Chapter 15: Boss’s True Colors
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Early the next morning, the project team was set up once again.
Marketing director Xue Mingtao was not allowed to be the team leader. So, the four members of the group consisted of a high-quality marketing manager, Chen Dong, and three other members were Lin Qian’s acquaintances within the company. They were members of the previous emergency public relations project team during The Carcinogen Scandal; this included the administrative supervisor, Zhou Yaxin, the technician, Ge Songzhi, and the production supervisor, Yong Yong. Due to their previous stellar performances, they were roped into this group.
In the afternoon, Lin Qian had just finished her lunch and returned to her desk when she saw Li Zhicheng walk out of his office with his coat on. His expression was cold and hard. “Go to the project team.”
The walk from the main headquarters to where the project team was located in a separate, isolated building required a bit of time. Since it was a little after lunchtime, the walk did not have many people. The two of them had swiftly walked for a period when Li Zhicheng suddenly asked, “How high do you think are our chances of winning?”
Lin Qian halted in her footsteps. Why would Boss ask me this? What sort of answer does he want to hear?
It’s a sticky situation, isn’t it?
When she looked up, he was standing beneath a withered tree, gazing at her with dark intensity and depth.
After a moment of silence, Lin Qian honestly replied, “Not even… 50 percent.”
Staring at her, he calmly answered, “Yup, that’s also what they think.”
Lin Qian was taken aback for a moment.
“They” naturally referred to Gu Yanzhi, Liu Tong, and other executives. Earlier, Lin Qian had sensed that they would have the same judgment.
But now, Boss looked very dejected telling her that…
Why did that make her feel a little heartache for him?
Just as she wanted to say something to lighten up the mood, Li Zhicheng had already set off on his long legs, briskly walking ahead.
As usual, the project team had positioned themselves in the closed-off section of the office. When Lin Qian and Li Zhicheng entered the building, they were seated in a large office space, their heads buried in work.
Xue Mingtao reported to Li Zhicheng about the plans for the day: they needed to settle the materials needed for sorting out and crafting the bids as well as carefully calculate the bid price and product turnover dates. They aimed to come up with a rough plan by evening.
Li Zhicheng nodded and made his round of the area. He took cursory glances at the materials before leaving with Lin Qian soon after.
The sunlight was perfect when they exited the building, and Lin Qian figured they were about to return to the office. However, Li Zhicheng unexpectedly headed towards the parking lot without hesitating or giving her a second glance. “We’re going to Spring City Street.”
Lin Qian was stunned for a moment, but quickly caught up.
Spring City Street was a commercial street with many commercial buildings located in the heart of the city. The flagship stores of Aida and SMQ were located on this very street.
The Land Rover stopped by the side of the road. Lin Qian gazed at the end of the street and sighed heavily; on the left was where Aida’s “flagship store” was. She then looked at the right side of the road where the SMQ flagship store was and sighed again.
She really wanted to curse, “The nobility are so selfish. They hoard all the good stuff and leave measly leftovers for the poor!”
While both brands had their tall flagship stores very majestically renovated, the customers visiting Aida were few and far in between. Aida’s lighting was noticeably dimmer than SMQ’s and, at a glance, not a single promoter could be seen in the store. Outside, on the window, there was an eye-catching “promotion” sign, and two units on each level… had been rented to other merchants that promoted themselves with, “Factory has gone bankrupt, all down jackets priced at 99 yuan.”
It was simply a tragic sight to behold.
SMQ, on the other hand, had bright blinding lights and their storefront was bustling like a busy city, with a steady stream of customers flowing in and out. Electric signs that read, “New product just released!” with lights shining were pasted on its windows. The young and energetic promoters were kept busy and were constantly on their feet, running around the store, all of them appearing to be in high spirits.
In regards to that, Lin Qian pondered how a loss in a business battle could destroy an exceptional company, even one that had been operating for over ten years at an unimaginably cruel and fast speed.
She secretly stole a glance at Li Zhicheng, who stood by her side.
As usual, he did not allow any emotions to paint his face. He maintained a calm and collected demeanor as though he were an ice mountain. The only observable thing was the slender finger on his hand resting on the steering wheel—it could not stop lightly tapping.
Lin Qian thought through her words before saying, “President Li, based on the quality of products alone, we are not any worse off than SMQ or New Bori. Just based on the results of my personal analysis, I actually believe that our product quality exceeds theirs. Our foundation is still very good. Regarding Ming Sheng’s tender, although they issued an invitation to tender to six companies, only us three companies can mass produce such high-quality leather goods within the country with our production also meeting a such a high standard.
“I personally believe that as long as we do our tenders well, we still have a very good chance of winning. The same goes for our physical storefront. It is not that our products are lousy, but rather because before… we were thoroughly defeated, and other companies ganged up to defeat us, which ultimately caused all our good stuff to be unsellable—even as we dropped the prices. Actually, as long as we get our cash flow moving in the future, increase our investments, and establish our brand visibility, I don’t believe our sales will be all that dismal.”
These words were her honest views. It was just that in this world, regardless of conducting oneself or carrying out something, knowing the way was always much easier than actually doing it.
Li Zhicheng turned to look at her with a little hope shining in his crestfallen eyes.
“Yup. Let’s do this step by step.”
Spoken in his calm and powerful voice, coupled with his naturally comforting tone, the words touch Lin Qian’s heart.
Lin Qian was seldom swayed by a person’s words, but what her boss said at this moment gave her a refreshing insight into the strength and perseverance embedded within him.
As witty as she was, she simply didn’t know what to say in that moment.
No, just leave it be, nothing has to be said. With an intelligent smile, she gazed back into those dark eyes. No words were needed in that moment. They were each other’s superior and subordinate, but they also felt like each other’s confidantes. Yes, this is the exact feeling to incite in soldier-like Boss—hehehe…
Meanwhile, Li Zhicheng stared at her, and his eyes also shined with slowly-surfacing amusement.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lin Qian caught sight of an unusual movement.
She turned her head to look and immediately felt a tremor in her nerves.
Chen Zheng!
Enemies indeed tend to bump into each other!
He was in a smart suit and shoes and lead several men. Just as he was coming out of his black Mercedes-Benz, he lifted his head to look at the SMQ flagship store, before seemingly inadvertently looking over to her side.
“Boss!” Lin Qian called out in a low warning, simultaneously ducking down to avoid the possibility of being sighted by Chen Zheng. Seeing as Li Zhicheng was sitting still and not moving, she instinctively grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him down with her.
However, Li Zhicheng’s reaction was surprisingly fast. Just when her hand made contact with his wrist, he reacted, and her wrist became tightly enclosed in his iron-like grasp.
Lin Qian was shocked and then saw him calmly give her a look. He had managed to bend his body and hide beneath the steering wheel.
Her hand was still gripped within his and he was not letting go. At that moment, their bodies and faces were close, and his magnified handsome face was just 10 centimeters away. She could clearly see each and every black eyebrow hair of his, as well as her own reflection in his dark black irises. Meanwhile, she could also feel his breath grazing her cheek.
He set his gaze on her.
Lin Qian’s face heated up slightly; she attempted to explain, “President Li, I was just thinking that since we are here to spy for information, we shouldn’t be found out by our competitor, right?”
She also felt like Chen Zheng was a ruthless man who would do anything—someone who liked shaming people to their faces. If they bumped into him, she was afraid that he would not hesitate to send his people over to pick a fight.
How could she allow Li Zhicheng to experience such a thing? But at the same time, she couldn’t reveal this fear to him.
“Alright,” he softly replied, with an expression as serene as always. She couldn’t tell if he saw through to her true intentions. But the thing that bothered Lin Qian the most… was that the close proximity between them was slightly inappropriate.
Her hand was still in his. Perhaps her boss was still in his protective state from just now and hadn’t had the time to react properly. This would explain why he had yet to let go. Is it a big deal? Lin Qian also couldn’t just tear her hand away—that would only heighten the awkwardness. Just that with a man’s dry yet gentle hand, coupled with a burning intensity… she could even clearly feel the thin calluses on his fingers against the cold, soft back of her hand.
An unrelated thought surfaced in her mind: When he isn’t in military uniform and wears a Western suit instead, he really looks like some rich, noble son. But actually, with his strong hands, he’s indeed still very manly.
Meanwhile, Li Zhicheng was as stoic as a mountain; he maintained a crouching position without moving and quietly kept his gaze on her. In that narrow, slightly-dark space, Lin Qian even felt as though their breath was lingering in the air together.
Not good, not good, this is really not good.
She immediately turned her head to face the other side, with the back of her head facing him. She masked it as an attempt to hide even lower, at the same time hiding her intentions by asking, “Shall we go?”
Li Zhicheng was above her and could observe the situation outside with a slight raise of his head. Lin Qian heard him remain quiet for a moment before answering, “Not yet.”
Lin Qian maintained her position.
However…
Slowly, she realized that this position was also slightly inappropriate. Li Zhicheng’s breath was on her neck, and was even more palpable with a slight warmth that made her ticklish. She was sure he didn’t mean to do it, but the feeling was as though a feather was stroking her neck, slowly gliding here… and gliding there…
Like most other girls, Lin Qian had a mildly sensitive neck. However, at that point, she could do nothing but endure the feeling and stay as still as possible. She could feel a warmth slowly spreading up her neck and onto her face. Without even having to look in the mirror, she knew for certain that her face was red.
F*ck… Why is this annoying Chen Zheng taking his sweet time? Isn’t he always as fast as lightning? He even walks fast on a normal basis. Why would he linger at the storefront for so long today? He was seriously born to be my enemy!
After a fair bit of time had passed, so long that Lin Qian’s neck was sore, she finally heard Li Zhicheng’s clear voice ring in her ear, “Let’s go.”
Lin Qian straightened up her body in an instant and let out a long sigh. At the same time, Li Zhicheng appeared to have just noticed, and finally let go of, her hand.
Blushing, Lin Qian acted like nothing was out of the ordinary and pulled her hand back. Smiling at him, she said, “Boss, where are we going now?”
Li Zhicheng appeared to not have taken the slight awkwardness from before to heart. With his gaze set forward, he returned his hands to the steering wheel and simply said, “Back to the office.”
Naturally, Lin Qian would also not take such a small occurrence to heart. Upon returning to the office, she was quickly immersed in her busy job. When early evening came, she followed Li Zhicheng once again to pay the project team a visit.
Not only those two, but Gu Yanzhi and the vice-president in charge of production technology, Liu Tong, also came. These three core executives worked together in evaluating the rough report for the tenders prepared by the marketing team.
It was twilight outside the window and the large garden seemed empty and quiet. The only light came from above their heads, so bright that it could jolt one awake.
When Xue Mingtao commented on this report for the tenders, his expression was solemn and focused. “…Price-wise, the lowest we can go for a single bag is 1,500 yuan. We can’t go any lower. On one hand, we are using the most expensive production materials, and even if we buy in bulk, there is a limit to lowering our cost. On the other hand, if we go any lower… even the customer’s down payment will be insufficient to support our production…
“…Concerning the delivery period of our products—since the expectation of the quality of production of this batch of bags is extremely high, even if we calculate by the fastest possible speed where the workers work three shifts without a break, we will still need at least six months to complete all the orders…”
After he finished saying his piece, all the members of the project team looked at the three executives with tiredness in their eyes, but at the same time with excitement and expectancy. Lin Qian knew what they were excited about. Based on conventional calculations in this field, such pricing and delivery periods would already put a company at a huge advantage. But…
The three executives all remained silent.
In the end, Gu Yanzhi was the first to speak. “Good, but it may not necessarily be good enough. As far as I know, Chen Zheng has always been ruthless in the things he does. This time, when we pit ourselves directly against them, I believe he will offer a condition which will potentially have a lot of destructive effects on our company.”
Most of the audience fell silent and Liu Tong knitted his eyebrows. “Then what should we do about it?” He looked towards Xue Mingtao. “Is there no way to adjust it any more?”
Xue Mingtao shook his head in despair. “We have already done everything to the best of our abilities and brought them to the limits.”
At this moment, Li Zhicheng, who had remained quiet this whole time, suddenly looked towards Lin Qian, his gaze clear and bright. “What condition do you think he will offer us?”
Lin Qian’s heart skipped a beat; everyone’s eyes were on her.
Lin Qian was quiet for a moment, before looking him in the eye and replying, “I don’t know for sure. But based on my previous experience, their price will probably be able to go as low as 1300 to 1400 yuan. And their delivery period will likely be reduced to five months.”
The moment she finished talking, the meeting room seemed to become even more silent. The expressions of all the people in the project team were tense and dejected—none of them said a word. Liu Tong picked up his teacup and sipped a mouthful, before frowning and placing it down again. Gu Yanzhi retreated to lean on a leather chair, his expression cold and his fingers knocking against the table repeatedly. Meanwhile, Li Zhicheng, who was seated in the center, kept his posture as straight as a pencil, his gaze forward with a dark intensity, and, as usual, coolly avoided the gaze of any others.
Then, Lin Qian and all the people present in the room listened to the longest address that he had ever given in history.
“When I was in the army, I often had to formulate battle plans. The main point of these battle plans was to, first of all, ascertain what the crux of winning the battle was. As a commander, I did not care about miscellaneous worries, nor did I consider how hard it would be to achieve my goal, as those were not the things I needed to worry about. My task wasn’t to care about the costs or sacrifices put into achieving my goal, but to ensure that my side had a strong grasp on the advantages we had in our favor that would help us win the battle, and finally take the win from there. I think, the commercial battlefield shares the same concept.
“This tender is our last shot at securing our win, and our winning goal is to win over the hearts of our customers. Peppering the tender with flowery words isn’t of utmost importance, nor is completing it with complicated details. The most important thing we need to have is a strong-minded attitude in order to promote the several undeniable and attractive advantages that we boast. When Ming Sheng sees it, we will leave a deep impression in their minds, such that they will never forget. We will completely capture their hearts.
“Thus, I suggest making the following amendments to the tender:
“First, we should continue lowering the price to a level comparable to what was previously mentioned by Lin Qian. Along the way, if we do meet with any financing issues, I will figure something out. At the same time, we will sell these high-quality suitcase-style bags at the normal price standardized across all our stores—do not conduct any special promotions on it again. Xue Mingtao, please indicate on the tender in an eye-catching manner that we have been supplying these style of bags at a price 30 percent of what we used to sell in overseas markets. Do also make a market comparison infographic. According to what I have observed, SMQ has a lower market price than us, with their discounts only at 40-50 percent.
“Second, promise Ming Sheng that we will provide a five-year warranty for this batch of suitcase-style bags as compared to the market standard of only one year. The executive president is in charge of production, and if there should be any problem with the quality of materials, there will be no questions asked and Aida will provide a refund for the goods within three days. Ming Sheng will not have to bear any of the costs or responsibility.
“Third, the delivery period. Relatively speaking, this is the only area where we can really set ourselves apart. The delivery period has to be compressed to within three months. It is currently a matter of life-and-death for Aida. If we cannot make it in time, vice-president Gu and myself will personally contribute in the production line. This particular task is set, with no room for discussion and no room for delays.”
He raised his head and scanned the room, and with a sharp look, he concluded, “For this project, even if I do win, it will be a miserable win. But it can get Aida temporarily back on its feet again in order to face future battles.”
Everyone in the room was stunned.
Lin Qian looked at the clear outline of Li Zhicheng’s side profile and her heart thumped against her chest. It had started beating powerfully as though it were synced with his meditative speech.
Liu Tong slammed the table and said, “Great! I agree with what president Li says! That’s exactly what we’ll do! If we have insufficient production hands, I will join the production line—even my wife and children will join in to contribute! Back when we first started this company, I also worked my way up like this with the chairman!”
Gu Yanzhi also smiled, his gaze electrifying and bright.
Xue Mingtao said, “Great! Listen to what president Li has said! Let’s get down to work!”
Meanwhile, the project team had conflicting feelings reflected in their eyes. Lin Qian had mixed feelings like them, including sadness, discomfort, excitement, and resolution.
He said that this would be a miserable win. But it could get Aida temporarily back on its feet again in order to face future battles.
The night got darker.
Lin Qian returned to her little cubicle in the office building. After sitting for a while, she could not help but raise her head and look towards the president’s office. However, under the bright light, she could only see his figure looming.
Lin Qian felt that she had to reevaluate her perception of her boss’s capabilities. She would never have expected him to be able to give a speech like that. The things he mentioned about “securing the crux of winning the battle,””undeniable and attractive advantages,” and “to win over the hearts of our customers,” were all exactly the same concepts that Lin Mochen had mentioned to her yesterday.
Who was Lin Mochen? In the financial sector, he was a character who had the ability to move mountains and oceans, easily manipulating his way around billions or even tens of billions at a time. He proclaimed to be a top business genius.
But Li Zhicheng was different from Lin Mochen. At a glance, one could tell that Lin Mochen was a “profiteer” who had deep thoughts, while Li Zhicheng was always aloof but decisive. The words he had said earlier still felt as though as they were jumping around her ears, making her unable to calm down even hours later.
Why did she feel the sudden impulse to sacrifice herself for her confidante? No way. She definitely had to express herself and let her feelings out in order to feel comfortable.
“Boss.” She knocked on his office door and entered.
Li Zhicheng was currently standing by the window, gazing out into the star-filled night. He turned his head to look at her, his expression calm and collected.
“Boss, I think that we will succeed for sure.” She looked him straight in the eye and continued, “Because we are under your leadership, because you are a genius—you are a genius leader. I have said my piece, and it’s not an attempt at bootlicking, but rather my true feelings!”
The moment she finished talking, her face inexplicably heated up. Ah, did she get a little too excited? Under his brilliant, quiet gaze, Lin Qian could not help but feel uneasy. Yet, she put on a calm front, smiling naturally before turning to leave.
Li Zhicheng kept his gaze on her briskly-disappearing back, all the way until she walked out the door before he returned to looking at the night sky outside the window. His lips curled up and he slowly broke into a smile.