33
When Shen Ning got home that night, she carefully reviewed the entire project.
From a business logic perspective, there is no problem. Apart from the expected returns of the project, the certainty is relatively high.
However, from a resource perspective, there are many twists and turns involved.
Most of the land acquired by the group came from the cinema business segment, but the cinema business is under the supervision of Vice President Li Ru, not Zhao Yixing.
In other words, to apply for the use of idle land, one must cooperate with Uncle Li, and such a large-scale investment must also be approved by the group's general office.
Therefore, when it comes to such large-scale cooperation between companies within the same group, Vice President Zhao Yixing naturally cannot avoid it; there is nothing he can do if he does not support it.
Unless Shen Ning goes directly to her father, Shen Zhongxing.
But she crossed that path out. One reason was that she didn't want to take shortcuts, and another was that her father's personality wouldn't allow her to have such opportunistic thoughts.
I focused on the tablet, highlighting "Zhao Yixing" and then continued to analyze it.
Once the land acquisition plan is proposed, the group will inevitably propose that the project be directly led by them. At that time, Batu will become a mere executor, and the loss of long-term benefits will be obvious.
To ensure that the main body of the project remains Tyranny, it is necessary to offer exclusive core resources—team resources—as leverage in negotiations.
After writing the word "team," Chen Ning's hand, which was holding the capacitive pen, stopped in place.
Everything else is easy to discuss, but what troubles Shen Ning the most is this.
One of the highlights of the esports industrial park is the competition venue. In the initial stage, the league cannot be handed over to them, so it is inevitable that the company will plan independent competitions, and the participation of its own teams will be unavoidable, which will bring a huge time burden to the teams.
They were working with all their might, and Chen Ning didn't want them to have to spare any energy for other things.
However, if they try to coordinate with other teams to come and compete through a cooperation agreement, the league or other top teams might be targeted and lose a piece of the pie, which would be a losing proposition.
If only there were a way to have the best of both worlds.
Chen Ning put down his pen, opened his phone, and kept scrolling through his contacts.
Han Wenqing, Zhang Xinjie, Zhao Yixing, Wu Meng, Xu Mingyu, Dad, Uncle Li...
He looked through these people up and down, thought it over and over, and finally pressed the button to call Zhao Yixing.
When Zhao Yixing saw the caller ID, he was a little surprised: "Why did you suddenly decide to call me?"
Although they are getting along better than before, Shen Ning has not called him proactively. Is something urgent happening in the middle of the night?
"I need to talk to you about something. Does the group still have any undeveloped land?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yixing became serious: "You wouldn't be eyeing that project from Shengchong Group, would you?"
Shen Ning was startled: "How did you know?"
Zhao Yixing was silent for a moment, then spoke softly: "Chen Ning, you are getting more and more amazing."
"...You're also thinking of using the group's land to restart the project?"
"Yes, I plan to announce the restart at the general meeting next Monday."
Chen Ning felt a chill run down her spine.
Xu Mingyu sought her out because he couldn't find any higher-level support to push this matter forward.
Now that Zhao Yixing has taken the initiative to restart the project, why should the sales department contact her again? This matter is now completely unrelated to her.
Unfortunately, the pie I just drew cooled down before it even got warm.
It would be a lie to say he wasn't disappointed; his somber tone clearly lowered: "Looks like there's nothing for me to do."
Zhao Yixing didn't respond to her question, but instead asked, "Tell me how you came up with this idea."
At this point, there was nothing left to hide, so Shen Ning told Zhao Yixing everything about Xu Mingyu's visit to her earlier, including the project plans they had discussed.
After hearing this, Zhao Yixing was even more certain of his judgment: Xu Mingyu was a useful tool.
He had wanted to make changes to the sales department for a long time. Department One was too mediocre, Department Two was completely useless, and the leader of Department Three was alright before, but unfortunately his methods were lacking, so he was squeezed out and resigned by the other two departments.
He was originally thinking about how to find an opportunity, but who knew that such a ruthless character as Xu Mingyu would emerge from the Second Department, bypassing their director Sun Youlong and actually directly negotiating the project with Shengchong Group.
He did indeed have the idea of promoting Xu Mingyu to a higher position, thereby integrating all the sales departments.
Moreover, if he wants to advance further in the future, he will definitely need to take on cinema chains. President Li has a few years left before retirement, and many people are eyeing this position. Even if President Shen is optimistic about him, he still needs to achieve something to shut others up.
Therefore, this multi-billion dollar project must succeed.
However, he did not expect that Xu Mingyu would take the initiative to approach Shen Ning.
That's interesting.
Zhao Yixing tapped his fingers slowly and rhythmically on the table. After thinking quickly, he asked, "So you came to me because you want to work with Xu Mingyu to win this project?"
After a moment of hesitation, he replied, "To be honest, I haven't decided yet."
Hearing the unexpected answer, Zhao Yixing abruptly stopped tapping on the table and asked, "The reason?"
"...It will add an extra burden to the team; their focus should be on the league."
Zhao Yixing shook his head and scoffed, "Chen Ning, do you know what your biggest weakness is?"
"Cognition?"
"No, given your age and experience, your understanding surpasses that of most people. Your biggest problem is that you are too soft-hearted."
Shen Ning gritted her teeth and remained silent.
Zhao Yixing continued, "Xu Mingyu practically brought the meat to you, and you didn't even take it. Do you think climbing the ladder is just about hard work? I respect you for not wanting to rely on connections, but you want success without making any sacrifices. There are no perfect solutions in this world."
"To be honest, I'm planning to give Xu Mingyu a big job. Besides her abilities, I value her decisiveness even more. She can close deals without going through her direct supervisor, Sun Youlong, and if a deal falls through, she can directly contact you from another department. She just doesn't leave herself any way out. If this deal falls through, Sun Youlong will kick her out immediately, and she will lose everything."
What about you? Are you prepared for this?
"When you made this call wanting the project, did you think it would mean revealing your identity as the heiress of the group? Did you think about the overwhelming questions you would face after that? Did you think about the entire company, including the esports team, having to relinquish some of its profits to ensure the project's progress?"
"You haven't thought anything through."
"And another thing, you think you're so great for doing what's best for Han Wenqing and the others? Don't you even think about what you have to offer to compare with them? Han Wenqing gave up the World Tournament for Batu, and I admire him from the bottom of my heart for that. Even Zhang Jiale gritted his teeth and endured the insults from Baihua fans. And you? Are you just playing the victim with me?"
"Chen Ning, stop dreaming."
Zhao Yixing became increasingly harsh as he spoke; he had never spoken so harshly to Shen Ning since they had known each other.
But he simply couldn't stand this pampered young lady who lived in her "ideal world" all the time.
He clearly has talent, ability, vision, and passion, so why is he so hesitant and indecisive?
What kind of manager is that? Even if he became a manager, he would be ruined by his subordinates.
There was silence on the other end of the phone, which made Zhao Yixing sigh even more. His voice was soft, but his tone was heavy: "Speak."
Chen Ning's throat tightened, and her whole body felt as if it were under a tight band. Her mind was a complete mess, and the overwhelming accusations left her with no energy to think calmly. She didn't know what kind of courage surged up in her heart, but she hung up the phone directly.
Hearing the "beep...beep..." sound, Zhao Yixing flung his hand and threw the phone heavily onto the table.
After calming down, I fell asleep immediately, but I tossed and turned in a half-awake state, and I couldn't get a good night's sleep until dawn.
Looking in the mirror, I could clearly see a sense of fatigue. Feeling dejected, I put on some makeup before heading out.
The moment I stepped out of the building, I looked up and saw snowflakes falling all around me.
The sky was overcast. In mid-February, before winter was over, the weather forecast issued a blizzard warning, predicting heavy snow and localized blizzards today.
Shen Ning subconsciously reached into her bag for her umbrella, only to realize she had left it on the table.
You can't ride a bike on this road, and walking would take even longer. There simply isn't enough time to go back and get the umbrella. Chen Ning sighed helplessly, rubbed his hands together, put them in his pockets, and hunched his neck as he walked into the snow.
The work proceeded smoothly as usual, except that during the lunch break, Xu Mingyu asked about the details of the plan optimization, which reminded Shen Ning of Zhao Yixing's words from the previous night. Her emotions became chaotic again, and she simply replied, "I'll think about it some more," before putting it aside.
She subconsciously glanced at the captain's room next door, but there was a client today, and both Han Wenqing and Zhang Xinjie had been taken there by General Manager Wu. She hadn't seen them all morning, and the room was empty, leaving only Chen Ning staring blankly at it.
How should I tell them?
Seeing how hard they trained, she was afraid that even the slightest distraction would cause them to miss out on the championship.
The office heating was too strong, making her even more irritable. So, Shen Ning put on her coat and went outside, braving the wind and snow, to sit in the pavilion in the central garden.
Over the years, Tyranny has grown larger and larger. In addition to the core office building and two canteens, there are also dormitories, training buildings, gymnasiums, and upscale restaurants, all arranged in a ring with a small lake garden in the middle, where many people like to take a stroll after lunch.
On days outside of winter, there are many ducks in the lake. In the summer, Shen Ning even fed them leftover steamed buns from the cafeteria. She heard that in previous years, particularly cute fluffy ducklings would hatch in the spring.
But when winter comes, no one knows where they all go to spend the winter. The empty frozen lake is covered with snow, and the duck houses on the lake are all alone.
The wind occasionally blew on her face, cool and a little painful. Chen Ning pulled her scarf up as high as possible to cover her cheeks, put her hands in her pockets, and huddled against the pillar of the pavilion.
She sat there for what seemed like an eternity, as if time itself had frozen. Amidst the vast expanse of white snow, a hand holding a large black umbrella was extended in front of her.
Shen Ning looked up blankly and saw Zhang Xinjie holding an umbrella in one hand and handing her another one in the other.
She took it, but then felt her hands were a bit cold, so she simply tucked the umbrella between her legs and put her hands back in her pockets.
"How did you know I was here? And you even brought an umbrella."
"I saw you from far away while I was showing the park to a client, didn't you see me?"
Chen Ning, somewhat dazed, replied, "No."
After saying that, he muttered under his breath, "Going to the park in the middle of heavy snow..."
“It’s better than you freezing into an ice sculpture here.” Zhang Xinjie’s tone was as cold as ice and snow. “I have 17 minutes left before I have to go back to work.”
Perhaps it was the cold that made her feel sluggish, but Chen Ning avoided Zhang Xinjie's gaze and said, "You go back first, I'll stay for two more minutes, I'll definitely be back on time."
"Then we'll have to have the captain come and invite you."
As soon as Zhang Xinjie finished speaking, he moved aside and looked over. He saw Han Wenqing standing far behind him, and even from a hundred meters away, he could feel the extremely dangerous look in his eyes.
Their eyes met, and Han Wenqing took a step toward them. Chen Ning immediately stood up, and the deathly silence vanished instantly.
"...Let's go back."
I've already begged for forgiveness.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
