Strongest Counterattack

In the past several days, Hao Lei seized the chance to be familiar with Yun Ding’s environment. He had also gotten along pretty well with Song Wei. As an example, at least Song Wei had not tried to psych him out. Plus, since Gu Qingyang had been inside for so long a time, he and Hao Lei could help in taking care of each other.

Since everybody had been busy for a long time, as their current boss, of course, Qin Sheng needed to show his gratitude for their efforts. So after his return to Hangzhou, he arranged for them to have dinner together at noon. After all, in the evening, all of them would be busy attending to chores.

“How have you been after getting home these past few days?” Chang Baji arrived first, along with Gu Qingyang and Gu Xiaobo. The two young men were excited by the fact that Qin Sheng actually valued them highly. After all, they had been staying in the deep mountains and forests for a long time. Rarely had they seen a tycoon like Qin Sheng. In their eyes, Qin Sheng was their idol. Though he had the same age as them, he was already the president of a company.

Qin Sheng sat on the main seat. Gu Qingyang and Gu Xiaobo sat in the rear. They knew their positions. They knew clearly that it was because of their martial uncle that Qin Sheng had thought highly of them. If they wanted to earn Qin Sheng’s authentic favor, they still needed to do practical things and displaying their strength.

Qin Sheng said pretty helplessly, “Just so-so. Things stay the same, but people have changed. A lot of people and things could not go back. The memory is so vivid that it seems it just happened yesterday. Memories make people always feel puzzled and urge them to make a choice.”

“You just haven’t adjusted your mindset yet. I suggest that you make light of the past and make the best of things,” Chang Baji said randomly. Since he was already at his forties and he had gone through what should be experienced, of course, he would not feel confused.

Qin Sheng chuckled as he said, “I am not that capable. Maybe I am young and I have got a little experience. Stop talking about these things. How is it going on Bao Li’s side?”

Chang Baji said thoughtfully, “I have been engaged in social activities in recent days, having dinner with the heads, leaders of the relative parties in the two levels of the urban area. We need to reorganize connections in both the upper and lower levels. However, Lao Luo actually has pretty powerful connections. At least, the group of people respect him.”

“He is one of the several tycoons under the charge of Third Master Wu. Since he has been operating in Hangzhou for so many years, he definitely has powerful connections. In the future, we need to be closer to him,” Qin Sheng pondered deeply as he said. He was thinking about how he could communicate with Brother Luo often via making use of Master Liu’s resources.

Chang Baji nodded quietly as he said, “As for this, I will figure it out. However, since we are just rising up in Hangzhou city, we need to take it slowly, step by step. We should not do it rashly.”

As they went on talking, soon, more people arrived one after another. In an instant, the private room was quite noisy. Since basically all were old acquaintances, they started chatting with each other. On Qin Sheng’s left side, there were Chang Baji, Hao Lei, and Lyu Yuan. On his right side, there were Yu Fengzhi and Ms. An. As for Gu Qingyang and Gu Xiaobo, they sat on the opposite side.

The dishes had been ordered in advance. They would only drink tea instead of wine that day. After all, all had issues to attend to in the afternoon. They would go on a binge when they were completely free.

“Among the attendees, some are my old friends and some are my new friends. I guess all have known each other well. You have been leading a hard life in recent days,” Qin Sheng stood up as he said, “I’ve asked you to gather here today. We are not here for anything important. I just want to find an opportunity to talk with you. There are no outsiders present. Everyone is from our own side. I want to tell you my innermost thoughts today.”

Ms. An teased him as she said, “Are you trying to make a loving statement?”

“Ms. An, please don’t tease me anymore,” Qin Sheng chuckled as he said. After that, he added closely. “From Xi’an to Shanghai, Lao Chang and Hao Lei have been following me. I met Ms. An, Fengzhi, and Brother Lyu in Shanghai. We stayed together in Shangshan Ruoshui for a few months. Though the duration was short, the friendship between us was sincere. I will not talk about what happened next, as long as you all know it. Qinyang and Xiaobo can be counted as new members in our group. They are also the youngest ones. As Lao Chang’s martial nephews, they are good young men. I admire them very much. I am alone in Hangzhou. At the time when I needed helpers the most, you were all able to come to Hangzhou to help me. I am greatly grateful for that. This is the truth. Especially Ms. An, Fengzhi, and Brother Lyu, who were willing to leave everything in Shanghai behind. I will put this favor you did for me in my heart.”

Hao Lei teased him as he said “You are definitely love-talking. The way I see it, you can directly raise our salaries and give out bonuses to us after this lunch.”

After that, Yu Fengzhi said, “Hao Lei is right. If a boss talks about the ideal, the feelings, and the friendship instead of money, he is simply a ruffian.”

Yu Fengzhi specifically stressed the last word ruffian as she spoke. The way she looked at Qin Sheng was pretty special.

“Whether it’s salary raise or bonus, they are no issues at all. I’ve promised you that I won’t treat you shabbily when it comes to the pay,” Qin Sheng said resolutedly.

Lyu Yuan replied in a polite way, “President Qin. We are not here simply for the pay. We are here mainly because of you. We should thank you for granting us such an opportunity.”

“What Lyu Yuan said hits right at the point. It doesn’t matter to us what kinds of duties we need to perform. The point lies in who we are going to work with and whether it is promising or not,” Chang Baji echoed the statement.

Qin Sheng said thoughtfully, “I know what you mean. I wonder, how capable am I that I deserve your loyalty? So I can only reward you with my promise. Putting it in simple terms, as long as I become more and more amazing, you will also be the same. As long as you treat me with your sincerity, I won’t treat you shabbily.”

After saying that, Qin Sheng took the tea cup. “I don’t drink alcohol today. I respect everyone with tea and wine. I wish we get better and better. I wish we can all make a difference in Hangzhou. Let’s drink.”

Instead of being boastful, Qin Sheng was pretty sincere when he said the previous words. In that society, if you wanted to achieve success, you would need a group of like-minded people by your side to take care of you. Speaking of the ones striving alone to achieve success, after all, there were few.

They ate dishes as well as chatted with each other. Qin Sheng was discussing with all of them about the work progress in the subsidiaries and the issues arising in every subsidiary. They chatted randomly. After all, it was not a formal occasion.

They ended the lunch before two o’clock. All went back to the company and started their work. Ms. An had the heaviest responsibility. She needed to coordinate everything. Fortunately, there were always some people available under her charge, that could help her shoulder the responsibility. She did not need to worry about the detailed execution issues.

In the afternoon, Qin Sheng went to visit Jiuxi Rose Garden first. Cao Da had asked several friends of his out that night, who were all pretty close to him. He specifically took Qin Sheng there. He was doing so to fulfill what he had once promised to Qin Sheng. He intended to let Qin Sheng start taking over his connections. After all, he did not bother to take advantage of some connections at the moment. Only after he handed those connections over to Qin Sheng could they be fully utilized.

The place for dinner was one of Cao Da’s houses in the Hu Pao Spring region, which was cleaned up specifically by the employees. It was also the first time Qin Sheng had heard of that location. After all, they should pay attention to social conduct in current times. As for the restaurant, high-end club or whatever, of course, they could not go there. Nobody could be picky about a family dinner. Cao Da sent Qin Sheng there first to check on the whole situation and see how the preparation progressing. It was not until nightfall that he showed up.

Those people were all heads and leaders in the city. The most inferior of them was even at the level of Director. Among them, of course, Qin Sheng was the most inferior one. Due to Cao Da’s influence, they did not treat him as an outsider. However, Cao Da spoke pretty highly of Qin Sheng. He directly told the people present that Qin Sheng was his successor, whom he had personally chosen. In that case, nobody dared to make light of Qin Sheng. But Qin Sheng knew how to put himself in the right position. Though he felt somewhat tired, he talked and behaved sensibly and flexibly, which was a basic skill to hang around in that circle.

Since Cao Da was in bad condition, he drank less. Qin Sheng took the initiative to help him drink the wine offered from others and toasted with each leader. Unconsciously, he had drunk up a liter and a half of spirits. Since those leaders had been hanging around in different dinner parties and wine parties every day, they were all good at drinking. Qin Sheng had no choice but to throw in his lot with them.

At 11 o’clock, that dinner party had finally ended. Qin Sheng accompanied Cao Da to see all the leaders off. It was not until sending everyone off that they left. Cao Da asked Qin Sheng to go home together with him, saying his driver Lao Li would drive him home at that time. Qin Sheng thought it was too troublesome and refused Cao Da’s suggestion subtly. He directly ordered a taxi and went home.

Originally, he had planned to hang around in Yun Ding that night. After all, ever since he had become the vice president of the group, taking over the subsidiaries, he had yet to talk with Song Wei in a formal way. Song Wei must feel uncomfortable about that. Everyone knew Qin Sheng was a highly favored person by Cao Da’s side; even Lao Zhou was left aside. Though Yun Ding was assigned to be under Qin Sheng’s charge, Qin Sheng had not even visited there once. What would that group of people in Yun Ding think?

After he arrived in the Golden Coast residential quarter, he was not anxious to get in. While sitting at the entrance of the residential quarter, he held a bottle of water in his hands as he vomited. He was a complete mess. After he had been sitting by the roadside for approximately half an hour and he had recovered from the wine, he stood up and went home.

Previously, Qin Sheng did not know why many people would get drunk, get completely drunk, and unconscious. Moreover, some even slept by the roadside for the whole night. It was in later days that he finally figured it out. Except for the drunkards, who drank simply for wine, and those ones, who were contending with their drinking capacity in a wine party, to most people, in order to make a living, they had no choice but to drink. Though they all knew they would feel lousy if they were drunk, they had no choice but to drink.

Originally, Qin Sheng had thought both Xin Xin and Lin Su had fallen asleep. After he opened the door, he saw them watching TV in the living room. He smiled sulkily as he said, “Why haven’t you gone to sleep yet? Aren’t you tired after a whole days’ visiting?”

“Did you drink?” Lin Su smelled a burst of pungent odor instantly. Moreover, the look on Qin Sheng’s face was ghastly. He even walked a bit shakingly.

Qin Sheng smiled bitterly as he said, “Uncle Cao introduced me to some leaders in the city, who are all the connections he has made in the past years. I had no choice but to drink with them.”

“Take a seat. I will brew some tea for you,” Lin Su said, as she hurriedly stood up. She did not complain nor grumble at all.

Qin Sheng felt warm-hearted in secret. However drunk he was, however late he came home, he knew there would always be someone waiting for him at home. They would be concerned about him and they would take care of him. That was what motivated him to move forward. Whatever it took, it was worth it.

“Brother. You should drink less in later days. You need to take your health seriously,” Xin Xin said, as she hurriedly poured a cup of water for Qin Sheng.

While stroking Xin Xin’s hair, Qin Sheng said, “Silly girl. You know you should feel sorry for your brother now, right? If so, don’t anger me in later days. Who am I doing all these things for? I am doing this to save a dowry for you.”

What Qin Sheng had said was simply a joke to liven up the atmosphere. However, Xin Xin took it as a sincere statement and said distressedly, “I know. But I don’t want to see you working so hard and being so tired.”

Qin Sheng did not like that feeling at all. Those things were what he should do. He was not willing to let his relatives feel concerned for him. So he was pondering on what he should do next time if he ended up drunk after events. At that time, he would not go home. Instead, he would directly turn to Brother Lei or Lao Chang and stay in their homes for the night.