Nathaniel Johnson's tone was extremely firm and resolute. After speaking, he turned and walked into his own room, leaving Noah Johnson and his wife staring at each other in speechless astonishment. The atmosphere in the The Johnson Family had always been very democratic; both Noah Johnson and Paige Walker were highly cultured people who valued education and fostering their son's independence. They had always respected their son's opinions since he was young, and seeing Nathaniel Johnson so determined, the two of them, for the moment, could say nothing more.

 “Old Zhou, do you think Nannan suddenly saying this means he’s found someone outside and doesn’t want to have any more entanglements with the The Lewis Family, so that Lillian Lewis won’t keep thinking about him?” Paige Walker looked at her son’s tightly closed bedroom door and spoke softly.

 Noah Johnson sighed, “Our son is grown up and has his own ideas. We need to respect him. How about this: I’ll keep trying regarding his job. If he really can’t get into the Economic and Trade Commission, any other unit will do. Worst case, there are still city-owned enterprises to choose from. No matter what, as a deputy bureau chief, even if I have no other skills, finding someone to arrange for my own son to get into an ordinary unit shouldn’t be a big problem.”

Chapter 006 Lillian Lewis

 Lying on his own bed, Nathaniel Johnson was quietly planning out his future life. In fact, for him right now, the job issue was secondary. With his talent, a diploma from Guanghua School of Management at Jinghua University, the experience of two lifetimes, and the advantage of rebirth’s information, he could quickly rise from the bottom in any unit he joined—this was not a big problem.

 Compared to real-power government agencies like the Economic and Trade Commission or the Finance Bureau, he preferred to enter one of the currently popular large state-owned enterprises managed under an institutional framework but with enterprise-style management, such as the Haidu City Petroleum and Gas Corporation. The main reason was that the work was relatively easy, allowing plenty of free time for him to start his own business. Moreover, in many matters, being in such an “institutional state-owned enterprise” was far more convenient than being in a government agency.

 According to the system at the time, these institutional state-owned enterprises still bore some administrative functions. All middle and senior leaders were cadres managed by the Organization Department, and in terms of rank and political treatment, there wasn’t much difference from government officials, but it was more practical. Of course, this was only the case in the early and mid-1990s; later, the gap between enterprises and government agencies gradually widened.

 As someone who was once a business prodigy, if he didn’t use the information advantage of his rebirth to make a mark in the business world, if he didn’t earn enough wealth for himself and his family to live comfortably and cope with life’s uncertainties, Nathaniel Johnson would truly be unwilling.

 If he entered a pure government agency, he would have to start as a junior clerk and climb step by step, bound by the “government cadre identity.” If he wanted to “get rich,” he would inevitably face some unnecessary troubles. At the very least, government officials were strictly forbidden from engaging in business—this was an unavoidable barrier.

 To get rich first and then achieve greater success, while also helping his father get promoted, and then finding an opportunity to enter officialdom himself—this, in Nathaniel Johnson’s view, was not difficult at all. It was just a matter of whether he wanted to or not.

 What he needed to focus on now was how to get his father to draw a clear line with Quinn Lewis, to separate the The Johnson Family from the The Lewis Family, and avoid being implicated by Quinn Lewis’s case, thereby reversing Noah Johnson’s career fate.

 As long as his father’s career took a turn for the better and soared in the future, would his own job still be a problem? Would he still need to beg people and give gifts everywhere?

 Time was running out for him.

 But how could he make his father understand the “crucial point” and stay as far away from Quinn Lewis as possible? Nathaniel Johnson frowned deeply.

 He knew very well that, even without his own job issue, Noah Johnson was currently hesitating about whether to approach Quinn Lewis and ask Quinn Lewis to put in a word with William Thompson, to adjust his responsibilities or change his position. After all, people thrive when they move, just as trees die when they’re transplanted. As a deputy bureau chief being sidelined for so long, he was feeling extremely depressed and stifled.

 What Nathaniel Johnson worried about was that his own job issue would push Noah Johnson to make up his mind to seek out Quinn Lewis. Given Quinn Lewis’s character, talking empty-handed would never work; Noah Johnson would definitely have to bring a gift.

 According to his memories from his previous life, Quinn Lewis’s problems were extremely serious. Corruption doesn’t happen overnight—he had probably started embezzling and becoming corrupt back when he worked in the district, and by now, his condition was terminal and incurable. Moreover, David Scott, the fraudster, had already been caught, and the relevant “suspects” might have long been on the authorities’ radar. Once they started pulling the thread, it was only a matter of time before they traced things back to Quinn Lewis. At this point, any “dealings” with Quinn Lewis would attract the attention of the disciplinary and supervisory departments, with unimaginable consequences.

 In his previous life, Noah Johnson’s experience was a case in point. It was fate: the The Johnson Family and the The Lewis Family had been neighbors across the hall for more than ten years, and Noah Johnson had never had any “financial dealings” with Quinn Lewis—not even deep personal ties. Yet, at that sensitive moment, Noah Johnson just happened to take that step. If that wasn’t fate, what was?

 Now that Nathaniel Johnson had been reborn at this critical moment, it was another arrangement of destiny.

 Thinking of this, Nathaniel Johnson couldn’t help but sigh. He absolutely could not allow such an “accident” to happen again. Otherwise, his rebirth would lose its fundamental meaning—he might as well just go and bash his head against the wall.