Chapter 92 — The Gaoyi Group

He watched Han Yichen, waiting to see if he would notice the caveat in his words.

He did.

"Sir, you said it is reserved mainly for them, but that means it is not exclusive, right?"

Principal Shen smiled. "You're right again."

Han Yichen gave a smile of his own. "So, what are the conditions?"

"Non-local residents that want to apply for the scholarship must write an exam, and only the first place with at least nine hundred points will receive the scholarship."

Han Yichen nodded thoughtfully.

Seeing the look on his face, Principal Shen decided to kindly remind him, "Let me tell you first that this exam is a very difficult one, with a lot of competition.

Just last year, we had eighty three students apply for this scholarship, but no one got it. The student in first place got only seven hundred and ninety five points. The student in second place got less than six hundred points. They were students with good transcripts just like you."

Han Yichen's expression did not change even after this new information, and Principal Shen secretly nodded again. This boy was a gem. He knew he had to act fast. If his school-leaving exam results came out excellent, schools would be fighting to have him.

"No problem sir. I wish to apply."

"Alright. You can apply on the school website. Just fill the form and submit it. The exam will be in about two months." The unspoken implication was that he had the admission in the bag already. He only had to do his best if he truly wanted the scholarship.

"Thank you very much sir."

The interview ended on that note.

Pei Yueran, who had been waiting in the secretary's office, was called back in. Principal Shen shook her hand again and told her he was looking forward to having her son as a student of Anping First Middle School. He then informed his secretary to give them a tour of the school.

They left soon afterwards.

On the way, Pei Yueran asked him how the interview went. Han Yichen was noncommittal, "It was fine."

Pei Yueran nodded. Knowing her son, an evaluation of "fine" meant it had gone extremely well. No wonder the principal looked excited.

"I'm glad."

*****

*Knock knock*

"Come in."

"It's me. How's work going?" Li Chuanmo asked.

"It's okay. I just got back from a meeting with the representatives from WangHu. The contract has finally been signed, and the rest is in their hands. It's a wrap."

"That's great. Good job." Li Chuanmo patted her cheek.

"Thank you." She was in a very good mood. "Now that I have some free time, I should start packing for our trip." She said grinning.

"Sounds good." He suddenly changed the topic. "I have good and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

Pei Yueran frowned. Bad news? That didn't sound nice.

"How bad on the scale of 1-10?"

"Maybe 7?"

"That's bad indeed. And the good news?"

"I guess 5."

Pei Yueran wasn't liking the sound of that at all. She sighed.

"Okay, the good news first."

"Right. Gaoyi has just contacted us. They want to partner with us."

"Gaoyi? You mean the largest company in the Capital?"

"Yes."

"What? That's definitely not a 5. It's a huge 10! This is really great news!"

"I'm glad you think so. Once this news gets out, our shares will skyrocket." Gaoyi Group was known for not reaching out to other companies.They were more likely to buy other companies out and acquire them.

Nevertheless, companies were always kissing up to them, trying to land even a small contract, just so that they could tie themselves to this huge thigh.

Their reaching out to the Li Conglomerate was sure to make the news, as it was the first time in a long while they have "humbly" asked for a cooperation instead of arrogantly trying to acquire the technology in question.

Of course, it was also because the Li Conglomerate could not be trifled with. It wasn't a small company that they could just coerce or blackmail to hand over their technology.

Gaoyi Group was owned by the Gao family. It was a huge corporation just like the Li Conglomerate, but because it was based in the Capital, it had a slight edge over them in terms of presence.

However, the Gao group was not into technology. Instead, it was the hegemon of the medical, pharmaceutical, entertainment and aviation industries.

They had a chain of hospitals all over the country, and their pills and products had always been well received, home and abroad. They also had a few branches in other countries, unlike the Li Conglomerate that was focused on the domestic market.

Aspiring actors and actresses usually fought tooth and nail to be signed under the Gaoyi label. Just that name garnered them respect wherever they went. Many of their artists featured frequently in international movies and were very popular.

The reason Li Chuanmo was particularly interested in this partnership was that it was in line with his next direction of development for the company and for GOLEM.

Since it was their main field, having the endorsement of the Gao family would mean that GOLEM would be able to reach the medically vulnerable faster.

It was obvious Li Chuanmo was in a particularly good mood. So was Pei Yueran, but she soon remembered something else.

"So the bad news?"

"It means more work for both of us. The representative that would be coming is hard to deal with. I suspect that they have ulterior motives, so we have to be on our toes. The first meeting would be to test the waters.

"Why do you think so?" Pei Yueran asked.

"First, they reached out to us with a certain representative, then shortly after, they changed him. I did some checks on their new spokesperson —Gao Tinghua, and let's just say he's not exactly an easygoing business man."

Pei Yueran nodded, frowning. Gao Tinghua. The name sounded vaguely familiar. Where had she heard that name before?

Li Chuanmo continued. "Thankfully, it would come up after our trip, so we don't have to postpone it, and we would still have some time to plan properly."

Pei Yueran nodded. "I see. That's not a problem. The good news definitely outweighs the bad. This bit of work is nothing."

"I'm glad you think so."

"Are you ready to go? You finished the LiShan project already right?"

"Yes, a few days ago."

"Great. So we are still on schedule for Friday?"

"Definitely."

*****