Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
At this tense moment, everyone was holding his or her beliefs and everyone was striving. Li Zhicheng and Lin Qian were protecting Aida against attacks from foreign companies, Chen Zheng was trying to preserve the position and benefits of his position as the general manager of SMQ. Charles was also striving to improve DG’s operations in China. He thought he could both achieve the business goal of the headquarter and provide Chinese customers with first-tier products, which was meaningful.
Investment managers working for Lin Mocheng were also buried in work. Though there wasn’t any progress in the acquisition of New Bori and Aida, theinvestment management team was penetrating the shareholders of the two corporations. Any interest gaps, any change of minds would be accurately captured by them and they would conquer the target bit by bit.
It was at dusk when Lin Mochen went back to his office in Lin City after a strategy meeting with Charles. His office was at the end of the corridor.
Tender is the night. Lin Mochen greeted everyone leisurely with his hands in his pocket. When passing the meeting room, he could see the light blazing inside. The Aida acquisition team were talking to a man in suit. He looked familiar. Because of Lin Qian, he read all the dossiers of executives from Aida.
He quickly matched that face to a name. He was an indispensable resource within Aida. Lin Mochen frowned slightly, but he didn’t change his facial expression drastically. Neither did he slow his pace. He entered his office directly.
He asked his secretary to bring him a cup of coffee and went through some investment analyses. After that, he leaned into the chair, crossed his legs and turned on the LCD TV with his remote control. It was eight o’clock in the evening and the new commercial showcasing ZAMON under DG would be playing on each major station.
Another bloody war was looming.
Why would Lin Mochen give Charles a note to clarify the situation for him? Because following Li Zhicheng use of the “Area of Effect” scheme on foreign brands, Lin Mochen was almost one-hundred percent sure that the headquarters of DG would utilize ZAMON to preserve their other brands. As it was sure to happen, him counseling Charles wouldn’t change the overall trend. What’s more, he could tighten the bond between him and Charles, and keep it from being sabotaged by Chen Zheng.
Also, Li Zhicheng was shrewd enough to see DG’s “Smash” tactic coming. Given that, his help for Charles might in a way help Li Zhicheng and Lin Qian, too. Besides, doing this didn’t go against his work ethics.
Nonetheless, based on what he just saw, there seemed to be some potential betrayers in Aida. He couldn’t disclose such crucial information to Lin Qian because similar things regularly happened during a potential acquisition, and if he did it, it was highly unethical. If this incident did substantial harm to Aida, they could only rely on themselves to get through it.
But then, if Li Zhicheng couldn’t even handle market intrigues like this, there was no need for him to stay with Lin Qian.
Changsha was still hot like a stove in early September. Lin Qian was inspecting recent test result with several technicians and workers in front of the production line. In the sun-blazing afternoon, she was wearing a blue worker suit with a peak cap and ponytail.
The samples now, compared to those of several weeks ago, already met Lin Qian’s expectations. This meant her new brand was ready for manufacture once the factories, facilities, and staff were ready. Lin Qian was a thrilled; she waved her hands and said, “Dinner on me tonight. You guys have gone through some hard work and it will not be forgotten.”
All the staff cheered. Each had a decision to make, as Li Zhicheng had given them a choice. As founding members of Lin Qian’s new brand, they should remain with the new factory, or return to their original positions. Aida’s businesses were booming everywhere, and everyone wanted to be promoted. Was there a better chance than this?
After booking a table for that night, Lin Qian started to talk with her colleagues in the office of the factory. After chatting for a while, her phone started to vibrate. Lin Qian picked it up and suddenly realized something. She asked the people around her, “What day is today?”
“How busy you are that your forget about it, Ms.Lin? It’s Saturday.”
Lin Qian was astounded.
She had forgotten about Li Zhicheng. She was scheduled to pick him up at the airport at two o’clock, but it was now half past three. And what was worse, Li Zhicheng told her that she didn’t need to go and pick him up while she insisted because she missed him heaps. That’s why he agreed to it, but now…
As where Li Zhicheng stood tonight, nobody would stand him up. Such a thought struck Lin Qian’s mind. She picked up her phone hurriedly and walked to the empty passage.
“Hello,” She sounded defensive.
“Hello,” he, on the other hand, remained calm and steady.
“Sorry, I was so busy that I forgot about it. Where’re you now?” she murmured.
“What were you up to?” he asked, instead of answering her.
“The new brand,” she went through her phone while talking to him and realized that she missed three of his calls. A scene struck her mind that the solemn Li Zhicheng stood at the arrival hall, watching the passers-by while calling continuously without being answered.
She was really wrong! How could she forget that he was in the airport?
“Where’re you now?” she whispered.
“I’ve arrived.”
Lin Qian answered with an “OK” and said, “I’m coming now. Wait for a while.” Then she “bopped” the phone before hanging up. Lin Qian walked others and apologized, “Sorry guys. Mr. Li just gave me a task, could we move our dinner to tomorrow?”
She said it in a high-sounding way. The real task for her was to be with Li Zhicheng.
Everyone agreed.
After working so hard, nobody wanted to stay during weekends. They turned off the lights and power supply and exited the manufacturing plant. Lin Qian was walking at the back with a young female designer, and both of them were talking about the exterior of the new brand. As for Li Zhicheng, Lin Qian thought what he meant by “arrive” was him arriving at the hotel new Xiang River where they met weekly. She decided to drive there directly.
The sun was blazing outside, the trees and the flowers beside the manufacturing plant were blossoming, overshadowing people, which made them feel cooler. They all took a shortcut and went across the path in the grass, with the gate right in front of them.
Just when Lin Qian was chatting with the designer, she caught a glimpse of a person walking out of the parterre. Sunshine was spraying on him through the twigs. He was wearing a plain grey T-shirt, a pair of black pants and a cap. He looked up at her with both of his hands in his pocket.
Lin Qian was too dazed to walk fast. He reached out his hands to her and dragged her into his embrace. Lin Qian was both pleasantly and scarily surprised. She was glad that he meant coming to the factory to pick her up when he said “arrive”. But she was also worried that people in this new factory hadn’t known about their relationship. It was shocking for them to see the chairman of the corporation coming here all of a sudden and being so close to her.
“Why’re you here?” she said in a low voice, “There’re lots of staff here. Let go of me first and I’ll meet you in the parking lot…”
Before she could finish, she saw a trace of a smile from his eyes under the shadow of the cap. And then he bowed and kissed her, holding her in his arms as tightly as possible. Lin Qian struggled to get free from his arms. He’s doing this on purpose! He’s doing this because I stood him up!
Just when they were kissing inseparably, the designer walking at the front noticed that Lin Qian was nowhere to be found. She was confused and shouted, “Ms. Lin? Ms.Lin?” Lin Qian could hear her footsteps drawing near.
Lin Qian gave Li Zhicheng a begging look but couldn’t express herself. Lin Zhicheng’s mouth was fraught with her fresh smell. He lowered his head and nibbled her nose before letting her go.
Lin Qian hurriedly freshened herself up and walked out. She quickly picked up her phone and pretended to be engaged in a serious conversation, and meanwhile, she hinted to the designer with her waving hands that the she should leave first. By then the designer got her point and left.
Lin Qian put her phone back in her pocket and turned to the tranquil Li Zhicheng. He was still standing under the tree, and the way he waited for her to trick her employees was inexplicably prepossessing and neat.
Lin Qian was empathetic seeing him coming to the factory to meet her. She looked around and hooked his neck after she was sure no one was around. She scolded him affectionately, “You bastard.”
“I’ll take it,” he gazed at her, “because only a bastard would by stood up by his girlfriend at the airport.”
Lin Qian burst into laughter, “I admit I was wrong, okay?”
They walked out hand in hand. Lin Qian yanked his hand away when they had almost arrived where people were around. Li Zhicheng glanced at her without saying anything. To people in the subsidiaries, Li Zhicheng was the big boss who was rarely around, so not many workers had seen him before. With a cap on his head and casual clothing on his body, nobody recognized him.
As for Lin Qian, however, several people greeted her warmly on the road, “Ms.Lin!”
“Hello, Ms.Lin!”
Lin Qian nodded with a smile.
Other people would also look at the “stranger” beside her. The man was solemn and looking straight forward, with his cap covering more than half of his face and walking shoulder to shoulder with Lin Qian in silence. It was quite a mysterious and appealing scene.
It was already sunset when Lin Qian finished dinner with him in the hotel. They walked on the bank of the river, enjoying the twilight. It was a spacious and soft sand beach owned by the hotel. There were ducks and water birds swimming across the river, peaceful but lively.
After walking for a while, Lin Qian noticed the shallows in front of them where jagged rocks were spread across, some with brown moss growing on them. Lin Qian’s interest was piqued. She turned around to him, “Do you want to catch crabs together?” Li Zhicheng was well-trained for the task, as he grew up in a military unit with a bunch of men. He smiled, rolled up his sleeves, revealing his firm arms, and sneered, “You can do this?”
Lin Qian, “Huh! I was the crab grabber in Lin City!”
“Oh?” He had already stepped on a rock and started to look for a crab. “Why haven’t I heard of you before?” he said faintly.
“Because you have limited knowledge?” Lin Qian couldn’t help laughing.
Compared to Li Zhicheng, she was more prepared. Not only did she roll up her sleeves, she kicked off her flip-flops and rolled up her pants to her thighs as well. She stepped in to the water straight. They were both competitive during outdoor activities, and so they both concentrated on the movements in the water without talking.
Lin Qian should’ve realized that finding food in the wild was an essential skill for a special forces soldier because after a short while, Li Zhicheng had caught five crabs while she had only caught one. She glared at him and went on searching.
To Li Zhicheng, childish thing like “finding crabs” was not appealing not him. Instead, he only wanted to spend quality time with her. Seeing her frown and get serious about it, he suddenly had an idea. He stopped searching for crabs, rather, he walked to her back silently. Lin Qian was too engaged in searching to realize he stood directly behind her. At that moment, she saw an air bubble rise from behind a rock. She was thrilled, bowed down gradually and put her hands on the rock. Li Zhicheng standing behind her also bowed down. Lin Qian rapidly lifted the rock and saw a huge crab in the crack of rock. Just as she reached her hands to it, a faster hand grabbed the crab right in her face.
Lin Qian was astounded with her eyes wide open and turned to him. He, on the other hand, put the crab on the beach serenely and look at her, calmly but provocatively, “My sixth catch. Thank you.”
Lin Qian was infuriated. She ran out of the water and grabbed his collar, “You’re cheating!”
Lin Qian smiled, hugged her by her waist and murmured, “All is fair in war.”
“Darn you!” Lin Qian wanted to bite his arm but he was more agile. He pinched her chin and left Lin Qian powerless. She went on to bite his finger, but Li Zhicheng bowed down and put a kiss on her lips.
They had fun in the sunset for a long while, and then they sat on the beach shoulder to shoulder. Lin Qian leaned on his chest with her bare feet paddling in the water. Li Zhicheng enjoyed the view of her long, lean body.
Li Zhicheng sensed something wrong these days. He gradually felt it when spending time with her, but he could do nothing about it. What exactly were those feelings?
In the past, it was his schedule that decided when they would spend time with each other. When he was free, he would call, videochat or fly to visit her. As for her, she would always be on the other side waiting keenly. He was the center of her world and they cherished each other, which was a state he was accustomed to.
The same rule applied to work. He planned the direction and she showed talent within that range. It was like her dancing on his palms like a beautiful butterfly.
Since she decided to build her own brand and own career, things started to change. When he called her, she would say she was busy and hang up quickly. Sometimes, she would be so focused on her work that she would flip her phone to “vibrate” and would miss his call.
To prepare for each weekend’s visit, he would finish his work in the first couple of days with Jiang Yuan by pulling several all-nighters. He was too proud to tell her this. But after flying to Changsha with an ardent desire for her, she would be too busy to be with him. Or sometimes after staying with him for a while, she needed to go back to work with her subordinates.
Li Zhicheng could never have imagined that he would be left out by his lady and feel bad about it. He looked down to the “culprit” that messed with his mind. She didn’t realize anything and was still paddling her feet in the water. Her feet were smooth and lovely like white jades under the son.
“Don’t put your feet in the water for too long as a woman,” Li Zhicheng said. Lin Qian was a little surprised, “You know about that?” She pulled her feet out of the water and stepped on him. Her feet were wet, so his T-shirt and pants were quickly dampened. He reached his hands to her feet and pinched them without caring about it. Lin Qian was a bit itchy. She giggled, “Don’t pinch them.”
Li Zhicheng looked up at her and covered her feet with his hands. The warmth coming from the arch of her feet comforted him. His look was solemn and peaceful. In the dimming light at dusk, the trace of gentleness on his face was captivating.
Lin Qian’s heart was pounding with him gazing at her. He lowered his head and had a kiss on her smooth and fair-skinned cheeks. Lin Qian missed a heartbeat. He started to nibble and lick her entire body from her bottom up. Lin Qian was so enthralled by the fresh and exciting feeling that she almost moaned.
She could feel her heart tremble looking at his dark eyes. There were some tourists on the beach near them, which made her more uncomfortable. She pulled her legs out of his arms and held her knees with her arms to avoid intimacy with him.
He looked at her silently. For as long as they had been together, one look from him made her heart race.
“There’re lots of people around!” she protested with a low voice.
“I see,” he put his arms at his back, looked afar and said, “I couldn’t control it.”
She was astounded. The Li Zhicheng she remembered would never say romantic things so bluntly (except in bed). Instead, he would just tease her until she was aroused. And now, he admitted that he couldn’t control himself. He had kissed her before she had done anything. She had to say that she felt fantastic.
“OK, I know it.” She became rampant all of a sudden and caught a sight of him, “All men think with their genitals.” She pretended to sigh. Li Zhicheng gave her a cold look. The look took away Lin Qian’s arrogance.
Nightfall was coming, and they would be going back to the hotel, after which they would…
Lin Qian blushed while feeling loved. She leaned on him and they looked afar together. Li Zhicheng caressed her smooth neck with his hands and said, “Do I need to make a reservation if I want to see you in the future?”
“I can’t say for sure. I’m just starting my own business,” Lin Qian smiled.
“Arrange your time well. Don’t let career meddle with our private time again,” said Li Zhicheng.
“I’ll try.”
He nodded without continuing talking. Lin Qian snuggled in his arms, and the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to laugh. She poked his chest, “Never expected that coming, did you?”
Li Zhicheng knew exactly what she meant. She was filled with joy and affection, which swung his heart. He pinched her finger and murmured, “Um. I’m willing to.”
Sex that night was extra passionate. Li Zhicheng was napping beside Lin Qian, who was lying limply on the bed. It was already eight o’clock in the evening. She was too tired to move even a muscle. She picked the remote control, turned on the television and skimmed through different programs.
Disappointing as it was, she kept seeing that luxurious and delicate ad from ZAMON.
Lin Qian curled her lips and turned to the man beside her, “I’d be worried sick if I didn’t know you already have plans. Sorry to be a drag, but…” she couldn’t resist laughing again after finishing talking.
A trace of a smile appeared in Li Zhicheng’s eyes. However, watching DG’s ad made him look grave again.
It was hard to describe how Lin Qian felt right now. She’d been through a lot with Li Zhicheng, during which she’d experienced ups and downs and was wronged many times. Even though she was not completely satisfied with his ruthlessness and cunning, she was exhilarated like everyone when they came back from hitting the bottom.
But now…
Watching their rivals operate exactly the same way as she and Li Zhicheng (mainly Li Zhicheng, of course), she felt like keeping a huge secret, which mixed pain with her joy. Even though they had a back-up plan, it was still questionable that the plan would actually work with certainty. She was still anxious, although not as anxious as others.
In contrast, Li Zhicheng was always calm and serene.
Lin Qian leaned to him and gave him a kiss, “I love you.”
Li Zhicheng glanced at her and repeated what she said in a throaty voice, “I love you.”
Another issue struck Lin Qian’s mind as they gazed at each other. She asked, “I heard that some minor shareholders in the original Aida sold their shares?”
“Yes,” said Li Zhicheng.
Lin Qian blinked her eyes, because selling shares of the original Aida was not part of their plan. She asked, “Is it going to be okay?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Li Zhicheng answered at ease, “you can’t control everything. Just let it happen. It won’t matter that much.”
It sounds about right.
Although Li Zhicheng only owned ten-percent of the shares in Aida, other shares were mainly owned by Xu Yong, Li Zhicheng’s sister-in-law, Li Zhicheng’s brother and confidants like Gu Yanzhi and Liu Tong. Lin Qian had calculated that even if all the minor shareholders sold their shares, DG could only obtain twenty-percent of the company. Unless two of Li Zhicheng’s family-members and confidants betrayed him, it was impossible for DG to be the controlling shareholder. This was highly unlikely to happen.
Li Qian felt assured and continued watching television. After a while, Li Zhicheng said, “I’ll go to the States in several days.”
This was a vital trip and Lin Qian knew about it. She nodded her head and looked up at him, “Have a nice trip! All the best to you.”
Nonetheless, Lin Qian hadn’t expected that only five days into Li Zhicheng’s trip, a piece of startling news would come from Aida’s headquarters. Later that day, DG held a press conference, and announced that it had purchased more than fitty-one percent of the shares of Aida and become the new controlling shareholder. It was said that chariman Xu Yong had a heart attack on the spot and was immediately sent to the emergency room when he learnt the news in the nursing home.
