Chapter
94.1: Problem Solved
The next day, Chu Qianmiao and Ren Yan took a bus back to
Beijing. They were also traveling with one of Liya's vice presidents.
Ordinarily, Qian Siji should have personally negotiated this
matter, but Qian Siji, using the excuse of a stomach upset, sent his vice
president instead. Chu Qianmiao understood that Qian Siji was just being mean,
not actually upset, and that this was his excuse for not coming to Yingji
Capital to negotiate because he didn't want to confront his investor father
face to face.
Fortunately, when Yingji Capital invested in Liya, this vice
president had been with them throughout the entire process, responsible for
many key tasks and acquainted with all the relevant personnel on the Yingji
Capital side.
So, at Yingji Capital, the vice president was responsible
for liaising with the Yingji side. The vice president called the general
manager of Yingji's investment department. The general manager apologized
profusely. Although they had made an appointment in advance, he had an urgent
matter and had taken the high-speed train on a business trip early that
morning. He also explained that the investment director who had been
responsible for Liya's investment had resigned and had appointed another
investment director to take over all matters related to Liya. He told them to
go directly to Conference Room 3 upon arrival at Yingji and wait; the front
desk would call someone for them.
After hanging up, the vice president repeated the
conversation to Ren Yan and Chu Qianmiao.
They entered Yingji Capital and were led into Conference
Room 3 by the front desk. As the receptionist went to call the investment
director in charge, Chu Qianmiao knew that the person who would open the
conference room door and walk in would be Tan Shen.
She finally understood why Tan Shen had said before Liya's
departure that he would wait for her to return to Beijing to see him. It was
because she had to help Liya solve his problem.
She now suspected that Tan Shen had deliberately leaked the
two issues to her, thus creating the opportunity for them to meet again and
again.
If that were the case, she didn't know whether to thank Tan
Shen for his good intentions or to marvel at his cunning.
About two minutes later, the conference room door opened.
As expected, it was Tan Shen who walked in.
He looked high and proud, a smile plastered across his face
as he entered. This time, he didn't greet Chu Qianmiao first. Instead, he
looked directly at Ren Yan and smiled, a smile that hinted at a hidden,
close-quarters confrontation. With that smile, he greeted Ren Yan, saying,
"I didn't expect to meet again so soon, Mr. Ren."
Ren Yan, sitting at the conference table, looked up at him,
raised his lip, and said, "Mr. Tan, you're too polite. You should have
expected us to show up."
Tan Shen smiled and approached the conference table. As he
passed Chu Qianmiao's seat, he tapped the tabletop with his finger, as if
sending a familiar, intimate greeting, a gesture only they had shared before.
He then walked to the center of the conference table,
directly across from Vice President Li Ya, Ren Yan, and Chu Qianmiao. He pulled
out a chair, sat down, leaned back, and with a powerful wave of his hand, said,
"Okay, let's get down to business."
The Vice President opened the main discussion, and the
subsequent negotiations were primarily conducted by Ren Yan and Chu Qianmiao.
While Ren Yan was speaking, Tan Shen sat sternly in his
chair, his eyes fixed on the speaker. No matter what Ren Yan said, he always
had a rebuttal ready. His rebuttals were dense, yet sounded well-reasoned and
impeccable.
When Chu Qianmiao spoke, Tan Shen rested his elbows on the
armrests of his chair, his chin resting on the side of his hand. Though his
expression was serious, he looked at her with a smile in his eyes. Where she
spoke, he nodded gently. Where he disagreed, he skillfully redirected his
criticism toward Ren Yan and said "no" to her.
After several rounds of discussion, Chu Qianmiao's mind
raced with ellipsis.
"I feel like he's letting Ren Yan take the blame for
her remarks."
During the negotiation, Tan Shen lowered his head and waved
his phone.
Then he looked up and said, "Okay, we've been talking
for so long, so let me be clear. We can rescind the veto power by signing a new
document with Li Ya, but the bet agreement cannot be terminated." After a
pause, he looked at Ren Yan and said, "Mr. Ren, there's no need to waste
any more words. Please go back."
His last words were spoken lightly but with a firm tone.
Ren Yan looked at him for a moment and said, "Since
your argument isn't convincing, let's wait for your general manager to return
from his business trip and talk to him."
Tan Shen immediately smiled at him. "Since the senior
leader has specifically assigned me responsibility for this matter, it's
useless even if you go to him. He'll just pass your issue on to me and I'll
handle it."
Ren Yan raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then we'll wait and
see." He stood up, buttoned his suit, and turned to Chu Qianmiao, saying,
"Let's go."
Chu Qianmiao didn't dare to linger. She was afraid that if
she paused even a little longer, these two people would start arguing. Their
auras were so antagonistic, like two people who were born to be insubordinate,
each wanting to defeat the other. Only then would they feel comfortable.
Before leaving, she saw Tan Shen staring at her intently,
smiling as he did so. He didn't get up to see her off, nor did he say goodbye.
He simply watched her, unblinking.
Until she left the meeting room.
After leaving the Yingji Capital office building, Ren Yan
asked Vice President Li Ya to find a hotel nearby and stay there. They would
wait a few days until Yingji's general manager returned from a "business
trip." He pronounced the word "business trip" a bit differently.
Then he said to Chu Qianmiao, "You don't have to come
to the office today. Go home and get some rest. Come back to the office
tomorrow. After we meet with Yingji's general manager to resolve the VAM
agreement, we'll return to Li Ya."
Chu Qianmiao nodded in agreement and watched Ren Yan walk to
the curb and get in a taxi.
She fished her phone out of her bag, intending to hail a
ride.
The screen lit up, revealing a horizontal message. She
clicked on it and saw it was from Tan Shen.
Tan Shen: "Meet me in my office later."
Chu Qianmiao was stunned by the message.
She checked the time it was sent. It must have been right
around the time Tan Shen had been fiddling with his phone during the meeting.
She belatedly realized why Tan Shen had stared at her as she
left the meeting. He was trying to remind her not to forget to look for him
after seeing the message.
Unbeknownst to her, she had muted her phone during the
meeting and had only just seen the message.
She thought about it and decided that Tan Shen wouldn't
dwell on personal matters with her in the office; that would be unprofessional.
If she had to guess, she'd guess he wanted to discuss the VAM agreement
privately.
She temporarily abandoned her thoughts of calling a taxi
home and walked back to the Eagle Capital Building.
Chu Qianmiao stepped into Eagle Capital once again. As she
entered, the receptionist greeted her with a beaming smile, "Ms. Chu, Mr.
Tan specifically instructed me to take you directly to his office if you
return."
Chu Qianmiao thanked her and the receptionist led her,
through twists and turns, to a mahogany door. The receptionist knocked on the
door, and after receiving the command "Come in," she twisted the
handle to open it, saying, "Mr. Tan is here!" She stepped aside to
let Chu Qianmiao in, then considerately closed the door from the outside by
pulling the handle.
Chu Qianmiao looked at Tan Shen, who was standing by the
window, turning his head to look at her. He was wearing a dark blue suit, his
hands in his trouser pockets, a smile on his face. He called out to her,
"Qianmiao, you're here."
The sunlight bathed him, making him look incredibly bright
and confident.
Tan Shen walked back to his desk, and Chu Qianmiao sat in
the chair across from him.
Tan Shen ordered two cups of coffee. Chu Qianmiao watched
him give the command with considerable authority.
A moment later, the receptionist returned with two cups of
coffee, respectfully offering them to Tan Shen and her.
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