Thud thud thud…
At that moment, another set of footsteps approached, followed by Xu Qing’s voice at the door: “President Hu, someone from Liu Group has delivered an invitation for you to attend Tianhai City’s annual business networking event.”
Upon hearing this, Hu Yuanyuan, like a startled little rabbit, pushed Li Feng away at once and straightened her somewhat dishevelled clothes.
“President Hu, here is the invitation.” Xu Qing entered; as Hu Yuanyuan’s assistant, Xu Qing had the right to enter the president’s office at any time.
Li Feng shot Xu Qing a fierce glare; he had finally had a chance to be alone with Hu Yuanyuan, poised to let things take their natural course for what he desired, only for Xu Qing to ruin it again. Was this Xu Qing his nemesis. It seemed he needed to find an opportunity to deal with her.
At this thought, Li Feng’s heart stirred; he had to admit, Xu Qing was an exceptional woman, whether due to her work or innate disposition, she had cultivated a unique aura that, in Li Feng’s eyes, was particularly captivating.
Hu Yuanyuan’s beauty lay in her icy allure, Xu Qing’s in her temperament.
Thinking of Liu Ruyan at the company, and now Hu Yuanyuan and Xu Qing before him, Li Feng suddenly realised the firm held so many beauties.
An wicked thought crossed Li Feng’s mind: he ought to wander the company more often in future.
Xu Qing, glared at by Li Feng, felt somewhat baffled, but she was no fool; seeing Hu Yuanyuan’s faintly flushed cheeks, how could she not know what they had been up to. No wonder President Li looked at her as if he wanted to kill; she had spoiled his fun.
Xu Qing felt a touch of helplessness; she had only been doing her duty, yet ended up offending the big boss. If President Li made things difficult for her later…
At this thought, Xu Qing grew anxious; after all, she was merely an assistant, worlds apart from Li Feng, and if he insisted on making trouble, she would have no chance to resist.
For a moment, Xu Qing stood frozen, at a loss.
Hu Yuanyuan, however, noticed nothing of the subtle exchange between Li Feng and Xu Qing, taking the invitation from Xu Qing’s hand to peruse it.
“Li Feng.” After a good while, Hu Yuanyuan calmed her inner turmoil and looked up at Li Feng.
“What.” Li Feng, lost in fantasies about Xu Qing, started at Hu Yuanyuan’s voice, hastily withdrawing his gaze and asking with a touch of guilt.
“The networking event in half a month’s time; come with me.” Hu Yuanyuan, unaware of Li Feng’s expression or his designs on Xu Qing in her presence, simply explained upon hearing his question.
“Networking event, what networking event.”
“Tianhai City’s business networking gala. This is Tianhai City’s premier business affair, attended by the city’s top hundred firms; I never thought they would invite our Fen Yuan Group this time.” Hu Yuanyuan’s tone held some excitement; to her, this networking gala was recognition for Fen Yuan Group.
“I go.” Li Feng paused, then shook his head: “I do not care for such networking events; best I skip it.”
“You are the company vice-president; if you do not go, who will.” Hu Yuanyuan said, displeased; this Li Feng truly knew how to slack off, leaving company matters to others. She truly wondered what went through his mind.
“Is there not you; I have no wish to meddle in company affairs.” Li Feng shook his head; he could scarcely handle his current matters, let alone attend some networking gala, which in his view was a waste of time. Better to spend it cultivating at home.
“This time, you must go.” Hu Yuanyuan’s stance was firm, brooking no argument: “Besides, do you mean to leave me to go alone.”
“Then very well.” Li Feng hesitated before saying. Though he disliked networking events, accompanying Hu Yuanyuan changed matters. Moreover, this was Hu Yuanyuan’s first invitation to him; though not a date, he could not well refuse.
“This networking gala is an opportunity for the company; Assistant Xu, go prepare now. The company’s smartphone launches to market in a week; with it, we can boost our standing in Tianhai City’s business circles, and attending the gala then will bring us unexpected benefits.” Hu Yuanyuan’s face brimmed with excitement.
“What, this networking gala is more than a mere commercial gathering.” Li Feng looked at Hu Yuanyuan, puzzled.
“Of course not. If it were just an ordinary business assembly, Tianhai City’s major firms would not take such pride in attending; this gala is limited to the city’s top hundred enterprises, no more no less, exactly one hundred, so each time many firms are excluded and others join; I never thought our Fen Yuan Group would qualify this year.”
Hu Yuanyuan’s face shone with excitement: “This gala is, in truth, an allocation of Tianhai City’s business resources; every attending firm gains unexpected advantages.”
Li Feng could not help furrowing his brows upon hearing this; allocation of business resources, who allocated them, and how. Just a few old-established firms in Tianhai City. What right had they to allocate.
But seeing Hu Yuanyuan’s thrilled state, Li Feng said nothing more, though in his heart he felt this gala was not as simple as she described.
“President Hu.”
At that moment, a knock came at the door, and Lu Ping entered.
“What is it.” Hu Yuanyuan’s face shifted, resuming her strongwoman demeanour. Li Feng could not help but marvel at how swiftly this woman’s face changed.
“President Hu, the mysterious buyer for that batch of machines has appeared; he just called our foreign trade department.” Lu Ping replied at once.
“What.” Hu Yuanyuan’s face changed, and she exchanged a glance with Li Feng; she had just been discussing this mysterious buyer with him, and now he had surfaced.
“Who is he.” Hu Yuanyuan asked gravely.
“Zheng Haoyuan.” Lu Ping replied.
“Zheng Haoyuan.” Hu Yuanyuan furrowed her brows; the name was unfamiliar. She had reviewed the original Sun Group’s client records, but Zheng Haoyuan was not among them. Could he truly have contacted Sun Xipeng directly.
“What did this Zheng Haoyuan say.” Hu Yuanyuan asked gravely.
“President Hu, this Zheng Haoyuan says he commissioned Sun Xipeng to procure this batch of machines and paid ten million in deposit at the time; now he needs to complete the transaction.” Lu Ping replied.
Hu Yuanyuan furrowed her brows; if this Zheng Haoyuan had paid a deposit beforehand, the machines should indeed be his, but with the Tianhai Customs affair, she was loath to hand them over just like that.
Moreover, in her earlier analysis with Li Feng, they had suspected the one behind Supervisor Xu was this mysterious buyer; now with him before them, if they did not settle this frame-up, would not anyone be able to bully Fen Yuan Group in future.
“Ten million deposit.” Hearing this, Li Feng turned to Lu Ping and asked: “In the original Sun Group records, is there any trace of this payment.”
“No.” Lu Ping shook his head.
“Then, were the purchase costs for this batch of machines paid by Sun Group or from Sun Xipeng’s personal funds.” Li Feng pressed on.
“By Sun Group.” Lu Ping replied.
“That settles it. Tell this Zheng Haoyuan that to complete the transaction, he must produce the invoice from original Sun Group; without it, we do not acknowledge he commissioned original Sun Group to procure these machines.” A smile appeared on Li Feng’s face. Just as Hu Yuanyuan thought, he too had no wish to hand over the machines so simply; he wanted to see just who this Zheng Haoyuan was, to bribe even Tianhai Customs’ supervisor.
“Yes.” Lu Ping acknowledged and left the office.
After Lu Ping departed, Hu Yuanyuan said: “This Zheng Haoyuan will likely not let it rest.”
“That is expected; but hmph, getting these machines from our hands will not be easy, and scheming against us comes at a price.” Li Feng said with a cold laugh.
