Chapter 77 - 73: How About I Be Your Dad?
Chen Yansen smiled faintly and spoke calmly.
"You’re just a freshman. How do you know so much?" Song Yuncheng asked suddenly after a moment of thoughtful silence.
"Maybe I was just born this way. The things you and Zhang Hanhua have to learn, I was born knowing."
Chen Yansen shrugged self-deprecatingly, a careless smile playing on his lips.
Song Yuncheng subconsciously took a step back. But then she had another thought. ’Is Chen Yansen really as bad as he says he is?’
No, he wasn’t.
Song Yuncheng secretly shook her head, then scurried a few steps to catch up and walk obediently by Chen Yansen’s side.
She understood that Chen Yansen was mentoring her. Judging by his behavior on the second floor of the Innovation Park, he normally didn’t have the patience to explain these things to anyone.
"Chen Yansen, can I call you Master?" Song Yuncheng asked out of the blue.
"How about I be your dad?" Chen Yansen retorted lightly.
Song Yuncheng froze for a second, then puffed up her cheeks in anger and chased after him. Her hands were spread like an angry kitten’s claws, but after a moment’s hesitation, she didn’t dare to actually retaliate. Instead, she just swiped furiously at his back a few times, venting her frustration.
「Noon.」
The two of them bought two bottles of Maotai at a shopping mall and had lunch. During the meal, Chen Yansen called the Bai Family Mansion to reserve a private room with a minimum charge of 8,800.
If the deal went through, they stood to make at least ten million a year. Spending a few tens of thousands to feed a dog would be worth it.
In the afternoon, Chen Yansen took Song Yuncheng to a museum and to Badaling. It wasn’t until 5:00 PM that they took a taxi to the Bai Family Mansion.
Chen Yansen went into the private room first to confirm the menu with the waiter. He waited another half an hour before Zhang Hanhua finally arrived, fashionably late, with Hollis in tow.
"My apologies, President Chen. I’ve kept you waiting."
Zhang Hanhua walked straight to the host’s seat and sat down. Though he apologized, his face showed no trace of embarrassment.
At this point, he dropped the act. He took off his jacket, picked up the Maotai, and remarked, "I never used to like this stuff, but now that I’m in Yanjing, when in Rome, do as the Romans do."
"President Zhang, why don’t we settle our business first? That way, getting drunk later won’t affect our deal."
Seeing that he was still playing dumb, Chen Yansen’s patience was wearing thin.
"You know the rules, right?" Zhang Hanhua’s expression darkened, a flash of displeasure in his eyes as he asked in a low voice.
"Five points. I know the industry standard," Chen Yansen said as he opened the Maotai and began to pour.
"I want ten points." Zhang Hanhua had been about to ask for eight, but after glancing at the youthful and vibrant Song Yuncheng, he changed his mind.
CLANG—
Chen Yansen slammed the bottle down and questioned him coldly, "President Zhang, is that *your* rule, or a new industry standard?"
’You don’t just break unwritten industry rules like that. If Zhang Hanhua makes outrageous demands, who would dare to work with him in the future?’
"Young people are so impulsive. Everything’s negotiable, what’s the rush? How can we let President Chen pour the drinks himself? Hey you, the assistant, don’t you have any sense?"
Seeing Chen Yansen’s cold expression, Zhang Hanhua laughed, trying to ease the tension.
Song Yuncheng saw the man pointing at her. She glanced from Chen Yansen to Zhang Hanhua, knowing that he held the key to this partnership.
She took a deep breath, picked up the bottle, and walked over. A clear stream of liquor flowed into the glass.
Zhang Hanhua stared at Song Yuncheng for a moment before saying, "Where did you find this assistant, President Chen? She’s gorgeous, and has a great figure. There’s an industry networking event tomorrow night, and I’m in need of a dance partner. Would President Chen be willing to part with her?"
Chen Yansen grinned. ’People like this would be a rare sight even in the e-commerce world a dozen years from now.’
Greasy, greedy, and lecherous!
He checked all the boxes!
When Zhang Hanhua saw him smile, he assumed Chen Yansen had agreed. As soon as he finished speaking, he reached out to grab Song Yuncheng.
Song Yuncheng shrank back. When she caught the smile on Chen Yansen’s face out of the corner of her eye, her heart tightened as if something was blocking it.
BANG!
A wine glass smashed into Zhang Hanhua’s face!
Chen Yansen kicked his chair back, pulled Song Yuncheng behind him, and strode forward. He grabbed Zhang Hanhua by the collar and sneered, "I tried to be nice, but you just had to be shameless! Who the hell do you think you are? Five points isn’t enough to satisfy you? Fucking hell, are you throwing the rules out the window now?"
Zhang Hanhua felt a sharp pain in his face, his vision blurred by the liquor. By the time he realized what was happening, Chen Yansen had him pinned firmly in his chair.
Hollis saw what was happening and tried to pull Chen Yansen away, but with a light push, he was sent sprawling on his ass on the floor.
’He’s so strong!’ Hollis thought in alarm.
"This has nothing to do with you! Get lost!" Chen Yansen shot him a glare.
"Chen Yansen, are you crazy? Believe it or not, I’ll call the cops on you!" Zhang Hanhua struggled a few times but found he couldn’t break free. He could only make empty threats.
"Go ahead, call them! I’ve recorded every single word you just said. I’ll even spend some money to get you trending online, make you famous."
Chen Yansen raised his right hand and repeatedly patted Zhang Hanhua’s face.
"If you do that, who will ever work with you again? The entire industry will blacklist FoxTao,"
Zhang Hanhua snarled, looking utterly wretched.
"You dared to ask for a 10% kickback, so what’s there for me to be afraid of? Here, take your phone. Make the call."
Chen Yansen shoved Zhang Hanhua’s phone into his hand, completely unafraid.
’Zhang Hanhua always resorts to threatening a full industry blacklisting. Does he really think he can scare me just because I’m young?’
"President Chen, please let go of President Zhang first. He’s probably had too much to drink, which caused this misunderstanding," Hollis pleaded as he scrambled up from the floor.
’God knows if Zhang Hanhua will actually call the police in the heat of the moment. If this blows up, no one will come out of it looking good.’
He cursed inwardly: ’We agreed on five points, but he just had to ask for a ridiculous price. The kid may be young, but he’s not an idiot.’
"Too much to drink? Which toilet did he drink from to get this messed up? I agreed to the industry standard of five points. You wanted food and drink, I gave you a fancy setup. And you still want to bully me for being young?"
Chen Yansen sneered, mocking him mercilessly.
Zhang Hanhua held his phone, his expression shifting from pale to livid. He had thought Chen Yansen would be easy to handle because of his age, but he never expected him to have such a fiery temper and to turn hostile in an instant.
"President Chen, I was wrong! Please, can you let me go?" After a moment’s hesitation, Zhang Hanhua backed down, begging piteously.
"Get out!"
Chen Yansen released his collar and said flatly.
’Now that it’s come to this, the deal is definitely off. If I had agreed to ten points, I guarantee this guy would be demanding fifteen tomorrow.’
Zhang Hanhua gathered his things and retreated to the doorway with his assistant. Only then did he dare to leave a parting threat: "Chen Yansen, you just wait! This isn’t over!"
With that, he bolted out the door, terrified that Chen Yansen would chase after him and beat him up.
"What about the contract?" Song Yuncheng asked, holding the unsigned document at a loss for what to do.
"Toss it!"
Chen Yansen let out a breath, sat back down, and picked up a piece of soft-hearted abalone, popping it into his mouth. Seeing Song Yuncheng still frozen in place, he couldn’t help but urge her, "Eat. Why are you just standing there? This meal cost nearly ten thousand."
"You can still eat? Aren’t you afraid Zhang Hanhua will call the police and have you arrested?" Song Yuncheng asked, her face etched with worry, her heart burning with anxiety.
"First, he won’t dare. The moment he demanded a ten-point cut, he broke the rules. Second, a place like the Inspection Institute is only scary to good people. I’m not scared."
After speaking, Chen Yansen poured himself a drink and settled in to enjoy his meal.
"I’m sorry," Song Yuncheng whispered. "Is it my fault we lost the deal?"
"You thought he wanted a dance partner for a party? He wanted a bed partner, you idiot," Chen Yansen cursed.
Hearing this, Song Yuncheng stared straight at Chen Yansen. Only then did she understand the second reason he had exploded with anger.
"So, are we going back to Xucheng tomorrow?" Song Yuncheng asked cautiously. She was afraid that Chen Yansen was only pretending to be calm.
"No rush. Let’s eat dinner first. Jingdong is also in Yanjing. We’ll go to Zhuanzhuan tomorrow," Chen Yansen replied unhurriedly.
At this point in time, Liu Qiangdong was probably not having an easy time, lacking both money and user traffic.
Adding flowers to a brocade is not as good as sending charcoal in a snowstorm. FoxTao’s daily active users were already approaching one million. Even if that wasn’t a third of Jingdong’s, it was close to a fifth.
This was enough to make them take FoxTao seriously.
After all, idiots like Zhang Hanhua were a minority.