Chapter 156: Glory Construction Company
On a rented floor of an office building were the offices of Lu Dian and his associates' new company, Glory Construction Company. Since its founding, the company had yet to complete a single construction project, let alone land a single contract.
Although the office space was rented, Lu Dian and his associates had spent a fortune on renovations. The decorations for the small conference room alone could be called extravagant. Several of the antique decorations inside were genuine articles that Lu Dian and the others had brought from their own homes, all to bolster the company's image in hopes of landing major contracts.
But who would have thought? The contracts never came, and there was nothing they could do. Even their old business associates didn't trust this fledgling company.
At that moment, the company's eleven shareholders were seated in the conference room, which included the three Lu Family siblings. That was right—the company wasn't large, yet it had eleven shareholders: the eight from the original Lu Family faction, plus Director Zhang, Director Lv, and Director Ma, who had come from the Li Family's faction.
There was originally supposed to be a twelfth shareholder from the Sun Family. But who could have predicted the Sun Family would fall so quickly? Thus, Lu Dian and the others excluded them and established the company on their own.
And, as she had wished, Lu Chunqing took the position of general manager.
Lu Dian, seated at the head of the table, spoke up. "Everyone, there are only two days left until the bidding for the Qingtian International project. Whether or not we can make a comeback all comes down to this!"
Fatty Qian wasn't very enthusiastic. After cooperating with Lu Dian for so long, it seemed he had yet to make any real money. "Old Lu, if you have something to say, just get to the point!"
Lu Dian's expression was grim. "Gentlemen, that's exactly what I wanted to discuss. We're at a critical juncture. If you have any strategies, now is the time to share them!"
"If we had any strategies, we would've brought them up already. Why wait until now!" Fatty Qian retorted.
Lu Dian shot Fatty Qian a cold glare. He didn't know what had gotten into his most loyal supporter lately. He wasn't even playing the part of his hype man anymore.
Since his partner didn't pick up the conversational thread, Lu Dian had to continue on his own. "The Zhao Family suddenly changed the person in charge. It's a young master named Zhao Yiniann. If we can win him over, we can win the Qingtian project!"
"And what do men like? Money, power, and women. We just need to cater to his tastes, and I'm not worried about our ability to handle this Zhao Yiniann. To be safe, we can also launch a two-pronged attack: bribe someone inside the Li Group and steal their bid proposal. All we have to do is make our proposal just a tiny bit cheaper than theirs, and victory will be ours!"
Hearing Lu Dian's words, the spirits of the shareholders in the room lifted, including Fatty Qian, who had all but lost faith in him. Upon hearing this plan, he decided to give Lu Dian one more chance.
"Time is short. Neither of those plans will be easy to pull off," a shareholder remarked.
"Exactly! That young master of the Zhao Family won't be easy to get close to. And the people at the Li Group who have access to the bid proposal must be powerful, high-ranking figures. Can we really bribe them? We'd be lucky if they don't try to buy *us* out!" another shareholder added in agreement.
Lu Dian slammed his hand on the table and declared, "What is there to be afraid of? Nothing is impossible for a determined mind! I'll make contact with Zhao Yiniann myself!"
Fatty Qian decided to step back into his role as hype man. "As it happens, I know someone at the Li Group," he chimed in. "Their position isn't low, and it's very likely they have access to the bid proposal. Leave the Li Group to me."
When the other shareholders heard this, they thought, 'Well, damn, you two are taking on all the dirty work. What's left for us to say? We just need to applaud!'
And so, thunderous applause erupted in the Glory Construction Company conference room.
Meanwhile, after his morning meeting, Chen Dong finally had a rare opportunity to play some games, an opportunity he clearly cherished from the excited look on his face.
He turned on his computer, logged into the game, and was met with hundreds of messages, all from a user named "Sheng Yi He Huan."
The messages were nearly identical to the last batch, so Chen Dong didn't pay them much mind and deleted them outright. He was discovering that playing games less often seemed to strengthen his mental defenses.
'But what's the point of that?' he thought. 'I just want to play.'
Sheng Yi He Huan wasn't online. Chen Dong fought a boss and farmed some gear for a while before receiving a call from Tang Dan.
As soon as Chen Dong hung up and shut down his computer, he saw Xuan Kexin walk in with a cup of tea.
Chen Dong chuckled and shook his head. 'I'm afraid I'm not worthy of enjoying tea from Xuan Kexin,' he thought, and walked right past her without a word.
Xuan Kexin, left holding the tea, gritted her teeth in frustration at Chen Dong's back.
He left the office and arrived once again at the Jiangzhou Hotel, where Tang Dan and his wife, along with a slightly slimmed-down An Ruoling, were waiting at the entrance to greet him.
After greeting each other, they moved to a private room. Tang Dan and his wife thanked Chen Dong profusely, looking somewhat sheepish.
An Ruoling, who was now able to walk on her own, also looked at Chen Dong, her face flushing with shyness.
After the pleasantries, Tang Dan said, "We might say we're in Jiangzhou to bid on the Qingtian project, but the truth is, we came to see you, Mr. Chen."
Chen Dong understood his implication. "You've only just recently recovered," he said. "The… essence you produce isn't quite ideal yet. It won't be that easy to conceive, and you should exercise some restraint."
Mu Wanjun's face turned red again.
Tang Dan chuckled slyly. "After all these years, I can finally savor the experience. Sometimes, even when I want to hold back, I just can't help myself."
The corner of Chen Dong's mouth twitched. 'What is he so smug about?!'
An Ruoling spoke up as well. "Do you two have any shame, talking about this right in front of me?"
Just then, Chen Dong spotted a somewhat familiar figure from the observation window. He was startled. 'He's actually still alive?' He immediately excused himself from the trio and hurried off in pursuit of the figure.