On the way back, Ning Ran kept trying to bring something up, but Nan Chen would always gesture for her to stay quiet.
As she was sitting in Nan Chen’s car and was in no position to argue with him, she had no choice but to suppress her urge to speak.
Nan Chen kept glancing at his phone as if he were waiting for a call.
Is he expecting a call from a beautiful lady, so he’s prohibiting me from disturbing him?
Who could it be? Could it be Ouyang Qing?
Hmm… Upon second thought, it’s not very possible. After all, they’ve just parted ways on a very unhappy note. It’s not possible for him to miss her already, right?
Even if they’re in their honeymoon phase, they still won’t act so clingy, right?
Just then, Nan Chen’s phone buzzed.
He picked up the call. Strangely enough, he even put the call on loudspeaker.
“Hello, Mr. Ouyang.”
“Chen, there’s no need to speak so formally with me, Aren’t you calling me uncle anymore? Do you no longer acknowledge me as your uncle?”
It was a call from Ouyang Duo, but Ning Ran had no idea who he was.
She spotted him once during Nan Zhengde’s birthday banquet, but she was not acquainted with him.
“Of course, I do. Please speak.”
“I’ve already asked for the board of directors’ approval regarding the Vietnam project. Since Vietnam is not the main country we’re investing in, and we believe that the Nan Corporation will do a better job than us, we’re willing to cooperate with you,” said Ouyang Duo.
“What’s your condition?”
“We’ll just follow your arrangements. Besides, I didn’t spend a lot on that piece of land, so I’ll just give it to you as a gift,” offered Ouyang Duo.
“Thank you, uncle. My gratitude to Sunshine Corporation’s board of directors as well for approving this.”
Nan Chen finally called him uncle.
“That’s settled, then. I’ll ask my subordinates to contact your men about the specifics of the contract. Those are insignificant details, so let’s not meddle with it. Let the rest deal with it.”
“Okay, I’ll follow your plan,” replied Nan Chen.
“Well, that’s all I wanted to talk about. I’m flying to Europe tomorrow, so I’ll go and sleep now.”
“Sure. Good night.”
After the call, Nan Chen leaned backward and heaved a deep sigh.
“I thought that you’re waiting for a woman’s call. I didn’t expect it to be from a man. He sounds quite old too, judging from his voice,” remarked Ning Ran casually.
Nan Chen eyed Ning Ran disdainfully. “What are you thinking about half the time…”
“Nothing much. Who is he?”
“He’s Ouyang Duo.”
“Another person from the Ouyang family?”
“Yeah. He’s Ouyang Qing and Ouyang Qi’s father, the chairman of Sunshine Corporation.”
“I know him!” exclaimed Ning Ran.
“How?”
“I saw him on the television and also during Grandpa’s birthday banquet.”
Nan Chen rolled his eyes in greater disdain. Here I am wondering how much she knows about him. Turns out that she’s claiming to know him just after seeing him on television.
“Hmm, there’s something off!” Ning Ran whirled around and stared at Nan Chen.
“Why are you looking at me?”
“There’s something strange about you.”
“What?”
“Your actions tonight must have something to do with this call!” declared Ning Ran as she pointed at Nan Chen as if she had a sudden revelation.
“Put your finger down,” commanded Nan Chen coldly.
Ning Ran withdrew her hand quickly. It was indeed quite rude to point at others.
However, since Nan Chen did not deny it, it meant that Ning Ran’s guess was correct.
“No wonder you suddenly wanted to follow me to the meeting. So you had an ulterior motive all along! You’re such a manipulator!” accused Ning Ran.
“It’s not an ulterior motive if I made it that obvious.”
“Anyway, it’s still considered an underhanded plot. You must explain it to me. You can’t just possibly use me without telling me anything!”
“Are you sure you’ll understand?” asked Nan Chen as he eyed her from the corners of his eyes.
“Are you underestimating me again? Why won’t I understand? You didn’t even try to explain it to me, how can you be certain that I won’t understand?”
“Fine. I’ll explain it to you then.”
Now that Nan Chen actually agreed, Ning Ran started to feel a little excited. After all, the man never cooperated with others, it was always someone else conceding to him.
Ning Ran put on a very cooperative look, but Nan Chen remained silent.
She became anxious. “Well? Say something!”
“This involves too many business affairs. You won’t be able to understand!”
“I’ll be able to! If you explain in layman terms, I’ll understand.”
“Then let me think about how I should explain a business acquisition to a primary school kid.”
“I’m not a primary school kid. I just didn’t graduate from college. Truth be told, I was a top student in the past!”
Her words fell to deaf ears.
Before Nan Chen became the CEO, he interviewed a lot of people who claimed to be top students. Yet, when he actually hired them, he discovered that they were utterly incapable.
Nan Chen was a top student himself. However, he knew that there was still a drastic difference between any two top students.
Some were extremely good at their studies and were very capable as well.
Yet, there were some who excelled academically but fared horribly at work.
Hence, Nan Chen had always harbored doubts towards those who claim to be top students.
“Through certain tricks, the Ouyang family tried to dominate one of our major projects. Thus, I used my own tricks to settle that problem. With a few other tricks, I subsequently managed to turn the tables and take advantage of the Ouyang family instead.”
Nan Chen summarized it in a very vague way.
Although his words sounded nonchalant, the “tricks” that he mentioned actually involved multiple rounds of counter-attacks and defensive tactics. Only Nan Chen himself knew how complicated they were.
“Is it the project that Nan Xing is responsible for?” asked Ning Ran.
It was Nan Chen’s turn to be shocked. “You know about it? Who did you hear it from?”
Shucks! If I tell him, I’ll be betraying Nan Xing. After all, he’s the one who told me.
“I forgot. Anyway, the news has been making its rounds everywhere. It’s not surprising for me to hear about it. Please, do continue.”
“However, Ouyang Duo refused to admit defeat. Unwilling to let us take advantage of them, he planned on delaying it and observing our reactions. Hence, I decided to show him my stance on this issue. Forget it, you definitely won’t understand.”
“No, I do!” asserted Ning Ran proudly.
“Tell me, what did you understand?”
“You’re using the incident of Ouyang Qi asking me out and creating a huge ruckus out of it. By threatening to file a police report, you’re implicitly informing Ouyang Duo that you would turn against the Ouyang family anytime without showing any mercy. As they’ve plotted against you in the past, you’re holding a petty grudge against them and won’t let them off the hook so easily. In other words, you’re pressurizing him to give up on his wish to settle things peacefully. At the same time, you want him to understand that the only way to rebuild the two families’ relationship is to concede to all of your conditions!”
Delighted, she asked, “Am I right? Quick, tell me that that I’m right. Praise me for being so smart!”
Nan Chen glanced at the excited Ning Ran. So, she’s not actually dumb, huh?
It’s no easy feat to understand all these complexities.
“Let me correct you. I’m not holding a petty grudge. I am not a petty man.”
“Well, it makes no difference. Just ignore my adjectives and tell me if I’m right!”
After giving it a thought, Nan Chen nodded. “You’re basically right.”
“You’re damn right I am! I’m so smart and impressive! Oh my, I’m starting to admire myself!” declared Ning Ran loudly.
Shaking his head, Nan Chen was at a loss for words.
A village girl will always be a village girl. She’s so excited just because I gave her a couple of compliments.
