The crowd fell into dead silence. The onlookers had already settled back down to their stations, and
started to mind their own business. However, occasional glances could be observed as the
confrontation between Jacob and those experienced employees continued for a while.
Although everyone wanted the scoop of what was to be the result of this matter, they knew that once
Jacob had made his decision, there was no way to persuade him otherwise. This was all a futile activity
—a total waste of effort.
But one couldn't really blame them for trying. If they succeeded somehow, it would have been
beneficial for most of them. If they failed, at least they could give a warning to the other employees
present.
As Jacob pondered in silence, he walked around back and forth as if also trying to scan the area. He
glanced over at the stunned employees, and finally said, "I know you have done a lot for the company
until now, and I'm aware of your fair share of contributions to keep this place running. Idlers, however,
are not welcome in the company, but those who work hard will never go unrewarded. So, please,
people. You have nothing to worry about. I will deal with this matter fairly and with utmost
transparency."
The employees who heard his words never uttered a word in response, but one could tell how their
hearts sank into despair. They didn't care about fairness and justice. What they hoped was for Jacob to
reconsider his decision entirely.
Now it seemed that all hope was lost, and there was no way back for them. They knew that any further
attempt would be a waste of time.
Jacob turned around, and left the area in silence, leaving the employees standing there in a daze.
As soon as he got back to his office, Jacob locked the door as his annoyance started to manifest in his
otherwise stoic facial expression. He took out the list again and started crossing out names of people
he didn't want to lose.
Since he couldn't possibly be generous to just basically everyone, he had to at least try his best to
make everyone satisfied with how he would handle the matter with fairness.
He looked up as he lay back against the chair after crossing out some names. The calm demeanor
returned to him again, but the waves of rage and intense emotions that were mixing up were roaring
from inside his heart.
It was supposedly not that much of a deal for him to handle something like that, but he suddenly felt
much tenser than he expected.
He called out for Cindy and ordered her to carry out the list to the directors. It was not until then that he
knew that the show had only just begun.
Naturally, people might not have the courage to fire the person they recruited, but Jacob reminded
himself that he did so to let others know how determined he was to set the company straight with his
own ways.
And now, he was well aware of how covetous other people could be. Those people had been planting
some grudges against him that he wasn't aware of.
He didn't exactly expose them, even though he now knew all about them.
The higher position he stood on, the more resentment he would get. Such was just the nature of the
corporate world. When he looked down, all those concepts flowed through him like a clear proverb.
"Knock, knock, knock."
He looked at the door of his office, and took his time before acting on the right response.
"Knock, knock, knock."
"Come in, please," he calmly answered.
"Jacob, have you released the layoff list?" James took a deep breath as if the air was thin from outside.
"Yes, I did it just now." Jacob squinted his eyes, and refrained from explaining too much.
"Why didn't you discuss it with me before you made the decision?" James took a chair as he anxiously
sat opposite his nephew. Jacob, on the other hand, could tell that his uncle was anxious.
"Uncle James, you know, I owe you too much. I don't want you to get involved in this and risk dragging
you into trouble."
James was frozen in place when he heard those words, but he calmed down as he managed to fully
process what Jacob had said. "What are you talking about? I'm your uncle. You don't have to worry
about me. I'll be fine. It doesn't matter if they want to put the blame on me, really."
A smile on his face arched up as Jacob stood up and walked closer to James. He rested his hands on
his uncle's shoulders, and massaged them as if to assure him that everything was fine. James looked
at him in surprise. His eyes slid out of focus and back again as he gazed at Jacob.
"Uncle James, I know it. They will put all the blame on me no matter what I do. So you don't have to
take the bullet for me. I can handle myself, and I just want them to leave at ease,"
Jacob calmly assured him as he kneaded his back.
"Well, it seems that I got worried for nothing. But there's one more thing." James paused midway.
"Is it about Jonathan again? His reaction was indeed very suspicious. Logically speaking, he would
have some objection to such a request before. But this time, he stayed silent and was unusually
obedient. I don't know what's wrong with him."
He suddenly stopped pinching as he talked about Jonathan's recent behavior. James cleared his
throat. He didn't expect his nephew to have such a keen observational skill now.
No, he had never once underestimated his nephew. He only concluded that Jacob must have grown up
a lot now that he seemed quite different from what he had imagined.
Before, James could tell that his nephew was very much against being in the business field. Back then,
he had to be careful when talking to him because he believed that if a person didn't have the slightest
interest for an industry, he might give up so easily at any given point.
But to his surprise, his nephew showed so much courage and showed no signs of giving up. James
could tell, too, that even during the times most difficult for his nephew, he managed to hold on long
enough until he could solve the problem.
Now, James realized that he was right about this young man after all. It was because of Jacob's
resilience that he could achieve what he had today. It could be attributed to a sheer miracle for him.
At least Jacob had an unwavering resilience and he wasn't corrupted by choosing this path.
What his elder brother feared the most was not that his son wasn't particularly interested in the family
business, but that he would be unhappy by the time he took over it.
James was worried about this, too, so he spared no effort in guiding Jacob and showing him the ropes
of running a business. Now, when James looked at him, it felt like he was looking at his own child. He
cared about him the most and would support him whichever path he wanted to take.
Jacob was his only family in the world. He knew it, and he kept that at heart. On the day of his elder
brother's death, he was just as sad as his nephew.
Although he was not married, James had seen his fair share of experience through life. He was never
the type to view things in the extreme. On the contrary, he could be optimistic most of the time that
people found so hard to do when confronted with difficulties in life.
This was what made him so special. Not everyone understood how he viewed life, but he remained
optimistic.
"Yes, you should pay attention to him, especially these days. I don't think this peculiarity in his actions
would be that simple. We suffered a major setback about what happened recently. We should stay
sharp. First, it was the file being missing, and now the inevitable layoff. Now, someone might accuse
you of orchestrating the whole thing."
James frowned as he gave it some careful thoughts. It wasn't very likely, but it was still hard to cross off
of the things they had to be wary of. After all, everything that happened so far could not have been a
pure coincidence.
"Uncle James, will you blame me if I give up one day?" Jacob stopped what he was doing as he
suddenly asked.
"What?" His uncle was frozen in place, partly due to a sudden shock. However, he understood what he
meant.
James looked out of the window in a daze, and replied, "To tell you the truth, Jacob, I have never
thought about forcing you to do all this. I hope you can understand that these things are really not that
important. I believe there are more things in life other than the company. And so does my elder brother.
We don't wish you to be unhappy doing everything for us."
He paused for a good while, and continued, "We just want you to live a life where you can be happy. Of
course, everyone would experience pain at some point of their lives. But it doesn't matter. What matters
is how you feel and what mentality you bring as you survive the pain that you experienced."
"Uncle James, I know you and my father are doing this for my own good. You and him have been
nothing but kind to me over the years. I'm doing this out of my own will. It turns out that I can actually
start to enjoy this path after all. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone this far."
Jacob smiled as he let out a soft chuckle. He didn't want to comment on that anymore. However, he
would always think of the time when both his father and uncle mentored him in his younger years.
James had taught him a lot, not just about running a business, and Jacob vowed to himself never to
forget those lessons.
"I hope you can live a good life where you'd be free from all the stress of worrying about the company. I
will support you no matter what choice you make. So, to answer your question: even if you are
disappointed and choose to give up, I won't blame you. I know my elder brother wouldn't either. If only
he's still here with us."
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