought that removing the position would be a matter of words, but he overlooked the possibility that it might cause misunderstandings between them and damage the relationship between comrades.

Chen Guobang himself didn't care. He could give him any position as long as he could help Lu Shaohua. As for those false reputations, they were nothing but floating clouds in his eyes. Seeing that Lu Shaohua seemed to insist on putting himself in this position, Chen Guobang didn't say anything else. He nodded and signaled Lu Shaohua to do it.

"Well! Let's put the security company aside for now." After a pause, Lu Shaohua continued. "I believe that big brother has heard it just now. Deng Lao is coming. We have to ensure the safety of the production base. I want to leave this matter to big brother. After all, you are good at this. What do you think?"

Lu Shaohua's words have made it very clear, that is, to leave that matter to Chen Guobang to handle.

No matter whether it is the current national leader or the former national leader, bodyguards are indispensable. Even so, Mr. Deng has bodyguards, but when he comes to Lu Shaohua's territory, Lu Shaohua has to be responsible for ensuring that nothing unexpected happens. It is better to be safe than sorry!

"Well, no problem. I will go to the production base tomorrow to take a look, familiarize myself with the environment first, and then see if there is anything that needs to be arranged." Chen Guobang said seriously.

"There's no need to rush. There are still 11 days left. Brother, you just returned from the Soviet Union. Take a few days off before you talk." Lu Shaohua is not a capitalist and will not exploit workers. What's more, Chen Guobang is not Lu Shaohua's worker, but Lu Shaohua's 'big brother'.

Chen Guobang saw the concern in Lu Shaohua's eyes and did not insist. He had just returned from the turbulent Soviet Union and was mentally exhausted. It was necessary to take a day off to adjust his mentality. "Take a day off tomorrow and go over the day after tomorrow."

Chen Guobang did not refuse, so Lu Shaohua made the decision. After chatting for a while, Lu Shaohua saw that Chen Guobang looked tired, so he let him go to rest first.

……

Chen Guobang returned to China to take over the position of general manager of Phoenix Security. He couldn't do without a car, so Lu Shaohua called Liu Mingzhang's office. He remembered that the last time he got married, Lu Shaohua gave him a Rolls-Royce as a wedding gift, and the bulletproof Mercedes-Benz he used before seemed to have been placed in the garage unused. So, Lu Shaohua planned to make use of the waste and get the bulletproof Mercedes-Benz for Chen Guobang to use first. Anyway, the car was no different from a new one.

Needless to say, when Liu Mingzhang heard that Lu Shaohua needed the bulletproof Mercedes, he said he would arrange for someone to drive the car to Shenzhen the next day. Lu Shaohua was naturally happy to save trouble and didn't have to say more to Liu Mingzhang. But then again, the bulletproof Mercedes was allocated to Liu Mingzhang by the group, not given to him, so it was just a matter of a word to get it back from him.

After hanging up the phone with Liu Mingzhang, Lu Shaohua called Li Zhijie again. He first told him about Chen Guobang's return to China, and then asked about the situation in Africa. After learning that everything was normal, Lu Shaohua told him the real purpose of the call.

"How is the research on steel refining progressing?" Lu Shaohua asked on the phone.

"Going well! We've been working on it these past few days." Li Zhijie responded on the other end of the phone.

"Can it be completed in five days?" Lu Shaohua asked again.

The phone was silent for a while before Li Zhijie's voice came again. "I'll try to get them to speed up. Is it urgent?"

"Well, it's not particularly urgent." Lu Shaohua didn't want to put pressure on them. After all, researching such things would take time and effort. If it weren't for the military talents from the former Soviet Union, it might not be possible to research it out even in a few months.

No matter how calm Lu Shaohua's tone was, Li Zhijie on the other end of the phone could still hear that Lu Shaohua was very anxious, because Li Zhijie knew very well that if he was not anxious, Lu Shaohua would not ask him how the progress was.

After chatting with Lu Shaohua for a while, Li Zhijie hung up the phone in a hurry and ran to the forbidden area of ​​the mercenary group's base. He had to urge those technical talents to speed up the progress because Lu Shaohua was in a hurry.

……

Lu Shaohua was completely unaware of Li Zhijie's actions far away in Africa. After hanging up the phone, he sat down on the sofa, was dazed for a while, then suddenly stood up, picked up the phone, called Li Kai, and asked him to come to the villa.

Since it has been decided to hand over the position of general manager of Phoenix Security to Chen Guobang, Lu Shaohua must take action and talk to Li Kai in person to explain the interests involved so that there will be no misunderstandings between Li Kai and Chen Guobang.

Forty minutes passed quickly. After Lu Shaohua finished the call, he stared at the TV in a daze, constantly organizing his thoughts on how to talk to Li Kai. Lu Shaohua was just that kind of person. Even if it was an employee under him, he would not give orders directly as a boss. He would only be patient and talk to him. Of course, for those who violated his rules, he would not be polite and directly order them to leave.

The second hand of the clock ran round and round. After forty-five minutes, Lu Shaohua, who was sitting in the hall, was finally brought back to reality by the sound of a car engine outside. He knew that Li Kai had come. As expected by Lu Shaohua, not long after, Li Kai walked in with ease.

"Just find a seat and sit down." Lu Shaohua smiled and said lightly.

Li Kai was not polite either. He had come to the villa a few days ago to help move furniture and had also sat in the hall. He found a seat and sat down with a questioning look on his face.

After Li Kai sat down, Lu Shaohua first told him about Chen Guobang's situation, and then continued, "Brother Guobang will not go back to the Soviet Union this time. He will go to Phoenix Security to work."

After much thought, Lu Shaohua still couldn't find a more appropriate way to directly replace him as the general manager, so he could only resort to indirect methods.

"Really?" Hearing that Chen Guobang was returning to China, Li Kai was happy at first, but then he heard that Chen Guobang would work for Phoenix Security. He was stunned and frowned, not knowing what Lu Shaohua meant by that. After a while, his frowned brows relaxed. He was not a fool, on the contrary, he was very smart. He thought deeply and understood what Lu Shaohua meant. However, he was still not sure whether his guess was true, so he asked tentatively. "Should we let Brother Chen go in as the general manager?"

Lu Shaohua didn't say anything, but nodded with a smile, his eyes focused on Li Kai without blinking. He wanted to see Li Kai's reaction and whether he would be dissatisfied because he was going to be replaced as the general manager.

"Haha!" Li Kai laughed bitterly at first, then said sincerely, "I told Brother Chen at the time that I could help out, but I really couldn't manage a company. Now that Chen Guobang is back, I can get rid of the burden."

What Li Kai said was the truth. He really didn't want to take on this responsibility at that time, but in the end he had no choice. Chen Guobang imposed it on him in the form of an order, and he could only do as Chen Guobang said.

Lu Shaohua did not see any dissatisfaction in Li Kai's expression. On the contrary, he saw that Li Kai seemed to have lifted a heavy stone from his heart and breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, the position of general manager of Phoenix Security will be handed over to Brother Guobang, but you can't just walk away like that. You can't escape the position of deputy general manager."

"No way?" Li Kai, who was originally very happy, suddenly turned into a bitter face and said with some complaints. "I am really not suitable for this kind of management!"

"Haha!" Lu Shaohua laughed, ignoring Li Kai's complaining tone, and said directly, "Don't push it. If you can't do it, how come Phoenix Security has been established for such a long time without any problems? This proves that you can do it."

After a pause, Lu Shaohua didn't wait for Li Kai to say anything else and added, "Okay, let's settle this matter. Big Brother Guobang will be there the day after tomorrow."

"Oh!" What else could Li Kai do? He could only agree helplessly.

……