Chapter 16
The same day, for Si Meiqi and Chen Zheng, there was no such atmosphere of excitement or anger.
Chen Zheng’s Si Meiqi team was sitting in the Office, looking arrogant and confident: “Take out your highest level proposal, one that can defeat any rival bids. For this project, you can report any idea directly to me, anytime, anywhere. All the tender conditions are to be set according to the best available standards. Even if you need to break the standards, report it to me. I will report to the Chairman so that he will give you precedent. In short—for this project, our only option is winning, defeat is banned. ”
Everyone’s expressions were quiet and resolute: “Okay!”, “General Manager please rest a.s.sured!”, “This project definitely belongs to the Si Meiqi!”
Chen Zheng nodded with satisfaction and they stepped out of the office. It There was a golden sunset, and the huge industrial park was bustling, prosperous and lively. He stood in front of the building, and his heart filled with some kind of overconfidence and heroic sentiment.
This year, with Ai Da Group’s collapse, Si Meiqi could finally rise from their third place in the market, and become second. This transition would come under his management, after his father’s retirement. He would start a new era for Si Meiqi.
And he wanted to do even better.
The Mingsheng project was indeed a pointed attack on Ai Da, not only being a way of thoroughly cutting off any means of survival, but also serving as the final revenge. But this was also Si Meiqi’s first time setting foot in such a large State-owned enterprise project. This project has always been monopolized by the market’s leader of the pack, Xin Baorui: sky-high profits, a wide network full of precious contacts, widespread influence… …
And meanwhile all he had was a low price strategy, while making costly investments, just to break into the market.
Maybe in the near future, he could to attack Xin Baorui, and attempt to seize the throne from them.
——
Bidding for the same project, another group had also arrived. As soon as the item was received by the administration department, it was immediately sent via someone through the lift to the top floor, in the President’s Office.
Xin Baorui’s CEO Ning Weikai was wearing a new suit today, his tie rose red, sitting behind a glossy paulownias desk that had a dark amber cuff and sparkling glow.
When is a.s.sistant came in holding the bidding doc.u.ments, he was on the phone. He had just recently been featured on the cover of Fortune magazine’s richest and most successful CEOs, and his handsome face was decorated with a slight, gentle laugh, his voice soft and lazy: “Do you like it? Ah … … How could I ever forget? I’ll pick you up at seven o’clock in the evening. Ok, wear the dress I ordered.”
When he hung up the phone, his a.s.sistant said, smiling: “Boss, your wife is so thoughtful. So busy yet feeling so well, it is enviable. ”
Ning Weikai laughed wanly: “Today is our third wedding anniversary, she badgered to listen to loud concerts. For me, I had to cancel the meeting tomorrow morning and attend until midnight. ”
a.s.sistant busily nodded. The young boss was really enviable –
The gra.s.sroots-born young talent, due to becoming the owner’s son-in-law, rapidly rose to the position of CEO. As such, he was in charge 1/3 of the company’s revenues, he was blessed with looks, wealth, and a beautiful woman. Was there a more fortunate man than him?
Ning Weikai took the file from him silently, and smiled after a moment.
The a.s.sistant whispered: “We received news, Si Meiqi and Ai Da are both determined to win, both are likely to slash prices. Our pricing system is relatively stable, and also on the high side. Marketing Department wanted to know whether they should also cut prices…… ”
“Tell them to stop messing about.” Ning Weikai interrupted him, “This time, we’ll watch with folded arms.”
The a.s.sistant hesitated. Ning Weikai saw his look and laughed, his voice fresh and gentle: “You followed me for so long, why is your head still so stubborn? On one hand, our prices cannot drop so arbitrarily, it will be penny wise, pound foolish. Second, in the business world, the most important thing is to pinpoint exactly who the enemy is. At present the only real threat is Chen Zheng. We will let them stay busy and deal with Ai Da, since both are incompatible companies, and neither can live while the others survive. ”
The a.s.sistant: “But … … Mingsheng’s Chen Zheng been working hard, what if he really initiates an attack on us?”
Ning Weikai looked at him: “So we’ll fix him.”
a.s.sistant: “… … Understood!” He continued: “I will position people on both sides and let them observe, and they’ll report back constantly.”
Ning Weikai lightly answered, “Yes.”
——
With the bidding date approaching day by day, Lin Qian had gotten more and more busy. Today, in the afternoon, following the instructions given by Li Zhicheng, she had moved into the project team dormitory where they’d been stationed with him.
Night, and the stars were dim.
Lin Qian was lying on the bed, her shoulder-length hair tied in a small ponytail, reading the recently produced version of the project tender.
These days, they are redoing the tender over and over, sending them to the three managers over and over again, and then going back to re-working on them over and over. Lin Qian sight had gone blank looking at them over and over.
For a while, to throw aside the doc.u.ments, burying herself in the quilted expanse. Her mind thought back to that day and she was a little excited; her “confession”, and what’d she said “you are a born leader,” “you’re a genius.”
Pfff … … How moving.
She thought back to her show of what could be called nothing else but boot-licking. But her Boss had kept up his facial paralysis act from start to finish, and apparently didn’t care about these words.
When the phone rang, she picked up. It was Xue Mingtao: “Lin Qian, we modified the bids a bit and sent them to your inbox. Is Li Zong sleeping yet? ”
Lin Qian smile: “He was just looking at the doc.u.ments, and hasn’t slept yet, so I’ll show him.”
Lin Qian hung up and came up with another idea in mind–the deferential att.i.tude she sported was common amongst the whole team, and besides, Li Zhicheng had already marked her as trustworthy.
Li Zhicheng’s suite was next to Lin Qian’s. It was currently 10 o’clock at night, and quite quiet in the corridors, only the street light burning orange. Lin Qian went next door with her laptop, and found the door ajar.
These days Lin Qian and Gu Yanzhi had constantly been in and out of the suite, so the door wasn’t kept shut. She didn’t care, knocked out of courtesy as usual, and went in.
But no one was in the room.
Lin Qian went to his desk, put the computer down, and looked up and looked around. Oh, the bathroom door was closed. She stood quietly at the desks.
Soon, there was a soft click, and the bathroom door opened and a person came out. Lin Qian smiled at the figure: “Boss, I put new doc.u.ment……” and with of a delay, she completed: “… … Of bids for you here.”
The staff quarters were not a luxurious s.p.a.cious by any means, and so, separated by two or three meters away, stood Li Zhicheng, his upper body naked, down ~ he was dressed in black trousers, a towel in hand, hair and body still dripping water as he lifted his eyes to her, seemingly cloaked in the steam from his shower.
Eh … … When workers were gathered in a dorm, half-naked guys were ~ pretty common.
But catching a half naked ~ young President, she was a little embarra.s.sed.
Lin Qian stood calmly and turned her back to him, while he opened the computer and said: “Was is amended according to what I had marked?” Her mind quickly slid out a sudden thought: There had been quite a few awkward encounters between her and Boss lately.
“En, however much was possible.” Her voice was still cool, collected.
Then came a rustling sound, should him dressing.
Lin Qian glanced at the reflection on the black tv screen, and her mind that automatically sketched out a … … vivid scene.
Wide shoulders, narrow waist, well-endowed musculature, he was sleek and powerful. His special points: his ramrod straight posture, as well as his handsome yet indifferent face. Refined features, his somewhat loose pants outlining his firm lower back … … Ahem, highly similar to those male models that is posed slightly suggestively, intentionally showing off their figure in photos, actually there was no difference.
Lin Qian saw a rare beautiful sight, and feasted well.
Her lips quirked slightly, staying that way until the footsteps slowed behind her, and she turned around to look at him.
But she took a look and was stunned.
Probably because it had happened all of a sudden, Boss had worn one of the white shirts on hand, of which the first b.u.t.ton was not done, and his collar was a bit of a mess. Slightly damp hair rested on his forehead. Where the shirt touched his chest, it seemed to have been dipped in wet water.
He was standing under the lamp, looking down at her, eyes calm and thin lips slightly pursed.
Lin Qian looked into his eyes, then looked away. His eyes focused on the computer screen, bending over as he put his hand on the mouse, and started reading.
Lin Qian glanced at him from the corner of his eye– he was supposed to be a Boss, why was he as handsome as some model? The more she looked, the more handsome he seemed.
She got up and moved to the side of the stool behind him: “Boss, sit.”
“En.” His eyes swept over her, “You sit down as well. Alter it as I say. ”
“Ok.”
——
Surprisingly for Lin Qian, both of them stayed highly busy for many hours.
Li Zhicheng put forth many ideas after reading the new proposal, going on for how many hours. She took down his ideas, adding annotations in the file and sending it back to the project team. They seemed to be inspired by the Boss, implementing the changes and sending doc.u.ments back. Li Zhicheng and Lin Qian continued to read and amend, going back-and-forth, and time pa.s.sed unknowingly.
She managed to hold on till 3am, but finally she was unable to conceal her fatgue. Although she had always worked hard, but she could not stay up late, and never stayed up late- she did not want to age prematurely.
She looked Li Zhicheng as he sat upright, staring at the screen, his black eyes focused, and there was also have a slight shine in his eyes, which showed no trace of sleep.
Lin Qian yawned.
He looked at her: “Sleepy?” His voice was cold, calm.
Boss didn’t say anything, how could she say she was sleepy? She smiled and said: “Well, I’ll go make a cup of coffee, and come back soon.” Just as she was about to get up, he found two of his long eyebrows light frowning for a moment, eyes looking at her: “Drink what coffee in the middle of the night.”
His calm voice was somewhat stronger than usual.
Lin Qian stared blankly at him for a moment, and then sat back down.
Boss…… was not going to let her drink coffee?
He was concerned about her?
A heart-warming feeling jabbed at her heart. She was just about to say something, but his lightly said: “If you’re sleepy go sleep on the bed, I’ll give you a quarter of an hour, then I’ll call you.”
Lin Qian unconsciously looked to the room’s large bed, white, clean, and s.p.a.cious, lying there like a slab of tofu.
Lin Qian was somewhat of a mysophobe, so just thinking of her skin touching such a private place made her uncomfortable. She didn’t like it when people sat or slept in her own bed, and she tried not to touch someone else’s bed. Moreover, it was the Boss’s bed.
She smiled and said to him: “No, I’ll just put my head down on the desk.”
Li Zhicheng didn’t comment, as he continued to read at the computer. Lin Qian pillowed her head in her arms on the table and went to sleep.
Temporarily shielded from the lights, her eyes met with a slice of darkness.
In place of sight, her other senses heightened greatly, and she could clearly hear the even breathing of the man beside her. She could hear him gently turning the pages of the doc.u.ments, as well as the sound of his finger lightly touching the mouse, as she felt increasingly warm and comfortable.
——
Lin Qian woke up and felt that it was extraordinarily quiet around, not just an ordinary quiet, but a quiet where there wasn’t a single sound.
She looked up to see around, and unexpectedly smiled.
Li Zhicheng was sat in front of a computer screen that had been closed, and the pile of proposal doc.u.ments set neatly to one side. It seemed that was done? Li Zhicheng was next to her, in the leather chair. However, his hands rested on the armrests, his head leaned back, as he had already fallen asleep.
Lin Qian looked down at her watch, and tsked: it was five o’clock, she slept more than an hour.
Boss had said he would wake her up, but in the end he’d fallen asleep himself.
She just wanted to tiptoe out, only to discover that sometime in the night, he’d put a suit jacket over her. A suit jacket of his was, as a matter of course, enormous on her, cloaking her almost entirely; but at the same time, snug and cozy, with a clean and refreshing scent.
She turned to look at Boss, who was wearing a slim-fitting white shirt, and she gently took off the jacket and draped it over him. He slept like a log, features motionless under the lights.
It was already almost dawn, so Lin Qian didn’t want to wake him, intending to go back to her room quietly.
However, bypa.s.sing the large man was proving to be difficult. Between the desk and the bed was a narrow aisle. Boss’ big leather chair wedged into the narrow aisle tightly, and his legs were unfurled underneath the table, leaving an extremely slim s.p.a.ce.
She didn’t want to walk over his bed, because she didn’t like touching other peoples’ beds. Gauging the distance with a look, she felt that if she stuck close to the edge of the table, she would be able to walk between him and the desk- and since his legs were spread so far apart, she would be fine as long as she managed to step in the gaps between them.
She gave it a go. She stood and took a step, placing one leg between two of his.
And then, she took her other foot to keep in the gap… …
Too late, the man next to her sensed a disturbance, his body suddenly stirring. Lin Qian somehow faltered, and ended up stepping on his instep … …
She knew by now that Boss preferred if she didn’t wear high heels, but even if her other shoes’ heels were short, they were nevertheless sharp. As her foot came down, she heard his steady breathing hitch and hasten, and he immediately lifted his foot.
Was it possible for Lin Qian to retain her balance in such a situation? She quickly headed down to the ground… …
“Ah!” She couldn’t help but cry out.
Then her waist was firmly grasped by a powerful arm that pulled her in. Lin Qian’s body twisted, and she ended up in his lap.
Lin Qian dazedly turned to look at him.
He had already opened his eyes, his eyes becoming even more hooded under the direct lamplight, as he gazed at her attentively.
“What are you doing?”
Lin Qian was speechless.
BOSS, you realise you don’t have to respond so quickly? And be so thorough? If someone just touches you a little at a time, you immediately capture their hand.
“I didn’t do anything. I just wanted to get out.” She said, “Did I step and hurt you?”
He looked at her, expression distant “En.”
Eh … … Lin Qian didn’t not know what to say.
Between the two people, his hands were tightly looped around her waist. Because they were so close, Lin Qian could even smell his cold breath. Under her, his legs were warm and solid.
She hastily threw up her hands to her face as it heated up quickly: “I’m sorry. Then I’ll take my leave, good night. ”
——
Lin Qian returned to the room, and when her hand touched her face, she felt it was hot.
She was too embarra.s.sed, actually sitting in the Boss’ arms.
Dawn was on the horizon, Lin Qian only slept for a short time last night, as she tossed and turned in bed but did not sleep. Her mind always strayed to Li Zhicheng as he stared at her under the lamp light – his dark eyes, powerful hands, cold atmosphere.
Her heart beat wildly incessantly. Her mind thought of a preposterous idea—Boss had never suspected she was a spy, he just wanted to keep her around.
Of course not.
How embarra.s.sing, she didn’t want to think about these kinds of things anymore.
——
Two days later, Gu Yanzhi, as leader of the project team, went to Mingsheng headquarters to speak. Mingsheng had not yet published the results of the bid.
A few days after the submission, Ai Da was dead busy. The people a.s.sociated with this project, were nervously looking forward to. Including Lin Qian.
She had a very strong feeling Ai Da would be battle plan the other day she said, as well as what Lin Mochen had said about making the “most formidable” proposal, and felt confident.
She thought that even the clients would feel the same way.
The following Monday afternoon, news finally came.
Ai Da’s executives were holding their weekly meeting, which Lin Qian was also attending. Halfway through, Gu Yanzhi’s cell phone rang. As was expected, within moments the room was quiet.
He and Li Zhicheng exchanged a look, then picked up. He briefly said a few words, mostly listening. He said “Yes” a few times, finally put down the phone. He watched the crowd, eyes calm, making it difficult to ascertain joy or anger within them.
“Mingsheng’s tender results came out. The winning bidder is Si Meiqi.”