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Chapter 574: Chapter 781: A Formidable Enemy (Subscribe, please!)_1
Clutching their chests, the two men took a moment to recover.
At this moment, Chai Ren once against questioned if he was really wealthy, always getting such shocking news. Zheng Lin began to reassess Tang Qing, a man who could just toss off a billion RMB. He wanted to ask if such a local tyrant needed a bodyguard.
"Haha, no problem, I promise to keep it a secret for you. By the way, what kind of company does Brother Tang run?" Zheng Lin laughed out loud, clearly pleased with the day’s harvest: shares in a movie company and a capricious, well-off friend. His prior frustrations vanished.
"Sheng Tang Group, I don’t know whether Brother Zheng has heard of it." Tang Qing said.
Upon hearing this, Zheng Lin thought carefully, "Sounds familiar, I think I’ve seen their commercials on TV and heard people talking about it, right, the rapidly rising Sheng Tang Group with its headquarter in a small inland city?"
Finally, Zheng Lin remembered having heard about the company before. However, he wasn’t very familiar with it. What he could recall mainly due to the words ’Sheng Tang’ having a particular significance to him, a history scholar, as they represented a resplendent era of Huaxia civilization.
"Yes, that’s the one." Tang Qing confirmed.
Zheng Lin complimented, "Nice, a national brand. If you ever need help with corporate promotion in the future, just give me a shout. I can’t promise to get you on the News Broadcast, there’s quite a bit of difficulty and planning involved with that, but I can certainly handle the other media channels."
"Thank you, Brother Zheng. Here’s to you." Tang Qing raised his glass again. He didn’t have any hopes of appearing on the News Broadcast. If he could secure some good advertising spots, that would be more than enough. If he really ends up holding the tiger’s whip, nothing could be better.
"Cheers!"
"Sure."
After another round, Shen Yi was not surprised that Tang Qing owned other companies. It would be strange if he didn’t. As for Sheng Tang Group, he had certainly heard of it. As a deputy manager in the planning department of an entertainment company, it was common to have clothing sponsors and he had a good understanding of clothing brands.
"Brother Tang, have you learned martial arts?" Zheng Lin recalled the earlier scene.
Tang Qing nodded, "Yes, I learned for a while from a Special Forces soldier from our city."
"To have such strength at this age, you must have trained extremely hard back then." Zheng Lin admired.
Tang Qing couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. Hard training, there had indeed been some of that. Each time he unlocked the Gene Lock, the pain was excruciating.
"It’s nothing. How can a man not endure hardship if he wants to accomplish something?" Tang Qing said with righteous indignation.
"Great, if I weren’t worried about being accused of bullying the young, I’d challenge you to a match." Zheng Lin said, a bit excited.
"I’ve only learned a little. I’m not in the same league as Brother Zheng." Tang Qing modestly responded, he did not want to spar with Zheng Lin. Wouldn’t want to discourage him. At the moment, apart from soldiers, no one could compete with him.
"You kid, let’s have another. Haha." Zheng Lin thought that Tang Qing had just trained to keep fit and hadn’t learned any fighting skills.
Afterward, everyone continued drinking and chatting happily. As they got to know each other better, Zheng Lin felt more and more that Tang Qing’s ideas aligned with his own, especially regarding the movie company. Their mutual dissatisfaction with the status quo and shared ambition to conquer the global market were the same.
An hour later.
It was getting late.
Zheng Lin and Chai Ren had to go home, especially Zheng Lin, whose wife had already urged him to come back several times. He had to soothe his daughter on the phone and put her to sleep.
In the end, Zheng Lin waived Tang Qing’s hotel charges, arguing with Chai Ren who wanted to pay. Of course, as the elder brother, Zheng Lin won and Chai Ren had to relent.
’Autumn Palace’ entrance
They said their goodbyes.
Shen Yi would be staying at the hotel that night.
Watching Chai Ren and Zheng Lin’s car disappear,
"Brother Shen, let’s go, let’s go back and rest." Tang Qing asked Shen Yi, who was standing next to him.
"Alright, we’ve been running around all day, I’m a bit tired." Shen Yi replied.
"Tomorrow we’ll just follow Young Master Chai around. When we get to Shanghai, it’ll be your turf. I’m unfamiliar with the place." Tang Qing joked.
Shen Yi laughed heartily, "Haha, Brother Tang, don’t worry. When we get to Shanghai, I’ll handle everything. Wait and see. No, I should start calling you Boss Tang." Tang Qing would be his boss in just a week.
Tang Qing waved his hands, "It’s still okay. The company wouldn’t be established until next week. Just call me Brother Tang for now, you can change that later. You also know that my girlfriend still doesn’t know about it."
"I totally forgot about that, got it. I won’t spill the beans." Shen Yi suddenly remembered Tang Qing reminding him about this during dinner.
"Good."
After that, Tang Qing and Shen Yi went upstairs. Shen Yi was staying in a luxury single room on the seventh floor, which was not on the same floor as the Heavenly Room. They said goodnight and returned to their own rooms.
On the other side.
After parting, Zheng Lin went through his routine of recalling what happened just now, a habit he had kept for over a decade. Every time he had an important meeting, he would recall the whole process afterward, including the expressions he saw, the words he heard, the speculations he made. If there were any issues or errors, they would gradually emerge.
Tang Qing.
He had a hard time figuring him out.
Zheng Lin’s face grew serious, he simply stopped pondering, and directly dialed Chai Ren’s number.
"Haha, Brother Zheng, I knew you would make this call." Chai Ren loudly said over the phone.
"Who is this Tang Qing?" Zheng Lin got straight to the point.
Chai Ren was ready with his answer, "The explanation is a long one. I also got to know him through a friend. There are some details I’d rather not tell you, but all you need to know is, this man is not someone you want as an enemy."
Since he couldn’t disclose too many details, he might as well make it sound mysterious.
"Not to be taken as an enemy?" Zheng Lin furrowed his brows. He hadn’t expected the four-word response from Chai Ren. What kind of answer was this? It was almost like saying nothing at all.
"Yes, my father said so. As for the rest... it’s too crucial to reveal." Chai Ren pulled out the father card for additional credibility.
Just as expected.
Zheng Lin had no more questions.
Chai Guoqiang’s comments must be grounded in some unknown reasoning. As such, he could only bury his question deep within his heart. There was virtually no chance of extracting more information from Chai Ren if he was unwilling to share.
"I understand, I won’t probe any further. The goal is to maintain a good relationship with Tang Qing anyway." Zheng Lin concluded.
"Exactly, a good bond could bring about surprises in the future, but not now." Chai Ren suddenly decided to put up a mysterious front again.
Zheng Lin didn’t fall for it again, "Understood, goodbye."
After hanging up, a slow smile spread across his face, imagining the frustrated look on Chai Ren’s face. The reality was probably the same. Keeping someone guessing was definitely fun, but it seemed that Chai Ren wouldn’t have the chance to say "guess what" this time.
"Sigh, I should have given him some hope," Chai Ren expressed regretfully.
The two of them shared a close relationship and often engaged in this kind of banter.
Tang Qing returned to his room.
"Knock, knock, knock..." the sound of knocking echoed as the door card was not with Tang Qing.
Just after the knock...
The soft scuffling sound of slippers could be heard quickly approaching.
"Click." The door was opened and there stood Lin Jiaxue in her pajamas. Tang Qing took two steps forward and embraced Lin Jiaxue, closing the door behind him. Only when the door closed did Lin Jiaxue snap out of her daze, realizing she had been taken advantage of again.
"Tangtang, Sister Miao is still around." Lin Jiaxue shoved Tang Qing away, protesting bashfully.
Tang Qing casually slipped his arm around Lin Jiaxue’s waist and glanced sideways. Sure enough, Miao Ru was glaring daggers at him. Tang Qing quickly ducked his head; he didn’t dare to mess with the feisty girl.
He let go of Lin Jiaxue, instead leading her to the living room.
"Sister Miao, still up?" Tang Qing realized his question was asinine once the words were out of his mouth.
As expected...
His IQ was instantly disparaged.
"If we were asleep, who would have opened the door for you? Jiaxue and I will sleep in the master bedroom, you take the second bedroom." Miao Ru declared with all the airs of an older sister.
Tang Qing could only accede, "I haven’t asked yet. I’d even sleep on the sofa."
"Why were you talking with Chai Ren for so long? What were you talking about?" Miao Ru asked curiously. After whispering with Lin Jiaxue, she found Tang Qing rather intriguing. A seemingly ordinary high school student had ascended conspicuously to the top position in his grade.
Moreover, he was acquainted with the local tycoons and Chai Ren, who had personally welcomed him and even humbly served as a tour guide. Her female intuition told her there was more to Tang Qing than met her eye.
Therefore, Miao Ru was slightly worried about Lin Jiaxue. Women like her were indeed the dream of many men. However, with her laid-back, non-interfering nature, she was bound to end up at a disadvantage. Looking at Lin Jiaxue, who invoked a sense of sympathy and concern, Miao Ru decided she needed to teach her a thing or two about taming men.
"Nothing much, just some of his experiences, reminiscing about the past, and discussing the future. Oddly enough, Chai Ren should really consider pursuing a career in stand-up comedy," Tang Qing said wryly.
Miao Ru laughed out loud at his words.
"Stand-up comedy? Him? Although the idea is amusing, imagine a stand-up act at his wedding ceremony. It would be quite interesting. I should discuss this with Zhan Xi," Miao Ru replied, her eyes gleaming with amusement.
Tang Qing could only silently wish Chai Ren luck.
Stand-up comedy at a wedding ceremony? Which tradition was this a part of? They should not casually change settings.
However...
It seemed quite entertaining.
As he sat on the sofa, Lin Jiaxue was whisked away by Miao Ru. With no one to cuddle, he felt a pervasive emptiness.
Alright then...
He should bathe first.
"I should take a bath first."
Saying thus, Tang Qing retreated to the second bedroom. He left the door ajar, knowing that nothing much would be visible unless someone came in.
"Sister Jiaxue, don’t you want to ask about the identity of the man from earlier?" Miao Ru asked in a low voice. They had previously watched Tang Qing bidding goodbye to Zheng Lin from the window. Another character had entered their equation, one who even had guards with him, indicating that Tang Qing wasn’t being completely truthful.
Lin Jiaxue glanced at her and smiled gently, "Even if I knew who he was, what difference would it make? All I need to know is that Tangtang will be my husband in the future and that he won’t abandon me. That alone is enough."
PS: I feel like I’m failing to capture the essence of pseudo-intelligence. If any readers have any interesting plot suggestions, feel free to leave a comment. Maybe I can incorporate it, haha.
