Chapter 3

There were only a few students already seated in Grade 6, Class 1. Han Yichen walked to the third seat in the middle row and sat down. His desk mate hadn't arrived yet. They had their first term examinations coming up in a few days and everyone was trying to revise for it.

More and more students trooped in as time went by, and their homeroom Teacher, Teacher Zhong came in at exactly 9am. He was their teacher for Mathematics.

He asked Han Yichen, the Class Monitor, to collect the homework of the previous class and wrote down the topic for the day. Afterwards, he gave them more exercises for revision and then left.

"Yichen, have you decided on the school you want to go to?", his desk mate asked. Du Yan was an adorable boy who wore round glasses. He transferred to First International two years ago, and had been Han Yichen's desk mate since then. The two of them were good friends and playmates.

"Not yet, I'm still looking for a good school", he answered.

"Okay. My Dad has been transferred to City M, so we are moving away again. I'll be attending middle school in City M". Du Yan sighed. He would miss his peers and the friends he had made here.

"Cheer up. You would meet new people, and be able to broaden your horizons. City M is a very big city, with lots of tourist spots and beautiful scenery".

"You sound like you've been there before", Du Yan squinted at him.

"That's what Baidu is for, you know. I read about City M when it was announced that their Mayor would be visiting our city."

The bell rang at that moment, signalling the time for the next lesson. Their Chinese teacher stepped in almost immediately, so the two of them fell silent and stood up with the rest of the class to welcome their teacher.

*****

Pei Yueran's phone vibrated as she entered the elevator. She pressed the button for the seventh floor before reaching into her bag to take her phone out. It was a message from Grandma Zhou.

"How are you Ran'er? Would you be able to come see me this evening? Do have a pleasant day, and don't tire yourself out."

Pei Yueran smiled as she read it. Only Grandma Zhou still called her Ran'er. Han Lei used to as well....

Her heart ached even as she thought about this, but she quickly put it out of her mind. She mentally calculated the time and felt like she could be free by 7pm, so she texted back and agreed to meet.

The elevator dinged at this time, and opened on the seventh floor. She exited, greeted her colleagues and went into her office. Another workday had begun in earnest.

She had to review a contract that her company was making with DongLan electronics, as well as look over the bid her company would be submitting for the Darwin Reliance project.

Almost all major electronic companies were participating as it was a large project, and she wanted AiChen Mobile to get it.

"Good morning, Director Pei", Su Meilan, her new secretary greeted her. She brought in a cup of steaming hot coffee a few minutes later. She then began to inform her about her schedule for the day.

Pei Yueran had a meeting with the managers of the relevant departments concerning the contract with DongLan electronics, as well as an impromptu meeting with the president of the company.

"Did President Qi mention why he wanted to see me?", she asked.

"No he didn't. His secretary only delivered the message some minutes before you came in."

"Alright, thanks. You can leave."

*****

"Let's stop here for now. Please redo the parts I pointed out and we would reconvene tomorrow by 10am. Manager Ma, please bring the revised bid to my office. I'll put the finishing touches and take it to President Qi. Have a nice day."

"Alright. Have a good day, Director Pei."

Pei Yueran stood up and left the conference room. She then pressed the elevator for the eighth floor, where the president's office was located. His secretary announced her presence and ushered her in. "Good day President Qi."

"You've come. Sit down please." Qi Molin was a middle-aged man with slightly graying hair at his temples.

The pure black-framed glasses he wore made him look more like a scientist than the highest executive of a mobile phone company and added an air of seriousness that would slightly frighten anyone who didn't know the easygoing man.

A few seconds later, he came to sit on the opposite chair and started telling her the purpose for which he invited her over. "You know that Chairman Li has officially retired, right?"

Pei Yueran nodded. It was all over the news when he retired just over a week ago. He had also announced his son, Li Chuanmo as the new chairman.

Seeing her acquiesce, he continued. " The new chairman will be assuming office officially in two weeks." Again, Pei Yueran nodded.

This had not been announced publicly, but she was one of the higher executives, so she had received the news in advance. She was still confused on the main reason she was there.

"So here's the thing: as you know, Young Master Li has been living abroad for more than a decade now and has spent the last three years of that on AI research.

"Now that his father has retired and wants him to take over, the fact that he hasn't been in the country for a while and managed the company for a while is an issue of contention for the shareholders.

"After several heated meetings, the board of directors met last week and finally decided to get a capable assistant among the executives of the various companies under the Li group, who would be able to efficiently assist him during this transition period.

"The president of each company had to recommend two suitable candidates each, submit their portfolios and the board of directors would choose the candidate they were mostly satisfied with. I recommended you and Ke Sijun. I got a mail early this morning that you had been selected."

Pei Yueran sat there, shell-shocked. One had to know that the Li group had about 15 companies under their banner, each involved in a different industry.

Although AiChen Mobile was not the highest revenue earner, it had garnered considerable attention from the higher-ups in recent times due to the interest in AI technology.

Despite that, she could not see how someone from AiChen Mobile could have been selected, since it wasn't even located in the bustling City M, where the headquarters and highest revenue earners such as the The Li Real Estate, Li Ping insurance and Li Home Shopping companies, were located.

Also, she was neither the longest working executive nor the highest ranked one. She absentmindedly wondered what the criteria of selection was and eventually voiced her thoughts.

"I don't even know what to say since this is so unexpected. First, can I ask what the criteria was to qualify for recommendation?"

"Well, the candidate has to be in the top-level management tier of any of the subsidiary companies and/or have at least 15 years experience. You fulfill the first criteria, and that is why I could recommend you."

"President, it's not that I feel unconfident, but I just have to ask, why did you recommend me?