NOVEL WEB Chapter 133: Bullying
Li Dapang felt somewhat puzzled. If the purpose was to discuss price, why did Xiao Han insist on going in person? Couldn't Yang Lu handle it? Wasn't she more experienced? Xiao Han's presence would easily give away the objective. Could it be that Xiao Han had decided to step out from behind the curtain and take the stage?
Although Li Dapang didn't understand, he felt too embarrassed to ask outright. Otherwise, it would make him look unintelligent.
......
The Meida Group belonged to members of the Jiang family. Jiang Xiaoliang and he had some history. Moreover, Jiang Xiaoliang's mother was uncompromising and domineering; she had nearly managed to have him forcibly expelled. If it wasn't for Li Hengzhong taking the matter on himself, he might really have been expelled. Therefore, this was a matter of pride that Xiao Han couldn't just let slide.
As the saying goes, "A gentleman's revenge is not too late, even after ten years."
A crafty smile played upon Xiao Han's lips.
He gave a cold laugh and then said, "Members of the Jiang family? Interesting!"
Yang Lu and the person in charge at Meida Group had agreed to meet at 9 a.m. on February 11th at the Sheraton Hotel, a venue arranged by Meida Group. As a listed company with assets of over a hundred million, they wanted to showcase their formidable power and energy by choosing this location for the meeting.
The Sheraton Hotel was one of the properties under Meida Group and was also the only five-star hotel in LJ city. The 32-storey building stood towering beside the Wangjiang river, offering sprawling views of the entire riverscape.
In addition, being designated by the Municipal Government as the official hotel for receiving guests added an air of mystery to the Sheraton. Not only were the prices steep, but the interiors were said to be quite luxurious. Those who could afford to stay there were mostly rich businessmen or government officials.
A BMW 740Li came to a slow stop outside of Hanmen Technology.
"Xiao Han, the car is here!" Yang Lu hurried into the office. Continue reading at empire
"The car?" Xiao Han was startled and asked, "What car?"
"Aren't we supposed to go to the Sheraton Hotel today?" Yang Lu smiled and then said, "I specially rented a BMW to take us there. Since it's their turf, we definitely can't appear too shabby. That's often how it is in business, otherwise, people will look down on us!"
Xiao Han thought for a moment, nodded slightly, and then said, "Alright then, since you've rented it, let's go."
With that, Xiao Han got up and walked outside. He was wrapped in a coat and wore a pair of sunglasses on his nose, following the path outside. Yang Lu and Xiao Han walked out shoulder to shoulder. The staff in the shop were busy; none of them noticed Xiao Han and Yang Lu leaving, nor did anyone spot that there was something slightly different about Xiao Han today.
Outside, a man dressed in a black suit respectfully opened the car door.
Yang Lu was the first to get into the car. Xiao Han followed suit. After entering the car, Xiao Han took off the coat he was wearing on the outside, revealing a neatly tailored suit underneath. Xiao Han removed his sunglasses, then casually pulled out a mask from his pocket and slid it over his face.
"Do we really need to do this?" asked Yang Lu.
"For now, we do," Xiao Han nodded and said, "I'm not ready to reveal myself just yet, and I certainly don't want to bring endless trouble upon me."
Any person would find it hard to cope with instant million or even multimillion-dollar net worth while still a high school student. If such news leaked, it would quickly become the talk of LJ city and make him a high-profile figure.
Xiao Han still had his college entrance exams and needed to invest a lot of effort into it; he didn't want to face constant harassment from the media or to be placed on a pedestal.
Some say that poverty shows who your real friends are; in wealth, your circle is suddenly crowded with "friends."
At least for now, Xiao Han was not prepared to deal with this situation. He was sure that with the nature of his Eldest Uncle, his Second Uncle, and his greedy aunt, they would definitely take turns coming to him for loans. Moreover, it was almost certain that any money lent to them would be money gone forever.
If they treated his family with dignity, lending them money would be one thing; but they all looked down on his family and continuously mocked his mother with sarcasm. Xiao Han had long been fed up with it.
"Alright, I understand you!" said Yang Lu, nodding.
"By the way, have those two aunts come looking for you again?" Xiao Han asked curiously.
"They have!" Yang Lu nodded slightly and said, "They just want me to get married quickly. But once they saw that I was determined, they stopped. Later, when they learned I was working at the Apple authorized store and that the pay wasn't bad, they came to borrow money from me."
"You borrowed money?" Xiao Han asked.
"Yeah." Yang Lu nodded, then said, "After all... when my mother was sick, they lent money to our family too. It would seem somewhat unjustifiable if I didn't lend it to them."
"Understood," Xiao Han nodded and then smiled, "However, a greedy ingrate is a bottomless pit that you can never fill. So, I advise you to stop while you can. Otherwise, you're just feeding those ingrates with your own flesh and blood."
"I get it!" Yang Lu nodded, her head bowed, clutching the hem of her clothes. After a long while, Yang Lu looked up at Xiao Han, and sometimes, she found him more mature than herself, even though he was younger. But in the way he handled things, he always seemed more experienced and much steadier than her.
The last time the eldest uncle and second uncle's families had joined forces to coerce her into marriage, she had almost given in to their demands. If it hadn't been for Xiao Han showing up in time, she probably would have agreed.
Before long, the car slowly arrived at the Sheraton Hotel.
The car stopped at the hotel entrance.
Yang Lu hastily pushed open the car door and stepped down. She looked around curiously. There was no sign of any relevant person in charge or welcoming host. This puzzled Yang Lu. Hadn't they agreed to meet today? Why was there no sign of activity?
Although Hanmen Technology was small compared to the Meida Group, not even amounting to a mosquito's leg, the Meida Group was still one of LJ City's major corporations, wasn't it? A big corporation should have its own corporate culture.
Moreover, since the Meida Group was interested in acquiring Hanmen Technology, they should demonstrate some manners and etiquette to convince and even impress people. But now, Meida Group had no reaction whatsoever. Not even a security guard had come up to greet them. This inevitably aroused doubts.
"Did they forget?" Xiao Han got out of the car, looking curiously at the entrance where there were no greeters, no staff, no banners, and no person in charge of the reception from the other side.
"Impossible, I just called to communicate when we were leaving the house," Yang Lu said with a frown, then continued, "They said there would be someone specially assigned to receive us."
"I see," Xiao Han laughed, "This is a show of power!"
"A show of power?!" Yang Lu was stunned, and her face immediately turned displeased, "Do they really think they can bully their guests just because they are a big shop?"
While Xiao Han and Yang Lu were talking at the entrance, a girl dressed in a cheongsam hurried out of the hotel and anxiously asked, "Are you Director Yang? Director Yang of Hanmen Technology?"
"Yes, I am!" Yang Lu replied with an icy face.
"Our... our manager asked me to take you upstairs," the girl said awkwardly to Yang Lu, "They have been waiting for you in the conference room upstairs."
"Don't your managers know to come down and meet?" Yang Lu frowned and said, "Besides, wasn't President Chen supposed to meet us at the entrance today? How come it's changed now?"
"This..." The girl looked at Yang Lu in astonishment and said, "President Chen... No, no, today the person in charge of receiving you is Director Li, our hotel's lobby manager."
"A lobby manager to discuss the acquisition with us?" Yang Lu nearly burst into flames.
"This... this is the company's arrangement, I... I'm just the hotel's welcoming host!" The poor girl was so frightened by Yang Lu's inexplicable anger that she was almost in tears, after all, she was just a girl from the post-90s generation, not equipped to handle such grievance and setback.
"This is really interesting," Xiao Han chuckled, his masked face unable to hide his infuriation. Yang Lu's anger was on the surface, but Xiao Han's anger was from the heart, it seemed to cry out from every cell. The girl nearly wilted under Xiao Han's intimidating presence.
The mask added a mysterious air to him, covering the triangular area on his forehead, eyes, and nose, leaving only his lips and chin exposed. This mask was what Xiao Han wore when he taught at the Hanmen Training Class.
While the mask wasn't frightening and in fact accentuated Xiao Han's handsome lips and sharp chin, the fiery aura that Xiao Han exuded nearly made the girl's legs give way. She timidly looked at Xiao Han. In comparison to Yang Lu, this masked man felt even more terrifying. His whole demeanor seemed ready to swallow someone whole.
Xiao Han calmly said, "To have a hotel's welcoming host greet me, and to have a hotel's lobby manager responsible for today's negotiations..."
"Xiao Han, let's go!" Yang Lu was fuming, there was a limit to insult.
"Don't!" Xiao Han quickly shook his head and said, "How can we just walk away from such an interesting situation? We should stay and continue to play with them. I want to see what tricks they can come up with!"
"They are bullying us too much!" Yang Lu was holding back a bellyful of fire.
"Without strength, we are naturally subject to be bullied," Xiao Han laughed, "It's good to have self-respect, but when someone tramples on you, being able to greet your enemy with a smile, that's real skill. Sister Yang, come with me upstairs!"