“Yes, exactly,” Manager Sun from the sales department chimed in, hoping to gain favor with Zhou Jicai. “Director Shen, it might be better to not waste your time. It’s more productive to focus on other business opportunities.”
“I remember President Zhou also tried many times to set up a meeting with Gu Huaizhi and never succeeded, right?” Director Chen, still giving Zhou Jicai face, chose not to mention that Zhou Jicai hadn’t even been able to secure Gu Huaizhi’s time.
“Quite shameful,” Zhou Jicai sighed and nodded. “I’ve been trying to win business from the Gu Group for the company, but haven’t been successful yet.”
“Hey, don’t put it that way,” Director Chen shook his head. “We all know how difficult it is to collaborate with the Gu Group. Even for the upper-level Lin Corporation, it’s not guaranteed.”
“I’m not looking to discuss a partnership with the Gu Group,” Shen Mianyin said. “I wonder if any of you have heard of Covey? They have their own laboratory and research team, specializing in medical device development.”
“Of course,” Zhang Qiyuan replied, “The latest and most advanced medical devices are often developed by Covey.”
“Very few people in the country are aware of this,” Shen Mianyin said. “I looked into it, and Gu Huaizhi is a major shareholder of Covey and has sponsored their laboratory. What I want to discuss isn’t a partnership with the Gu Group, but with Covey.”
“I want to secure the domestic agency rights for Covey for Jincheng,” Shen Mianyin continued. “With this exclusive agency, we could push down Covey’s prices domestically. It would make the business easier to do.”
“As long as I can convince Gu Huaizhi,” Shen Mianyin said, “I think there’s a 90% chance of securing Covey’s exclusive agency rights.”
Director Gao was taken aback for a moment, then turned to ask Zhou Jicai, “None of you knew that Gu Huaizhi is a major shareholder of Covey?”
“Uh…” Zhou Jicai thought for a moment—how could he possibly know that?
“This…how long ago was that?” Director Chen asked.
“At least three years,” Shen Mianyin replied. “I only found out recently.”
“To be honest,” Shen Mianyin continued with a self-deprecating smile, “I originally intended to secure this for Su’s. It’s just…” She shrugged. “Given what happened, I thought I’d try to secure it for Jincheng now.”
Three years, and Zhou Jicai hadn’t even known!
And he kept wanting to meet with Gu Huaizhi to do business?
It was no wonder Gu Huaizhi wouldn’t meet with him if he didn’t even know what Gu Huaizhi had been up to!
Lin Jinshen smiled at Shen Mianyin, clearly surprised by the big news she had brought.
“Well, you’ll have to be able to secure a meeting first,” Zhou Jicai snorted. “Booking an appointment with Gu Huaizhi usually takes at least ten days to two weeks.”
At that moment, there was a sudden knock on the conference room door.
Before anyone could react, the door was pushed open hurriedly.
Everyone looked to see Shen Mianyin’s assistant, Gao Zhoulei, standing there.
Zhou Jicai let out all his frustration on Gao Zhoulei, snapping, “Didn’t you see we were in a meeting? Did you just let yourself in? Do you even know any manner?”
“Director Shen, how do you manage your assistant?” Zhou Jicai demanded, throwing his pen down hard on the table. The pen bounced on the table with a loud, sharp noise.
Shen Mianyin spoke calmly, addressing Gao Zhoulei, who had turned red with embarrassment, “Why the rush? What’s the matter?”
“Director Shen, I just called Gu Huaizhi’s assistant to set up a meeting,” Gao Zhoulei hurriedly explained. “The assistant said Gu Huaizhi is available right now! Because he has another schedule in two hours, the next available time slot is a month away. So if you go now, there’s still time.”
“Because the situation was too urgent and too important, I didn’t dare to waste any time,” Gao Zhoulei explained, his urgency clear.
“What?” Zhou Jicai abruptly stood up.
This was pure luck—something he couldn’t achieve no matter how many times he tried. Shen Mianyin, on the other hand, managed to set up a meeting on her first attempt, and immediately?
Shen Mianyin stood up at once, “President…”
Lin Jinshen nodded, “You should go quickly.”
Lin Jinshen then turned to instruct his assistant, “Have the driver ready to take Director Lin over.”
As Shen Mianyin, supported by Gao Zhoulei, walked towards the door of the conference room, a nearly twisted expression on Zhou Jicai’s face stopped her with a shout, “Wait!”
Shen Mianyin stopped and turned to look at Zhou Jicai.
Zhou Jicai slowly got to his feet, suddenly donning a friendly smile, “I see Director Shen can hardly walk now; does your assistant really have to help you all the way over there?”
“Why don’t I go instead?” Zhou Jicai shamelessly suggested. “I’ll talk to Gu Huaizhi first, of course, without taking any of Director Shen’s credit.”
“Once Director Shen’s legs are better, she can continue the conversation,” Zhou Jicai said. “Even if the business is settled before that, the company won’t forget Director Shen’s contributions.”
What contribution?
The credit of having secured a meeting with Gu Huaizhi.
It was just luck—Shen Mianyin happened to catch Gu Huaizhi when he was available.
As for securing the Covey business deal, naturally, that would be his.
Shen Mianyin smiled, surprised that someone could be so shameless to openly claim credit like this in front of everyone.
Gao Zhoulei looked anxiously at Shen Mianyin from the side.
This Zhou is really too much—wasn’t this just bullying?
“President, Director Gao, Director Chen, what do you think?” Zhou Jicai smiled, saying, “It’s rare to get in touch with Gu Huaizhi. We can’t afford to be disrespectful to him because of Director Shen’s injury and miss out on this great opportunity.”
Director Gao nodded, “You make a good point. Let’s let Zhou Jicai go.”
Director Chen nodded as well, then turned to Lin Jinshen, “What do you think?”
“I think that’s a good idea. Besides, Director Shen has trouble getting around, and it wouldn’t be good if she was late,” Zhang Qiyuan added.
Lin Jinshen hadn’t spoken yet, but Zhou Jicai was already looking at Shen Mianyin with determination, forcing her to back down.
“Ultimately, it’s all about making money for the company,” Shen Mianyin slowly said. “If President Zhou wants to go in my place, that’s fine too.”
As Zhou Jicai’s smile widened, Shen Mianyin continued, “But what if President Zhou goes and Gu Huaizhi refuses to see him? Then this opportunity is wasted for nothing.”
Zhou Jicai’s smile immediately fell, his expression darkening with displeasure as he snapped, “Shen Mianyin, are you saying that if it were me who arranged the appointment with Gu Huaizhi today, I wouldn’t be able to get it?”
Seeing Shen Mianyin’s calm, smiling acceptance, Zhou Jicai’s anger flared even more, “You got lucky today—just happened to catch Gu Huaizhi with two hours free. Do you really think Gu Huaizhi still cares about your face? Your so-called face isn’t worth much at all!”
“After a whole year of trying to book an appointment with Gu Huaizhi, he still didn’t spare you two hours…” Shen Mianyin smiled, “I might not have much face to speak of, but Gu Huaizhi definitely isn’t giving you any face.”
Director Gao and Director Chen were subtly moved by Shen Mianyin’s words.
Shen Mianyin didn’t want to rub it in, but with Gu Huaizhi’s temperament, it’s likely Zhou Jicai had unknowingly offended him at some point.
“Why don’t you go ahead and call Gu Huaizhi’s assistant right now, President Zhou,” Shen Mianyin said coldly, “Tell him I’m not feeling well and ask if Gu Huaizhi is still available to see me.”
“Gu Huaizhi is no ordinary person,” Shen Mianyin sneered, “You can’t just send whoever you want to meet with him. Do you think he’s a common vegetable at the market?”
Suddenly, a snort of laughter rang out from the back.
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