Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It had still been winter when Lin Qian first arrived at Aida to start working one month ago. And Li Zhicheng had only just retired from the military.
Standing to the west of Lin City was the Luyuan Nursing Home, covered in a wintry landscape. Leaves on the trees behind the river had withered, and the water was chilly.
Xu Yong, the chairman of Aida, was staying in a house behind the river. It was sunny, and care workers and secretaries moved him to the grassland. Under the sunshine, Xu Yong was drinking a hot cup of tea.
After a short while, the guest the old man was expecting arrived.
The young man took off his military uniform. Even in casual outfits, he was still more strapping than others. His long silhouette cast itself on the luxuriantly green hill.
“Father.” He stood in front of Xu Yong’s wheelchair. Though already a grown man, he was still silent like when he was young, a calm and sophisticated stare on his face. Even his own father, who had been in the corporate world for decades, couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.
Xu Yong became a little sentimental, patted the bench beside him and said, “Sit.”
After exchanging pleasantries, Xu Yong learned that he had retired from the military, and had convinced his grandfather, who held a high position in the military, to allow him to go to the corporate world. Xu Yong’s heart leaped with joy.
As for Li Zhicheng, he asked the secretaries and care workers about his father’s health. After affirmatives that his father was in good shape, he just nodded his head without expressing much emotion.
Xu Yong was old after all. When a person got old, he got more carefree. All his interests and hopes were invested in his own son. He asked with a smile, “Why are you willing to come back and take over Aida?”
Li Zhicheng pushed the wheelchair under a tree where no one was around, and answered, “I made a pact with my big brother before he died.”
Xu Yong grieved at the mention of his first son who had died in a car accident three years ago. He knew that thanks to his divorce, the siblings had been separated since childhood. But they had always been very close. If there was someone who could open Li Zhicheng’s heart, it had been his big brother.
“A… pact?” Xu Zhen asked in a hoarse voice.
Li Zhicheng stood behind him. His cap covered his eyes and facial expression. He answered mildly but firmly, “If something happened to him, Aida would be my responsibility.”
That was why he had returned.
A gentleman’s agreement was a pact he must follow. Even though they were separated by death, and even though the path was fraught with difficulties. He just needed to conquer them all to fulfill the promise.
“I have three requirements,” Li Zhicheng said after both of them had been quiet for a while.
…
Xu Yong sat under the tree and started to contemplate.
His secretary, standing behind him, tried asking, “Chairman, are you worried?”
Xu Yong smiled. “No. Just caught up in some memories.”
He couldn’t help being emotional when thinking about the three strict conditions his son had brought up.
Although he was still his loyal, trustworthy son with filial piety, he had been trained well by his soldier grandpa. He was already a wolf to the core.
Perhaps he might be able to save Aida.
However, even though he had come back to fulfill his promise, just like a wolf, he would completely own and control Aida. Even his father wouldn’t be allowed to have a say in the future.
…
Under the sun, Li Zhicheng walked alongside the river with his cap lowered.
Fate was a marvelous thing. When he looked up, he saw a familiar lady standing under a tree nearby and looking in the other direction. She looked dazed.
Li Zhicheng’s first impression of Lin Qian was that she was a loud woman with a sweet voice. Coincidently, she worked for Aida, which meant she worked for him. That was why he had given her a hand.
Another impression of her was from the headquarters of Aida. He had heard Gu Yanzhi refer to her as someone who had applied to be the secretary of the last CEO, an unfortunate lady who was unwilling to leave and beaming in her photo.
But right now, she sorrowfully stood under the tree all by herself, trying to control her tears. She looked like an abandoned pet, silent, wronged but staunch.
There was only one road leading out of the nursing home. She walked in front of him slowly, and Li Zhicheng followed her quietly. He glanced at the empty suburb at dusk after seeing her get on a bus. Watching her sitting on the gloomy bus alone, he walked on after waiting for a while.
…
Present day in the president’s office; this was the day after Aida had succeeded in outflanking its competitors during the first battle.
“Do you want to read it?” Li Zhicheng asked mildly. He looked calm, and was difficult to read.
Of course Lin Qian wanted to read it. She wanted to read it so badly that she couldn’t keep her eyes from following the paper in his hands.
However, he was sitting completely still in front of her. Sunshine fell on his body, making his black suit and short hair glint. He put one hand on the coffee table in front of the sofa, and the other that held the paper on its backrest.
He stared at her. “If you want to read it,” he said slowly, “then come get it.”
Though he hadn’t said anything outrageous, Lin Qian blushed.
Why did it sound like he was implying that she needed to fall into his arms if she wanted to read it?
Lin Qian didn’t move; she stared at her hands, which were tightly squeezing her knees.
Yes, that’s exactly what he means.
If his next move was on that paper, then it was crucial information that concerned Aida’s multi-million dollar businesses in the future. He didn’t need to show it to her.
Unless she belonged to him.
Unless she chose to go to him.
He was candid, forthright and intense with his seducing. He couldn’t be more straightforward.
The blush deepened on Lin Qian’s face.
She lifted her head and stared at him quietly.
There was sophistication in his eyes, and he sat there like a statue.
Lin Qian remembered the night he had been sitting beside her silently, eating sweet potatoes with his hands moving forward and backward.
“Mr. Li,” she murmured calmly, “I’ve decided not to read it. I’ll let myself out if there’s no other business.”
She nodded at him, got up and walked to the door.
With a glimpse she could see him sitting still and staring at her. Just when she was about to walk out, she heard him call her name.
She stopped, turned her head around and smiled mildly, “Anything else?”
He watched her quietly. “That night was my first time kissing a woman.”
Lin Qian’s heart skipped a beat, but she didn’t say anything. Again, she heard his calm voice. “And the first time I really desired a woman.”
Lin Qian suddenly looked up at him.
Damn…
He’s professed his feelings!
After her dodging, instead of backing off, he’d become more outright.
Looking at his beautiful dark eyes, she felt like the whole place started to tremble with her intense heartbeat.
Okay… How am I supposed to answer?
…
The same morning, Chen Zheng sat in his office, completely dazed by Aida’s sales number that had just been reported by his subordinate.
It was a bit difficult for him to believe what was happening, but the facts were real. An assumption struck him, a whimsical guess—one that made him dismay.
In the end, he finally put the pieces together after remaining silent for a long time. His facial expression changed again and again, and eventually, he sneered.
His subordinate asked, “Mr. Chen, what should we do now?”
Chen Zheng grabbed the cup on his desk and threw it to the ground.
“‘What can we do?’ There’s nothing we can do now,” he answered contemptuously.
He looked up at the bright winter day outside the window.
What Li Zhicheng was targeting was clear to everyone who could think straight.
SMQ’s domination over the market of middle-end products had been severely challenged.
He made a promise to himself that he would definitely take it back when the Ming Sheng project was finished.
…
In the CEO’s office of New Bori, after hearing what his secretaries had to say about Aida, Ning Weikai staggered, and then smiled.
“You’re saying the spy we put in Aida has been arrested for changing the online data?” he asked in a whispery voice.
“Yes,” the secretary answered. “But we can’t confirm whether that’s his doing or not.”
Ning Weikai’s office desk shined with an incredibly dark luster. He sat behind it and flicked on his desktop. After a while, he smiled, looked up at his secretary and said, “Yuanjun, there’s competition now.”
His secretary, Yuan Jun, had been following Ning Weikai since the beginning of his career, so he understood immediately what he meant. He thought for a moment, nodded his head and said, “This Li Zhicheng is indeed something. But even if Aida builds its reputation, it’s still not New Bori’s rival. If he tries to compete with us, it’ll be like throwing an egg against a rock.”
Ning Weikai nodded his head. “Yes it will. But my expertise is in suppressing the weak and sparing no one and nothing.”
Yuan Jun gave him a weak smile and handed over the documents of everyone in Aida to him.
Ning Weikai read through them. The corners of his mouth curved up as he approached the end. “Lin Qian? The 25-year-old lady who graduated from the University of XX? The girl who looks sweet but is actually aggressive?”
“You know her, Mr. Ning?” Yuan Jun was a bit surprised.
Ning Weikai, who had his wits about everything, suddenly fell into silence, staring at the woman’s face for a long time before lifting his head.
“How could I not know her? She was my first love.” He beamed. “I completely broke her heart when we ended the relationship.”
