Chapter 165: A Turn for the Better

Gu Mianmian's expression at this moment could no longer be described as ugly — it was ugly, and mixed with a great deal of complicated emotions.

The current Gu Mianmian could be said to be frantic and on the verge of collapse. She had imagined many possibilities, including how she would flaunt her success in front of Gu Wenyan after achieving her goal today, and how she would use this opportunity to force Gu Wenyan out of Gu Group once again.

She would not give Gu Wenyan any chance of getting her hands on the Gu Family assets.

But… everything shattered at this moment, leaving Gu Mianmian immensely disappointed, and she realized that she had absolutely no way to deal with Gu Wenyan.

She simply could not resolve the trouble Gu Wenyan had brought!

Gu Mianmian had previously held herself in very high regard, and because she had already had plenty of private contact with Bai Ran, she had never considered the possibility that she might miscalculate, that she might be outmaneuvered by Gu Wenyan.

Yet the facts were right before her eyes, and Gu Mianmian had no choice but to accept this reality, feeling utter despair.

But what truly drove Gu Mianmian to collapse was still to come. The chairman of Bai Shi Group, who had previously maintained a cold and aloof attitude toward these people, had now stood up and was walking toward Gu Wenyan, with a hint of intimacy hidden in both his gaze and his eyes.

A familiarity that was even startling.

He walked up to Gu Wenyan and said: "Not just five minutes — even if you wanted fifty minutes, I should give it to you and I would!"

Gu Wenyan curved her lips: "Please don't tease me. But since you still have things to attend to now, my team and I can all wait until you're done before we continue our chat."

"Haha, why be so polite with me? Let the people under them continue discussing the rest of the matters — they don't need me. Let's go, let's head to my office!"

The sudden attitude of the chairman of Bai Shi Group could be said to have shocked everyone present.

It wasn't only Gu Mianmian who found it hard to believe — the other executives of Gu Group, the various directors, and the people in charge of the other companies that had stayed for the second round were all equally astonished.

They had never imagined that what they had considered a done deal would take such a turn, that such an unexpected situation would arise…

Gu Wenyan, on the other hand, took it well, as if she had long anticipated this outcome and had made ample preparations, showing not the slightest surprise.

She smiled politely and said: "Then thank you, Chairman Bai, for giving us this opportunity."

At this moment, Bai Ran also roughly understood what was going on. Although she had never had any dealings with Gu Wenyan before, just one glance at Gu Wenyan had been enough for her to confirm that Gu Wenyan was the wife who had already married Bao Sihan.

Bai Ran previously didn't have much of an impression of Gu Wenyan; she had more frequent contact with Bao Sihan's mother. Although there was a certain gap between them, the two could be considered friends across generations, and their relationship was very close.

Besides that, Bai Ran hadn't entirely failed to anticipate Bao Sihan's mother's intentions toward her. However, Bai Ran didn't think she needed to have any entanglement with Bao Sihan.

After all, for a young lady like Bai Ran, plenty of men liked her, and finding a good man was utterly easy for her.

However, since Bao Sihan's mother liked to ask her for help, Bai Ran was naturally happy to oblige. Only, Bai Ran hadn't expected that what she had assumed would be a very easy favor, and an opportunity to have more dealings with the Bo Family…

…had miscalculated.

Even though Bai Ran had never thought about marrying Bao Sihan, even if she didn't marry him, getting to know one more friend was at least a good thing.

Bai Ran was destined to return to the Bai Family in the future to inherit the family business, and having an ally like the Bo Family would be an absolutely positive influence for her.

But the problem lay right here — what she had considered a small collaboration had actually been botched in her own hands!

Her father had actually rejected Gu Group, and the things she had promised Bao Mu she couldn't deliver…

Bai Ran was naturally a little displeased in her heart, but at this moment, her father had actually taken the initiative to give Gu Group another chance…

He actually knew Gu Wenyan?

How did she not know that her father knew such a young woman?

Bai Ran felt a hint of doubt in her heart, and her emotions at this moment also seemed somewhat delicate. So she deliberately stepped forward: "Dad, are you going to discuss a collaboration with Gu Group? Take me along too — it'll be a good chance for me to learn."

Bai Ran's father naturally had no objections and nodded: "Alright, come along."

Gu Wenyan and Bai Ran's gazes met at this moment. Gu Wenyan's eyes were calm; she gave a polite nod, then turned her gaze away.

Upon arriving at the chairman's office, Chairman Bai specifically called for a secretary to brew tea to entertain them — truly demonstrating proper etiquette and showing his regard for Gu Wenyan.

Gu Wenyan also didn't beat around the bush, and directly raised with Chairman Bai the collaboration she believed both sides could undertake.

Chairman Bai was actually quite interested — what was this called? This was called a turn for the better, a village appearing where the willows cast deep shade…

Gu Yechen had originally been waiting for his subordinates to return to the company to discuss this failed bid and find out the reason.

He would think of another way to approach Bai Shi Group and try his best to salvage the loss.

But when the group returned, Gu Yechen looked at Gu Mianmian, whose expression was unhappy, and stepped forward to comfort her: "Everyone has already tried their best. If we failed, we failed. As for the future, we'll think of another way…"

Who would have expected that, after glancing at him, Gu Mianmian lowered her head, pressed her lips together, and said nothing for a long while.

The director of the Marketing Department stepped forward, looking at Gu Yechen with a strange expression: "President, although our collaboration with Bai Shi Group didn't succeed this time, but…"

"But what?" Gu Yechen frowned — could it be that the collaboration hadn't succeeded, and they had also offended Bai Shi Group?

If that were the case, things would be much more difficult to handle.

Thinking of this, Gu Yechen suppressed his temper and comforted them again: "Forget it, what's done is done. We…"

"No, President. It's that Wen Yan negotiated a brand-new collaboration alone with the chairman of Bai Shi Group, so we now need to draft an entirely new proposal and go to Bai Shi Group to sign the contract with them… The initial agreement between both sides has already been reached."

These words were very simple, but hearing them truly astonished Gu Yechen. He narrowed his eyes at Gu Wenyan, then asked: "What's the situation?"

Gu Wenyan smiled: "It's nothing, President Gu. It just happened that the chairman of Bai Shi Group was willing to give us this opportunity, so all we need to do now is focus our energy on the brand-new proposal."

"But Bai Shi Group had already…"

Gu Yechen now understood as well. His gaze swept back and forth between them, and he also understood why Gu Mianmian's expression was so ugly.

And Gu Wenyan, on the other hand, had a calm, composed, and gracefully unhurried demeanor.

"You all may leave first. Wen Yan, Mianmian — you two, come with me to the office."