After the meeting, the vice president from the Lei faction lagged behind and came out of the meeting room last with Lei De. He apologized, "Master Lei, the situation just now..."
Although Reid looked unhappy, he had not lost his mind yet. He said, "It's okay. You were right to do that. Ning Xi and I have fallen out, but you can't offend her at the same time. There has to be someone who can speak in the middle."
The vice president finally breathed a sigh of relief. He looked around and suddenly whispered, "So, should we secretly interfere with the crude oil terminal?"
Reid's eyes lit up. Thinking about the humiliation he had just suffered at the board meeting, he was very tempted by this proposal. "No," Reid shook his head and pinched his fingers hard to drive this tempting idea out of his mind. He said, "Since the board has passed the resolution, you still have to do your best to cooperate with the company. One billion is not a small amount. Whether it is Ning or Lei, we are all in the same boat. It will not be good for us to make a hole in the bottom of the boat."
The vice president couldn't help but praise: "Young Master Lei is a man of great character and broad-minded. I understand. I will definitely keep an eye on this money and make sure it is put to good use. I will remember every detail of the account!"
Less than 30 minutes after the board meeting, Lei Yunhai, who was far away in Beijing, received a detailed report from the vice president. He especially wrote down the private conversation with Lei De word for word. He smiled and handed the report to a woman sitting opposite him without missing a word. He said, "Lei De is much smarter than Lei Fang. Before he went to Hengsha, I gave him eight words: be harmonious but different, fight but not destroy. It seems that he listened carefully and thought about it seriously. He knows the degree of advance and retreat. Maybe he can really make some achievements in Hengsha in the future."
The woman opposite was wearing a grey robe and no makeup, looking extremely plain. She was Yan Qixiu, who had been trapped in Suhai and had not returned to Beijing for many years. She was not wearing sunglasses, and her eyes, which were light and dark, always made people feel a sense of weirdness. She opened the report and took a look. A faint smile appeared on her lips, and she said, "It seems that Xiaoxi has learned how to adapt to the national conditions in the past two years since returning to China... Before, I was worried that she would learn too much bookishness in Wharton and would be eaten by you Lei family people without leaving any bones..."
There were people who dared to speak to Lei Yunhai like this, but without exception they were all over 60 years old. As a junior, they sat opposite him calmly and spoke so impolitely. After counting them all, I was afraid that only Yan Qixiu could do that.
"You are just a person who doesn't forgive others with your mouth. Xiaoxi grew up under my care, so how could anyone bully her?" Lei Yunhai laughed, then stared at the woman in front of him. After a moment, he said meaningfully: "Qi Xiu, now that you are back, the past is over. Don't hold a grudge against it anymore!"
Yan Qixiu's heart suddenly ached when Lei Yunhai mentioned the past, but it was only for a brief moment before she returned to normal. She would not let herself be too emotional on the eve of a war. She smiled and said, "I don't remember the past."
Do you really not remember? If you don't remember, how can there be such an impending storm? Lei Yunhai sighed secretly, but naturally did not show anything on his face. He said, "That's good. If you can think like this, many people will feel relieved."
Yan Qixiu said calmly: "Since I left Beijing five years ago, they should have been relieved."
"The living can rest in peace, but what about the dead?"
Yan Qixiu suddenly raised her head, and the only bright eye seemed to ignite a dazzling light in an instant, while the other dark eye was filled with despair that destroyed all life. This strange phenomenon only lasted for less than a second, and then returned to silence again. She slowly lowered her eyelids and said, "If a few more people die, how can the dead rest in peace?"
Lei Yunhai didn't say anything more. He looked at his watch and said, "Qi Xiu, I have a meeting later, so I won't accompany you. I must stay a few more days this time to see the changes in the capital over the years..."
Yan Qixiu knew that Lei Yunhai was following the workaholic Chen Longqi and his schedule was almost tight. He was very kind to him for taking out some time to meet him secretly. Anyway, he had said everything he needed to say and got the other party's statement. He simply stood up and chuckled, "Since Uncle Lei has spoken, I will stay for a few more days. I haven't been to Baiyaer Hutong in Houhai to try the jade wontons from Liu's shop for a long time. I don't know if the taste has changed after all these years."
Although they are from two generations, Lei Yunhai is only forty years old, and the age difference between him and Yan Qixiu is not that big. So when he heard the word "uncle", he still couldn't help laughing. He stood up and sent Yan Qixiu to the door. Looking at the sunset in the distance, his eyes were sharp and unfathomable, and he smiled and said, "Don't worry, as long as the shop is still there, even if the taste changes, it won't change much."
Leaving Lei's house through the secret passage, Yan Qixiu got into a black Audi. Yan Qingluan was driving, and Yan Huangyan was sitting in the back seat. He asked anxiously, "How is it?"
Yan Qixiu lay down comfortably, put her white jade feet on Yan Huangyan's thighs, and said casually: "Lei Yunhai asked me to stay in the capital for a few more days..."
Yan Huangyan clapped his hands and said, "It's done!"
Yan Qingluan frowned slightly and asked, "Is it done?"
"Exactly. If he objects, he will definitely ask the boss to leave Beijing as soon as possible and not stay any longer." Yan Huangyan's beautiful eyes flashed with wisdom, and she said, "I guess the Lei family won't have any objections. Even if they don't help, they will at least sit on the sidelines and watch. They have been suppressed and can't breathe in the past two years. They are happy to see the other party suffer losses. Maybe they hope that we will fight to the death." When she said this, she paid special attention to Yan Qixiu's expression. In fact, she had always been against launching this attack, but she knew that it was useless to say it, so she still tried her best to plan for her boss. But when the time came, she couldn't help but want to try to see if there was a turnaround. As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Yan Qixiu closed his eyes. Knowing that the last attempt had failed, he stopped talking and said, "Boss, where are we going now?"
“Go to Houhai!”
Just when Yan Qixiu secretly returned to Beijing to plan a earth-shaking event, Wen Liang was called to Lingyang by Zuo Jing, but not because of the agreement that the crude oil terminal was about to sign with Hengsha, but for Lingqu wine.
Although Wen Liang had predicted the crisis that Lingqu Liquor would soon face many times last year, unfortunately Xue Sheng was stubborn and refused to listen. Zuo Jing was also skeptical and finally stood on Xue Sheng's side. He did not expect that the crisis would come so violently and irreversibly after just a few months.
In fact, in January 1997, the Economic Observer reported in three consecutive articles that the actual production capacity of Lingqu Liquor was low and that it purchased Xichuan Liquor for blending. However, since this kind of purely economic newspaper had a small audience and little influence, and it was also during the Chinese New Year, it did not cause a big sensation. After the Spring Festival holiday, according to the trajectory of the previous life, the Lingqu Liquor incident began to ferment, and within a few days, it became the target of public criticism and was reprinted by dozens of media. The title of CCTV's top bidder was almost destroyed in an instant. But it was a coincidence that Wen Liang's plan to launch purified water attracted the attention of the public and the media, allowing Lingqu Liquor to survive for a while. But what was coming had to come, and the battle between purified water and mineral water was coming to an end with the high-profile appearances of Baida and Yishan. The idle media reporters were like sharks that opened their mouths at the smell of blood, and immediately focused their attention on Lingqu Liquor. This was a thunderous move, and the arrogant Xue Sheng suffered a great loss, exposing his weakness of having no understanding of crisis public relations.
At first they ignored it, but later, when they saw the situation was not good, they immediately organized a voice to refute the rumors. However, as the media dug deeper and took targeted photos of Lingqu Liquor's small and backward factory and production line, once the pictures were published, consumers completely stood on the opposite side. When Lingqu Liquor shouted again that we actually have more advanced production lines and more modern factories, no one believed it anymore, even though it was all true.
In the final analysis, Lingqu Liquor was made and destroyed by the media. Xue Sheng created a legend with the help of CCTV, but he did not know how to respect other media in the same way as he respected CCTV, so his arrogance must come at a price.
Wen Liang was sitting in Zuo Jing's office, with Xue Sheng accompanying him. Zuo Jing looked stern and got straight to the point, saying, "I asked you to come here this time because Director Xue wanted to consult you about the situation facing Lingqu Liquor and see if there is any way to remedy it. Director Xue, if you have any questions, please consult with President Wen!"
Perhaps it was because he knew Wen Liang's current identity, or perhaps it was because he was overwhelmed by the current situation, Xue Sheng's attitude had changed a lot from before, becoming much more humble. He personally poured a cup of tea for Wen Liang and said, "Boss Wen, it's all my fault that I was blind and didn't listen to your warnings before, which led to the current situation. Now that I can't drink, I, Old Xue, will use tea instead of wine to apologize to you!"
Although Xue Sheng had his faults, he was a straightforward person, not a sinister villain. Wen Liang didn't bother with him and said with a smile, "Mr. Xue, you are too polite. I was just a blind cat that encountered a dead mouse. Anyway, how did it end up like this?"
Xue Sheng said angrily, "Who knows? At first, two reporters came to the factory to find me. They said they had some bad information and wanted to communicate with me to see if there was any misunderstanding. I thought they were tabloid reporters from somewhere. They just took a few photos and asked for red envelopes. I never thought they were from the Economic Observer, so I ignored them and let the guard send them away."
As for emotional intelligence, Wen Liang has no intention of commenting on it. After all, every era has its own limitations. We cannot judge people of this era by the behaviors that are common in later generations. That is neither fair nor scientific.
"What happens next?" (To be continued)