13 She’s Just Getting Started (2/2)

She composed herself under his penetrating gaze.

In a low, calm voice, he asked, ”Why are you helping me like this?”

Slightly stunned, Lin Qian responded honestly, ”Because you deserve it.”

He stared down at her, eyes appearing to become more peaceful.

”Thank you, Lin Qian.”

Blinking, Lin Qian knew he was honestly expressing his gratefulness.

She looked down at the small distance between them, then looked up at his stern, handsome face.

Boss, considering how close you're standing, are you trying to show me your sincerity and formality? You are just… too humble.

Lin Qian paused, returning his clear gaze.

It was a skill to appropriately accept compliments from the boss. You could neither act too proud nor too humble. So she gave him a little smile, adjusted her posture, and casually waved her hand. ”My pleasure, sir.” She then saluted him like a proper soldier.

As expected, this was received well by him.

Li Zhicheng's dark eyes appeared to be smiling. So did Lin Qian's.

People always said that employees should be able to manage their superiors, so she was doing a great job, wasn't she?

Such an emotionless person, but he had smiled at her twice.

Just as she was becoming excited, he said, ”I'll return the favor. From now on.”

...

The afternoon of the next day quickly came.

A Cadillac slowly cruised through the city. Lin Qian was sitting in the passenger's seat, and Xue Mingtao was behind the wheel. In the back sat Gu Yanzhi and Li Zhicheng.

The car was heading towards the west CBD district. The skyscraper for Ming Sheng's headquarters could be seen amongst other skyscrapers from afar, appearing dark and mysterious.

Greeting them was Ming Sheng's associate director, a lean man in his forties. He appeared to be moderate and well-mannered. After a short conversation, they were led to a small meeting room located on the top floor in the general manager's office area.

”It won't be long,” he said. ”There is a visitor with President Kang. I'll take you in once the meeting is over.”

The associate director then headed out after seeing that Aida was okay with waiting.

It was 3:45 pm. They were a little early, and spent the time quietly looking around at each other and the room. Gu Yanzhi broke the silence.

”Later, it would be great if President Li could do a little more talking,” he joked with Li Zhicheng. ”I've heard that President Kang graduated as an engineer, and is also very quiet. Just make sure it's not completely silent in there.”

Both Lin Qian and Xue Mingtao burst into laughter. Li Zhicheng raised his eyebrows, deadpanning, ”Very well. We are like-minded and know silence is golden.”

Li Zhicheng's lack of facial expression astounded Li Qian and Xue Mingtao. They didn't figure it out until seeing Gu Yanzhi cackle. Unless… Boss is being funny? It brought everyone to laughter once they realized.

Even though it was a joke, what Gu Yanzhi had just mentioned was really consuming Lin Qian. Should Li Zhicheng meet up with someone of his equivalent level? It was unlikely to expect the Boss to be socially active. She truly had no idea how this would turn out. The clock was ticking.

At four o'clock sharp, the same assistant manager walked in. Everyone including Lin Qian stood up. With a smile on Xue Mingtao's face, he asked, ”Can we?”

Surprisingly, his smile seemed apologetic. ”President Li, and Manager Gu, I'm sorry but President Kang's last visitor is still there. They are in the thick of it. I'm afraid I can't interrupt.”

Immediately Gu Yanzhi answered, ”No worries. We'll just be sitting here for a little longer. Thank you.”

Smiling, the assistant manager nodded and left.

But 4:40 pm eventually came. Impatient, Gu Yanzhi sent Xue Mingtao to double check, only to discover that was a wild goose chase. In contrast, Li Zhicheng appeared calm and patient. The waiting also slowly took a toll on Lin Qian.

Min Sheng would close at 5:30 pm and, according to the assistant manager, President Kang was also scheduled for dinner in the evening, right after work.

There were less than 40 minutes left for them.

This was a terrible start already. Knowing the importance of meeting their senior managers, if they failed to leave a great impression on them, it would be unlikely for them to schedule another meeting after this. Let alone expect President Kang to favor them for this project.

Why were they having such bad luck? It was already incredibly hard to schedule an appointment. Who could possibly cut the queue and talk with the president for so long?

It was almost 5 pm. ”I'm going to the bathroom,” said Lin Qian. Just when she pushed the door open, she saw a group of people leaving the other side of the office lounge, all decently dressed. President Kang's office was in that direction. The group was led by someone who was tall, handsome, and smiling… who else could it be besides Chen Zheng?

Followed by a group of employees, he shook hands with the assistant manager. ”Thank you so much, Mr. Liao. You can stop right here. The meeting with President Kang was such a pleasure, hopefully it didn't take too long. We'll meet up for tea sometime.”

”You're welcome. I'll walk you out,” said the assistant manager with a broad smile on his face.

Suddenly Chen Zheng seemed to notice something. He looked up towards the door. With Lin Qian standing outside, it was too late to hide. She could merely stand there and stare at him from a distance.

It didn't catch Chen Zheng by surprise that Lin Qian was there. The corner of his lips slightly raised, he left surrounded by his staff.

...

At the moment, the president of Ming Sheng, Kang Mingcong, was sitting on the big comfy couch in his office, rubbing the space between his brows.

As an entrepreneur in his fifties, he looked stern and severe. Usually he was reserved, but for the people who had known him for a while, coming from an engineering background, he had a lot of plans and excellent ideas for the management and development of the business.

The procurement project this time was to acquire the same briefcase for tens of thousands of staff members working at the branches of the company from over 30 provinces. He believed that when it came to their image as a whole and the way they treated their staff, despite the size of the project, quality was always what was most important.

Dealing with New Bori and SMQ made him realize that regarding the former, despite their great quality and top rank in the industry, their prices were rather high. Considering New Bori supplied multiple state-owned businesses, the listed price could only be higher. Therefore, it had already been eliminated by him.

Even though SMQ wasn't as competitive as New Bori, they were willing to provide them high-quality products at the lowest prices on the market. When he had first met Chen Zheng, he hadn't been the biggest fan of the superficial young man. But they got along, and as they spoke, Kang Mingcong had slowly gotten used to him. In addition, SMQ and Chen Zheng had both received positive reviews from his managers from other departments; so, Kang Mingcong didn't have much problem leaving the project with him.

He had scheduled a meeting with Chen Zheng after being told it was a serious matter they needed to discuss. The first thing Chen Zheng had done was give an introduction on the new core product from SMQ. He had also gifted an antique GO manual to Kang Mingcong.

Kang Mingcong was hooked after flipping through just a few pages. There was no denying that this gift was right up his alley.

As to Aida, introduced by the foreign shareholders? He had heard that they were on the edge of bankruptcy—god knew how they had connections with the foreign shareholders. He might as well meet up with them so he could put an end to it.

...

It was a few minutes past five when Gu Yanzhi and Li Zhicheng entered President Kang's office.

Lin Qian sat the small meeting room. Divided by a wall, she stared at the shut door of President Kang's office, praying that they come out as late as they could.

She worried that they would be told to leave only ten minutes or so into the meeting. She was also simultaneously blaming Chen Zheng for their late start. It was such a simple, clever thing that he had done, making the meeting with President Kang so long right after his flight. He must've been exhausted. Plus, he had dinner scheduled at 5:30 pm, so their meeting couldn't last any longer than 25 minutes.

Soon it was 5:30 pm. Lin Qian's eyes were fixed on the door.

The assistant manager also noticed the time. He walked up, knocked on the door, and poked his head in the office. She couldn't be sure what he was saying, but soon enough he retreated, gently pushing the door shut.

Umm?

Lin Qian made eye contact with Xue Mingtao; both were quiet.

At 5:45 pm, they were still inside.

At 6:00 pm, they were still inside.

The assistant manager knocked on the door, stuck his head in just like last time, and once again left quietly. Lin Qian supposed that his dinner was canceled when she saw him calling someone in another office.

Lin Qian and Xue Mingtao both couldn't help getting excited. It looked like the meeting was going well? It must have been. Even though Li Zhicheng wasn't the best at conversation, with of Gu Yanzhi's sophistication and knowledge in the business industry, maybe they were winning Kang Mingcong over.

The clock read 6:30, and they were still inside.

When it was 7:00 pm, the doorknob clicked, and the door was pushed open. Gu Yanzhi walked out of the office first, smiling. He was followed by Li Zhicheng, who had a slight grin wrinkling his soft brows; he appeared to look up in her direction. Lastly, Kang Mingcong walked out of his office, looking cheerful.