The Second Young Master cannot lose!

Ye Xiaoqiong, staying by Du Zhaoqi’s side, could see the situation within the Du family. First Young Master Du Zhaohui was like a hungry wolf who would stir up trouble over nothing, fierce and savage, constantly wanting to tear the Second Young Master to pieces!

If the Second Young Master lost in this factory venture, he would have no say in the Sheng Rong Group, and she, as his secretary, would lose any chance of advancement. How would she reclaim everything she had lost? How could she take revenge on her enemies?

After a moment’s struggle, Ye Xiaoqiong chose to tell Du Zhaoqi: “I’ve only met him once. His name is Zhou Cheng, and he’s an officer from a confidential unit in mainland China. I remember he’s a team leader.”

Du Zhaoqi nodded with satisfaction. “That woman who was nearby earlier, wasn’t she the one we met at the auction? I thought you were looking at Tang Yuanyue from the Yu Hua Group, but you were looking at her.”

A mainland Chinese official? Why would an official come to buy production lines?

“She’s Zhou Cheng’s girlfriend, probably just happened to be here,” Ye Xiaoqiong quickly explained, worried that Du Zhaoqi might target Xia Xiaolan.

Du Zhaoqi didn’t care about these details. “It’s good that you know them. You heard what Mr. Elmer said. Whether I can buy the production line depends on how Zhou handles it. Ye Xiaoqiong, if you can manage this well and show me your capability, you can have whatever you want.”

And if she couldn’t?

Du Zhaoqi didn’t say.

Everything was understood without words.

For employers, only useful subordinates were worth keeping.

The more capable one was, the more they would be valued.

Those without ability could be replaced at any time, while capable ones would get promotions, raises, and profit sharing – this was a universal workplace principle!

Du Zhaoqi got in the car first, while Ye Xiaoqiong clenched her fist.

What should she do? Should she try to get information from Xia Xiaolan?

Both parties wanted to buy the production line – how would Zhou Cheng give it up to the Second Young Master just because of her, a stranger he’d met only once?

…

Xia Xiaolan was driving, and Deng Changxing in the car also wanted to curse out loud, but mindful of his official image, his tone was still quite unpleasant: “This Southeast Asian buyer is too irritating! They jumped in halfway through at the beginning, making Mr. Elmer refuse to see me and Comrade Zhicheng. Now that we finally have the upper hand thanks to Zhou Cheng, they come and raise the price!”

That was a whole 1 million US dollars!

Deng Changxing was surprised that Mr. Elmer hadn’t immediately gone back on his word.

Thinking of this, Deng Changxing looked at Zhou Cheng with satisfaction: “It’s fortunate you saved tycoon Wilson. If it weren’t for you, I’m sure Mr. Elmer would have sold the production line to the Southeast Asian buyer right there!”

Selling to the highest bidder was behavior that followed market principles.

Mr. Elmer hadn’t immediately agreed to sell because of tycoon Wilson’s face – it was Zhou Cheng’s achievement!

However, Zhou Cheng didn’t feel optimistic: “Director Deng, the current situation isn’t optimistic either. The American company agreed to sell us the production line all because of that so-called ‘life-saving grace’ – it’s Harold Wilson’s help. Whether this ‘life-saving grace’ can exceed the value of 1 million US dollars is still uncertain.”

Until the contract was signed, nothing was final.

Zhou Cheng wasn’t as optimistic as Deng Changxing. Everyone knew Zhou Cheng was speaking the truth, and Deng Changxing’s mood instantly soured: “Xiao Zhou, do you think you could go talk to Wilson about the difficulties we’re facing—”

Hey, whenever there’s trouble, they want to use her dear Chengzi – how could this be right?

Silently driving, Xia Xiaolan couldn’t continue pretending to be deaf and mute, and suddenly spoke up: “Director Deng, may I offer an opinion?”

Deng Changxing was displeased.

How could this young girl be so tactless? They were discussing serious matters, yet she dared to interrupt.

Song Zhicheng, who had been quiet all along, coughed: “Director Deng, we should be good at listening to the masses’ opinions. Let’s hear what Xiao Xia has to say – she might give us new insights. Director Deng, you might not know, but Xiao Xia is a top student at Cornell University. Zhou Cheng happened to save Mr. Wilson because he went with Xiao Xia to attend the Wilson Hotel-sponsored Cornell University competition awards ceremony… It was in the newspapers – Mr. Wilson personally handed the trophy to Xiao Xia, right?”

What was Song Zhicheng’s intention – was he genuinely helping or being sarcastic?

Zhou Cheng glanced at Song Zhicheng; this man’s words carried hidden meanings.

Deng Changxing leaned forward, somewhat excited: “Oh? Xiao Xia also knows Mr. Wilson?”

Deng Changxing was thinking about using personal connections.

But Xia Xiaolan hadn’t thought about this approach: “I do know him, but not very well! Director Deng, what I want to talk about isn’t Mr. Wilson, but the buyers who just raised the price – I know their background. They’re from Southeast Asia but aren’t Southeast Asian. The one who spoke up to raise the price is Du Zhaoqi, the second son of Hong Kong’s Sheng Rong Group. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Hong Kong’s Sheng Rong Group – they recently donated to universities in Beijing, with Huaqing University alone receiving 5 million in donations, establishing the ‘Sheng Rong Scholarship.'”

The competing buyer wasn’t Southeast Asian but from Hong Kong.

With limited manpower in America and extremely limited information, Deng Changxing didn’t know that the buyer competing with the Chinese side was from Hong Kong.

What Xia Xiaolan said was quite interesting – mentioning the Hong Kong Sheng Rong Group, but also bringing up their donations to Huaqing University for scholarships.

It seemed like useless information, but was it useless?

No, no, no, this was the most useful information!

Among Hong Kong’s group companies, some feared Hong Kong’s 1997 return to China and were already transferring assets to flee. Others wanted to get closer to the Chinese government, hoping for a peaceful transition after ’97… Those companies that were fleeing and resisting the Chinese government would never donate to universities like Huaqing. This was an important signal flare, indicating that this Sheng Rong Group held a friendly attitude!

Deng Changxing had never properly looked at Xia Xiaolan before – just an exceptionally pretty young girl, Zhou Cheng’s partner, studying in America.

Song Zhicheng’s daughter Song Minglan was also studying in New York and often came to visit Song Zhicheng, but didn’t seem particularly special.

But after these few words from Xia Xiaolan, Deng Changxing knew she wasn’t an ordinary young girl.

She revealed the background of the Southeast Asian buyer and explained the Du family’s attitude – heh, if Deng Changxing couldn’t understand these implications, he wouldn’t have become the leader of this inspection team.

There was no need to compete with Du Zhaoqi on price!

Neither Deng Changxing nor Song Zhicheng could afford the 1 million US dollar increase or even more.

But knowing the Du family’s attitude, Deng Changxing could find another path.

Would Director Deng fear any roundabout personal connections?

He wasn’t afraid at all!

As long as he didn’t have to pay extra US dollars in cash, Deng Changxing feared nothing.

Only now did Deng Changxing properly look at Xia Xiaolan. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly asked her: “Xiao Xia, how busy are you with your studies at Cornell? Could you spare a few days to be our negotiation translator?”

The translator from the embassy looked bewildered.

He hadn’t done anything wrong – why was Director Deng sending him away?!