novelraw Chapter 1312 1312: Imprisonment?!
Chapter 1312 1312: Imprisonment?!
Bai Zhiqing had been absolutely right.
Although Nangong Qingcheng was very capable and definitely stood out among people her age, she had never truly stepped into society. She lacked experience in all kinds of things and could easily fall into the other party's trap!
Right now, Geng Duojin was using high-sounding words to force Nangong Qingcheng into a corner, leaving her no way out. She had no choice but to drink.
Helpless, she could only clink glasses with Geng Duojin and take a small sip.
But even so, that high-proof Moutai still made her jade-like, delicate cheeks flush red almost instantly. She hurriedly picked up a pair of chopsticks and grabbed a bite of cold dish to try to counter the alcohol.
Geng Duojin watched this with great satisfaction in his heart, and he too picked up some food while staring at Nangong Qingcheng, savoring the full meaning of "a feast for the eyes."
"President Geng, I've had the drink. We should talk business now."
Suppressing the discomfort in her stomach, Nangong Qingcheng said, "Like you said, our cooperation hasn't been short. In the very beginning, Fengming was sourcing goods from your company, we've always…"
"Ahem, President Feng, don't be in such a hurry!"
Before Nangong Qingcheng could finish, Geng Duojin interrupted with a laugh, "One look and I can tell you have no experience. I've just sat down, my butt isn't even warm yet, and you're already anxious to talk business? Don't we have the whole night?"
Again with the "no experience"!
This really left Nangong Qingcheng at a bit of a loss. Competing with a wily old fox like this from the business world, she was indeed too green.
In that moment, her gaze drifted toward the outside, and she instinctively wanted to ask Jiang Feng for help.
But in the end, she held back!
First, the time hadn't come yet; second, she couldn't rely on Jiang Feng for everything. She had to at least try on her own first!
"Manager Nangong, we've had each other's contact info for a long time, haven't we? I never thought you'd be so young. You must still be in school, right? Not even twenty yet, and you've managed to start a company all by yourself. You really put men to shame, a true heroine among women, slapped so many of us men in the face…" Geng Duojin smiled with layers of meaning, deliberately flattering her.
"Age has nothing to do with starting a business, President Geng. The sisters in my company are all waiting for me to take back the result of our conversation, so we have to talk business now. I hope you can understand." Nangong Qingcheng ignored his flattery and insisted.
She might be naive, but she wasn't stupid. She knew that if she kept chit-chatting with him, there would be no end to it.
"Fine, haha, young people are just impatient. Then have another sip; once you've had another sip, we'll talk!" Geng Duojin said with a squinting smile.
Waves of discomfort rolled through Nangong Qingcheng's heart, but to save time, she still picked up the glass and took another sip.
"That's more like it! Manager Nangong, you said you can't drink, but I think you've got quite the capacity!"
Geng Duojin pulled out his usual toasting tricks and directly grabbed the bottle to refill Nangong Qingcheng's glass.
Nangong Qingcheng's scalp tingled. She hurriedly reached out to stop him, but who would've thought that Geng Duojin would take the chance to grab her soft, fair hand, grinning wickedly as he said, "Don't be nervous, I just added a little. Worst case, if you drink too much, I'll take care of you. Look how tense you are. Grain liquor doesn't even give you a hangover!"
Nangong Qingcheng quickly jerked her hand back, feeling a surge of disgust in her heart. She only felt that these bosses with no principles were truly nauseating.
At the same time, she began to understand, at least in part, how hard things had been for Bai Zhiqing.
As the purchasing manager, Bai Zhiqing had to helplessly drink and socialize with men like this many times. It was only because she kept herself clean and was willing to shoulder her responsibilities that she had never complained or poured out her grievances.
If it were another woman, she might have broken down long ago!
Seeing that after two sips of liquor, the expression on Nangong Qingcheng's face was even redder, Geng Duojin knew the alcohol was starting to kick in. He smiled and said, "Manager Nangong, I know why you're anxious. Fengming is desperately short of goods right now, isn't it? But this is a tough problem. It's not something that can be solved in a few words. It's a very serious issue."
"Then how can it be solved?" Nangong Qingcheng asked.
"See, I told you you're inexperienced. So impatient, haha! Let me finish."
Geng Duojin kept provoking Nangong Qingcheng precisely to rile up her emotions and make the alcohol hit faster: "You know that back in Fengming's startup phase, we were already your partners. You know what kind of person I, Geng Duojin, am. We've always had pleasant cooperation, normal transactions…"
"But now, the international situation really has made life hard for everyone. Financial crisis, inflation—those of us in business are taking the biggest hit…"
Hearing this, Nangong Qingcheng was already frowning in pure disgust.
This was sheer sophistry!
Economic crisis, inflation—what did that have to do with him? Just because business was tougher, he had to jack up prices maliciously?! That was his solution?!
"Actually, I'm not that bad. I still value the northern market a lot, especially your Fengming market. But those other old buddies of mine—your other suppliers—they're not satisfied with the old prices anymore. They banded together and pushed me to be the negotiator. I'm helpless too! After all, it's a position that offends people…"
The more Geng Duojin talked, the more energetic he became, but Nangong Qingcheng only felt more and more repulsed!
As if she didn't know that the reason those suppliers had collectively cut off supply was because Geng Duojin was the first to lead the charge!
And now he was trying to wash his hands of it and hypocritically pin the blame on others!
Utterly shameless!
"President Geng, don't pile on so many excuses. To put it bluntly, you saw that Fengming is now booming, with huge incoming traffic and franchisees, so you want a piece of the pie, right? I can understand that. But you've gone way too far—your prices are outrageously high. It's not just that I can't accept them; I'm afraid no one in this world could accept them!" Nangong Qingcheng said righteously.
"Hahaha, Manager Nangong, you're too immature. How can you just blurt everything out like that?"
Geng Duojin laughed loudly. "Fine, since you put it that way, I won't deny it. Yes, everyone does have that idea. But who told you to depend on us, huh?! Let's be blunt. From what I know, your company has signed no less than hundreds of thousands of online sales orders recently, right? Add all those big and small orders together, and that's a scary number! If you can't deliver on time, the penalty for each order is several times the price, isn't it?"
Nangong Qingcheng's face instantly went pale as she stared fixedly at Geng Duojin.
Geng Duojin, on the other hand, remained utterly calm, as if he had her completely in his grasp.
"Call it kicking you when you're down, call it taking advantage of a fire, whatever you like. All I know is that if this continues and you can't ship on time, not only will the company you worked so hard to build be destroyed, you'll also go bankrupt from the debts and breach of contract, and you'll be saddled with legal liabilities! You don't want to end up in jail at such a young age, in the prime of your life, do you?!"
That hit right where it hurt. Nangong Qingcheng shot to her feet in anger.
But immediately, the alcohol rushed to her brain, making her suddenly dizzy. She couldn't help sinking back into her seat, her soft chest heaving, breath coming in short gasps.