Chapter 137 Bottleneck

Gu Ningwei stood up from his office chair and walked back and forth in the room, looking a little excited.

He thought for a moment, stopped, turned around, and said to Han Que, "You should talk to her. Our strengths at Zhening lie in production and R&D, especially R&D. We have Professor Tang in charge, and that's our core advantage."

"But Professor Tang is not from our company after all. We don't know whether his position as our R&D consultant will have any impact on his position at the school. And will there be any changes in the future? I'm a little hesitant to use him for publicity now." Han was a little worried.

She was considering Tang Zifeng and didn't want them to publicize it so much, which would cause him trouble. After all, he was still working at the school.

Hearing this, Gu Ningwei glanced at her with a half-smile and said with a slightly sour tone, "You are very considerate of him."

Han rolled his eyes at him and said, "Let's talk about serious matters. Don't bring in personal emotions."

Gu Ningwei also narrowed his eyes and smiled: "I was just joking, don't take it seriously."

"Stop joking." Han looked at him impatiently: "Okay, go on, tell me what you are going to do next."

"Don't worry, there won't be any problems with Old Tang. I've already made an agreement with him. If we can truly be listed as a public company, he will come over and take up the position as our company's chief scientist. He will resign from the university and will only serve as an adjunct professor at best."

"Will he agree?" Han didn't understand. It would be so nice to be a well-known professor.

"Why wouldn't I agree? We'll give him shares, and the wealth he'll gain will be much greater than being a professor." Gu Ningwei smiled slightly. "What do you think? Is Tang Zifeng that noble?"

Han shook his head: "This is not a question of whether he is noble or not, but a question of his academic ideals."

"Ideals are one thing, but reality is another. Old Tang may seem to be doing well at school, but he has many difficulties. He just returned from studying abroad, so he doesn't have any connections at school. He's also young, so he's at a disadvantage in terms of seniority. Many of the promises made when we brought him in haven't been fulfilled. If it weren't for my donation to his lab, his research would still be underfunded."

Gu Ningwei shook his head and sighed, then said with some emotion, "That's why he agreed to work for us when the time comes."

Han nodded: "Then we won't have too many problems with research and development in the future."

Gu Ningwei continued with a smile, "Yes, you see, we have enough advantages in R&D and production. What we lack is a dealer network. Chunyi Company is in the distribution business. They don't have production and R&D, but their network and channels are very advantageous. We and they hold shares in each other, which is a true strong alliance. Xu Chun is smart. She sees this, but she is more calculating and wants to take advantage of us."

"She is a calculating person, and it will be tiring to work with her in the future." Han was a little worried.

She has experienced Xu Chun's methods these times, and he never wants to take advantage of her.

"Let her go. As long as we can cooperate and we can grasp the big picture, that's all that matters. Our bargaining chip right now is Zhening's future development. If she wants to go public, she must take advantage of this opportunity. Otherwise, she won't have that chance later. Chunyi's business model isn't suitable for a separate listing, especially since it's primarily offline."

"Does she really want to go public? I don't think so." Han said, "After all, listed companies have strict regulations and must disclose everything. They weren't as free as they are now, where she can do whatever she wants."

Gu Ningwei smiled slightly and asked her, "How old do you think Xu Chun is?"

Han thought for a moment and said, "She should be in her fifties. Although she looks quite young, she and Lu Xiaoping's mother were classmates, so Lu Xiaoping's mother must be in her fifties too."

"That's right," Gu Ningwei said. "At her age, she has to think about the future. In another ten years, her energy and other aspects will be limited. She can't help but consider these things, otherwise she wouldn't complain about her team. Look at Li Zhekai too. Why did he sell his shares to me? Wasn't it just to take the money home and put it in his pocket? They are all thinking about cashing out by listing the company, selling their shares, and enjoying their retirement. This is the current mentality of this generation of entrepreneurs."

Han thought about it silently, and she also felt that what Gu Ningwei said made sense. Xu Chun had worked hard all his life. Now that he was old enough, he could cash in the wealth he had created over the years and live a free and happy life and enjoy life. That would be a good thing.

Only when the company is listed can there be a public and transparent valuation, and she will not sell at a loss.

"Give Xu Chun a reply in a week, and we'll talk to her again. I also need her to join us so that I can negotiate better terms with the state-owned assets." Gu Ningwei said with a faint smile.

Han looked up at him, a trace of warmth passing through his heart.

It was dusk at this time. Outside the long window, the setting sun dyed the sky crimson, and the clouds were coated with gold by the sunset, shining brightly.

Gu Ningwei stood in front of the window, his figure tall and straight, half of his face shrouded in the setting sun, his facial features three-dimensional and deep, but Han's favorite thing was his eyes. When he smiled, they were like rippling water, and when he didn't smile, they were like a deep pool, deep and calm, with no bottom in sight.

At this moment, the setting sun shone on his eyelashes, as if they were coated with a layer of gold powder, like dancing wings.

Han couldn't help but be fascinated by it.

Gu Ningwei smiled, lowering his eyes to gaze at her, and deliberately asked, "What are you looking at? So focused?"

Han sighed and said, "I find you are really handsome."

Hearing this, Gu Ningwei paused, pursed his lips and gave her a look: "You just found out?"

Han nodded.

Gu Ningwei glared: "Are you serious?"

Han smiled and said, "I thought you were handsome before, but not as handsome as you are today. Now you are even more handsome."

Gu Ningwei nodded with satisfaction: "That's about right."

Han said softly, "Ah Wei, do you know when I think you are the most handsome?"

Gu Ningwei said shamelessly, "I'm always handsome. Everyone is handsome in their own way, but I think you must think I'm the most handsome in bed."

Han's face flushed, and he glared at him speechlessly before continuing, "I think you're the most handsome when you're discussing things with me and when you're in tune with me."

After hearing this, Gu Ningwei smiled faintly, walked over, bent down, took her hand, put it in his hand and stroked it, then felt it was not enough, so he hugged her in his arms and gently kissed her forehead.

"Me too. I'm happy to do things with you. With you by my side, I feel energetic in doing anything."

Less than a week had passed before Xu Chun had actually taken the initiative to ask Han Que out again: "Is Mr. Gu back from his business trip? Let's talk again and see if you have any other ideas."

Han had no choice but to say, "Yes, Mr. Gu is back from a business trip. I came to see if he has time. If he does, we'd like to treat you to a meal. You're so polite that we feel embarrassed."

"That's great. I can treat you. I'm older and you're younger." Xu Chun said politely.

Han refused and said directly: "It is precisely because we are the younger generation that we should respect you."

Xu Chun was no longer polite.

Han chose a place, which was the private restaurant introduced by Tang Zifeng.

Gu Ningwei had a meeting at Chengguang in the afternoon, so he asked the driver to take Han Que there first.

Walking into the yard, I saw lush vegetation and trees. Against the brick wall, lotus flowers were in full bloom in a lotus pot, standing gracefully and about to bloom, exuding a refreshing fragrance. The koi fish in the pot were swimming back and forth, looking very cute.

When the proprietress saw Han Que, she immediately stepped forward and greeted him with a smile, "Mr. Han is here. Mr. Gu has already made arrangements. Please go in first and I'll pour you some water."

As he spoke, he took Han Que and walked towards the private room.

When they were halfway there, Han suddenly paused and asked quietly, "Have the guests arrived?"

The proprietress nodded and whispered, "She just arrived a while ago and asked me several times if Mr. Gu had arrived."

Han Que pursed her lips and smiled, knowing what was going on. She walked into the private room slowly and saw Xu Chun sitting on a chair beside her looking at his phone. When he heard the voice, he immediately raised his eyes with a smile, but when he saw that it was Han Que alone, his expression was a little disappointed.

Han saw it all, but didn't care. He walked up and explained with a smile, "Boss Xu, you're here early. Boss Gu is in a meeting at the group and will be a little later. Please wait for us."

Xu Chun smiled politely and said "No hurry, no hurry", but his eyes were slightly looking around.

She lowered her head again to drink tea, her fingers tapping the table unintentionally, a little absent-minded.

Han sat next to her, took the honey water handed to him by the waiter, drank it slowly to moisten his throat.

Xu Chun glanced at her and said, "Why? You don't want to drink tea?" He then said, "This is the tea I asked them to make. Try it. It's so hot, and drinking some tea can help you cool down."

There is freshly brewed green tea on the table, which is the Biluochun tea that Xu Chun brought this year.

Han smiled slightly, lowered his head and said shyly: "Well, it's a bit inconvenient to drink tea."

Xu Chun raised his eyebrows and quickly glanced at her lower abdomen. Then he suddenly realized and said with a smile: "Oh, so that's how it is. No wonder, I heard some rumors, but seeing you doing live broadcasts every day recently and in such good spirits, I was a little skeptical. It turns out that the rumors are true. Congratulations to you and Mr. Gu."

Han smiled and said softly, "Thank you, Mr. Xu."

Xu Chun sighed again: "No wonder, this young Mr. Gu transferred the shares to you so readily, so this is the reason..." She nodded, as if praising: "He is a kind, generous and righteous person."

When she mentioned the shares, Han continued, "Actually, that's not the reason. Mr. Gu is considering that Zhening Company might go public in the future, so he wants to plan the shares before the listing."

"Zhening is going to go public?" Xu Chun narrowed his eyes when he heard this.

Han nodded, and just as she and Gu Ningwei had agreed, she repeated Gu Ningwei's idea. Of course, she was vague in her explanation, retaining what needed to be retained and explaining what needed to be explained. She didn't make her words explicit, but just said enough to arouse people's imagination.

After listening to this, Xu Chun pondered for a long time.

Han looked at her and asked, "I see that you, Director Xu, seem quite anxious about the future of Chunyi Company. Is there any reason?"

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Xu Chun's attitude was a little anxious, as if she was very eager to find a partner for Chunyi Company.

Xu Chun sighed, pondered for a long time, turned to Han Que and said: "Okay, I won't hide it from you, Chunyi has also encountered trouble recently."

Han frowned, "What's wrong?"

“Tax matters.”

Han nodded and did not ask any further questions. It was not convenient for her to ask more questions regarding such a sensitive topic.

Xu Chun said: "Now the problem has been almost solved, and we need to pay some taxes."

"Well, I'm glad it's resolved."

Xu Chun pursed his lips and sighed. "Paying back taxes is a small matter, but I never expected that even though I've been so strict with them, they're still a mess. There are loopholes in all kinds of areas. I was really angry when I heard the people from the tax bureau coming to exchange opinions with me. If this continues, the company will close down. These people really have no sense of crisis at all. They always tell me that other companies are the same..."

Han was silent for a moment, then said in a soothing voice, "We have to take our time with personnel and management matters. We can't be impatient."

Xu Chun pondered for a moment, then said to Han Que, "As for me, I only graduated from junior high school when I started out. Now that I think about it, I was lucky to have grown Chunyi to its current size, but I couldn't have taken it any further. Even though I took classes, it still wasn't enough. Besides, at my age, I can't learn anything new. To be honest, I don't have the heart to learn anymore... But I also know that if things continue like this, Chunyi will be doomed."

Han was thinking silently in his heart, no wonder Xu Chun encountered a bottleneck in the continued development of Chunyi.

She also knows that in today's business world, if you don't move forward, you will fall behind, and there is no room for breathing.

As they were chatting, the waiter brought Gu Ningwei in. "Mr. Gu and Professor Tang are here."

Han was stunned. He didn't expect Tang Zifeng to come too.

Xu Chun was even more surprised and delighted. She stood up and immediately went to greet him, smiling widely and full of charm.