Chapter 116: 113 Today at Zhong's, Miss Ying is in charge [1 update]

The sudden remark made Mr. Eugene’s smile disappear.

He frowned and looked toward the entrance of the reception room.

There stood a girl.

Her skin was delicate and fair, like coagulated cream.

Her phoenix eyes slightly upturned, emitting a faint glow that flickered on and off.

She was clear and cold, her eyes and eyebrows radiating a chill.

She just stared at him straight on.

Although her presence seemed subdued, it was like a deep current in still water, bearing an even more overwhelming force.

Her scrutinizing gaze made Eugene’s heart skip a beat, as if a bad premonition was about to come true.

But the next moment, he scoffed to himself.

Just a girl of seventeen or eighteen, what could she do?

Perhaps she was just there to play around.

He had actually been startled for a moment.

Without another glance at the girl, Eugene turned back to Old Master Zhong, his expression polite yet distant, “Since Director Zhong is unwilling, then there’s nothing more to say. It’s getting late, so let’s call it a day.”

But he wasn’t able to leave the conference room.

“Leave the agreement,” Ying Zijin said, leaning against the door, tilting her head and repeating, “We’ll sign it.”

“Absolutely not, we cannot sign!” a middle-aged shareholder blurted out vehemently, “The Jade Pavilion is the lifeblood of the Zhong Corporation, we can’t mortgage it, no matter what.”

Even the most foolish could see now.

The DK Group was clearly targeting the Jade Pavilion; otherwise, they wouldn’t have conceded so quickly, proposing such terms.

It was possible that the Ten Directions Realm’s disappearance was related to the DK Group.

But they had no evidence whatsoever.

And how did the DK manage to steal the Ten Directions Realm right under their noses, bypassing all security systems?

The middle-aged shareholder coldly looked at Eugene, “Mr. Eugene, let’s not beat around the bush. Even if we don’t sign this deal, your DK Group won’t really let Zhong Corporation fall.”

But of course, there would be significant damage.

Eugene was taken aback for a moment, then he chuckled, “Since you all have such confidence, indeed there’s no need to sign the deal.”

“No need,” Ying Zijin looked up, her tone indifferent, “We’ll sign, but we have other conditions.”

Eugene paused in his steps, sizing up the girl from head to toe, his look somewhat scornful, “Are you in charge?”

As soon as he said this, the other shareholders became anxious.

But with Elder Zhong present, they could only hint obliquely.

“Director Zhong, this agreement must not be signed. Are you not aware of the significance of the Jade Pavilion?”

“Yes, Director Zhong, this is a major issue. How can you let a child handle it, is this some kind of joke?”

“No matter what, we can’t mortgage the Jade Pavilion!”

Master Zhong, however, remained silent.

He pondered, and it seemed that because of Ying Zijin’s words, he had changed his mind.

“Uncle Zhong, I know you care for your granddaughter, but you have to be reasonable,” the middle-aged shareholder hurriedly intervened when he saw Master Zhong’s expression was off, “This agreement is obviously unfair, how can we sign it?”

The value of the Jade Pavilion was far greater than that of the Ten Directions Realm.

Ying Zijin nodded, unhurried, “Which is why, we need to add our own conditions.”

The middle-aged shareholder became both anxious and frustrated, “Miss Ying, you don’t understand anything, you don’t know that the Jade Pavilion is really…”

“Alright, Zijin, your grandfather will listen to you,” Master Zhong cut off the middle-aged shareholder, “We’ll sign the bet agreement.”

Then he ordered, “Bring me a pen.”

An assistant quickly handed over a pen.

But Master Zhong didn’t take it for himself; instead, he passed it to Ying Zijin.

Ying Zijin paused for a moment before taking the pen.

“The Jade Pavilion is indeed the most important asset of the Zhong Corporation,” Master Zhong coughed once, with authority, “So if we lose this bet, it would be difficult to escape blame as the chairman, and I would voluntarily step down.”

The middle-aged shareholder’s expression changed drastically, “Uncle Zhong!”

With this statement, the rest of the shareholders found it hard to say anything more.

After all, the Zhong Corporation was in a tight spot.

If they signed, the Jade Pavilion would be gone.

But if they didn’t sign, with the DK Group’s maneuvers, half of Zhong Corporation would also collapse.

Compared with each other, there really wasn’t much difference.

“That’s enough,” Master Zhong waved his hand, “In any case, I’m old, retiring early means I can enjoy a peaceful retirement sooner.”

In his words, there was an unmistakable disdain, “All day long, you people disturb my Weibo browsing. An old man like me still has to clean up your messes, it’s so annoying.”

The middle-aged shareholder: “…”

Apparently, in Elder Zhong’s eyes, they weren’t even as good as Weibo.

Eugene was also somewhat shocked by the rapid attitude change of Old Master Zhong.

He frowned imperceptibly and then smiled, “Does this mean that Miss Ying can now represent the entire Zhong Corporation and Director Zhong?”

“Nonsense,” Old Master Zhong huffed angrily, “Zijin, today you call the shots.”

Ying Zijin patted his back soothingly and looked at Eugene calmly, “If we find the Ten Directions Realm within five days, the three hundred million dollars deal with DK Group, Zhong Corporation will take it.”

“…”

As soon as the words were out, everyone was stunned.

The middle-aged shareholder was puzzled, “Uncle Zhong, what deal are you talking about?”

Old Master Zhong shook his head, “I don’t know.”

Eugene’s expression darkened, “You sure talk big.”

And how did she know about the deal with DK Group?

“It’s not important,” Ying Zijin lifted her gaze, “Add this condition, and we’ll sign the agreement.”

Her expression indifferent, “You might want to consider it.”

In just a moment’s span, the situation had completely turned on its head.

Now, it was DK Group that seemed to be threatened.

Even the shareholders could not understand why DK Group was being threatened.

Logically speaking, such an unreasonable condition shouldn’t even have to be considered.

Eugene’s complexion changed several times before he suddenly scoffed coldly, “Fine, if you can find the Ten Directions Realm within five days, the three hundred million dollar deal, DK Group will graciously cede.”

But how could that be possible?

“Jade Pavilion will not lose, and neither will the Ten Directions Realm,” Ying Zijin put down her pen and stood up straight, “Please.”

“Those are big words that anyone can say,” Eugene shook his head and also picked up the pen to sign his name.

The agreement was made in duplicate; he put one copy back in his briefcase and then looked up with a regretful smile, “It seems that Zhong Corporation doesn’t have any smart people.”

To sign an agreement for a three hundred million dollars deal that they couldn’t get.

I don’t know whether to call it stupidity or naivety.

It’s just seeking death.

After Eugene left, the middle-aged shareholder was so anxious that he started pacing, “Uncle Zhong, we don’t even have the slightest clue about the whereabouts of the Ten Directions Realm, what should we do?”

If they didn’t find the Ten Directions Realm when the time was up, Old Master Zhong would have to step down.

For several shareholders and people like Zhong Tianyun, this was a much-desired outcome.

But as for the Jade Pavilion, no one really wanted it to go out of their control.

“We will,” Ying Zijin turned her head, “There’s no need for you to worry about the Ten Directions Realm.”

After a moment’s thought, she continued, “These next few days, you can just stay home and browse Weibo; I’ve found some video materials for you that should get a lot of shares.”

Hearing this, Old Master Zhong immediately perked up, “Good, good, send them to my phone later.”

Middle-aged shareholder: “???”

So it was his granddaughter who spoiled her grandfather like this?

Why did he feel that there was something off here?

The other shareholders were shaking their heads in disapproval, thinking Old Master Zhong was being both confused and impulsive.

Let alone finding out about the Ten Directions Realm within five days, handing such a matter to a high schooler who hadn’t even stepped into society was simply madness.

“Grandpa, I still have some things to take care of,” Ying Zijin nodded her head, “I’ll take my leave now.”

Old Master Zhong didn’t ask further, letting her go and take care of her own matters.

Although he believed his granddaughter to be the most capable, he truly wouldn’t rest such a big matter on a child’s shoulders.

After a moment’s thought, Elder Zhong then said to the other shareholders, “We need to prepare for both outcomes; right now, immediately contact all the master carvers.”

**

That very evening, just two to three hours after the signing of the bet agreement with DK Group,

Weibo suddenly exploded with the news that Zhong Corporation had lost the Treasure of the Emerald Chamber – Ten Directions Realm.

The Four major noble families of Shanghai City might not be as famous as those major clans in the capital, throughout Hua Country, but their corporations were still among the top hundred nationwide, and they garnered significant attention.

Especially in the jade stone industry, thanks to their reputation, they had no shortage of customers.

Upon hearing this news, although it didn’t cause a huge uproar or trend on Weibo, it still set off a bomb among some netizens.

[Why can such a big corporation like Zhong’s lose something as important as the Treasure of the Zhenzhai? What about management, are they all just freeloading???]

[I’m a little scared, I ordered a Jade Guanyin for my grandfather’s birthday celebration at the Jade Pavilion and even signed the papers, but we’re only inspecting it in ten days. If the Ten Directions Realm can be lost, who knows if my Jade Guanyin will be? No, I can’t rest easy, I’m going to the Jade Pavilion to cancel my order right now, this is Zhong’s problem, they need to compensate.]

This comment sparked a flurry of responses.

[Sister, let’s do this together. The management ability of Zhong Corporation… is really worrying.]

[I’m in Shanghai City; I’ll go there first thing tomorrow morning to return it.]

[Just quietly mentioning, the Jade Pavilion used to be so good, and the jade stone works were very exquisite. What about now? Forget it, it’s still a problem with the management. Who’s the current chairman of Zhong Corporation?]

[I’m not sure about the name, but I heard it’s an old person. Can something like this happen?]

As the comments descended into a mess, the trending list on Weibo revealed a new trending topic.