Chapter 1944

Chapter 1944: Chapter 1944

"President Hu, we need to conduct a preliminary assessment first. If it’s convenient, could you provide some financial reports? I need to see the business status of the café." Chen Yirou asked.

Data doesn’t lie, the situation of the café can be generally understood from its revenue.

President Hu probably also felt that his earlier words were a bit abrupt and not appropriate for this stage.

"Leave me your email, and I’ll have someone send the revenue data to you later."

"Let’s add each other as friends first."

After adding each other as friends, Chen Yirou asked some more critical questions.

For example, who provides the raw materials for the café.

What is the standard for selecting the location of the café.

Whether the current branches are directly operated and if there are plans to open franchising later.

And most importantly, who has previously contacted them.

She actually wanted to ask if Starbucks had ever contacted them.

President Hu answered every question, also telling them that Starbucks’ investment team had indeed contacted them.

The other party showed investment intention, but he hasn’t accepted it for the time being.

Song Guanchao was very surprised: "In the coffee beverage sector, Starbucks claiming to be the most professional is not an overstatement, what concerns made President Hu hesitate?"

President Hu said: "Some of the conditions they proposed were too harsh."

As for what kind of conditions they were, he didn’t say and Song Guanchao didn’t feel it appropriate to ask in too much detail.

The two parties talked in the office for about twenty minutes, during which President Hu’s phone was constantly ringing.

He ignored some calls and answered others.

When almost done with the conversation, another call came in, so Song Guanchao took the opportunity to propose their departure.

President Hu escorted them to the door before leaving.

Getting into the elevator, Song Guanchao asked: "So how was it?"

Chen Yirou said: "President Hu seems to be a first-time entrepreneur, lacking experience in many areas, but he seems straightforward, so far he appears reliable."

Apart from the initial conversation, which didn’t leave a good impression, the later interactions were overall quite good.

Song Guanchao asked: "Want to go check out their stores?"

"Let’s have a look, perhaps the business situation can be directly observed from the store’s customer flow." Chen Yirou said: "They seem to have seven branches in Shu Du, ideally we should visit them all."

"No time." Song Guanchao shook his head.

Normally, to assess a store’s customer flow, it would take at least three to five days.

The customer flow of a single day doesn’t have reference value.

But they definitely don’t have the time or energy for this.

Moreover, they themselves are not professionals.

"Let’s just take a quick tour and leave, these statistics can later be checked by professionals." Song Guanchao said.

"That works too."

She knew something happened last night in Jiangzhou City, and Song Guanchao was eager to return.

Anyway, their task for this trip was completed.

Chen Yirou simply felt a bit regretful, she initially hoped they could use the business trip as an opportunity to stroll around and have some fun with Song Guanchao.

After having lunch nearby, they returned to the hotel.

Somehow sensing Chen Yirou’s slight low mood, as soon as they entered the room, Song Guanchao hugged her from behind.

"What are you doing?" Chen Yirou turned her head, and Song Guanchao had already moved in for a kiss, his hands climbing up from her lower abdomen towards her chest.

In no time, her clothes were skillfully stripped off by Song Guanchao’s deft hands.

At three in the afternoon, they left the hotel and headed to the airport.

Chen Yirou was fully content, while Song Guanchao snored away in the car.

At six in the evening, after landing, Song Guanchao turned on his phone, and several missed calls popped up.

There were ones from Wu Qiangwei, Director Ma, and Zhou Xingjian.

After thinking for a bit, he called back Zhou Xingjian.

"Old Zhou, what’s up?"

"Director Song, Sam’s assessment is probably going down the drain." Zhou Xingjian said worriedly.

"What’s going on?" Song Guanchao felt a sinking feeling, wasn’t the issue resolved?

Zhou Xingjian’s voice was lowered: "Rumors online say Mr. Rao didn’t pay a male escort."

"Online?"

"Yes, it’s even trending now."

Zhou Xingjian wasn’t aware of what happened last night and didn’t know the backstory.

But Song Guanchao knew, this was deliberately done by Wei Zejun.

He’s hell-bent on ruining this investment.

"I see."

Song Guanchao immediately called Wu Qiangwei, but before he could speak, she spoke in a heavy tone: "Last night’s incident was exposed online."

Song Guanchao asked: "What’s the publicity department doing, are they just sitting around? Did they do nothing?"

Wu Qiangwei said: "It happened suddenly, I’ve asked Minister Liu to handle it, the issue’s been temporarily contained, but it’s meaningless."

The incident had already spread, so even if it was contained later, it was useless.

Standing at the taxi wait point, Song Guanchao was silent.

To be honest, he didn’t quite understand why Wei Zejun was going to such extremes.

There’s no deep-rooted animosity between them.

Is it because he’s been accustomed to being unruly from a young age, unable to tolerate being challenged?

"Are you still in Shu Du?" Wu Qiangwei asked.

"Back now."

"Haven’t had dinner, right? Come over, I’m waiting for you at home."

"Okay."

Song Guanchao put away his phone, just as a taxi arrived.

Chen Yirou had known him for a long time, but she had rarely seen him this serious, it was frighteningly serious.

"What’s wrong?" She held Song Guanchao’s hand.

"We’ll talk about it at work tomorrow." Song Guanchao shook his head, he wasn’t in the mood to discuss it now.

Chen Yirou, understanding, didn’t press him further, just placed his hand on her thigh.

But Song Guanchao wasn’t in the mood for that now.

Being rush hour, it took over an hour for the taxi to enter the city.

He first dropped off Chen Yirou at her home before giving the address to his neighborhood.

Half an hour later, the taxi stopped downstairs at his building.

Despite being in a bad mood, he didn’t forget to shower first before meeting Wu Qiangwei, to wash away any trace of Chen Yirou’s scent.

To avoid Wu Qiangwei noticing and getting upset.

After changing into clean clothes, Song Guanchao arrived outside Wu Qiangwei’s home.

He had the code to her house, but he still knocked on the door.

Wu Qiangwei opened the door and let him in.

The aroma of food filled the air, and Song Guanchao saw that the table was already set with dishes.

"Let’s eat first." Wu Qiangwei picked up the chopsticks and handed them to him.

Despite his bad mood, it didn’t affect his appetite.

After a full meal, Wu Qiangwei didn’t bring up Rao Yinyin’s issue.

She quickly tidied up the tableware and went to grab some clean clothes, heading into the bathroom.

Sitting on the sofa, Song Guanchao contemplated how to handle Wei Zejun.

Wei Zejun wasn’t like other rich second-generation kids, his father was once a top tycoon, such high-status businessmen also have notable connections in political circles.

If they stooped to dirty methods, it would be easy for the other party to turn the tables, and if the injuries were to be publicized online, claiming Jiangzhou’s public security issues, it would only escalate the matter.

The right approach was to legally find flaws in the opponent’s actions.

A miscreant like him won’t be hard to pin down legally.

Squeak~

Wu Qiangwei emerged from the bathroom, and Song Guanchao looked up, amazed.

Usually, she wore either a two-piece pajama set or a more conservative nightgown.

Today, however, she wore a black silk nightgown, the neckline low enough to reveal a glimpse of white, the fabric semi-transparent, and under the light, her graceful curves were faintly visible, with the outline of her underwear discernible.

Standing at the bathroom door, she cast a glance at Song Guanchao, turned, and walked towards the bedroom.

Such an obvious hint, how could Song Guanchao not understand her meaning? He immediately followed her.