Chapter 27: Chapter 27

Li Zhicheng, Li Zhicheng—what a sophisticated man he was.

For the past month, this man had been unrelentingly revealing his capability. Not only did he separate Vinda from Aida Group to become its main brand, he also totally restructured Aida Group. After gaining a firm foothold in online sales, Li Zhicheng, along with Gu Yanzhi and Liu Tong, immediately implemented a new organizational structure.

The bulky, complex, and redundant organizational structure of Aida was completely broken down. In the headquarters, only core functions such as production, procurement, and post-sales customer service were left. In addition, the headquarters also took control of all sales networks. Each of the product lines and brands became their own business divisions, and each was responsible for their own strategic planning, budgeting, and accounting—this was similar to the relationship between Vinda and Aida.

All the adjustments were announced one night and then executed the next day. The decisions were final and the execution allowed no chance for changes or rejections.

The internal management issues Lin Qian had previously been worried about, such as incapability, redundant employment and disconnection from the market, were resolved by Li Zhicheng’s bold and decisive move. For the division leaders who were incompetent, if they could not bring in profit, there would not be enough to pay their own salary, and they would have no choice but to leave. On the other hand, for the competent and creative leaders who were able to bring in new ideas and profit to Aida, they were promised with attractive bonuses and profit-sharing by Li Zhicheng.

“To resist foreign aggression there must be internal stability.” At such a critical time, it was necessary to use unusual methods. If “stabilizing the company” was Li Zhicheng’s second move of his overall strategy, then Lin Qian had to say it had started to show its positive impact. During the restructuring of Aida Group, the originally dull and spiritless Aida had regained vitality and inspiration. What was more, during this process, Li Zhicheng had also obtained the absolute control of his company.

And Li Zhicheng, this handsome, cold and ruthless CEO, had quickly earned his reputation among all the staff. When speaking of their boss, everyone was full of awe. Rumor had it that some of the young female employees called themselves “Lychee” and had formed a club dedicated to supporting Li Zhicheng, just like some fans would do for their favorite celebrities.

The new Vinda company was established ten days ago, with Xue Mingtao being the president and the IT manager from Aida being the vice president. Lin Qian, as the assistant president, was responsible for the customer services center, along with office administration, human resources and finance.

The new company had a brand-new atmosphere. Sales in the online store remained high, and the internal management system was both simple and effective. This new company with several hundreds of staff members had become the biggest point of profit for Aida.

Lin Qian returned to her office humming. Upon arrival, she noticed that some employees looked abnormal. They all seemed terrified and quiet, but also a bit excited.

Lin Qian’s heart skipped a beat. One of the employees stood up and whispered, “Ms. Lin, Mr. Li’s here. He’s in your office.”

Lin Qian stood in front of her office, knocked on the office door gently, and didn’t open the door until she heard that familiar and deep voice said, “Come in.”

Sunshine quietly cast itself into the room. Li Zhicheng was sitting in her chair with his back to her and looking at the sunset through the window.

Lin Qian had seen him quite a few times in the past month. However, they met mostly during work occasions, with Lin Qian participated in reporting or discussion as one of his subordinates. Sometimes she could only catch a glimpse of his calm and solemn face across the crowd.

She was now accustomed to looking up at him like everyone else did. The honest and reserved man she had once thought him to be had completely vanished. The Li Zhicheng was now no longer a stranger because this was what he truly was.

She seldom thought of him due to her own busy schedule. Only when looking at the soft tone of the curtain and the geometric shapes of the window after a long day of excessive work could did she remember that this office had been specially designed for her by him.

Who would have expected a cold man like him to be so attentive to a woman?

Lin Qian sometimes felt a little guilty about the situation. He had planned on professing his feelings for her and taking her to the new office without expecting her rejection. She had actually been very cruel in a way.

Every time she thought of this, she would tell herself, It’s already over. Now I’m his right hand, entrusted with imperative tasks. I need to be more hardworking. Just be more hardworking.

Lin Qian sat down across from him and smiled. “Mr. Li, what brings you here today?” she asked in a tone that could not be more polite or formal.

When Li Zhicheng turned around to look at her, however, the atmosphere changed. He was sitting several feet in front of her; the image looked almost the same as a month ago when he would sit in the chair in his office next door to her every day. She looked at his statuesque body, nicely-tailored suit, and slender hands on the armrest of the chair. His slightly high cheekbones marked a handsome face that was delicately contoured. When he turned and looked at her, Lin Qian saw his dark eyes, his face, and his strong neck—her heart missed a beat. She felt like an oasis had suddenly grown in an arid, unsettled land.

Sometimes, only when a person sat in front of you, when you could clearly see his face, could you realize that the impact and feeling he brought to you had always been there, regardless how long you hadn’t seen him.

“I’m here to check the sales at Vinda,” he said in a low voice, turning through some of the financial statements on Lin Qian’s desk.

“Sure. Perhaps allow me to brief you?”

“Okay.”

The two people sat very still in the quiet room. As Lin Qian spoke she could hear people’s footsteps and conversations from outside. The vat of goldfish on her shelf swam dreamily back and forth.

Lin Qian couldn’t help glancing at him.

It seemed that he’d just had a haircut, and his forehead was showing. Lin Qian had noticed before that his eyes were slightly larger than other men’s, deeply-set and pure. But now he looked a bit weary. Was it because he’d been too busy the past few weeks? She could even smell mild alcohol on him, and the way he sat in the chair seemed more languid and uncalculated than usual. Had there been a luncheon he’d needed to go to? Although he was the leader of a large corporation, it was still necessary for him to engage in business entertainment with government officials and important partners. It was hard to picture what he was like during these types of events.

Lin Qian finished reporting after a short while. “Mr. Li, this is the current situation. Do you have any instructions?”

“No.” He was still skimming the documents without any expression.

Lin Qian stared at him blankly.

Nothing? If there’s nothing, why did you, as the CEO, choose to come to my office instead of the president’s or the vice president’s office?

She was guessing that Li Zhicheng had come to her office to specifically assign her some confidential tasks.

They silently sat facing each other.

Even though he focused on the documents instead of making conversation, she could still feel his innate detachment.

Lin Qian couldn’t sit still. Noticing the glass in front of her boss was empty, she started to stand. “I’ll fill you up.”

“No need,” Lin Zhicheng interrupted without even lifting his head. “I’m a bit tired and it would be great if you could just sit there and spend some time with me.”

A bit tired and spend some time with me.

Lin Qian paused, dazed for a moment. She suddenly felt flushed and something else that she hadn’t felt in a long time.

She’d always believed there was nothing going on between the two of them after she had rejected him. What had happened between them was already in the past tense. However, this casual comment made her feel that the possibility of a relationship between them was not over yet.

The good thing was that Lin Qian had followed his instruction to lead a division of dozens of people alone, which had made her much more mature. She calmed herself down quickly.

Take things as they come. She continued quietly sitting across from him as he went through the documents.

After half an hour, she became a bit bored, and her mind started to wander. Ancient people talked about how it was much better to read with a beauty sitting beside them. Does he think it’s nice to read through these boring documents with me by his side?

Stop the nonsense! What are you thinking?

In what way was she more mature? She thought she had been a confident “ruler” in her own turf. However, now the real “emperor” had come, and with one sentence had made her lose all her usual calmness. Li Qian was unsettled.

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Lin Qian was the type of person to put in extra effort when encountering difficulties; but whenever she was unsettled, she would try to find a disguise. That was why she tried to find a topic of conversation. “Mr. Li, how’s the headquarters doing now?”

She apparently picked the right topic. Li Zhicheng put down the documents and looked up at her. “Yesterday, the adjustments of the organizational structure and personnel in the corporation were finalized.” He spoke with a rare smile on his face.

Great! Lin Qian thought. This meant Li Zhicheng had completely finished internal consolidation and had resolved the biggest challenge.

Just when she was about to enthusiastically compliment him, she noticed that Li Zhicheng was staring at her with his quiet and dark eyes. Then he suddenly changed the topic. “So now I can focus on pursuing my other goals.”

Lin Qian nodded. “Yes, so that we can…” Before she finished, she realized what he’d said.

Pursuing other goals?

Li Qian’s cheeks flushed red—bright red.

Was she too sensitive and overthinking things?

No matter how she tried to interpret what he said, it sounded like a “redeclaration of war.” Was he implying that since he’d already taken full control of the situation in Aida, he now had the capacity to deal with her?

In the middle of Lin Qian’s jittery discomfort, he picked up a document on the desk as if he’d just said nothing. He pointed at a set of data and started to ask for the details.

Lin Qian hesitated.

Perhaps he was just referring to work?

She calmed herself down and started to explain the data to him carefully.

After a while, someone knocked at the door.

It was Jiang Yuan, Li Zhicheng’s new secretary, who had been transferred from the marketing department. When Lin Qian had left Aida, his secretary had been Yang Xiru, put in place by Gu Yanzhi. However, at some point Yang Xiru had been replaced by this new guy.

Lin Qian felt relieved with a third person present. Although Jiang Yuan was young, he was kind and capable. He took two tickets out of the folder and put them on the desk. “Mr. Li, these are the tickets from Mr. Kang at Ming Sheng Group. They’re for the New Year’s Eve’s tea party in Rong Ya Guildhall tomorrow.” He hesitated. “Are you going? I’ll arrange transportation in advance if you are.”

“Just put them here,” Li Zhicheng said evasively. Jiang Yuan smiled at Lin Qian, walked out and closed the door.

Li Zhicheng went on reading the document without even glancing at the tickets. In contrast, Lin Qian couldn’t help moving her attention to them. Rong Ya Guildhall was the most famous place to go in Lin City. Situated deep inside the ancient and tranquil town, it provided the best dining and traditional opera performances in southwestern China. It was difficult to get a ticket even for their regular shows. Lin Qian had gone there several times before and she couldn’t love it more if she tried. This annual New Year’s Eve tea party was extremely exclusive. The ticket numbers also indicated they were for the VIP box, which made them even more tempting.

She hadn’t expected Mr. Kang from Ming Sheng Group to give these to Li Zhicheng. It seemed they were still on good terms.

Just when she was still lost in thought, she heard a cool voice ask, “Do you want to go?”

Lin Qian was startled; she lifted her head and looked at him.

Li Zhicheng also stared at her.

“I played Go with Mr. Kang for five hours yesterday and won these two tickets.” He spoke as though it were not at all a big deal. “Do you want to go with me?”

Lin Qian’s heart started to pound at a swift pace. She was rendered silent for quite a while. Maybe because of her silence, Li Zhicheng said, “Don’t overthink it. Just go if you want to. Treat it as an end-of-the-year bonus for my deputy.”

Lin Qian flushed even more hearing the completely ordinary word “deputy.” He spoke with indifference, as if he were actually talking to “Deputy” Lin Qian instead of “Miss” Lin Qian.

She luckily didn’t need to make a choice. She lowered her head and said, “Thank you, Mr. Li. I would love to go to this tea party, but I’ve already booked a ticket for tonight. I’m going to America the spend New Year’s.”

That evening, silver moonlight spilled over the decorated Lin City. Everyone was preparing for the Chinese New Year’s Eve.

It was 8:00 pm when Li Zhicheng arrived at the nursing home. His secretary, Jiang Yuan, followed him and carried the presents he’d bought for the chairman.

Xu Yong was exhilarated when he saw his son. He knew that Li Zhicheng was radically restructuring the Group. He was both thankful for the success and a little saddened by the changes. He remembered the three conditions that Li Zhicheng had put in place when he had agreed to take over the company. The first condition Li Zhicheng had placed was to trade shares for Vinda. The second one was that nobody would be allowed to interfere with the affairs of the corporation—including his father.

They both sat on the patio, a pot of tea in front of them and moonlight pooling on the ground.

“I’m so happy to see that you’ve revived Aida. I’m not going to make further comments because there’s still a long and difficult path ahead of you. Be even more careful when experiencing prosperity. The leaders from New Bori and SMQ are both handfuls.”

“I know that,” Li Zhicheng said.

“Have you figured out the next step?” Xu Yong asked.

Li Zhicheng nodded his head.

Xu Yong’s interest was piqued. “What’re you going to do?”

As usual, Li Zhicheng was not willing to share. He answered in a low voice, “You’ll see.”

Xu Yong studied him with a smile. How he’d feinted an attack before actually attacking the competition had amazed everyone with experience in the industry.

Now judging from his plain language—which sounded unwavering and decisive—he couldn’t help picturing the bloody war his son was about to wage.

However, his son was an extremely reserved person. Nobody could tell what he was thinking unless he planned to give it away. Xu Yong smiled while sighing, “You can’t even tell your own father? Okay, just forget it. Let me ask you this: are you going to tell your wife after you get married?”

All parents worried about their children’s marriage, including Xu Yong. His son had just achieved something remarkable in his career and was in his twenties. As a father, Xu Yong brought the topic up naturally—he didn’t Li Zhicheng was going to answer him. However, Li Zhicheng remained silent for a moment, thought of something, and then broke into a rare smile.

Xu Yong was astonished, and asked immediately, “What are you thinking about? Do you have a girlfriend?”

Li Zhicheng looked up at the moon and answered, “I was going to tell her the entire plan.”

“And then?”

“She didn’t want to know,” Li Zhicheng murmured.

After a moment of complete shock, Xu Yong burst into laughter. He patted his son’s shoulder and said, “You’re saying you still haven’t got her yet. What’re you going to do?”

Li Zhicheng, calm once again, lowered his head and glanced at his watch. “Dew turned to frost tonight, and the moon is brighter. Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. This might be my chance since she’s going abroad for the holiday.”

Xu Yong was a bit lost. Li Zhicheng said, “I’m not spending New Year’s Eve with you. I’ve booked a ticket to America—I’m flying in two hours.”