“What’s the harm in losing once?”
Liang Meng handed the glass of water to Lu Zhou.
“Life isn’t a one-shot deal. Between someone who stands permanently at the top and someone who falls midway but gets back up — I have far more admiration for the latter.”
Lu Zhou listened quietly. He had absolute confidence in his own abilities.
Whether he could get back up was a matter of time, not a matter of willpower.
“Liang Meng, I hope everything you’ve said isn’t because of… the apartment.”
Lu Zhou needed one final confirmation.
Liang Meng shook her head with conviction: “That apartment isn’t worth it. But you are.”
With that, she called Cindy in the marketing department and had her push the contract process forward without delay.
“Then let’s look forward to a successful collaboration.”
Liang Meng extended her hand first.
“Successful collaboration.”
Lu Zhou broke into a smile and reached out.
His hand was warm.
Liang Meng had heard a saying once — people with warm palms generally have very high energy.
The apartment. One o’clock in the afternoon.
“Hello, is this the home of Miss Lin Qing?”
Two people in black suits and white gloves suddenly knocked on the door, leaving Lin’s mother, who had answered it, completely bewildered.
Behind the two suits stood someone in a white lab coat.
“Yes — yes it is. You’re here to see her… about something?”
“We’re from the IFI Jinshan International Medical Center. We’re here to pick up a family elder for a specialist consultation scheduled for this afternoon.”
“Family elder?”
Lin’s mother was a little confused by that.
At that moment, Lin Qing rushed forward, greeting the visitors with a warm smile: “Yes, yes! Right here! This is my mom — the consultation this afternoon is for her.”
“Very good, ma’am. Our center has arranged a seven-seat executive business vehicle downstairs for your comfort. We are at your full service throughout.”
After closing the door, Lin’s mother asked Lin Qing: “What’s this all about?”
“It’s just a private hospital. I thought we’d go have you seen by a specialist,” Lin Qing explained.
“A private hospital?” Lin’s mother’s face immediately fell. “Why not the public hospital with medical insurance like a normal person? And this International Medical Center — one look and it’s obvious it’s not cheap. Just look at the people they sent over, all neatly dressed, with a car service and everything…”
“Aah, Mom, don’t worry about the money,” Lin Qing said, pushing her toward the door to get ready. “I’ll take care of it.”
Lin’s mother struggled fiercely: “You’ll take care of it? How? What we should be focused on right now is buying an apartment! I’ve told you this how many times — illnesses that can be cured, you cure them; illnesses that can’t, that’s just fate. This is my fate. We need to save that money for a down payment!”
“Mom, what do you mean ‘fate’? Come on, hurry up! The car’s waiting downstairs!”
“I’m not going!” Lin’s mother dug in her heels.
With no other option, Lin Qing cooked up a story on the spot: “Mom! I won this through a group deal raffle — the platform had a big subsidy coupon. It’s a really great deal.”
At the mention of a group deal, Lin’s mother’s resistance softened slightly, but she still clutched Lin Qing and pressed her — how much did it cost?
“299 yuan!” The lies came so easily for Lin Qing now, she didn’t even need to think. “I’ve already paid it. Come on, let’s go!”
Only then did Lin’s mother reluctantly get up and head out, still muttering as she went: “There’s never a wrong price to sell at, only wrong prices to buy at. I’m guessing this International Medical Center just opened and they’re trying to drum up business — that’s why it’s so cheap! Qing-er, you listen to me: however much they try to get us to buy treatment packages or medication when we get there, just play dead no matter what! You hear me?”
“Heard you, heard you,” Lin Qing said dismissively, hustling her mother along.
They arrived by Mercedes-Benz at the International Medical Center — the entire facility was built like a high-end five-star resort.
From start to finish, every member of the medical staff greeted them with warm, attentive service, and every specialist they met was kind and approachable.
From the moment they stepped through the front doors, juice, pastries, and hot tea never stopped coming.
Lin’s mother couldn’t believe that 299 yuan could buy this level of service, so she asked about every single thing they offered: “Does this cost extra?”
The answer she got was almost always no.
The last item on the agenda was an MRI scan, and Lin’s mother hesitated and refused to go in.
She might not know a lot of things, but she did know something about MRIs — at a public hospital with medical insurance, a scan like this would still run you several hundred yuan.
Discounted all the way down, it couldn’t possibly cost just 299 yuan.
“Does the MRI cost extra?” Lin’s mother quietly asked the nurse beside her.
The nurse smiled gently: “Ma’am, you are a VIP at our center — all the services you receive today are completely free of charge.”
“What do you mean free? I thought it was 299?” Lin’s mother muttered.
Lin Qing quickly talked over her and gave her a nudge: “Mom, just go in. I’ll hold your things!”
Lin’s mother went in, still confused.
In the pitch-dark interior of the machine, Lin’s mother kept feeling like something about today wasn’t quite right.
The service level of this so-called International Medical Center simply did not match a 299 yuan price tag.
Forget 299 — the cost of a full day of diagnostic services and care like this probably couldn’t even be covered by 2,999 yuan.
“All right, you can head home and wait for your test results. Your mother’s condition will be reviewed by several of our specialists this evening, along with an online consultation with specialists from overseas.”
“Thank you,” Lin Qing said, nodding her appreciation.
Lin’s mother was still relentless right up to the end, turning to the staff as she walked out: “You definitely won’t charge anything when we come pick up the results, right? Because if you do, I’ll report you to the consumer protection bureau for false advertising and fraud…”
The accompanying staff patiently explained, again and again, that they would never charge unreasonably.
And so, amid a cheerful commotion, the two of them were seen off and into the car.
Once the Mercedes-Benz door closed, the staff watched the car drive away, smiling.
When it was out of sight, one staff member shook his head with a helpless laugh: “It’s been a long time since we’ve had a client like that.”
“You can say that again,” another chimed in. “Mr. Jiang is one of our major shareholders — how could we ever dare to overcharge? This older lady must be some distant relative of Mr. Jiang’s, right?”
“Who knows? Never mind that — just get on to the lab and tell them to push her results to the top of the queue. The moment they’re out, have the specialists start building a care plan immediately. Mr. Jiang’s orders: this guest is to receive the highest level of service.”
“Understood, Director.”
That evening, Liang Meng and Lin Qing met up at the apartment.
Liang Meng’s very first words cut straight to it: “Lin Qing, is there anything you’ve been hiding from me?”
Lin Qing’s heart clenched, but on the surface she kept her composure and deflected with a joke: “Oh, that’s a long list. I’m not sure which one you’re asking about, Liang Meng. Like, my bank card PIN number, or how many boyfriends I’ve had in total…”
“Cut the nonsense,” Liang Meng said, too tired to play along. “I mean recently!”
“Recently…” Lin Qing thought for a moment and said, “I secretly used your King-sized flatbread.”
“Lin Qing!!” Liang Meng nearly choked.
Lin Qing deliberately put on her most pitiful, doe-eyed face.
She really had a talent for steering around the main point.
“Take a look at this.”
Liang Meng dropped Lu Zhou’s signed endorsement contract on the dining table.
Lin Qing picked it up, and her eyes lit up as she carefully read through it.
“My goodness, a five-year contract?” Lin Qing was delighted.
But when she flipped to the last page, there was no company seal — not even a binding seal on the spine.
“Why isn’t it stamped?” She looked up at Liang Meng in puzzlement.
Liang Meng didn’t tell Lin Qing about Liang Xing’s plan to cash out, or about needing to avoid any public relations fallout that might shake Longquan’s share price during that time — which was why Lu Zhou’s contract would have to wait a month.
“Guess it depends on your performance,” Liang Meng said flatly.
She was hoping Lin Qing would come clean on her own about pulling rank to fish for information from the marketing department.
“My performance? What performance?” Lin Qing asked, suddenly nervous, and quickly scooted over to start massaging Liang Meng’s shoulders.
Liang Meng was a little disappointed. Seeing that Lin Qing still wasn’t going to open up, she gave her a small nudge: “Cindy was the one who drafted the contract paperwork.”
Lin Qing’s hands, working on Liang Meng’s shoulders, paused for just a moment.
Truthfully, she had regretted calling Cindy on impulse the moment she’d done it. They say anxiety clouds judgment, and Lin Qing had been completely swept away by her emotions that day.
But since her boss had brought it up directly, she had no choice but to step forward and own it: “Oh, right. I had also been in touch with her before — I was the one who pushed her to move faster.”
“Was that for Longquan’s sake, or for your own?”
Liang Meng didn’t flinch. She sat up straight with a serious expression.
“I…”
Lin Qing knew that anything she said now would only look like she was trying to cover it up.
Wrong was wrong.
“I did it for myself.”
Lin Qing’s voice was very small. Once again, a crisis of trust had settled between her and Liang Meng.
“I’m sorry, Liang Meng.”
Liang Meng glanced at Lin Qing’s deeply flushed face and let out a long, heavy sigh without saying a word.
“What you did — on the serious end, it’s abuse of authority; on the less serious end… honestly, there is no less serious end here,” Liang Meng said, and she was genuinely angry.
“I know, I know. I was wrong, Liang Meng.”
Lin Qing was the type who would take the exit when one was offered — and her apology right now was sincere.
Liang Meng decided to give Lin Qing one more chance. It was a first offense, and it hadn’t had any actual negative impact on the company.
Lu Zhou — Liang Meng had already decided she was going to sign him anyway.
“You really like Lu Zhou, don’t you?” Liang Meng asked.
Lin Qing kept her head down and clenched her teeth, refusing to answer.
Liang Meng understood. Silence was its own answer.
Lin Qing wasn’t the type to cross lines — but even the smartest people let their hearts get the better of them sometimes.
“Lin Qing — no next time! If there’s a next time…” Liang Meng warned her.
Lin Qing caught the hint immediately and raised three fingers toward the ceiling: “If there’s a next time, I’ll resign on my own initiative.”
“Good. Glad you understand.” Liang Meng nodded, then immediately switched gears and grabbed Lin Qing by the shoulders, shaking her: “So how much of my King-sized flatbread did you eat?!”
“Every single day!”
“Lin Qing! You — you better stay right there!”
It turned out the boss’s flatbread was a very large flatbread indeed.
Sansheng.
“Mr. Jiang, are you absolutely certain you want to sign this contract?”
The secretary and a senior advisor went back and forth with Jiang Han to confirm.
Jiang Han sat with his left hand propped against his forehead, staring at the predatory terms.
“Boss, if I may say something,” one of the senior executives who had followed Jiang Han for many years spoke up. “In theory, we could scrape together 1 billion in cash — but Longquan’s share price has been climbing steadily. Wang Xiancheng wants to use 400 million to swap for 30% of Longquan… that’s a terrible deal for us!”
“Terrible!”
“Exactly, Mr. Jiang. If you’re absolutely set on acquiring Ling Xue, we could pool a bit more cash — there’s no need to give away Longquan’s shares.”
“No.” Jiang Han was firmly against touching the cash reserves in Sansheng’s accounts.
Wang Xiancheng knew Jiang Han far too well — that’s why he could calculate his moves so precisely.
In the early days of building his business, Jiang Han had also gone through turbulent times — including one year-end when he couldn’t make payroll and was trapped in the office over the holiday by creditors.
That experience taught him a hard lesson. After that, Jiang Han had vowed that no matter how the company grew, the accounts would always maintain enough cash on hand to cover eighteen months of salaries for all group employees.
“What if we take out a loan?”
“Which bank can put out 400 million in cash on the spot? Old Wang is forcing us to sign this week.”
Jiang Han had been backed into a corner.
With a “swish, swish, swish,” Jiang Han, utterly exasperated, signed the contract.
All the senior executives exchanged glances, then sighed in unison.
Ling Xue SOHO — hemorrhaging 100 million a year — was now going to be renamed after Jiang Han.
What had the world come to.