CEO is Picky but Handsome - Chapter 36

On Christmas Eve, Ye Ling flew with Huo Zhun to a warm island across the ocean. Every year at this time, a few bigwigs with great influence in the global capital market will secretly get together to discuss the hot issues of the new year. As a pivotal player in the global economy, Huo Jun has been attending the meeting for many years. He attaches great importance to this meeting, and for this reason, he even set aside two days to make preparations with Ye Ling.
They arrived at the local airport at around 4:00pm, and the reception hotel had arranged vehicles waiting on the tarmac. Huo Zhun and his entourage got off the plane and drove directly to the hotel where the conference was held. On the way, they passed by a field of golden yellow tulips, and the flowers, which were bathed in the western slanting sunlight, were flourishing and brightly colored, Ye Ling leaned on the car window, and was unconsciously dumbfounded by the sight of the flowers.
“This is a local specialty, tulips.” Huo Zhun’s voice rings behind her without missing a beat, “The locals have made them into an industry, attracting countless tourists every year.”
“But I don’t feel like there are a lot of tourists.” Ye Ling turned back and said.
“That’s because we’re here, and the local area is closed for safety.” Huo Zhun laughs lightly, “I remember you like flowers, do you want to stop and pick a few?”
“No, thanks ……,” We’ll be arriving at the hotel later, we can’t just hold a bunch of flowers and check in, how strange.
However, Ye Ling’s concerns are worthless to Huo Jun. He instructs the driver to park the car and personally walks out the door and steps into the tulip field.
“The air is so nice.” Huo Zhun stands in the sea of tulip flowers and extends a distant invitation to Ye Ling, “Ye Ling, come and feel it.”
It’s obviously you yourself who wants to see it more, right?
Ye Ling smiled helplessly and walked over.
They stood in the sea of flowers for a long time until their bodies were covered in the rich fragrance, before they returned to the car with cupped tulips in their arms. As the sun was setting, the car’s silhouette as it sped along the straight country road was as beautiful as a light brush stroke left on a scroll.
When they arrived at the hotel, a hotel staff immediately checked them in. Huo Jun and his party waited in the lobby for a while before someone came to inform them that they could check in. Unexpectedly, just as they were about to take the elevator up, another line of people walked down the stairs not far away.
Ye Ling’s shoulders stiffened.
Huo Zhun follows his gaze and the moment he sees the visitors clearly, his eyes also cloud over.
“Mr. Huo, you’re not exactly early this year.” The speaker is a tall, middle-aged man who looks familiar with Huo Jun, greeting him from a distance, “Busy lately?”
“Thanks to Mr. Balent’s blessing, it’s been okay lately.” Huo Jun extends his hand, exchanging a cordial handshake with the person in front of him.
Mike Balent, the major shareholder of this hotel. His ancestors possessed Jewish ancestry, which caused his eyes to be deep-set and his eyebrows to reveal an air of shrewdness. The family has run this hotel chain for many years, and today it is one of the most recognized hospitality leaders in the world. This conference is hosted by the hotel, and the hotel is solely responsible for the food and lodging of the participants. Huo Jun is an old acquaintance of his, so he enthusiastically walks up to exchange pleasantries with Huo Jun.
“I’ve heard about it, your company has fought a few good battles recently, congratulations.” Balent blinks, and immediately gives up half his body to introduce the person behind him, “Mr. Huo, allow me to introduce you, this is President Rong Sheng of the Rong Clan of Country F. He is the special guest of this meeting.I don’t know if you’ve heard of the Rong Clan of Country F, but it’s been very popular in the international capital market in recent years.”
“I’ve naturally heard of Rong’s great name.” Mr. Huo smiled and extended his hand to Rong Sheng, “Mr. Rong, long time no see.”
“You’re welcome, General Manager Huo, I’m relieved to see that you’re still in such good spirits.” Rong Sheng smiled and shook his hands, but his gaze crossed over Huo Zhun to Ye Ling behind him.
What a shrewd person Barent was, seeing this, he knew that the two had known each other for a long time and hurriedly said, “Look at me, I didn’t even know the situation beforehand. The two of you are friends?”
“Friends?” Rong Sheng lets out a laugh and looks at Huo Jun with a meaningful meaning, “I wonder if I have the honor to be General Manager Huo’s friend?”
The smile on Huo Zhun’s face did not diminish, but instead deepened by three points, “If Mr. Rong treats me as a friend, I naturally can’t wait to make Mr. Rong a friend.”
This is a bold statement, but also secretly Rong Sheng a military, the people present in the room actually who did not hear the meaning of the sword. Even Rong Sheng had to endure this sentence, and with a turn of his gaze, he crossed over and walked to Ye Ling.
“Ning Ning, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.” He gazed deeply at Ye Ling, the gentleness in those eyes practically dripping out of water.
Ye Ling, however, was so horrified that she took a step back, and the tulip she was holding in her arms was subconsciously hugged tightly, dropping a golden yellow petal.
Rong Sheng bent down and picked it up, lightly sniffing the remaining fragrance between the petals, and softly said, “Ningning, this flower is really pretty.”He paused and reached out his hand to Ye Ling, “You too ……”
“Mr. Rong likes flowers?” Seeing something bad, Huo Zhun suddenly crossed between them, shielding Ye Ling without a trace.
Rong Sheng frowns slightly, seeing Ye Ling obediently hiding behind Huo Jun, his tone suddenly cold, “Yes, I like it a lot.”
“That’s good, there are plenty of flower fields outside, if Mr. Rong likes it, he can go pick it. Or even buy the whole flower field, it’s fine, put it on my account, count me to send Mr. Rong.” Huo Zhun smiles indifferently and turns his head to look at Barendt, “Sorry, Barendt, I’m a bit tired after just getting off the plane, can I go up and rest first? Let’s talk again at dinner.”
“No problem, I’ll ask someone to take you up.” While Barent readily accepts good advice, Huo Jun thanks him for his goodwill.
“Thank you, no need to bother, we’ll go there ourselves.”
After saying that, he extremely naturally took Ye Ling away from Rong Sheng’s presence and escorted him all the way into the elevator, surrounded by bodyguards.
It was only until the elevator doors were completely closed that Ye Ling’s lips, which had been pursed tightly, relaxed.
“I’m sorry, there was no Rong Sheng’s name on the list of attendees sent to me, and I don’t know why he’s here.” Ye Ling explained.
“None of your business.” Huo Zhun said coldly, “This situation occurred either because it was deliberately concealed on the list, or, because Rong Sheng just decided to attend the meeting in the past few days. I guess it’s a little more likely to be the latter, it seems that the failure of Yongkang Group has greatly stimulated him.”
Ye Ling intuited that things were not that simple, for a moment, but he could not think of a more reasonable explanation. In fact, Rong Sheng’s appearance alone had made him unable to think. He leaned against the elevator wall in agony, and he could fit a pen between his furrowed brows.
Huo Zhun couldn’t bear to look at him: ”Don’t worry, he can’t do anything to you in plain sight. Be careful these days and try not to leave my side. If I can bring you here safely, I can bring you back safely just the same, do you trust me?”
Ye Ling turned his head, Huo Zhun’s words weren’t flashy, but they marvelously put him at ease. He nodded and smiled lightly, “I trust you.”
Their worries proved to be redundant.
In these two days, Rong Sheng’s movements were described as regular. It was as if he had come completely for the meeting, and other than participating in the meeting, he spent most of his time locked up in his room. While other presidents came to the meeting, most of them thought of going to the nearby countryside for a walk and relaxation, he was undistracted, and at most, he participated in the evening reception organized by the hotel, and all of them just showed up and left.
Correspondingly, it was his speech at the conference. As one of the leading business representatives in country F, his speeches were highly valued, and because he came prepared, his occasional insights often drew many approving gazes. Within a few days, Ye Ling realized that the richest man in Z had already called him his brother, and thought that cooperation between the two was not far away.
These days Ye Ling had been following Huo Zhun around, not moving an inch, so Rong Sheng had very few chances to even talk to him. He even stopped pestering him bitterly, and when he occasionally met him, he instead exchanged pleasantries and greetings with Ye Ling in an extremely dashing manner. If it wasn’t for the fact that this person had a lot of previous convictions, Ye Ling really wanted to think that he had changed his nature and wasn’t interested in himself.
Huo Jun shared the same viewpoint as Ye Ling, only Ye Ling’s judgment was based on his understanding of Rong Sheng, Huo Jun was based on what, which was anyone’s guess. In short, he was certain that the fat meat had reached his mouth, and Rong Sheng didn’t give up so simply. Sooner or later, his fox’s tail will show. (Ye Ling: What do you mean by fat meat first?)
Sure enough, the meeting went on to the third day and was guessed by Huo Jun.
On the morning of the third day, during the tea break between meetings, Ye Ling went to brew a cup of coffee for Huo Jun as usual. The moment she walked out of the pantry, she saw a familiar figure waiting by the door.
“Ningning,” Rong Sheng looked at the coffee cup in his hands, his gaze painfully compassionate, “I never bothered to ask you to do this before.”
“This is my job, I don’t see anything wrong with it.” Ye Ling turned his head to leave, but Rong Sheng blocked his way, “Please give way Mr. Rong, I want to go over.”
Hearing him coldly address himself as “Mr. Rong”, Rong Sheng’s heart felt like a knife, “Ning Ning, are you still angry with me?”
Unable to go around or avoid, Ye Ling was impatient and raised her head to say angrily, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.Mr. Rong, please ……”
Suddenly, Rong Sheng lifted his hand and not so gently scraped his cheek with his knuckles.
Ye Ling subconsciously took a step back, the coffee cup in his hand shook slightly, and the coffee splashed out a few drops falling to the edge of the tray. He hurriedly stabilized the cup in his hand and raised his head, glaring angrily at Rong Sheng.
“Ning Ning, you seem to have gained a bit of weight since the last time I saw you, and your complexion is much better.” Rong Sheng lightly kissed the fingers that touched Ye Ling, seemingly oblivious to Ye Ling’s anger, only asking softly, “Huo Jun, he treats you well, doesn’t he?”
Ye Ling felt that he was hopelessly crazy, and her only thought was to hurry and avoid him. Rong Sheng is firmly blocking his way, telling him that he can’t even move a step. The only way he had left was to ignore this madman. Anyway, after not seeing anyone for a long time, Huo Jun would naturally come out to look for him.
He’s also learned his lesson now, knowing that he can’t win against this madman, so he just rests assured that he’ll boldly leave it to Huo Zhun to deal with him. To be honest, for someone like Rong Sheng, apart from Huo Zhun there really aren’t many people who can take him.
“Ningning, why don’t you answer me? Are you still angry with Brother Sheng?”
Bowing his head, he ignored it.
“Ningning, your temper still hasn’t changed, it’s not good to ignore people when you’re angry.”
Still ignoring.
“Ning Ning ……”
Rong Sheng sighed lowly, his gaze lifted up inadvertently, and actually crossed behind Ye Ling to see the figure reflected on the corner window.
A hint of an impish smile crept onto his lips, passing in an instant.
“Ningning, you really don’t intend to go back with Brother Sheng nowadays, do you?”
This sentence, mixed with sighs and disillusionment, was actually even more despondent and helpless than many of the previous sentences. Even though Ye Ling had made up her mind to ignore him, she couldn’t help but be swayed by the sadness contained within.
“I remember last time you were willing to go with me to visit Uncle Chicken, now I’m afraid you won’t go.” Rong Sheng smiled bitterly, “It’s okay, I’ve already visited him for you. Uncle Chicken had a fall at the beginning of the year, leaving aftereffects, and now his legs are not too sharp. I told him about you, and he was overjoyed to hear that you were still thinking about the Mandarin fish he made. I don’t know if I heard him wrong, but he thought you would go back to him to cook for you. I got a call from him that day, and he said he woke up early and prepared a good meal, but he waited from dawn until dark, and still couldn’t find you.He asked me, Ning never lie, he said to come, exactly when to come ……”
“Uncle Chicken is old, originally the eyes are not good, and now added a leg and foot problems, you do not bother him again.” Ye Ling slightly lowered his head, his tone struggled.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take him to the doctor when I go back this time. I’ve already consulted, Uncle Chicken’s eyes are old, but his legs and feet are new injuries that are expected to be cured.” Ye Ling in front of him moved slightly, seeing how much this good news invigorated his heart. Rong Sheng’s gaze changed, but his tone was softer than just now, “Ningning, are you willing to come along?”
Ye Ling didn’t reply, but the faint trembling of his fingertips gave away his inner emotions. Rong Sheng had grown up with him and knew that he was nostalgic and sentimental. Now that he was forced to leave for a foreign country, what he couldn’t let go of was only these old people who had truly taken care of him and watched over him as he grew up. Just asked this sentence, seems to be Rong Sheng in the question, in fact, it is more like for these old people ask Ye Ling a question, whether they are willing to go back to see them again, Ye Ling can be cruel to say refused to be strange.
Sure enough, Ye Ling hesitated for a long time, finally failed to ruthlessly say refused, just said: “I miss the chicken uncle when I will go back to see him, on …… not with you.”
After this sentence, Rong Sheng did not answer for a long time. Ye Ling felt slightly inappropriate and raised her head, but she was caught off guard and bumped into a pair of eyes full of joy.
Rong Sheng’s eyes at this moment, the word “joy” was no longer enough to describe them.
“Ning Ning, that is to say,” his lips trembled, a sentence was broken by him, “you will still go back to F country, is not it?”
“I ……” Ye Ling wanted to deny it, but suddenly ran out of words. He originally made up his mind that he would not step foot in F country again in this life, but in this situation, only at this moment, he was actually unsure.
For Rong Sheng, this moment of uncertainty was enough.
He swept a glance behind Ye Ling as if unintentionally, and the figure reflected in the window had indeed disappeared.
And Ye Ling experienced a moment of confusion and quickly came back to his senses.
“Whether I go back to F country or not has nothing to do with you,” he coldly raised his head and forced himself to look at the person in front of him, “Mr. Rong, you’re blocking my way, so please get out of the way.”
Ye Ling had obviously endured to the extreme, as if Rong Sheng would go up and fight for his life if he didn’t get out of the way. Rong Sheng approximately also knew that it was difficult to retreat, and this time, he didn’t tangle with him excessively, just shrugged his shoulders and dashed away.
After the tea break, the meeting continued. Today was the last day of the meeting, and many of the important issues left behind had to be resolved together today, so the meeting changed from the relaxed atmosphere of the previous two days and became tense and depressing, even to the point of calling saber-rattling in the discussion of certain issues.
“…… I don’t agree with Alan’s statement, nowadays the investment bank business is also in a slump and under pressure, it may not be willing to insert a foot in the acquisition ……” Huo Zhun said while taking Ye Ling’s hand from Ye Ling He took over the relevant information that he had searched for. The moment the two fingers touched, Ye Ling clearly felt Huo Jun’s finger pull back a bit.
Virgo President Huo Jun subconsciously did not like physical contact with people unless he was familiar with you and saw you as one of his own.
This action only appeared in the early days of Ye Ling’s tenure as his assistant, and then, whether it was handing over documents or coffee cups, the occasional touching of his fingertips was something Huo Jun was able to take for granted and even be indifferent to.
So what does this mean?
Ye Ling subconsciously looks towards Huo Jun.
From just now, he felt that Huo Jun’s attitude towards himself was very off. It was as if he was deliberately avoiding his gaze, refusing all eye contact. The cup of freshly brewed coffee was also in front of him, and so far not a single bite had been touched.One must know that the two had partnered together to attend countless meetings, and even if the atmosphere at the meeting was tense, Huo Zhun would always turn his head back in between other people’s speeches and give himself a silent gaze, but this time, he had actually lazily taken care of himself from start to finish-
This was wrong, too wrong!
But Ye Ling couldn’t think about this in detail, what he was more worried about, was another thing.
For two days in a row, Rong Sheng had been the one most willing to speak eloquently at the conference table. Because of this, the people at the meeting had left a favorable impression of him. However, today, he was too quiet. Since the beginning of the meeting, he had been sitting silently on the sidelines, quietly listening to other people’s discussions. Occasionally, when he was invited to say something about his attitude, he only skimmed over it with a few words. If he was targeting other people like this, it was fine, but the content of the morning’s discussion was greatly related to Phoenix Group, Ye Ling sat on the sidelines, worrying that he was plotting against him while secretly laughing at his own misgivings. Who will not really be stupid enough to take their own small plans to this kind of meeting to say publicly, this time they brought all the documents are half true, think even if Rong Sheng difficult, to a bunch of useless documents, also can not turn over what pattern.
Ye Ling gently flipped the documents in her hands, and suddenly, the door of the conference room quietly opened.
A black suited figure walked in silently.
The visitor was slightly bald, short and fat, and the belt of his black suit pants was wrapped around his waist with difficulty before it was barely tied at the very end. After he walked into the room, he ignored the presidents who were haggling over the price, and walked straight to Rong Sheng’s side, attaching his ear to the report. As he spoke, he stared at Ye Ling with those weasel-like eyes, and that lewd and sneaky gesture made Ye Ling instantly remember who he was.
He was the person who had secretly made an appointment with Gu Xinzhang at the café that night!
Ye Ling silently clenched his fingers.
Late night appearance, appointment with Gu Xinzhang, Rong Sheng’s henchman ……
He intuited that something was off about this, yet before he could think about it in detail, Huo Zhun turned his head.
“…… Annual financial report? Sorry, we haven’t released the official version yet. However, I have a sneak preview release version here, so I can show it to all of you first.” Huo Zhun’s joke drew a light laugh from the audience, and he turned sideways, habitually asking Ye Ling for the copy of the financial report that had been tampered with, but the document that should have been handed to him first was slow to show up.
This hesitation caused a not-so-gentle chill in the meeting.
Huo Zhun frowns slightly, turns his head, and reminds Ye Ling in a low voice, “The financial report.”
Ye Ling’s expression went completely blank for a moment, but immediately, the gleam returned to his gaze. He then lowers his head and pulls out the neatly bound financial report from the folder, slowly handing it to Huo Jun.
Huo Jun reached out to take it.
The next moment, the edge of the report sweeps into the coffee tray, a dozen or so pages thick, easily knocking over a whole cup of coffee, drying it out and splashing it on top of the body of the report.