Chapter 136: Night of the Long Knives!

Seven in the evening.

Li Shixin called Yang Kuan, explained that he had an appointment with an old friend for the evening and would owe the crab roe buns for later, then tidied himself up, hailed a cab, and headed toward the riverside.

The meeting spot Zhao Min had given him was right here.

Standing by the river with his hands behind his back, he narrowed his eyes slightly to gaze at the flowing water before him and lost himself in thought over the neon-drenched banks on either side. Soon, the sound of high heels echoed from behind him.

"Do you like the view?"

Seeing Zhao Jinzhi standing beside him, wearing a vermilion brocade cheongsam with a gentle smile and her long hair neatly secured simply by a jade hairpin, Li Shixin nodded faintly.

"They always say the night view of the Huangpu River is matchless. This is my first time seeing it with my own eyes. It's magnificent."

Zhao Jinzhi tilted her head. She did not ask why Li Shixin had suddenly left earlier, nor why he seemed completely unconcerned while in Shanghai; she merely blinked.

Turning her head back to rest her gaze once more upon the river, she smiled faintly. "Ten thousand lights illuminate the four banks of the city, a single strip of the Milky Way lies in the middle of the water—beautiful, it is indeed beautiful. However, you cannot just look at the surface of the Huangpu River; only when you pair it with the countless piles of bones lying at the bottom does it truly have flavor."

"That sounds rather terrifying," Li Shixin chuckled, patting his stomach. "Are you treating me to the northwest wind tonight?"

Zhao Jinzhi pursed her lips in a smile and pointed her chin toward the river.

Following her gaze, Li Shixin saw a cruise ship slowly approaching. Beyond it, a small ferry boat was swiftly closing the distance.

Noticing that the massive cruise ship seemed to have no other passengers on board, Li Shixin drew in a sharp breath. "Little Zhao, isn't this a bit too extravagant?"

Assisted by a waiter from the small boat, Zhao Jinzhi slowly stepped aboard.

Turning back to look at Li Shixin, she smiled. "It's been a long time since I had a drink. If I get drunk and outsiders see me, how embarrassing would that be?"

"..."

Fine.

Since money is no object to you.

Li Shixin clicked his tongue and stepped directly onto the ferry.

At the same time.

Having finished a day's work, endured an hour of traffic jams, and just returned home to prepare for dinner, Xu Haishan, the vice president of Huaqi Media's economic branch, received a call on his mobile phone.

Seeing that the caller ID displayed Hu Youting, the head of the human resources department, he answered immediately.

"Hello? Brother Hu, why are you calling at this hour? Is something the matter? Can we talk about it tomorrow? Oh, oh, oh! Well then, fine, I'll head right back now!"

After hanging up, Xu Haishan's heart skipped a beat.

He had just chosen his side this afternoon, and now the human resources department was urgently calling him in tonight...

Could it be—?

No, impossible, impossible.

Shaking his head, Xu Haishan cast the worst-case scenario out of his mind.

President Meng was currently running things; even if there were any ripples of change, they wouldn't blow over to a small fry like him this quickly.

It must be some personnel arrangement by the company that required his cooperation.

Mm...

That must be it.

With that thought, Xu Haishan got up from the sofa and grabbed his jacket.

On the other side of the city.

Wu Siyang, the general manager of the company, also received a call from the human resources department.

Hearing that Hu Youting, who usually didn't get along with him, wanted him to return to the company to discuss a matter, Wu Siyang frowned.

After mulling it over, he called Prince Meng directly.

"President Meng, Hu Siyang from HR just called me and told me to head back to headquarters. Do you know what this is about?"

On the other end of the line, Meng Nan seemed to be attending some party, the deafening music roaring in the background.

"What could he possibly want? Just go since he called you! Personnel matters all require the board of directors; he can't make decisions on his own anyway. What are you scared of him for? I'm busy right now, we'll talk tomorrow!"

"..." Hearing the busy signal on the other end, Wu Siyang twitched the corner of his mouth.

After a moment's thought, he picked up the suit jacket from the coat rack.

"Oh dear, husband~~ I've already made dinner, where are you going?"

Looking at the star in the kitchen who had recently skyrocketed to fame through two costume fantasy web dramas, her face full of coy affection, Wu Siyang waved a hand. "There's something at the company, I need to head back."

"Hmph, it wouldn't be that tigress of yours acting up again, would she?"

"Wait for me, I'll be back in a while."

Wu Siyang gave the siren's backside a pat, stole a kiss, and turned to leave the luxury apartment.

Just like Wu Siyang and Xu Haishan, in several other parts of the city, several other top executives of Huaqi Media Company were also driving against the flow of evening commuters, rushing toward the Huaqi headquarters.

.........

aboard the cruise ship in the middle of the river.

The restaurant on the second floor had only a single table set for a meal.

On the small table, there were no extravagant dishes of fish and meat. There were only a few plates of spiced braised meat, fried fish, peanuts, and other small side dishes meant to accompany liquor.

This severely conflicted with the grandeur of chartering an entire cruise ship.

"Ms. Zhao, this is the liquor you ordered."

Seeing the waiter deliver a bottle of Shaodaizi liquor—which looked quite aged, with rust on the cap—on a tray, Li Shixin's mouth twitched.

"Isn't this liquor a bit too strong?"

It looked like it was over fifty degrees proof!

Zhao Jinzhi thanked the waiter and deftly popped off the bottle cap.

"The liquor in Shanghai is too bland; I don't care for it. When drinking, the goal is to get drunk. What's the point of drinking alcohol if you just drink and never get drunk?"

Smiling as she filled the small cup in front of Li Shixin, Zhao Jinzhi offered a slight smile. "In the WeChat group this afternoon, you mentioned coming in for an interview. How did it go?"

Li Shixin curled his lip, tossed a peanut into his mouth, and muttered vaguely, "Didn't work out."

"Oh?" Zhao Jinzhi, having filled her own cup to the brim, put on a surprised expression. "Then what do you plan to do next?"

Li Shixin sighed. "Ah, what else can I do? When there's a problem, you solve the problem. Tomorrow I plan to stroll over to Huaqi and see if I can resolve the issue preventing me from signing."

"And if you can't resolve it?"

"Then there's no helping it. Since the problem can't be resolved, you have to resolve the person who caused the problem. It's just a bit more troublesome, that's all."

Watching Li Shixin toss back the small cup of Shaodaizi in one gulp and chase it with a peanut, Zhao Jinzhi's smile grew somewhat stiff.

This old man...

Doesn't he even bother to disguise his extortion anymore?

"Well, I personally think some things shouldn't be handled too aggressively. Better to wait; there might be a sudden turn of events."

Hearing Zhao Jinzhi's comforting words, Li Shixin chuckled.

"One can only hope. Tsk—"

The liquor was truly fiery.

Li Shixin smacked his lips. "Little Zhao, with just the two of us eating, it's a bit too quiet."

"Then what do you want?"

"Let's have some entertainment."

"Alright." Facing Li Shixin's suggestion, Zhao Jinzhi blinked and smiled. "How shall we do it?"

"This liquor is too fiery, let's have some traditional opera or something to mellow it out. How about it?"

"Who goes first?"

"Naturally, whoever is playing host goes first."

"Heh," Zhao Jinzhi shook her head with a smile, making no effort to decline. Smoothing the fox fur on her shoulder and gazing at the Huaqi Building passing by just outside on the riverbank, she narrowed her eyes.

"Elder Brother, *Defending Mount Dingjun*, do you like it?"

* "Oh? That's a Lao-sheng role. Can you pull it off?"
* "Why wouldn't I be able to? It's just a breath of air; a Lao-sheng sings it, why can't a Dan actress sing it?"
* "Very well, let's hear it."

"Then sit tight. If I sing well, you must give me applause."

Giving Li Shixin an amused, knowing smile, Zhao Jinzhi pulled the shawl from her shoulders, stood up, picked up a chopstick, and aimed her gaze at the corporate logo atop the distant Huaqi Building, striking a theatrical pose.

"This dispatch of orders comes most opportunely,
Heaven aids Huang Zhong in his great achievement.
Standing at the camp gate to pass the orders down,
Listen well, all you big and small soldiers:
First roll of the drum, cook the battle meal,
Second roll of the drum, tighten your battle robes,
Third roll of the drum, draw your swords from their scabbards,
Fourth roll of the drum, engage in battle!
Step forward and everyone shall have a reward,
Fall back and you can hardly escape a sword!
All generals, follow me to the camp... until noon tomorrow... what an achievement~~~~!"

"Bravo!"

Hearing Zhao Jinzhi deliver the passage from *Defending Mount Dingjun* with an imposing momentum even sharper than that of a male veteran singer, Li Shixin raised both hands and delivered a resounding round of applause.

Immediately afterward, he picked up the liquor cup before him and drained it.

At the same time.

Inside the human resources department of the Huaqi Group, in Hu Youting's office.

Looking at Xu Haishan standing before him, Hu Youting smiled. "Sorry to call you in so late, Vice President Xu."

"Brother Hu, what on earth is this all about?" Xu Haishan asked, his mouth twitching.

"Don't be nervous, it's nothing bad. It's just urgent—it has to be arranged tonight."

"Oh." Looking at the smile on Hu Youting's face and hearing these words, Xu Haishan felt a weight lift from his heart.

"It's like this. Our group has been wanting to expand its development space, and earlier we thought about establishing several international branch offices. With that, we need a batch of responsible, capable cadres to shoulder the burden of pioneering."

Hearing this, Xu Haishan's eyes lit up!

He was currently a vice president, and making a breakthrough in his current media company was hard to guarantee. But going to develop an overseas company meant securing the position of a branch general manager, plain and simple!

"Then... Brother Hu, you called me here because..." Thinking of this, Xu Haishan hurriedly pulled out a cigarette and offered one to Hu Youting.

"Heh," Hu Youting took the cigarette, lit it, and smiled. "Well, the group has decided that the first step is to establish an overseas branch in Abuja."

"Abuja?" Hearing this place name, Xu Haishan frowned. "Where on earth is that?"

"Nigeria."

"..."

Xu Haishan's face froze. A full minute later, he violently slammed his cigarette butt onto the ground.

"Damn it! Are you playing me for a fool?! That's fucking Africa!"

Looking at the furious Xu Haishan, Hu Youting adjusted his glasses.

"Don't get excited, don't get excited, Vice President Xu. This is the group's decision; if you don't want to go..."

"I can choose not to go?"

"You can always resign."

Looking at the upturned corners of Hu Youting's mouth, Xu Haishan felt a jolt of shock in his heart!

"This..."

"This is Chairman Zhao's decision." Hu Youting smiled with extreme warmth. "Vice President Xu, which one do you choose?"