Lan Jing Er shook his head at Yan Qing Shan"s antics. It was not apparent that she had such a side to her. After all, that poker face and cold aura far contrasted such as playful nature. In a way, it reminded him of Zi Jue, the one Z City dubbed as its emperor. Ironically, he also hides a nature greatly detached from his usual gentle smile façade."Anyhow, I won"t take much of your time. Seeing as we"ve finished what we need to I"ll be heading back now. I still have another troublesome appointment to take care of." Lan Jing Er moped and with a heavy sigh stood up from his seat. Yan Qing Shan tilted her head to him curiously.
"Oh? And what is this troublesome appointment of yours, pray tell." Yan Qing Shan asked. Lan Jing Er held his forehead in obvious distress and answered.
"Well, there"s a company who has been hounding me these days. I don"t know whether to make them out as shameless, just desperate, or both. The representatives have even resorted to stalking just for them to be able to talk to me. Truly unprofessional of them. So, I scheduled them up for a meeting for the sake of my sanity. Not that I could blame them though, I had someone run a check on them. It turns out their company is bound to an inevitable bankruptcy. It"s quite a pity that despite the competent employees and management, with a mere petty clash with a wilful executive of a bigger company, they are bound for ruins." Lan Jing Er explained as they walked out of the garden. Yan Qing Shan had a pensive look on her face upon hearing the nature of Lan Jing Er"s dilemma.
"So, you"re troubled that they are offering their company to you. For despite the promising potential, the mere fact that acquiring it will lead you to acquire the grudge that it comes along with." Yan Qing Shan stated bluntly as she stated Lan Jing Er down. The latter gaped at her with a dumbfounded expression before nodding.
"Hmm. Is the extent of your influence just that? I"d have imagined that Young Master can smooth out a dispute as trivial as a petty clash with a recalcitrant, sorry excuse of an executive. Especially if the advantages and capacity of the said company is tremendous. Anyhow, what kind of company is it in the first place? And who is it"s enemy?" She riposted with a slight derision which simply elicited a helpless sigh from the unsettled Young Master.
"Well, there are extenuating circ.u.mstances Qing Shan. I"m sure you"d understand my point once you find out which companies are in question." Lan Jing Er had a despondent appearance as he answered.
"The company I am meeting is the Heidelberg Productions Incorporated. It"s a newly established productions company hailed as the dark horse during the last film festival, for its entries bagged numerous awards. Because of a failed negotiation leading to a physical dispute involving its Chairman and an executive of Yan Group Entertainment Corporation." He continued gravely and turned to Yan Qing Shan with gauging eyes.
Yan Qing Shan couldn"t deny that she was surprised. Of all the entertainment companies in the country, it had to be her family"s. It wasn"t a surprise the Lan Jing Er found it so troublesome. The relations.h.i.+p between the two families, the Lan"s and the Yan"s, had just turned sour since the party incident where the Young Master Lan defended the ostracized eldest daughter of the Yan family. Acquiring a company which had disputes with the Yan Group, no amount of Lan Jing Er"s influence could fix that.
"On second thought, this is quite an opportunity as well. It"s time to play the wild card and clean up the filth acc.u.mulating in my brother"s company. It won"t be long before he inherits it." Yan Qing Shan smiled coldly and paused her steps to Lan Jing Er"s surprise.
"Brother Jing Er. It will be troublesome if you were the one to acquire the company, right?" She reiterated. Lan Jing Er nodded, confusion evident in his eyes since Yan Qing Shan"s question merely rephrased the obvious.
"Then it wouldn"t be as problematic if you were simply the middleman, no?" Yan Qing Shan posed the question with an enigmatic smile which made Lan Jing Er furrow his brows in perplexity.
"Where are you leading to, Qing Shan? Apologies for being slow. I mean, yes, there would be no difficulties if I am just the middleman but who would be purchasing the company then if not me?" Lan Jing Er voiced his doubts. Yan Qing Shan giggled flippantly and resumed walking, leaving him a good few pace behind.
Yan Qing Shan halted her steps once again and glanced back at Lan Jing Er.
"The buyer huh? The buyer is in front of you. I"ll acquire the company, Brother Jing Er." Yan Qing Shan declared as if she was just stating what she wants to eat for lunch. Lan Jing Er widened his eyes at her.
"You? But… But why?" Lan Jing Er asked with a light shake of his head, still in disbelief.
"Oh, it is quite a good investment. I"ve always wanted to try my hand in show business. Besides I can afford to do so anyway. I can afford buying the company. So, don"t worry about it. The only thing is, I"ll have you hide my ident.i.ty. It won"t be fun anymore if it gets out." Yan Qing Shan answered patiently, not the least bit annoyed at how slowly he comprehended her words.
"I"ll call one of my a.s.sistants to accompany you to the meeting. Inform me of the venue. Try to snag a good deal in my stead, alright?" She continued with a sweet smile. Lan Jing Er still held a flabbergasted expression at the randomness of Yan Qing Shan"s decision. But he resigned himself to it, nonetheless. The woman was an enigma. She was someone whose mind cannot be deciphered unless you"re in the same wavelength as hers. However, it was what draws people in to her. Lan Jing Er, in spite of himself, looked forward to the havoc Yan Qing Shan was planning to wreak this time.
"It seems that the Yan Group will need to brace themselves for even more trouble. The east wind is coming for them." Lan Jing Er solemnly murmured in his mind as he gazed back at the disappearing view of Ying Yue Garden. The sight of Yan Qing Shan"s cold smirk as she sent him off lingered in his mind. Maybe. Just maybe, there wasn"t only one devil residing in that palace.
---
After sending Lan Jing Er off, Yan Qing Shan immediately contacted Aki to follow him for the negotiations she decided to partake in at the last minute. She sent him the venue which Lan Jing Er has promptly forwarded to her. Since Aki has been in the middle of beating up… erm… sparring with the Aces, she volunteered herself to subst.i.tute him. She needed to do something to get her mind to relax. In order to polish her next step, a refreshed mind was necessary. Also, she needed to contemplate the Ace project she has been drafting in order for them to take the necessary preliminaries. Yan Qing Shan already has a rough idea on what she wanted to do, but she also wanted to solicit the insights of the others for it involved them as well.
When she arrived at the training ground of the Ace Villa, Yan Qing Shan saw the makes.h.i.+ft sparring circle that Aki had created along with the corpses… exhausted bodies… of the first few Aces who suffered inevitable defeat. All eight of them were lying in the ground with rejoicing expression at the departure of their instructor.
"Huh. Let"s wipe away those smiles from their faces, for now." She thought mischievously. Yan Qing Shan approached them and stood with her arms akimbo.
"Hey everyone. Looks like you"re having a good rest." She greeted with a slight smile. The Aces swiftly took on a sitting position and turned to her in response.
"Hey, Sister Qing Shan! I thought you had an important meeting today. Mr. Aki said so. What brings you here?" Ning Xie Zhi voiced out coupled with his ever dazzling bishounen smile.
"Oh, it was finished. There was supposed to be another one but it"s something that I can"t attend myself so I asked Aki-nii to proxy me. It looks like you had a good rest already since he left quite a while ago. So, I thought I might make the most of it and subst.i.tute him in his work as well." Yan Qing Shan quipped pleasantly. Her eyes glinted deceivingly. The Aces froze at her reply and had an ominous foreboding and couldn"t help but murmur to themselves.
Hong Zhen Yue: She"s here to beat us up right?
Qi Xia: Yep, she"s definitely going to beat us up.
Ning Xie Zhi: Sister is a s.a.d.i.s.t!
Qin Jiran: Oh s.h.i.+t! Can I just up and die?
Xu Lei: At this point, I"d rather have the juice and faint away.
Jia Wei Ren: Collapses on the ground…
Jia Yi Lan: Wei Ren! Get a hold of yourself!
Luo Chen: ….