It fell from his fingertips

A black sedan was parked outside the Yujingwan residential complex.

Tang Luoqing got out of the car, turned around, and through the open car window, quietly thanked the man inside: "Brother, thank you for your help today."

Zhou Jinbai looked up from the document, glanced at Tang Luoqing, nodded slightly, and then with a look, the rear window rolled up and the car slowly drove away from the residential area.

An hour later, in a private suite on the top floor of the Maoye Hotel.

"Mr. Zhou, you've finally arrived! I've already had three refills of your tea. I thought you were too busy to come today and would have to stand me up."

Sitting on the sofa, President Liao looked up and saw the tall man walk in. He stubbed out his cigarette, stood up, and spoke with considerable dissatisfaction.

Zhou Jinbai took off his suit jacket and handed it to his assistant Shen behind him. He rolled up his shirt sleeves to his forearms, revealing his hard, cold wrist bones.

He ignored the other party's teasing, only nodded slightly, and said in a calm tone: "I'm sorry to have kept President Liao waiting. It was my rudeness. This meal is on me, let's get straight to the point and discuss the plan."

Mr. Liao raised an eyebrow.

He had been in the business world for twenty years, and this was the first time he had ever seen Zhou Jinbai late.

It's widely believed that this Zhou family leader has a strong sense of time, which is quite surprising today.

However, President Liao didn't dwell on it. He sat back down and spread out the documents in front of him: "Alright, let's get down to business. I want to see President Zhou's sincerity regarding his lateness."

The next forty minutes were filled with real swordplay and fighting.

Assistant Shen took out a thick stack of documents and was about to speak when Zhou Jinbai raised his hand to stop him and spoke directly, explaining everything clearly, from the customer base of the resort sector to the calculation model of the three-year return cycle of the cooperation with Haicheng International High-end Hotel, the risk-sharing ratio, and even the off-season cash flow replenishment mechanism.

At first, Mr. Liao leaned back in his chair, appearing nonchalant. But after listening for less than five minutes, he unconsciously leaned forward, his eyes becoming very serious.

"A three-year return cycle is too long."

General Manager Liao looked up and posed the first difficult question: "I'll give you two and a half years. If you can't do that, there's no need for us to continue talking."

Faced with the compressed timeframe, Zhou Jinbai paused for a moment before continuing, "Two and a half years is acceptable, but the resort packages of the three top luxury hotels under Haicheng International must be exclusively tied to Zhou's Chengbei Resort, with a membership referral weight of no less than 70%."

Mr. Liao narrowed his eyes: "You mean you want me to endorse you across all channels?"

"It's a win-win situation."

Zhou Jinbai raised his eyes, his gaze behind his glasses cold and sharp: "The resort facilities of the Zhou family can accommodate the overflow of your high-end customers. Your brand endorsement can help us quickly open up the top luxury market. 70% of the traffic is exchanged for a six-month reduction in the cycle. President Liao, you won't lose out."

After a few seconds of silence, General Manager Liao put forward a second condition: "Regarding the profit-sharing ratio, I want to make another point. The reason your resort is successful is because of the brand premium of Haicheng International."

"It can be reduced by 0.8 points."

Zhou Jinbai stood firm, his tone growing even colder: "The premise is that your private domain membership system is integrated with ours, sharing customer profile data. That's our bottom line."

Back and forth, each side pressed forward relentlessly, yet each also retreated a step, leaving room for maneuver.

Assistant Shen stood to the side, holding his breath.

He knew in his heart that this proposal was originally intended for him, the special assistant, to present. The boss's personal appearance today was not only to make up for his lateness with his professionalism, but also to tell General Manager Liao that the Zhou family attaches great importance to this deal, far exceeding the importance of regular cooperation.

With the final stroke, Mr. Liao closed his pen, stood up, and extended his hand to Zhou Jinbai, a genuine smile finally appearing on his face: "Mr. Zhou, you truly live up to your reputation. You are uncompromising and meticulous. Doing business with you is a pleasure."

Zhou Jinbai reached out and shook hands with him, his fingertips dry and firm: "It's a pleasure working with you."

"It was enjoyable, indeed."

Mr. Liao patted him on the shoulder and said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "But don't be late next time. Not every client is as good-tempered as me."

Zhou Jinbai's eyes darkened slightly, and his fingertips subtly tightened.

There won't be a next time.

Assistant Shen stood to the side, but he knew exactly what was going on.

This wasn't said to General Manager Liao at all; it was said to himself.

Disrupting his entire schedule for one person and letting his emotions cross the line is something Zhou Jinbai will never do again.

But Assistant Shen didn't believe it.

At 3 p.m., Zhou Jinbai returned to his office on the top floor of the Zhou's Building.

As soon as I pushed open the office door, I saw Zhou Yanchen sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, twirling a limited edition fountain pen between his fingers. When he saw Zhou Jinbai come in, he whistled: "Brother, I heard you landed the cooperation with Haicheng International? Impressive."

Zhou Jinbai hung his suit on the hanger, loosened his tie, and glanced at him: "Just say what you have to say."

"I will take the lead in the investment promotion of supporting businesses and the coordination of joint operation between the two parties for the high-end resort industry chain project jointly developed with Haicheng International."

Zhou Yan sat up straight, abandoning his usual carefree demeanor: "Brother, I'm familiar with high-end brand recruitment. My resources in luxury goods and private banquet clubs can come in handy. Give me this project, and I'll show you the results."

The collaboration between Chengbei Resort and Haicheng International is the group's core strategy for the second half of the year. The supporting investment promotion and operation coordination require long-term on-site presence and frequent collaboration with General Manager Liao's team. This is the section that will yield the most results but is also the most energy-consuming.

Zhou Jinbai originally planned to go himself.

He tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, calmly weighed the options for a moment, then looked up at Zhou Yanchen: "This project requires frequent on-site coordination; for the first six months, I'll basically be immersed in the project. Can you handle that?"

"sure."

Zhou Yanchen answered without any concern or hesitation.

Zhou Jinbai was unusually silent for a few seconds before speaking, "As your older brother, I'd like to offer a friendly reminder: you'd better discuss this with... Miss Tang."

Zhou Yanchen could understand what his brother meant: being stationed at a venue frequently is equivalent to being in a long-distance relationship, which can easily lead to problems between couples.

But he didn't take it to heart at all, waving his hand and saying, "It's alright, whatever I do, Luo Qing will support me."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jinbai didn't say anything more, but calmly drew a line: "I can give you the authority to attract investment and jointly operate the project, and I'll approve the title of project vice president. However, the final review authority for all contracts and core cooperation terms of the brands that move in is with me. If you can accept that, go to HR to complete the formalities."

"no problem."

Zhou Yanchen readily agreed, got up and walked out, leaving behind a remark.

"I will provide you with a list of high-end merchants as soon as possible."

Behind his desk, Zhou Jinbai glanced at his younger brother's unrestrained figure. After the door closed, he lowered his head, unfolded a document, and was about to read it when the phone on the desk rang and vibrated.

Zhou Jinbai picked up his phone, saw the name on the screen, and answered the call.

On the other end of the phone, Lu Yu said, "Big brother, when are you finally free to come play chess with my old man? He's been nagging me about it every day. If you don't come soon, I'm going to be kicked out of the house."

Zhou Jinbai: "...Okay."

On the other side, after Tang Luoqing got home, she first poured cat food for Naitang, and then plunged into her work.

She bent over her desk, adjusting the light and shadow bit by bit, not even bothering to drink a sip of water, as the light outside the window slowly turned from bright white to warm yellow.

When the lines before her eyes suddenly began to blur and a familiar buzzing sound filled her ears, Tang Luoqing's heart tightened.

"Oh no!"

Tang Luoqing quickly reached into the drawer, pulled out the candy jar, poured out a peach candy, quickly unwrapped it, and stuffed it into her mouth.

As the sweetness spread and the dizziness subsided, Tang Luoqing breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did she belatedly realize that she had only eaten half a loaf of bread since morning and had even forgotten to eat lunch.

She propped herself up on the table, her steps unsteady as she made her way to the kitchen, cooked a bowl of vegetable and egg noodles, quickly ate it, and immediately sat back down at her desk.

By the time the final lighting and shadow adjustments were completed and the exported file was sent to the editor's email, it was already completely dark outside.

Tang Luoqing let out a long sigh of relief, threw down her pen, and leaned over her desk to calm herself.

A warm yellow floor lamp fell on her head, and a red string on her wrist dangled from the edge of the table, the small goldfish pendant swaying gently with her breath.

Little Milk Candy lay obediently beside Tang Luoqing, its little tail wagging back and forth.

Just then, the sound of a key turning came from the entrance hall, and soon after, Zhou Yanchen pushed open the door and walked in.

He changed his shoes and stepped into the study. Seeing that Tang Luoqing was too tired to speak, he reached out and smoothed her hair. A hint of melancholy appeared on his lips, and his tone was tinged with helplessness as he said, "Baby, I have something to tell you."

Tang Luoqing, who had been listlessly slumped over the table, slowly raised her head upon hearing the sound. Her long eyelashes fluttered, and her clear eyes fixed on Zhou Yanchen: "What's wrong?"

"Our company has a big project in the second half of the year, and my brother asked me to go over it, but..."

At this point, Zhou Yanchen frowned slightly and sighed heavily: "But for the first six months, I had to go on business trips to the site almost every week, and I could only come back on Saturdays and Sundays, or even once every ten days or half a month. Baby, I don't want to go either, but you know, my brother is the person in charge of the group, and I can't refuse the arrangements he made. Besides, I also want to achieve some real results to show him."

"Do you need to travel frequently for work?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Luoqing was stunned, and a wave of bitterness and grievance washed over her.

"Yes, it takes about half a year. By the end of the year, the project will be stable, and we won't need to go as often."

Zhou Yanchen pulled Tang Luoqing into his arms, gently ruffled her hair, and said in an even softer tone, "Luoqing, you'll support me, won't you?"

Tang Luoqing pursed her lips, unsure how to respond.

She knew in her heart that since the business trip was arranged by the company, there was nothing she could do about it. But looking at Zhou Yanchen's eagerness to prove himself, Tang Luoqing swallowed the words of persuasion that were on the tip of her tongue.

"Then you... must be careful and take good care of yourself while you're out there."

Tang Luoqing spoke in a low voice, her lowered eyelashes concealing the disappointment in her eyes.

"I knew you were the most sensible."

A hint of relief flashed across Zhou Yanchen's eyes: "I'm going to take a shower first."

Leaving the study, Zhou Yanchen returned to his bedroom, picked up his phone, and sent a message: "Going to Haicheng in two weeks. Ask Lao Chen and the others if they're coming to visit."