A Warm Winter Night

Had you ever won a jackpot before?

That was what the inexplicable excitement that Lin Qian was experiencing right now felt like.

Kang Mingcong still ended up attending the dinner appointment. He did not invite Li Zhicheng and the rest for dinner. But, their conversation had been very long—over two hours—so that was good enough.

The car moved steadily as night descended; the passengers' faces were lit by the glittering lights from the street. The smile on Gu Yanzhi's face was as mellow as wine. He leaned against his seat in a good mood, and after taking a sip of mineral water, he finally revealed to Lin Qian and Xue Mingtao the truth behind this "mission impossible."

"They played two rounds of GO. Despite being the CEO of a company on the Fortune 500 list, Kang Mingcong was no match for Li Zhicheng! Not satisfied with his loss, Mr. Kang invited Li Zhicheng to meet again this weekend."

"Wow!" both Lin Qian and Xue Mingtao exclaimed in amazement. They glanced at Li Zhicheng, who was sitting in the back. He was sitting straight, his legs crossed, gazing at the night view outside the window. He looked composed, as usual, showing no sign of joy or contentment. The only difference was his slightly rosy cheeks, perhaps due to their long stay in a warm room just now.

Xue Mingtao, a veteran in business like Gu Yanzhi, immediately took the chance to express his deepest admiration for Li Zhicheng. Lin Qian was in no rush to butter Li Zhicheng up though; as his assistant, she would have plenty of chances to do so in the future. Therefore, she just smiled and nodded in agreement.

But… thinking back to the information provided by her brother, she did not recall any mention of her boss being good at GO. Of course, her brother's information was not necessarily complete.

So, was today's incident purely because of luck?

As she was thinking, she unconsciously peeked at Li Zhicheng through the rear-view mirror. Boss, you can continue to remain silent as long as you're always useful and practical. Ha!

At the same time, Li Zhicheng, who was staring outside of the window, suddenly shifted his gaze; his eyes met hers.

Lin Qian gave him a big smile.

His appearance was impeccable, his eyes were bright.

Just when Lin Qian was about to look away, his lips lifted a little; he gave her a soft smile.

Lin Qian's heart skipped a beat. She blushed.

Gosh… This handsome boss, who is slow to speak, after accomplishing something big, chose only to beam at me. This is quite flattering.

Lin Qian smiled back at him, then she looked away.

Gu Yanzhi spoke again: "I reckon we will receive Ming Sheng Group's invitation to bid next week. However… SMQ seems to have a very deep connection with Ming Sheng Group," he said flatly.

Lin Qian and Xue Mingtao stared ahead in silence.

Indeed, right after they had set up the meeting time, Chen Zheng had swooped in with an earlier appointment. Someone from Ming Sheng Group must have tipped him off; said person was capable of arranging SMQ's appointment before Aida's. The connection must run deeper than they had expected.

The four of them had dinner in a hurry, then rushed back to Aida.

While getting out of the car, Gu Yanzhi shook Li Zhicheng's hand, saying, "Leader, now you will focus on playing GO with the higher-ups. Leave the rest to us."

Li Zhicheng smiled. "Mmm."

After that, Gu Yanzhi went to the marketing department with Xue Mingtao. Lin Qian followed Li Zhicheng to the top floor. She understood what Gu Yanzhi had meant just now: the two presidents had bonded well. During this period of time, they needed to employ all possible means to build connections with the other departments of Ming Sheng Group in order to compete against SMQ.

This was the murky, intense, intriguing battlefield of the salesmen.

The night went on.

Lin Qian returned to her seat, tidied the documents, and checked the time. It was past eight o'clock.

Li Zhicheng shut himself in the office when they had come back. The room was quiet.

She knocked and entered.

As expected, he was sitting behind his desk, which was littered with a pile of Aida's products, department reports, and market data. Having been working with him for a bit of time now, Lin Qian sincerely felt that he was determined and passionate about this business. She was moved by the shape of his handsome profile and his dark eyebrows under the light. She had initially wanted to ask him when he planned to leave, but she decided not to; instead, she quietly filled his green military thermos with water and left the room.

Lin Qian strived to be "the perfect assistant." Considering the boss was still at work, she would stay as well. In case he needed anything or had any orders, she would be at his service. However, since she had been tense the whole day, she was not in the mood to continue working; she turned on her computer and went online to game.

Time flew by. It was soon 9:00 pm. 

She pushed away the keyboard. Erm… bathroom break.

At this time of night the top floor was vacant. Even the front desk receptionist had left. Most of the lights were off; the only lights left on were the few from the CEO's office. The vast space seemed deserted; the path to the bathroom was dark and eerily silent.

Lin Qian contemplated for a while, and at last she mustered her courage; the sound of leather boots galloping towards the toilet filled the hall.

It was not until she finally returned to her seat that her pulse returned to normal again. At the same time she checked the CEO's office.

Huh?

The lights were… off? The door was… shut?

Lin Qian jumped to her feet and gave the door a slight push. It was locked.

Lin Qian was speechless.

Damn it… she had been faithfully accompanying him despite her fear of ghosts and monsters.

The moment she went away for a little while to use the bathroom, the boss left without a word; he even went the extra mile to lock the door.

Did he seriously think that she was devoted to working overtime?

She looked around. The office was cold and quiet. Shuddering, she packed up her stuff right away. 

Click! The sound of the door opening sounded exceptionally sharp in the night. Lin Qian felt her pulse racing. She looked up; Li Zhicheng had both his hands in his pants' pockets, with a cold look on his face, and was coming out of the bathroom.

Lin Qian was dazed.

He glanced at her, expressionless; then strode past her to the elevator.

Walk slower! Wait for me! Lin Qian cried internally. Immediately she shut her computer, packed her things, grabbed her bag, and dashed out.

He was still standing in the lobby; under the light, his silhouette was slender and well-proportioned. Lin Qian caught her breath. Yay! The elevator was not here yet. Lucky thing she had acted quickly. She then strutted towards him gracefully.

"Mr. Li, please have a good rest," she said politely, still a little out of breath.

He didn't reply, obviously thinking there was no need to respond to her conventional greeting. Meanwhile, he raised his finger and pressed the "going down" button of the elevator.

Lin Qian was stunned.

So it was not that she had walked fast. He had been standing here for a while but hadn't yet pressed the button.

…Was he waiting for her?

She felt a tug at her heart.

Throughout their interactions the past few days, it seemed more and more that she was being touched by his gentle gestures. 

He is a great leader, just a little rough around the edges. She was lost in thought while gazing at his well-defined profile.

The elevator door opened; both of them stepped in.

"Thank you, boss," Lin Qian said.

"Mmm," he murmured. 

They remained silent all the way down.

The night was dark and quiet when they stepped out of the building. The air was chilly. 

Lin Qian knew that he stayed in the complex. She straightened her collar and was about to say goodbye when she noticed him staring ahead, his eyes lighting up. Following his gaze, she saw at the end of the pavement a few familiar figures walking towards them and waving.

"Mr. Li!"

"It's off hours now. Call him 'Commander!'"

"Assistant Lin is here too!"

It was Gao Lang and the group of security guards.

Lin Qian grinned.

They surrounded Li Zhicheng and her. After exchanging a few words, Gao Lang said, "Lin Qian, we're going to have dinner with the commander. Want to join us?"

Li Zhicheng stood quietly, his expression hard to read. Of course Lin Qian declined politely. "It's okay. You guys go ahead." Gao Lang was also just being polite; to be honest, it would be awkward if a girl tagged along with a bunch of dudes who were going out for drinks and a bite to eat. Just when he was about to reply, "Okay," the CEO-commander spoke.

"If you are free, you should join us."

Though confused for a moment, Lin Qian soon beamed. "Sure! I suppose obedience to my boss is better than politeness. Sorry to intrude."

They made their way out of Aida. Lin Qian naturally walked beside Li Zhicheng, keeping one step behind him.

Lin Qian took his invitation as a sign of trust. He had acknowledged her as his right-hand "man." Therefore, he had brought her into his social circle. Hehehe…

The location for supper was a small vendor in an alley.

Sitting down, Gao Lang and another security guard placed their orders without hesitation. "Boss, a dozen beers, two hundred sticks of mutton skewers, a hundred gristle skewers…"

Lin Qian was tongue-tied listening to their complicated order; a soothing voice cut through the noise and reached her. "If you have any order, just let them know."

Lin Qian turned and saw Li Zhicheng sitting right beside her. He looked slender and cool in a black coat that matched his black pants and black leather shoes. His facial features seemed sharper under the dim streetlight.

"I am fine with anything. I am not picky," Lin Qian responded with a smile.

His eyes seemed to flicker with amusement, but he did not say anything. Lin Qian thought she must have been mistaken. Boss was not easily amused; plus, she had not said anything funny.

The table was lively. The guys were very comfortable, even in Li Zhicheng presence. They reminisced about the good old times in the army, and laughed loudly listening to each other's recent embarrassing work stories. Lin Qian laughed along and joined in the conversation once in a while. The mood was joyful.

The beer was served. The glasses filled the table. Someone put one in front of Lin Qian.

"Do you drink?" his deep voice rang.

Lin Qian was still smiling. She hesitated.

If this were a normal friends gathering, she would decline because she didn't like drinking. But right now, her boss was offering, so she needed to reconsider…

He noticed her split-second hesitation. His large hand and well-defined knuckles, reached out, took the glass of beer, and put it at his spot. Then he said to Gao Lang, "Give her a cup of water."

Lin Qian was touched.

In private, her boss was more approachable than during office hours. Oh… and somewhat more dominant.

Is this how he was in the army? Reserved, easygoing, and a bit dominant. So unlike how he is during work where he stares at people with his dark eyes, speaking little, his few words cold and harsh.

He has it rough there. Lin Qian inwardly sighed; she removed his beer glass and replaced it with a full one. He cast her a side glance.

"I've heard people say that the secret to pouring beer is to let it flow down the side of the glass," Lin Qian said with a smile. "I see that it's true."

Upon hearing her statement, everyone was confused for a moment. Looking at her action, they realized what she meant. That's right! The translucent beer was slowly flowing into the glass from the side without a trace of froth.

All of them, including Li Zhicheng, laughed. After she filled his glass, Lin Qian raised her cup of water and said, "Mr. Li, cheers to you."

The rest of the men were stirring with excitement. "Drink! Drink!"

"That's not right. For every cup Lin Qian finishes, Commander should finish three!"

Lin Qian interrupted, "Just sip as you please. It's the thought that counts." She took a sip of the water. Then she saw Li Zhicheng glance her way, raise his glass calmly… and finish the beer in one shot.

They were drinking from one-liter mugs, and the winter air was freezing. Lin Qian was startled by him chugging down a whole mug of beer. She had no intention of getting her boss drunk! But the men were exhilarated.

"Commander, you seriously chugged down a whole mug!?"

"Miss Lin, you should be honored. Commander usually doesn't even like to drink!"

Lin Qian laughed dryly. She wanted to say "thank you boss," but she heard him say lightly, "Of course I am going to empty my glass for her toast."

The surrounding area was noisy and his voice was close to a mumble, so not many people heard him.

But Lin Qian felt her chest tighten.

She glanced his way and saw him raise his glass to drink with Gao Lang; his expression was calm and indifferent.

Lin Qian felt relieved. She secretly laughed at herself. Her boss's way of speaking had always been straightforward and sincere; she couldn't believe her cheeks had reddened and her pulse was racing because of this...

Gosh! What are you thinking?

She immediately suppressed this abnormal feeling. Who was she? She was Lin Qian. She wouldn't let something as unprofessional as a workplace romance happen to her.

This was, undoubtedly, a warm winter night. The group of upstanding and sincere young lads chatted, laughed, and even sang for Lin Qian. The chubby shopkeeper served them lots of piping hot and spicy skewers. Once in a while he would join in the conversation to tease the soldiers, then he would turn around and bicker with his wife about the slow service.

Lin Qian ate until her belly was loaded; she ate to her heart's content without bothering to wonder whether eating this much late at night would make her fat. When life was on a high, enjoy it with full delight. Li Zhicheng sat beside her quietly, his expression soft with a smile on his face. Lin Qian could tell that casual downtime like this made him relaxed and happy.

It was around 11 p.m. when dinner ended. This time, without Li Zhicheng's orders, the soldiers happily walked Lin Qian all the way back to her block. Li Zhicheng followed behind, his hands in his pockets. When she was about to go upstairs, he spoke to her across the crowd, "Tomorrow I'll come in at eight."

This meant she didn't need to wake at dawn. Lin Qian responded joyfully, "Okay! Goodnight!" Then she saluted them from afar before happily heading upstairs.

The troop of half-drunk soldiers walked home in a crooked line. Some of them forgot about their status or any other concern. They wrapped their arms around Li Zhicheng's shoulders, talking in a daze. "Commander… Miss Lin is so pretty…"

Continuing to stride forward, Li Zhicheng murmured, "Yup… not bad."

...

That same night, Chen Zheng lied on the king size bed in his villa, unable to sleep.

He had received the latest news from his insider at Ming Sheng Group, and he was pissed. Godd*mmit, how conveniently unfortunate it was that he just presented Kang Mingcong with an antique GO manual, stirring up his GO addiction, and suddenly that dumb-soldier-CEO of Aida stepped in as a pro GO player?

Although he had been involved with Ming Sheng for a long time, Chen Zheng had never felt that he'd captured Kang Mingcong's heart. At most, he could say that they had established a good foundation working with each other. Kang Mingcong was famous for his righteousness: he never accepted any expensive gifts. In Chen Zheng's mind, he was merely pretentious. But Kang Mingcong made it hard for people to catch his fancy. GO set made of nephrite jade? Nope, too expensive for his liking. Overseas trip to watch an international GO match? Nope, he had no time for it.

Finally, a few days ago, a subordinate who knew the antique market had told Chen Zheng that there was an ancient GO manual on sale. It had been a good opportunity, so he'd bought it right away. The price of this kind of thing was hard to gauge, so he'd reckoned that Kang Mingcong would surely accept it, and that he would achieve his goal of messing up Aida's plan.

Who would have known…

He had become the fool who parted water so the wise men could catch fish! He had been there to deliver a gift and show his sincerity in working with Kang Mingcong. Aida had been there for a formal business meeting. But Li Zhicheng had played GO with Kang Mingcong for two straight hours; they had such natural, in-depth, casual interaction. In comparison, Chen Zheng was losing. Would Kang Mingcong's next step be to make Li Zhicheng his soulmate?

Hmph! He gazed at the night sky. It was fine. A little favor from Kang Mingcong did not mean that he would pass the project to Aida. As far as he knew, the procurement system and process-flow of Ming Sheng was thorough and objective. Kang Mingcong's opinion was only ten percent of the final decision-making process. They would inspect the company's ability, products, and many other aspects as well.

SMQ had the absolute advantage. It was impossible for him to lose.

…

One week later.

…

As predicted by Gu Yanzhi, they received the invitation to bid from Ming Sheng. Of course, alongside them was a total of six other companies—including New Bori and SMQ—that received it.

During this period of time, the elites in the marketing department employed all their means. Xue Mingtao's exact words were: "We have connected with all the people in Ming Sheng that we can. We have tried our best. All that's left to do is wait for the bidding result."

Gu Yanzhi ordered the marketing department to continue expanding their influence; the preparation for the tender became the final and most important task.

This afternoon Lin Qian was at her seat. In her hand was the tender document they had received from Ming Sheng this morning.

Judging from the information provided, Ming Sheng was going to evaluate the companies who were bidding based on a few aspects: the ability of the company, the price of the product, the quality of the product, and the date of delivery. Based on Lin Qian's understanding, usually this kind of state-owned enterprise would have an additional "leader evaluation" session, attended by all the high-level committee members. So, there was a total of five aspects.

She mentally made some rough estimations. They made her nervous.

In terms of company ability, it was no doubt that SMQ was currently way ahead of Aida. She could only hope that Aida would gain some merit from the way they had handled The Carcinogenic Scandal.

In terms of product price, based on her understanding of Chen Zheng, he would definitely keep the price incredibly low. Of course, Aida could lower their price as well, but could they make it as low as his? This needed a bit of luck.

In terms of product quality, objectively speaking, Aida's overall quality of products was better than SMQ's. While she was working with SMQ, she had noticed the quality of their products often fluctuated. But if Chen Zheng was aiming for this project, he would keep a keen eye on the quality as well. So both companies were equal when it came to quality.

The delivery date was out of question. Considering Aida was going downhill now, SMQ would definitely be faster and better than them.

Leader evaluation. Even though Li Zhicheng and Kang Mingcong had now become Go-mates, Li Zhicheng wouldn't necessarily have more influence on Kang Mingcong's opinion than Chen Zheng would. Also, the number of executives who would choose SMQ was no doubt much larger than the number who would choose Aida.

Their chances of winning were slim.

Right after receiving the tender document, Li Zhicheng and Gu Yanzhi had locked themselves in the office for discussion. Lin Qian had no idea how their conversation went. But the circumstances did not leave much room for them to work with; therefore, she was confident that their decision would be the same as hers.

When she reached home that night, she was still thinking about the tender. After pondering a while, at last she still picked up the phone and called Lin Mochen.

When else to ask for his advice if not now?

Lin Mochen had most likely just gotten out of bed. Displeased at being disturbed, he spoke in a slightly sullen tone. Lin Qian tried to cheer him up. "Brother, wait until I have a closer relationship with my boss, then I will let him know that you are actually his teacher—the mastermind behind all of this great advice!"

Lin Mochen sneered, but he still listened to her talk about the current situation. Pausing for a while, he said, "Quantitative evaluation based on five aspects, and the highest scorer wins the bid… Quantitative evaluation. Quantitative evaluation. Lin Qian, no matter how quantitative an evaluation is, the scores are assigned by people. An objective and impartial evaluator will have subconscious biases. This rule holds true regardless of country or era."

He added, "So, this tender. If I can give any advice, it's that yours has to be the most persuasive, impressionable tender. It should have attractive, indisputable advantages. For example, in terms of price, did they say the lowest offer would win? You should show them, steer them into thinking: 'Ah, actually, even though Aida does not offer the lowest price, their price is the most reasonable one. I am utterly impressed by what they have written in the tender.'

"Same for the other aspects. Even though you are weak now, don't let yourselves be led by the nose by the customer. You should lead your customer. This tender is your last chance to influence their decision. Do it well. Do your best and leave the rest to God."