Having said that, Wen Liang's sincerity was already evident. Hua Zhitiao was just pretending before. If she really had a lot of concerns, she would never have kept the appointment so late at night.
After the initial probing, the two sides quickly discussed the specific matters in depth. Hua Zhitiao was finally persuaded by Wen Liang and accepted the commission. Before leaving, he was full of apologies to Ning Xi and said, "Xiao Xi, don't blame me for being harsh. Sometimes we have to do things impartially..."
Ning Xi smiled slightly and said, "Senior Sister, you are about to be assimilated into the domestic business atmosphere. If you were in the United States, you would never say such a thing."
Hua Zhitiao smiled bitterly and shook his head. He gave Ning Xi a gentle hug, looking a little lost, and then said goodbye and left.
Wen Liang came behind Ning Xi and said with a smile, "Why do you look so emotional?"
"You know, Senior Sister Hua was not like this back then. She was the closest to me during those years in the United States, but now she is becoming more and more distant."
Wen Liang walked over and stood shoulder to shoulder with her. Through the French windows, he could see the branches swaying in the mountains, wave after wave, as if they were playing the chords of the night. He said lightly, "I guess she didn't know your identity at that time..."
Ning Xi was silent for a long time, then she slowly leaned her head on Wen Liang's shoulder and said, "I always hope that the friendship between friends can remain pure forever, but it's just wishful thinking..."
"That's just that you misunderstood the meaning of the word friend. To be kind and helpful is to have friends. To socialize, one has to take turns to be the host and the guest. A true friend is not as indifferent as water, nor is he indifferent to the wind and clouds. Instead, he has the heart to help each other and the meaning of generous donation. Hua Zhishao was not successful in McKinsey, so she was cautious when accepting projects. She actually didn't think that the acquisition of Xinxing Factory was a cost-effective deal. If there was a loss, it would probably affect McKinsey's reputation. But for your face, she still agreed. If you understand her intention, you will no longer feel that she is alienating..."
Ning Xi and Wen Liang spent half of their time together discussing business development and future plans, and the other half bickering, chatting and gossiping. They didn't really have many heart-to-heart talks. A warm feeling of love suddenly rose in her heart, and a smile appeared on her lips involuntarily.
"To learn goodness and to help benevolence, one must rely on friends; to socialize, one must take turns to be the host and the guest. This is a saying from nowhere, and it sounds very reasonable."
Wen Liang said in embarrassment: "I'd better not say it. I'm afraid you will get angry..."
Ning Xi smiled again. She found that she had less and less resistance to Wen Liang. Every word, every action, and every expression he made was so interesting. She pretended to be angry and said, "If you don't tell me, I will really get angry."
"Okay, this is a quote from the Children's Book. The Children's Book has another name, called Things Children Should Know. It is an enlightenment book for children in ancient times..."
Before he finished speaking, Ning Xi had already pinched him and made him scream. Wen Liang said angrily, "Only girls and villains are hard to raise!"
Ning Xi snorted, turned around and left gracefully. Soon, a table full of dishes was brought out from the kitchen. Judging from the variety and the dishes alone, it was worthy of the word "sumptuous".
"Yes, you are a real man, if you have the guts, don't eat the food cooked by a little girl!"
Wen Liang walked over with a doubtful look on his face. The rich aroma filled his nose, which really surprised him: "You did all this? This is such a big surprise!"
Ning Xi sat at one end of the long dining table, quiet yet gentle. At that moment, even Wen Liang had an illusion, as if he had returned from a snowy night to a warm home, with lights, food, and people waiting for him!
"Of course I made it, but a certain man is so strong-willed that I'm afraid he won't have the pleasure of enjoying it."
Wen Liang didn't eat much on the train, and took a deep nap after returning. His stomach was already growling with hunger, and he had lost all his integrity. He smiled and said, "I'm only sixteen years old. What's so great about me? Forget the word 'great'. If I don't eat the food you cook, isn't that against the will of heaven?"
Ning Xi's heart trembled, but she remained expressionless. She rolled her eyes at him and said, "What a jerk! Eat quickly. I know you're starving. Try my cooking. I haven't made it for a long time. I don't know if it's any worse."
"Okay, you know, my biggest dream in my previous life was to be a gourmet. I could eat whatever I wanted, however I wanted, and people had to pay me after I finished eating... Okay, this clear soup with bird's nest is good, the soup is yellow and the bird's nest is white, fresh and delicious. The white fish cubes are also good, elegant and simple, soft and tender without breaking..."
Watching Wen Liang devouring his meal and praising the food endlessly, Ning Xi's eyes were filled with a girlish joy. She had heard countless compliments in her life, but just seeing this boy in pajamas with messy hair and no manners in front of her made her feel unprecedented happiness.
The Book of Songs says, "A charming smile and a jade pendant." Even she herself doesn't know how beautiful she is at this moment!
After he had eaten his fill, Wen Liang asked, "To be honest, I really didn't expect you to be able to cook."
Ning Xi cleaned up the dishes while smiling, "If you don't learn a few dishes when you're abroad, you'll be sick of American bread. It's no big deal."
"With your status, don't you have a nanny or bodyguard or something like that?"
Ning Xi shook her head, and after a while she said calmly, "I'm going to Wharton as an exile!"
Wen Liang was speechless. Yes, to be officially given the name "Xi" at the age of fifteen, one can imagine how much the old man of the Ning family valued her. But such a person who was destined to bear the burden of the family was forced to go far away to a foreign country because of her momentary ignorance and infatuation.
Five years gone!
From now on, she would be away from her family, away from the core, away from her relatives. For Ning Xi, this was enough to be considered as exile!
Wen Liang had never thought about this problem from this perspective. No wonder Ning Xi wandered around after returning to China and was persuaded by Ning Xiaoning to come to Qingzhou, where she stayed. She even asked Wen Liang to bring the chili peppers she wanted to give to her grandfather back to the capital.
Being busy is just an excuse. It only takes two or three hours to fly from Qingzhou to Beijing!
It turns out that deep down in her heart, she is still hesitant, confused, or even afraid!
Wen Liang suddenly asked, "Have you always been afraid? Afraid that I will also face the pressure from your Ning family, just like what Xu Ting encountered back then?"
Ning Xi smiled sweetly, reached out and touched Wen Liang's cheek, and said, "Silly boy, you are not the Xu Ting of the past, and I am no longer the Ning Xi of the past..." Her eyes gradually turned fierce, and she said, "I surrendered once, and I will not surrender again!"
Before Wen Liang could say anything, she burst into laughter, slid her fingers down, and frivolously pinched Wen Liang's chin, saying, "Besides, we are innocent, so what do I have to be afraid of?"
She picked up the dishes and turned to walk towards the kitchen. Suddenly, she heard Wen Liang's voice, which was not sonorous but powerful:
"Ning Xi, give me some time, I will definitely let you do what you want, without constraints, without burdens, without helplessness, without sadness, walk the path you want to walk, and love the one you love!"
Ning Xi had her back to him, her body trembled slightly, but she walked away as if nothing had happened.
Tears flowed down my red cheeks. With your words, no matter how hard and difficult the future is, I will accompany you and walk to the top of this world together.
I won’t kneel at my feet for the whole world, just to see your naughty smile and gentle face when I look up!
Wen Liang stayed in Guanshan for another three days, and selected a chemical company in Hujiang from Hua Zhitiao's list of candidates, and gave her one million yuan for operation. At that time, the OPM methods were nothing more than bank loans, corporate bonds, financial leasing and credit assets, etc. With McKinsey's strength, it was effortless to operate.
"I'll only give you one month. You can use whatever means you want. After one month, I want Xinxing Factory to become my wholly-owned subsidiary."
Hua Zhitiao nodded and said, "No problem."
Wen Liang smiled and said, “Manager Hua, if you help me this time, I will return the favor to you in the future.”
Hua Zhitiao laughed and said, "Boss Wen, are you trying to get me to lower my remuneration for the project?"
"Of course not, but you will understand later how important this favor of mine is to you."
Hua Zhitiao complained to Ning Xi beside him, "You didn't tell me that this guy is a charlatan!"
Ning Xi smiled but said nothing.
After sending Hua Zhishao away, Ning Xi frowned and said, "Why do I find this strange? With your cautious and steady personality, I thought I would have to test Senior Sister a few more times before I felt relieved. I didn't expect that you would give her full authority after just one conversation..."
Smart people are sometimes hated. Wen Liang rolled his eyes and said, "What's so strange about this? Professional things should be done by professionals. Don't you have confidence in her?"
"That's not the case. My confidence in her is based on my years of understanding her. But what about you? When you talked to me about Qinghe, where did your shameless spirit, eager to take advantage of her, go?"
So she was waiting for me here. Wen Liang smiled and said, "I did that to attract your attention. You should know that all childish boys will use this rogue method to attract girls' attention..."
After chatting and laughing for a while, Ning Xi couldn't help but remind him, "You have to think carefully. Although McKinsey has a big name, it may not be really reliable."
Wen Liang certainly knew this. If McKinsey had been reliable, there would not have been the subsequent disastrous failure of Setia, the stillbirth of Robust's Coca-Cola, and the bankruptcy of Enron, Swissair, Kmart and Global Crossing.
"This time, we are just borrowing McKinsey's name. As for your sister, she will definitely try her best to make this deal. You know the reason!"
Ning Xi understood very well that McKinsey was a company with the dual characteristics of "heaven and hell", a company that needed to sacrifice youth and intelligence to survive. Every year, it selected elites who were able to endure hardships and had ambitions from around the world through extremely strict talent selection methods, and most of these people were eliminated or automatically eliminated after one year in the cruel "uporout" talent competition mechanism.
Hua Zhishao doesn't have much time left! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.) (To be continued)