01
When I was young, I started my own business. My husband couldn’t stand my strong-willed personality, so he left the country with a gentle woman.
He left me alone, handling the company’s financial paperwork with my right hand and feeding our daughter Tinh Tinh with my left.
Tinh Tinh never knew hardship. By the time she was old enough to understand the world, I was already a businesswoman among the country’s richest, and she had become a high-profile heiress.
She attended the finest private school for the wealthy, and always ranked at the top of her class. Then, during her final-year exams, I was summoned to the school and discovered that she had paid poor students to take the tests for her.
After the college entrance exams, she went abroad to study thanks to the enormous donation I made to her school. Every month, she wrote home in tears, claiming she didn’t have enough spending money. Then I found out she was using it to chase celebrities and buy chart rankings.
I always thought she was still young and would grow more mature with time. But I never expected that, once grown up, she would bring home someone like this.
“Mom, this is James.”
My daughter took a man by the hand, walked into the middle of my shareholders’ meeting, and announced cheerfully in front of everyone,
“I’ve already worked it out with him. He’ll start as Marketing Director.”
All the shareholders fell silent, as if watching a play. Their eyes turned toward me. My face flushed, burning hot.
“Tinh Tinh,” I said, suppressing my anger, “we’re in the middle of a very important meeting. Could you take James outside for now?”
“Mom,” Tinh Tinh came over and tugged at my sleeve, “isn’t this our family’s company? James isn’t an outsider.”
My hand, gripping the documents, went stiff and icy. I’d never been so humiliated in my life.
Mr. Vương, the deputy general manager of human resources, immediately stepped in to defuse the situation, signaling the shareholders to leave the conference room. “All right, everyone, please think over what Ms. Tô has just presented. We’ll continue the meeting at three this afternoon.”
To my surprise, Tinh Tinh objected.
“Uncle Vương, what are you doing? I want to announce James’s position. Why are you telling everyone to leave?”
Mr. Vương smiled helplessly. “Miss Tô, personnel appointments at the company have to follow a strict process. You can’t just announce one on a whim.”
“Why not?” Tinh Tinh snapped. “I’m Mom’s only daughter. If this company won’t belong to me someday, who will it belong to?”
“All of you owe your jobs to me. I want James to be Marketing Director right now!”
Mr. Vương looked at me awkwardly. I kept my expression cold and said quietly, “Mr. Vương, thank you for your trouble. Please take everyone out of the conference room for now.”
Mr. Vương nodded. Tinh Tinh turned to me, displeasure in her eyes. “Mom!”
Then she turned and tried to stop the people leaving. “Hey, don’t go! You hear me…”
“Tô Tinh Tinh!” I shouted.
Only then did Tinh Tinh fall silent. She was clearly unhappy, glaring at me with a mix of hurt and anger.
“You said I had to learn how to manage the company.”
“Is this how you manage a company?” The conference room door had closed, and only the three of us remained in the vast room. I no longer bothered to hide my anger. Pointing at James, I asked Tinh Tinh, “Do you know how much responsibility comes with the position of Marketing Director? What qualifies him for it?”
Tinh Tinh pouted. “James is incredibly talented! Everyone’s just prejudiced against him.”
I looked at James coldly. He had the kind of handsome face women swooned over, no less appealing than the idols young people were crazy about. But ever since he’d entered, he’d stayed in the background, letting his woman confront me for him.
My instincts told me this man couldn’t be trusted. I said coolly, “Whether this company belongs to you someday or not, I’m the one who makes the decisions right now.”
“Don’t think you’re ever going to work at my company.”
“Mom!!”
I slammed the door on my way out and called security. “Escort the two people in the conference room out, and don’t let them set foot in the company again.”
02
When I got home, my adopted daughter, Tiểu Nhã, was cooking in the kitchen.
“Auntie, you’re home.” Tiểu Nhã turned and smiled at me. “I made black-boned chicken soup with red dates. Try some in a little while—it’s good for replenishing your blood and energy.”
I sank wearily onto the sofa and tried to smile. “You should focus on your studies. Let the housekeeper handle the cooking.”
Tiểu Nhã carried a bowl of soup over. “Don’t worry, Auntie. I’ve finished all my homework. Auntie, why do you look so tired?”
I rubbed my face hard. Ever since security had escorted her out of the company, Tinh Tinh hadn’t been in touch with me.
For years, I’d kept asking myself whether the way I raised her was to blame for having a daughter like this.
But I’d raised Tiểu Nhã the same way. She was my chauffeur’s daughter. Her parents had both died in a car accident, and none of her relatives wanted to take her in, so I brought her home.
In the blink of an eye, the little girl had grown into a young woman. She was about to graduate from high school and had applied to the Business Administration department at Tsinghua University. Her teacher said Tiểu Nhã had a very good chance of getting in with grades like hers.
Quite a few boys had written love letters to Tiểu Nhã. She kept them in a tin box beside her desk, planning to read them after the college entrance exams.
“I’m fine. Go study.”
“Don’t forget to drink your soup, Auntie.”
After I finished the bowl of soup Tiểu Nhã had made, I felt a little better. Then Tinh Tinh called. She refused to come home and asked to meet me at a café near the house.
As soon as she sat down, she asked me for 800,000 yuan.
“Mom, since you won’t let James work at the company, let’s each give a little. Let him start his own business.”
“This 800,000 is startup capital.”
I patiently listened to Tinh Tinh describe a business plan that sounded like a scam from the outset. My throat went bitter. “I’m not giving you the money.”
“Mom! How can you treat me like this?!” Tinh Tinh shouted angrily, drawing glances from everyone in the café.
“I already told James that when he came back to the country, I’d make him director of marketing. But you made me look bad.”
“I’ve already compromised. It’s only 800,000! Is that really so much? A few handbags would cost that much. You won’t even agree to give me this little bit of money?!”
I looked at my daughter sadly. She’d grown up in luxury, and because I felt sorry for her for not having a father, I’d tried to make it up to her with material things. And now she had the nerve to tell me that 800,000 was a small amount of money.
I took a deep breath, summoned every last bit of patience I had, and tried to keep my voice gentle. “Tinh Tinh, you’ve never earned money, so you don’t understand. 800,000 is a lot of money. Many people starting a business have to live on instant noodles and sleep in basements to save up that much.”
Tinh Tinh raised an eyebrow, looking confused. “So what? What does that have to do with me?”
“Mom, I’m about to marry James. He’s your son-in-law, not some stranger.”
I took out two folders and set them in front of her. “Tinh Tinh, I had someone look into him. James has been married twice. When he met you, he hadn’t even divorced his previous wife.”
“He has violent tendencies and served time in prison for domestic abuse. What could you possibly like about a man like that?”
I thought seeing those two folders would bring Tinh Tinh to her senses. But instead, she pushed them aside and looked at me with tear-filled eyes.
“Mom, I get it now. James was right. You’re a woman who was unhappy in her marriage, and you don’t want anyone else to be happy either.”
“You want everyone to be just like you, living in a loveless hell.”
The next day, my daughter, who was chasing after “true love,” stole the household registration booklet and went to register her marriage to James.
With dark circles under my eyes, I went to the office and called Deputy General Manager Vương in. “I told you before to show Tinh Tinh the ropes when she came back, right?”
Vương, a seasoned businessperson, looked as though he were suffering the greatest torment in the world. He didn’t dare let me see his expression, so he bowed his head. “Yes. I’m all prepared…”
“That won’t be necessary.” I cut him off flatly. “Tiểu Nhã will finish her college entrance exams next week. You can train her instead.”
Deputy General Manager Vương jerked his head up. The man, once known for keeping his emotions in check, couldn’t hide the joy on his face. He rushed over to massage my shoulders and thump my back. “Oh my goodness, my dear Ms. Tô! You’ve finally come to your senses!”