Imperial Treasure

Chapter 609 - 397: Spring Waters Across the River, The Nation’s President!

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Lin Yun, as the first executive brought up by Sui Yi, watched Sui Tang Square grow with terrifying speed. In ancient times, she would have been considered a high-ranking official, yet she was the youngest among them, not even close to 30.

In both ancient and modern times, such youth could invite criticism. Moreover, she didn’t come from a professional background, had no advanced degrees, and lacked a powerful background. It would have been impossible for her not to be looked down upon by these highly paid executives... However, as Sui Yi observed over the past few days...

Looking down on her was a thing of the past. Now, these people held a great deal of respect for Lin Yun.

None of this could have been possible without some skill and effort.

Seeing this, Sui Yi felt reassured.

In fact, she didn’t realize that some of it had to do with her own influence.

Xu Zhengmao was one of the other four top executives, and arguably, he had the most solid credentials among them.

A Harvard graduate, with academic qualifications and professional leverage, he had mingled on Wall Street and held significant positions in internationally renowned companies. His work experience and achievements were impressive enough that he could have landed a high-ranking job in any of the top 100 companies worldwide...

Yet, he was also quite young, at 28, an age when some are just graduating from their master’s programs.

Such a man joining Sui Tang Square seemed somewhat like marrying beneath himself...

Even if you have billions in assets, it’s still not enough!

Of course, putting aside why he joined Sui Tang Square, initially, he had his doubts about Lin Yun, the apparent manager of Sui Tang.

Skepticism can be both commendable and critical, but in business, it is an essential quality for an elite.

Skepticism leads to discovery.

Discovery leads to improvement.

Improvement leads to creation.

This is the difference between education and corporate culture in the USA and China. Xu Zhengmao’s thought process and style leaned more towards the American way, so from his first day at Sui Tang Square, he started to question Lin Yun, never missing a chance to point out her flaws.

If she’s not up to it, she’ll be replaced, If I am capable, I’ll take her place!

This was Xu Zhengmao’s clear ambition at the start.

At first, Lin Yun was annoyed, overwhelmed, but she gradually began to cope, transitioning from being flustered and embarrassed to being composed...

A battle between a manager who climbed up from the grassroots level and an international elite parachuted in with ambition.

Each bringing their own team of promoted elites...

What will the outcome be, and how long will it take?

It was a lengthy battle, silent and smokeless, without fire or gunfire, yet it ignited a fierce rivalry between the two groups of Sui Tang Square executives, heating up the entire company’s structure...

This silently boosted efficiency by a substantial margin...

Three months later, they sat on a plane. Xu Zhengmao was resting with his eyes closed while Lin Yun sat beside Sui Yi, her smile both gentle and tender...

Xu Zhengmao curled his lips, always sucking up to the boss... like a fierce tiger on ordinary days... RUTHLESS~~

Heh heh~

Indeed, the brief cessation of hostilities was due to Sui Yi’s presence.

Xu Zhengmao still remembered their reaction three days ago when they first saw the head of the company whose name they didn’t even know.

A 28-year-old elite from Wall Street’s financial circle, impressive?

A 26-year-old grassroots corporate manager, impressive?

She created a billion-dollar company at 18!

And she looked too good, with an outstanding demeanor... Of course, the most important thing for a leader is their aura.

Aura...

Xu Zhengmao subconsciously pressed down on the book in his hand. Initially, none of them thought that the boss had any aura, too young, too pretty, and her demeanor too refreshing to be imposing...

Until the usually jovial Zhou Keming joked that the boss never asked them why they joined the company.

The boss simply put down her book, glanced at them, and said one sentence.

"Flies don’t sting a seamless egg."

Flies... Flies...

Their expressions at the time... but somehow they found it fitting! Weren’t they just eyeing up such a freshly laid, still warm egg?

And in her eyes, they were just flies?

Flies? Was it meant to show disdain? Clearly not...

It signified insignificance.

Cold glamour and domination, that was the first impression their boss made on them.

The second impression was that she was literary, damn too literary, no, rather cultured...

What kinds of books did she read? From all sorts of profound ancient texts and classics to biographies of various dynasties and countries around the world...

A cultured and scholarly female CEO!

That image is pretty solid~~

Xu Zhengmao quickly put aside his little schemes.

Looking at Lin Yun again, hmmph!

She’s the real fly, right?

"This is freshly squeezed juice from this morning, with all the time you spend reading, this juice can help protect your eyes.."

Lin Yun passed over the juice and Sui Yi nodded in thanks. The movements of a boss usually attracted the attention of their subordinates, especially someone like Sui Yi...

Her attire of black trousers and a white shirt was simple, which only served to accentuate her stunning and translucent beauty. As the sunlight streamed through the airplane window, it seemed to capture all the light of the world in her clear, snow-white skin; the light danced on her eyelashes, and as she slightly raised her chin to drink, the gentle curve of her neck moved...

Her hair was softer than satin; her long legs were casually crossed, her hands holding the bottle were well-defined with pronounced veins and sinews.

No one had ever given such an impression before.

-- It was as if she were the distant mountain bathed in the worldly fires yet never losing its splendor and cool elegance.

She was not like jade or pearl but a distant mountain.

That distant mountain hid countless jewels, adorned with landscapes, resplendent and peerless in beauty.

"Xu Zhengmao"

Xu Zhengmao, who had been admiring his own boss’s beauty, turned his head at the voice and his eyes deepened at the sight.

"Mr. Li"

Which Mr. Li?

Given that Lin Yun had been engaged in professional rivalry with Xu Zhengmao for several months, there was an understanding between them, and at those words, she turned toward the person...

He was very young, dressed in luxury. The suit he wore wouldn’t cost less than two hundred thousand, especially if it was tailor-made, and the pen pinned to his chest was worth a fortune, not to mention the cufflinks and the watch...

He was a walking million-dollar meat ticket!

-- Was he really not afraid of being kidnapped in broad daylight?

Of course, Lin Yun and the others also quickly recognized who this man was.

Li Yu, ah, not the Li Yu from ’The eternal river flows eastward,’ but the third-generation head of Capital City’s Jinhua Conglomerate, Li Yu, often seen in finance or entertainment reports.

--Entertainment reports even more so.

All those CEO love stories about presidents and their romances serially broadcast, Cinderellas, star beauties, society ladies, each taking their turn with more punctuality and excitement than a prime-time soap opera, and all without commercial breaks...

He was truly the nation’s favorite CEO...

With Li Yu around, mothers no longer needed to worry about missing out on dramatic series.

So, upon seeing him, quite a few passengers on the plane could readily immerse themselves in the life of this affectionate and wealthy national CEO.

But the fact was, Jinhua Conglomerate was an internationally famous conglomerate rooted in Capital City with a market value of at least a hundred billion. Its financial strength was astonishing. As the third-generation Sect Leader, Li Yu’s every move was watched by the media. So, how did he come to the Provincial City without any noise?

Now he was clearly on his way back to Capital City.

Although Lin Yun and the others were perplexed, they realized that he seemed to have come in pursuit of Xu Zhengmao.

"Xu Zhengmao, I originally thought that someone as talented as you would have sworn allegiance to some other Sect, but to think it’s just Sui Tang Square... I’ll take a look; maybe the mysterious boss of Sui Tang Square is here as well~~"

Sui Tang Square, this was first class, and the passengers were mostly business people. Seeing a Li Yu was like hitting the jackpot, and now it seemed they might even uncover the mysterious boss of Sui Tang Square?

Many pairs of eyes started scanning densely...

But they followed Li Yu’s gaze, which landed on a person.

A young, beautiful girl.

Her? Impossible.

Moreover, business people are usually very sensitive. From Li Yu’s words, it seemed that he might have once offered her a job, which she rejected in favor of Sui Tang Square...

Xu Zhengmao smiled comfortably, "Mr. Li flatters me, I’m just an ordinary person in the finance circle; the title of talent is too much for me... As for Mr. Li coming to Provincial City in such a low-profile manner, I’m afraid the media will be beating their chests in frustration."

Is it the finance media or the entertainment media?

So discreet, could it be another amorous escapade?

Many people started to think crooked thoughts.

"Haha, you’re actually right... There indeed is a fine lady this time, introduced by someone else. Too bad she’s playing a game of hide and seek with me, quite fascinating... As for you, Xu Zhengmao, I thought you were a Lu Xiaohui-type person, but how come you also got bewitched by a woman..." Li Yu didn’t try to hide his flirtatious nature; he was so straightforward it was infuriating, his look was equally provoking.

"Conquering your own female boss must indeed be a very thrilling thing. Perhaps this is what you people often refer to as a challenge, right? Gaining both wealth and beauty, I’m impressed!"

His gaze was fixated on Sui Yi, his frivolous intentions very clear, and consequently, he also threw shade on Xu Zhengmao.

With such an obvious display, how would Sui Yi react?

Lin Yun knew she wasn’t qualified to cross swords with Li Yu, neither did she have any countermeasures, so what about Sui Yi...

Sui Yi closed the book and turned her head to look at Li Yu.

It was the first time Li Yu got a full frontal view of Sui Yi’s face; just now, he had only seen her profile from a distance...

Heh~ Getting a look at this face wasn’t easy.

Li Yu chuckled lightly, his laugh as well as his face worthy of a playboy and ’Assassin’ to women, simply with his smile he incited longing in many female passengers, their gazes adrift...

Unfortunately... Sui Yi appeared expressionless, her eyes dispassionate, which made Li Yu feel as though he was being seen right through, making him feel uncomfortable and subconsciously retract his glance.

Thereafter, he felt a bit unwilling and so rather impolitely threw out one more comment: "Miss Sui, does the résumé in your possession not include Mr. Xu Zhengmao’s former glorious deeds? Like pulling down a Bo Le boss from his horse and swallowing the entire company... Such a fascinating story... If Miss Sui is willing, I would be delighted to explain in detail..."

Vivid and eloquent, Li Yu, a man of his stature, wouldn’t likely fabricate a story right in front of so many business people...

The expressions on Lin Yun and the others’ faces instantly went through several changes.

Indeed, this person’s résumé looked too good, but why did he give up on those top companies and choose to join Sui Tang Square instead..?

This itself was a huge question mark, yet Sui Yi didn’t care at all, nor did she probe into their higher-ups’ pasts... (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)