Chapter 1031: Playing with Emotions

"I can understand the five hundred rifles."

Xue Zhifu tapped the table and asked skeptically, "Compared to the profitability of rifles, automobiles and..."

He turned his hand over, paused, and then shook his head slightly. "Why bundle the procurement?"

"Because it saves costs, including procurement, packaging, transportation, and so on."

Jing Yunong answered for Li Xuewu, "To us, these seem like just a few extra steps."

"But!"

She nodded and explained, "Once the goods are shipped out of the warehouse, if he has to realize repacking and re-transportation within the mainland, it's no longer a simple procedural issue."

"That's right."

Li Xuewu nodded in affirmation. "The control of weapons and ammunition does not allow for secondary disassembly and transport; they must be shipped in their original packaging."

"Also, regarding hardware and kitchenware, there might be preferential treatment when clearing customs at the port."

He shook his head with a wry smile. "The other party doesn't care about the mainland's customs clearance procedures because they aren't recognized in the international trade market."

"So he wants to exploit a loophole?"

Xue Zhifu asked in surprise, "By disassembling and packing weapons and ammunition into shipments of canned goods and farm tools?"

"How can that be allowed!"

He frowned and warned, "This will affect our credibility. We are destined to step out into the world eventually."

"Yes, of course that won't do."

Li Xuewu smiled slightly. "So I told At, we can't do this, but we will introduce others to help him do it."

"The Investigation Department?"

Gu Weijie raised an eyebrow. There was no need to guess this answer; Li Xuewu had already mentioned it.

Shearing sheep, of course, means catching one sheep and shearing it for all it's worth.

Li Xuewu looked at her without giving a specific explanation, continuing to answer the previous question instead.

"Precisely because mainland customs clearance procedures aren't recognized by international trade, I'm preparing to ask someone to help At handle the customs clearance procedures in Hong Kong."

He looked at the group and explained, "The goods won't leave the ship, but they will take a trip around Hong Kong, and all the problems will be solved."

Jing Yunong tilted her head slightly, looking Li Xuewu up and down. "So the funds are also..."

"To the Oriental Era Bank in Hong Kong."

Li Xuewu nodded. "Mainland customs clearance only connects with Hong Kong trading companies; it counts as contract manufacturing or bulk procurement, but does not include weapons and ammunition."

He emphasized, "For this part, we only acknowledge that in a multi-party cooperation, the Investigation Department withdrew a batch of firearms for testing in various environments."

"Understood. Money, accounts, and goods are separated; even all procedures and goods are separated."

Jing Yunong tapped the table with her finger, looked at Li Huai, and nodded. "I don't see any more risks."

"I still want to ask about those one thousand automobiles."

Xue Zhifu said with great concern, "The British merchant representative also seems to have the intention of purchasing automobiles, but it hasn't been settled."

"Actually, this is related to the bundled procurement."

Li Xuewu opened the document in front of him and explained, "When I quoted the price for the firearm procurement, I proposed a unit price of fifteen thousand, but At did not agree."

The group felt a pang in their hearts and their mouths twitched. They knew Li Xuewu was ruthless in external negotiations, but they didn't expect him to be this ruthless and cold-hearted.

They had already been shocked when they heard him mention earlier that the unit price for firearm procurement was five thousand dollars; they hadn't expected his asking price to be so high.

"The procurement volume he reported to me was five hundred units, and he wouldn't increase it, so we reached a stalemate."

Li Xuewu smiled and continued, "He couldn't bear to part with this rifle, and I couldn't bear to lose this client, so we each took a step back."

"The firearm procurement remains at a quantity of five hundred; we can ship them at his highest quoted price of five thousand dollars."

"However!"

Li Xuewu emphasized, "My requirement is that this order must be accompanied by an equivalent amount of automobile procurement."

"Over the past few days, I've taken him to see our automobile road condition tests and extreme condition driving tests, and he is very satisfied..."

"He had no objections?"

Cheng Kaiyuan asked with amusement, "Didn't he ask why our cars look so much like the Willys?"

"The key point of the deal lies exactly there."

Li Xuewu pointed with a pencil and raised an eyebrow. "I told him directly that this car is based on the Willys, with the engine and gearbox precision-re-engineered, and with some additional auxiliary components."

"Why?"

Xue Zhifu looked sideways. "Our cars have so many excellent key points; we could have completely used them as selling points to recommend them!"

"No! The biggest selling point of this car is the Willys quality!"

Li Xuewu explained earnestly, "The Willys was tested and proven in war; it's the one that sells without needing any promotion."

"But there are very few factories still producing this car now; after all, it's a product from thirty or forty years ago."

"But that doesn't affect the fact that it's a stable and reliable combat vehicle."

Li Xuewu tapped the document. "The Red Star Hongxing Lingyang engineering version has simplified kits, a reinforced overall structure, and improved mechanical kinetic energy."

He pointed above his head and explained, "It has a full-frame body; as long as the top cover is removed, a machine gun mount can be installed on it."

After saying this, Li Xuewu shook his head slightly and added, "I need to coordinate with the design side; the export version needs a separately designed roof and frame."

"What do you mean?"

Jing Yunong looked at him in surprise. "Are you going to install the machine gun mount directly on it? Are you crazy?"

"Crazy? Of course not a machine gun mount! We are selling the engineering version command vehicle!"

Li Xuewu looked at her and emphasized, "Since it's for engineering applications, it's normal to have a luggage rack, right? It's normal to need a few anchor points because the luggage is heavy, right!"

"And!"

He spread his hands. "If a fire-fighting version is needed, the vehicle needs a structure to mount a water cannon; there has to be a bracket, right!"

After saying this, Li Xuewu shrugged his shoulders. "We are just selling cars; what the client wants to mount on the car has nothing to do with us!"

"..."

A brief silence fell inside the conference room. Both the shameless and the ones who still cared about face stopped talking for the moment.

"That..."

Xue Zhifu took a long time to recover before speaking. "How about I contact the British merchant again? See if he needs a machine gun... that luggage rack?"

Jing Yunong turned her head to look at him, her mouth twitching for a long time without responding.

As the saying goes, it's hard to learn good, but easy to slide into bad!

Look at this, Deputy Director Xue, who used to be so upright and thick-browed, wasn't like this before. He was the one who stuck to principles the most and looked down on money, money, money the most.

What happened now?!

Deputy Director Xue, you make me feel like a stranger!

"Ahem~ Ahem!"

Seeing that no one answered, Xue Zhifu felt he hadn't made himself clear, so he coughed again and emphasized, "Actually, I don't care about the sales volume either; it's just a pity not to use such a good luggage rack."

"..."

Now it wasn't just Jing Yunong's mouth twitching; the others were speechless too.

Deputy Director Xue, you've shattered my worldview.

"Ask him, just in case he needs it."

Seeing the strangeness in everyone's eyes, he muttered with his head down, trying to make up for it.

Li Xuewu scratched his forehead. He hadn't expected his unintentional act to change Deputy Director Xue's principles.

"Let's talk about the British merchant's client base."

He suggested, "Twenty-five hundred dollars; converted, I only added half the price, entirely for the sake of the third part of the order."

"Indeed, the export price of the automobiles isn't high."

Jing Yunong looked at the document in her hand. "Converted, it's only nine thousand yuan per unit. After deducting packaging and transportation costs, we actually haven't earned much."

Gu Weijie turned to look at her. Has the Rolling Mill's foreign trade become this crazy now?

What is the cost price of the engineering standard Red Star Hongxing Lingyang?

According to the assembly line estimates, it's only a little over three thousand!

Nine thousand per unit, subtracting transportation costs, it comes out to an easy profit of over four thousand per unit.

One thousand cars, calculating a net profit of forty-five hundred per unit, how much is that?

Deputy Director Jing, you've gotten carried away!

Jing Yunong had already calculated clearly in her heart how much Li Xuewu could earn from this order.

At the very least, ten million.

Look, the net profit from the automobiles is 4.5 million, and that's not even counting the net profit from the firearms.

As far as she knows, the production cost of the 66-6 sniper rifle is only a little over six hundred, definitely less than seven hundred.

If you ask why she doesn't mention R&D costs, Jing Yunong really can't say, because the materials she received didn't have an R&D cost item at all.

The comrades at the Light Weapons Institute just used the gaps between several projects to work overtime and produce a copy.

If you insist that there are technical difficulties here, actually, for a professional team and professional technical personnel, these are all within the scope of what they should know and be able to do.

The hardest part of R&D isn't material application and design production, but rather the testing and experimental stages.

Precisely this part is what the Rolling Mill needs least, after all, the Russian brother had already finalized the firearm, and Li Xuewu knew the historical value of this thing.

Therefore, a cost of six hundred and fifty, sold for five thousand dollars, the profit is as high as thirty times.

Five hundred sniper rifles, total profit over 8.67 million.

The sum of the profits from just the automobiles and firearms alone exceeds thirteen million.

The largest part of the bundled procurement, including ammunition, hardware, farm tools, canned goods, etc., these commodities have the lowest profit margins.

The total added together doesn't even compare to the automobiles and weapons; it's completely about volume.

Otherwise, why do people say "killing and arson bring golden belts, while repairing bridges and roads leaves no corpse"?

With this income of over ten million, the Rolling Mill will definitely have a much easier second half of the year.

It's not that she hasn't mentioned to Li Xuewu that cooperation with Wufeng Hong in Hong Kong carries the risk that the other party might not be able to replenish funds in time.

The answer Li Xuewu gave at the time was to take it one step at a time; at the very least, the foreign trade team would give a certain answer after the New Year.

Jing Yunong absolutely couldn't believe that Li Xuewu could complete such a large order volume by himself.

But the facts were right in front of her. Listening to Li Xuewu's explanation, she felt a surge of excitement. If she had been present during the negotiations with At, she would definitely have witnessed a different side of Li Xuewu's style.

The impression this little man gave her was being refreshed over and over again—confident, composed, steady, and even carrying a trace of uninhibited indulgence in his gestures; this might be the charm of success.

After the briefing ended, the atmosphere in the factory office area was different.

Everyone's face carried a bit of joy, sweeping away the unpleasantness that had occurred in the workshop a few days ago; everyone seemed to have encountered a happy event.

In this day and age, collective happy events are everyone's happy events, because the development and strengthening of the collective represent that the staff also enjoy the fruits of success.

Looking at the most basic situation, the workers' new village project independently invested and built by the Rolling Mill already had funding.

Fifteen million yuan is enough to get the project off the ground, and it's a century-long project at that.

You have to know, this was just the battle result of Deputy Director Li alone; other leaders also had gains during this week.

Hardware, food, white spirits, ships, automobiles, electronic appliances, wool textiles, etc. —these products all had their own agents.

It was still the foreign trade agency model executed by Li Huai, Jing Yunong, and Li Xuewu in Yangcheng; by paying a certain agency deposit, one could stake out territory.

On a global scale, the larger the sales area staked out, the different the deposit, and the different the treatment for distribution.

With high-quality and inexpensive industrial goods placed in front of foreign merchants, and with exclusive agency cooperation, how could they not confirm the cooperation?

Besides the Japanese, South Korean, and North American markets already taken by the three Japanese representatives, the Hong Kong merchant Nande confirmed the agency rights for Southeast Asia, which was very surprising to Li Xuewu.

This old boy had been clamoring for this piece when he was in Yangcheng, and even signed a letter of intent, but the final negotiations were delayed.

This time, accompanying the trade delegation to the mainland, perhaps it was because he had gained a certain understanding and trust in the Rolling Mill that he finally made up his mind to take this piece of fat meat in Southeast Asia.

The French merchant Chantal took the agency rights for Western Europe, and the British merchant Watson representative took the agency rights for the UK.

The Italian merchant Naigishi took the agency rights for South America, and the Yemeni merchant Abadi took the agency rights for West Asia.

Finally, there was At, whom Li Xuewu negotiated with, who took the agency rights for Africa.

Now you know where At is going to sell these firearms and automobiles, as well as hardware, farm tools, labor protection, canned goods, and other commodities.

You say Africa is poor and has no money?

Of course not!

In At's words, they don't need money there; they need peace more.

Li Xuewu has "praised" him more than once, saying the Nobel Prize committee really should award this year's Peace Prize to him.

In order for the people there to live a peaceful and prosperous life, he sent farm tools and production and living tools there.

Of course, in order to protect their homes and the hard-won life and production equipment and facilities, they always need to have some strength.

So he thoughtfully sent Type 56s and light and heavy firepower, as well as high-end goods like precision sniper rifles.

He is so great, so thoughtful, giving so many commodities, and he only took away some useless gold and diamonds from the other party.

You tell me, is there really anyone in the world willing to trade peace and life for stones?

At prides himself on being such a selfless good person, a good person that Li Xuewu would fall silent after hearing about.

He actually really wanted to ask At if he wouldn't be criticized for selling weapons to all tribes without distinction.

But later he figured it out himself; international merchants don't have anything like a conscience.

Gold and diamonds can supplement a conscience, and even more so, warm the heart and stomach.

According to At, diamonds the size of a thumb are everywhere; sometimes a can of food can be traded for a large diamond.

Li Xuewu really believed his nonsense; he believed that this thing was everywhere, but to say he believed him and would take a can of food to Africa to trade for diamonds, unless his head had been kicked by a donkey.

This is just like saying there is dog-head gold on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, and sometimes you can pick it up and sell it for a lot of money.

Inner Mongolia isn't closer than Africa, so why haven't I heard of anyone running to the grasslands to pick up stones because of this thing?

You can't earn money outside your cognition, so he just listened to the bull At blew as fun; he absolutely had no intention of experiencing it personally.

You think At doesn't know this?

He just uses this cognitive gap to whet Li Xuewu's appetite, telling him how high his profits are, just to take the initiative in the cooperation.

This is the same logic as when you go to talk business, the boss might be so poor he only has his underpants left, but he still uses a Mercedes to pick you up.

At knows Li Xuewu won't run to Africa to compete with him for business because of this profit, which is why he said so.

You can't say he's blowing bull, or that trading canned goods for diamonds is fake; it exists, but you won't encounter it.

Li Xuewu identifies more with money within his own cognition, just like how a sniper rifle with a cost of six hundred and fifty is sold to him for eighteen thousand.

At clearly knows Li Xuewu is fooling him, saying something about the 66-6 sniper rifle having no design costs and being completely copied, so it could only cost a few dollars.

Why does he want to buy it at a high price?

Because he can't find a factory to produce this thing himself; if he had that time, he would have earned this money back long ago.

For a merchant, time is also a cost, and energy even more so.

Li Xuewu didn't have any smug pride about concluding this transaction.

The firearms belong to the Rolling Mill, and the automobiles also belong to the Rolling Mill; he might have contributed some intelligence or unique means.

But this is not a reason for him to show off his ability; the leader's trust gave him the opportunity to sit at the negotiating table, and the platform gave him the bargaining chips and material commodities.

Just like the constant discussions in the factory office area, and the appreciative and admiring gazes directed at him, these are all things to listen to and look at, but if you take them seriously, you're finished.

Even when people congratulated him while greeting him, Li Xuewu would respond politely one by one.

In his words, he praised the negotiation team over and over, talked about the leader's decision-making and deployment over and over, and talked about the factory's products and future over and over, but never mentioned his own credit.

He made it clear to these people that the credit belongs to the collective, and the glory belongs to everyone.

Those who heard these words might just have heard them and wouldn't take them to heart.

But the leaders would hear them, the team working together would hear them, and those with intentions would hear them; the evaluation and perception of him would be on another level.

No matter what position he is in now, even if he is already regarded as a factory leader, Li Xuewu clearly recognizes that he is just someone who gets things done.

The state of walking on thin ice won't change too much because of one success, and the posture of being cautious in words and deeds won't change because of ten million or twenty million.

When Xue Zhifu came down from upstairs, he specifically called Li Xuewu, and the two stood at the entrance of the duty room to talk.

He asked about the negotiation situation with At, and after confirming that only the finishing work remained, he proposed to swap with Li Xuewu.

"Let's say it first, I'm not grabbing credit."

Xue Zhifu emphasized with a smile, "People should have self-knowledge. I'm very sure the British merchant representative wants to purchase automobiles, but I just can't grasp where his key needs lie."

"I can't delay the factory's work because of my own face."

"So,"

He looked at Li Xuewu sincerely and said, "I'll be responsible for your current finishing work, and you go and contact the British merchant representative again."

"I've already communicated with Director Li and the others; as long as the British merchant is won over, all this credit will be counted on you."

Xue Zhifu guaranteed with certainty, "I absolutely keep my word; I definitely won't hold you back, and even less will I..."

"Deputy Director Xue, what are you saying?"

Li Xuewu said with a bitter smile, "Do you still not regard me as a cadre of the Rolling Mill? Am I still a staff member of the factory?"

"We are a collective, a team; if there is a need, naturally we should help each other."

"Besides!"

He said frankly to Xue Zhifu, "What credit or no credit; we work together, this is a kind of fate. Seeing the Rolling Mill achieve success is a kind of happiness."

As he spoke, he handed the negotiation materials in his hand to Xue Zhifu. "At's side needs to connect with the Investigation Department; Ji Weidong will arrive in Tianjin this weekend, and I will introduce you."

"Comrade Xuewu,"

Xue Zhifu looked at the documents in Li Xuewu's hand, took them over with emotion and solemnity, and nodded. "When you put it this way, I actually feel that I have used the heart of a villain to measure the belly of a gentleman."

"You're joking; we are comrades."

Li Xuewu nodded with a smile. "I am a cadre responsible for foreign trade coordination; I have the responsibility to fight side by side with you, not to mention that we are comrades-in-arms."

"This makes me even more ashamed."

Xue Zhifu smiled, solemnly extended his hand to shake Li Xuewu's, and nodded. "I will definitely be responsible for At's side; if the British merchant's side needs me..."

"Hey, this is exactly what I want to say."

Li Xuewu shook his hand and said, "Meeting with the British merchant representative, I think you should preside, and I'll be your assistant."

"How can that be!"

Xue Zhifu said bluntly, "I'm just afraid my ability is insufficient, which is why I asked you to step out."

"But the British merchant representative doesn't know this."

Li Xuewu looked at him earnestly and said, "You are a factory leader; presiding over the negotiations with him is an affirmation of status, and only then can the efforts and roles I have contributed be fully embodied."

"You!"

Xue Zhifu finally understood now; it wasn't that Li Xuewu was afraid the British merchant representative would question his identity, but that he was saving his face.

If Li Xuewu had negotiated this deal, it would undoubtedly be a slap in his face; the factory would say he had no ability.

Regardless of what his starting point was, the event had happened, and discussions would arise.

Li Xuewu's way of doing things was absolutely complete and thorough, considering everything more fully.

Xue Zhifu handed the documents in his hand back with shame. "Then I can't take your work; that would make me appear greedy."

"No! I need your cooperation and help."

Li Xuewu pushed the documents back with a smile, while saying, "My work is too much, and too heavy."

"Since the situation on At's side has been opened up, having a factory leader follow up with service will make him feel our importance even more."

"As for the British merchant's side, let's cooperate; if we win, it's everyone's effort; if we lose, it's because we don't have the ability."

Li Xuewu nodded earnestly and said, "If you have any opinions or suggestions, you can bring them up to me for both negotiations; let's work hard together."

"Good."

Xue Zhifu nodded and said solemnly, "Since you've said so, if I'm polite again, it will appear cliché."

The two didn't stand on ceremony anymore, finalized the subsequent negotiation procedures, and parted ways on the first floor.

Good news is like a girl going to the market; it never appears alone, but often comes hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, and wiggling her hips.

Before getting off work, Zhang Changming, the deputy general manager of Tianjin Aquatic Products, called and invited Li Xuewu to Tianjin this weekend to eat seafood and go fishing at sea.

Damn it, no one visits a temple without a reason; in the cold weather, fishing?

Li Xuewu really doubted if his brain had short-circuited.

Fishing?

Do I have to wear a helmet!

"Help me make an appointment... forget it."

Li Xuewu just wanted to notify Peng Xiaoli to run the errand, but later thought better of it and picked up the phone to call directly.

Xue Zhifu answered the phone personally. Seeing it was Li Xuewu, he asked with amusement, "Good news?"

"Indeed! But I'm not sure yet."

Li Xuewu said with a smile, "Are you free this weekend? I want to invite you fishing."

"Fishing? So..."

Xue Zhifu paused and said with a strange tone, "I'm not very good at fishing; eating fish is just passable."

"It doesn't matter, I'll treat you to seafood."

Li Xuewu said with amusement, "Fresh seafood, the kind that can be delivered to your mouth less than ten seconds after being caught."

"Hahaha~"

Xue Zhifu laughed loudly, then asked, "Do I need to invite anyone else?"

"Of course, whatever is convenient for you."

Li Xuewu held the phone, looked at Peng Xiaoli who was packing up, and smiled. "I suggest you issue a private invitation to the British merchant representative; I believe he won't refuse."

"Alright, are we leaving tomorrow morning?"

Xue Zhifu understood what Li Xuewu meant and nodded. "I'll call you back in a while."

"That's it."

After hanging up, Li Xuewu instructed Peng Xiaoli, "Help me contact the Tianjin Trade Management Center and coordinate the Geely Star yacht."

"Oh, right, contact the Tianjin Aquatic Products Company as well; they should have arrangements."

"Okay."

Peng Xiaoli finished recording and asked, "Do we need to prepare anything else here? In terms of personnel and equipment...?"

"Hmm, equipment shouldn't be needed."

Li Xuewu thought for a moment and said, "Tianjin Aquatic Products will have it prepared."

"As for personnel..."

He nodded and said, "It's just a private gathering, no need to be too troublesome; report it to the office."

"Okay."

Peng Xiaoli recorded again and reminded Li Xuewu, "If it's a commercial communication, should we invite the heads of the companies we'll be negotiating with soon?"

"Hmm? You mean...?"

Li Xuewu frowned slightly, thought about it, and nodded. "That can be done."

After saying that, he pointed at Peng Xiaoli and instructed, "Then help me make an appointment with Director Bao of the Credit Union, as well as Division Chief Liu of the Ministry of Industry and Division Chief Gao of the Ministry of Foreign Trade."

"Don't invite Division Chief Zhou of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; I know him."

Li Xuewu sat in his chair, raised an eyebrow, and said, "He's quite subtle, but he'll make an uninvited appearance."

"Then, should we guard against uninvited guests?"

Peng Xiaoli joked, "Make an invitation card?"

"Hehe, can you stop him?"

Li Xuewu laughed lightly, "Foreign merchant activities, for example, must be accompanied by a cadre from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

"Do you believe it?"

Li Xuewu pointed at him with a pencil and asked with a smile, "Deputy Director Xue's phone call has already been heard by the translator from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

"Understood, the translator from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs knows, so Division Chief Zhou knows too."

Peng Xiaoli echoed with a smile, "Who told Division Chief Zhou to care about us so much."

"Hey! That's it!"

Li Xuewu waved at him, signaling he could go get busy, while he himself picked up his fountain pen and started reading documents.

Why invite the British merchant representative to talk about cooperation, and also invite the "Three Scoundrels" who caused trouble for him last time?

In fact, negotiation and cooperation are not essentially in conflict; the two echo each other and complement each other.

Li Xuewu still quite identifies with what the three did last time; he doesn't want enemies who won't have anything to do with him appearing around him.

Especially in such key positions.

Liu Shaozong and Gao Yaqin are not his enemies, and even less his opponents.

Zhou Gancheng is a bit passive, especially in the handling of foreign affairs issues; he might hope Li Xuewu handles things more smoothly.

At least not to hurt him, or the interests he represents.

But Li Xuewu is a man with a stiff neck, not subject to his manipulation and coercion, and he gave him a combination of punches.

That trip to Tianjin can be considered to have stunned the three of them. Li Xuewu actually invited them several times, but no one replied to him.

Now that the dust has settled, revisiting the old place, naturally, he wants to ease the relationship.

Li Xuewu is unwilling to have conflicts or clashes with anyone; he is really afraid of trouble.

Especially with people; these are uncontrollable individuals, and everyone has a complex network of relationships, which might involve someone somewhere.

Everyone is the same; even if it's an ordinary factory worker, can you say for sure they have no connections?

Before getting off work, Xue Zhifu's phone call came back, and the British merchant Watson representative Smith Pike gave a reply, willing to spend the weekend with friends from the Rolling Mill.

"Go to the club first."

After the command vehicle dropped off Peng Xiaoli, it drove toward the club again. This was the time when people were getting off work, and there were many cars and people on the road.

Fortunately, the distance was short, and they arrived at the club entrance around 6:30.

"Wu Ge! Why are you here!"

It was a coincidence; just as the command vehicle arrived at the gate, Zhou Xiaobai and the other girl were pushing their bikes out.

After Li Xuewu got out of the car, he first greeted the security guard, signaling that the other party didn't need to come in.

Then he looked at Zhou Xiaobai and the other girl and asked with a smile, "Getting off work so late?"

"Normal point."

Luo Yun twitched the corner of her mouth, her gaze somewhat wandering as she said, "We all eat dinner before going home."

Li Xuewu didn't know what she was expressing, pursed his lips, shrugged his shoulders with amusement, and invited the two, "Do you have time tomorrow?"

"Where to?!"

Zhou Xiaobai swept away her previous awkward expression and looked at Li Xuewu excitedly, knowing that coming to find them at this time must mean he wanted to take them out to play.

"Tianjin."

Li Xuewu smiled slightly. "Inviting foreign merchants and commercial partners to go out to sea to play; if you have time..."

"Yes! Yes!"

Zhou Xiaobai nodded earnestly. "Luo Yun and I both have time tomorrow."

"Xiaobai~"

Luo Yun frowned and pulled her hand, her gaze seemingly reminding her, and also warning her.

But Zhou Xiaobai didn't care at this moment, and replied to Li Xuewu, "If we leave tomorrow morning, I have to go back and ask Aunt Yu for leave."

"Okay, the car will come to pick you up at seven tomorrow morning."

Li Xuewu looked at Luo Yun, seemingly seeing something, but didn't care, and reminded, "Remember to bring warm clothes; it will be very cold at sea."

After saying that, he waved at them and got into the command vehicle.

And when the car left, Li Xuewu had already seen several young people waiting on the other side of the road.

"Xiaobai!"

After the car left, Luo Yun questioned with dissatisfaction, "Didn't you promise them you were going to the Summer Palace?"

"I've been to the Summer Palace many times."

Zhou Xiaobai explained to herself, "I'll explain to them in a while."

"Right,"

She looked at Luo Yun and said, "Should you tell Zuo Jie?"

"I'm so angry at you!"

Luo Yun said angrily, "If you want to go, go; I'm not going!"

"Oh~ Luo Yun~"

Zhou Xiaobai begged, holding her hand, "If you don't go, and I go alone, how awkward that would be. Wu Ge invited both of us."

"You!..."

Luo Yun pursed her lips and scolded in a low voice, "Do you know what you are doing now?"

As she spoke, she glanced at Zhong Yuemin and the others walking over from the other side of the road and reminded, "They are here; explain it yourself."

Looking at Luo Yun turning around angrily, Zhou Xiaobai bit her lip and didn't speak, seemingly struggling and hesitating inside.

Just now, facing Li Xuewu's invitation, she really didn't want to refuse, and even agreed without thinking.

She had to drag Luo Yun along because she could also see that Li Xuewu didn't want to bully her, and even less would he let her family misunderstand.

The more Li Xuewu treated her like a little girl, the more he played with youthful abandon, and the more he gave her this sense of security, the more she wanted to get close to Li Xuewu.

This sense of security gave her the reason to be proactive; she was certain Li Xuewu wouldn't hurt her, so no matter how excessive or proactive she played, she wouldn't be bullied.

A bit of youthful willfulness and stubbornness made her make such a decision unknowingly.

"What's wrong?"

Zhong Yuemin arrived here with two partners, glanced at the vigilant security guard, and asked Zhou Xiaobai, "I just saw..."

"It's the club president."

Zhou Xiaobai explained first, "He said there's an activity tomorrow to go to Tianjin, so..."

She looked at Zhong Yuemin somewhat embarrassedly and said, "We can't go to the Summer Palace anymore; sorry."

"What activity is going to Tianjin?"

Yuan Jun looked down on Zhou Xiaobai, especially her spoiled tone and personality; now that he had been stood up, he wasn't happy.

He already had an opinion on Zhong Yuemin's insistence on pursuing Zhou Xiaobai, and didn't approve of coming here to find trouble.

Especially since Zhou Xiaobai had never given Zhong Yuemin a formal reply, or promised anything.

Zhong Yuemin was like an ox, not turning back until he hit the south wall, dead set on Zhou Xiaobai.

Coming to send her every morning and pick her up every night, he really treated chasing girls like a job.

Sometimes Yuan Jun and Zheng Tong would follow, but they just weren't comfortable inside.

In the past, if you wanted to pursue a girl, you just talked; if she agreed, she agreed; if she didn't, she didn't.

Hearing about Zhou Xiaobai's family background, now it's like she doesn't say whether she agrees or not, as if she's fishing.

But Zhong Yuemin is willing to be fished, just like a big fool, letting people manipulate him.

He had the heart to remind Zhong Yuemin, but was rejected several times, and even heard him talking about Zhou Xiaobai's shyness and gentleness.

Yes, this girl has a shy and gentle side, but in Yuan Jun's view, this is just being pretentious.

Especially that car that just came, they had seen it several times and were very familiar with it.

They had also inquired about the club president identity Zhou Xiaobai explained.

The existence that walked out of the East City hutongs, the most capable of fighting, and also the most awesome, is the idol in the mouths of the ruffians, a god-like figure even compared to these proud sons of heaven.

Not only did he marry a good wife, but he was also flourishing in his career.

Just looking at this large courtyard in front of them, it wasn't something they could provoke.

It's not that there aren't those in the younger generation who are doing well, it's just that there's no one doing as well as him.

Even those in the large courtyard can't compare.

But it's precisely such a person who already has a family and a career who still comes to associate with the girls in their circle, which is really hateful.

Of course, the hate is the hate of jealousy; if it were any other hate, they wouldn't have the guts, and even less the ability.

The reason for the hate of jealousy is that Li Xuewu is more uninhibited and knows how to play better than them.

One invitation can take away their girl; by comparison, no one would feel comfortable inside.

At the end of February, the ice on Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace melted, and the pleasure boats could move; everyone was scrambling for the freshness.

Originally, Zhong Yuemin had racked his brains and already grabbed the opportunity for a pleasure boat, just thinking about taking Zhou Xiaobai boating.

In the lake water, on the boat, there are many things to say, and it's convenient to say them.

It's a pity, Zhou Xiaobai now has a better choice.

Hearing Yuan Jun's indignant questioning, Zhou Xiaobai was also disgusted by this person who had always looked at her coldly and had opinions about her.

She said coldly, "Activity is activity; it has nothing to do with where we go."

After saying that, she curled her lips and explained deliberately, "It's said to be entertaining foreign merchants and commercial partners, and we're going to take a yacht out to sea to fish and eat seafood."

Luo Yun looked at Zhou Xiaobai speechlessly, only feeling that she was a bit too stubborn.

Could it be that the suffering she received in love must be conveyed in exactly the same form to feel happy inside?

She doesn't oppose Zhou Xiaobai's contact with Zhong Yuemin, and even less opposes her contact with Li Xuewu.

What she opposes is Zhou Xiaobai confusing this kind of emotion, and even playing with emotions.

Li Xuewu's thoughts on Zhou Xiaobai are visible to everyone; little friend, or little girlfriend, can't be considered a close relationship.

If he needed to, people like Ou Xin in the courtyard could all be his friends.

Luo Yun had a few guesses about Zhou Xiaobai participating in this activity.

It's nothing more than Zhou Xiaobai's identity, or that Li Xuewu intends to cultivate Zhou Xiaobai and guide her to develop along a certain path.

This doesn't conflict with cultivating feelings, and his starting point can't be said to be bad.

Guiding someone with an identity and age advantage to become the help he needs, both sides have achievements.

In this process, maintaining a friendly relationship, even Zhou Xiaobai's family wouldn't oppose it.

Just look at Zhou Xiaobai using Li Xuewu's relationship to enter and exit the International Hotel, and even sometimes eating there and contacting foreign affairs personnel, and you'll know her family's reaction.

Luo Yun really wanted to wake Zhou Xiaobai up and let her know what she wanted.

If she doesn't want to have emotional entanglement with Zhong Yuemin, then don't waste her energy.

Refusing frankly is sometimes a kind of friendliness to oneself.

But now it seems that Zhong Yuemin is more like the active one, unwilling to let go.

"Forget it, Xiaobai also has her own work; I understand you, Xiaobai."