"Hello, Mr. Lu, this is Xiong Qu. Mr. Zhou arranged for me to pick you up and take you to the venue."
Xiong Qu rushed over to pick him up, but didn't rush him. Instead, she helped the hotel receptionist carry Lu Fan's luggage and other belongings to the hotel room.
Then he drove us to the Lingnan City flagship store, which wasn't far away.
On the way, Lu Fan was just about to ask Xiong Qu how Zhou Huan's preparations were going and if he had encountered any problems.
Beside him, Secretary Chen received a confirmation text message and said to Lu Fan:
"President Lu, Shengjing Company has replied. Their CEO, Gu Ru'an, is already on his way to Lingnan City."
"They said they didn't have time to make it to the ribbon-cutting ceremony, so they asked me to pass on their greetings to you."
Lu Fan closed his eyes and chuckled, "Alright, since they're the ones who're so eager to get involved, there's no need to pay them any mind."
"Let's go see President Zhou first and then we'll talk."
Upon hearing this, Xiong Qu stepped on the gas and sped away.
Because it was a business event, Lu Fan and Zhou Huan didn't have much time to interact. After a brief exchange, the event ended, and Lu Fan returned to his hotel.
Xiao Chen typed rapidly on his phone, glanced at Lu Fan, and immediately said respectfully:
"President Lu, President Gu from Shengjing Company has arrived with his team."
Lu Fan nodded and began to unbutton his suit jacket.
"Please ask them to go to the restaurant or coffee shop on the top floor first, I'll go wash up first."
Although he only attended an opening ceremony, Lu Fan was still quite tired after a day of running around.
He took a quick bath before going to see Gu Ruan.
Gu Ruan had heard of Lu Fan before and knew that he was a young man with great ability and talent.
But when Gu Ruan actually saw Lu Fan in person, she was still taken aback.
There's no other reason than that this person is simply too young.
Similarly, Gu Ru'an also felt a strange sense of crisis and frustration. After all, he was already over fifty years old, and at Lu Fan's age, he was far from making his first fortune, and was even working for others and suffering humiliation.
This is why Gu Ruan worked so hard to climb to the position of company president, and then he held onto money, women, and power tightly and enjoyed them all.
In Gu Ru'an's view, people who have been repressed for too long will become abnormal. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lu. I've long admired your reputation but never had the chance to meet you. I never expected you to be so young and accomplished."
Gu Ru'an adopted a humble attitude from the start, and her greeting to Lu Fan was as gentle as a spring breeze.
Lu Fan extended his hand and gently shook hands with Gu Ru'an, smiling, "You must be President Gu, it's a pleasure to meet you."
After a few brief pleasantries, the group took their seats.
Since Gu Ru'an needed someone's help, she didn't hold back and got straight to the point:
"We arrived too late. Otherwise, we should have gone to see the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Baiyue Supermarket and joined in the fun."
Lu Fan chuckled: "You didn't even arrive in person, but the flower baskets and other things have already been sent."
"I appreciate your kind gesture. I wonder if Mr. Gu has come to Lingnan City to meet with me for some business to discuss?"
Lu Fan wasn't one to beat around the bush, and he had no interest in getting entangled with Gu Ru'an, nor was he willing to waste his time and energy.
Regardless of whether it was too blunt, Gu Ru'an could only accept it and said with an awkward smile:
"We do have business, but there's something I need to ask Mr. Lu to tell me."
Lu Fan raised an eyebrow, feigning confusion: "I don't know what President Gu is talking about."
But it didn't say whether he would sue or not.
Gu Ru'an hadn't paid attention, or rather, even if she had, she hadn't taken it seriously. Hearing Lu Fan's question, she immediately poured out all the questions that had been weighing on her mind, like beans pouring from a bamboo tube:
"Your trip to Lingnan City was for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of Baiyue Supermarket. Does that mean that Baiyue's next step is to expand into the national market?"
Lu Fan crossed his legs and said with a smirk:
"We do have this plan. The location for the store in Lingnan City was chosen a long time ago."
"As for the other shops, they are still observing."
"I wonder why Mr. Gu suddenly asked about this?"
Gu Ru'an quickly said, "President Lu, please don't misunderstand. I didn't mean to probe your financial situation."
"There is a project that I would like to collaborate on with you, Mr. Lu."
The project they were referring to was, of course, Guangyuan Supermarket, which was about to become a hot potato for Shengjing.
But Lu Fan didn't know that, so Gu Ru'an quickly explained to him:
"That's right, our Shengjing Company had some business dealings with Guangyuan Supermarket before."
"At that time, the two parties agreed on the share of equity to be acquired."
"Who knew that Guangyuan Supermarket might have offended some powerful benefactor? We had just signed the contract when they suddenly announced a financial crisis."
"The two companies haven't even officially started their cooperation yet, but Guangyuan couldn't survive this crisis and had to liquidate its stores in China and prepare to return home."
This really put Shengjing Company, which had already signed the contract with them, in a terrible position. Of course, Gu Ru'an, who acted as the go-between, also suffered as a result.
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