Chapter 6

Chen Zheng, the son of the SMQ Chairman and the General Manager of SMQ, had unexplainable anxiety these days.

At that moment, his right eyelid was twitching for no reason.

He didn’t believe in any Feng Shui omens, but he trusted his instincts. It was around twilight and the light from the streetlamps shined through the window. Everything felt calm and warm, giving the illusion of peace and prosperity. He leaned back in his executive chair, closed his eyes, and began reviewing in his mind the big events that had taken place these past few days.

The Carcinogen Scandal was, of course, the most critical one, but it wouldn’t be so bad. Nobody was a fool in this industry. It was obvious that first, the law usually couldn’t be enforced when were too many offenders, and second, consumers would easily forget things. As long as they kept calm and waited until the storm passed over, consumers would come back to buy what they wanted and their sales would return to normal.

The procurement project with the domestically-renowned Ming Sheng Group was going well. Despite the presence of their strong competitor, New Bori, he was determined to get the bigger order. As for Aida? Chen Zheng would have treated them as the biggest competitor in the past, but now… he chuckled mischievously to himself.

What have I missed?

Thinking for a while, he called his assistant in.

“Go ahead and call them, ask them how the two companies are doing,” he said thoughtfully.

The assistant understood. “They” referred to the spies they had planted in New Bori and Aida.

He called the spy in New Bori. The call was quickly answered and the spy said everything was normal there. Their production and marketing were both in order. They had just postponed the introduction of their new products into the market in order to stay away from the brunt of the Carcinogen Scandal.

Chen Zheng was satisfied. As the top company in the industry, New Bori had reacted well this time.

The assistant then made a call to the spy in Aida. The number was powered off. Chen Zheng looked serious and sat up straight.

After a while, the assistant made the call again only to get the same result.

The assistant hesitated. “Is it out of battery? I’ll have someone check.”

A sullen look on his face, Chen Zheng waved to let him out.

Leaning back in his executive chair for awhile, he took out his cell phone and searched out a number from his contact list.

Lin Qian.

In all 28 years of his life, Lin Qian was the first woman who had smashed flowers from him right in front of his face.

He had heard that she had transferred over to Aida and was promoted to the position of CEO assistant. If this were true, this woman genuinely didn’t care about him, her former boss.

A grim smile on his face, Chen Zheng pressed the call button and held the cell phone to his ear.

Sorry, the number you are calling is currently not available.

Throwing the cell phone onto his desk, Chen Zheng called in the assistant again and ordered, “It doesn’t look right at Aida. They might have made some big moves these past few days. Who knows what this guy Gu Yanzhi is going to do while he’s in power? You go and check it out at once.”

…

The night was dark and still. There were barely any stars in the sky, except a few scattered lights sparkling above the industrial park.

Lin Zhicheng walked ahead, followed by Lin Qian a few steps away. They walked towards the dorm building that was a few hundred feet away.

The concrete pavement, on which echoed Lin Qian’s ankle boots, was flat and grey. She looked up at the straight and quiet figure in front of her. His hat blocked his eyes again.

“Don’t know when it’s going to snow this year,” Lin Qian said, speaking to herself.

Thinking he wouldn’t give any response, Lin Qian unexpectedly heard his cool and deep voice. “You want it to snow?”

Lin Qian looked up and saw him with his hands in his pants pockets, walking vigorously forward. Cold air came out of his mouth in a white vapor from him speaking.

“Yes,” Lin Qian answered with a smile. “I think the snow is nice. I like it.”

“It’s going to snow tomorrow.”

Pausing for a second, Lin Qian watched him reach the dorm gate, pull it open, and enter.

The weather forecast didn’t say it was going to snow.

Is it just the intuitive wilderness survival skills that a military man has? He can just look at the sky and know when it’s going to be windy or rainy?

It’s undeniable that a military man, no matter the circumstances, is practical and useful.

They walked into the corridor.

The sensor light turned on immediately. With a big and tall guy by her side, Lin Qian felt that the corridor had become narrower. Her room was the first one on the left. She rubbed her cold hands against each other, took the key out and inserted it into the lock. For a moment, she paused.

Was she seeing things? Why did she think she caught a glimpse of someone, like a shadow, disappearing quickly around the corner of the hallway at the other end?

She turned around swiftly to look at Li Zhicheng, only to find him staring at the other end with a sullen look.

It wasn’t her imagination. Someone had been there. It was so late at night—shouldn’t everyone be catching up on lost sleep in their room after working endlessly for one whole day and night?

Lin Qian took a soft breath and lowered her voice. “You go and keep guard at the gate. I’ll go over and check. Don’t act recklessly.”

She was about to creep forward stealthily until she felt two sharp eyes fixed on her.

Li Zhicheng was looking at her with his clear eyes.

She gave him a wink that said, What’s the matter? Go!

She hadn’t finished the wink when she felt a push on her waist.

“Shush. Get in.” It was a short and powerful order. His dark, clear eyes were very close to hers.

He ignored her own command; he gave her an order directly against it.

The door opened and, staggering forward a step, she was forced into the dark room. The door was closed behind her with a click.

Dumbfounded for a moment, Lin Qian quickly turned around and leaned against the door, looking outside through the peephole.

Really worthy of her nickname for him, “Big Cat,” Li Zhicheng walked so quietly that she had no idea which direction he had snuck towards.

It was quiet in the hallway. Nothing was moving around.

Staying in this uncomfortable position, Lin Qian kept watching for quite some time. Finally, she grew tired and gave up.

She kicked off her boots, walked to her bed, and laid down.

A few minutes later, she heard a knock at the door.

The knocks were neither soft nor loud and were in a uniform rhythm.

Lin Qian got up feeling suspicious and looked outside through the peephole again. She saw a familiar hat and a black coat, and quickly opened the door.

Li Zhicheng stood under the light with a calm expression and steadily handed her a tube of ointment.

He looked at her as if nothing had happened.

Lin Qian was still worried. Glancing around and seeing nobody, she said in a hushed tone, “Come in and tell me what happened.”

Li Zhicheng raised his eyebrows and walked in just two steps. Staring at her in silence, it seemed that he was waiting for something.

Lin Qian closed the door softly. “How did it go? What happened? What did you see over there?”

Quiet for a moment, Li Zhicheng replied, “There was nobody.”

Lin Qian didn’t quite believe it. “Are you sure?”

He looked at her and turned around to reach for the door.

Lin Qian grabbed his arm. “I’m not finished! If they investigate the incident tomorrow, you’ll have to testify for me. I was with you the entire time and don’t have any unusual motives.”

He turned to look at her and said in a deep and strong voice, “A clean hand wants not to be washed.”

Lin Qian sniffed. “That’s a saying used to fool kind people.”

He stared at her in silence.

A head taller than her, he stood close, blocking nearly all the light from falling on her. A little uneasy by his sharp gaze, she asked, “What?”

“Is there anything else you need?” he asked in a steady voice.

“Well, no.”

He immediately pulled open the door and left.

As soon as he was gone, Lin Qian felt partly relieved.

This Big Cat! He looks so scary when he’s serious.

Early the next morning, everything seemed normal. No one was under investigation, nor did anyone bring up the unusual incident that had happened last night.

Lin Qian said nothing either.

After several hours of hard work, she was called in by Gu Yanzhi.

Despite being a temporary office, Gu Yanzhi’s was still furnished in style. Behind the polished dark executive desk, a large folding screen split the room into two parts, a front and back. Gu Yanzhi sat by the desk, looking bright with pride.

Somewhat influenced by his expression, and because she was also confident about the current crisis management, she asked with a big smile, “Mr. Gu, you wanted to see me?”

He dropped a stack of papers in front of her. “Take a look at this and give me some advice.”

It was his speech draft for tomorrow’s press conference as the leader of the company. This was a top priority in the public relations section of dealing with the crisis.

She took it dutifully. She had hardly finished reading a few lines when she knew that she approved of it.

It was clear and concise, getting straight to the point. And the apology section felt sincere and natural, without any fake or ingenuine statements.

Lin Qian quickly finished reading and looked up at him. “I think it’s well written.”

Gu Yanzhi stared at her with a faint smile in his face. “Of course it’s well written. Would I write one that was poorly written? What I need is constructive criticism.”

Neither embarrassed nor hesitant, Lin Qian thought about it and said, “It could be improved with two small points.”

Gu Yanzhi then became interested. “Go ahead.”

“First, expose our disadvantages. Take an example from the previous toxic baby milk scandal. Everyone blamed the dairy companies but few attacked the dairy farmers, who were said to be the chief culprits. According to the basics of human psychology, including the consumers, most people’s sympathies go towards the disadvantaged and it isn’t likely that they’ll challenge the disadvantaged situation.

“We’re in the same situation. It is an objective reality that we at Aida are facing operational difficulties. We might as well mention it in the speech and reveal our own disadvantages. I think it will surely cause the consumers to become sympathetic, and we’ll become more likely to be forgiven over the others.”

Gu Yanzhi didn’t give her any comments.

Lin Qian went on to say, “Secondly, I reviewed the pollutant test report. We are one of the companies who had the least amount of pollutant values in the handbags. We might as well make that data known to the public.” She paused for a moment. “Once we make the data public, the consumers will surely come to their senses and demand that the other companies publish their data. So they will be under even greater pressure.”

After Lin Qian left, Gu Yanzhi took the draft, went to the other side of the folding screen, and threw it to Li Zhicheng who was sitting on the hidden sofa.

Although the two points mentioned by Lin Qian happened to match up with what they had discussed themselves, Gu Yanzhi still couldn’t help exclaiming with his eyes narrowed, “I told you that this woman is clever—in an honest way. Such a talented woman! How could SMQ let go of such a genius?”

…

Ever since offering ideas to her boss, Lin Qian felt like her workload had become much heavier.

Apart from the photocopying, tea making, water refilling, and errands, she was also involved in writing other important documents and in the external operations as well.

As the clock ticked away, the team’s preparation was coming to an end, and the work in the task force was becoming more and more intense. Lin Qian was so busy that she felt so much time had passed, but in reality it had only been three days since they had started working in the restricted area.

During this time, she only saw Li Zhicheng passing by occasionally, either alone or with the security guards. The person working next to her saw him too and asked, “Who is that guy? I’ve never seen him before.”

Lin Qian said, “It’s the new security manager. You don’t know him? He’s a veteran. Responsible and nice, but very quiet.”

On the morning of the fourth day, the press conference finally came after heavy overnight snow, just as predicted by Li Zhicheng.

The news release was set to be downtown in the Beihai Shengting Hotel.

At 8:00 am, the media still hadn’t yet arrived. The conference hall, adorned with lights and flowers, was also equipped with cameras and a sound system.

Lin Qian’s job today was to work with the head of administration for on-site coordination. Wearing a formal black pantsuit, a pair of low heels, and light makeup, she was busy in and out of the hall the entire morning.

The others were just as busy as her. People were saying that Gu Yanzhi had locked himself in his hotel room, busy practicing the speech that he was going to present at the conference.

Lin Qian checked the on-site equipment one more time and made sure it was in good condition. She then went to the check-in desk by the door, where the focus of her tasks would be for the rest of the today.

As soon as she had walked out of the doorway, she unexpectedly saw Li Zhicheng at the other end of the hallway.

Not only did she notice him, but many of the staff members walking by also turned and recognized him.

He looked different today.

He wasn’t wearing that hat, and his short hair was black and soft, making his face stand out. He had deep, large eyes, full cheekbones, thin lips, and fair skin.

Instead of the sporty windbreaker, he was dressed in a long, black coat with a white shirt on. He looked even taller than usual.

Hands in his coat pockets, he stood under the light, his whole presence seeming to glow. He glanced around. His eyes fell on Lin Qian for just a second and then shifted away without making an expression.

Lin Qian chuckled. Seeing that the security guards had all worn black suits today, it was natural that he was dressed like that.

She was about to walk over and talk to him when her cell phone rang.

Because the press conference was being held today and the competitors wouldn’t have enough time to take any countermeasures on the same day, it was no longer necessary to keep it a secret anymore and everyone’s cell phones had finally been returned.

Glancing at the number, Lin Qian paused for a second and then picked up.

Unexpectedly, it was her former supervisor, the marketing manager of SMQ. At least, she had been when Lin Qian had worked there.

Lin Qian smiled before speaking. “Hello, Manager Su.”

Manager Su was a socially-active woman in her thirties. She spoke in a mild yet powerful tone and said, “Lin Qian, how have you been? Long time no see since you left. Sorry about that.”

Lin Qian could guess who had ordered her to make this call.

It was impossible for Aida to hide from their competitors after making such a big move today. Chen Zheng must have been curious to see what Aida was planning to do and sent someone to ask questions and find out.

Speaking of Chen Zheng, Lin Qian had always had a good impression of him from the very beginning. As the young son of the chairman, he was energetic, daring, and decisive. Everyone praised him as young and talented.

She didn’t know why he had been attracted to her. She guessed it was probably because she had been a new and fresh face at the company? He had started his intense pursuit of her as if he had totally forgotten about the fact that he already had a fiance, who was the daughter of a chairman.

“Be my mistress for three years, and you’ll be able to get almost everything you want,” he had said at the time, completely stunning Lin Qian.

Just as Lin Qian expected, Manager Su changed the topic shortly and asked, “By the way, I heard that Aida is going to hold a press conference today. Is it about the pollutant incident? What’s Aida going to say? Let us know so we can be better prepared.”

Lin Qian paused.

A few feet in front of her, some reporters began to enter the hall. By the wall on the desk next to her were the brochures about the incident that she had been in charge of printing.

Lin Qian cleared her throat and answered, “I don’t know. It’s only been a short time since I came to Aida—” She hadn’t finished her sentence when she heard a clatter on the other end of the line. It seemed like the phone had been taken by another person.

She then heard Chen Zheng’s voice. “You don’t know? Aren’t you a member of the task force? Tsk, tsk, how long have you even been away from SMQ? How can you already be so loyal to Aida?”