Chapter 980: Are you participating too?

Shen Ci keenly captured the fleeting unease in Li Wanchang's eyes, her own eyes filled with a cunning smile.

"Uncle Li, you ask that—what could I be doing here?" Shen Ci looked around the surroundings lightly and said with a smile: "Of course, I'm here to do what everyone else is here to do."

Hearing this, Li Wanchang's expression tightened. At this moment, he also belatedly noticed Shen Ci's attire today; it was indeed the first time he had seen her dressed so formally.

But his heart turned, and he couldn't help but feel suspicious. Looking at Shen Ci, he asked with doubt: "You're here to attend the meeting?"

Clearly, he was half-believing and half-doubting at this moment.

What he believed was that Shen Ci appeared here dressed solemnly; what he doubted was that he had investigated Shen Ci's background quite clearly—Shen Ci had not stepped into the construction industry, and she didn't even have any company where she served as the legal representative.

The project to be discussed in today's meeting was not something an ordinary small company could participate in. By what right was Shen Ci here?

As for Li Wanchang's question of knowing the answer but asking anyway, Shen Ci was too lazy to answer. She couldn't help but answer irrelevantly: "I heard from Li Xiao a few days ago that you were sick. He also said it was caused by me."

Having said this, Shen Ci sized up Li Wanchang's state slightly; he was indeed thinner. So she asked with hypocritical concern: "Uncle Li, you must take care of your health. As a junior, I sometimes speak without restraint or measure; please don't take it to heart. If you really anger yourself into poor health, it's you who will suffer."

"After all, I won't have a shred of guilt." After Shen Ci finished speaking, she revealed a smile with a perfect arc, harmless to humans and animals.

Li Wanchang felt a lump in his throat: "You..."

"A-Ci!" At this time, Wang Can arrived with the team members and headed straight for Shen Ci the moment she saw her.

Up close, Wang Can also noticed Li Wanchang. She was the manager of the "Jiangdong Group" responsible for large-scale construction projects. Li Wanchang was no stranger to Wang Can, so seeing Wang Can appear, his expression was shocked, and he didn't hide his shock at all.

Wang Can nodded slightly, considering it a greeting to Li Wanchang, and turned to look at Shen Ci: "Came so early?"

"Just arrived not long ago," Shen Ci responded with a shallow smile, glanced at Li Wanchang, and said: "Just happened to run into Uncle Li and talked to him for a while."

Li Wanchang, on the side, came back to his senses from the shock and couldn't help but look at Wang Can and ask: "Manager Wang, is 'Jiangdong Group' also going to participate in the bidding for this project?"

His voice was laced with some urgency, and his heart was clearly beginning to tense up.

Wang Can's temperament was rigorous. Hearing this, she nodded lightly: "Yes, Chairman Li. This time, the bidding matters for the 'Jiangdong Group' regarding this project are all handled by Ms. Shen Ci."

Li Wanchang's eyes widened, and he looked at Shen Ci in disbelief, only to meet her gaze, which was smiling on the surface but full of provocation in her eyes.

A surge of blood rushed to his head. Li Wanchang only felt his throat tighten, as if he were stuck by a car. His lips trembled for a long time without being able to say a single word.

Because he could feel Shen Ci's blatant targeting; she was aiming directly at the "Li Group"!

"Time is almost up, let's go in first." Wang Can patted Shen Ci.

Shen Ci said to Li Wanchang, still appearing polite: "Then Uncle Li, we'll go in first. See you later."

Li Wanchang watched Shen Ci walk away with a group of people with a stiff expression. After a long while, someone behind him called him back to his senses: "Chairman, hasn't 'Jiangdong Group' always not participated in the bidding for this kind of project?"

This was something almost everyone in the industry knew.

With the business volume of "Jiangdong Group," the super-large projects directly assigned by the state every year were already something other enterprises couldn't envy. As a household-name national super-large group, in order to balance the industry, they would leave the publicly bid national-level projects for other groups to compete for and participate in. Therefore, "Jiangdong Group" never participated in any bidding for projects of any nature.

This practice highlighted the broad pattern of "Jiangdong Group" and even more established its foundation as the "big brother" among domestic enterprises.

Li Wanchang's heart was in chaos. He could feel Shen Ci's deliberate targeting, and he found it hard to believe that "Jiangdong Group" had broken its usual practice simply to sanction the "Li Group."

He even forgot Shen Ci's other new identity: she was now Jiang Yuanliang's stepdaughter, and she had Jiang Yuanliang's support behind her.

"Participating or not is the freedom of 'Jiangdong Group'; there is no rule saying they aren't allowed to participate." Li Wanchang's mind was completely chaotic, but there was no way back. The "Li Group" had to obtain the qualification to participate in the project, even if it was just for the scraps of the engineering work.

And after Li Wanchang entered with his team, there was a gaze in the lobby that had been watching him from start to finish.

The man was in a crisp suit, about fifty years old. The expression between his brows was very light, but he couldn't hide the aura of being in control of the situation.

He saw him playing with two "walnuts" in his hand, and he waited until the people in the lobby were mostly gone before greeting the team on the side: "Let's go in."

Inside the venue, company nameplates were set up on the tables in front of each position. "Jiangdong Group" was undoubtedly in the middle of the first row.

Shen Ci, as the youngest person in the audience, sat in the middle, inevitably attracting attention.

"Who is the person in charge of Jiangdong Group?"

"Isn't that Wang Can?"

"I'm talking about the little girl in the middle. She looks very unfamiliar; I've never seen her."

"I don't know either..."

In the back, Li Wanchang could only see the back of Shen Ci's head from afar, and Shen Ci never looked back at him again throughout the whole process, but he always felt that a gaze was always falling on him.

He subconsciously shifted his eyes left and right, and suddenly collided with a deep gaze.

That person didn't dodge or evade, and even when he made eye contact with Li Wanchang, his expression didn't change.

Li Wanchang frowned because the other party looked older than himself, but he felt very unfamiliar and had no impression in his mind.

After hesitating for a moment, he nodded, considering it a greeting.

However, the other party didn't have any extra reaction. Accompanied by official personnel taking the stage, he also slowly retracted his gaze, leaving Li Wanchang with a cold back of the head.

The lights dimmed instantly, and the big screen in the conference room lit up: "Welcome everyone to the 'Winter Olympics Project Bidding Forward-Looking Meeting.' The theme of this meeting is: unify the understanding of all parties, clarify bidding rules, solidify work nodes, lay the foundation for the efficient, standardized, and clean promotion of the Winter Olympics project, and ensure the selection of high-quality partners to guarantee the preparation of the event."

A round of applause erupted at the scene. Shen Ci straightened her expression and sat up straight, rarely feeling energized. ===== CHAPTER 981 =====