Our Glamorous Time

Across the strait in Taiwan, the atmosphere at Mind Enterprise was tense and concerned.

Wang Taishi was an eccentric man. Although output of his factory had previously not been exceptional, he was very generous towards those he led. Everyone knew that even though he was stubborn, he was a good boss.

Recently, however, the workers had been avoiding him. His facial expression was just too terrible.

Order forms poured in, sales volume leaped tenfold, possible a hundredfold. A new plant was under construction day and night. When they couldn’t build new factories fast enough, they compensated by buying other facilities in Taiwan to increase production. The media pushed Mind Enterprise to the top of public’s awareness, making them the new darling of Taiwan’s business community.

At the same time a great clamor arose around the rumors that Mind had broken their contract with Aida and partnered with New Bori.

Some said that Wang Taishi was blinded by fame and profit; some said he was merely making a wiser choice.

There were even rumors that Wang Taishi was compelled to join New Bori because his son, and investment banker, was caught in a workplace scandal. Perhaps New Bori exploited this, threatening him.

The veteran employees of Mind did not believe that this man could be bribed. They were more inclined to believe the last rumor that Wang Taishi was compliant because he wanted to keep his son out of jail.

Ten days ago, they had seen Wang Jr. make a trip to Mind. During this visit, he was scolded at by his father. The whole office could hear the raucous growl of the old man, even through the office door.

While it looked easy, riding on New Bori’s coattails, securing a contract with generous conditions, his loyal employees believed their leader was instead feeling sour.

Although their salaries continually increased, seeing their boss cooped up in his little house day in and day out, they could not help but feel concerned, even angry and indignant on his behalf.

At this moment, Wang Taishi was sitting as usual in his small cramped office. His secretary and assistant sitting outside did not dare enter and disturb him, leaving the old man to his own quiet space.

However, contrary to what other people imagined, he was not resentful at all, nor was he feeling guilty or upset.

He had a cup of tea in hand; the night breeze was blowing softly through the window. Wang Taishi was wearing a pair of fashionable wireless earbuds that Gu Yanzhi had given him. His hands were behind his back and he was swaying his head slightly, listening to Yue Opera.

A smile could be seen in the corners of his mouth.

On a wall a meter away, there was a large square landscape painting. It was a beautiful work, with birds and flowers throughout. This was also a gift he had recently received, from Li Zhicheng when he met him in Shenzhen. It was an authentic piece from the Qin Dynasty painter Yun Bing.

This fellow, he has always been full of surprises, be it in taking or giving.

Wang Taishi suddenly remembered the day that he first met Li Zhicheng.

He was such a young man with an extraordinary temperament, standing in front of the window, telling him, “Mr. Wang, let me have a controlling stake in Mind. I will make it the leader in Asia and among the top five global fabric manufacturers.”

Wang Taishi was stunned at the time. He sneered, “With you? With Aida?” adding on at the end, “With Mind?”

Why would a young man want to purchase a floundering fabric company with a doddering old man leading a staff of less than five-hundred employees?

Li Zhicheng put on a faint smile, and said, “It will definitely not be enough with just our efforts. We need to partner with New Bori, the number one company in China and top three throughout Asia in the industry.”

Thinking back to the thrilling, unexpected experience of these past few months, Wang Taishi could feel his heart reverberating with emotions.

The world said that he, Wang Taishi was fishing for fame, acting as if he was superior, and was ignorant of the circumstances. He was holding on to the patent for Mind, refusing to sell. He refused to sell shares of the fabric factory either. They didn’t understand. The Mind fabric, his brainchild, could definitely compete against those famous brands in Europe and the Americas. As such, he would rather hold on to Mind than to sell it to greedy and short-sighted manufacturers in the country.

Now, has the chance finally arrived?

His gaze was set on the beautiful landscape painting again. The flowers were exceptional in their beauty; the flying birds were vivid.

Maybe, in the hands of that man, Mind may succeed.

First in Asia, top five in the world. No one could be unmoved by such a dream.

That same night, Lin Qian was still sitting Li Zhicheng’s lap. After reading the message describing the plan, her emotions were in a frenzy. Although she wanted to inquire more, she didn’t know where to begin.

“Could it be that my brother investing fifty million into Mind…” She didn’t’ manage to finish her sentence, when Li Zhicheng reached out his hand and snatched her phone away.

Lin Qian panicked as she watched him furiously scrolling up the screen, scanning through the messages. She suddenly realized what he was doing and reached out to quickly wrestle it back, “Don’t invade my privacy!”

But resistance was futile. A Special Forces soldier and a normal woman competing in strength just served to display the tremendous gap between them. Li Zhicheng managed to wrestle and lock both of her hands with just one of his, rendering her helpless, while his other hand moved slightly to the edge of the couch, completely out of reach from her.

“You…..you brute!” Li Qian lowered her head to try and bite his hand that was like an iron clamp. Li Zhicheng didn’t budge, allowing her to gnaw away, his eyes remained silently glued to the screen of the phone. Lin Qian really wanted to bite him, but suddenly she couldn’t bring herself to do so. She could only pretend to open her mouth, only to later let go.

Looking at his neatly pressed shirt and his calm profile, then thinking back to the striking three characters “Ning Weikai” on the screen just now, Lin Qian was a little sheepish, yet a little satisfied as well. Are you jealous now? Are you jealous now? Serves you right for being dictatorial, for being enigmatic, humph humph humph…

But what did Ning Weikai send? Lin Qian was also quite curious to find out. Since Li Zhicheng had already found out, she nestled up in his embrace, lifted her head and read the message with him.

Li Zhicheng had found the message and opened it. Lin Qian quickly skimmed through it. The content was short:

“Are you free tomorrow? Want to go for a drink again?”

Lin Qian, “…”

Li Zhicheng chucked the phone onto the sofa, then lifted his head to look at her.

Lin Qian felt that she was misunderstood. The situation was innocent, but Ning Weikai’s text made it seem like something fishy was going on.

“Drink again?” Oh God, why did he have to spill that they had drank together recently?

Li Zhicheng, this man is so hard to deal with!

She remembered a few months ago when Li Zhicheng locked her in his car and had nearly kissed her to death. This was brought on by his knowledge that she’d previously been involved with Ning Weikai.

And now…

His stern face was incomprehensible. His dark pupils were like black holes; looking at them made her heart skip a beat.

She reached out and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Hello, I met him coincidentally when I went to check out New Bori’s flagship store this afternoon. I had a drink with him out of courtesy.” Eh, it feels good. She pinched his nose again.

Li Zhicheng didn’t say anything, still staring at her. His hands that were locked on her waist were burning her skin through the thin layer of cloth, making her ticklish and warm.

“Jealous?” She simply put her arms around his neck and quietly asked.

“Hmm…” He replied dryly.

Lin Qian laughed, rubbing her head against his neck, “Then how do you want me to reply? Do I go? Or do I not?”

Li Zhicheng flexed his hands, hugging her tighter. He forced her to lie on his chest and tilted her head back to look at him.

“What do you think?” He lowered his head to look at her, slowly asking.

Lin Qian burst into laughter, answering, “I will not reply.” She knew her limits with this kind of matter. It was best to ignore it for both professional and private reasons. Obviously those were Li Zhicheng’s thoughts as well. He glanced at her, flatly murmured “Hmm.” Just when Lin Qian was thinking: his jealousy today is tame…Li Zhicheng leaned in and kissed her passionately.

This kiss was voracious; she found it hard to even breathe. His hand was pressing hard against her back, restraining her from moving. Lin Qian felt desired and amused. Sensing the warmth from his cheek and the sweep of his tongue, her heart slowly melted. She grabbed on to the shirt on his chest, slightly panting, matching him.

He only moved his lips away when her every breath was filled with his scent. But he was still confining her in his arms; he lowered his head to stare at her.

Lin Qian was in a daze; her vision was blurry.

Then she heard his cooling voice slowly uttered, “Lin Qian, I will not take the initiative to plot against others.”

“… hmm?”

“But if someone dares to covet my woman, I will make him fail miserably.”

His tone was calm yet fierce. Lin Qian’s heart quivered, subconsciously staring at his indifferent gaze.

But he had already let go of her, sitting her on the sofa, with one arm still hugging her. He took a sip from the tea cup, changing the topic, “Your fifty million, along with some of my shares in Vinda, and all the cash, will be calculated at a discounted rate to purchase Mind’s shares. I have the controlling interest of 51 percent, you hold 20, and Wang Taishi holds 29.”

Lin Qian was stunned, forgetting all about Ning Weikai’s message.

She suddenly recalled the day on Mount Emei, Li Zhicheng said to her that the most perfect longbow in this market could only be made by the best enterprise. At that time she thought he was referring to Aida, but now she admitted, the best enterprise on the market was New Bori.

This was “give the enemy something to induce him to lose more valuable things; give, in order to take”? Li Zhicheng purposely threw Aito, this excellent market idea, this already well-built longbow in front of New Bori, luring them to build the perfect longbow, then…

“Attain the goal with someone else’s labor and money. Advance secretly by an unknown path.”

No matter how perfect Aito was, it would be challenged by New Bori, so Li Zhicheng’s target since the very beginning was the fabric market, not the suitcase market!

Li Zhicheng said, “Liquidated damages, New Bori’s enormous order, and other suitcase manufacturers in the country following the trend…” his finger slowly slid down her waist, “Just with this, our profit at the end of the year will exceed several hundred millions.”

Lin Qian gaped like a goldfish but no words came out.

Brother asked him to pay back two hundred million, but based on what he said, they would definitely make more two hundred millions!

This man… This man…

How ruthless.

At the corner of the side table was his wooden Go board and two jars of stones. Li Zhicheng, with still one arm around her waist, took out two black stones from the jar with his other hand.

“Vinda. Mind.” For every brand name he uttered, he placed a stone on the glass side table. His slender and powerful fingers held the shiny black stones. Such a simple action, but for some reason she felt like it was imbued with power that could sunder mountains and divert rivers.

“In my future blueprint, these two pieces are already in place.”

After he finished this sentence, he turned and looked at her. But Lin Qian could not describe how she was feeling. Shock, enlightenment, respect, admiration, and… bitterness.

A strong thought surged through her brain; In the end, Aito, which was the hard work and hopes of so many people was never his ultimate goal.

It was just a sacrifice.

He had planned to abandon it since the beginning, mercilessly.

Lin Qian moved her lips a little. She didn’t say anything. But even her slight change in expression could not hide from Li Zhicheng’s eyes. He looked at her silently. Suddenly, he lifted her up again and set her on his lap.

“What are you thinking about?” He stared at her while asking.

Lin Qian was sitting sideways in his embrace; her fingers lightly pressed against his chest. His intensity touched her heart, but she also felt a little resistant. It felt like his impeccable, overpowering aura was making her fall deeply for him, yet sometimes it made her… want to hide.

She was not in the mood, so she didn’t answer truthfully. She frowned slightly, giving an excuse, “I am thinking, even though you have controlled the fabric market, New Bori’s Sha Ying is still doing great. Ning Weikai will gain profit as well. Big profits.”

As she was posing this question, Lin Qian had had a rough guess in her mind, but she still felt unconvinced. Because the guess was too bold, too imaginative. It was his next trick: turn the enemy’s battery against himself.

Even in the very beginning, he said that the launch of the new brand was to plunder the two enormous markets of leisure bags and outdoor bags.

But now, Aito fell and Sha Ying rose. In all of mainland of China, the best “city utility bag” was New Bori’s; the best selling leisure bag and outdoor bag were New Bori’s as well.

He wanted New Bori’s new brand to kill off its own two older brands?

Seemingly wanting to verify her thoughts, Li Zhicheng said flatly, “I said before, only the best longbow can penetrate through the whole market. Now, New Bori had made the longbow.”

“But…” Lin Qian murmured, “Can we really kill off his two older brands? Even if Ning Weikai did not think about it now, won’t he think of it in the future? Plus, what’s the big deal even if we killed the brands?” New Bori would still make profit from those two brands!

This time, more than ever before, Li Zhicheng’s reply showed her exactly how shrewd he was. She also vividly remembered how bluntly Ning Weikai had said, “Men in the business world will exhaust all options to the utmost limit.”

Because Li Zhicheng said, “Once Ning Weikai took this step, what happens next is no longer in his control.

“Can he accurately estimate to what extent will Sha Ying plunder the market? Can he ensure the gains outweigh the losses?

“In the next two years, he will indeed make a lot of profit. But what about the future? New Bori is a large enterprise. Their leisure bag and outdoor bag brands in the past have invested huge sums of money and manpower into their marketing, operations and management processes. When Sha Ying outshines the others, these two areas will seriously hold him back. Not to mention…”

He took a glance at her; his gaze was certain, “Even if Ning Weikai has the remaining power to make a decision, I think he will choose Sha Ying.”

Lin Qian looked puzzled. He continued, “All the subsidiary companies of New Bori that are leading the market now have been established for quite some time. The shares are completely controlled by the Zhu family. But Sha Ying is freshly created by Ning Weikai, with his position and influence in Zhu’s now, he will naturally be the major stakeholder of Sha Ying. He might even be the controlling stakeholder…”

After listening to him, Lin Qian had mixed feelings.

That feeling was like following him to dance with him among the shaky clouds. He was spinning fast and steady, but she was already feeling dizzy and flurried.

The final thought that appeared in her mind was actually Ning Weikai’s words, “A woman like you is unsuitable for the business world.”

Keeping silent for a moment, she hopped off Li Zhicheng, saying, “I got it. I… need to digest all this. Continue with your work, I will head upstairs first.” After she finished talking, she ignored his dark and clear gaze, and galloped upstairs. She didn’t go to the bedroom, instead she went into the study and “whomp”, she shut the door.