The black sedan stopped outside Yujing Bay.
Tang Luoqing got out of the car and turned around. Through the open window, she softly thanked the man inside.
“Big Brother, thank you for today. I’m sorry to have troubled you.”
Zhou Jinbai raised his eyes from the documents and glanced at Tang Luoqing. He gave a slight nod, then with a single look, had the rear window rolled up. The car slowly drove away from the residential complex.
An hour later, in a private room on the top floor of the Maoye Hotel.
“President Zhou finally made it. I’ve already had my tea refilled three times. I thought you were too busy with important matters to show up today and were planning to stand me up.”
President Liao raised his eyes from the sofa. When he saw the tall man walking in, he stubbed out his cigarette and stood up, his tone carrying a hint of dissatisfaction.
Zhou Jinbai took off his suit jacket and handed it to Assistant Shen behind him. He rolled his shirt sleeves up to his forearms, revealing the sharp lines of his wrist bones.
He did not respond to the teasing. Instead, he gave a slight nod and spoke steadily.
“I’m sorry for keeping you waiting, President Liao. That was discourteous of me. I’ll treat you to this meal today, and we’ll get straight to discussing the proposal.”
President Liao raised his brows.
He had spent twenty years making his way through the business world, yet this was the first time he had ever seen Zhou Jinbai arrive late.
Everyone outside said that the person in charge of the Zhou Group had time management ingrained into his very bones. It was certainly unusual to see him late today.
However, President Liao did not dwell on it. He sat back down and spread out the documents in front of him.
“All right, then let’s talk business. I want to see just how sincere you are about making up for being late.”
The next forty minutes were a genuine battle of wits.
Assistant Shen took out a thick stack of documents and was about to begin speaking when Zhou Jinbai raised a hand to stop him.
He went straight into the discussion himself, clearly laying out everything from the target customers of the resort division to the three year return model for cooperating with Haicheng International’s luxury hotels, the proportion of shared risks, and even the mechanism for attracting customers during the off season.
At first, President Liao had been leaning back in his chair with an indifferent expression. Less than five minutes into Zhou Jinbai’s explanation, however, he unconsciously leaned forward, and his eyes became completely serious.
“Three years is too long for the return period.”
President Liao looked up and presented the first difficulty.
“I’ll give you two and a half years. If you can’t do it, there’s no need for us to continue this discussion.”
Faced with the shortened timeline, Zhou Jinbai remained silent for a moment before continuing.
“Two and a half years is acceptable, but the vacation packages of the three luxury hotels under Haicheng International must be exclusively tied to the Zhou Group’s Chengbei Resort, with no less than seventy percent of the member referral traffic directed to us.”
President Liao narrowed his eyes.
“You’re asking me to support you across all our channels?”
“It’s mutually beneficial.”
Zhou Jinbai raised his eyes. His gaze behind the lenses was cold and sharp.
“The facilities at the Zhou Group’s resort can accommodate the overflow from your high end customer base, while your brand endorsement can help us quickly enter the luxury market. In exchange for reducing the timeline by six months, seventy percent of the customer referrals is not a loss for you.”
President Liao was silent for several seconds before presenting his second condition.
“As for the revenue split, I want another percentage point. Your resort can succeed because of the brand premium of Haicheng International.”
“We can give you 0.8 percentage points.”
Zhou Jinbai did not yield an inch, though his voice became even colder.
“On the condition that your private membership system is connected with ours and we share customer profile data. That’s our bottom line.”
They went back and forth, pressing each other at every step while still leaving room for compromise.
Assistant Shen stood nearby, holding his breath.
He knew very well that this proposal had originally been prepared for him to present. The fact that his boss had personally taken over the negotiations today was not only a way of making up for the discourtesy of arriving late through his professionalism, but also a clear message to President Liao that the Zhou Group considered this deal far more important than an ordinary business partnership.
When the final signature was made, President Liao closed his pen and stood up, extending his hand toward Zhou Jinbai. A sincere smile finally appeared on his face.
“President Zhou certainly lives up to his reputation. You don’t give an inch, and you leave no opening for anyone to exploit. Doing business with you is refreshing.”
Zhou Jinbai reached out and shook his hand, his fingertips dry and firm.
“Pleasure doing business with you.”
“Pleasure indeed.”
President Liao patted him on the shoulder and said half jokingly and half seriously, “But don’t be late again next time. Not every client is as good tempered as I am.”
Zhou Jinbai’s eyes darkened slightly, and his fingers tightened almost imperceptibly.
“There won’t be a next time.”
Assistant Shen stood nearby, understanding perfectly what those words really meant.
They were not meant for President Liao. They were meant for himself.
He had disrupted his entire schedule for someone and allowed his emotions to cross a boundary. Something like that could not happen a second time to Zhou Jinbai.
But Assistant Shen did not believe him.
At three in the afternoon, Zhou Jinbai returned to the top floor of the Zhou Group’s headquarters.
The moment he opened the office door, he saw Zhou Yancheng sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, casually spinning a limited edition fountain pen between his fingers.
When Zhou Jinbai walked in, Zhou Yancheng whistled.
“Brother, I heard you landed the cooperation with Haicheng International. Impressive.”
Zhou Jinbai hung his suit on the coat rack, tugged at his tie, and glanced at him.
“Get to the point.”
“For the high end resort industry chain we’re building together with Haicheng International, I want to take charge of supporting business recruitment and joint operations coordination.”
Zhou Yancheng sat upright, putting away his usual carefree attitude.
“Brother, I’m familiar with high end brand recruitment. I have connections with plenty of luxury brands and private clubs, and those resources will be useful here. Give me this project, and I’ll show you what I can do.”
The partnership between Chengbei Resort and Haicheng International was a core strategic project for the group in the second half of the year. Supporting business recruitment and operations coordination would require long term on site involvement and frequent cooperation with President Liao’s team. It was the area where Zhou Yancheng could produce the most visible results, but it would also consume the most energy.
Zhou Jinbai had originally planned to oversee it himself.
He lightly tapped his fingers against the desk and calmly weighed the matter for a moment before looking at Zhou Yancheng.
“This project requires frequent on site coordination. For the first six months, you’ll spend roughly eighty percent of your time on the project. Can you handle that?”
“Of course.”
Zhou Yancheng answered without hesitation.
Yet Zhou Jinbai remained unusually silent for several seconds before speaking.
“As your brother, I’ll give you some friendly advice. You’d better discuss this with… Miss Tang.”
Zhou Yancheng naturally understood what his brother meant. Frequent on site work meant being away from home, and long distance relationships could easily run into problems.
But he did not take it seriously at all. He waved his hand.
“It’s fine. Whatever I do, Luoqing will support me.”
Hearing this, Zhou Jinbai said nothing more. His tone simply established the boundaries.
“I can give you authority over supporting business recruitment and joint operations. I’ll approve the title of project vice president for you. However, final approval of all contracts with incoming brands and the core terms of cooperation remains with me. If you can accept that, go to Human Resources and complete the formalities.”
“No problem.”
Zhou Yancheng readily agreed and stood up to leave, throwing over his shoulder,
“I’ll put together a list of high end merchants as soon as possible and send it to you for review.”
Behind the desk, Zhou Jinbai watched his younger brother’s carefree figure. Once the door closed, he lowered his head and spread open a document.
Just as he was about to read it, the phone on his desk began to vibrate.
Zhou Jinbai picked up his phone. When he saw the name on the screen, he answered.
Lu Yu’s voice came from the other end.
“Big Brother, when are you finally going to have some free time to come play chess with my grandfather? The old man keeps asking about you every day. If you don’t come soon, I’m going to get kicked out of the house.”
Zhou Jinbai was silent for a moment.
“…All right.”
Meanwhile, after Tang Luoqing arrived home, she first filled Milk Candy’s bowl with cat food before immediately throwing herself into her work.
She bent over her desk and carefully adjusted the lighting in the illustrations bit by bit, not even having time to drink a sip of water. Outside the window, the bright daylight slowly faded into a warm yellow glow.
It was not until the lines before her eyes suddenly began to blur and a familiar ringing appeared in her ears that Tang Luoqing’s heart tightened.
“Oh no.”
Tang Luoqing quickly reached into the drawer, took out the candy jar, grabbed a peach candy, tore open the wrapper, and popped it into her mouth.
The sweetness spread through her mouth, easing the dizziness. Only then did Tang Luoqing realize that she had eaten only half a piece of bread since morning and had completely forgotten to eat lunch.
She supported herself against the desk and stood up. Her steps were unsteady as she made her way to the kitchen, cooked herself a bowl of vegetable and egg noodles, hurriedly finished it, and immediately returned to her desk.
By the time she finished the final lighting adjustments, exported the files, and sent them to the editor’s email, it was already completely dark outside.
Tang Luoqing let out a long breath of relief, tossed her pen aside, and rested her head against the edge of the desk as she recovered from her exhaustion.
The warm yellow light from the floor lamp fell softly over her hair. The red cord around her wrist hung over the edge of the desk, the tiny goldfish pendant swaying gently with each breath.
Little Milk Candy obediently lay beside Tang Luoqing, its little tail swishing back and forth.
Just then, the sound of a key turning came from the entrance. Not long afterward, Zhou Yancheng opened the door and walked in.
After changing his shoes, he stepped into the study. Seeing how exhausted Tang Luoqing was, to the point that she did not even want to speak, he reached out and gently smoothed her hair. A trace of worry appeared at the corners of his lips as he spoke with a hint of helplessness.
“Baby, I need to tell you something.”
Tang Luoqing had been listlessly resting against the desk. Hearing his voice, she slowly raised her head. Her long eyelashes fluttered as her clear eyes settled on Zhou Yancheng.
“What happened?”
“Our company has a major project in the second half of the year. My brother wants me to take charge of it, but…”
At this point, Zhou Yancheng’s brows furrowed slightly, and he let out a heavy sigh.
“For the first six months, I’ll basically have to go on site every week for work. I might only be able to come home on Saturdays and Sundays, and there may even be times when I won’t be able to come back for ten days or half a month. Baby, I don’t want to go either, but you know that my brother is the one who makes the decisions for the group. I can’t refuse an arrangement he’s made. Besides, I also want to accomplish something substantial and prove myself to him.”
“You’ll have to travel frequently?”
Tang Luoqing froze when she heard this, and a layer of bitterness and grievance immediately spread through her heart.
“Mm, for about half a year. Once the project stabilizes toward the end of the year, I won’t have to go so often.”
Zhou Yancheng pulled Tang Luoqing into his arms and gently rubbed her hair, his voice becoming even softer.
“Luoqing, you’ll support me, right?”
Tang Luoqing pressed her lips together, unsure how to answer.
She knew that if the business trips were arranged by the company, there was nothing they could do about it. Yet looking at Zhou Yancheng’s determined expression, so eager to prove himself, the words asking him to stay became stuck in her throat.
“Then… make sure you stay safe and take good care of yourself while you’re away.”
Tang Luoqing’s voice was quiet, and her lowered eyelashes concealed the disappointment she could not hide.
“I knew you were the most understanding.”
A trace of relief flashed through Zhou Yancheng’s eyes.
“I’m going to take a shower first.”
After leaving the study, Zhou Yancheng returned to the bedroom, picked up his phone, and sent a message.
【I’m going to Haicheng in half a month. Ask Old Chen and the others if they want to come along.】