Chapter 498 - 478: Lin Qi’s Background

Chapter 498: Chapter 478: Lin Qi’s Background

Inside the office, Manager Chen was still savoring his meal. He picked up a slice of meat, placed it in his mouth, and began to chew.

"This Sixth-Level Calamity Beast meat is really something else. The texture is exquisite. Even cooked simply, it’s a delicacy."

"And best of all, I don’t even have to pay for it."

"I call all the shots in this company now. I just have to humor Xu Changfeng every now and then."

"BUZZ BUZZ!!"

Just then, his phone vibrated. He casually picked it up and answered.

"Hello, front desk."

"Did the people from the Lin Fang Group leave?"

"Manager Chen, President Xu is here!" The receptionist’s nervous voice came from the other end.

"They..."

Before the receptionist could finish, Manager Chen froze. He hung up and shot up from the sofa.

He rushed out the door, running right into his stunning secretary.

"You’re coming with me to see President Xu!"

’President Xu?’

Filled with curiosity, the secretary followed him.

The two of them quickly trotted to the reception area.

"Where is he?"

Manager Chen demanded loudly, looking at the receptionist.

The receptionist replied, "In the meeting room!"

Manager Chen’s heart sank. He was suddenly struck by a terrible premonition.

’Why would he be in the meeting room?’

Cold sweat began to pour down his forehead.

He hurried toward the meeting room. The door was open, and he could see Xu Changfeng standing inside.

Manager Chen was utterly dumbfounded, especially when he saw Xu Changfeng chatting warmly with Lin Zhen and the other two.

He blinked hard, making sure he wasn’t mistaken.

’Didn’t she say the Lin Fang Group had no backing?’

He glanced at his secretary, who guiltily lowered her head.

Her expression told him everything.

’I could kill this secretary,’ he thought, seething.

...

「In the spacious meeting room」

"Uncle, Auntie, please don’t worry. Lin Qi and I are good friends."

"I’m very sorry for the trouble this has caused you."

"I will be sure to give you a satisfactory resolution for this matter."

Xu Changfeng earnestly assured the three of them.

Secretary Xue, who was standing beside him, spoke up. "President Xu is the chairman of the Xu Group’s Celestial Sea branch."

"You can all trust his word."

Lin Zhen, Fang Huiyi, and Fang Zhe exchanged a look, each seeing the astonishment in the others’ eyes.

’Chairman?’

’That’s some serious backing!’

’When did Little Qi get connected with such an important figure?’

But then again, they thought, their son was no slouch either. He was an SSS-level genius, the kind of person who gets an escort from an Eighth Realm Martial Artist on his way home.

That wasn’t a privilege just anyone could enjoy.

"President Xu!"

A portly figure rushed in—it was Manager Chen.

Sweat beaded on his forehead as he asked enthusiastically,

"President Xu, what brings you here?"

Xu Changfeng sneered. "Manager Chen, you certainly have a comfortable life as a manager!"

"The parents of my friend from school wanted to see you, and they couldn’t even get a meeting!"

Cold sweat drenched Manager Chen. He instantly understood the situation and began to stammer in a panic,

"President Xu, this is a misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding!"

"If I had known..."

"You don’t need to explain anything. I don’t want to hear it!"

"As of this moment, in my capacity as chairman, I am officially stripping you of your managerial position."

"I’ve also heard that you’ve been passing off inferior products as high-quality ones, selling spoiled meat at the price of good meat."

"What else have you been doing that I don’t know about?"

"Secretary Xue, conduct a thorough investigation. Don’t miss a single detail."

"Yes, Boss!"

A chill ran through Manager Chen, as if his very marrow had been sucked out. His legs gave way beneath him.

’It’s over!’

He knew he was done for. He had offended a major figure; there was no escape.

He knew what he had done, and none of it would stand up to scrutiny.

The secretary behind him also turned deathly pale. Manager Chen was her backer.

With him toppled, she was finished, too.

She knew full well that she was the one who had caused this whole mess.

...

A moment later, Xu Changfeng, Lin Qi, and the others left.

"SLAP!!"

Once they were the only ones left in the meeting room, Manager Chen spun around and slapped his secretary across the face.

The secretary’s face instantly flushed red.

"This is the ’ordinary Awakened genius’ you told me about?"

"Would President Xu go out of his way to befriend an ’ordinary’ genius? You idiot! You’ve ruined me!"

As Manager Chen spoke, he was filled with immense regret. ’If only I’d known the Lin Fang Group had this kind of backing.’

’I would’ve been kissing up to them from the start, and then I wouldn’t have offended Xu Changfeng.’

At this thought, he immediately pulled out his phone and called his sister.

Only his sister could save him now.

...

Meanwhile, the other employees who had witnessed what happened in the meeting room burst into an uproar.

"What happened?"

"Manager Chen is done for. He offended President Xu; there’s no getting out of it this time."

"Holy crap, wasn’t that Lin Qi?"

"Did he offend Lin Qi?"

"Lin Qi is an SSS-level genius now. Offending someone like that is career suicide."

"SSS-level genius? For real?"

"Of course it’s real. My little brother’s classmate lives in the Imperial View Mansion District. His dad filmed Lin Qi’s return yesterday, and it’s been confirmed: Lin Qi is an SSS-level genius."

The crowd was astonished, but they all felt Manager Chen had it coming. You don’t offend an SSS-level genius and expect to know what hit you.

...

「Star Shine Restaurant」

Inside a private room at the famous Celestial Sea City establishment.

Lin Qi, Xu Changfeng, Lin Zhen, Fang Huiyi, and Fang Zhe were seated around a table.

Plate after plate of extravagant delicacies was brought to the table.

Xu Changfeng introduced the dishes. "These are all signature dishes made with Sixth Realm Disaster Flesh and Blood, meticulously prepared by our head chef."

He poured himself a glass of liquor and said,

"Lin Qi, my friend, I’ll drink three glasses as a penalty."

With that, he downed the glass and proceeded to drink two more in quick succession.

Then, he continued,

"Secretary Xue is already on the case. We should have results by tomorrow."

"We have a senior management meeting tomorrow, and we will be completely removing people like Manager Chen from the company."

"I absolutely guarantee you a satisfactory resolution."

Lin Qi nodded. Xu Changfeng’s attitude was faultless.

Lin Zhen and the others also nodded, much of their anger having subsided.

Xu Changfeng continued,

"Uncle, let’s continue our partnership."

"If there are any quality issues, you just tell me directly. I’ll handle it."

"And I’ll lower your price by 10%."

Lin Zhen’s eyes lit up at this. Their business was essentially that of a wholesaler.

All the Calamity Beasts in Cang Province came from the Coastal Base, and most small companies would hire their own Slicers.

Once a Calamity Beast carcass entered the base, the military would estimate its price.

They paid the money, and after the beast was sliced, they would transport it back to various cities to sell to malls, Martial Arts Dojos, and schools.

Of course, this only applied to Low-Level Calamity Beasts.

There were so many Low-Level Calamity Beasts that this process was viable.

However, it was a different story for Mid-Level Calamity Beasts, which were largely monopolized by major corporations.

The military also preferred to work with large companies, so smaller businesses had almost no chance of acquiring the flesh and blood of Mid-Level Calamity Beasts.

They could only buy it from those larger corporations, and the Xu Group was the biggest one in Celestial Sea City.

These corporations would typically buy carcasses from the military at a low price, process them, and then sell a portion to smaller companies at a markup.

This was typically reserved for smaller companies that had connections.

This time, with the help of Guo Jingsong—Guo Heng’s father—Lin Zhen and his family had finally started to get into the business of Mid-Level Calamity Beast Flesh and Blood.

The current problem had arisen because Xu’s had supplied them with substandard meat.

This meat had been damaged and had degraded due to bombardment from heavy weaponry, so its price was normally much lower than that of pristine meat.

But Xu’s had sold this damaged meat to them at the price of good meat.

When Lin Zhen discovered this, he tried to negotiate, but he was stood up, which led to everything that followed.

...