Chapter 42: A Million in Gold with a Flip of the Tongue

Chapter 42: A Million in Gold with a Flip of the Tongue

“What!”

Zeng Guanlin was shocked.

To launch this project, he had already borrowed over a hundred million in funds.

Now everything was ready except for the final push. After the commercial event this afternoon, he planned to officially launch the rental loan together with his partners.

Now, the core spokesperson wanted to back out at the last minute. That simply wouldn’t do!

“Tell her, impossible! I, Zeng Guanlin, will never agree! If she refuses to fulfill the contract, then she can wait for a lawsuit! Negotiate termination? Dream on!”

The secretary said helplessly, “Boss, I already told Mai Hui that. But he said if we insist on performance, then we must also strictly abide by the contract. He Jiaqi can be our company’s spokesperson and will help promote our brand apartments as required by the contract, but she absolutely will not participate in any projects related to the rental loan.”

“This…”

Zeng Guanlin fell silent.

When they signed the contract initially, wasn’t the reason they hid this matter precisely because too many financial products had exploded in recent years, causing terrible reputational damage, and they were afraid He Jiaqi wouldn’t accept the endorsement?

Later, after the contract was signed, although He Jiaqi’s side knew the situation had changed and had some complaints, they held their noses and accepted it because of the substantial fee.

Now, since they were going to hold the contract to the letter, Kelai Apartment was actually at a disadvantage.

These two were not lone operators; they had a large entertainment group backing them. Their legal department was no pushover either.

“Where are He Jiaqi and Mai Hui now? I’ll go talk to them myself!”

Zeng Guanlin made a prompt decision.

The secretary said, “In the cafe downstairs. They haven’t left.”

Zeng Guanlin looked around and pointed at a few people. “You, come with me downstairs.”

Then, as if remembering something, he pointed at Lin De. “You come with us too.”

Lin De felt terrible but didn’t dare refuse. He just followed dejectedly behind the group.

The vice president slowed his pace a little to fall in beside him and said in a low voice, “Things have come to this. Don’t get into a pointless argument. Apologize later if you need to, and be genuinely sincere. President Zeng will probably have some arrangements regarding Chen Feng, but no matter the outcome, you must not show the slightest displeasure on your face. Otherwise, I can’t help you either.”

Lin De said, “Understood.”

Downstairs in the cafe, Chen Feng was about to say his goodbyes when he heard a slight commotion in the cafe.

He looked up and saw a group of people, led by Zeng Guanlin, filing down the cafe’s aisle.

Their expressions were very serious.

“Miss He, I think we need to talk.”

As the helmsman of Kelai Apartment, Zeng Guanlin’s word was final, so he got straight to the point upon meeting.

He Jiaqi didn’t put on any airs. She made a gesture of invitation. “Please, have a seat.”

The cafe booth had four seats. He Jiaqi and Mai Hui sat on one side, Chen Feng sat opposite them. When Zeng Guanlin sat down, he ended up next to Chen Feng.

The others stood behind the two like a group of followers.

A true big boss, even though a bit annoyed inside, Zeng Guanlin appeared very poised on the surface and took the initiative to greet, “Hello, Chen Feng.”

Chen Feng seemed slightly flustered.

Even though the other party had nothing to do with him now, Chen Feng had been an employee of Kelai Apartment for over half a year. He had often seen this big boss, Zeng Guanlin, speak at company meetings and witnessed many scenes of the boss commanding authority, so he inevitably felt pressure.

But Chen Feng quickly adjusted and replied calmly, “Hello, President Zeng.”

Zeng Guanlin nodded again, acknowledging the greeting.

He then turned immediately to Mai Hui and He Jiaqi opposite him and said, “I understand what you both mean. I hope you will reconsider carefully. Our company has done a lot of preliminary work for launching this product. You should have seen the specific project proposal.”

“Our company is truly sincere and determined to make the rental loan project a success. You both know the scale of Kelai Apartment. We are not the type to do a one-hit-wonder and run; that would be killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. So your concerns are unfounded.”

Mai Hui cleared his throat lightly. “President Zeng, it’s not a matter of concerns. Our decision was made after considering various factors.”

As he spoke, Mai Hui subtly let his gaze drift toward Chen Feng.

Seeing this, Zeng Guanlin laughed heartily. “That’s a minor issue. I have already clarified the matter between Chen Feng and Lin De. Here’s what I’ll do: starting now, Lin De is demoted to a basic salesperson, responsible for business development in the Jianhua District. Chen Feng will take the position of District Manager for our company’s High-Tech Zone.”

Lin De, who had been hiding in the back, turned pale. This was a nightmare!

With just one sentence from the big boss, the position he had worked so hard to climb into was stripped away!

And he was demoted all the way to the bottom!

Business development, my foot! To put it bluntly, it was a telemarketer who called landlords every day asking if they wanted to rent out their properties, worse than even an apartment butler.

But Chen Feng did not take the offer. “Thank you for your kindness, President Zeng, but I have already resigned. Being a manager isn’t appealing to me now. I’ll find my own way later. I am very satisfied with the compensation your company previously promised me.”

Having already left, Chen Feng really had no interest in going back.

The manager position that Lin De treated as more important than his life seemed to Chen Feng now like nothing but a dirty, stinking garbage heap.

Zeng Guanlin had anticipated this. He glanced back at Lin De.

Lin De understood. To keep his chair, he went all out.

Lin De stepped forward and, in front of everyone, plopped down on his knees.

“Brother Chen, I’m sorry, really sorry. It was wrong of me as a person and in how I handled things. Please don’t hold a grudge against someone like me. I was despicable, I spoke harshly, I have no brain, no insight!”

Slap!

Lin De actually slapped himself.

Great. The injuries on his face from yesterday hadn’t fully healed, and now the other side of his face was swollen too.

With both cheeks swollen, he looked like a pig’s head hanging on a rack.

But Chen Feng felt no pity for him and said indifferently, “I wouldn’t dare hold a grudge against Manager Lin.”

With a bitter face, Lin De looked around, hoping for help.

His aggrieved little eyes seemed to say to others,

See? This guy is like this, unyielding.

Zeng Guanlin thought for a moment. “Chen Feng, to express my apology to you, I will personally compensate you an additional two hundred thousand yuan for emotional distress. What do you think?”

Before Chen Feng could respond, Zeng Guanlin said to He Jiaqi and Mai Hui, “Both of you, our previous endorsement contract was two million for two years. But you know our real needs. Now that we are expanding the scope of work, the compensation should naturally increase as well. Two years, six million! What do you think?”

Yes, since saving face was no longer an option, they would talk substance.

Mai Hui and He Jiaqi were indeed stunned.

With a flip of his tongue, Zeng Guanlin had added a full four million to what they would receive.

Even for a celebrity artist, four million was not a sum to be ignored.

He Jiaqi and Mai Hui glanced at each other, feeling a bit troubled inside.

Who doesn’t want money?

But they had just stated they were willing to back Chen Feng to the end. Changing their minds now for four million was somewhat embarrassing.

Chen Feng keenly sensed the change in their attitude.

But Chen Feng wasn’t angry.

Come on, the initial investment he and Zhong Lei were preparing for “Monotony” was three to four hundred thousand, but more money was always better.

He, Chen Feng, was also short on money!

Four million! Who wouldn’t be tempted?

Besides, because of those two idiots, Lin De and Zhou Yunbo, Zeng Guanlin had to bleed so much. Wouldn’t Zeng Guanlin later double down on making their lives miserable?

The more happily they sliced off Zeng Guanlin’s flesh now, the less they had to fear Zeng Guanlin not going all out later in dealing with Lin De and Zhou Yunbo.

Since He Jiaqi and Mai Hui were already tempted, Chen Feng naturally didn’t want to block their path to wealth.

After all, if these two made money, he could feel more justified charging a higher price when he sold “Night Has Grown Deep” later.

Five hundred thousand couldn’t satisfy the current Chen Feng.

One never had too much money.

“President Zeng, although I personally did not suffer any emotional distress from your company, I am very satisfied with this compensation for emotional distress.”

Chen Feng stated his position.

Over there, Mai Hui and He Jiaqi immediately followed up, expressing their willingness to continue sitting down to discuss a new contract.

Chen Feng wasn’t interested in what followed. After the finance department transferred the money on the spot, he stood up and said his goodbyes.

Walking out of the cafe entrance and getting into a taxi, Chen Feng looked down at the text message on his phone.

Bank card balance: two hundred and thirty thousand!

He struck it rich!

He really struck it rich this time!

Remembering how he had worked hard for over half a year before, only daring to eat the cheapest instant noodles, scrimping and saving to save up fifty thousand, Chen Feng felt a bit sorry for his past self.

Today, he had witnessed what he called the flashy moves of the rich: just to express an apology, they casually gave away two hundred thousand.

He Jiaqi’s side was even more exaggerated—four million for free!

But actually, Chen Feng knew that four million had nothing to do with him. It was just because this time, Kelai Apartment had placed a heavy bet on the rental loan and couldn’t afford to lose.

Furthermore, the more impatient Zeng Guanlin appeared, the more Chen Feng, as a former Kelai Apartment employee, felt the greater the risk was in this financial product.

But Mai Hui should know this too. They had a dedicated legal team to handle things for them.

The ones tempted were He Jiaqi and Mai Hui. The ones signing the contract were He Jiaqi and Mai Hui. Chen Feng didn’t feel the need to single-handedly try to dissuade them.

After all, they had just met. Saying too much would be overstepping the bounds of their new acquaintance.