Reba had barely exited the arrival gate when she instantly took with her 99% of the crowd, exposing Xu Jiawei's figure.
He hurriedly signaled to Lu Liang, who gave a slight nod. A line of people followed him out of the airport and into a private car.
Lu Liang pulled out his phone and saw a message from Reba from two minutes prior, "You can't possibly ignore me now, can you?"
Lu Liang replied, "I've been abroad the last few days and didn't get to check my messages. How about dinner tonight?"
"Mmm~~~ I have a press conference this afternoon and will probably be busy until about seven. I won't be free until after eight."
"That's perfect, by that time, I'll about be done too. I'll send you the location where we'll meet later."
"Mhm."
Finally, Reba responded with an emoji package. It was quite vain because the emoji was of herself—with rosy cheeks P'ed on, topped with virtual pink cat ears—quite cute and cheeky.
"How's the translation of the materials coming along?"
Lu Liang put away his phone and turned to ask Xu Jiawei.
Xu Jiawei said, "Smoothly. In another day or two, we'll finish the third round of reviews."
"What about Liu Qing? Is she making any moves?"
There's an old saying that you should disdain your enemies strategically, but take them seriously tactically. As long as Liu Qing remained at DiDi, Lu Liang couldn't afford to lower his guard for a single day.
Xu Jiawei found it strange, "Mr. Liu inquired about the project's progress a few days ago and hasn't brought it up since."
"It looks like she hasn't given up," Lu Liang frowned deeply.
Now the roles of offense and defense had switched; they were in the light, while Liu Qing was in the dark. They could only respond to her moves as they arose.
After leaving the airport, Lu Liang arrived at DiDi's New Chenghai Building and met with Cheng Wei.
Cheng Wei had a new hairstyle and looked much more vibrant than before.
With a smile, Lu Liang teased, "Mr. Cheng, you seem to be in a great mood lately. It seems like even your hair is thicker."
With a face full of spring, Cheng Wei touched his now slightly thicker hair and said with a laugh, "It's all thanks to Mr. Lu."
Ever since the 5G voting scandal came to light, although Liu Qing still participated in every board meeting, her decisions merely followed the crowd, taking on the role she once held.
As the saying goes, "A man in a happy occasion is spirited." With success coming his way so smoothly, even his wife said he'd improved a lot lately and was planning for a second child.
Lu Liang couldn't help but chuckle as he discussed the next steps in the plan.
The materials would be compiled within the next two days at the latest, so he planned to depart for New York in three days.
Cheng Wei thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Mr. Lu, what are your plans for me and Mr. Liu?"
If DiDi were a ship, he'd be the captain and Liu Qing would be the first mate.
For the US audit, one of them would have to represent the company and accompany Lu Liang.
"Just let Mr. Liu come with me and you stay at the company."
Lu Liang pondered a long while, feeling that Liu Qing was up to no good. He couldn't leave her at the company as it might lead to unwanted surprises.
It would be best to also take her to meet David from Goldman Sachs, to utterly dash her hopes and make her concede defeat honestly and sincerely.
Cheng Wei nodded, "Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Lu."
"We're all in this together. What trouble is there to speak of? It's just that there's something I might need your help with."
"Please don't hesitate to ask, Mr. Lu."
Lu Liang stayed in DiDi for the afternoon until at five o'clock, the board members had all arrived, and the board meeting was convened.
At the meeting, he announced that at noon three days from now, or December 2nd, they would head to New York.
Cheng Wei would remain at the company, and Liu Qing would join them. Lu Liang then asked, "Mr. Liu, do you have any thoughts on this?"
Liu Qing smiled faintly, "I have entrusted all matters concerning the company's IPO to Mr. Lu. If the board has a need, I will naturally comply with the arrangement."
Lu Liang squinted his eyes, staring at her for a long while before slowly saying, "Since nobody has any objections, let's tentatively decide on this."
After the meeting, the board members gradually left, leaving only Lu Liang, Cheng Wei, and Liu Qing in the vast conference room.
Liu Qing said with a smirk, "Mr. Lu, Mr. Cheng, why haven't you left? Could it be that you're waiting for me?"
"I have an appointment tonight; I can't wait for you."
Lu Liang's face showed a smile as he spoke deliberately, "The IPO is crucial to everyone's interests. I hope Mr. Liu will prioritize the bigger picture."
Liu Qing suddenly laughed, quite delighted, "Mr. Lu, are you worried I still have something up my sleeve?"
In the meeting room, just the three of them,
besides, once the facade has been torn down, she couldn't be bothered to hide anything. Sёarᴄh the NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
"It's not worry, just a heads up. Of course, if you want to interpret it as a warning, that's not unreasonable either."
Lu Liang gave a faint smile, gathered his materials, and bid farewell to Cheng Wei, "Mr. Cheng, no need to see me out, please stay."
"Mr. Lu, please take care then," Cheng Wei quickly stood up, his face full of obliging smiles, respectfully watching Lu Liang leave.
Only two people remained in the conference room.
Liu Qing, looking at Cheng Wei's ingratiating manner, mocked, "Mr. Cheng, do you know what you look like right now?"
"Perhaps I'm just missing a tail?" Cheng Wei replied with a candid smile.
Liu Qing was surprised, "So you knew?"
"Mr. Lu did it to help me."
"Didn't I help you too?"
A ripple appeared on Liu Qing's otherwise calm face. Over the past three years, they had spent every day together, sharing their dreams for the future, struggling for the company's sake.
Yet, the affection of three years was as fragile as paper mache, easily punctured by Lu Liang and quickly escalating to a fierce rivalry: a fight to the death.
"It's actually not about Mr. Lu."
After a long silence, Cheng Wei said, "You've helped me so much that now I don't even know if you're helping me or helping yourself."
Liu Qing laughed in anger, "Cheng Wei, oh Cheng Wei, how can you be so petty? To cooperate with Lu Liang is like seeking skin from a tiger. Don't you worry that he'll become another me?"
"Maybe it's not that I'm petty, but rather you're too greedy. DiDi shouldn't be your tool."
Cheng Wei remained unmoved because he knew very well that cooperating with Lu Liang was like seeking skin from a tiger, but it was an opportunity that Liu Qing had created.
If Liu Qing hadn't monopolized so much power, he wouldn't have become rebellious, and if DiDi's IPO had gone smoothly, Lu Liang wouldn't have found an opportunity to step in.
And whether Lu Liang would become the next Liu Qing was still in doubt, but Liu Qing had already been monopolizing power.
Seeing Liu Qing fall silent, Cheng Wei then said, "Mr. Liu, let it go. We'll also welcome the harvest season when we list."
"Mr. Cheng, more words are useless. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving first," Liu Qing sneered and stood up to leave the conference room.
The conference room was left with one person. A sigh was heard as Cheng Wei called Lu Liang, "Mr. Lu, I couldn't find anything out."
"We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it," Lu Liang said with a wry smile, not too concerned. It would have been best to find some leads, but it was normal to find none.
After ending his call with Lu Liang, Cheng Wei sighed again. He didn't want Liu Qing to win, but he also didn't want her to lose too badly.
Three years of being together must have created some affection, but that wasn't the main factor; only a triangle was the most stable relationship.
At nine in the evening, Reba slipped quietly into the hotel at the International Trade Building, heading straight to the luxurious suite on the 77th floor.
Every few steps, she would look around like a thief, fearing being seen by anyone.
In a swift move, she slipped through the door crack into the room, where only a table of food awaited, no one in sight.
"Hello, hello, anyone here?"
Reba asked cautiously.
Suddenly feeling someone behind her, she turned around and nearly fell to the ground in fright.
"How did you get here so quickly?" Lu Liang hastened to catch her, still holding a bottle of red wine in his hand.
He had sent a message only ten minutes earlier, thinking she couldn't have arrived so soon, and went downstairs to pick a bottle of red wine.
"Because I'm staying at a nearby hotel," Reba whispered, her head lowered, not daring to meet Lu Liang's eyes.
Who would meet at a hotel for the first time? And the key point was that she actually came, which was most critical.
Lu Liang, as if seeing through her thoughts, smiled and said, "It's too late to reserve. Famous restaurants in Beijing couldn't be booked privately; we can only be in the room. You don't mind, do you?"
Reba shook her head and walked with Lu Liang to the dining table.
"Aren't you hot?"
Lu Liang glanced at Reba, who was draped in a hat, mask, scarf, and her body almost completely wrapped in a knee-length down coat.
If not for the black stockings and mid-calf leather boots, it would have been hard to tell her gender.
But it was normal. If she hadn't paid, given the scene at the airport at noon, her popularity was indeed booming.
"I'm sorry, I almost forgot," Reba chuckled awkwardly, quickly shedding her incognito disguise.
She wore a white wide-necked long shirt with English lettering, accompanied by a knee-length black skirt, a black-and-white match that was both sexy and full of youthful vibrancy.
"Would you like a drink?"
Lu Liang opened the red wine, poured into two stems up to one-third, and brought them over to Reba.
"Thank you, Mr. Lu," Reba held the glass carefully with both hands, while Lu Liang chuckled, "I can see you really like this necklace."
If wearing the necklace for tonight's meeting was intentional, then the casual encounter at the airport at noon was surely accidental.
Reba nodded with a blushing face and whispered softly, "Because you said you hoped I would wear it the next time we met, but I didn't know when that would be, so I usually wear it.