Shen Siqi had originally disagreed with cooperating with Ruiye, believing that his father was favoring Shen Siyi to an extreme degree, using Qianshan Group's interests to compensate Shen Siyi.
Therefore, he had made up his mind that today, even if Xiao Ming and the others begged on their knees, he would find a way to ruin this collaboration, and it had to appear as Ruiye's fault.
Now, hearing Xiao Ming say so, he was overjoyed in his heart and sneered, "The staff of my Qianshan Group, even the cleaning ladies who sweep the toilets, are nobler than a so-called chairman like you, who's nothing but a monkey in a silk robe.
"You don't like it? Who do you think you are?"
Xiao Ming remained unflustered, nodding with a smile, "You truly are the great young master of the Shen Family. Every word you say reeks of money, so domineering.
"By the way, I have a friend in Aojiang who's a croupier. Just the other day, he asked me to introduce him to some wealthy clients. Aren't you interested, Mr. Shen?
"I could give you his number..."
"What a joke! You think I'm like you lowlifes, going to such..."
His voice abruptly stopped, and the arrogant expression on Shen Siqi's face froze.
Because Xiao Ming continued, "His name is Baoya Kun."
Baoya Kun, whose real name is Chen Likun, was a well-known croupier in Aojiang, serving mainland tycoons. A year later, he would be arrested for money laundering, and the news would expose his clientele, including Shen Siqi.
And the more than fifty million that Shen Siqi lost over two months ago was handled by Baoya Kun.
One could only imagine how shocked and frightened he must be feeling at this moment.
Was Xiao Ming speaking off the cuff? Or did he know something?
Shen Siqi dared not be sure, nor did he dare to gamble.
At this moment, the receptionist returned, not only with a new hairstyle but also with a touch-up of her makeup, even unbuttoning two buttons of her new shirt, looking radiant.
After pondering for a while, Shen Siqi turned his head and glanced at his secretary, who was now recovering from the shock and groaning at the elevator door. He instructed his assistant, "Inform HR that Secretary Qian is to be dismissed immediately. Have them prepare the severance package as per legal standards..."
"Does Mr. Shen lack eyes, or is he hearing impaired?"
Xiao Ming thought the receptionist's laughter was sweet, so he decided to vent on her behalf again and threw the secretary's words back at Shen Siqi.
"For someone I dislike to still be receiving severance pay, are you implying you rather like him?"
Shen Siqi's temples throbbed twice, and he reissued his order to his assistant, "Secretary Qian has assaulted someone for no reason, severely damaging the company's image. Terminate his employment immediately, let this serve as a warning to others!"
Secretary Qian was stunned, disregarding the blood on half of his face, he crawled over using his hands and feet, "Mr. Shen! Mr. Shen, I did everything as you ordered, you can't fire me..."
"Get lost!"
Shen Siqi kicked him away, hissing venomously, "You son of a bitch, spout nonsense again and I'll cripple you!"
Secretary Qian's heart skipped a beat, he hung his head in fear, yet his eyes flickered uncertainly, not knowing what he was thinking.
As the assistant pushed the elevator button and helped him in, he whispered, and Secretary Qian's face finally eased.
The elevator doors closed, and Shen Siqi let out a breath, turning to face Xiao Ming, "Mr. Xiao, now we can..."
"Su, did you have a good rest? If you're rested, hurry and schedule an appointment for Mr. Shen," said Xiao Ming to the front desk. "The schedules of several shareholders and I have been quite full lately, but we must show respect to Mr. Shen. Let's just squeeze him in. Arrange it for the first of next month, in the morning."
The receptionist couldn't help but giggle, quickly bowing her head, agreeing while pretending to be busy, but she thought to herself: Mr. Xiao is so wicked!
He's always as idle as a master without concerns, yet he claims to be very busy, pushing Mr. Shen off until next week.
So unreasonable! So domineering! So... so appealing!
Shen Siqi's face had already turned the color of liver.
Even if he was foolish, by this time he would have realized that Xiao Ming had no intention of discussing anything with him—everything said was just toying with him.
"Xiao... Ming!" He squeezed these two words out from between his teeth.
"I warn you not to push people too far!"
"What do you mean by that, Mr. Shen? I was even willing to let you cut in line, aren't you satisfied?"
Xiao Ming sneered, "Could it be that Qianshan Group's way of doing business is to bully others with power, doing whatever you please, without even offering the minimum respect?
If that's indeed the case, then I'm sorry, small as Ruiye may be, we are a company with morals, and we don't do business with rascals.
Mr. Shen, please leave!"
Shen Siqi clenched his fists, humiliation gnawing at his innards like a venomous snake. He wanted to explode with rage but feared that Xiao Ming truly knew of his connection with Baoya Kun.
Moreover, his goal was to sabotage the partnership from the start, and now that Xiao Ming wasn't even willing to talk, it fit his plans perfectly.
"Very well! I'll remember this." He spoke in a somber voice, "Let's wait and see. The favor bestowed today, I'll pay back double!"
Having said that, he strode towards the elevator.
"Did you hear that? That's the speaking style of a rich young master." Xiao Ming leaned against the reception desk and said to the receptionist with a smile, "Doesn't it feel like you're watching a soap opera?"
The receptionist giggled charmingly: "Mr. Xiao, you're so funny! But now that I think about it, it really is quite similar.𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
It felt nothing special when watching TV dramas, but now in person it's so awkward, gives me goosebumps, don't believe me? Feel for yourself."
Shen Siqi was very miserable.
Ruiye Holdings was on the thirty-third floor of this office building, and due to Secretary Qian who had just left, the elevator hadn't even reached the first floor yet.
Another one was even worse, who knows who was so immoral to have stopped it on the eighteenth floor for an eternity, and no matter how the assistant pressed the button, it wouldn't budge.
Which means, Shen Siqi was forced to hear every word of Xiao Ming's mockery with the receptionist, with nowhere to hide.
"Let me feel too!"
Shen Siqi was helpless against Xiao Ming and the receptionist, but someone else could scare the receptionist out of her wits with just a single sentence.
Yun Shi Yu came over with a cold expression, her chilliness so intense that Xiao Ming started getting goosebumps as well.
Glancing indifferently at the receptionist, she took the documents from Xiao Ming's hand and held them to her chest like a secretary would.
"I've got nothing else next, and I'd like to learn more about the two business seniors up close. You don't mind, do you?"
"And if I did?"
"Reserved."
Xiao Ming chuckled and shook his head.
He discovered that, after the interlude at lunch, the girl seemed to have reverted to her original "fairy" demeanor; icy and serene, without need to flaunt, exuding an inherent pride from above.
He wasn't sure if this was good or bad.
That elevator, which had previously stopped at the eighteenth floor, finally arrived and Shen Siqi hurried in, his assistant frantically pressing the close button.
Clearly, he was well aware that if Xiao Ming were to get in as well, his boss would definitely be unlucky.
Luckily, the other elevator was on its way up, and Xiao Ming had no intention of crowding in with them.
"Have someone go to the security room and copy the CCTV footage from just now, then send it to Mr. Shen. Tell him, if he's going home for dinner tonight, he must bring it with him."
After giving instructions to the receptionist, the other elevator arrived. Xiao Ming stepped forward to hold the door open for Yun Shi Yu to enter first.
After the elevator doors closed, the receptionist finally dared to take a deep breath. She glanced at the mirror next to her computer screen and sighed in defeat.
The difference in appearance was too great; with a stunning beauty like Miss Yun around, where was there any room for her dreams?