Chapter 401 - 247: Her Cuteness, Not for the World to See

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Lin Jiang left with Xu Yingjun.

The girls on the basketball court watched Lin Jiang’s departing figure, completely captivated.

"Brother Jiang, if there’s nothing else, I’m going to go study," Xu Yingjun said.

"Okay, go ahead."

The other girls dispersed, and Xu Yingjun left as well.

But as Wang Zixuan and the others were leaving, Lin Jiang asked her about the teacher from the Youth League Committee with the surname Ma, and learned that his name was Ma Pingchuan.

After gathering this information, Lin Jiang went to Champion Scholar Tower and booked a private room.

While he was waiting, Lin Jiang received a call from Qin Yangyang.

After he told her he had a dinner meeting that evening, she said she would come pick him up.

Lin Jiang had thought that this time, the reward would be delivered to him via courier, just like before.

He never expected it to be directly infused into his mind.

’Now it’s well and truly my own.’

After briefly looking over the contents, Lin Jiang was filled with admiration.

’No wonder they were able to make so much money. They really delivered.’

Around five in the evening, Liu Tieqiang and Ma Pingchuan arrived.

After they came in, Liu Tieqiang made the introductions. The two men shook hands, and Lin Jiang handed over his business card, which Ma Pingchuan politely accepted.

Liu Tieqiang had already explained Lin Jiang’s status on the way over.

The three of them sat down to eat, their statuses more or less equal.

Once the dinner began, they made some small talk before getting down to business. However, during this process, they never mentioned the matter of Shen Qingqiu’s tutoring.

"President Lin, weren’t you interested in sponsoring the cheerleading team? Teacher Ma is right here. You can discuss the specifics with him."

After they had finished a bottle of Maotai, Liu Tieqiang broached the topic.

Lin Jiang put down his chopsticks and laid out his idea.

After listening, Ma Pingchuan was also very interested.

The two of them discussed the matter for about an hour. They also touched on some procedural issues that Ma Pingchuan needed to go back and discuss, but overall, the progress was very smooth.

"Teacher Liu, you said on the phone that you had something to discuss with me. What is it?"

"It’s like this. A while ago, an investment firm called ’Ignore Risk’ acquired Berkeley Mall from Tai Feng Group. I found the acquisition very interesting, so I looked into it and discovered that you’re the boss of this venture capital firm. I’d like my students to study this investment case in detail. Would you be able to provide some materials?"

"No problem. I’ll let my people at the company know. Your students can go whenever they want."

"That’s all I needed to hear. Cheers!"

Liu Tieqiang raised his glass again. The three of them clinked glasses and downed the alcohol in one gulp.

By the time the dinner ended, it was already past nine at night.

Outside the restaurant, Lin Jiang took out cigarettes and liquor and gave some to Liu Tieqiang and Ma Pingchuan. Then, the two of them called for designated drivers and left.

After seeing the two of them off, Lin Jiang called Qin Yangyang.

Not long after the call, Qin Yangyang emerged from a nearby Starbucks.

Bag in hand, she hurried over to Lin Jiang’s side.

"Did you drink a lot? Do you feel sick?"

"I’m okay. It’s not a big deal."

"Come on, let’s get in the car."

Lin Jiang sat in the passenger seat, leaning back with his eyes closed to rest. Qin Yangyang didn’t disturb him and drove the car back to Century Triumph.

After getting home, Lin Jiang first took a shower. Qin Yangyang made him some tea, and after two cups, he felt much better.

Qin Yangyang had also changed into a nightgown she kept there. She curled her legs up and sat next to Lin Jiang, massaging the web of his thumb.

"It’s rare for you to drink so much. What did you talk about?"

Lin Jiang briefly told Qin Yangyang about what happened at the dinner.

"Looks like you’re going big this time."

"Mhm, whether I can take another step forward all depends on this."

"But that ’Chao Hui Wan’ platform has too little traffic. You still need to connect with iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent. If you could turn it into a variety show, I think the results would be even better."

"I’ve had them go and negotiate, but it’s hard to say if anything will come of it."

"You don’t have the right connections in that area, so the results probably won’t be good. But..."

Seeing Qin Yangyang’s smiling expression, Lin Jiang realized she was hinting at something.

"Don’t tell me you even know people in that industry."

"Of course. But I’d like to know, how did President Lin sleep at our house last night? Was my sister’s bed soft?"

"Hey, hey, hey, don’t you go slandering an innocent man. I just slept at your house, I didn’t sleep in her bed."

"My mom is very particular about rules. The fact that she let you stay the night already says a lot."

Qin Yangyang knew that given her parents’ personalities, it was unlikely they would have let the two of them sleep together. But this was a serious matter, and she had to talk to Lin Jiang about it.

Lin Jiang’s hand slipped inside the collar of Qin Yangyang’s nightgown. She didn’t stop him, letting him have his way.

"Even if it says a lot, it has nothing to do with me. I slept in your guest room. I didn’t do anything else."

"Hmph. I’ll let you off the hook this time."

Pushing Lin Jiang’s hand away, Qin Yangyang sat up on the sofa.

"It’s getting late. Let’s go to bed."

"Going to bed already? Not going to have a little late-night snack?"

"You’ve been drinking. What’s there to eat?"

"This has nothing to do with me drinking. It all depends on whether your skills are up to par."

"I’ll give it a try then. But if it doesn’t work, that’s your problem, not mine."

It had been several days since she had been to Lin Jiang’s place, and Qin Yangyang missed him terribly. Sometimes, even their chat logs felt clingy.

Qin Yangyang got up and drew the curtains.

Then she went over to Lin Jiang, gathered her hair, and leaned down.

Based on past experience, he should have been standing at attention by now, but because of the alcohol, his reaction wasn’t as intense.

Qin Yangyang stared for a good while, then looked at Lin Jiang with a mischievous smile.

"It’s quite cute when it’s small."

"It’ll get angry if you say that. You’d better be mentally prepared for when it unleashes its crazy revenge on you later."

"Who’s afraid of who!" Qin Yangyang said, unconvinced.

After working at it for a few minutes, Qin Yangyang noticed a change and looked at Lin Jiang in surprise.

"It can still work even after you’ve been drinking?"

"I didn’t drink that much, and it’s been a while since I got back. Plus I showered and had tea, so I’ve recovered a lot."

Lin Jiang felt that being able to do this was definitely related to his Pure Yang Physique. Before, this would have been impossible.

That night, after one round, the two of them went to sleep.

Very rarely, Qin Yangyang didn’t leave the next morning.

Lin Jiang glanced at the date on his phone. It was Friday; she probably didn’t have the day off.

’It’s already past eight. How can she keep sleeping in? Time to schedule a wake-up call.’

AHH—

A scream shattered the peace in the room.

At first, Qin Yangyang was still groggy, but she quickly woke up and began to respond to Lin Jiang.

Their "morning exercise" session didn’t end until past ten in the morning.

Lin Jiang went to the bathroom to wash up first. After he had recovered for a while, Qin Yangyang followed him out. She stood next to him, brushing her teeth, and even nudged him with her butt.

Girls are all cute, including someone as cool and aloof as Qin Yangyang, but she didn’t show her cute side to the world.

After finishing brushing her teeth and rinsing her mouth, Qin Yangyang looked at herself in the mirror and bumped Lin Jiang with her butt again.

"Have you noticed my skin has gotten much better?"

"Isn’t that because I’ve been moisturizing you?"

Qin Yangyang didn’t argue. She had heard her older female colleagues at work talk about this sort of thing.

Being "moisturized" by a man and not being "moisturized" were indeed two completely different things.

"Next time, I’ll let you use it as a face mask. The effect will be even better."

"Don’t try to fool me. You’re just trying to be nasty."

"You’ll know if I’m being nasty or not after you try it once."

"We’ll see what kind of mood I’m in. Hmph."

After they finished washing up, the two left the apartment and went out for breakfast.

"About the event you’re organizing, I’ll start making some calls for you. But don’t blame me if I can’t make it happen."

"Why shouldn’t I blame you? I put in the work last night and this morning specifically to thank you. If you can’t get it done, you’ll have to pay me back."

"Fine, fine. If I can’t get it done, I’ll pay you back. Double, in fact."

"That’s more like it."

After breakfast, they went their separate ways to handle their own business.

On the way back to the company, Lin Jiang called Qiu Yunong.

He had pretty much settled things on his end; she just needed to handle the specific follow-up.

Judging from Ma Pingchuan’s attitude last night, as long as nothing unexpected happened, things should proceed smoothly.

After explaining the specifics, Lin Jiang arrived at the company.

"President Lin."

Seeing Lin Jiang, Huang Youwei immediately came up to greet him and followed him into his office.

"President Lin, I had a meeting at Berkeley this morning and received some bad news."

"What news? Is it about Huipin Supermarket?"

"You already knew?"

"He Jing mentioned something about this to me before. Did the negotiations between the two sides fall through?"

"Yes. We couldn’t reach an agreement on the contract renewal. They’ve given us three days to consider the matter."

’They really think they’re hot stuff.’

"Huipin Group has been deeply rooted in the supermarket industry for many years. They do have a solid foundation in this area, which is the main reason they dare to challenge us."

"Where do they plan to go after moving out? If they haven’t found a new location, I doubt they’d dare to make such a decision."

"From what I’ve heard, it’s highly likely they’re going to Star City Bay Phase II."

Hearing it was Star City Bay Phase II, Lin Jiang remembered what Chen Jingxian had told him before.

She had said that sales for Star City Bay Phase II had started and they were in the process of attracting businesses. He never thought they would hook up.

"Star City Bay Phase II is a project by Shikang Group, which is a nationally known real estate company. Like Huipin Group, they’re both local Zhonghai brands. I hear they’re both members of the Sea Merchants Association, so it’s natural they’d have more private dealings. Something like this happening is to be expected," Huang Youwei said.

"Shikang Group..."

Lin Jiang muttered.

’Why does that sound so familiar?’

"The chairman of Shikang Group is named Zheng Fengrong. Has President Lin heard that name somewhere else?"

The mention of Zheng Fengrong suddenly made Lin Jiang remember.

The president of the CTC Super Car Club is Zheng Jianghe, and Qin Youyou had once told him that Shikang Group belonged to their family.

When he saw He Jing yesterday, she said that the general manager of Huipin Group was the chairman’s son, who had just returned from abroad.

And since they are members of the same business association, it’s very likely that the descendants of the two families know each other.

’Based on all this, looking at the situation again makes it even more interesting.’

"President Lin, the contract with Huipin Supermarket expires in half a month. We should start working on attracting new tenants."

Lin Jiang nodded, his expression calm.

’If this were yesterday, I might have had to think of some countermeasures.’

’But now, with the management manual for Donglai Supermarket, I can just operate it myself. Forget Huipin Supermarket; looking at all of Zhonghai, there isn’t a single competitor who can touch me.’

"Go and prepare. We’re having a meeting in ten minutes. This time, we’re going big!"