Chapter 107: So That’s How It Was
Chapter 107: So That’s How It Was
The middle-aged man walked into the living room and gave Chen Xian a very respectful slight bow with a smile. “Hello, old secretary, hello.”
“Mhm.” Chen Xian waved his hand in a very approachable manner.
“General Manager Yan, please have a seat.” Chen Yufang invited the middle-aged man to sit down. Seeing his polite yet puzzled look towards Su Cheng and Su Chunfeng, she introduced with a smile, “This is the General Manager and legal representative of our company, Mr. Su Cheng. And this… is President Su’s eldest son, Su Chunfeng.”
“Brother-in-law, this is Mr. Yan Hongqiang, the General Manager of Hongyun Construction Co., Ltd.”
A flicker of surprise passed over the middle-aged man’s expression. He was clearly puzzled by Su Cheng, a man who, though cleanly dressed, had a thoroughly rustic, uncouth air about him, very much the image of a country bumpkin. How could such a person be the legal representative and General Manager of Wantong Freight Forwarding Agency Co., Ltd.? And what did that make Chen Yufang? However, this manager named Yan Hongqiang still politely stood up, took a step forward, extended his right hand, and said with a smile, “Hello, President Su.”
“Ah, hello, hello.” Su Cheng quickly stood up, his face beaming with a smile as he shook the other’s hand. Being called “President Su” felt like a tremendous honor to him.
Su Chunfeng very naturally stood up and extended his right hand. “Hello, General Manager Yan.”
“Hello, hello.” Yan Hongqiang was somewhat taken aback but still shook Su Chunfeng’s hand, appearing quite amiable.
Only after Su Chunfeng sat back down did he begin to wonder silently—why did this Hongyun Construction Co., Ltd., and its person in charge, Yan Hongqiang, feel so familiar? It truly seemed like he had seen them somewhere before.
“General Manager Yan, please sit,” Chen Yufang said with a smile.
“Alright.” Yan Hongqiang smiled and sat down.
At this moment, Chen Xian stood up with a kind expression and said, “Since this is about company business, you all discuss it. I won’t disturb you…” After saying this, he spoke to Chen Yufang in a rather serious and stern tone. “Yufang, don’t be too arrogant and self-willed. Since this is a jointly run company, and your brother-in-law is the General Manager and legal representative, you must discuss everything with him, and especially with Chunfeng!”
“I know,” Chen Yufang said, pouting her lips, feeling very dissatisfied—her father’s words in front of an outsider made her lose face. And he even emphasized consulting with Su Chunfeng! What did a teenage boy know? He was just a brash kid who talked big after reading a few books.
After reprimanding Chen Yufang, Chen Xian waved his hand to signal Su Cheng and Yan Hongqiang, who had respectfully stood up to see him off, to sit back down. Then he turned and walked towards the study.
Although he had retired and was now idle at home, he was, after all, a high-ranking official who had stepped down from the political arena of Pingyang City. It was best to avoid involvement in many matters. If not for his stubborn, willful daughter and considering Su Chunfeng’s standing, he would never have agreed to discuss business at home.
When he sat back down on the sofa, Yan Hongqiang’s gaze held more attention and thoughtfulness as he looked at Su Chunfeng.
This young fellow named Su Chunfeng, wearing sneakers, shorts, and a white T-shirt, looked like a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old high school student. Why would former Deputy Municipal Party Secretary Chen Xian specifically mention that his daughter must discuss matters with him?
Moreover, Yan Hongqiang could tell that Chen Xian’s words weren’t just a reprimand for Chen Yufang; they were also meant for him, an outsider wanting to do business with her company.
Chen Yufang had also said that Su Chunfeng was just Su Cheng’s son.
And this Su Cheng was clearly a country bumpkin. Since he was the legal representative and General Manager of Wantong Freight Forwarding Agency Co., Ltd., why had Chen Yufang not mentioned him at all regarding matters related to the construction plans for the Wantong Logistics Park? It showed that Chen Yufang didn’t take her brother-in-law Su Cheng seriously at all. In other words, Su Cheng was just a figurehead with no real power in Wantong Freight Forwarding Agency Co., Ltd.
As for his son…
He should be even less noteworthy.
Could this kid have something extraordinary about him?
Just as Yan Hongqiang thought this, he heard Chen Yufang say somewhat sarcastically, “General Manager Yan, the engineering report and park design drawings your company made… our President Su’s son, Su Chunfeng, is not very satisfied with them.”
“Hmm?” Yan Hongqiang was stunned.
Su Cheng explained with an awkward smile, “Kids can’t keep their thoughts to themselves; he says whatever comes to mind. Yufang, don’t take it to heart.”
“How dare I mind? My father thinks so highly of him,” Chen Yufang said, pouting her lips and not even glancing at Su Chunfeng.
Yan Hongqiang felt even more surprised, but with great shrewdness, he smoothed things over with a smile and praised, “Ah, as the saying goes, heroes come from the young. This little brother must be one of those.” Saying this, he looked at Su Chunfeng in a familiar manner and said politely, “Chunfeng, what do you feel is unsuitable about the engineering report and the park’s design drawings? You can tell me, and we’ll discuss it. Good things take time, right?”
Su Chunfeng seemed to not hear their conversation, especially Chen Yufang’s words, as if he couldn’t be bothered. He was just quickly skimming through the stack of engineering cost reports, reading ten lines at a glance. Hearing Yan Hongqiang address him, he finally turned his head, smiled, put down the report in his hand, and said in a calm tone, “General Manager Yan, some of what I’m about to say might not be pleasant to hear. I hope you won’t mind.”
“Please go ahead,” Yan Hongqiang said with a smile, finding it amusing that a teenage boy would speak to him like this.
Su Chunfeng smiled and said, “Looking at the engineering cost report submitted by your company and this design drawing for the logistics park construction plan, I feel your company’s qualifications… probably aren’t suitable for undertaking such a large project.”
“Hmm?” Yan Hongqiang didn’t find it amusing anymore and asked seriously, “How so?”
“The report and design drawings are both too sloppy,” Su Chunfeng said, shaking his head with some dissatisfaction. “The cost estimates for all aspects of the project aren’t detailed enough; most are just rough guesses. Also, the park design sketch was clearly not made with care; it just looks copied from somewhere. Based on these alone, I have to doubt your company’s sincerity and qualifications. Do you really have the capability to undertake a project as large as the Wantong Logistics Park? Or perhaps, General Manager Yan’s company plans to subcontract the project after winning the contract?”
Yan Hongqiang’s heart skipped a beat. He never expected this teenage boy named Su Chunfeng to directly reveal his planned method of operation after securing the project. However, on the surface, he still smiled and said, “Ah, little brother Chunfeng, that’s not quite right. If there are issues with the engineering report and project design drawings, we can correct them. As for our company’s qualifications and capabilities… well, if there’s time, we can go to our company together right now. It’s at the intersection of Jianshe Avenue and Xingfu Road.”
“Where?” Su Chunfeng’s heart trembled.
“The intersection of Jianshe Avenue and Xingfu Road…” Yan Hongqiang said with a smile. “Have you been there, little brother?”
“I passed by there twice. I vaguely remember there being this company,” Su Chunfeng said, calming the emotional turmoil inside him. A cold glint flashed briefly in his eyes as he said indifferently, “It’s a six-story office building, right?”
“Yes, yes, that’s right.”
“Oh.” Su Chunfeng nodded, then suddenly felt annoyed and unsettled. He looked slightly tired and irritable as he said, “I’m sorry, I’m not feeling well. I need to calm down. I’ve already shared my opinions on the park construction plan with my aunt and my father. Let them explain it to you.”
With that, Su Chunfeng stood up and walked toward Chen Xian’s study.
“Xiaofeng, what’s wrong?” Su Cheng asked urgently.
“Nothing. I need some quiet,” Su Chunfeng said, waving his hand without looking back.
In the living room, Chen Yufang, Su Cheng, and Yan Hongqiang looked at each other in confusion—no one understood why Su Chunfeng suddenly got up and left in the middle of their conversation, and why he went to Chen Xian’s study.
After a moment of silence, Yan Hongqiang broke the quiet with a smile and said earnestly, “Manager Chen, President Su, please share any opinions or suggestions you have about the design drawings and report. If there are areas where our company falls short, we will definitely try our best to improve until we meet your company’s requirements.”
By then, Su Chunfeng had already rather impolitely pushed open the study door and walked in. He closed the door behind him and said to Chen Xian, who was reading a newspaper at the desk, “Grandpa, I need some quiet to think about some things. Please continue reading.”
As he spoke, he walked to the side of the balcony, sat down in a rattan chair, leaned back, and closed his eyes slightly, lifting his face.
Chen Xian turned his head with some surprise to look at Su Chunfeng but didn’t ask any questions. He knew that people with special abilities often did strange things that were hard to understand.
Sitting in the reclining chair, Su Chunfeng’s heart was in turmoil.
He finally understood why the name Hongyun Construction Co., Ltd. and the first sight of Yan Hongqiang felt so familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere before—on the morning of the sixth day of the first lunar month last year, when Su Chunfeng and his family went to the city to pay New Year’s respects to Chen Xian, their bus stopped at the intersection of Jianshe Avenue and Xingfu Road due to a red light. Su Chunfeng saw this company, which seemed to have just opened, and he also saw Yan Hongqiang standing inside the company entrance. The reason Su Chunfeng had a slight impression of this company and Yan Hongqiang from that brief, passing glance was because among the several people standing with Yan Hongqiang, there was one whom Su Chunfeng had known in his previous life and knew would become a famous Feng Shui and physiognomy master in the Jianghu of Esoteric Arts a few years later—Shi Linheng.
Thus, Su Chunfeng could now be completely certain that the physiognomy expert who set up that large Feng Shui Magic Array near the agency sales office was Shi Linheng.
And the purpose of Shi Linheng setting up the Arcane Array…
It truly had no harmful effects on people. It was solely to help Yan Hongqiang’s Hongyun Construction Co., Ltd. secure the construction project for the Wantong Logistics Park through the Feng Shui Magic Array—obviously, Yan Hongqiang, being in this line of work, was likely well-informed about engineering project news around Pingyang City, so he learned early about the upcoming large project in Erdaokou Town. As a new construction company without advantages in qualifications or strength, to stand out among many competitors, he could only enlist the help of Feng Shui and physiognomy master Shi Linheng to set up a Feng Shui Magic Array, hoping for great fortune to ultimately win the project.
For Su Chunfeng, this actually posed no real threat or harm. At most, Yan Hongqiang might just make a bit more money from the contract fees.
But the moment Su Chunfeng realized all this, his mind suddenly became chaotic, and he could no longer stay calm.
Because, for the first time in over two years since his rebirth, he felt so clearly—the Jianghu of Esoteric Arts was so close to him.