Chapter 37: The Contest for the Presidency

Xi Yang House, Council Chamber.

When Li Luo, Cai Wei, and Yan Yan Lingqing arrived at the place, they found every seat taken—every senior manager of Xi Yang House was present.

In the seat at the front, Zhuang Yi wore a smile, though beside him sat an elderly man whose face looked rather stern and rigid.

"Eh?"

At the sight of the old man, both Cai Wei and Yan Yan Lingqing let out a soft exclamation, then leaned in to explain in a low voice to the somewhat puzzled Li Luo: "That old man is called Zheng Ping, an elder from Xi Yang House headquarters. He has very deep seniority in Xi Yang House—when the two Palace Masters first established Xi Yang House, he was among the very first batch of old-timers."

"However, this old fellow is extremely pedantic and harsh, a stubborn, unyielding old stick. He normally stays at the headquarters in Wang Cheng. The fact that he's suddenly shown up without us receiving even a whisper of news means he's most likely up to no good."

While the two women were briefing Li Luo, everyone in the Council Chamber rose and bowed to Li Luo.

Even that Elder Zheng Ping from Xi Yang House headquarters stood up, his gaze falling on Li Luo as he said, "Greetings, Young Palace Master."

"Elder Zheng, you're too courteous." Li Luo smiled at Elder Zheng Ping, then took his seat along with Cai Wei and Yan Yan Lingqing.

"When did Elder Zheng arrive at Nanfeng City?" Yan Yan Lingqing suddenly asked.

Elder Zheng Ping's face was expressionless as he said, "Xi Yang House's Tian Shu Prefecture branch has had very poor performance this year. Headquarters sent me to take a look, and to settle the matter of the presidency that's been left hanging here."

As he spoke, his gaze turned somewhat sternly upon Yan Yan Lingqing. "Vice President Yan, I've already reviewed some of the financial reports. The First Rank Refining Room under your charge has had extremely poor performance lately—so much so that it's even damaged Xi Yang House's reputation throughout Tian Shu Prefecture. Do you have anything to say about that?"

Yan Yan Lingqing said coldly, "As for why that is, you'd get a clearer answer asking Vice President Zhuang Yi."

Vice President Zhuang Yi immediately responded, "If Vice President Yan herself lacks the ability, don't try to shift the blame onto others."

"If you hadn't been secretly strangling the First Rank Refining Room's material supplies, causing me to sometimes not even be able to carry out some of my training, would things have turned out like this?" Yan Yan Lingqing snapped coldly.

Vice President Zhuang Yi cried out in grievance: "Luo Lan Palace's situation in Tian Shu Prefecture was already poor to begin with, and some of the refining materials still have to go through those three houses in Tian Shu Prefecture. But those three houses have us in a stranglehold, so naturally the materials we can get our hands on are limited. And my Third Rank Refining Room is Xi Yang House's top-performing refining room—shouldn't it be supplied first?"

"You—!" Yan Yan Lingqing was so angry she slammed the table.

"Silence!"

Elder Zheng Ping barked angrily, shooting a fierce glare at both Zhuang Yi and Yan Yan Lingqing. "You both have your reasons, but I have no interest in listening. I only care about Xi Yang House's performance. Whoever drags Xi Yang House backward and damages its reputation—I will not let them off."

"And the Tian Shu Prefecture branch's performance has been getting worse and worse. The root cause is that there's no president overseeing the whole picture. So after discussion, headquarters has decided that the Tian Shu Prefecture branch must appoint a new president as soon as possible."

The Council Chamber fell slightly quiet. The other senior executives all kept silent, because they knew perfectly well that this contest for the presidency was a conflict between Yan Yan Lingqing and Zhuang Yi, with even deeper forces pulling strings behind the scenes—so they wisely maintained neutrality.

Li Luo's gaze flickered slightly. In truth, Zheng Ping's words weren't wrong. Xi Yang House's Tian Shu Prefecture branch was rife with internal strife these days, and if they truly wanted to maintain stability, deciding on the presidency was the most important matter. Of course, the key question was—who would be chosen as president?

Thinking this over, he smiled and asked, "Elder Zheng Ping, who do you think is more suitable to be president?"

Although Zheng Ping was curt with both Yan Yan Lingqing and Zhuang Yi, when facing Li Luo he still maintained a measure of respect. He was silent for a moment, then said, "If we follow Xi Yang House's long-standing rules, generally the head of the best-performing refining room would be promoted to president."

Beside them, a faint smile crossed Zhuang Yi's face. Among Xi Yang House's three refining rooms, the Third Rank Refining Room under his command produced profits each year that far outstripped the other two combined—so this rule favored him most of all.

However, Elder Zheng Ping then went on to say, "The old rules are as they are, but if the Young Palace Master has any proposal, you may raise it. I can relay it back to headquarters. However, this time the Xi Yang House branch here must definitely decide on a president, or else I may have to remain here indefinitely."

"I also hope the Young Palace Master won't take offense. Everything I do is for the sake of Xi Yang House and Luo Lan Palace."

Zhuang Yi's expression didn't change upon hearing this, but inwardly he was somewhat annoyed—this old fool really talks too much.

Li Luo glanced at the old man, thoughtful. It seemed Elder Zheng Ping wasn't, after all, someone sent to target them as Yan Yan Lingqing had suspected. At the very least, what he said didn't sound like someone from Manager Pei Hao's side.

The fact that Xi Yang House headquarters had suddenly sent someone to Tian Shu Prefecture likely involved the open and covert struggles between Jiang Jiang Qinge's faction and Manager Pei Hao's faction. But the person who ultimately came was an old-school, stubborn Elder Zheng Ping who hadn't taken sides—showing this was the final outcome of the struggle between the two sides.

In a certain sense, this wasn't bad news.

However, if they truly decided the presidency based on each refining room's performance, then Yan Yan Lingqing's disadvantage was far too great. After all, the Third Rank Refining Room in Zhuang Yi's hands was Xi Yang House's heavyweight product—its annual profits were even higher than the First and Second Rank Refining Rooms combined.

Yan Yan Lingqing beside him understood this point as well. Her beautiful face was icy cold, fury burning in her eyes, on the verge of erupting.

But Li Luo suddenly reached out and pressed his hand over the back of her hand, his gaze fixed on Elder Zheng Ping as he asked, "If a refining room has the best performance going forward, it can be promoted to president?"

"Correct," Elder Zheng Ping nodded.

Li Luo deliberated for several breaths, then finally said, "This method is fine. Let's do it this way."

The moment these words left his mouth, a low murmur of surprise immediately rose.

Both Cai Wei and Yan Yan Lingqing stared at him in some astonishment, clearly not understanding why he would agree—because this was plainly handing the presidency over to someone else.

Zhuang Yi was also stunned for several breaths, then broke into a broad grin: "The Young Palace Master truly sees the big picture! And that's right—don't we ultimately just want Xi Yang House to do better? If Xi Yang House does well, isn't that also making money for you, Young Palace Master?"

Elder Zheng Ping was also somewhat surprised. He said to Li Luo, "Young Palace Master, have you truly decided this?"

Li Luo smiled and nodded, then without saying more, he took the still-stunned Cai Wei and Yan Yan Lingqing and left the Council Chamber.

Once outside the Council Chamber, Li Luo immediately released the two women, but Yan Yan Lingqing's voice was already trembling with anger: "Li Luo, what are you playing at? That rule is extremely unfavorable to me—why would you accept it? If you don't want me here, just say the word and I'll head straight back to Wang Cheng."

Cai Wei's beautiful eyes were also fixed on Li Luo. From their interactions over this period, Li Luo didn't seem like someone who acted rashly, but today's move was truly incomprehensible.

After Yan Yan Lingqing came to Xi Yang House in Tian Shu Prefecture, she had put in considerable effort to maintain the current situation, and now, because of a single sentence from Li Luo, it was all about to be undone.

Li Luo looked at the two women and smiled. "Two elder sisters, I'm not a fool—can I really not see who's worth trusting?"

Cai Wei looked at him in confusion, while Yan Yan Lingqing crossed her arms and turned away in annoyance, refusing to acknowledge him.

"Although this rule is unfavorable to Sister Yan Lingqing, don't you think this is the perfect opportunity to legitimately put Sister Yan Lingqing in the president's seat and drive that troublemaker Zhuang Yi out?" Li Luo said with a smile.

Cai Wei and Yan Yan Lingqing's brows knit slightly. This was indeed a good opportunity, but the key issue was that Zhuang Yi held an absolute advantage. In the end, who would be driving whom out?

Cai Wei's eyes, however, flickered with thought, and she stared at Li Luo in some surprise.

"Could it be…"

"You have a way to help Yan Lingqing turn things around?"

(End of Chapter)