The Hong family..."Liena, I want you to get ready to leave work a little early, because we are going to see Chairman Hong and his family at five this evening."
President Sheng left his office to see his daughter at the clinical research lab on the seventh floor of the building. Sheng Liena had a puzzled look in her eyes when her father showed up unannounced to deliver something out of the blue to her.
"Do I need to take anything with me? Like wine? Or flowers?"
"Don"t worry Mr. Zhou would get those on the way. Just make sure you are presentable before we leave for their house."
President Sheng gave his daughter the "eye" which was equivalent to a dirty look to say "do no disappoint me" before leaving the office of his daughter.
"Ha! I don"t even know what to say! Why didn"t he tell me about this ahead of time, so that I would have brought an extra pair of shoes and dress with me while coming to work this morning! He makes me so angry at times!"
Sheng Liena began using her hand to fan herself, as though trying to cool an invisible steam from her body. When she finally got her emotions under control did she resume her work.
At around four-fifteen Sheng Liena was already waiting inside the car that was parked in front of Sheng Pharmaceuticals. Almost fifteen minutes after she got in, did her father stroll through the revolving door towards the car where his driver and daughter was waiting. Sheng Jinzhe got into the backseat where he daughter sat and soon after the car began heading in the direction of the Hong family home.
"Mr. Zhou, I need you to stop at ShanShan flower shop briefly for Liena to pick up flowers for the people we would be seeing and also some wine at Ruoqui winery."
"Yes President Sheng!"
The driver looked through the rear view mirror, nodding his head to let his employer know that he understood.
The traffic was starting to build up, since it was around this time that many office workers got off work to head for their homes. Just as his employer asked, the car pulled up each time to at ShanShan"s and Ruoqui"s for Liena to pick up a bouquet of rose flowers and red wine. Thirty minutes later the car pulled up to the front gate of a white chateau, honking twice for the gate to be opened.
Soon after the white gate automatically opened wide for the car to drive in, a couple of cars was parked at the front of the chateau. Both father and daughter stepped out to begin making their way to the front door of the house. It was as though the people inside were expecting the Shengs, four maids ran out to welcome them into the home of the Hongs.
"Good evening President Sheng! Good evening Madam!"
All four curtsied to the father and daughter, who walked in behind them.
"Our Madam and Chairman Hong would join you shortly, please have a seat in the living room."
Sheng Liena always thought that her father"s house was beautifully designed, but when she saw the Chateau of the Hongs she knew that her home paled in comparison. As though in a daze, she slowly sat down looking round the living room.
"Are living in the same country?!"
Her mouth opened wide in a "O", completely blown off by the decor.
"Liena! Close your mouth and stop staring!"
"I"m sorry papa! But I can"t help it! This place is out of the ordinary!"
Meanwhile three out of the four maids stood behind, while the other went upstairs to let Chairman Hong, Madam Hong and President Hong know that they had visitors waiting for them downstairs. When they saw the way Sheng Liena was staring and the things she said, coupled with the way her father chastised her publicly, although they stifled their laughter, it still managed to reach the ears of President Sheng.
"You see that?! The maids are making fun of you! Please! Don"t embarra.s.s me any further!"
President Sheng harshly whispered to his daughter to not say a word and keep low while they were at the Hongs. Around fifteen minutes after, one after the other the Hongs began making their way down the stairs.
"Good to see you President Sheng!"
Chairman Hong and his wife, along with their son President Hong greeted the Shengs starting with President Sheng and finis.h.i.+ng at Sheng Liena.
"Wow! Is this your daughter?"
Madam Hong QingYi asked while looking pointedly at Sheng Liena. The woman was dressed in a green flowing gown with a mink coat draped across her shoulders, her dark brown hair was styled in a wavy side ponytail. A gold drop earring with a green stone hung from each earlobes. Both fingers had curvy gold fas.h.i.+on rings with sprinkles of diamond stones on them, with a forest green nail polish layered with diamond stones on each nail. Madam Hong did not look her age, having gone at great length to use the best of the best plastic surgeon. From her eye lids to her pink lips, they were curved to perfection and beauty.
"We brought this little token for the family."
President Sheng and his daughter presented the Hongs with a bottle of wine and the bouquet of flower. Hong Yongrui took the wine, while his mother reached for the flowers.
"It is so beautiful!"
"I"m glad you like it."
President Sheng looked at Madam Hong as he spoke, a "perfect" smile of appreciation graced the lips of Hong Qingyi, while her husband and son thanked the Shengs for the gift. She soon motioned for the maids who walked over to take the flowers and wine from her and her son.
"Good evening Madam Hong"
Sheng Liena curtsied to the older woman, who gave her a warm look in appreciation.
"Don"t be shy! This is my son Hong Yongrui! Yongrui come say greet Sheng Liena!"
Hong Yongrui was a good looking man and a bit tall in height, he stepped to the back after greeting the Shengs with his parents.
"Good evening."
He curtsied to the woman his mother introduced, while both parents look on with interest.
"Is it okay if I call you Liena? Sheng Liena is a bit too formal for me, especially when I want our family to become closer."
Madam Hong took the initiate to let her guest know of her intention, even though it was clear from the look of confusion on Sheng Liena"s face that she didn"t know what the gathering was all about.
"Yes..Madam Hong, I"m okay with it."
"Good! Good! Good! Aren"t you hungry! Join me at the dinning! "
That was how Madam Hong s.h.i.+fted the conversation to a meal at the Hongs dinning table. The five of them walked in the direction of the dinning room. One after the other, they took their seat as several maids brought to the table so many dishes.
"Liena what do you do? I mean, do you work?...."
Soon after the Hongs and Shengs settled down to eat, Madam Hong spoke to the daughter of President Sheng.
"I work as the clinical research director at Sheng Pharmaceuticals."
"Hmm..that"s smart! That means you are quite independent!"
Hong Yongrui looked at his mother with one corner of his eyes while she spoke to their guest. Sheng Jinzhe and Sheng Liena sat side by side, while Hong Qingqi sat in the middle of her husband Hong ZhaoXu and her son Hong Yongrui.
"Not really, I still leave in my papa"s house, therefore I am not really considered to be independent in a sense."
"Hmm..Uh"
Madam Hong nodded her head in agreement, while Sheng Jinzhe sent nervous looks his daughter"s way.
"President Sheng, I see you are looking to expand your business to focus on younger people who are more into technology, but it seems you are lacking the capital."
Sheng Jinzhe almost let out a sigh of relief, finally the conversation was getting to where he needed it to be and not idle talks that Madam Hong was delving into with his daughter. Chairman Hong and his wife were solely into fas.h.i.+on business, but supported their son who almost single handedly built Hong Holdings to where it was, when he first heard of the Hongs from one of his business partners, he couldn"t believe that Hong Yongrui did not want to get into the fas.h.i.+on business, instead he built his business to become a financial solutions giant with the help of his parents.
"Yes President Hong, technology and drugs go hand in hand, based on market survey. The quality of life and health outcomes had improved significantly. Even older people are benefiting from it, despite the complexities that may come with the use of technology, but at Sheng Pharmaceuticals we have teams of professionals that are working daily to make it more user friendly."
Sheng Liena looked at her father, on her face was the expression, "what"s with the sales speech at the dinning table?!"
Hong ZhaoXu had a thoughtful expression on his face, as though considering what Sheng Jinzhe said, while Madam Hong looked at the face of her husband. All this while Hong Yongrui had not spoken a word, even though he was the financial expert at the table. The true purpose of the gathering was that Sheng Jinzhe was going to hand over his daughter to the Hongs, if they were willing to allow their son to partner with Sheng Pharmaceuticals and provide them with the capital for the large scale project they had in mind. Meanwhile, Sheng Liena did not know of this, the only ones that was aware was Chairman Hong and his wife, even their son was left in the dark.
Sheng Jinzhe had come to see Chairman Hong at XimonChen showroom where his office was based, the two spoke at length and it was there they decided to meet at the Hong Chateau. Hong ZhaoXu was known as the fas.h.i.+on genius, while his wife was one of his models, that was how the two met and after a long period of dating, they finally agreed to wed and the result was their son, Hong Yongrui.
"Yongrui? You haven"t said a word."
Hong ZhaoXu looked at his son, while the other ate the meat on his chopstick before setting it down by his plate to speak.
"President Sheng before considering offering your company the capital that you are asking for, I need to see your business model. It is only then that I can can come to a decision as to whether it is worth investing into or not. Going about it this way, isn"t going to make me see you as a serious business man."
Hong Yongrui spoke calmly while looking at the President of Sheng Pharmaceuticals. It didn"t take long for the young man to figure out the purpose of their visit, anytime his mother wanted to tie him to a woman, she usually went about fawning over the person she was interested in, which in this case was Sheng Liena.
"Papa! What is he talking about?!"
Sheng Liena looked at her father dead in the eye, as sparks flew from her eyes. Madam Hong was taken aback by the sudden outburst, her initial thought about Sheng Liena was that the young woman was very soft spoken and easy to get along.
"Hmm, Liena, It"s nothing. I"m sure you misunderstood what President Hong said."
Sheng Jinzhe had his eyes downcast, it was clear from the way he looked that none of them at the table believed a word of what he said, Sheng Liena gripped her chopstick tightly while glaring at Hong Yongrui.
"Yongrui! Could you care to explain what you said last?!"
Hong Yongrui stared at the woman across him with an impa.s.sive look on his face, as he said, "You mean to tell me that you don"t know that your father brought you here as a bargaining chip to get the capital for his business?"
"Wh..What are..you talking about?!!"
Sheng Liena looked at the faces at the table, look of guilt was on each of them made her realize what a fool she was by blindly following her father without asking him about the people he brought her to see. Consumed by fury, Sheng Liena threw her chopstick on the table, kicking the chair out of her way to storm out of the home of the Hongs, leaving them shocked beyond words.