Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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The next day, Chang Dongming, holding a business card, kept pacing around the door of the president’s office.
An assistant passed by him and whispered, “Why, you don’t dare to go in?”
“How is Mr. Xuan feeling?” Chang Dongming immediately asked about the situation.
“Another group of people left the R&D department. The company’s stock price also hit the limit down today. Do you think Mr. Xuan will be in a good mood? The government will invite investment proposals next month, and I’m afraid our company will be in trouble. If you don’t have something very urgent, you’d better not go in.”
“Then I’ll wait a little longer.” Chang Dongming retreated, but at this moment he received a text message from Zhuang Li, which contained only two short words – [Go in!]
Chang Dongming’s heart trembled, and he subconsciously pushed open the door and walked into the president’s office.
The assistant looked at his back and shook his head, exclaiming, “What a brave warrior!”
Xuan Ming was sorting out a pile of resignation letters, all of which were submitted by the backbones of the R&D department today. In order to train these people, he invested more than 500 million in them and never made specific work requirements for them.
No matter what research they wanted to do, Xuan Ming just gave them money without asking for details or asking for anything in return. However, he didn’t expect that what he got in return was just betrayal.
Dr. Zhao took away several of the most critical patented technologies, but these patents did not belong to him personally. Instead, they were the work results of the entire R&D team. He was not qualified to do so.
However, he used some connections in the United States to register a private patent before the company, and so the patents registered by the company were rejected by the International Patent Organization.
Now the problem was that without the key technology, Haiming had fallen from the first echelon in the field of communications to the second echelon. Haiming was likely to lose this time in the government’s investment promotion. Once the market share was taken away, Haiming would lose step by step.
Was there any other way to break the impasse? Xuan Ming thought hard, but he was at a loss.
Increasing capital investment could only temporarily stabilize the stock price but would not solve the fundamental problem.
For a high-tech company, technology was its lifeblood. The Haiming Group, which had lost most of its R&D backbones, was like a building that had lost its foundation. The larger the superstructure, the faster it collapsed.
If Haiming Group could not find a scientific research team better than Dr. Zhao’s in the shortest time to fill the fatal technological gap, it was bound to decline.
However, around the world, good scientific research teams had basically all been acquired by major telecommunications companies. Where could Haiming poach people?
Thinking of this, Xuan Ming’s face became even gloomier. He pushed the resignation letters aside, took out his cell phone and called the headhunting company.
The person on the other end kept apologizing and explained to him over and over how difficult this deal was.
“I’ll give you more money, and we can negotiate any terms.” Xuan Ming took out a cigarette and held it between his fingertips, his voice filled with anger.
Chang Dongming quickly stepped forward with a lighter in hand, his heart pounding wildly. If he had known that the boss was in such a state, he would not have come in. For that cheap brother, he really sacrificed too much.
Why not just forget it, I’ll just light the cigarette and leave to avoid being scolded, Chang Dongming thought to himself fearfully.
After hanging up the phone call from the headhunting company, Xuan Ming narrowed his eyes like a hawk, slowly lit his cigar with a jumping flame, and slowly exhaled a puff of thick smoke, and asked in a deep voice: “What’s the matter?”
Chang Dongming shook his head subconsciously, thought of his prophetic dream, and suddenly mustered up the courage to speak quickly: “Mr. Xuan, my brother wants to discuss a business deal with you. He wants you to have dinner at Lemo Restaurant at 8 o’clock tonight.”
Lemo restaurant had delicious food, romantic atmosphere, and invited a well-known performer to perform live every day. It was a famous dating spot for couples in City B.
But Xuan Ming was a workaholic. He started his own business right after graduation. He had never been in a relationship, let alone fallen in love with anyone, so naturally he had no idea what that place was.
He asked impatiently, “Who is your brother?”
“My brother is Zhuang Li.” Chang Dongming carefully looked at his boss’s expression.
Xuan Ming frowned, as if recalling something, but after a while he shook his head: “The name sounds familiar, what does he do?”
“Um, he, he…” Chang Dongming didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know why Zhuang Li insisted on meeting Mr. Xuan. Would Mr. Xuan be willing to lend him money after they met? Or did he have some bargaining chip that could definitely convince the other party?
Seeing that his subordinate was hesitant and couldn’t explain clearly, Xuan Ming waved his hand impatiently: “Get out, I don’t want to see strange people.”
He was so busy now that he had no time to care about unimportant people.
He probably guessed that Zhuang Li was a young dreamer who was trying to meet him and get an investment. He had seen many people like him over the years, and the business plans they brought were usually castles in the air with almost no chance of making a profit.
“Are you not getting out yet?” Seeing Chang Dongming standing still, Xuan Ming gave the order with a stern face.
Chang Dongming shuddered and went out immediately, never daring to hand over the ridiculous business card. When he was about to get off work, he took out the business card from his pocket, crumpled it into a small ball, and was about to throw it into the trash can, but at this time he received a call from Zhuang Li.
“Did Xuan Ming agree to meet?” The tone on the other end was quite nonchalant.
“No, Mr. Xuan is very busy these days and has no time to meet strangers.” Chang Dongming stretched his hand holding the business card over the trash can.
“Did you give him my business card?”
Chang Dongming said he gave it to him, but his fingertips loosened slightly, ready to throw away the garbage.
Zhuang Li: “You are lying to me. If you had given him your business card, he would not have refused to meet me. Do you still want your one million? Would you like it if one million became ten million within a year?”
Chang Dongming’s breathing gradually became heavy, and the fingertips holding the business card immediately clenched.
Who wouldn’t like a million becoming ten million? Thinking of the “Boss Zhuang” in his dream, who was feared by everyone, and thinking of Zhuang Li, whose aura had changed drastically since he came back yesterday, his heart warmed.
“I’ll go find President Xuan right away.” he said hastily.
“Just put the business card in his hand. Tell him that I’ll be waiting for him at Lemo Restaurant at 8 o’clock tonight.” Zhuang Li hung up the phone. He never considered that he would be rejected.
Chang Dongming quickly unfolded the crumpled business card, flattened it with his hands, and then, suppressing the shame in his heart, ran towards the president’s special elevator.
With a crisp ding-dong sound, the elevator door opened and Xuan Ming walked in, surrounded by several shareholders.
Chang Dongming called out to Mr. Xuan several times, but the other party did not respond and just concentrated on talking with several shareholders.
Chang Dongming had no choice but to rush over, block the elevator door with one arm, stuff the business card into Xuan Ming’s hand, and say sullenly: “Mr. Xuan, my brother will be waiting for you at Lemo restaurant at 8 o’clock tonight.” After he finished speaking, he covered his face and ran away, like a thief.
Several shareholders pointed at his fleeing back and asked, “Who is his brother?”
“I don’t know him.” Xuan Ming said nonchalantly, “He’s just a young man who wants to take a shortcut. Don’t bother with him.”
“Asking you to meet at Lemo restaurant? He really wants to take a shortcut.” One shareholder thought of it in the wrong way and smiled ambiguously. Several other shareholders also understood what he meant.
“What happened to Lemo Restaurant?” Xuan Ming asked while casually lowering his eyes to look at the crumpled business card lying in his palm.
“Boss Xuan, you are really a workaholic. You don’t even know about Lemo Restaurant, which is a dating sanctuary. Our Boss Liu likes to take his pretty sisters to Lemo the most. In such a good atmosphere, they can sit and listen to music, drink a few glasses of red wine, say a few sweet words, give a few expensive gifts, and then have a good meal later.”
As these people talked, they began to laugh meaningfully.
But Xuan Ming’s brain lost its ability to think at this moment. He held up this wrinkled card that looked like a child’s card made by a kindergarten teacher using Photoshop, and his heart beat rapidly.
He looked at the curly-haired little fox on the card, and a feeling of eager love surged uncontrollably in his heart.
Zhuang Li – Curly Hair – Little Fox, these three unrelated nouns finally established a vivid connection at this moment.
He suddenly wanted to know urgently how much the curly-haired fox on the business card resembled the real Zhuang Li, what kind of person was he, and why did he want to see him?
As soon as he came to his senses, Xuan Ming heard several shareholders talking about Lemo Restaurant. His face was still as stern as before, but his ears were quietly dyed red. He casually put the business card into his trouser pocket and asked in a deep voice, “What does Lemo Restaurant do?”
“It’s a couples restaurant and a dating destination.”
“By the way, President Xuan has already invited us to dinner tonight. This young man really doesn’t know how to choose the time.”
“He’s not picky about people. Mr. Xuan is a well-known workaholic in the industry and doesn’t get involved in these things.”
“Isn’t Chang Dongming’s brother a man? Young people nowadays are getting bolder and bolder.”
“Not really, it’s mainly because our President Xuan is too charming.”
Several shareholders started joking with each other.
Xuan Ming had indeed made plans for dinner with several shareholders, so he had no time to spare at eight o’clock. Moreover, he extremely hated these young people who were not motivated and indulged in depravity.
In the past, he would have thrown away the business card, called Chang Dongming back and scolded him severely. If he was in a bad mood, he might even have fired him.
But now, he hid his hands in his trouser pockets, quietly stroking the little fox on the business card, his mind filled with the cute image of the fox smiling with squinting eyes and sticking out its little pink tongue.
His hard defenses seemed to be gently scratched by a pair of fox claws, scratching continuously until it was itchy and uncomfortable, and then a crack appeared.
The several shareholders were still joking about this romantic affair, and were certain that Mr. Xuan, a work machine without emotions, would never go on a date with such ulterior motives, and they also praised Mr. Xuan for his self-discipline.
Behind his back, Xuan Ming took out his cell phone and sent a text message to his special assistant: [Call me right away and tell me that President Li wants to meet me at 8 o’clock tonight.]
So as soon as everyone walked out of the elevator, Xuan Ming’s cell phone rang.
He pressed the hands-free button with a cold face, and the voice of the special assistant came immediately: “Mr. Xuan, President Li asked you to have dinner at Sheng Long Xuan at 8 o’clock tonight. Do you have time?”
“President Li from the Development Bank? Is there a problem with our loan?” Xuan Ming’s tone was extremely serious.
“Probably. Are you free? I can reply to him right away.” The special assistant performed diligently.
“I’m free. I’ll be there right away.” Xuan Ming quickly hung up the phone and apologized to several shareholders, “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I have to leave you tonight.”
“Loans are a big deal. Mr. Xuan, you go and take care of it. We’ll make an appointment later.” The several shareholders immediately expressed their understanding.
Xuan Ming nodded slightly and strode away. His back looked extremely hurried. He adjusted his tie and cufflinks as he walked and stared at his watch all the way.
Several shareholders watched him go away and said worriedly, “Could something bad have happened? Look how hurriedly President Xuan left. He is always very calm and not afraid even if the sky falls. Unlike today, when he almost ran away.”
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