Reborn as a Noble's Son-Chapter 740 - 696: Cooperation Coming to the Door_1
Chapter 740: Chapter 696: Cooperation Coming to the Door_1
Upon hearing that the meeting was to be with Zhu Lijun, Cao Dingkun breathed a sigh of relief. He knew Liu Sanhai’s temperament very well; Huo Siyuan had once described him as a stone in a cesspit – foul and uncompromising. If it had been Liu Sanhai they wanted to meet, Cao Dingkun would have had no confidence. However, Zhu Lijun was a different story. Although he was generally seen as neutral, he was pragmatic rather than pedantic. It wouldn’t be too hard to set up a meeting and have a chat with him.
He promptly nodded his approval and asked, “When would this be taking place?”
At this moment, Nie Zhenbang was also considering the timing of the meeting. Arranging it to happen tonight didn’t seem to bear any special significance. After some contemplation, he said, “There is no need to rush this. As I see it, until the San Gong Office is vacated, you won’t be making any moves. The inspection in Shenjing City should conclude in about three days, so let’s set it for the evening after tomorrow.”
After sending off Cao Dingkun, Nie Zhenbang also stood up and left the private room. By this time, Li Jupeng had already settled the bill. They walked out of Phoenix Tea House and took a stroll on the main street. Once the snow had finely dusted their overcoats, they returned to the Provincial Party Committee Guest House.
They did this to mislead Huo Siyuan. Being too conspicuous was not beneficial as it only invited trouble.
Upon his return to the guest house, Nie Zhenbang took out his mobile phone and opened his contact list. There, he only had one contact listed – “Snow.”
...
This was Li Lixue’s international phone number. Nie Zhenbang felt guilty about Li Lixue and Dong Wan. He made it a point to call them every three to five days and repeatedly urged them to return to China as soon as possible. None of the other powerful families would dare exploit their situation as a means of criticism. Yet, Dong Wan remained resolute, unwilling to return home and to even see her son, Dong Zhiping. Their only communication was through video calls online. During the vacations, Dong Zhiping was accompanied overseas by Dong Wan’s parents.
As a result, Li Lixue was also unwilling to return to China. Nie Wenwen, who was Lixue’s daughter Yah, was now living with Li Lixue.
This was the old lady’s idea. She had always kept her opinions about Nie Zhenbang’s three confidantes to herself. She had expressed a particular concern for Li Lixue, whose separation from her daughter was something the old lady could not bear. So two years ago, she made the decision to let Yah go abroad.
The phone was picked up after a few rings, and from the other end, a childish voice rang out, “Daddy. Wen missed you.”
The innocent words struck a chord in Nie Zhenbang’s heart. Over the past three or four years, the days he had been able to spend with Li Lixue and Dong Wan did not even add up to a week in a year. As a husband and father, he fell short.
“Yah, daddy misses you too. Have you been a good girl? Have you been listening to mummy and auntie?” Nie Zhenbang, at this moment, appeared incredibly tender-hearted.
This rising political star in Huaxia’s politics, whom foreigners saw as a wise and courageous man – the future leader of Huaxia’s hawk party — was now showing an infrequent but heartfelt display of paternal love.
“Naughty daddy! You promised not to call me Yah. In Jingcheng dialect, ‘Yah’ is a derogatory term. Du often uses Jing slang to insult people. Both Pan and I have decided to ignore him. If daddy disobeys, Wen won’t talk to you anymore,” the little girl was quite upset that Nie Zhenbang had called her ‘Yah’.
Thanks to the development of the internet, Li Lixue and Dong Wan, living on their private island, didn’t have to compromise on their living conditions. They had their underwater optical cables, and thanks to the cooperative relationship between Tenglong Group and Morgan, they faced no problems at all.
In this way, whether it was the Dong family villa in Xishan or the Siheyuan in Shichahai, Jingcheng, a state-of-the-art internet video communication system had been installed. Naturally, this was also the case on Tenglong Island.
This wasn’t just any ordinary video chat. The whole system covered most of the children’s activity areas. Any place in the house, apart from the washrooms, could be used for communication with Tenglong Island, using the liquid crystal displays and the ubiquitous communication systems. It felt as if one was at home having a chat.
The relationship between the three children was very good. Yet, because of their gender differences, Wen and Pan had a better relationship and tended to exclude Du, Dong Zhiping a bit.
However, these were just playful squabbles among children, not something that the adults took seriously or needed to intervene in.
Nie Zhenbang, at this moment, slapped his forehead realising his mistake before letting out a chuckle and saying, “Yah, daddy is wrong. I’m sorry, Wen.”
Seemingly, he had called her ‘Yah’ again. Nie Zhenbang quickly corrected himself, aware that the little girl would be relentless otherwise.
The little girl frowned when she was called ‘Yah’ again, but when she heard ‘Wen’ at the end, she seemed rather satisfied with Nie Zhenbang’s response. “Hmm, daddy is really good. You’re let off the hook today. Daddy, I’m handing the phone to mummy now.”
At this point, Li Lixue’s voice could be heard from the phone: “Zhenbang, why did you suddenly call today? Is there something going on?”
Nie Zhenbang’s communication times had been fixed. Despite his transfer to the Three Public Office over the past half year, he still used to communicate on the weekends. Hence, Li Lixue immediately sensed an anomaly when he called on a non-weekend day.
In front of his family, Nie Zhenbang had no need to hide anything and smilingly asked, “Li Xue, regarding the mining industry in Heishui Province, has it been handed over to Wal-Mart Group or are we managing it ourselves?”
Nie Zhenbang never interfered with his own businesses. On this matter, Li Lixue was a natural business genius, compounded by the addition of Dong Wan. The financial empire of Tenglong Group, a colossal giant, was in the hands of these two women – a situation none of the world’s wealthy cartels had ever envisioned.
Without needing to refer to any information, Li Lixue directly replied, “The businesses in Heishui Province and the entire Huaxia have been transferred to our second brother and sister. This is also a means of protection for Tenglong Group. At home, Tenglong’s status is yet to be made public.”
Upon hearing this, Nie Zhenbang had a clear idea of what he needed to do next. Consequently, he spoke with Li Lixue and Dong Wan for two or three more hours, until his phone’s battery died, and then hung up.
…
Heishui Province,
The provincial capital, Hacheng.
This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.
Zhengkang Police Equipment Co., Ltd. was located on the main street of Hacheng.
As the most bustling street in Hacheng, Zhengkang Company’s location here signified its remarkable standing, being the exclusive supplier of police equipment for the entire political and legal system of Heishui Province. The company was undoubtedly prosperous.
At this moment, Zhu Zhengkang, who was inside his office at Zhengkang Company, was reading the latest issue of “Fortune” magazine.
The phone on the table rang. As soon as he picked up, the voice on the other end commanded, “Kangzi, come to Junyue Hotel right now. There’s good news.”
The person calling was Zhu Zhengkang’s childhood buddy, Meng Yong, the son of the current Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee in Heishui Province, Meng Shuangxi.
Despite his confusion, Zhu Zhengkang hurried over.
As he entered the café at Junyue Hotel, attendants immediately ushered Zhu Zhengkang into a private room where Meng Yong sat with two other people. One looked to be in his early thirties, the other in his mid-thirties.
Seeing Zhu Zhengkang enter, Meng Yong stood up and introduced, “Kangzi, let me introduce you. This is Lin Xiaomin, secretary Lin Qilin’s son from our Heishui Province committee. You can call him Brother Min. The other one is Xiao Jie, the Senior Vice President of the Wal-Mart Group’s Great Zhonghua region. His cousin is the boss of Wal-Mart Group, Yang Anbang.”
Not surprisingly, these were people with heavyweight clout. Zhu Zhengkang certainly didn’t want to risk offending anyone. One was the local boss in the Heishui Province elite circle, and the other was a member of a distinguished Jingcheng family.
Zhu Zhengkang immediately extended his hand and said, “Brother Min, Brother Xiao.”
Being the head of the provincial committee’s company, Lin Xiaomin maintained his pride. With a light smile, he shook hands and said, “Kangzi, right? This time, Ah Jie wants to meet you. My role is simply to make the introduction.”
Lin’s family had a good relationship with the Xiao family, which could be considered as related by marriage. Lin Xiaomin’s sister, Lin Xiaoyan, was married to Xiao Jie’s cousin, and these two families were bound by kinship. Thus, when his sister Xiao Yali asked him to find Zhengkang Company, Xiao Jie naturally thought of Lin Xiaomin.
Upon hearing Lin Xiaomin’s introduction, Xiao Jie too rose to his feet, smiling, “Kangzi, sit down. This time, I was commissioned by someone to approach you. Kangzi, are you interested in working with Wal-Mart Group to exploit Russian minerals?”
The sudden news stupefied Zhu Zhengkang. This matter, in Zhu Zhengkang’s view, was like a pie falling from the sky. What kind of company was Wal-Mart Group? It was the leading private enterprise in the country and the only privately-owned company in Huaxia among the top 500 in the world. Comparing his Zhengkang Company to theirs was like comparing heaven and earth.
Collaborating with the Wal-Mart Group was tantamount to embarking on an aircraft carrier. Considering whether they would wipe out him, Zhu Zhengkang saw it clearly – in terms of family property or lineage, there was no comparison. He couldn’t figure out what benefit they could reap from him. Anyone who refused would be a fool.
Without hesitation, Zhu Zhengkang immediately made up his mind, reaching out with a smile, “Brother Xiao, I’m flattered that you think highly of me. Following Brother Xiao, I, Kangzi, am ready to give it my all.” (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
