The fully charged Sheng Mumu quickly regained her energy.
When she returned home, she was bending down to change her shoes when her cell phone rang.
It was Cheng Zhuo calling.
He started speaking in a joyful tone, saying in quick succession:
"Sis, the people at Lairui finally took my call..."
"We made an appointment to meet tomorrow..."
"I'm going there tomorrow."
Sheng Mumu said in a low voice: "I'm going too."
*
The next day.
Sheng Mumu and Cheng Zhuo arrived at the hotel conference room appointed by Lairui, and many people from other companies were already there.
The conference room was luxuriously and impressively decorated, with four long sofas in the middle and several single sofas on the sides.
There were tea tables on the east and west sides and a snack counter.
Tea, snacks and everything were available.
But the people present apparently had no mind to drink tea or eat snacks.
They gathered in groups of three or two, with anxious expressions on their faces.
Without exception, they were all worried about Lairui's sudden change of the TK supply contract into an exclusive one.
They whispered to each other:
"We've been cooperating so well in the past, how can they just say exclusive?"
"For small companies like us, it's already very difficult to get a little bit of TK goods every year. Now they're making an exclusive contract, how are we small companies supposed to survive?"
"What exactly does President Lairui mean by calling us all here today? Could he change his mind at the last minute and continue contracting with us?"
"I don't think so. If he wanted to renew the contracts, he would have said so directly on the phone. There's no need to specifically ask everyone to come."
"What a pity that Lairui is the only agent for TK in China. If we want to order roses from the top Rose Garden, we can only go through them."
Sheng Mumu and Cheng Zhuo found an empty sofa and sat down.
Glancing around, Sheng Mumu noticed that one middle-aged man among the group had a different expression from the others.
The man was in his forties or so, sitting on the sofa with his arms crossed, looking very confident.
Sheng Mumu's eyes flickered slightly.
With her keen observational skills, she noticed something unusual.
She asked Cheng Zhuo, "Is that man over there the one Lairui wants to sign an exclusive contract with?"
Cheng Zhuo looked over following Sheng Mumu's line of sight and shook his head.
"I don't know who exactly Lairui wants to sign with. The only rumor going around is that they want to sign exclusively with one company."
Sheng Mumu asked again, "Which company is that man from?"
Cheng Zhuo knew this. He had done a detailed investigation last night and knew which company representatives would come today.
Cheng Zhuo said, "He is Chairman Wan of the WanChuan Group, Wanchuan."
Wanchuan?
Sheng Mumu pondered.
She had heard of Wanchuan before. The company's main business was cultural industries.
Publishing books, opening chain bookstores and cafés in major cities.
It had some floral related businesses, but they accounted for a very small proportion.
Sheng Mumu's gaze moved to Wanchuan, giving him a glance.
At the same time, the other party also looked over and nodded lightly at her.
Wanchuan's expression was polite, with a hint of smugness in his eyes and the corners of his mouth.
The buzz around the room continued.
But after Sheng Mumu and Cheng Zhuo came in, people started guessing in another direction.
"Hey, do you think the company Lairui wants to sign an exclusive contract with could be Yueji?"
"Very likely. Who doesn't know Yueji is all the rage now?"
"But big companies want to make money, and we small companies need to survive too. The market is so big, they can't be so authoritarian as to not leave a piece of the pie for others."
"This is too overbearing."
"Keep your voice down, don't let Chairman Sheng hear you. She has the Qi Group backing her, can't afford to offend them."
The speakers instantly lowered their voices.
But those words had already floated into Sheng Mumu's ears.
Sheng Mumu felt speechless.
She hadn't done anything yet, but in the eyes of others, Yueji was already relying on the Qi Group's background to bully others.
This was really unjust.
Suddenly, the heavy doors of the conference room were pushed open.
A man with a Mediterranean hairstyle walked in, his face full of greasy, obsequious smiles.
"Sis, this is Lairui's boss, Peng Lairui," Cheng Zhuo introduced to Sheng Mumu. "Because Lairui is part of his name, he lets people call him President Lairui externally."
Sheng Mumu just "hmm"ed in response.
When Peng Lairui appeared, the rest of the people surrounded him.
It was instantly noisy.
Only Sheng Mumu, Cheng Zhuo, and the man named Wanchuan remained seated calmly.
"Everyone, please don't worry," Peng Lairui waved his hand and said loudly.
He then instructed his subordinates to pour tea for everyone to calm their emotions:
"Please sit down, Lairui has cooperated with you for so long, we are all old friends. Let's sit down and talk slowly about anything."
After speaking, Peng Lairui scanned the room. His gaze paused.
Seeing that even Sheng Mumu had come, he politely smiled and greeted, "Mrs. Qi, hello, pardon my lack of courtesy."
Sheng Mumu didn't reply, just nodded in response.
This further convinced the others that their earlier guesses were correct.
It seemed that Lairui really wanted to please the Qi Group by giving the TK exclusive supply contract to Yueji.
Everyone didn't dare to show their anger openly, and the looks they gave Sheng Mumu contained silent resentment.
Peng Lairui's eyes went past Sheng Mumu and stopped on Wanchuan again.
The two exchanged a furtive glance.
After everyone sat down, Peng Lairui began with an official sounding opening:
"I invited everyone here today to talk about the issue of the TK supply contract."
"As the largest rose garden in Bulgaria, TK has always trusted Lairui and granted us full authority to handle domestic flower sales."
"Previously, Lairui cooperated very happily with everyone, but... the thing is..."
He paused, and his tone changed as he showed an awkward expression.
"I'm sure the bosses and managers of the companies present understand one thing - if a company wants to develop and expand, it can't always stick to the old ways."
"Making the decision to change the TK order into an exclusive contract, our Lairui discussed it many times internally."
Someone couldn't hold back and interrupted him, "President Lairui, stop beating around the bush. Just tell us directly which company you want to sign the exclusive contract with. Is it open bidding or have you already negotiated privately? Did we come here today for nothing?"
The speaker's eyes briefly glanced at Sheng Mumu before quickly looking away again.
The implication was obvious.
Peng Lairui didn't beat around the bush anymore and candidly said,
"This time, Lairui wants to sign the TK exclusive contract with—"
At the same time.
At the international terminal of the airport in Jing City.
A tall man strode out, walking briskly.
Behind him was a blonde foreigner who appeared to be his assistant, pushing a suitcase to follow him.
The man had an imposing aura, outstanding looks and temperament, immediately attracting the attention of people around.
His slightly brown hair made his chiseled face even more handsome.
He lowered his eyes and glanced at his watch.
In his narrow, long eyes was a hint of indifference.
The assistant had arranged for a car to be waiting outside the airport.
After getting in the car, the man looked at his watch again.
He seemed extremely sensitive and attentive to time.
Because of his work at the group, he needed to fly to Northern Europe and could only stay in Jing City for a few days.
Every minute and second was precious.
The assistant had followed him for many years and was well aware of his temperament and habits. Switching to Chinese, he said,
"Chairman Cheng, we can arrive at the CBD in ten minutes."
Hearing the precise reply, Cheng Xin's eyes drooped slightly as he murmured in affirmation.
