Chapter 587

Zhongshu Group Headquarters Building, 17th floor.

"Manager Xie, please this way."

"Thank you."

Led by a female assistant, Xie Shu walked into the conference room on the inner side.

After the female assistant poured her a cup of hot water, she bowed and retreated, closing the door gently.

Xie Shu didn't sit down but walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.

Overlooking the bustling yet unfamiliar city at her feet, her gaze was full of gloom.

Just a moment ago, she had already met with the Operations Director of [Shuxian].

The result was very unsatisfactory.

The other party neither admitted any problems in the delivery nor mentioned any compensation for contract termination.

They just kept playing tai chi, pushing all responsibility away completely.

Xie Shu had seen and dealt with many such old workplace slickers.

If it were a normal commercial cooperation, she could fully initiate legal proceedings, force a contract termination, and pay a small amount of liquidated damages to end it.

But behind [Shuxian] was the [Zhongshu Group].

This enterprise with a deep state-owned background was the leader in logistics and catering in the entire Southwest region, a true "local snake."

For all the stores [Glimmer Coffee] currently had in the Southwest, besides cold-chain transportation, the suppliers behind other core materials being used all had the shadow of [Zhongshu Group] to some extent.

Glimmer Coffee had just entered the Southwest market.

She didn't want to have legal disputes with the other party, which would drag down the subsequent expansion plan.

Stalemated to the end.

That Operations Director had someone bring her here to wait for [Shuxian]'s person in charge, General Manager Chen Hao.

According to information provided by Meng Ran, this second-generation heir was not an easy person to deal with.

He was quite arrogant and eager to make achievements to inherit the family business, so he attached extreme importance to the [Shuxian] business.

"Knock, knock, knock—" A knock on the door suddenly rang out.

Xie Shu turned around immediately, looking toward the door.

Immediately after, the conference room door was pushed open.

A man in his early thirties walked in, accompanied by an assistant.

He was wearing a meticulously tailored Zegna suit and rimless glasses; his appearance was quite handsome.

It was just that his eyes, which were always slightly squinted, ruined the overall impression.

Xie Shu had read countless people; with just one glance, she had a rough impression of the other party in her heart.

A second-generation heir who was overly arrogant from being fed by family status and power.

As soon as he entered, his gaze fell on Xie Shu without any avoidance.

Looking at that dignified, bright, and tall figure, a flash of undisguised amazement crossed his eyes.

At 175 cm tall, Xie Shu had fair skin and a curvaceous figure; she was a true beauty no matter where she was placed.

She had long been accustomed to similar gazes and did not reveal any unusual expression on her face.

"This must be the famous Manager Xie, right? I am Chen Hao. Very happy to meet you; I didn't expect Manager Xie to be so beautiful." Chen Hao walked a few quick steps to her front.

His words carried a hint of flirtatiousness.

Xie Shu seemed not to notice and said with a smile, "Hello, Manager Chen, I've long admired your name."

After some polite pleasantries, Chen Hao sat down in the main seat.

Looking at her, he said, "Manager Xie, regarding some small problems that appeared in our previous cooperation, I have already severely criticized the people below. Don't worry, I guarantee it will never happen again."

These words made Xie Shu slightly stunned.

She didn't expect the other party to lower their stance so much and directly admit the mistake.

It was completely different from the attitude of the previous Manager Wang.

After pondering for a moment, she still followed the original plan and said politely, "Manager Chen, you are too serious. Actually, it is mainly [Glimmer Coffee]'s own strategic development. We want to upgrade the national supply chain system, so we have to pause current cooperation with some regional suppliers. I hope you can understand."

"Oh?" Chen Hao's face still carried a smile, seemingly not surprised by her decision at all. "Is it convenient for Manager Xie to talk about your company's development plan? Let's just treat it as a chat between friends; I'd like to learn as well."

Xie Shu's eyebrows raised imperceptibly, and she took a light breath.

She began to describe Glimmer Coffee's future national layout and higher requirements for the supply chain in a clear and organized low voice.

In any case, she didn't want to offend the other party and hoped to solve the problem smoothly.

Inside the conference room, her intellectual and magnetic mature-woman voice rang out.

Chen Hao's eyes became brighter and brighter.

When Xie Shu finished speaking, he even took the initiative to clap his hands, a sincere smile appearing on his face, praising, "Manager Xie is truly amazing! Far-sighted and full of courage! And I heard that your company has also reached a deep strategic cooperation with [Yuntong Zhicui]; it is truly admirable."

"Thank you for the recognition, Manager Chen." Xie Shu responded modestly, "I just went to Yun Province last week to meet Manager Zhao of [Yuntong Zhicui], and both sides talked very happily."

Chen Hao's body leaned forward slightly, his gaze looking straight at her.

He finally threw out his true intention: "To be honest, Manager Xie. I am very optimistic about [Glimmer Coffee]'s future, or rather—I am very optimistic about you personally. I hope that our cooperation can be deeper."

Xie Shu's brow furrowed, but her face still maintained a professional smile. "Oh? I wonder what high opinion Manager Chen has?"

"Very simple." Chen Hao's smile became determined. "First, we can immediately optimize the supply chain, provide Glimmer with the highest priority delivery level, help you complete cold-chain transportation nationwide, and for the price, I will lower it by another five points for you."

"Second, you might not know that under our [Zhongshu Group], there is also a chain coffee brand called [Coffee Time], which has 21 direct-operated stores in the entire Southwest region. We can merge this brand directly into [Glimmer Coffee] through cross-shareholding, saving you the huge effort of finding stores and expanding in the new market."

"Third, and most importantly, regarding Glimmer's future Series B financing, I, and the [Zhongshu Group] behind me, can also participate. How about it, Manager Xie—are you satisfied with this cooperation plan?"

He believed that no entrepreneur could refuse such a "gift package" full of temptation.

This meeting had been carefully planned by him.

The reason he let the Operations Director go first to wear down Xie Shu's patience for an hour before he himself appeared late was a negotiation strategy to make the subsequent cooperation smoother.

He wanted to make achievements to increase his bargaining chips for inheriting the entire [Zhongshu Group] in the future; this bit of [Shuxian] business was far from enough.

And if he could facilitate deep cooperation with [Glimmer Coffee], an emerging potential brand, revitalize the half-dead coffee brand under the group, and even use this to enter the national market, it would undoubtedly make his achievements even brighter.

It was just that what he didn't expect was that Xie Shu herself was so beautiful.

Especially that dignified and intellectual temperament of a strong woman, which made him full of a strong desire to conquer.

He didn't mind having some more "in-depth" cooperation with the other party.

This led to the third investment temptation.

Xie Shu's hand holding the water cup paused, and a flash of emotion crossed her eyes.

She was an extremely rational businesswoman and could naturally calculate clearly the huge value contained behind Chen Hao's words.

Directly swallowing a mature brand with 21 stores meant that [Glimmer Coffee] could instantly take the bridgehead of the entire Southwest market at the lowest cost and fastest speed.

And the capital injection from [Zhongshu Group] meant she would gain a powerful ally with a deep state-owned background and local resources.

This temptation was simply too great.

However, having been in the business world for many years, she naturally saw Chen Hao's hidden greed.

[Zhongshu Group] was a true behemoth, the absolute leader in the Southwest catering field. Once they were allowed to enter as shareholders, they could easily dilute and cannibalize [Glimmer Coffee] step by step through capital operations and unequal resource advantages, eventually swallowing it completely.

She had seen too many of these "dealing with tigers for their skins" transactions.

Most importantly, Chen Hao's gaze carried a kind of stickiness that made her extremely uncomfortable from beginning to end.

Now that she and Tang Song were together, she naturally wouldn't have any unnecessary entanglements with other men for the sake of her career.

Tang Song had already given enough for her, and she couldn't bring him any more trouble.

Thinking of this, all the greed in Xie Shu's heart was instantly extinguished.

"Manager Chen, your cooperation plan is very sincere and very forward-looking. Thank you for your high regard for our Glimmer Coffee.

However, our [Glimmer Coffee]'s Series A investor is an independent investor who keeps a very low profile.

He has his own clear and strong plans for the company's equity structure and future development pace.

So—I might have to disappoint you."

She cleverly shaped Tang Song into a "mysterious and domineering" behind-the-scenes big boss, hoping to make the other party have some scruples. "Oh? Independent investor? Sounds like he's very awesome." Chen Hao leaned back in his chair and took off his glasses unhurriedly. "Why don't you invite him out, Manager Xie, and we can talk face-to-face? I believe the strength of our [Zhongshu Group] can definitely gain the recognition of any top investor."

The atmosphere in the meeting room gradually became heavy.

Xie Shu looked at him and said, "I think—there is no need for that."

"Hehe." Chen Hao crossed his hands in front of him and leaned back. "Manager Xie, no need to rush to refuse. Glimmer's business in the Southwest has only just begun, and the road ahead is still long. You can consider it slowly."

Xie Shu's expression paused slightly; she naturally heard the subtext in the other party's words.

She also understood that it was impossible to cancel the logistics cooperation smoothly today.

She took a deep breath, put the polite smile back on her face, and said, "Okay, thank you for the reminder, Manager Chen. I have other arrangements, so I'll take my leave."

Chen Hao stood up, his eyes squinting as he looked at her. "Go ahead, Manager Xie, I'll see you out."

The afternoon sun in Rongcheng shone on her, but Xie Shu couldn't feel any warmth; she only felt it was incomparably dazzling.

"Ding-a-ling—"

The phone rang suddenly.

[Meng Ran]

Xie Shu answered the phone. "Hello, Ranran."

"Xiaoyu, are you done talking? How was it?"

"Didn't reach an agreement." Xie Shu pursed her dry lips, her voice carrying a hint of exhaustion. "And—new problems have emerged."

She briefly recounted the conversation she just had with Chen Hao.

Meng Ran was silent for a long time and sighed. "In the end, it's because [Glimmer Coffee] is too valuable now and has been targeted. The upstream supply chain has [Yuntong Zhicui], and the downstream marketing has [Xingyun International Group]. Especially Xingyun International,

you might not have known recently, but it has received support from large funds and is expanding crazily recently—"

Listening to her words, Xie Shu quickly understood.

With the strong support of Wen Ruan, the cooperation between [Glimmer Coffee] and [Xingyun International] was a comprehensive deep binding.

It was even frequently reported as a typical case of "empowering new consumer brands" and appeared on Xingyun's important external cooperation list.

This was also an important reason why Glimmer had developed so smoothly in the past few months.

In the eyes of those with ulterior motives, it was a fat sheep about to soar into the sky.

Entering the game at a low price through "cross-shareholding" would bring amazing returns in the future.

After hanging up the phone, she got into a taxi.

Xie Shu looked through the car window at the Zhongshu Group headquarters building, which was like a behemoth, and a deep sense of dread and fear welled up in her heart.

[Zhongshu Group] was a true Southwest giant, a Fortune 500 company in China with annual revenue of tens of billions.

Behind it, it not only had support from deep local industrial funds but also provided employment for tens of thousands of people, and its relationship with the local government was intertwined and deeply rooted.

She simply couldn't afford to offend them.

But she had to face them.

It seemed that when Tang Song came to Rongcheng, she would have to have a good talk with him no matter what.

She hoped to find a compromise solution.

The taxi drove on the busy streets.

Xie Shu leaned against the car window, and a deep sense of powerlessness welled up in her heart.

At the same time.

By the Huanhuaxi River, an independent Chinese-style courtyard hidden among century-old ginkgo and nanmu forests.

In the study, on the huge sandalwood desk,

Fine Huizhou rice paper was spread out.

In the air, there was a faint fragrance of ink and wood precipitated by time.

Ouyang Xianyue held a purple-hair brush, concentrating her mind and spirit, her brush moving like a dragon or snake.

She was wearing a modified cheongsam made of top-grade Song brocade, perfectly outlining her mature and slender figure, graceful and luxurious.

Opposite her was an old lady nearing sixty, but well-maintained, sitting quietly.

Watching her daughter's flowing movements, her eyes were full of love, but also hidden a hint of imperceptible worry.

"Xiaoxiong, since you're back this time, stay at home for a few more days. No matter how busy the company is, you must pay attention to your health."

Ouyang Xianyue stopped the brush in her hand and carefully examined the "Quiet" character on the rice paper, which had natural wind and bone.

She said calmly, "Don't worry, Mom. I will stay in Rongcheng for a period of time this time; there are very important things to handle."

"Xiaoxiong" was her childhood name, also given to her by her grandfather, an academician known as a "national scholar."

He hoped she could be as healthy and strong as a little bear.

But at this age and status, privately, only her mother would still call her that.

"That's good." A hint of joy rose in her mother's eyes.

Seeing that her daughter was no longer writing, she began to care about her health and work.

Ouyang Xianyue answered while coming to the tea table by the window.

She skillfully brewed a pot of Ganlu tea from Mengding Mountain for the two of them.

The tea fragrance was curling, refreshing the heart and spleen.

Her mother took a sip of tea, looked at her daughter's face, which appeared even more beautiful in the misty water vapor, and spoke slowly:

"Your tea-pointing skill is increasingly having the style of your grandfather back then. Seeing that Tang Yi is now in your hands with such a magnificent scene, he must be proud of you in heaven."

She paused, changed the subject, her tone gentle but with an implication, "It's just, Xiaoxiong, a big tree, no matter how lush its branches and leaves are, no matter how solid its foundation is, if it wants to truly pass down for a hundred years, it must always have new branches growing out to better resist the wind and rain, right?"

Ouyang Xianyue put down the teacup, looked up at her mother, and said with a smile that was not a smile, "Why? Is it my dad who asked you to 'point' me again?"

The expression on her mother's face was slightly awkward, then turned into a light sigh: "Some things are also time to plan for the long term; there is a high probability that your grandfather won't make it through this winter."

Ouyang Xianyue's movements paused, and a hint of dimness flashed in her eyes.

That towering tree that sheltered her from the wind and rain was ultimately going to fall.

Her mother looked at her expression and couldn't help but continue to persuade: "Also, Qiming has been gone for so many years, you are alone—Mom feels really heartbroken. Now that Tang Yi Precision is so huge, you should also consider your own problems."

Hearing the name of her late husband.

Ouyang Xianyue was silent for a moment before slowly shaking her head.

"I have my own plans for my own affairs; it's not the time yet."

Now, the seemingly solid and huge power behind her was nothing more than an extremely subtle balance between two major pillars.

On one side was her own Ouyang family, as well as the intertwined domestic political and commercial resources inherited from that short marriage; this was her "root."

On the other side was the [Tang Jin Family Office], representing top international financial capital; that was her "wing."

If the root is deep, one can be invincible; if the wing is strong, one can soar above the nine heavens.

But once she chose to remarry, or even had offspring, this fragile balance would be instantly and completely broken.

And now, it was far from the time to show her cards.

"Jin Meixiao—" Ouyang Xianyue whispered to herself in her heart, her eyes deep.

Jin Meixiao and Annie Kate represented international consortiums full of uncertainty and danger.

She needed to slowly change and influence, using family resources to provide a bottom line for Tang Song, preventing him from being swallowed by those greedy capitals.

You know, Jin Meixiao controlled the daily operations of the entire Tang Jin system.

And all these years, Tang Song had been "invisible."

Once Tang Song really "disappeared," then she would be the rightful actual controller.

In her view, the relationship between Tang Song and Jin Meixiao, besides the grace of knowing each other, was probably the "love" cultivated over these years.

Jin Meixiao loved Tang Song; this was beyond doubt.

But how deep was this love? Who could guarantee it?

It's ridiculous to say, but what she fears most every day now is actually Jin Meixiao having murderous intent because of Tang Song's promiscuity.

This temptation was simply too great.

If it were her, facing a "partner" whose loyalty was in doubt and who had countless confidantes.

When holding the absolute power to replace him, perhaps—everyone would be tempted.

Even if not now, what about later?

When Tang Song had offspring with others—this was also the fundamental reason she was forced to be involved in the "harem" struggle.

She must foster another force within the family office capable of contending with Jin Meixiao for Tang Song.

Forming an internal, healthy balance of power to ensure Tang Song's safety and the stability of the entire "Tang Jin" system.

It's just that, looking at it now, whether it's Su Yu or Liu Qingning, they are not mature enough and have their own fatal flaws.

Su Yu possessed top-tier beauty, the halo of a national goddess, hundreds of millions of fans, and unparalleled social influence.

But her core was too fragile and too unstable.

Ouyang Xianyue knew very well that Su Yu's feelings for Tang Song had reached a near-pathological, paranoid degree.

This feeling was both her strongest weapon and her most fatal weakness.

Liu Qingning was the exact opposite.

The deep bond between her and Tang Song that lasted for more than a decade was unmatched.

She herself was even smarter and more rational, a top student who graduated from Imperial University.

But her pattern and wrist were still far from enough.

Just as her thoughts were surging.

"Ding-dong—"

The phone on the tea table suddenly lit up.

Ouyang Xianyue glanced at it and sat up straight instantly; a strong brilliance erupted in her eyes, which were always calm.

[Tang Song: "Long time no see, Ouyang."]