Water and Fire~Chapter 20.1: Treat Her Differently

 

Chapter 20.1: Treat Her Differently

A short while later, Ren Yan arrived.

He glanced around the room. Except for Qin Qianyu and Zhang Teng, no one else had arrived yet.

Ren Yan's brows furrowed slightly, and he couldn't help but say, "Tell them to arrive early next time."

Qin Qianyu glanced down at his watch, a wave of questions rising to the top of his head. Those who had arrived had already arrived, but those who hadn't had plenty of time to be late. It wouldn't be too late for them to wait until they'd passed that time...

The leader was truly anxious to see his subordinates.

As they spoke, Chu Qianmiao arrived, carrying her bag. Seeing Zhang Teng, she called out "Zhang Lu" affectionately and happily, like a free-range child meeting a relative.

Turning her head to look again, she saw Ren Yan again. She felt like he hadn't been around for quite a while, and seeing him so unexpectedly gave her a small, pleasant surprise, a kind of reunion after a long absence. She called him "Senior" crisply, then, realizing it was almost time for work, quickly changed her tone and called him "Mr. Ren."

Her two words were filled with joy. A kind of open and honest joy.

Ren Yan's expression remained calm, as if not seeing her for a long time had the same effect on him as not seeing her yesterday. He nodded, acknowledging her greeting.

Chu Qianmiao didn't feel left out; she was used to it. While Zhang Teng and Ren Yan were talking, she put down her bag and, before work started, ran to chat with Qin Qianyu, telling him about her heroic act in the neighborhood last night.

"Brother Qin, yesterday was a very dangerous day in our neighborhood. A ferocious dog was chasing a child and biting him. The child's grandmother couldn't keep up, and her screams were so frantic they barely rang out! I knew this wasn't going to work, because the dog looked like it was going to eat the child. I quickly threw the meat pie I'd bought over, but luckily the dog was greedy enough to go for the pie. The child was saved, and her grandmother thanked me profusely. It made me feel like my life had been elevated. But when I got home, my childhood friend asked me where dinner was. "Didn't I ask you to buy the meat pie?" I said I'd fed it to the dog, and she started chasing me and beating me. She thought I'd told her to feed it, so I wouldn't give it to her!"

Qin Qianyu was laughing so hard he was staggering. Zhang Teng, standing nearby, overheard and joined in the laughter. "Qian Miao is such a funny girl!"

Ren Yan's mouth relaxed.

Zhang Teng turned to Ren Yan and said, "I thought she'd chat with us for a bit since she was so happy to see us. But she was only happy enough to say hello, and then she ran off to tell jokes to Xiao Qin! It seems young people still like to play with young people."

Ren Yan's mouth tightened, and he replied calmly, "Yeah."

Just after work hours, Zhou Hanhai's secretary knocked on the door and invited Ren Yan and Zhang Teng to a meeting. Ren Yan called Qin Qianyu over and asked him to take minutes.

As the three of them reached the door, Zhou Hanhai's secretary smiled and said to Chu Qianmiao, "Lawyer Chu, come join us!"

Chu Qianmiao pointed at herself. "Me?" What qualifications or meaning did a small-time jerk like her have to attend a meeting with the big guys?

Zhou Hanhai's secretary nodded with a smile. "Yes, you're coming too. President Zhou specifically told me to bring you to the meeting!"

Zhang Teng waved at her, "Qian Miao, hurry up!"

Chu Qian Miao quickly grabbed her laptop and followed him to the meeting.

The meeting was held in Zhou Hanhai's office. Besides Zhou Hanhai, Yu Yue was also there.

As soon as Ren Yan and the others entered the room, Zhou Hanhai immediately stood up and greeted him and Zhang Teng with an apologetic smile. "President Ren, Lawyer Zhang, I'm sorry to have called you to a meeting so suddenly. Come, sit here!"

He seated them on the sofa. Before the meeting officially began, he exchanged the usual pleasantries with Ren Yan and Zhang Teng.

"I'm so sorry, this meeting is a bit rushed. Our internal meeting didn't end until 9 p.m. last night. I immediately called President Ren and told him I'd like the three of us to have a meeting today to discuss the results of yesterday's meeting!"

After he finished speaking, before Ren Yan and Zhang Teng could react, Qin Qianyu let out a small "Ah!"

Zhou Hanhai casually asked, "Manager Qin, what's wrong?"

Qin Qianyu quickly replied, "Nothing, nothing."

But what he was thinking was that he'd misjudged Ren Yan. It turned out it wasn't Ren Yan who was acting on impulse; it was Zhou Hanhai who had orchestrated this whole thing.

Chu Qianmiao listened to the routine pre-meeting pleasantries, her eyes drawn to a large tank of fortune fish nearby.

A small fish made eye contact with her. She tilted her head, and the fish tilted its head back. She puffed out her cheeks, and the fish puffed out its cheeks back. She glared, and the fish blew bubbles at her. Chu Qianmiao almost laughed out loud. The fish's puffy cheeks looked exactly like Gu Miaoyu.

She turned back, and before the smile faded, her eyes met Ren Yan's. Ren Yan glanced at her calmly, then looked away.

Chu Qianmiao felt strangely uneasy under his gaze, and quickly put away her smile, sitting up straight.

Zhou Hanhai had already gotten to the point of the meeting.

"The purpose of today's meeting is this: our company has made a new strategic adjustment to its development. To avoid delaying our IPO, I'd like to discuss its feasibility with everyone." (The present time in this context refers to several years ago.)

Zhou Hanhai had his secretary pour tea for everyone. He continued, "My original idea was to expand brick-and-mortar stores nationwide to capture market share. However, relying solely on the funds raised after the IPO might not be enough to implement this plan, nor would it be fast enough. So, I brought in private equity to raise some money. I plan to use this money to get started first, and then continue after the IPO, when the funds are in place."

He paused, motioning for everyone to try his tea. "This is a fine Pu'er tea given to me by a friend. Everyone, try it!"

Chu Qianmiao followed the crowd and took a sip. It was gone in one gulp, bitter, but she couldn't resist. She thought that this might be the difference between a boss and a loser. A boss could drink more and more of the tea in his small cup, and more and more of his time, drinking it to a leisurely and leisurely state. And struggling losers like them only felt their time wasted by downing a whole cup of tea in one gulp. Ordinary people never have as much time as the rich.

She pursed her lips wistfully. She was thirsty, wanting more, but was too embarrassed to pour.

Luckily, Ren Yan, who was sitting across from her, picked up the teapot, filled it for Zhou Hanhai, then refilled it for Zhang Teng. It was his turn next. She thought she'd wait for him to put the teapot down so she could pick it up and pour it for Qin Qianyu and herself. Instead, he tilted the spout outward, filled her own cup, and then put the teapot down.

Chu Qianmiao saw the hurt look on Qin Qianyu's face. Zhang Teng picked up the teapot and filled his cup, soothing his wounded heart.

Zhou Hanhai continued, "But after hearing the feedback from the operations department about your meeting the other day, I'd like to change the use of the raised funds. I'll allocate a portion to investing in offline sales channels and a portion to building an online e-commerce platform. I hope to see the offline and online markets integrate and complement each other in the future. I'd also like to reserve a portion for research and development—developing production technology for high-end products and developing online platforms."

Chu Qianmiao listened quietly, and the more she listened, the more she understood why Zhou Hanhai had specifically requested her to attend this meeting.