Chapter 552: Both Rivals and Friends
Yu Jiayang was doing very well in business and had set his sights on a longer-term goal. He wanted to expand his influence and become a truly world-class figure. For this, he often fought a business war with his rival, Eric. The two of them were very serious at work, not at all soft-hearted. Both of them had extremely strong iron fists, and were the type who would never turn back once they had made a decision. Many people said that if these two could become teammates instead of rivals, that would surely be very nice.
Although they were not soft-hearted when competing, Yu Jiayang and Eric were not at each other’s throats in private. At least in private, they could still have a meal and a drink together.
“Eric, long time no see. Are you studying me again?”
This day, Yu Jiayang had happened to run into him. Both of them had gotten off work and were no longer in the workplace, so there was less of an atmosphere of being at loggerheads. Eric also showed the smile of seeing an old friend.
“I should be the one saying that, Kevin. Are you sure you’re not studying me?”
Eric and Yu Jiayang were from the same era. Although Eric was a little older, it did not affect their friendship. Compared to calling Yu Jiayang by his Chinese name, he preferred to call him by his English name. That was his proof of acknowledging the other party as his rival.
“Coincidentally, I don’t have an appointment today. Do you want to go for a drink?”
“Of course I can. As long as you don’t get drunk and let me get your business secrets out of you, otherwise you’ll be swept out of the house. I don’t want my life to be without you as a rival. That would be too boring.”
“You’re so confident. I’ll return this sentence to you. Don’t get drunk and tell me everything. I don’t want to be without you as a rival.”
“Hahaha.”
Although they were rivals, their private friendship was not bad. They could also make jokes usually, and could even go for a drink together. Several times, people had been trying to persuade the two of them to cooperate, and not to be rivals anymore. But unfortunately, they belonged to two different companies. They were both eyeing the same throne, and their philosophies were different. They could only be rivals. Because they did not want to lose.
But besides work, their private friendship was another matter.
“My wife is at home today. Do you want to come to my house, Eric?”
“Your house? I’ve never been to your house. You don’t mind?”
“What’s there for me to mind? I have a twenty-year-old wine. Coincidentally, you’re here today. Let’s drink it together.”
“Haha, alright. Then I won’t be polite with you.”
Yu Jiayang and Eric, these two were both influential figures in the business world. It could be said that their every move would affect the American business world. But in the eyes of outsiders, it must be very hard to understand that their private friendship would be so good.
It was Eric’s first time being a guest at the Yu family. Although he had always known that his rival, Yu Jiayang, was a mixed-race, and had also married an American wife, he had not expected that Yu Jiayang’s daughter would look like her mother.
“You are Eric, right? Welcome. Quick, come in and sit.”
Catherine was at home today and had not gone to the set to work as usual. She was on vacation, and taking advantage of this time, she wanted to be with her family at home. Eric had long heard of Catherine’s story. Her fame was very great, and the title of a Hollywood superstar was well-deserved. Even his daughter, who was not very interested in movies at home, had become interested in the movies that Catherine had starred in, and had even pestered him to buy her a DVD.
“Hello, Davis. My daughter is your little movie fan. Can you give me an autograph? I want to give my daughter a gift.”
Eric showed his signature smile, took out a postcard with Catherine’s photo on it, and asked her to sign it. Catherine skillfully took out a pen and signed her name, and also wrote a blessing.
“Thank you. I’m very happy~ Your daughter must be very cute. Let me see your daughter when you’re free.”
“There will be a chance.”
Eric entered the house. The place where Yu Jiayang lived was also quite large, and the environment was also not bad. It was said that he had only moved here after he got married. Before, Yu Jiayang had lived in Seattle.
He had also seen Yu Jiayang’s two daughters. The older one was Xiayue. She was a little mischievous at a young age and was circling around her dad.
“Yueyue, this is my friend, Eric.”
“Hello, Mr. Eric!”
“Hello, little princess. You’re so cute.”
Eric squatted down and gently scraped her nose, and started to laugh.
And then the youngest daughter was Linna, who was not yet two, with a slightly dazed and cute expression, sucking her finger, and standing there looking at Eric.
Catherine picked her up.
“This is your dad’s friend,” Catherine explained.
Little Linna thought for a moment, and then she seemed to have thought of something.
“Hello, uncle…”
How should she put it? Eric felt that his heart had been shot by an arrow. This little girl was so cute.
“Kevin, I’m so envious of you, to have raised such a cute daughter.”
“Hahaha, although you’ve always made me suffer in business, when it comes to daughters, I won’t lose!”
“Sigh, my daughter is not cute at all. She doesn’t like to play with me every day. On the contrary, my son is so naughty. He proclaims every day that he wants to be Jordan. It’s really enough.”
The two families both laughed. Only the two children had a look of incomprehension, probably not understanding the jokes of the adults.
But this did not hinder Eric’s first visit. This day, the Yu family had treated him very well. Yu Jiayang had taken out a good wine he had treasured for many years and had drunk with him. The two of them were drinking and chatting, but basically did not involve work. Even if they had talked about work, it was just to talk about the interesting things that had happened at work, and they would not talk about the related matters of work. Perhaps this was the reason why the two of them, as rivals, had been in constant dispute for all these years, but were still friends in private.
“Kevin, although it’s not very good to say so, but I don’t want to lose to you. You just wait. I will surpass you and become the only winner.”
“You’re so arrogant. Then I won’t lose to you either. I also want to win.”
“Don’t you cry if you lose.”
“Hmph, I’m just asking for it.”
Then the two of them had another drink.
After the meal, they had returned to their normal state, chatting in the living room, pulling at some trivial topics. The main thing was to talk about their own children. Yu Jiayang was only in his twenties, and had not been married for ten years, but Eric had been married for more than ten years. In terms of talking about family, Eric was more able to pull at it than Yu Jiayang.
At this time, Little Linna was playing and had come to the living room. She had taken a piece of paper and had handed it to Yu Jiayang. Yu Jiayang had patted her head and had looked at the paper his daughter had given her. On it was a painting, drawn with crayons. Because she was a little child, basically what she had drawn was graffiti, messy, and you couldn’t tell what it was at all.
“Nana, what are you drawing?”
“Ba ba…”
“This is me? Oh, you’re so smart. So amazing. This is so beautiful.”
Although he didn’t know what she was drawing at all, Yu Jiayang was very happy and had put this thing away as if it were a treasure. Daughters are so wonderful.
Eric was watching his daughter on the side, making a “tsk tsk” sound.
“They are both human, but the difference is so great.”
“I won’t give it to you even if you look at me like that. This is a gift from my daughter.”
“You’re a hopeless daughter-con.”
Little Linna looked at Eric, who was sitting opposite her dad, and thought for a moment.
“Uncle, do you want one too?”
“Oh, if Little Nana wants to give it to me, of course I want it. Uncle, I like you the most. Can you give me one?”
“Alright, I’ll draw a good one for you!”
“So good, Little Nana. Uncle will give you a hug.”
“Hey, Eric, you let go of my daughter!”
This was Eric’s first time at the Yu family, and also his happiest. For the still young Little Linna, she surely wouldn’t think so much, because in her impression, this uncle was a kind and friendly person, and was also quite good to her. After that, when this uncle had come to her house, he would also bring her some small gifts. She had liked this uncle even more. After that, Yu Jiayang had even complained that it was all because Eric had come to her house too frequently, to the point where his little daughter always liked to cling to him, which had made Yu Jiayang, as a father, very unhappy.
Eric had also felt very satisfied. When they were at work, the two of them were still evenly matched, but in private, Eric felt that in this aspect, he was much more amazing than his rival.
This period of time had also been quite pleasant.
…
After that, Eric and Yu Jiayang had entered a state of business war. The two of them, to make their companies go a step further, had also started a business competition with each other. They both wanted to seize the market and to lay down their own land. For this, the two families had also fought quite fiercely.
Of course, in terms of the market, healthy competition is beneficial to the market’s circulation.
But Eric was very troubled. Recently, the company’s financial situation had been getting worse and worse, and there were often deficits. Although a large amount of funds had been invested, the return rate was too small, which was the so-called “income does not cover the expenditure.” Under such circumstances, Eric had fought a business war with Yu Jiayang. With such a large investment in the market, and a very small return rate, the company’s situation had become very bad.
Therefore, Eric had been troubled all along. On the one hand, he had to consider the company, and on the other hand, he was not very willing to give up competing with Yu Jiayang. But he was clear-headed after all, and had still chosen to temporarily adjust. But doing so had not solved the problem at its root.
Managing a company is more complicated than imagined, especially a large company. It is very difficult to manage. It involves any project, any engineering, investment, planning, and return. Every link has to be considered carefully. There are always risks in doing business. No one can guarantee 100% that they can make a profit. The only job in this world that can steadily get money is to get a fixed salary. Most entrepreneurs have to face the market crisis of high returns and high risks.
During this period of time, because of poor management, Eric had owed a lot of money. At this time, if he did not turn the company’s losses into profits, then the subsequent situation would be very dangerous.
“Chairman, what should we do for the next cycle? As for the proposal, do you think it’s okay to arrange it like this?”
“I’ll take a look first. You can go down and do your work. I’ll reply to you after I’ve finished reading.”
“Alright.”
Eric pressed his own head, trying hard to think about the next path. But to solve the problem was really not a simple matter.
Recently, Eric had rarely gone out for a drink with Yu Jiayang. He had more worries, and he was also thinking about what solution to use to solve the problem.
“Eric, you’ve seemed to have a lot on your mind recently. Do you want to go for a couple of drinks to relieve your boredom?”
At this time, Yu Jiayang had met him. He was still the same as before, inviting him. Eric thought for a moment, and then he smiled, although this smile was a little tired.
“Alright, let’s go.”
