KC | Chapter 74

“I get along pretty well with Director Liu from the scenic area. This time, I’m just taking you through the motions, introducing you to people. If we run into any bottlenecks during the process, we can also smooth things over through relationships.” Lin Yiran straightened his shirt, then helped Chen Xi fix the wrinkled collar, “In a bit, I’ll just say you’re the brand center director of Lanhai, having an identity is better for keeping control of the situation.”

Chen Xi nodded in agreement, coughed lightly twice to get rid of the rabbit eyes, his face deep and his gaze sharp, instantly turning into a director.

The two looked at each other and smiled, a kind of tacit understanding and trust that did not need to be spoken. They stood side by side under the morning sun, every step firm and powerful.

Lin Yiran knocked on the office door, opening their first battle together.

–

Unlike the refined office environment of Huiling Mountain, the office area of Zao Wang City was more formal. The corridor walls were plastered with the national emblem and the Party flag, solemn and dignified. As a government affairs and cultural tourism project, Zao Wang City had the mission and responsibility of carrying out red culture.

Director Zhang’s office was bathed in sunlight, with a spacious space. At first glance, it was all wooden tables and chairs, not like Wang Yaohua’s, where there were a few expensive pieces.

“Brother Zhang, I brought a little friend over today to learn a bit.” Lin Yiran was very familiar with Director Zhang. He walked in smiling, lightly putting an arm around Chen Xi’s shoulder.

Chen Xi immediately stepped forward and extended his hand, “Hello, Director Zhang, I’m Chen Xi.”

Zhang Yousheng saw that the two of them were clearly not ordinary in their relationship, and smiled as he shook hands with Chen Xi. “Since Old Lin brought you here, there’s no need to be so formal, just call me Brother Zhang.”

“Brother Zhang, is it convenient to add WeChat? Please teach me a lot in the future.” Chen Xi followed the opportunity.

“Haha!” Zhang Yousheng exchanged WeChat with him and said, “I only handle the general direction of the scenic area. The publicity side is handled by the planning department. I’ll have them come over, and we can talk together. If there’s any problem, it can be solved on the spot.”

“Thank you, Brother Zhang.” Chen Xi nodded and bowed, thanking him over and over.

Shortly after, three girls from the planning department came over, led by the department head, Yang Qi.

“Hello, Director Yang. The Zao Wang City scenic area plan is scheduled for project execution this month. Yesterday was the first day of the month, and I was afraid you’d be busy, so I hurried over on the second day.” Lin Yiran was even more enthusiastic toward the department head than toward the director, and Chen Xi found it a little hard to understand.

Yang Qi looked to be in her early thirties. She was about as tall as Zhang Yousheng’s nose, and a full head shorter than Lin Yiran. She had worked in the system for more than ten years, and knew that work did not have to be done exceptionally well, but the side you stood on could not be wrong. When the Zao Wang City project went public last year, many contractors rushed in. Yang Qi quietly worked the connections. The project Lanhai won was “scenic area landmark construction”, with a budget of 660,000, not some key project. It also had to go through a three-party comparison of proposals, so Yang Qi did not pay much attention to it.

After Lanhai won the bid, Lin Yiran had always been the one docking with Yang Qi on the project. Because construction was not Lanhai’s specialty, and the scenic area had not yet officially opened for business, Lin Yiran had never mentioned Zhang Yousheng’s connection to Yang Qi. Last month, when Director Gu from the Cultural Tourism Bureau came to inspect Zao Wang City, he casually said once, “Zao Wang City may mainly be retro, but the scenic area doesn’t even have a smart device. That’s a bit too retro.”

Yang Qi remembered this matter, and secretly picked the soft persimmon with nobody behind it to squeeze, changing requirements on her own with the contractor. Who knew that behind Lanhai was Director Zhang, and Director Zhang’s uncle was Zhang Chu from the Cultural Tourism Department. Lin Yiran’s connections were harder than even the one who entered for construction. This time, she had hit a steel plate.

“This is Chen Xi, the brand center director of Lanhai. Director Chen previously participated in the planning of the Glacier Gully project and attaches great importance to our project. In order to achieve the brand promotion effect, he came to the scenic area with me this time for an on-site inspection.” Lin Yiran raised Chen Xi’s status.

Yang Qi proactively stepped forward to shake hands with Chen Xi, which left Chen Xi a little unsure of what to do.

He had always been the dog for the client. Today the wheel of fortune had turned, and the client was being my dog?

Zhang Yousheng sat behind the office desk listening in, facing the coffee table. On the left and right sides of the coffee table were two rows of sofas, for resting and also suitable for negotiations.

Yang Qi’s group sat on the left side of the sofa, while Lin Yiran and Chen Xi sat on the right side. As the contractor, Lin Yiran started again: “Zao Wang City became famous for the excavation of ancient animal fossils. The twelve-zodiac project that Lanhai won was designed to fit the ancient site relics. The final draft had already been confirmed last month, but two days ago I heard it still needed adjustment. Because the construction schedule is tight, today I brought the execution plan to discuss the implementation schedule with all the leaders.”

Chen Xi plugged the USB drive into the projector, and Zhang Yousheng pressed the controller. A screen dropped down in front of the curtains, killing the light and projecting at the same time. The title of the project schedule was: Construction Schedule. On the screen, this month’s time was presented in blocks, with three blocks corresponding to each day. Red indicated acceptance, blue indicated execution, and green indicated project termination. Such a detailed deployment, called a discussion, but in reality it was notification.

Lin Yiran kept a smile on his face, but Chen Xi felt that he was wearing a mask printed with a smiling face.

“We originally planned to enter construction next week, but Director Yang said the design scheme needed adjustment. I don’t know where to add the design schedule.”

The implied meaning was, the project execution was imminent, there was no time for your design adjustments.

“Mr. Lin, you’re being too serious. Smart devices were not included in this execution in the first place, it was my abruptness.” After figuring out the pros and cons, Yang Qi immediately backed down, smiling so hard her face wrinkled up, “The final design draft has already been confirmed. We’ll just execute according to your schedule. I’ll make a group later, and if problems arise during the execution process, we can communicate at any time.”

Lin Yiran remained gentle and refined, speaking politely: “Oh, I thought it was the final draft that had passed the three-party comparison and been sent up to the bureau, and that the leaders above were dissatisfied and wanted to scrap it and redo it. I even prepared myself to apologize today.”

“The smart project is a key project in the second phase of scenic area construction, and it’s being coordinated right now. If Mr. Lin can take it on, I have a few bids to release in Q4, you can take a look.” Yang Qi knew she was in the wrong and proactively offered projects, giving Lin Yiran a step down.

The two little girls from the planning department had been following Yang Qi these past few days, intimidating and tempting the contractor. They had originally thought they would pressure Lanhai today, but unexpectedly they got pressure back from the contractor, and sat quietly on the sofa, not daring to make a sound.

“The smart cultural tourism project is something Lanhai is good at from the start. To be honest, I have a lot of projects on hand, and our first phase budget was small, so we didn’t keep following it. Like this, you send the Q4 projects with demand to Chen Xi, and in the future he’ll come dock with you.” Lin Yiran first raised his own value, then implied that a project worth several hundred thousand was not worth his time, and finally accepted the step Yang Qi had given, concise and clear.

“The smart projects are all over a million. I’ll coordinate requirements with Manager Chen and strive for win-win cooperation.” Yang Qi exchanged WeChat with Chen Xi.

After several rounds of conversation, Yang Qi very politely escorted Lin Yiran and Chen Xi to the office door. Zhang Yousheng did not say a single word the entire time.

–

The two left the office area and walked to a secluded place. Chen Xi shook his phone and giggled, “The self-introduction Director Yang sent just now, ‘I’m Zao Wang City planning little Yang, please give me lots of guidance, Manager Chen.’ Haha, planning little Yang, that’s so funny!”

Normal client docking started from the bottom and went upward. Lin Yiran went from the top downward, directly taking down the boss, and this “planning little Yang” did not dare to put up the slightest fight.

“Talking deals with the leaders really has style. That feeling of making the client lower their head is really爽, haha!”

Lin Yiran put his hand around Chen Xi’s waist and pulled him closer, no longer as gentle and polite as before, changing into a carefree, unruly skin.

Chen Xi’s bright rabbit eyes stared at Lin Yiran’s protruding throat, and his autumn heart swayed.

Lin Yiran made a shushing gesture at Chen Xi, put on his Bluetooth earphones, and instantly tore off the carefree mask.

“Hello, Manager Li, I’m Lin Yiran. Yes, the sample purchased from you last month had no issues and can be shipped normally. Also, I want to confirm, what date can the construction team enter the site?”

“Hmm? Weren’t we talking about the 7th before, and now you want to break the contract… You don’t need to say so much. I don’t care what reason you have, if it’s not executed according to the contract, I’ll complain.”

“No good, the construction team must enter by the 8th at the latest… Heh, to be honest, I really do have an alternative construction team. If you can’t do it there, you won’t get a single cent.”

The noon sun could not disperse the gloom around Lin Yiran. Chen Xi in his arms felt a little at a loss.

He had been fine just now, why had he suddenly turned hostile?

Lin Yiran’s hand lifted the hem of Chen Xi’s shirt and slipped inside, touching absentmindedly.

“Okay, send me the tracking number when you ship, and send me the construction crew roster too.”

Lin Yiran hung up the supplier’s call, then called Guan Chao.

“Mr. Guan, are you busy right now?” Lin Yiran’s expression was flat, unlike the chill just now, and unlike the yin-yang sarcasm when facing Yang Qi.

“Today I came to Zao Wang City with Chen Xi, and by chance I found out they’re going to launch a smart project next month. I guess they’re doing the smart project to get the ancient city rated, like smart toilets, storage lockers, guiding robots, these little things, help me look for resources, mm, right. The more the better.”

“The budget is ample, there should be several hundred. Ah, no, for big works and big projects, even if you have resources we can’t take them, we’re doing advertising, not engineering.”

While explaining the needs to Guan Chao, Lin Yiran was also rubbing Chen Xi’s waist. Chen Xi leaned over, lying on his chest as if he wanted to eavesdrop on what Guan Chao was saying, but the business phone’s sound pickup was very good, and besides the vibration in Lin Yiran’s chest, he didn’t hear anything else.

A superior with meticulous thoughts could resolve every problem with ease. Chen Xi liked the Lin Yiran who worked seriously, because he could temporarily free up his brain and become the most solid support.

When facing colleagues, Lin Yiran was always gentle and polite, but the hand inside his shirt was extremely rough and impolite.

After hanging up, Lin Yiran changed into another skin of a refined scoundrel.

Under the autumn day, beside the oak tree, the two tall bodies moved closer and closer, like two magnetic poles, attracting each other and shrinking the distance. Hot breaths intertwined in the air, filling it with fierce desire.

Lin Yiran stroked Chen Xi’s cheek. Chen Xi thought the old rogue was going to say something indecent again, but unexpectedly Lin Yiran said, “Baby, make a meeting summary, send it to the group later.”

Chen Xi: …

“Make it now, if you can’t finish it, I won’t screw you tonight.”

Chen Xi: Fine, I’ll be the leader’s ox and horse.

Lin Yiran struck a balance in dealing with those above him, trying his best to blend in with them, used coercion and inducement on executors, putting on a full show, was strict with contractors and only talked about interests, and was gentle and refined with colleagues to maintain relationships… In order to achieve his goal, he could wear different skins.

He was a chameleon.