Chapter 40: Trust the People You Hire

Chapter 40: Trust the People You Hire

"Are you nervous?"

"What?"

"Your heart rate is up."

"..."

Zhao Shengge was just messing with Chen Wan; such a brief touch couldn't possibly reveal any abnormality.

Chen Wan smiled, calmly joking, "Nervous? Not really, but having the client wait on me is a bit much."

Zhao Shengge's tone was casual, his demeanor generous: "These are just minor things, but your winning the bid has saved both me and Minglong a lot of hassle."

"If you trust someone, don't doubt them. Since Minglong has chosen Kexiang as a partner, it means we trust and recognize you. Kexiang didn't offer the highest price, but I want to show my sincerity. Consider this, along with the gratitude I owed from last time, as me—"

"Winning you over."

Chen Wan nodded, without suspicion.

He had heard about Zhao Shengge's reputation as a client. Minglong's success today wasn't just due to the decisive and ruthless leadership of its leader, but also benefited from his young age and the demeanor of a great entrepreneur, respectful and open-minded.

This was common knowledge.

Zhao Shengge was ruthless to his opponents, like a storm clearing the field, but he was very protective of his own people, treating them generously. Thus, whether it was his subordinates or those who had cooperated with him, they all admired him and were fiercely loyal.

It felt like forever before Zhao Shengge finished putting on the cufflinks, stepping back like a gentleman, and said, "What do you think? Do you like them? If not, we can take our time to pick others."

Chen Wan, with a smile in his eyes, said, "I like them."

He extended his arms to show them off, like a kid trying on new clothes, while Zhao Shengge watched quietly.

The ruby looked great on Chen Wan, complementing the reddish-brown mole between his fingers.

He could almost picture the contract signing day, when these hands would wear these cufflinks to sign Chen Wan's name, and then shake hands with him, finalizing the deal.

Zhao Shengge had the clerk pack the cufflinks. Chen Wan got a work call, and Zhao Shengge, after some thought, quietly asked the clerk to have a pattern engraved on the back of the cufflinks.

The pattern was simple, and there wasn't much waiting, so Chen Wan didn't know about it.

All Chen Wan knew was that Zhao Shengge liked to shop.

This didn't quite fit Zhao Shengge's image.

After purchasing the cufflinks, he wasn't ready to leave yet. Zhao Shengge probably didn't go out much, so he was quite serious about shopping, occasionally saying a few words to Chen Wan.

Chen Wan patiently stayed by his side, keeping an eye out.

Later, Zhao Shengge spotted a tie pin and bought it to give to Chen Wan as well. It wasn't too pricey, but it was perfect for Chen Wan.

The clerk handed the packaged gift box to Chen Wan, but Zhao Shengge reached out first: "Let me take it."

Chen Wan felt embarrassed to trouble the client again.

"It's okay," Zhao Shengge shook the bag, saying, "We still have some shopping to do."

Chen Wan didn't realize that "some shopping" meant until the mall closed, when groups of tourists and bulk buyers descended from the escalators, and the crowd suddenly grew.

Chen Wan quickly stepped to Zhao Shengge's outer side. Zhao Shengge asked, "What's the matter?"

"You walk inside," Chen Wan shielded him from the crowd, "So they don't bump into you."

Zhao Shengge looked at him for a moment and said, "Come here, don't let them bump into you either."

The crowd was too thick, and even with all the shielding, they were still being jostled. Chen Wan frowned, pushing back the people who were surging from behind towards Zhao Shengge. He probably didn't notice his expressionless face looked a bit cold.

After watching for a moment, Zhao Shengge said gently, "I'm fine, let's go."

They squeezed through the crowd and out of the building, and the space opened up, suddenly quiet and vast.

Chen Wan had to go back to the company for his car, and Zhao Shengge drove him to the west end of Taizi District.

At eleven o'clock, the industrial park was still brightly lit. Zhao Shengge parked the car, and Chen Wan, hesitating, reached back to subtly feel the driver's seat leather.

There wouldn't be another chance.

He said, fumbling with the seatbelt, "Thank you, Mr. Zhao, I'll just—"

Chen Wan paused, glancing down, and pressed again, but the seatbelt still wouldn't release.

Zhao Shengge turned his head to look at him.

Chen Wan felt awkward, sighing inwardly, because it felt like a cliché TV drama moment. He swore he didn't mean it at all, but the seatbelt indeed didn't respond.

Zhao Shengge watched for a few seconds, didn't lean over directly to check, but left enough room and asked politely, "Need help?"

But Chen Wan quickly steadied himself, politely declining, "It's okay, I'll try again."

He didn't want to get too close to Zhao Shengge, especially in the cramped, dim space, where keeping his composure was tough.

Chen Wan didn't want to scare Zhao Shengge or lose control.

Zhao Shengge raised a brow, waiting for a while, but Chen Wan still couldn't unbuckle it.

Suddenly, Zhao Shengge hit a button on the console.

"Click," the seatbelt released.

"..." Chen Wan was surprised; he hadn't known custom cars could lock seatbelts from the console.

At a certain price, anything's possible.

Zhao Shengge was relaxed, hand resting on the wheel, "Same voice lock, I forgot."

"Oh." Chen Wan nodded, trusting him, then got out, leaned down, and thanked him at the window.

Zhao Shengge, with one hand on the steering wheel and his body slightly turned, looked very handsome in the night. His face didn't show much expression, but his gaze was very focused, "Chen Wan, goodbye."

Chen Wan felt today wasn't business but a dream frame.

But now it was time to wake up.

Chen Wan savored the moment, his eyes smiling, "Mr. Zhao, goodbye."

Zhao Shengge frowned slightly, he didn't quite like this smile of Chen Wan's, as if he was desperately trying to remember something with those smiling eyes, or saying goodbye in the night, so he decisively called out to him, "Chen Wan."

Chen Wan stopped.

He reminded Chen Wan, "The contract signing is next week."

They’d be seeing each other again next week.

"Okay," the streetlight glinted in Chen Wan’s eyes as he smiled and said, "Mr. Zhao, until next time."

When it came time to sign the contract, Chen Wan did not wear the ruby cufflinks and tie pin.

Later, Zhao Shengge noticed that Chen Wan never wore them, no matter the occasion.

The contract involved four parties. The Shen and Tan families only invested and did not participate in operations. Therefore, besides Zhao Shengge, Xu Zhiying, and Chen Wan, there was also an engineer, Fang Jian, Zhao Shengge's classmate from Cambridge, a postdoctoral fellow, and the chief engineer of the project, leading a laboratory team.

The four of them sat at the four corners of the meeting room, the atmosphere was quite formal and serious. Each person took turns signing and exchanging contracts. After the formalities were completed, Xu Zhiying eagerly offered her hand to Chen Wan, "Mr. Chen, I’m genuinely thrilled to have you as a partner."

Although the project was shared between the Xu family and Minglong, the Xu family’s stake was too small, and the decision-making power was basically in Zhao Shengge's hands. It was a welcome surprise that Chen Wan was chosen.

Chen Wan smiled and shook her hand.

Zhao Shengge shut the folder and declared, "The meeting is over."

Chen Wan then let go of Xu Zhiying's hand and went to shake hands with Fang Jian.

Among the four, Zhao Shengge and Xu Zhiying were the clients, the big boss and the small boss, Fang Jian was a third party, and only Chen Wan was the contractor. He had to navigate both upward and lateral relationships carefully.

Fang Jian wasn’t nearly as warm as Xu Zhiying, and he was somewhat arrogant due to his talent. His prematurely white hair made him look very serious, and as the youngest winner of an international award and a big name in marine engineering, he was one of the few in the city who dared to challenge Zhao Shengge.

He didn’t give a damn about your background, wealth, or the project’s scale; you couldn’t violate his scientific principles.

Although Fang Jian was somewhat rigid and stubborn, he was highly passionate about research and development. Due to the high level of confidentiality of the project, he set up an encrypted group chat and directly added the other three. Daily, he’d share engineering plans, ideas, and dense, esoteric theories, sometimes in foreign language literature, sometimes in structural diagrams, consistently and extensively.

This was often met with long, awkward silences.

The two busy clients barely engaged with him.

However, Xu Zhiying was better at handling people. At the beginning, she occasionally replied a few words for the sake of appearance. Later, as the content became more profound, it was like reading a book from heaven. Even if she wanted to butter him up, she couldn’t keep up, so only Chen Wan continued to support.

Chen Wan didn’t want to leave the big shot hanging in the group, so even if he didn’t understand some things, he would roughly understand them and then reply.

Moreover, the part he was responsible for overlapped with the other party's, and as the project progressed, there were more and more interactions.