Chapter 110: The Secretary Is Mainly Needed at Night

“Assistant Lin, where is my seat?” Ye Chen asked curiously.

“Hehe, you don’t have one!” Lin Ziwen smiled. “Here, only shareholders have seats; everyone else must stand. See those shareholders with secretaries? They’re all standing too!”

“Sweat… those are secretaries? They’re just tools for tomorrow’s fun!” Ye Chen muttered under his breath. Almost all those with secretaries were men, many balding older men, each accompanied by a young, alluring woman—clearly just for show. Lin Ziwen clicked her tongue but said no more.

Ye Chen scanned the shareholders present. One elderly man immediately caught his attention. Sitting to Li Ruo’s left, he was unmistakably the same old man Ye Chen had seen during his interview. Logically, this should be a very important seat. Why was this old man sitting here?

As Ye Chen looked at him, the old man nodded in return.

Li Ruo opened the proposal and glanced around. “Today’s board meeting will focus on discussing the development plan for plot 20120121-bc in the northern district. I believe everyone has read the email I sent. The goal is to transform this land into Jianghuai City’s secondary central business district. Does anyone have better suggestions?”

“President Li, I’d like to meet the designer of this proposal. I want to understand the core idea!” A middle-aged man immediately stood up. Li Ruo turned to Ye Chen and stood. “This is the designer, Ye Chen. Please introduce yourself.”

“Ahem...” Ye Chen stepped forward but misjudged his stride and bumped directly into Li Ruo’s back—mainly the curve of her hips, which were particularly prominent. Li Ruo leaned forward onto the table, and Ye Chen quickly grabbed her waist to steady her, ending up pressed against her behind in that awkward position.

An awkward silence fell. Li Ruo’s cheeks flushed crimson, and their posture sparked all sorts of imaginations. Lin Ziwen behind them widened her eyes in shock, noticing Ye Chen’s reaction below the waist pressed against Li Ruo’s. The elderly man on Ye Chen’s left blinked in surprise.

“Uh…” Ye Chen hurriedly let go, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry, I took too big a step, so…”

“Ah, I see!” The old man stood, smiling warmly. “I understand this young man’s meaning—he’s telling us not to take too big a leap in business growth, or we might crash like a train…”

“Yes, yes!” Ye Chen nodded quickly, winking at the old man and giving a thumbs up. “Jianghuai City is surrounded by major international cities like Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen. Why can they become global metropolises while we can’t? Because recently, we’ve only been trying to take giant strides—following the Great Leap Forward path!”

The room fell silent, stunned by Ye Chen’s words.

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“Your name, sir?” the middle-aged man asked curiously.

“My surname is Ye,” Ye Chen smiled.

“Mr. Ye, how feasible do you find your plan?” the man pressed.

“Over eighty percent,” Ye Chen said earnestly. “If we handle the details carefully and diligently during implementation, I believe eighty-five percent feasibility is guaranteed.”

“Good!” The man narrowed his eyes. “Since you’re so confident, let me ask: do you know the needs of local residents? The total population of Jianghuai City? The main shopping trends in our province’s capital?”

Ye Chen hesitated. These were exactly the research points he had planned to investigate later. But due to a major tip from Jiang Wei and the arrival of Zhang Kaiguo in Jianghuai City, Ye Chen had decided to act immediately. Those events excited him greatly.

“If you can’t answer these, isn’t it presumptuous to talk about economic prosperity zones and central business districts?” The man sneered coldly. “I don’t understand how you calculated eighty percent feasibility.”

Everyone stared at Ye Chen. The questions were professional and essential. To build a large metropolis, one must deeply understand city population, consumer groups, and shopping trends in the provincial capital. Without this, it’s all empty talk.

Li Ruo took a deep breath. She believed in Ye Chen’s ability to handle this. Her usually cold face flickered with worry. She feared Ye Chen might falter under pressure from such strong opposition. Lin Ziwen was even more anxious, palms sweating despite the air conditioning, sensing the summer heat outside. The elderly man beside Li Ruo also watched Ye Chen with curiosity, impressed by his fearless demeanor.

“Yes,” Ye Chen nodded, smiling. He stepped to the table and scanned the room. “I haven’t done these surveys yet, but they can be conducted in the later stages.”

“In that case, President Li, I think there’s no need to continue discussing this project!” The middle-aged man shrugged, sneering. “President Li, shareholders’ money is precious. Please don’t present such a careless development plan to us.”

Li Ruo was momentarily stunned.

Smack!

Ye Chen’s large hand slammed the table with a thunderous sound that stunned everyone into silence. At the door, Haizi and Daxia heard the commotion and peeked in. Seeing Ye Chen’s furious expression, they quickly withdrew. Haizi grinned, “Big brother finally unleashed his power. These cowards dared to challenge him!”

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“Heh, big brother’s awesome!” Daxia laughed.

Ye Chen’s face was cold as he glared at the middle-aged man. “Didn’t your mother teach you respect? You keep interrupting me—where is your decency? And please keep your hands out of that seductive woman’s skirt during the meeting.”

Chuckle…

Several people laughed. The man glared at Ye Chen. “You’re just wasting all our time. Do you know how valuable these weekly board meetings are?”

“Hmph, I bet you waste your precious time chasing women. Let me advise you: there are plenty of women out there; you need to control yourself.” Ye Chen retorted bluntly, then waved his hand. “Everyone, I’ll keep it short. Whether you continue with this plan is up to you. In two months, the Jianghuai City Planning Office will announce that the city government will relocate opposite this plot. If Tianya Group develops a secondary central business district there, the government will fully support it! Also, judging by moves in the provincial capital, Zhang Kaiguo is likely being transferred. Given his relationship with Jiang Zhonggen, Jiang Zhonggen might be called to the provincial capital. When that happens… Jianghuai City will surely take off. That’s all I have to say. Maybe my ideas are subjective, but opportunities don’t come twice.”

Ye Chen finished and turned to leave, pulling off his tie and tossing it back. The tie landed gently in Li Ruo’s hands.

“Big brother, so powerful!” Haizi and Daxia whispered eagerly by the door, thrilled by Ye Chen’s fight with the middle-aged man and his sharp remark about women.

“Heh!” Ye Chen stretched his neck. “That’s nothing. Alright, I’m off. You two keep working hard—I’ll be in touch.”

“Got it!” They nodded enthusiastically.

After Ye Chen left, the room fell silent. All eyes turned to Li Ruo, but her gaze fixed on the elderly man beside her. He nodded to her. Li Ruo spoke: “Shareholders, Tianya Group is at a critical juncture. If we don’t develop this land now, we risk even greater difficulties ahead.”

“But we can’t invest hundreds of millions just based on that youngster’s words, can we?” The middle-aged man scoffed.

“At least we have a direction to gamble on!” Li Ruo replied coldly. Most shareholders had no objections; only this man resisted, likely because Ye Chen had just offended him. Li Ruo warned, “Don’t let your personal feelings harm everyone’s interests.”

“Hmph!” The man snorted and, holding the alluring woman beside him, fell silent.