Chapter 42 (2/2)
The staff member quailed as he replied, ”They're all in the conference room.”
”Have them wait a moment; I'll be right there.”
”Okay.” the staff member made a sound of affirmation and ran off with the same urgency and hyperactivity as he had entered. Hu, close call. He didn't want to personally see the b.l.o.o.d.y scene of brothers destroying one another.
The office regained its previous calm. He Xiu's stare sent He Chen's mind into chaos, so he intended to withdraw first. ”Since Director He is so preoccupied matters, then I won't be a bother.”
He walked past He Xiu only for the other to suddenly open his mouth and say, ”You doing something like this today, are you not afraid of He Jing Long finding out?”
Ah, He Chen contemplated mentally. He Jing Long. In the several years since He Xiu had come to the He Family, not once had He Chen heard him say father.
Tilting his head sideways, a smile tugged at his lips as he looked back at him. ”Then you secretly buying He Zhi stocks from small shareholders, are you not afraid of him finding out?”
He Xiu looked at him silently. Smile falling from his face in the end, He Chen said with a bit of resentment, ”Didn't you say you didn't even have one thread, one hair of an interest in fighting me for the family estate? What, you now realized you really don't want to give up?”
He Xiu countered, ”The present is different from the past. I had been all alone in the world back then; nothing mattered to me. Now, however, I need to earn money to support a family.” He couldn't let Jian Yan be like his mother, exhausted from work.
He Chen thought it was absolutely hilarious. ”Oh please, you spent these past several years managing Starlight General Merchandise, earning enough money for an ordinary person to eat for several lifetimes. You still don't have enough money to support a family? Speaking of which, that high-end dress Jian Yan wore last time, how many millions did it cost?”
”Still not enough.” He Xiu stared at He Chen, his gaze gentling. ”Now, not only do I want to be the General Manager of Starlight General Merchandise, I want to be the CEO of He Zhi Corporation as well.”
”Ah.” Coldness seeped into He Chen's expression immediately afterwards. ”Such a large appet.i.te, are you not afraid of indigestion?”
He Xiu revealed his first smile since stepping foot into the office. He repeated a saying of Jian Yan's, ”I'm not afraid; my stomach is 128G.”
”&h.e.l.lip;” He Chen didn't know where that joke came from, but he wasn't in the mood to joke anyways. He glared at He Xiu, the warning tone dripping off his words seemingly inflating his own confidence as well. ”I have the He Family and Zhao Family behind me, plus the Xu Family now as well, whereas you only have an a.s.shole father who tossed your mother away and abandoned you back back then. What right do you have to fight with me?”
He Xiu snorted and asked him instead, ”Does He Jing Long know you say things like this?”
He Chen didn't reply, so He Xiu continued to say, ”To deal with some people, you indeed need to use your all to fight back, yet to handle others, you simply don't need to--they'll merely be crushed by IQ. Which type do you think you are?”
He Chen: ”&h.e.l.lip;”
He naturally thought he was the former.
”Alright, it's better if you leave quickly. I'm afraid if you stay a moment longer, my patience will run out.”
He Chen's brows furrowed. He sent a look that was seemingly mocking yet not. ”What, don't tell me the renowned Eldest Master He actually intends to beat people up?”
He Xiu stated, ”It's not like I haven't beaten people up before.”
He Chen: ”&h.e.l.lip;”
He quickly left He Xiu's office.
Turning on his computer, He Xiu copied some information before also leaving the office for the conference room.
Only when it was 8:00PM did Jian Yan put down her pen and stop drawing at home. Perhaps because that hotpot at lunch had filled her to the point of bursting, she couldn't be considered to be very hungry at the moment. She stretched on her chair and slipped on her wool slippers before walking over to the kitchen. Pa--ta-- Pa--ta--
To make dinner or not--even if she wasn't particularly hungry now, she would definitely be hungry by midnight.
Making a simple stir-fry and pea shoots soup, Jian Yan pondered whether she should wash pork chops in the evening to make a stew for tomorrow. She stood in front of the refrigerator, contemplating for a moment, before running off to call He Xiu.
She asked if he wanted to come over for a meal tomorrow and that if he was, she would make pork chop stew.
He Xiu's phone rang for an awfully long time before connecting. This had never happened before. Jian Yan saw that the call went through and became somewhat worried that she was disturbing his work or something. ”Are you busy right now?”
”Mn&h.e.l.lip;” He Xiu kneaded the s.p.a.ce between his eyebrows, what seemed like a bit of exhaustion leaking into his voice. ”I've been in a meeting all afternoon.”
Jian Yan subconsciously glanced at the wall clock in the living room. ”Then you haven't eaten dinner?”
”No appet.i.te.”
Jian Yan scowled and asked him, ”What happened?” She recalled that He Xiu had told her he was receiving Samuel at the airport. Could it be that a problem occurred?
He Xiu's sigh echoed through the call, followed by a low voice, ”Something did indeed come up.”
Jian Yan queried, ”Is this concerning Samuel?”
”Mn.”
Tension striking her heart, Jian Yan continued, ”Something bad didn't happen to the airplane, right?”
Finally a brief laugh left He Xiu. ”No.”
”Oh, that's good&h.e.l.lip;” Jian Yan sighed in relief. ”Then what's the matter with him?”
”To be specific, it's not him who met with a mishap--our collaboration met with one instead.”
”Hm?” Could it be that Samuel wanted to increase his fee at the last moment?
He Xiu said, ”I don't know where He Chen learned of our plans, but he informed staff from Graceful of this information. Samuel arrived at A City early in the morning and was joined by the boss of Graceful.”
The story had too many ups and downs, so it took Jian Yan a moment to comprehend it all before saying, ”But Samuel signed a contract with you, didn't he? Furthermore, He Chen&h.e.l.lip; Even if his relations.h.i.+p with you is poor, this most unfortunate occurrence also impacts the He Family business! Why is he even helping outsiders?”
He Xiu snorted, ignoring He Chen to speak of the matter with Samuel instead. ”He did signed a contract with us. In the afternoon, he contacted us and said that Graceful had more sincerity than we did, declaring that he wished to give his work to the person who has the most sincerity.”
Jian Yan: ”&h.e.l.lip;” This excuse, truly pompous in nature, really made people want to beat him up.
”The penalty?”
”Graceful said they'll help him a.s.sume responsibility,” He Xiu paused after he said this, ”but what we want is not the penalty.”
Jian Yan wrinkled her brows. Sighing lightly, she asked him, ”Then what way do you want him to recompense?”
He Xiu explained, ”Samuel. In order to guarantee the quality of the silk scarves, we only collaborated with one specific factory. We had signed a contract with the factory in advance in addition to confirming the production schedule. If we can submit the design plans before that to the factory, then the factory wouldn't have surplus manpower to make Samuel's list. If we default, however, Graceful will definitely contact the factory first thing to begin production. No, they might have already done so. Not only is silk scarf manufacturing expensive, it also takes a long time. We will not be able to keep up with their progress after they begin manufacturing, and after they launch a silk scarf promotional campaign, we would not have any impact if we do the same.”
Moreover, people might say they were plagiarizing Graceful's campaign.
Jian Yan clearly understood after listening to this. Right now, the key issue was precisely their lack of ability in handing over design plans. ”Have you contacted other designers? The designs for the silk scarves don't have to be Samuel.”
He Xiu admitted, ”We've contacted many, but our contract deadline with the factory is on the twenty-fifth. With only a handful of days left, no designer is willing to commit.”
This also couldn't be blamed on them. If there was a careless mistake or something in this rushed design, then it would destroy their own reputation. They naturally weren't willing.
Jian Yan thought for a while before brazenly proposing an idea. ”If you don't mind it, can you use my designs?”
Author's Note:
Aaahhh didn't update yesterday; today I made up for half, will catch up and fix tomorrow!
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