Early the next morning, Yue Mingcang appeared downstairs at the Long Family Group building.
Over the past month, every outfit he wore stood out sharply against the backdrop of the Long Family Group. Today, however, was his most conspicuous appearance yet. He was so striking that the moment the Special Assistant saw him, he nearly turned around and walked away.
Ultimately, a salary that far exceeded the industry average stayed the Special Assistant’s feet.
The Special Assistant struggled to maintain a professional smile as he walked toward the man who, despite the 25°C constant temperature of the air conditioning, had wrapped himself up like a bear. He had a piece of bad news to deliver.
Ten minutes ago, Long Yin had driven away from the Long Family building alone. He did not state his destination, nor did he say when or if he would return.
Faced with this situation, if it were any other visitor, the Special Assistant would have delivered the news and suggested they return another time. However, since the visitor was Yue Mingcang, the Special Assistant chose to settle him in the reception room and then sent a message to Long Yin in his presence, stating that Mr. Yue had arrived.
Long Yin replied with a “Long-Long Faints” emoji.
Normally, the Special Assistant would reply “Received” and see the guest out. But since the boss was Long Yin, the Special Assistant chose to stay put and continue waiting.
Long Yin’s next message read: “Make him wait. You are not allowed to pour him any tea!”
Yue Mingcang, who was watching from the side, burst into laughter before the Special Assistant could say a word.
Before the assistant could speak, Yue Mingcang loosened the scarf around his neck and took the initiative: “Do not trouble yourself. Go back to your work; I know where to pour the tea.”
The Special Assistant lowered his head to send a “Received” to Long Yin. When he looked up again, a standard professional smile was back on his face. He said calmly:
“Please, help yourself.”
Long Yin was busy with serious business. It was something so important that even if he had to stand up Yue Mingcang, it had to be done.
“Completing the gambling agreement, taking over Longmen Port, and slapping the face of the villain Boss” was a key plot point in the world of Longmen. It was an indispensable experience for Yue Mingcang as the protagonist of a “face-slapping” novel.
With only two days left until the final deadline, and given the frequency of Yue Mingcang’s financial issues lately, the probability of him completing the agreement was infinitely close to zero.
Long Yin truly found it difficult to understand why a protagonist of such a novel would struggle so much with business management. The more times Yue Mingcang borrowed money, the colder Long Yin’s heart became.
What else would a protagonist do after failing the agreement despite eleven consecutive loans? He was probably going to sell himself!
Long Yin did not know why things had turned out this way; he only knew he could no longer wait passively. Whether Yue Mingcang sold himself or not, the gambling agreement had to be completed. He had already missed one “face-slapping” plot point; this time, there could be no more mistakes.
“So, your meaning is that you hope we give a certain, flexible treatment during the audit?”
The auditor chose his words carefully, confirming cautiously.
Long Yin replied with a calm evasion: “I believe that based on the existing materials, the audit conclusion can support the completion of the gambling agreement.”
The auditor was silent for a moment before posing a deeper question: “And what if it cannot be completed?”
Long Yin: “It can be completed.”
Auditor: ” ”
The auditor continued: “If you are concerned that Mr. Yue faces actual difficulties in completing the gamble, we can negotiate to lower the standards. As long as both parties agree, we can execute it. We are not villains who want to break up a couple; we are just auditors.”
Long Yin rejected the suggestion without a second thought: “Lowering the standards is impossible. Lowering the standards is an insult to Yue Mingcang.”
Auditor: ” ”
Lowering the standards was an insult, but asking for “flexible treatment” was not? Was he even speaking a human language?
The auditor was so angry his voice trembled: “You do know that we have actually received the materials already, right?”
Before Long Yin appeared, everything followed the normal process. They received the materials three days in advance and began the audit. If nothing went wrong, the report would be out tonight. To ask for “flexible treatment” for a report due tonight was clearly too late!
Long Yin nodded slightly: “I believe that with your professional ability, you can certainly derive an audit conclusion from the existing materials that the gambling goal has been achieved.”
Auditor: ” ”
Essentially, he was unyielding. To put it simply, Long Yin insisted that Yue Mingcang complete the agreement. If he could not, they were to “flexibly handle” it until he could.
This was not a negotiation; it was clearly forcing them to do something against regulations. As a professional with ethical standards, the auditor would never agree to such a thing.
Logically, he should be arguing his point, resisting to the death, or calling the police on the spot. But based on the current data, he judged that Yue Mingcang’s probability of completing the agreement was extremely high.
In other words, even without “flexible treatment,” Yue Mingcang could complete the gamble! Why make it so complicated? Why?
He had seen long ago that Long Yin and Yue Mingcang had something going on. But what kind of roleplay these two were engaging in through the gambling contract was something he could not understand no matter how he looked at it.
The operating rights of Longmen Port were not even under the name of White Dragon Shipping; they were Long Yin’s personal assets. Since Long Yin wanted to give this asset to Yue Mingcang so badly, why not just sign a transfer contract? Why create such a complex gambling agreement and go in a huge circle? What was the point?
“I have other arrangements, so I must leave first. I will leave the audit report in your hands to handle properly. If there are any further questions, you can contact my assistant. I hope you, do not forget the surname of Longmen Port.”
Leaving a threat behind, Long Yin hurried away, leaving the dazed auditor standing there.
On the way back, the butler reported to Long Yin that the interior design team had arrived at Mingyue Lake.
After the renovation of the mid-mountain villa was finished, Long Yin had officially settled in the “Birdcage.” Recently, a small problem had occurred in Little White’s living area, so the butler called the original design team to make adjustments.
Long Yin was rushing to see Yue Mingcang and had no heart for the affairs of Mingyue Lake. He told the butler to follow Little White’s preferences entirely. Whatever Little White said went; there was no need to ask for further instructions.
The butler replied “Received.”
Ten minutes later, Long Yin returned to the Long Family Group. He went straight to his private elevator and ascended to the top floor. He exited the elevator, turned the corner, and kicked open the office door.
Yue Mingcang turned his head at the sound. He was sitting in a sofa chair in the reception area, holding a cup he had taken from Long Yin’s tea cabinet. The cup was filled with steaming tea.
Compared to the calm and composed Yue Mingcang, Long Yin was slightly breathless, and his cheeks were flushed. His golden eyes burned with anger, and his beautiful face had lost its usual icy coldness, revealing a vivid and almost thick allure.
The overwhelming beauty made Yue Mingcang’s breath hitch for half a second. A moment later, he snapped out of it, set down his teacup, and took a bottle of ice water from the small freezer nearby. He offered it eagerly:
“What is the rush? Have some water first.”
Long Yin reached out, but not to take the water. He slapped the bottle.
Yue Mingcang’s attention was entirely on Long Yin, and he had not been holding the bottle tightly. With that slap, the bottle slipped from his hand and rolled far away.
Long Yin’s angry voice followed:
“Why are you here again? Did you not just come yesterday?”
“I, well”
Yue Mingcang swallowed. His brain felt as if it had rusted and stopped working. He could not think of a new excuse, so he could only use the one he had grown accustomed to:
“Our company is experiencing some, some funding issues.”
Long Yin nearly fainted on the spot: “I mean, is your tiny company even functioning? Twelve funding issues in one month?”
“Yes”
Yue Mingcang felt guilty for an instant, but he immediately adjusted his mindset and nodded firmly: “Yes, entrepreneurship is simply too difficult.”
There is no business without deceit. In the face of immense interests, one must discard their conscience without hesitation. This is a basic quality of a businessman.
Long Yin closed his eyes in despair, pushed past Yue Mingcang, and walked toward his desk without a word. Yue Mingcang immediately stepped forward to close the office door, locking it from the inside, and then followed Long Yin.
The moment Long Yin sat in his executive chair, Yue Mingcang sat on the desk. Long Yin put his hand to his forehead, and Yue Mingcang began to unbutton his shirt.
Both of them knew exactly what would happen next. After all, the same thing had occurred eleven times already this month. Eating grapes and borrowing money; it was always thus.
Every day in the past, whether Yue Mingcang came or not, or whether Long Yin was even there, the assistant would place a plate of grapes on the desk. This was a rule Long Yin had set on his first day in office.
But yesterday, that rule changed. Not only because Long Yin had collected enough Shame Value, but also because he did not want things to actually reach the point of “Yue Mingcang selling himself.”
At this moment, with no grapes prepared and having no desire to watch the “grape-eating” performance for the twelfth time this month, Long Yin rubbed his eyes and said weakly:
“Grapes are out of season. This time we will”
Before he could finish, Yue Mingcang’s down jacket and plush scarf fell to the floor with a light thud. Long Yin’s voice stopped abruptly.
It was only at this moment that Long Yin realized, to his shock, that Yue Mingcang had been wearing a down jacket and a long, thick scarf despite the 28°C temperature outside!
And Long Yin now knew exactly why Yue Mingcang had done it.
Under the down jacket were a formal black suit, a white shirt, and a pure black tie. The outfit was perhaps the most formal Yue Mingcang had worn in the past month.
However, around Yue Mingcang’s neck was a decoration that had nothing to do with formality and could not be called a choker. It was a genuine collar.
It was black lacquer and wide enough to nearly touch his jaw. Hanging from a silver iron buckle was a long chain that dangled right before Long Yin’s eyes.
Yue Mingcang spoke with the tie still between his teeth, his voice a bit muffled:
“Would you like to see some new tricks?”