In Chairman Bai’s eyes, Bai Lu was just a playful little girl who would never grow up.
Even though his daughter was now a woman, with a figure that had fully blossomed, he still saw her as the same little girl he used to hold in his arms and call his precious baby.
Chairman Bai had one son and one daughter. His son, Bai Sheng, was now the general manager of the group and was extremely capable.
Under Bai Sheng’s leadership, the group’s performance was now growing rapidly at a rate of over 30% each year.
He never had high expectations for his daughter. From the time she was little, he gave her whatever she wanted. He always said that daughters were meant to be spoiled!
Bai Sheng had once asked him, "What about sons?"
At the time, Chairman Bai had recited a classic text to him: "When Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility upon a person, it first visits them with suffering and toil..."
And so, Bai Sheng’s life and his sister’s life were two completely different versions of a "child of a wealthy family" story!
Hearing Chairman Bai’s teasing, Bai Lu huffed in mock annoyance. "I’m just trying to make sure you’re not paying my salary for nothing!"
Chairman Bai laughed heartily. "Darling daughter, you even know how to measure personnel efficiency now. Not bad, that’s progress!"
Bai Lu playfully stuck out her tongue. "What are your instructions, boss? Just give the order!"
"How would I dare give you orders? I can chew out the general manager whenever I feel like it, but I wouldn’t dare offend the assistant to the general manager!"
"I’m just reporting to you. At my request, General Manager Bai Sheng led the business department to land a huge deal in the water conservancy sector. This time, we snatched a big, fat prize right from under Nantong’s nose—a project worth a full 200 million!"
"In that case, the order I placed with Dr. Feng’s Robot before won’t be enough! Based on the scale of this project and future projections, we’ll need to increase the order to at least 100 million!"
"Daughter, shouldn’t you be happy for our company? Why does it feel like you’re happy for Dr. Feng’s Robot instead?"
’There’s ’a daughter’s loyalty lies elsewhere,’ and then there’s this. This daughter of mine has always been strange, with her peculiar way of thinking.’
If she weren’t his daughter, he’d have to suspect how much she was getting in kickbacks from Dr. Feng’s Robot!
"What? No! I’m just planning ahead. ’Before the troops move, provisions go first,’ right?"
Chen Xiao had no idea that another 50-million-yuan order had just fallen from the sky.
The last time they discussed it, it was 50 million. In just a few days, it had turned into 100 million!
Just the deals that came knocking on his door were more than enough.
Who could understand the troubles of a sales champion? He was taking on so many orders his hands were going numb!
’If this keeps up, I’ll get desensitized to the smaller deals. How much fun would I be missing out on then?’
He now spent at most two hours a day at Dr. Feng’s Robot, because after three rounds of games, his head would get a little dizzy and he’d have to go out for some fresh air.
Returning to Yunfeng Building, he had Xu Wu come to his office.
"I told you last time to get a temporary loan from the company to buy a house. Why haven’t you done it yet? I’m waiting to sign off on it!"
He was afraid Xu Wu was too embarrassed to ask, so he brought it up again.
’A few million was practically pocket change to him now, but it could secure the loyalty of a general manager. What a bargain!’
A warmth spread through Xu Wu’s heart. She knew that even though he sounded casual, he was genuinely concerned for her.
’Any other boss just mentioning it would have been a huge favor. One who actually urges you to borrow money from him?’
"I’ll fill out a loan form in a bit, then."
"Go do it now. The sooner you get your housing situation settled, the better you can focus your energy on work."
Ten minutes later, Chen Xiao frowned at the form waiting for his signature. "Miss Xu, what kind of place can you buy for one million? A small apartment? Let’s think a little bigger, shall we?"
Xu Wu explained, "This one million is enough for me to buy my parents a 130-square-meter home back in our hometown. As for my own place, I can save up for a few months to make a down payment and then get a mortgage."
She had originally wanted to bring her parents to live with her in Jiangzhou. Her father had suffered a sudden stroke when she was in junior high, leaving one of his arms paralyzed. Her mother had to both earn a living for the family and take care of her father.
Now that her income was stable, her first thought was to bring her parents to live with her. She had urged them several times over the phone, but they always refused.
Her parents made excuses, saying they wouldn’t be used to city life, but in reality, they were just afraid of being a burden to their daughter.
Such is the heart of a parent.
Xu Wu couldn’t change their minds, so she had to settle for the next best thing: buying them a house in their county town.
Chen Xiao shook his head. "Miss Xu, I don’t mean to criticize, but the company treats you well. And yet you’d rather let the bank make money off you than let the company do it!"
Xu Wu laughed in exasperation. "What money am I letting the bank make instead of the company?"
"When you get a mortgage, aren’t you letting the bank earn interest? So why not just borrow from the company and pay the interest to us instead?"
"You know how much cash the company has on hand. Are we really going to miss your few pennies?"
Xu Wu shot him a look. ’This guy. He just can’t say things nicely, can he? Always has to take the scenic route.’
"Speaking of which, have you seen any suitable houses in Jiangzhou?"
Xu Wu replied, "I’m so busy with company preparations every day, when would I have time to look at houses? I was planning to go look this weekend."
"What’s your budget?"
"Housing prices in Jiangzhou are over 30,000 per square meter now, so the budget would have to start at 3 million, right?"
Chen Xiao laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back, retorting, "Miss Xu, you’re so good at stating the obvious! You could’ve just said three million instead of walking me through the math, you know?"
Xu Wu rolled her eyes hard at his retort. ’If he weren’t her boss, she would have gone up and slapped him.’
Chen Xiao took his pen and scribbled for a moment. "I’ll loan you 11 million. One million for your parents’ house, and the remaining 10 million will get you a nice place here in Jiangzhou."
"The place I live in costs around 9 million. If you really can’t find anything suitable, you could consider Bihu Twin Seals."
’The same complex as you?’ Xu Wu asked with a flirtatious smile, "You’re not doing this on purpose so I’ll be your neighbor, are you? Do you have some kind of ulterior motive?"
"Tch," Chen Xiao scoffed. "Don’t be so blindly confident."
"I just want you to owe the company more money. That way, you’ll have no choice but to work your hardest to pay it back!"
"But don’t worry, I won’t dock your regular salary. You can use your year-end bonus to repay it. If one year’s bonus isn’t enough, then it’ll be two. If two aren’t enough, then..."
"What if I can’t pay it back in a lifetime? Wouldn’t that mean I’ve sold myself to you?" Xu Wu’s gaze was sultry as she stared right at him.
"Don’t even dream of something that good!"
Xu Wu was so frustrated she could grind her teeth. She never won their verbal spars, and every time, she was left fuming until her chest ached.
"The acquisition of Jiangzhou Wansheng Square is in its final stages. What are your plans for its operation afterward?"
’Since she couldn’t out-talk him, she could only switch to work.’
"Why are you asking me to make the arrangements? You arrange it. You’re the general manager of Junxiao Capital now. I’m a nobody!"
He wasn’t wrong. The chairman was Zhao Xiangjun; even his signatures were done on her behalf.
Xu Wu was speechless for a long moment before saying, "You’re really something else. You’re not worried in the slightest about a project worth over a billion!"
"What do I have to worry about? I’ve got you, don’t I? I have faith that you’ll work hard."