Chapter 24 Chapter 24 The Boss is Mighty!
"Sir?" The receptionist pulled at the registration form but couldn't move it, and asked with some confusion.
“No,” Ying Shixue handed the pen back to her, “it’s nothing.”
While the people around her were still talking, Ying Shixue sat on the exquisite velvet chair, the words on the registration form flashing by.
Shengan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
The Xi family started out in the pharmaceutical industry, and later expanded their business to its current scale, where they hold a significant position in the medical field.
That's quite a coincidence. Logically speaking, many high-tech industries converge on the same path once they reach the top. Moreover, if SK's Chip 3.0 is applied properly to Shengan's medical device service industry, it would be a win-win situation.
In business, there are no permanent friends or enemies, but SK would rather leave such a huge market untapped, while Sheng'an would rather take such a roundabout route...
She wiped away the snow and lowered her long eyelashes, concealing the expression in her eyes.
Wei Chao had just finished his socializing when he turned around and saw Ying Shixue still sitting there. He walked over and casually handed her a small biscuit: "I got up early this morning, and it's already eleven o'clock. Have something to tide you over; I heard there's a big meal at noon!"
Wei Chao was right. At noon, the huge restaurant was filled with a wide variety of ingredients. As long as you showed your summit participant badge, you could enjoy the buffet at a price far below the market price.
The executive in charge waved his hand dismissively: "Everyone, eat whatever you like. We'll reimburse your meal expenses for the next few days!"
A cheer erupted, "Boss is awesome!" "General Manager Gao is so generous!"
Ying Shixue ignored the greasy meat dishes and walked from one end of the long table to the other. Finally, her eyes lit up when she saw the longfin fish fillets that were fried until they were slightly browned on both sides. Just as she was about to pick them up with the tongs placed to the side, a hand with the same target suddenly reached out from the side.
Ying Shixue subconsciously pulled her hand back, and when she looked up, she met a pair of slightly amorous eyes.
Xi Bojian was also a little surprised. He withdrew the clip from his hand, smiled when he saw it was him, and asked with a hint of excitement in his voice, "You also like to eat longfin fish slices?"
Ying Shixue glanced at the plate of fish slices, her expression remaining completely unchanged: "It's alright."
He was visibly disappointed after being rejected, but Xi Bojian quickly composed himself, picked up a slice of fish from the tray, and said in a relaxed tone, "Want to try some? Longfin fish have demanding growing conditions, and these are said to have just been delivered from the Yuancheng waters. They taste very fresh."
Ying Shixue casually leaned against the table, her expression indifferent. Her shirt was tucked into her trousers, which accentuated her slender waist even more with the movement: "Young Master Xi, do you know this dish very well?"
Xi Bojian's expression remained unchanged: "I've eaten here a few times before... I know a restaurant that serves very authentic seafood. If you'd be so kind as to join me, how about we go try it together after the summit?"
Ying Shixue remained noncommittal, saying, "We'll see when the time comes," and turned to leave.
Standing there, Xi Bojian watched his departing figure, the smile on his lips gradually fading. One of Sheng'an executives who had been behind him stepped forward, cautiously observing his expression: "President Xi..."
Xi Bojian moved his forearm to the side without moving his elbow. The executive quickly took the plate of fish from his hand. It wasn't obvious when he usually lowered his eyelids, but now that he lifted his eyelids, his already cold eyes with the whites showing below were revealed.
Given their relationship—one an unfavored second son and the other a senior executive of the group—such a strict, even overly respectful, superior-subordinate dynamic is quite strange. Yet, both of them act completely naturally, as if this way of interacting had played out countless times in private.
"Throw it away."
The executive sighed. The midday sun in the distance reflected harshly on the glass window, and the usually gentle and mild-mannered face revealed a completely different appearance in the backlight. If those spoiled rich kids saw this during the day, they would be surprised that this seemingly easy target could show such a chilling expression.
The executive carried the fish and took a few steps forward, then respectfully maintained a distance: "We've almost finished arranging things for the young master. We need to prepare..." He made a gesture of suddenly pulling in a net with his five fingers.
Xi Bojian smiled slightly, revealing a cruel pleasure: "He's been in this position long enough."
-
Afternoon Summit Exhibition Hall
"This is the 31st Dehai Regional Economic Summit. From Xingyuan 3013 to now, each summit has promoted mutual exchange and cooperation among different companies."
"Twenty-five years ago, two leading companies at the time signed a contract worth hundreds of billions on the spot, fully demonstrating the mutual trust and deep friendship between businessmen, which became a widely praised story..."
A young woman with delicate makeup stood in front of a display, smiling as she narrated her story. She pointed to a group photo with a banner that read, "Celebrating the successful conclusion of the 27th Economic Summit."
This was a routine visit arranged at the time. Although she was talking about the economic development history of Denu, most of the visitors were employees of various companies. So far, what Ying Shixue heard most often was something like, "Damn, how can they be so rich?"
The guide led them step by step into the interior. This area recorded the final group photos of the entrepreneurs who participated in each summit since the first one, as well as related information brochures. Although it was clear that she had tried her best to speak with passion, everyone was obviously not very interested in this kind of superficial formality.
Ying Shixue slowly walked at the back of the group and arrived at a display stand where people could browse through the exhibits. As expected of Fancheng, which was famous for its wealth and extravagance, even this thick record book full of photos had a gold-embossed cover.
Ying Shixue casually flipped open a book, which contained nothing but official jargon about cooperation. Just as he was about to close it and put it back, his fingers suddenly stopped.
In the slightly dated black-and-white photograph, two middle-aged businessmen in suits shake hands amicably, with their names listed below:
Song Zehe and Xi Zongbo.
-
As the slanting sunlight shone down from above, Ying Shixue sat in the summit exhibition hall, which encompassed nearly half a century of economic development history, and felt a chill run through her body.
The scene from three hours ago reappeared before my eyes. At the very front of the auditorium, a high-ranking official from the Municipal Bureau smiled warmly. Song Mingli, dressed in a sharp black suit, stood beside him. Xi Chengxu had just walked over to join the conversation. The two young talents were of similar height and age, and even the number and position of their entourage remained unchanged.
Time seemed to overlap. Twenty years ago, Xi Zongbo, the then-young and current head of the Xi family, and Song Zehe, who was from the same era, also stood in front of this grand stage and signed a supply contract that would benefit the entire De'en State and even extend to most of the federal states.
Two renowned business tycoons, accompanied by their entourage, held up a red banner with yellow lettering, their faces beaming. The camera snapped a picture, capturing this precious moment, which appeared in the exhibition brochure twenty years later and was found by him again.
The difference is that what was once a beautiful story of cooperation in the business world is now a fierce confrontation, with only twenty years or a generation separating them.
In the business world, interests are like knives and swords; alliances breaking up and rivals joining forces are extremely swift and normal occurrences. But what exactly caused these two behemoths, whose interests were once so intertwined that they almost touched each other's core businesses, to become bitter enemies for twenty years without being able to resolve their differences?
"Ying Mi... Ying Mi?" Wei Chao asked, noticing that he was still in a daze. "Why did you fall to the back? We should go to the next room."
His gaze was drawn to it: "Hey, what are you translating...?"
Ying Shixue closed the exhibition catalog at the right moment: "It's still the same stuff from the exhibition walls, just printed out and compiled into a catalog."
“Oh,” Wei Chao immediately lost interest.
"Let's go." He put the booklet back in its place, his tone so natural and believable. If someone were to compare it side by side, they would notice that the edge of the booklet was exactly the same distance from the display stand, and even the slight downward tilt caused by gravity at the beginning was noticed. It looked as if it had never been touched.
Wei Chao was completely unaware, and by the time he realized what was happening, he had already followed Ying Shixue quite a distance away from the exhibition hall.
-
The companies' exhibitions were scheduled for the second, third, and fourth days, and everyone sat in the conference room to hold a meeting.
The heads of each company took turns going on stage to showcase their new products. Ying Shixue's fingers flew across the computer as she took notes, when suddenly her typing stopped.
A burst of extremely enthusiastic applause erupted from the surrounding area, interspersed with small, barely suppressed cheers. The tall, long-legged man stood at the front of the stage, exuding the charisma of a superstar.
Song Mingli stood in front of the black miniature microphone, his deep and unhurried voice echoing in the conference room.
For a moment, Ying Shixue was in a daze. The sound she usually heard was different from the sound coming from the electronic speakers through the loudspeakers in this large conference room where so many celebrities were gathered. The magnetic tone was slightly distorted after being amplified, making it even more mellow and steady.
The people in the conference room had all heard several speeches by prominent business leaders before, and were by no means newbies who would be intimidated by appearances. But at this moment, they all focused their attention on him, completely absorbed in following his train of thought.
That kind of composure and calmness is not something that can be achieved overnight. It comes from strict requirements from childhood, excelling in everything, and having absolute ability and courage that form an overwhelming confidence and self-assurance. This makes people believe in him from the bottom of their hearts, and following him will truly lead them to a better and better path.
Wei Chao wanted to shout in his heart: "Boss is wise! Boss is mighty! Boss, may your reign last forever!"
This kind of occasion was truly a source of pride and honor. He smugly admired the way everyone in the conference room was completely mesmerized, and his rival's gritted teeth while pretending to approve and be magnanimous. He deeply regretted not taking out a camera to film this occasion; it would definitely have gone viral online.
He looked around with satisfaction and was about to turn his attention back to the computer when he suddenly caught a glimpse of Ying Shixue's expression beside him.
No, really?
He resisted the urge to rub his eyes, and then secretly glanced over there, thinking to himself, "Damn it."
This is absolutely the expression of a child just entering society, completely captivated by a mature, older man!
And the child himself was completely unaware of it.
Wei Chao nervously rubbed his pen, his mind racing with calculations. Ying Mi usually seemed so aloof; did she also like this kind of person? But the boss… well, the boss wasn't a bad person, but…
Wei Chao couldn't help but bite his thumbnail. Back when the girls used to fawn over the boss, nobody in the company seemed to care much. But now that this was happening right next to him, and this kid was quite lovable, the problem being that he was prettier than any of them before. What if the boss couldn't resist...?
Wei Chao closed his eyes. To Song Mingli, it would simply be another story of youthful romance that would be praised by future generations. But if it really spread, Ying Shixue's future would be completely ruined.
He's so young, what will happen to him in the future?
Even at the end of the meeting, Wei Chao still looked preoccupied. Ying Shixue, while tidying up the things on the table, looked at him with some surprise: "Brother Wei?"
Wei Chao snapped out of his reverie when he was called back, realizing he might be overthinking things. Nothing was certain yet. He rubbed his face and smiled, "Let's go, Secretary Ying. I hear there's a big meal tonight!"
Ying Shixue smiled somewhat helplessly. He was already good-looking, and his smile made him even more handsome. At least several people in the conference room who were near him were attracted to his gaze.
He was carrying his laptop bag and was about to walk out when suddenly, with a loud bang, he bumped into someone.
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