Chapter 4: Awkward Formality
Looking again at Bai Hongguang beside her, she remembered back when she first started being his secretary. He was still a handsome and high-spirited man, and it was also because Bai Hongguang was good-looking and wealthy that she agreed to be his mistress and have his child.
Only, time, that merciless knife, had turned the once handsome man into a middle-aged uncle with a receding hairline, completely unrecognizable from before. Comparing this Bai Hongguang to Leng Yichen, Gu Manli just felt bitter.
With that, Gu Manli raised her glass and, with a radiant smile, said to Leng Yichen, "Mr. Leng, I toast to you."
Leng Yichen symbolically took a sip from his glass, not overly responding to Gu Manli’s enthusiasm towards him.
Bai Hongguang chuckled as he spoke, "Speaking of which, I’m 48 this year, a full 20 years older than you, Mr. Leng. From now on, I’ll just call you Little Brother Leng."
Leng Yichen found Bai Hongguang’s forced familiarity somewhat off-putting, slightly frowned but didn’t express much, "President Bai is truly warm-hearted."
Bai Hongguang laughed, "Little Brother Leng, don’t keep calling me President Bai, it’s too distant. Just call me Brother Bai, we’re all brothers here!"
Distant? We’re not even that close...
"I heard that Little Brother Leng’s company has a big project up for bidding recently?"
Leng Yichen sneered internally, so that’s what he’s been waiting for, and answered lightly, "Yes, that’s right!"
"Then, Little Brother Leng, how about my company? We’ve been collaborating for years; instead of bothering with tenders, why not just let me handle it? We’re so familiar with each other, after all."