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Chapter 211: Chapter 180: I’m broke, can’t afford it (Please Subscribe!) _1
By now, the front of the Dream Melody Group building was already filled with various vehicles. The most expensive of them was Liu Qian’s Rolls-Royce Phantom, which had just been released last year. Tang Qing was actually quite surprised that Liu Qian could get his hands on such a high-level car.
It’s not that he thought Liu Qian couldn’t afford it, but this was a car that had only been on the market for a short time. All the world’s tycoons were eyeing its limited production. Liu Qian somehow managed to get one. It seemed rather unbelievable.
Had the production of this new Rolls-Royce Phantom increased?
Or did Liu Qian use some underhanded connections?
It couldn’t possibly be second-hand, could it?
But it’s only been on the market for such a short time!
Tang Qing couldn’t figure it out.
Seeing Tang Qing staring at Liu Qian’s car, Dou Jiao laughed and said, "Little brother Tang, why don’t you buy one of those cars like Boss Liu’s? Look how sleek, steady, domineering, and profound it is."
"Eh, I don’t have the money," Tang Qing said, touching his nose. He thought to himself, "It’s easy for her to say when she’s not the one paying for it." Currently, all his money was earmarked for other crucial things. He didn’t want to indulge in materialistic desires like before. Firstly, he needed to accumulate 500 million RMB in ’survival funds’ before pursuing growth. Secondly, the Command Center was a money pit, so buying a car for show was something to consider when his finances were more stable.
"When you do have the money, you must buy one. I want to ride in it, and even drive it," Dou Jiao said with a look of longing. She thought that Tang Qing was genuinely out of money. After all, this time he’d really coughed up a tangible 100 million in cash, not to mention the tens of millions spent on the Sky Eye Headquarters and the investment in Sheng Tang which added up to nearly 200 million RMB. That was a lot of money.
"If you want to ride in one, just ask Boss Liu to lend you his," Tang Qing said curiously. Didn’t Dou Jiao have cars at her disposal?
"Boss Liu’s is his, I just want to drive yours," Dou Jiao said with a smug and determined expression.
"..." Tang Qing was left speechless.
Great, he’d been targeted by this ’bullying woman.’
As it was unclear whether Tang Qing and the others would drive themselves, a parking spot had been reserved in front of the Group’s building. Upon seeing this, Tang Qing could only think: how bloody considerate. Only, he couldn’t enjoy this privilege.
Even though today was a Saturday, everyone at Dream Melody Group was at work as usual due to the special occasion. As Tang Qing and Dou Jiao both arrived just in time, they didn’t see many employees coming and going.
Understandably, today was the Group’s first Board of Directors meeting. The big shots and shareholders would be present. It was okay for these VIPs to arrive just on time, but if the employees did so, there’d be trouble. Apart from Liu Qian and Tang Qing, no one in the Group dared to push it to the last minute. If these two big shots arrived and didn’t see anyone, well, those latecomers would be in for a rough time. Therefore, the entire company started work half an hour earlier today, and had even undergone a thorough clean-up the day before.
"Good morning, Miss Dou and Mr. Tang." said the receptionists respectfully at the entrance.
For the sake of this conference, two handsome receptionists were clad in elegant blue qipaos with phoenix embroidery to greet the guests at the entrance.
Having frequented the place, Dou Jiao was, of course, familiar to them. While they’d never seen Tang Qing before, their manager had informed them that the youngest and handsome man among the crowd was Mr. Tang, the second-largest shareholder of the company. At first, they thought their manager was just flattering, but when they met him, they couldn’t help but feel slightly infatuated.
"Hello," Dou Jiao replied with a smile. After that, she led Tang Qing inside, with Tang Qing also nodding his head in return to their greeting.
Dou Jiao confidently led Tang Qing to the fourteenth floor to the large conference room. Naturally, this conference room was much larger than the one at Sheng Tang Apparel, but it wasn’t as luxurious. After all, it had been decorated four or five years ago, whereas the one at Sheng Tang had been adorned by a decoration company.
Gangzi was standing at the entrance of the conference room. The moment he saw Tang Qing and the others, he immediately walked over with a smile.
"Hey Gangzi, good morning," Tang Qing greeted before Gangzi could say anything.
"Good morning, Boss Tang, Boss Dou. Boss Liu is already inside. Please, come in," Gangzi said with a full smile. He used to call Tang Qing ’Little Tang’, but after last night’s event, he no longer dared to do so. He initially thought that Tang Qing could only be on par with his boss because of someone behind him, so calling him ’Little Tang’ wasn’t inappropriate. However, he now realized that Tang Qing was a formidable figure in his own right, leaving him with no right to use that nickname anymore.
Tang Qing could already discern Gangzi’s shifting attitude, and couldn’t help but inwardly smile bitterly. He figured he had likely been once again imagined by Liu Qian to be a prominent figure. However, he currently had no self-awareness of being such a figure.
By now, Liu Qian had arrived and was sitting in the chairman’s seat, in conversation with the new president of Dream Melody Group. The other directors had all taken their places and were quietly studying the material at hand. With Liu Qian present, nobody dared to whisper to each other.
When he saw Tang Qing and Dou Jiao entering, Liu Qian hurriedly stood up to welcome them. The other directors of the group also wisely got to their feet immediately to pay their respects. This surprised Tang Qing, who thought to himself that these large groups certainly were different, with lots of rules and a clear hierarchy.
Tang Qing shared a few words with Liu Qian before they took their seats one by one. The first board meeting of Dream Melody Group thus began.
Liu Qian served as the host.
"Alright, now that everyone is here, let’s start off with Dream Melody Group’s first board meeting. We all introduced ourselves last night, so I won’t dwell on that. As the host, I’m not looking to make this overly formal, just a few simple words. Firstly, welcome to all the directors of the group....." Liu Qian said, with a smile on his face.
He’s held far too many meetings of this kind, so going off-script was not a problem at all, especially given how he could recall and deliver an array of group data without a hint of sluggishness. This prompted Tang Qing to quietly commend him. Businessmen managing businesses of this scale certainly were no simpletons, as Liu Qian effortlessly delivered Dream Melody Group’s various data and future development plans, human resource appointments, and meeting resolutions, without looking at any scripts.
Such memory skills posed quite the challenge to an average person.
Tang Qing secretly nodded in approval. This was a habit worth emulating. It’s no wonder that Liu Qian became chairman, as he’s still willing to put in the effort to dive deep and memorize so much information, regardless of whether he is trying to show off or is genuine, he still deserved respect.
Essentially, the entire meeting consisted of Liu Qian speaking. Tang Qing said a few words of encouragement when he did speak, and the rest of the time he was just raising his hand to vote in favor of various board resolutions, which mainly concerned appointments and some departmental consolidations.
Simultaneously, Tang Qing delegated his future ’voting rights’ to a newly appointed vice president of Sky Eye. Naturally, this position was a token from Liu Qian for Tang Qing, the shareholder. Although this vice president is also under the management of Sky Eye, he holds a contract position within Sky Eye and is not considered a true Sky Eye employee, nor does he draw a salary from Sky Eye, which fundamentally differentiates him from the vice director of finance.
To put it simply, one is expected to do actual work, while the other mainly holds a supervisory role.
After the meeting ended.
"Little Tang, when are you planning to return to Qingyan City?" Liu Qian asked.
"I plan to return this afternoon, there’s nothing much for me here," Tang Qing replied with a smile. His main reason for visiting was to meet the senior executives of the Group and do some hand-raising. Once he had delegated those hand-raising duties, he was ready to leave.
"Tomorrow is Sunday and there are no classes. How about you return tomorrow?" suggested Liu Qian.
"Oh, do you need anything, Uncle Liu?" asked Tang Qing, puzzled.
"Heh, there’s nothing important, actually. I just have to meet some suppliers of the Dream Melody Group tonight. Last night, it was just the deputy managers and above of the Group, as well as the company’s managers and deputy managers. Given that you’re usually bored at school, I thought it would be good for you to meet more people and gain some experience," Liu Qian explained with a laugh.
He was being sincere. Now, his only goal was to foster a better relationship with Tang Qing, the more personal interaction they could have, the better. Otherwise, if their memories of each other only revolve around exchange, then it would be kind of, well, awkward. At his current level, besides using interests to forge alliances, there are other tactics that need to be considered, like plotting together.
"I don’t mind, but I need to check with my family first," Tang Qing considered before responding. He had originally planned to accompany Lin Jiaxue for the weekend, but after hearing about Liu Qian’s arrangements he was genuinely considering spending a few days here to observe the situation. However, he has to get the approval of his mother first.
"Do you need my help?" offered Liu Qian, assuming that Tang Qing needed to inform Qin Yugang. He didn’t know that Tang’s parents had come to Qingyan City.
"No need, the reason I came out was to celebrate someone’s birthday. You going would probably give the game away, wouldn’t it?" Tang Qing answered with a chuckled.
"Ha ha, alright, let me know in the afternoon after you’ve asked," laughed Liu Qian. Seeing Tang Qing was reluctant to say, he didn’t ask who this ’someone’ was, after all, it definitely wasn’t him.
"Sure thing," Tang Qing responded.
PS: Here comes the second Chapter.
