Xia Xiaolan was even wearing a smile.
Placing the contract suddenly in front of Liu Tianquan caught him off guard.
He had thought Xia Xiaolan came because of Fan Yu’s matter – wanting to manage her uncle’s personal affairs. Like most women he’d encountered, he assumed she’d only be concerned with relationship drama, having such a limited perspective.
He hadn’t expected her to question the contract.
Why would Xia Xiaolan randomly check the contract Liu Yong had signed with him?
In those few brief seconds, Liu Tianquan had considered many options. Whether to admit it or deny it, whether to openly antagonize Xia Xiaolan – after all, she was just a kept woman, and mainland China didn’t allow concubines. Even if she was some important person’s favorite, she had no official status.
Business always carried risks – either accept the loss quietly or help him with two matters and he’d forget about the several hundred thousand in breach penalties.
But Liu Tianquan felt it wasn’t time to burn bridges yet.
Even if Mayor Tang appreciated beauty, where would he find someone prettier than Xia Xiaolan?
It had taken him months just to get close to Liu Yong; surely gaining Mayor Tang’s trust would be even harder unless someone he trusted could make introductions.
Liu Tianquan’s mind worked quickly. Within seconds, he chose to gloss over the matter.
He picked up the contract, feigning confusion:
“Isn’t this the subcontracting agreement between Tianchen and Brother Liu Yong? What questions does Miss Xia have about it… oh my, how did the name get mixed up!”
Liu Tianquan’s acting was remarkably natural.
Xia Xiaolan thought he could definitely pass the TVB acting training program – those 80s training programs had produced many future stars!
“Mr. Liu, I’d also like to know how such a basic error could be made by a large, reputable company like Tianchen.”
Was Liu Tianquan going to acknowledge the 90,000 yuan?
Xia Xiaolan didn’t want Liu Yong to have any further cooperation with Liu Tianquan.
She had come with an open mind to test the waters. If Liu Tianquan wanted reconciliation, there were ways to settle it. If he denied everything, Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t let her uncle foolishly pay the breach penalty. Tianchen’s project was part of the Xiangmi Lake development jointly undertaken by Teneng Group and Zhengtai Group. Tianchen had the scale and qualifications to take on such a project. Even if Liu Tianquan had secretly set up ‘Tiancheng’ to swindle people, Xia Xiaolan doubted ‘Tiancheng’ had similar qualifications.
Without proper qualifications, how could they subcontract the project to Yuanhui?
The construction contract with Xiangmi Lake was clearly with Tianchen.
Who would the breach penalty be paid to, and what even was ‘Tiancheng’… If Liu Yong discovered this problem when settling the project payment after advancing two to three hundred thousand in funds, even if Liu Tianquan tried to deflect, Liu Yong would be driven to despair. With contract law still imperfect and real money already spent, Liu Tianquan’s large enterprise wouldn’t fear dragging things out with Liu Yong.
But now there wasn’t much damage – at most, they’d lose 90,000 yuan, Liu Yong’s initial material costs.
Some materials were only ordered but not yet used in renovation – what could be returned would be returned, and what couldn’t be sold at a discount. The loss might not even reach 90,000.
Liu Tianquan probably considered this too. Since Xia Xiaolan had discovered the contract’s flaw early, he simply acknowledged it.
Liu Yong could afford to lose several tens of thousands – it wouldn’t cripple him.
“My subordinates are too careless. These people take salaries but don’t work conscientiously. I must fire them all… Please excuse this, Miss Xia. We can draft a new contract. You know how busy I am – I should have overseen this personally!”
Neither Liu Tianquan’s attitude nor excuse could be faulted.
It was believable that a businessman worth tens of millions wouldn’t personally attend to the details of a contract worth several hundred thousand.
Xia Xiaolan smiled, not matching Liu Tianquan’s performance, and turned to ask Liu Yong: “Uncle, what do you think? Mr. Liu says we can sign a new contract.”
Hesitation flashed across Liu Yong’s face before he spoke earnestly to Liu Tianquan:
“Brother Tianquan, I signed this contract casually because I trusted you, but Xiaolan spotted problems immediately. Should we throw away our brotherhood over such a small matter? I don’t want to do this big project anymore. To make up for troubling Brother Tianquan, consider the purchased materials as compensation…”
He’d rather lose the money than continue cooperating with Liu Tianquan.
This was Liu Yong’s decision.
Even Xia Xiaolan was surprised – given Liu Tianquan’s attitude, the money would be easy to recover.
Even if they continued the project, Xia Xiaolan had ways to keep Liu Tianquan in check. She hadn’t expected her uncle to be willing to forfeit the 90,000 yuan just to completely sever business ties with Liu Tianquan.
Xia Xiaolan naturally stood with her uncle – even with doubts, she couldn’t undermine him in front of others.
Liu Tianquan watched coldly, seeing that the uncle and niece weren’t putting on an act for him, then pretended to be urgent:
“Brother, speaking like this hurts our relationship! My subordinates were careless – firing them is enough. You’ve already started the project and invested money – how could I let you withdraw now? Sit down, let’s discuss this properly and revise the contract right here!”
Liu Tianquan’s stocky frame was strong; the thin Liu Yong was no match.
Behind Xia Xiaolan stood Pan San, Ge Jian, and Li Dongliang.
Pan San suddenly sneered, “Mr. Liu, let’s part on good terms – there might still be goodwill when we meet again in the future. Let me suggest something: consider Yuanhui’s previous budget design as a gift to Mr. Liu. With your large enterprise, whoever takes over can use these materials easily. Just calculate the cost of these secondary materials and settle with Yuanhui.”
Liu Tianquan was dumbfounded.
So Xia Xiaolan’s visit today, with its good cop/bad cop routine, was all planned?
Liu Tianquan hadn’t spent months of effort for just a small amount of money.
Since Liu Yong wanted to completely sever ties, Liu Tianquan’s face also turned cold:
“Brother, this isn’t right of you. We’re like brothers, if there are any oversights in our cooperation, we should discuss them openly. Why make things so unpleasant? You say you won’t do the project now – where am I supposed to find renovation crews on such short notice? The losses from delaying the entire project won’t be just a few tens of thousands…”
Xia Xiaolan stood firmly with Liu Yong: “Mr. Liu, then you really must fire those unqualified employees. If they hadn’t made mistakes with the contract, a good thing wouldn’t have turned bad… The contract is between ‘Yuanhui’ and ‘Tiancheng’ – if Mr. Liu won’t let this go, then let’s have ‘Tiancheng’s’ person in charge come to discuss this.”
Tiancheng’s person in charge?
Xia Xiaolan wasn’t afraid of a shell company Liu Tianquan had casually set up.