Je ne serai pas ta poupée

Chapitre 21

"Without Qiqi, I'm in Nanjing. This time I need to call for reinforcements. There's a street near Confucius Temple in Nanjing where they've built a film and television shooting base. It's all Ming Dynasty-style ancient buildings, but there are always problems..."

“During filming, people kept getting injured or even falling to their deaths for no apparent reason. Locals say that the street is an ancient street with too much yin energy. Now the business of the antique street is dismal, and the investors are getting restless... There are many more issues, but it's hard to explain over the phone. You should come to Nanjing, and I'll have our General Manager Lou discuss it with your Manager Zhou.”

Qiqi readily agreed.

She was secretly delighted.

I've been wanting to get away for a while now, and this is a golden opportunity—a business-funded trip!

Sure enough, a little while later, Zhou Haisheng called her in and told her that he would have to trouble her to go to Nanjing to assist Yao Beibei.

Qi Qi suppressed a laugh and came out calmly. She immediately called Song Yu over and asked him to help her write that hateful Tianyuan Apartment report.

Then, like a bird released from its cage, it flew downstairs.

Qiqi prefers trains to buses. So she took a taxi straight to Shanghai Railway Station. Trains from Shanghai to Nanjing run approximately every hour.

Qiqi bought a ticket for an express train, went into the waiting room, and bought Nongfu Spring water and a bag of Want Want Mini Crisps.

Ticket checking began soon. Qiqi walked lightly and was in a good mood. The train had soft seats, and the environment was clean and comfortable.

We'll be leaving in two minutes.

Qiqi turned on the tap.

My phone rang.

Qiqi took a sip of water before casually pulling out her phone. It was her company's number!

Qiqi felt something was off and pressed the answer button.

"Five million! There really is five million! Quick, come back right now!"

Zhou Haisheng's voice was filled with excitement.

"Manager Zhou, did you win the lottery? Congratulations!" Qi Qi joked casually, not taking it seriously, and took another sip of water.

"Yang Qiqi, you must return to the company immediately, right now! You're not going to Nanjing!"

The phone went dead.

Zhou Haisheng was sometimes so domineering and arrogant that Qiqi couldn't do anything about it.

She jumped off the train in disappointment, and less than five seconds later, the train started moving.

Qiqi was angry, and she couldn't hide it on her face.

He knocked heavily on the manager's office door, then pushed it open heavily and sat down heavily in the chair opposite Zhou Haisheng.

Zhou Haisheng had a beaming smile.

"Qiqi, it's not that I want to make things difficult for you, but this five million is only for you!"

Qiqi said with a straight face and an annoyed tone, "I don't understand the lottery, and I can't predict the winning numbers!"

"It's not a lottery ticket."

Zhou Haisheng still had a kind smile on his face and said, "Actually, it's just a formality. You know the ropes well..."

Qiqi was puzzled and looked confused.

"Tonight at six o'clock, at the Shangri-La Hotel, that client is treating you to dinner. They specifically want you to handle this deal. If you close this five million deal, I really will give you a 10% commission this time, really, five hundred thousand, not a penny less!"

This is Qiqi's first time visiting Shangri-La.

In the past, I would always drive by.

This is one of the iconic buildings in Lujiazui, luxurious and unparalleled.

As soon as Qiqi gave her name at the front desk, a tall and elegant waiter immediately led her to the designated private room.

When the door opened, Qiqi was stunned!

The huge, luxurious private room with a seating capacity of ten only had two people inside, and Qiqi actually knew both of them!

"Mu Feng! Boss Qiu?"

The two people sitting inside were Mu Feng and Boss Qiu, the Zhejiang businessman I met at the Four Seasons Shopping Mall last time.

Mu Feng stood up, beaming, and said, "We're all acquaintances, so I won't introduce you. Miss Yang, please have a seat."

Mu Feng was taken aback when he suddenly started calling himself "Miss Yang," and sat awkwardly opposite the two of them.

Mu Feng instructed the waiter to start serving the cold dishes.

The platter includes six dishes: fresh fruit and prawn salad, drunken chicken, spiced smoked fish, roasted gluten, jellyfish, pickled mustard greens and edamame, and stir-fried prawns.

The presentation is beautiful and makes it look very appetizing.

However, Qiqi did not touch her chopsticks.

She was on high alert, as if she didn't know the two people opposite her at all.

Boss Qiu rolled up his sleeves, eager to try, when suddenly he remembered something, grinned at Qi Qi, and said, "Do you know what's so special about this meal?"

Qiqi scanned the dishes on the table and shook her head blankly.

Boss Qiu said with great enthusiasm, "Last time Yao Ming and Ye Li held their wedding here, they ordered these dishes! Cool, right? Today we got to eat them all, just like the last time!"

Qiqi was speechless.

Boss Qiu shoved his cheeks wide, stuffing his mouth with food while babbling incoherently urging Qi Qi to eat.

Qiqi, rather reservedly, picked up her chopsticks and took a piece of roasted gluten.

Mu Feng noticed Qi Qi's unease and said, "Miss Yang, Boss Qiu is a regular customer of mine. Have you heard of the 'Wenzhou real estate speculation group'?"

Qi Qi was startled and said, "Of course I've heard of it. Shanghai's housing prices were driven up by the 'Wenzhou real estate speculators.' Shenzhen's housing prices were the same... and now they're even going to wreak havoc on American housing across the ocean!"

Mr. Qiu listened with a smile on his face and nodded repeatedly.

Mu Feng patted Boss Qiu on the shoulder affectionately and said, "The man in front of you is the famous Boss Qiu, known as the 'Deputy Leader' of the Wenzhou Real Estate Speculation Group!"

Boss Qiu's face lit up with a smile.

He said modestly, though his words were not entirely sincere: "No, no, it's just a small business to earn some pocket money."

Qiqi thought to herself, "The pocket money you earn is the savings of three generations of an ordinary family! And the fact that I can't afford a house now is indirectly thanks to these investors like the 'Wenzhou real estate speculators'!"

Thinking this to himself, his expression revealed disgust as he coldly said, "I've heard so much about you. Which building are you planning to fry up this time, Mr. Qiu?"

Boss Qiu completely missed the sarcasm in Qi Qi's words and said, "It's that Tianyuan Apartment complex where you did the feng shui consultation a while ago! Our group is very interested in that development and we're planning to ask you to take a look and see if we can buy it..."

Qi Qi said coldly, "The feng shui there is really bad. One of the buildings, Building 7 of Fenghe Shuiyuan, has already collapsed, and now Building C of Tianyuan Apartment is also in imminent danger."

Boss Qiu gestured excitedly: "That's right! This is exactly what our real estate speculation group likes! Right now, housing prices are too high, and we can't afford normal properties. We buy low and sell high after the crisis is over! Our group leader was speculating on US housing prices a while ago, and now he's moved to Australia."

Qiqi felt nauseous!

He frowned and said, "Buy it if you want, you have plenty of money anyway. You and Mu Feng are so close, it'll be easy for you to get a house from Shanghai Wanjia at a low price."

"Shanghai Wanjia?"

Boss Qiu stopped chewing.

Qiqi said, "Yeah...didn't Mufeng tell you that Tianyuan Apartment and Fenghe Shuiyuan have been bought by Shanghai Wanjia?"

Boss Qiu shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, Fenghe Shuiyuan is now owned by Wanjia, but Tianyuan Apartment is still owned by Qianqiu Real Estate!"

Qi Qi said, "It'll only be a day or two... Just wait until the contract between Wanjia and Qianqiu takes effect before buying Tianyuan Apartment from Mufeng. Mufeng is Wanjia's investment advisor in Shanghai. I have something to do, so I'll take my leave first."

Having said that, Qiqi stood up.

She didn't want to face someone like Boss Qiu for even a second longer.

Let alone eating together.

Boss Qiu looked at Mu Feng in astonishment and asked, "Didn't you say that Youyou said Miss Yang and Gao Jinze are very close?"

Qi Qi looked at Mu Feng with an inquiring gaze.

Mu Feng blushed slightly and said to Boss Qiu, "Yes...yes, we are very familiar with each other."

"Then why didn't she know that the board of directors of Qianqiu Real Estate voted against selling Tianyuan Apartment to the Wan family?!"

Boss Qiu seemed somewhat angry.

Qi Qi was stunned: "What! It's been rejected?"

Mu Feng was also skeptical: "It happened yesterday, didn't Gao Jinze tell you?"

Qi Qi was a little embarrassed and angry: "Gao Jinze is the general manager of Shanghai Qianqiu, and I am not the chairman of Qianqiu Real Estate. Does he need to report to me whether he signs a contract with your Shanghai Wanjia?"

Mu Feng quickly smiled apologetically, "Don't misunderstand, Miss Yang. Could you please sit down first? Mr. Qiu is only considering buying Tianyuan Apartments because the contract between Wanjia and Qianqiu hasn't taken effect yet. Mr. Qiu already paid the deposit to Manager Zhou this morning..."

Mu Feng's last words had an effect.

No matter how unwilling Qi Qi was, she was, after all, ordered by Zhou Haisheng to have this meal. If she left like this, not only would she be disrespecting Boss Qiu and Mu Feng, but she would also be unable to explain herself to Zhou Haisheng tomorrow.

So Qiqi had no choice but to sit back in her original seat.

Eight hot dishes were served one after another: Crab claws with various flowers, winter melon soup, Australian red-wrapped abalone, steamed grouper, braised pork belly, Kobe beef steak, and Thousand Chefs' hand-roasted chicken.

Qiqi had no appetite at all and ate only half-heartedly.

The three of them remained silent for a moment, and the atmosphere at the dinner table became a little awkward.

Mu Feng broke the silence: "Miss Yang, I'm the one who introduced you to Boss Qiu. He's already acquired the land for the Four Seasons Mall that you showed him last time, including the kindergarten and several surrounding plots. He plans to build a Grade 5A office building."

Not wanting to be too disrespectful to Mu Feng, Qi Qi could only chime in: "Building office buildings there is better than shopping malls. It's just that the number of floors can't be too high, because there aren't enough tall buildings around. If the buildings are tall and the surrounding buildings are low, it will create an 'exposed wind evil' that won't accumulate wealth."

Boss Qiu was eating abalone when he heard Qi Qi's words. He swallowed most of the abalone without chewing much and said repeatedly, "That was close! I'll have someone revise the design plan right away! I thought we should build it to be fifty or sixty stories high to outshine all the surrounding buildings... Miss Yang's suggestion alone is worth tens of thousands of yuan!"

Mr. Qiu is now a client of Prophet Company, and Qi Qi still has to entertain him, so she said, "The office buildings in Hongqiao have more Japanese and European tenants, so it would be best to make the design more European."

Mr. Qiu nodded repeatedly and said, "That's exactly what I was thinking too. How about we ask Miss Yang to be the feng shui designer for this building?"

Qi Qi didn't respond: "Let's talk about Tianyuan Apartments first. It seems Mr. Qiu is planning to get involved and compete with Shanghai Wanjia for Tianyuan Apartments?"

Boss Qiu chewed on the grouper, unable to pour it out of his mouth, but nodded repeatedly.

Qi Qi glanced at Mu Feng and said meaningfully, "With Mu Feng, the chief consultant of Shanghai Wanjia Real Estate, here, Boss Qiu has a clear view of Wanjia's true intentions and won't waste money."

Mu Feng coughed lightly and lowered his head to focus on dealing with his crab claws.

Boss Qiu swallowed the grouper, beaming, and said, "That's right, I'll bet exactly 1,000 per square meter on Gao Wanjia's offer! Miss Yang, since you're so familiar with General Manager Gao of Shanghai Qianqiu, you must have a way of finding out his bottom line—"

Just as Qi Qi was about to speak, Boss Qiu reached out to stop her, then reached into his pocket, took out a check, placed it on the roulette wheel, and pushed it.