Zhao Lifei was surprised to see that the questions and pointers she previously had were all answered in the new version of the contract. It was a bit strange that they revised it last minute, but she suspected Ling Fulei caught wind of her brutal questioning tactics.
The room was filled with silence while she flipped through the pages, taking her time to read each clause. "I have to say I’m quite impressed with your terms." She finally said, raising her head and nodding to her attorney.
Nian Zewan dutifully passed her Feili’s company stamp. She wanted to be dramatic with the design of it and had it crafted to be like the ones that Emperors used. Made of solid gold, it was very heavy. The weight of it always made her reconsider her opinions before she signed a contract with any company.
"A little birdy told me you’re an inhumane perfectionist who can spot the smallest of flaws in contracts."
"What is with you people and talking to birds." Zhao Lifei scoffed at his lame excuse whilst signing the pages that required her signature. She stamped her approval and slid the contract back to him. He had already signed it before her approval. Within the next five minutes, a copy of the contract was made and given to her for safekeeping.
"It’s a pleasure to work with you." Ling Fulei said, indicating a conclusion to the meeting.
For the sake of professionalism and politeness, Zhao Lifei nodded her head and said, "Please, the pleasure is all mine."
"I’m glad you chose my company to invest in. We truly appreciate it." Ling Fulei stuck his hand out to which she firmly shook it. To an outsider’s perspective, one would think this was just another amicable exchange when in reality, their words could be translated into:
Ling Fulei: "You took forever to read through the contract."
Zhao Lifei: "Maybe if it wasn’t so boring, I wouldn’t have."
Ling Fulei: "I appreciate wasting your time then."
Both of them let out a couple of fake laughs, sharing equally passive-aggressive smiles. Their handshake felt like a test of their strength and endurance as both of them squeezed the living daylights out of the poor things.
Nian Zewan could feel the high tension between them. He was pretty sure the other people in this room might’ve felt it too. He cleared his throat, reminding them it was time to stop their hand-wrestling. Finally, the two let each other go, jutting their chins in the opposite direction with a small, "Hmph."
Ling Fulei checked the time again and said, "It’s lunchtime right now, President Zhao. Since our meeting was so successful and we’re partners from now on, I hope to treat you to a meaningful lunch."
Zhao Lifei opened her mouth to reject, but Nian Zewan did it for her. "It’s a very polite offer, President Ling; however, our President has guests for lunch today."
’I do?’ Zhao Lifei thought inside of her head.
If she felt any doubt towards Nian Zewan’s words, Ling Fulei couldn’t see it on her face. He replied, "I’m sure the guests will not mind the President of Ling Conglomerate attending."
Zhao Lifei fumed inside of her head, ’I don’t want to see you any longer, you monkey-face, ugly sack of—’
"I’m afraid not. It’s an exclusive lunch with a very high-profile client. We deeply apologize for this." Nian Zewan solemnly said with an apologetic smile. His face was mellow and peaceful, but his voice held no room for argument.
Zhao Lifei was impressed by his behavior and made a note to contact him later on in the day.
"If that’s the case, I would like to invite you to tomorrow’s lunch." Which roughly translates to, ’Tch, stop acting so high and mighty by hiding behind your attorney.’
Zhao Lifei let out a small laugh, "I’m afraid my schedule is fully booked. I’m sorry about this, but if a day frees up, you will be the first to be notified." In which, actually means, ’Hmph, don’t you have anything else better to do with your life? What? Are you so lonely, you can’t eat lunch by yourself?’
"That’s alright, lunch does not start for another thirty minutes. Why don’t you sit down, so that I can explain more about how Feili will benefit from us."
Zhao Lifei’s lips twitched. Why was he so damn persistent?! "If that’s the case, you have fifteen minutes max." She grounded out, watching him motion for his team to leave. His eyes landed on her attorney.
"My lawyer stays." She deadpanned, leaving no room for argument. Ling Fulei frowned a bit but ultimately kept his mouth shut.
Once everyone had dispersed, she was freely allowed to glare at him. She loathed him and wished she could smack the smugness out of his face. She was pretty sure he wasn’t purposely acting smug, even so, she wanted to slap him for hurting Lu Minhong.
"I’ll ask again....H-how is Lu Minhong?"
Silence.
Zhao Lifei blinked. Did this man just stutter? "Why do you want to know? It’s not like you can do anything to contribute towards it."
"I recently heard about an infamous hacker who ran into family issues and disappeared from the forums and hiring threads without warning."
Zhao Lifei’s throat ran dry. "News flash, every hacker is infamous—"
"I know it’s Lu Minhong. And before you ask how I know, all you need to know is that I have my ways." Ling Fulei reached into his pocket and pulled out a blank checkbook. Her pupils dilated. What is with these rich men and carrying around checkbooks?! She remembered her encounter with Yang Feng and how he shamelessly gave her a cheque.
Ling Fulei tore out an empty page with his signature. He slid it towards her, the flat piece of paper irking her. "This will sound like I’m bribing him to forgive me, but it’s not. I just want him to live well."
"Why are you doing this?" Zhao Lifei made a mental note to sit down with Lu Minhong ASAP.
"Because..." The four-letter word was lingering on his tongue, but he dared not say it. "Because I feel guilty for treating him like that in the past. I wasn’t aware of my— nevermind." Ling Fulei stood up.
"Please just deliver the cheque to him. For once, I’m begging you okay?"
Zhao Lifei scowled, "He will never accept it, regardless of who sent it to him. He doesn’t believe in easy money. If you know so much about him, I’m sure you know where he lives. Why don’t you give this to him yourself? I’m not going to sacrifice a friendship just because you begged me."
She also stood up. "Stop being a coward. If you want to talk to him, do it yourself. I’m not going to be your messenger." Then she walked out of the room, leaving him troubled and distraught.
’Okay, so maybe it was a bad idea to piss off the class-president...’ He never thought he would regret the actions of his youth until today.
- - - - -
"Since when do I have a lunch meeting?" Zhao Lifei asked from the back seat of the car. She was surprised to see how smoothly Nian Zewan drove.
"It was arranged this morning. The lunch was accepted with your best interest at heart." Nian Zewan answered her. He wondered why he was going beyond the description of his job to help her. He told himself that it was because she paid him well...albeit too well for simply showing up to a meeting and authorizing her signature.
"Who is it?"
"You’ll know when you get there."
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