Chapter
130: The Original Origin
Zhou Hanhai told the waiter to add a few dishes. Then he
turned to Chu Qianmiao and said, "I originally invited Zhao Zhenghuan to
this meal, but he's been out of town for a meeting and said he couldn't make
it. But he just called me and said he's rushed back and is on his way and will
be here soon. I'll add a few more dishes before he arrives." After a
pause, he asked Chu Qianmiao for her opinion. "Qianmiao, how about we have
some tea and chat while we wait for him?"
Chu Qianmiao had read the information beforehand and knew
that the Zhao Zhenghuan, Zhou Hanhai was referring to was the owner of Zhaohuan
Education, the target company for the acquisition.
She quickly said, "It's still early, and we're not
particularly hungry. Let's have some tea and chat while we wait for Mr.
Zhao."
She and Zhou Hanhai began chatting, and the conversation
naturally led to the developments at Zhaohuan Education.
Chu Qianmiao had already reviewed the relevant information
about this educational institution.
It's one of the top three educational institutions in China,
with numerous business segments, including early childhood education, K-12
tutoring for primary, secondary, and high schools, vocational training, and
online education.
Chu Qianmiao asked Zhou Hanhai, "Mr. Zhou, what
inspired you to acquire an educational institution completely unrelated to your
company's core business?"
Zhou Hanhai smiled and raised his chin at Ren Yan, who was
standing beside her. "Mr. Ren suggested this to me."
Chu Qianmiao instinctively wanted to turn her head to look
at Ren Yan, but the intensity of his gaze prevented her from doing so.
But she still flirted with the flattery. "Mr. Ren's
professional abilities and perspectives have always been far beyond the reach
of us younger generations."
Ren Yan's voice rang out beside her, "You're about to
surpass me."
His words burned her ears like they were fresh from a steel
furnace. She couldn't help but glance back at him.
The heat intensified.
Zhou Hanhai laughed heartily. "You two, master and
apprentice, are so busy praising each other that it seems I have nothing to
do."
Chu Qianmiao quickly smiled and praised Zhou Hanhai. Zhou
Hanhai was delighted and continued the previous topic. "Mr. Ren told me
that the manufacturing industry has been sluggish in recent years. So instead
of acquiring a manufacturing company, why not try a different approach and
acquire a different core business? After all, Hanhai isn't listed on the Growth
Enterprise Market (GEM) and isn't constrained by the requirement of having only
one core business."
The hot teapot on the table swirled over. Ren Yan silently
picked it up and refilled Chu Qianmiao's tea. Chu Qianmiao's ears warmed and
she said thank you.
To break up Ren Yan's overwhelming presence, she decided she
needed to find something to do. She picked up the teapot and refilled Zhou
Hanhai's tea. Zhou Hanhai thanked her, took a sip, and continued, "Mr. Ren
said that private educational institutions are currently experiencing strong
growth, with the market size for education and training alone reaching 980
billion yuan. Our country's population is growing, and public education
resources simply can't meet the nation's educational needs. Therefore, private
education is an indispensable supplement and will become increasingly
profitable in the future. But Mr. Ren also said that according to our country's
current policies, private educational institutions cannot list on the A-share
market themselves. If they want to go public, they either have to go through a
VIE structure to list overseas or be acquired by a listed company in
China."
"So, Qianmiao," Zhou Hanhai said with a smile,
"my company's performance is declining, and I need a company with
consistently strong operations and future profits to serve as my target company
to help me adjust my financial statements. Zhaohuan Education is just such a
company, but it can't go public on its own. So, isn't this combination of
acquisition and acquisition a match made in heaven?"
Chu Qianmiao smiled and nodded. She felt that Zhou Hanhai,
after his exposure to the internet, had become increasingly humorous and
energetic.
Zhou Hanhai continued, "Oh, by the way, Mr. Ren also
mentioned that Hanhai Home Textiles' e-commerce business is developing well and
has considerable internet resources, while Zhaohuan Education has an online
education sector. Our two companies' internet resources can be perfectly
integrated in the future, which is a win-win for everyone."
At this point, he couldn't help but look at Ren Yan, gently
shaking his head as he sighed with heartfelt admiration, "Mr. Ren, you are
my guiding light. Your ideas are always innovative and enlightening."
Chu Qianmiao followed Zhou Hanhai's gaze and naturally
turned to look at Ren Yan.
She saw Ren Yan say to Zhou Hanhai, "I was also
inspired by someone else's idea." She saw him look back at her, his gaze
deep.
The private room was noisy, everyone was talking, and
occasionally there was the crisp sound of teacups clattering against the tray.
But Ren Yan's gaze was like a barrier, blocking out the clatter. Chu Qianmiao
seemed to hear only his voice.
"She said something was difficult to resolve, so why
not just take a detour?"
In the moment of silence he blocked her out, she looked at
him and thought, he'd taken her words to heart. She couldn't help but smile at
him.
Then she saw something that made her startle, and then a
look of awe crossed her face.
She turned away, thinking, "He wouldn't humble himself
so much for her, would he?"
It was unbelievable.
A while later, Zhao Zhenghuan arrived.
He was a cheerful and talkative man, square-faced, of medium
height, in his thirties, with a slightly hoarse voice and a quick, humorous
delivery. He wasn't handsome, but his humor was captivating.
He quickly became acquainted with the people at the various
agencies. Upon learning that Chu Qianmiao was the head of the securities firm,
his face was filled with surprise and admiration. "Ms. Chu, I'm not
exaggerating at all. There are many people in your financial industry who want
to acquire me or invest in me, and I've met many of them, but you are
undoubtedly the youngest, most beautiful, and most professional financial
professional I've ever met."
He uttered the word "most" three times in a row.
Perhaps it was the emotion of expressing his feelings, but Zhao Zhenghuan's
duck-like voice almost cracked as he spoke.
Chu Qianmiao quickly thanked him modestly, saying she didn't
deserve it. She then engaged Zhao Zhenghuan in a conversation.
She followed up on Zhao Zhenghuan's previous question by
asking, "From what I heard, Mr. Zhao, before Hanhai, were there other
listed companies that wanted to acquire you?"
Zhao Zhenghuan wiped his sweat with a wet towel and said,
"Yes, there was indeed a listed company that wanted to acquire my Zhaohuan
Education, called Henong Shares, but we ultimately fell through."
Chu Qianmiao's professional instincts perked up at this. It
didn't work out. Who was to blame? Was it the other party or Zhaohuan Education
itself? This needs to be clarified.
She smiled disarmingly and asked Zhao Zhenghuan, "Mr.
Zhao, can I ask you why the deal didn't work out?"
Zhao Zhenghuan's hoarse voice threatened to crack again.
"Speaking of this, I'm a little angry. Actually, the chairman of Henong
Shares was very interested in acquiring me, but there was a driving force
behind Henong Shares, an investment institution that provided the funding. They
must have seen that I was very eager to be acquired by a listed company, so
they deliberately kept my valuation very low and imposed a bunch of harsh
conditions, including management, finance, and performance targets. According to
their terms, I was reduced to a positionless employee with high sales targets.
Why would I bother? I got angry and just parted ways with them."
Chu Qianmiao listened and nodded slowly.
The name Henong Shares sounded very familiar to her, but she
couldn't recall where she had heard it before.
Ren Yan added beside her, "Henong Shares is currently
in talks with Xingfei Education, and it looks like they might acquire
Xingfei."
Zhao Zhenghuan immediately said, "This is intentional
on Henong Shares. If they can't acquire me, they'll go after my competitors.
But they must also see the huge future profits in the education sector, which
is why they're so determined to invest in this sector."
He also told Chu Qianmiao, "The three best private
education institutions in China right now are my Zhaohuan Education, Xingfei
Education (which is about to be acquired by Henong Shares), and Yisi Education.
The other scattered educational institutions don't stand a chance against
us."
Chu Qianmiao smiled and told him, "And in the future,
you'll be even more competitive than the other two institutions, because Mr.
Zhou's company has well-developed internet resources. Didn't the Tenth Plan
mention the vigorous development of internet education? Your internet education
business will develop faster and better than the other two."
Zhao Zhenghuan immediately stated, "I've also seen Mr.
Zhou's internet resources, and I'm even more determined to become part of Mr.
Zhou's family."
Zhou Hanhai chuckled, "Speaking of which, it was Qian
Miao who persuaded me to vigorously develop my online business."
Zhao Zhenghuan looked at Chu Qianmiao with admiration and
admiration, his hoarse voice, suffused with emotion, nearly breaking. "Ms.
Chu is truly outstanding. I really want to know how you became so
outstanding."
Chu Qianmiao smiled, turned around, and pointed at Ren Yan.
"I was personally taught by Mr. Ren, who sits next to me."
The conversation about work came to an end, and everyone
began to chat about interesting things over their meal.
The winter melon soup arrived, and Ren Yan personally poured
a bowl for Chu Qianmiao. Chu Qianmiao thanked him and began to drink. After two
sips, her phone vibrated.
She swiped open her phone and saw a message from Qin Qianyu.
"I'm so jealous! Why didn't President Ren serve us soup? He taught us
everything. He's really biased towards girls."
Chu Qianmiao couldn't help but laugh, nearly choking.
After a joyful meal, everyone agreed that the agency would
officially begin work the next day. After finalizing the work, everyone except
the Litong team dispersed.
Qin Qianyu and the others surrounded Ren Yan and talked for
a long time before reluctantly leaving. All the while, Ren Yan's eyes remained
fixed on Chu Qianmiao, fearing she might slip away.
After finally expressing their longing for their former
leader, the group, tearful, prepared to take a taxi and leave. Before leaving,
Sun Yi asked Chu Qianmiao, "Qianmiao, are we going back together?"
Liu Lifeng came over, grabbed his collar, and dragged him
away. "Boss Chu is bothered by you and doesn't want to go with you. You
should come with me."
Qin Qianyu was the last one to leave. Before leaving, he ran
over to Chu Qianmiao and whispered quickly, "Qianmiao, I just asked Boss
Ren secretly, and he said he wouldn't find me another sister-in-law, so he'll
take you. So, sister-in-law, keep up the good work and try to get back together
soon."
With that, he ran off with Liu Lifeng and the others.
Chu Qianmiao: "..."
The person obsessed with the title of sister-in-law had
fled, and for a moment, only she and Ren Yan were left in the private room.
The room was suddenly so quiet that only the sound of
heartbeats could be heard. Thump, thump, thump, the air seemed to be a power
amplifier for the heartbeat, the thumps bouncing off the walls.
Chu Qianmiao turned to look at Ren Yan. "Didn't you
want to talk to me? Why aren't you talking?"
Ren Yan's Adam's apple bounced against his neck. He suddenly
raised his hand, his fingers resting on the tie buckle, pulling and loosening
it left and right.
He unbuttoned the first button of his collar. He panted
softly.
His Adam's apple continued to move, right where the slightly
open collar was.
She thought bitterly, "He's really being unruly."
"Qianmiao, I'll take you somewhere, okay?"
She stared at his Adam's apple, listening to him. His voice
was a little hoarse, as if he was nervous, afraid she would refuse.
She looked up at him, then raised her hand to her ear and
gently brushed her hair back.
"Okay," she said, noticing his slightly narrowed
eyes.
It's just a rule.
She could do it too.
Chu Qianmiao hadn't expected the place Ren Yan wanted to
take her to was actually their school.
She hadn't expected him to take her directly to the lecture
hall where she'd first met him.
There were no classes in that room, just a few students
studying.
Ren Yan led her to the last row. Her heart pounded as she
walked back and forth, each step akin to a journey through time back to her
freshman year. The girl in a denim jacket and ponytail from that year and the
professional woman in a stylish suit and wavy hair from this moment had
reunited across time and space. They walked together to the back of the lecture
hall.
Ren Yan led Chu Qianmiao to the last row and sat down.
He sat inside, she to the side.
He pointed to the seats in the row in front of him and said
in a low voice, "During my third year of graduate school, I had no idea
there was a third-year finance class here, so I was studying here. Just before
class, a little girl came over. I took the last row, so she had to sit in front
of me. She was very clever and answered all the questions for three senior
students."
He turned to look at Chu Qianmiao and said in a low voice,
"I've never forgotten her."
Thinking about it, all his irrationality and lack of
composure over the years was because of her. He gave her all his anger,
obsession, l*st, and desire. He also shattered all his principles and
indifference because of her.
That year, his uncle died of a heart attack out of concern
for his safety. From then on, he not only shouldered the guilt he felt towards
his uncle, but also his uncle's final wishes.
His uncle asked him to take care of Tan Shen. He said he had
a good temper and asked him to be more considerate of Tan Shen.
Grandma also said that after his parents passed away, his
uncle had been raising him, and that his uncle died because he was angry with
him. Tan Shen was younger than him, so morally and logically, he should give in
to his younger brother.
So, he gave in to his younger brother, the one who would
plunder everything from him.
At first, when Tan Shen plundered him, he was angry and sad.
But thinking of his uncle's years of nurturing him, his uncle's guilt over his
death, and his uncle's dying wishes and instructions, he suppressed his anger
and sadness.
Later, he discovered that the angrier and sadder he got, the
happier Tan Shen became. So, he simply became indifferent, unconcerned.
He thought that if he didn't particularly like anything, Tan
Shen wouldn't be able to plunder anything.
But he was wrong. It turned out that it wasn't just Tan
Shen, whom he liked, who was plundering; even Tan Shen, who liked him, was also
plundering.
He remembered a girl named He in his class. She was very
pretty, gentle, and charming, the class beauty.
For a while, the girl started talking to him and even
invited him to dinner. Lei Zhenzi had analyzed his situation and concluded that
the girl was interested in him and was pursuing him. He didn't object to her
advances and accepted her invitation.
But he never got to see her. The girl stopped looking for
him. Later, he heard that she had a boyfriend, a handsome man from the finance
department named Tan Shen. (He Luoyu met Chapter 78, 80).
From then on, he noticed that any girl who appeared around
him would soon...
Without exception, they would eventually become Tan Shen's
girlfriend. Tan Shen had shown him off with every one of them.
He felt disgusted and begged Tan Shen not to do such a
thing. But Tan Shen said it was his fault, because it was those girls who were
so close to him.
From then on, he refused to allow any other girl to approach
him. No matter who showed interest in him, he treated them coldly. No matter
who was responsible, less evil was always better.
There was one exception.
That day, he met a girl in a lecture hall. She was beautiful
and clever. She answered questions for three people and even pretended to be
three people, giving nonsensical answers.
At that time, he had already been extremely cold to girls.
But that day, not only was he not cold, he actually helped her when the teacher
asked her a question.
He later remembered that the class that day was in Tan
Shen's class. He was sitting in the back helping the girl out, and Tan Shen
must have turned around and seen it.
So, the original connection between the three of them began
in that lecture hall.
0 Comments