Chapter 38: Fleece Them Again

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All right, was Ma Jing’s mouth blessed or something? She had actually triggered another mission!

“Just wait and see how your Brother Chen turns into a devil!”

“Hm? Another business lead?” Ma Jing asked curiously as she leaned over.

Chen Xiao shoved her head away. “Go away. You nearly made me miss that wave of minions!”

“Brother Chen Xiao, you’re awful. Am I really less important than a game?”

He turned around in shock. “How can you possibly compare yourself to a game?”

Ma Jing smiled happily at that, but her smile soon froze on her face.

“There’s nothing about you that can compare to a game!”

Ma Jing stomped away, swearing that if Chen Xiao did not apologize, she would never speak to him again.

What she did not know was that if Chen Xiao knew what she was thinking, she could wait her whole life for an apology. Having no one interrupt his game was wonderful. Who would willingly ruin such an atmosphere?

Since he was going to discuss an order, Chen Xiao could not stay in the office. He had found himself a perfectly respectable excuse to go out and slack off.

He drove to the twenty-second floor of Yunfeng Tower.

Knowing that Chen Xiao was coming, Li Guoqiang went straight to the entrance to greet him. He led Chen Xiao to his office, instructed his secretary to bring out his treasured tea, and brewed it himself.

“President Chen, what brings you here today?”

“President Li, there’s no need to be so formal. I’m here to learn from you!”

Although he had secured two orders, both had come about through coincidence rather than his connections or negotiating ability. Setting aside external factors, his business acumen still fell short of Yuan Kai’s.

China Inspection Equipment, as the general contractor, had a clear grasp of its business leads. That was why Chen Xiao had come to Li Guoqiang today—to take advantage of the opportunity.

After learning Chen Xiao’s purpose, Li Guoqiang was caught between laughter and tears. Did this gentleman really think business was so simple? China Inspection Equipment received only a limited number of contracts each year, and many took more than a year of follow-up before they were finally secured.

Still, today’s timing was remarkably fortunate. A sister company in another province had just approached Li Guoqiang to jointly win a major contract. There was indeed work within it that could be done in cooperation with Dr. Feng. He had already intended to contact Chen Xiao. After all, extending this favor would cost him nothing.

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Besides, Chen Xiao had never used their relationship to squeeze his profit margin. He had handled that point exceptionally well. Otherwise, Li Guoqiang might have entertained other thoughts—for instance, giving him less, knowing that Chen Xiao would have no way to verify it.

Li Guoqiang summoned Yang Ming and had him bring Chen Xiao the procurement requirements for the contract they had won together with their sister company.

Yang Ming was extraordinarily enthusiastic upon seeing Chen Xiao. After shaking hands with him with both of his own, he sat to one side looking every inch the attentive service attendant.

Chen Xiao did not stand on ceremony. He carefully read through the documents. It was a substantial contract involving a major project, with total procurement requirements of one hundred million yuan. The portion involving Dr. Feng’s robots alone amounted to twelve million. He also paid particular attention to the four-million-yuan order that could still be routed to Xu Wu’s company. There was no reason to turn down easy money.

“President Li, could you let us handle this order? Don’t worry—the price can follow the market rate.”

“President Chen, you’re too kind. I was planning to contact you anyway. We’ve worked together so smoothly; naturally, we should deepen our cooperation.”

Chen Xiao felt that Li Guoqiang was being exceptionally helpful. He continued, “Can we confirm the order from Zhifei Aerospace at the same time? I’ll coordinate the pricing on that side. We’re all friends, so everyone can benefit from working together.”

Li Guoqiang deliberately made a show of hesitating before saying, “All right. A superior had already put in a word for this one, but since you’ve asked, we’ll give it to Zhifei Aerospace.”

Chen Xiao nodded. “When your lease expires next year, President Li, we won’t raise the rent by the usual percentage. We’ll simply keep it at the current rate. We can even sign the contract ahead of time.”

The rent had previously increased by five percent each year. This concession would save China Inspection Equipment one hundred thousand yuan in annual rent. Li Guoqiang thanked him repeatedly. It had already been extremely generous of him to permit the company to delay part of its rent; now Chen Xiao was even waiving the increase for the second year. President Chen was a straightforward man who understood the importance of returning favors. Li Guoqiang most enjoyed doing business with people like that.

How could he have known that, counting only the Zhifei Aerospace order, Chen Xiao’s three-percent commission would already amount to one hundred and twenty thousand yuan? There was also the one-million-two-hundred-thousand-yuan Dedication Merit reward. With benefits like those, a hundred thousand yuan in rent was little more than loose change—not worth worrying about.

“President Chen, our contract with the property owner cannot be finalized until tomorrow, so the contract between our two companies will have to wait until the day after tomorrow.”

Chen Xiao nodded. That was no problem. It would not affect the completion of his mission.

At noon, Li Guoqiang warmly invited him to stay for lunch, and Chen Xiao naturally accepted. The man deserved that much courtesy.

They chatted about personal matters as well. Chen Xiao learned that Li Guoqiang was a native of Jiangzhou and had an extensive network of connections.

That made sense. Otherwise, he would never have been able to serve as the regional general manager of such a company. There were countless local relationships he had to coordinate.

Li Guoqiang was very cordial, assuring Chen Xiao that if he ever needed help anywhere in Jiangzhou, one phone call would be enough.

Chen Xiao was happy to make another friend. After all, the more friends one had, the easier the road ahead became.

They also discussed where they lived. Li Guoqiang resided in Lakeside Manor in the city center, an upper-middle-class development where homes cost more than forty thousand yuan per square meter.

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When he learned that Chen Xiao lived at Emerald Lake Twin Residences, Li Guoqiang was still somewhat shocked. A single home there cost nearly ten million yuan; anyone who could live in that neighborhood was either wealthy or powerful.

His estimation of Chen Xiao’s abilities rose another level. President Chen was someone he absolutely had to cultivate a good relationship with. Not only was he capable, he was also forthright, knew when to advance and when to retreat, and was not the sort of person who bullied others.

The two men went on to discuss finance, international affairs, and even the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government. They had plenty in common. Once they set their business interests aside, they could almost be called kindred spirits from different generations.

After leaving Yunfeng Tower, Chen Xiao sent Xu Wu a message:

“Come flatter me.”

Before long, his phone rang. It was Xu Wu.

“Chen Xiao, is there something wrong with your brain? Are you asking to be cursed out?”

“I’ll give you a chance to rephrase that,” Chen Xiao said with a chuckle.

Xu Wu fell silent. After a while, she asked, “What do you mean?”

“I just negotiated an order—a China Inspection Equipment project worth twelve million.”

“Ah…”

She could not help letting out a cry of surprise. Then she realized what Chen Xiao had meant. There had to be some business in it that Zhifei Aerospace could cooperate on.

“Oh, President Chen! When would you be free? Let me take you out for a meal!”

“I actually preferred the defiant way you sounded just now.”

Xu Wu cursed him silently a hundred times, but over the phone she said sweetly, “President Chen, a gentleman doesn’t quarrel with a lady. For my sake, since I’ve worked as your model, please be magnanimous.”

“President Xu, that’s not fair. Now you’re holding your favor over me. I helped you secure a three-million-yuan order, and did I say a word? Did I ask you for anything?”

Tch! What a hypocrite. He was mocking me. If he hadn’t helped me secure that order, would I put up with him like this? And isn’t making me work as his model an expectation in itself?