Not long after Qin Moling left, another person came to visit.
The visitor’s surname was Bai, and he has business dealings with Luo Qi’s eldest aunt’s company. Pei Shixiao’s family recently ended their cooperation with the eldest aunt’s company, and Mr. Bai’s company became their largest customer by default.
Last night, the elder in Shanghai said that he would help Jiang Shenghe find a way to contact Luo Qi’s eldest aunt and so arranged for Mr. Bai to come over today.
Jiang Shenghe stood up to greet him, “Sorry for the bother, Mr. Bai.”
“You’re welcome, and it isn’t a bother. I’m on a business trip in Beijing anyway. No bother to stop by.”
Mr. Bai told Jiang Shenghe that he had asked his company’s vice president to inform Luo Qi’s eldest aunt that they will stop all cooperation with their company.
He unlocked the phone and handed it to Jiang Shenghe, “I’ve made an appointment for her to call me at 10:30.”
Jiang Shenghe took the phone and thanked him again. It was not convenient for him to contact this eldest aunt in person, and he had no name to use before her, so he could only borrow an identity.
There were still ten minutes to 10:30. With plenty of time, he made Mr. Bai a cup of tea.
Ever since Luo Qi came to the President’s office, he has not bothered any of them to bring tea or water to the guests. No matter who came, Jiang Shenghe personally entertained them. Several of his friends actually teased him for doing this, but it directly caused his popularity in the industry to rise steadily in the past six months.
They thought he had discovered his conscience and had become a good man, but that was not the case at all.
It was always just for one person.
After the tea was brewed, Mr. Bai—like Qin Moling before—felt endlessly flattered. He took the tea cup and thanked him repeatedly.
It was so rare to be able to drink the tea brewed by President Jiang.
… …
At 10:18 am, over in Suzhou City, the eldest aunt was pacing back and forth in front of the office window, feeling terribly anxious.
She was the one who maintained all the company’s customer relations. But before seven o’clock this morning, she received a call from the vice president of a major customer and told her that their orders will be suspended. As for the specific reason, she was asked to contact the company’s boss, Mr. Bai.
The vice president said that Mr. Bai would only have time at 10:30 a.m., so don’t interrupt him ahead of time.
Right now, Mr. Bai’s company was their biggest customer and must be appeased at all cost.
If this big customer also disappeared, their company would suffer from the northwest wind1.
Two minutes seemed longer than two years, and the seconds slowly ticked by.
The eldest aunt pressed her temples hard with her fingers. Last night she was so angry with Luo Qi that she couldn’t sleep. This morning she had wanted to sleep in a little longer, but she was woken up by the phone and the news she received made her lose all hints of sleepiness in an instant.
Mr. Bai has suspended cooperation. She hasn’t dared to tell her husband and son yet. They have already been too troubled recently.
In the span of a few minutes, the eldest aunt has checked her phone for the time several times.
Finally at 10:31 am, she dialed Mr. Bai’s number.
In the past, she had always dealt with the vice president. She has never met Mr. Bai, and this was the first time she would talk to Mr. Bai on the phone.
“Mr. Bai, excuse me for disturbing you.” Then she introduced herself.
A deep voice came from the phone, “Are you Luo Qi’s Aunt?”
The eldest aunt was stunned for a moment, “Ah, yes! That’s right.”
She seemed to have grabbed on to a piece of driftwood while floundering out at sea, “Mr. Bai, you know our family’s Qiqi?”
How could she have possibly imagined that the person talking to her was not, in fact, Mr. Bai but Jiang Shenghe?
Jiang Shenghe went straight to the point, “There’s no need to pretend to be close; Luo Qi told me that your relationship is bad.”
“…”
The expression on the eldest aunt’s face froze. She suddenly realized why Mr. Bai wanted to stop cooperating. It turned out that Luo Qi was behind it!
She underestimated Luo Qi.
So promising, that girl is really promising ah! They raised a real white-eyed wolf! She actually attacked their company!
But right now, the eldest aunt had to endure her temper. Who let the other party be their ancestor? No matter how angry she was, she still had to smile and say, “Mr. Bai, I would like to ask, what is your relationship with Luo Qi?”
Jiang Shenghe glanced at Mr. Bai, who indicated his age with his hand. He was thirty five years old this year.
He was seven years older than Luo Qi, so he could not be a classmate.
Jiang Shenghe said into the phone, “Luo Qi and I are schoolmates, and now my company is cooperating with Yuanwei. She handles the project and we meet often.”
The eldest aunt suddenly understood. “Mr. Bai, you must know why Qiqi broke up with her boyfriend. As elders, we tried to persuade them to make peace and reconcile. But this child doesn’t listen to us and thinks we are nosy. She… “
Jiang Shenghe interrupted her and said sternly, “They have already broken up and the matter settled, why are you trying to persuade her!”
Eldest Aunt: “…”
She has never encountered someone so arrogant and unreasonable.
“Don’t we all hope for Luo Qi to do well?”
“Other than threatening her, what else have you done for her?”
“I didn’t threaten her. How could I threaten my own family’s child? Mr. Bai, there is a misunderstanding here. You can’t just listen to Luo Qi’s words. Listen to me…”
Jiang Shenghe interrupted the eldest aunt again, “I don’t have time to listen to your gossip. You will do whatever Luo Qi says.”
Eldest Aunt: “…”
She had to bear it. If anyone else dared to speak to her like this, she would immediately respond with scathing words, but it happened that it was Mr. Bai was on the other end of the phone. He was their company’s biggest customer, and she really couldn’t afford to offend him.
Just now, Mr. Bai said that their company was currently cooperating with Yuanwei, and it was being handled by Luo Qi. That meant that if Luo Qi’s connections were needed, Mr. Bai would definitely vent his anger on Luo Qi’s behalf for the benefit of his own company.
People under the eaves had to bow their heads2.
She put down her dignity and said, “Mr. Bai, tell me, what should I do so that cooperation between our companies can continue?”
Jiang Shenghe was waiting for this. “From now on, you are not allowed to bring up the 10 million yuan in debt again. It will be paid off in three years as originally agreed on. You are not allowed to bully other relatives in your family and look down on Luo Qi and her parents. Don’t disturb Luo Qi anymore or make her in any way unhappy.”
The eldest aunt quickly expressed her new position, “Don’t worry, I will definitely do this.”
“I haven’t finished speaking yet. You must apologize to Luo Qi.”
“Why…” What!?
The eldest aunt almost blurted it out.
Jiang Shenghe spoke over the eldest aunt and said, “Because I am more capable than you, because I can’t bear to see Luo Qi suffer a little injustice, because I can’t stand the behavior of a person like you, and because I have within my grasp the lifeline of your company3. Are those reasons enough?”
“…”
The eldest aunt could only scold back in her heart.
She has never felt so useless in her life!
“I know you have opinions about me, do you want to say anything?”
The eldest aunt cursed in her heart and said against her will, “Mr. Bai, you misunderstood—I have no objection.”
Mr. Bai picked up the tea cup and sipped the tea silently. It was also the first time for him to meet Jiang Shenghe. He felt his aura and saw first hand his ruthlessness.
Jiang Shenghe continued, “At 12 noon, call Luo Qi to apologize. If you are even one minute late, if your tone is not polite enough, the cooperation will be terminated.”
He pressed the button and ended the call.
“Thank you.” He returned the phone back to Mr. Bai, “I’m sorry, I’m afraid you will be scolded by her for a few days because of me.”
Mr. Bai smiled and waved his hand, “No worries, she’s not the only one scolding me.”
The problem with the eldest aunt has been solved. All that’s left was the apology to Luo Qi at noon.
Seventh Year of My Secret Love for You translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com
FOOTNOTES:
1Northwest wind; it’s a metaphor for being cold and hungry ↩︎
2People under the eaves had to bow their heads; an idiom that means people need to accede to demands made upon them because they need the benefit offered ↩︎
3Jiang Shenghe actually says ‘I’ve got your company by the seven inches‘. It relates to the saying that to catch/kill a snake, you need to grab/hit it seven inches from it’s head—supposedly that’s where its heart is and is where it’s most vulnerable ↩︎
T/N: Lots of idioms today. And woah, Jiang Shenghe went full on domineering CEO, albeit in disguise haha.
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