Chapter 4 — Looking Down on People Through a Dog's Eyes - "Sir, Who Are You Looking For?" Wei Zhao Had Taken Only a Few Steps When the Building Security Stopped Him

"Wait a moment, let me take a look." Wei Zhao thought to himself that the big city was certainly well run to even post security guards, though this guard was mere window dressing, not nearly as formidable as A-Hu.

A-Hu was a playmate of Wei Zhao's. He knew no kung fu, yet he could kill an ox with one punch. In Wei Zhao's eyes, this guard fell far short of an ox and was not even as sturdy as one.

Wei Zhao fished out another slip of paper from his trouser pocket, glanced at the words written on it, and said, "I am looking for Gu Pengzhan."

"Gu Pengzhan? Who is that? Why does that name sound so familiar?" The guard froze and repeated the name under his breath.

"The chairman!" The older guard standing to one side reacted faster and realized at once who Gu Pengzhan was. Startled, he tugged quickly at the first guard's sleeve and whispered, "Mind your tongue. If the captain hears you, you will be fired."

"Ah!" Hearing the old guard's words, the first guard gave a great start and stared with wide eyes, regretting his loose tongue and idle chatter for no reason. Now then, he did not even know the chairman, so what kind of guard was he? Whom was he supposed to protect?

Yet when the guard looked Wei Zhao up and down, his shifty eyes rolled and he felt afraid no longer. No matter how he looked at him, Wei Zhao did not seem like a man who could have any dealings with the chairman. One was the chairman of a colossal Fortune 500 corporation, the other a migrant laborer come to the city from the countryside. There seemed to be no connection whatsoever.

This brat must have come from some construction site to lodge a complaint with the chairman. With that thought, the guard instantly grew vigilant. Only two days before he had seen a similar film, called something like Owe Me One Hundred Thousand and Five Thousand, in which a migrant worker went to demand money from a chairman.

With that thought, the guard exchanged a look with the old guard. Clearly, both men were thinking the same thing.

"What do you want with Chairman Chu?" The old guard cleared his throat and fixed Wei Zhao with a stern stare, fearing he might do something rash.

"It is not me who wants him, it is my old man who told me to find him," Wei Zhao said lazily. He cared not at all what his employer's station might be in the real world. In any case, they were the ones begging him for help.

"Hmm? Your old man?" Upon hearing Wei Zhao's words, the two guards doubted him no longer. In the film the migrant worker sought money for his brother, so this lad before them must surely be seeking money for his father.

"Enough, spare me the useless talk. Just tell me which floor Gu Pengzhan is on and I will go find him." Wei Zhao had no time to waste arguing with these two petty guards. Better to meet the real master quickly.

"The chairman is not here. Be on your way..." The old guard sized Wei Zhao up twice more, and once he was certain the fellow could have absolutely no relation to the chairman, he issued the order to leave without ceremony.

Wei Zhao was too lazy to haggle with the two men. Their looks had not escaped his eyes, and he could guess eight or nine parts out of ten of what they were thinking. Was it not simply that they scorned his rustic dress? Dogs eyes that look down on men.

"Since he is not here, I will go inside and wait for him." Having spoken, Wei Zhao strode boldly into the company.

"Stop, you cannot go in!" The two guards had never expected Wei Zhao would dare to force his way in, and they rushed to block him.

At that very moment, the elevator doors on the first floor opened, and a slightly portly middle-aged man walked out together with a dark and lean middle-aged man.

"By my count the time should be about right. Why has that boy Xiao Yi still not contacted me? Li Fu, why do you not just drive to the station to meet him? You have seen his photograph, have you not?" The portly middle-aged man instructed the other dark and lean man.

"Very well, President Chen, I will go at once," Li Fu answered respectfully.

Before Li Fu could set off, Gu Pengzhan heard the quarrel at the company entrance and frowned at once. "Go and see what is happening first," he said to Li Fu.

"What is going on?" Li Fu walked briskly toward the company entrance, where he saw the two company guards holding back a young fellow from entering the building.

"Uncle Qing, this man says he wants to see the chairman, and he is trying to force his way inside..." The guards naturally knew Li Fu. Although Li Fu held no concrete administrative post in the company, he was the closest man to the chairman. If one had to name his position in the company, one could only say he was Chairman Chu's driver.

Yet everyone in the company knew Li Fu was far more than a simple driver. So these guards never treated Li Fu as a driver, but honored him as a leader.

In many situations, Li Fu's words stood for the chairman's own intent.

"You..." Li Fu stared at Wei Zhao, eyes wide, and said with some surprise, "You're Wei Zhao?"

"That's me." Wei Zhao glanced at Li Fu and nodded. From the moment Li Fu had appeared, he had been studying the man. His instinct told him that this was probably not Gu Pengzhan; as the chairman of a conglomerate, a man inevitably carried the imposing air of one accustomed to standing above others, and this man had none of it. Grave he might be, and respected by those around him, but a man's aura could not be altered.

"Hello." Li Fu knew how much stock Gu Pengzhan placed in this young man before him, so once he had confirmed Wei Zhao's identity, he did not dare be remiss, and hastily put out his hand to shake Wei Zhao's. "I'm Chairman Chu's secretary, Li Fu. The chairman was just about to send me to the train station to pick you up, and here you already are."

"It's all right. Call it getting to know the roads a little." Wei Zhao smiled and shook his hand. That was simply how Wei Zhao was: respect those who respect you. Seeing Li Fu so courteous, Wei Zhao felt a touch embarrassed instead.

"The chairman is right over there. This way, please. Let's go and see him together." Li Fu gestured in invitation, then walked on ahead to lead the way.

The two security guards from before stared blankly at Wei Zhao's receding back, jaws hanging open in astonishment.

"He really is the chairman's guest?" the young guard muttered to himself in disbelief.

"Uncle Qing came to fetch him in person, so there's no mistaking it," the older guard said with a sigh. "We nearly gave offense. Thank heaven Uncle Qing came over when he did. If we'd really thrown him out, we'd have been in for it."

When Li Fu had started walking over, Wei Zhao had already begun to take note of another middle-aged man a short distance away, a man of somewhat portly build. If his guess was right, this was the man he had come to see: Gu Pengzhan, director of the Gu Group.

"Wei Zhao, I take it?" As Wei Zhao followed Li Fu over, Gu Pengzhan came striding toward them as well, extending his right hand with great warmth.

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