Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“Not at the moment.” Cheng Lang unbuttoned his shirt, and his hand—which was on Xing Shu’s waist—slid down gradually.

Xing Shu looked up as Cheng Lang lowered his head. Their lips met, and ignited…

…

When Xing Shu woke up, it was already noon the next day. Her phone was flooded with missed calls—from Hu Jie, other colleagues in the department, and the boss of Lirong Corporation—President Chen. However, President Chen only made one call; he had probably heard about her resignation and made a cursory call.

Xing Shu thought of her appointment letter from the Human Resources Department. She was set to return to the Cheng Corporation Group, so her cooperation with Lirong Corporation must not be left on such a note. She dialed President Chen’s number.

“Miss Xing Shu.” President Chen’s attitude was surprisingly amiable. “I heard that you resigned? Have you found employment?” Without the prospectus, President Chen was not going to sign the contract with Cheng Corporation Group. However, he wanted to recruit Xing Shu.

Xing Shu read between the lines and asked smilingly, “President Chen, how was the negotiation today?”

The workplace was beset with duplicity. President Chen knew—but did not mind—that he got caught up in Xing Shu’s trap. In fact, he even admired her strategy. “Cheng Xingyang and Hu Jie are too immature.” That meant that they did not manage to get anything advantageous. Well, President Chen had single-handedly built up Lirong Corporation—he was an old hand in the corporate world. How could a pea-brain like Cheng Xingyang handle him?

Xing Shu said, “President Chen, the terms we discussed the last time are still valid. I’ll sign the contract with you personally, but the date has to be postponed by three days. When my appointment letter for Director is confirmed, I’ll definitely contact you personally.”

President Chen said, “Miss Xing Shu, you’re only 23 years old, right? I’m afraid it’s a little difficult for you to become the director of a department in Cheng Corporation Group.”

Xing Shu had joined Cheng Corporation Group immediately after graduation and had only three years of work experience. This work experience would translate to being only a small manager in a department in other companies, let alone the hypercompetitive Cheng Corporation Group. President Chen thought that Xing Shu was young and fatuous, making bold promises.

Xing Shu did not want to sound too pompous and put him off. “President Chen, I saw an earlier interview—I don’t know who influenced you to divert Lirong Corporation from manufacturing parts to creating an agency for nurturing technical talents five years ago. You started working with the Ministry of Education to create two schools that specialized in nurturing talents for Lirong Corporation—an innovation . But at the same time, your company’s market value was also declining.

This problem was a pain point for President Chen. When a company reached its peak, it had to innovate. At that time, everyone in the company agreed with President Chen’s decision, but they did not expect it to precipitate a disaster that spiraled to the extent of the company being bought over.

President Chen said, “Miss Xing Shu, all this information is available with some digging. Bringing up this problem only proves that you have indeed expended a lot of effort to acquire the company.”

“But President Chen, I think you were too concerned with innovation and looking for new development opportunities back then, and forgot Lirong’s core concept,” Xing Shu said.

President Chen shuddered and tightened his grip on his cell phone. “Continue.”

“Developing new products requires new parts and components. At that time, the so-called innovation divested most of Lirong Corporation’s resources, causing the production line to decrease. At the same time, you also introduced many expensive production lines, causing the cost of the product to rise and the profits to decline. Innovation became something that looked good on the surface, but had no tangible meaning. The core competitiveness of Lirong Corporation was the quality of the parts. You were able to work with the Cheng Corporation Group because of the assured quality of the products. However, you turned your focus to educational institutions. Your core had already deviated five years ago.” Xing Shu’s voice was neither fast nor slow. These were the biggest problems she discovered after her deep dive into Lirong Corporation. “President Chen, you should know that a company must maintain its uniqueness in order to establish itself and remain competitive, right? Only then can it not be easily replaced, isn’t it? Actually, President Chen, there was an interview back then that left a deep impression on me. I don’t know if you still remember it.”

Back then, President Chen had started his business from scratch and found success early on. He was riding on the wave of success. What had he said when the reporters interviewed him? He said that entrepreneurs nowadays were too impetuous and did not slow down to pay attention to the quality of their products. As long as the focus was on the products and improving their quality, success was indubitable.