Love Has Fireworks - Chapter 72

Chapter 72: The Two-Year Gap

One week later, Qian Fei's firm received a project: to handle the asset restructuring for a listed subsidiary under the immensely famous Qiansheng Group.

The firm's Vice President sought out Qian Fei, telling her that he planned to hand this project over to her, and asked if she had the confidence to do it.

Qian Fei froze for a good moment before realizing what was happening. She asked in utter disbelief, "Vice President, there are so many senior sponsor representatives next door. How could such a good thing fall into my lap?"

Qiansheng Group was incredibly powerful. Completing a single project for them meant one could walk with their chest out and head held high anywhere in the industry from then on.

The Vice President nodded with absolute certainty and said, "Yes, it's being handed over to you! Actually, this was a request specifically raised by Qiansheng Group. They said it would be best to find a beautiful female sponsor representative to handle this project. That way, when the project is completed and makes the news in the future, it might even help boost the stock price. Those two female sponsor representatives next door are indeed senior, but their looks fall vastly short of the word 'beautiful'!"

Qian Fei felt that her luck this time was truly unbelievable, and that she had essentially benefited from Qiansheng Group's bizarre and flamboyant style of doing things.

●︶3︶●

Qian Fei had an initial contact with Vice President Liao of Qiansheng Group and obtained a large amount of materials from him. When she exchanged business cards with Vice President Liao, Qian Fei felt that she had been quite fated with people surnamed Liao recently.

Thanks to the prowess she had developed from organizing working papers in the past, she browsed through the materials exceptionally fast and was able to grasp the core points. Within a few days, she had gained a general understanding of the situation regarding the group and its dozen or so subsidiaries.

A few evenings later, while she was looking over the materials at home, Li Yifei came over to see her after finishing his overtime work.

Li Yifei approached her side with his hands behind his back, asking in a haughty, arrogant tone, "Sponsor Representative Qian, regarding this project, do you need me to help you formulate the restructuring plan?"

Qian Fei raised her head, looked at him, thought for a moment, and said, "Actually, I want to complete this project independently! This is what I think: if I can successfully complete the asset restructuring of a listed subsidiary under a massive conglomerate like Qiansheng on my own without relying on anyone, I will have immense confidence when handling any project in the future!"

Li Yifei nodded, said, "Good girl, then keep yourself busy," and swung his hands as he walked into the bathroom.

After closing the door, he brought the phone he had been holding in his hand all along to his ear, suppressing his voice as he asked the person on the other end, "You heard that, right? Still worried that I'll help her behind the scenes? Right now, even if I were willing to, she wouldn't allow it! Old man, talk about your petty suspicions—no wonder the company was poorly managed!"

A cold snort came from the other end of the line: "Wait until she completely resolves this matter before you come gloating to me!"

●︶3︶●

A few days later, Qian Fei brought several members of the project team to the Qiansheng headquarters to hold a briefing session with the executives. Vice President Liao mentioned that because of some personal matters, it was not quite convenient for the Chairman to attend today's meeting, so the meeting would temporarily be hosted by him.

During the meeting, Qian Fei presented several of her insights regarding the group's situation.

Her viewpoints received unanimous agreement from all the executives. They expressed high praise for Qian Fei's ability to sort through the group's circumstances so clearly and thoroughly within such a short window of time.

Qian Fei then proceeded to explain the restructuring plan she had designed.

Her proposals drew waves of continuous approval from the gathered executives.

Vice President Liao nodded repeatedly and said, "Regarding the plan proposed by Director Qian, I believe none of us executives present have any objections. However, the Chairman is ultimately the final decision-maker after all, so I still must go consult him and hear his thoughts."

He asked Qian Fei to wait a moment, saying he would go outside to call the Chairman and check. Yet, after exiting the conference room, he headed straight for the Chairman's office.

Inside the office, Li Qiansheng and Li Yifei were both present, staring at the computer screen together.

They had watched the entire progression of the meeting just now through a live broadcast.

Vice President Liao asked, "Old Li, what do you think?"

Li Qiansheng spoke in a slow, deliberate manner, "Hmm, it's decent. Let's try it according to what she said."

Li Yifei let out a "Tsk" from the side. "What do you mean 'decent'? It was simply fantastic, okay! Your face is completely full of praise, yet you suppress yourself so much to speak against your heart. I think your internal heart disease was brought on entirely by holding back!"

●︶3︶●

After Vice President Liao returned to the conference room, he told Qian Fei, "The Chairman thinks the plan is quite good and that we can give it a try!"

Qian Fei said, "Then let's start finalizing the various intermediary agencies right now. Once finalized, we will all sign a confidentiality agreement, and then everyone should convene an intermediary coordination meeting as soon as possible!" Vice President Liao said, "Everything shall proceed according to Director Qian's arrangements!"

After the meeting adjourned, Vice President Liao extended an invitation, wanting Qian Fei to come to his office to discuss the employment of the other intermediary agencies.

Qian Fei followed him to his office. After talking for about half an hour, she helped him draft a preliminary selection for the accounting firm and the valuation agency.

With the issues discussed and just as she was about to take her leave, a knock sounded at the door.

Vice President Liao called out, "Come in."

The door was pushed open.

Qian Fei turned her head to look, instantly freezing. The person who walked in from outside the door turned out to be Liao Shiyu.

●︶3︶●

Sitting to the side, Qian Fei overheard the conversation between Liao Shiyu and Vice President Liao.

Liao Shiyu had come to handle her reinstatement.

Furthermore, she had accidentally called him "Eldest Uncle."

Qian Fei felt a chaotic buzz go off in her head as a myriad of thoughts swarmed together, pushing against her mind.

Pinching the space between her brows, she forced herself to calm down, gradually grasping several core points amidst the chaotic thoughts.

Back when she had just broken up with Wang Ruohai, Yao Jingjing had told her: "That woman is the niece of an executive at their company!"

Not long ago, Liao Shiyu had told her: "That day wasn't the first time we met. We actually crossed paths very early on, except at that time I only heard your voice and didn't see your face clearly."

That day when they went shopping, Liao Shiyu had asked her if she would add an ex-boyfriend on WeChat, and she had said no. Consequently, Liao Shiyu had posted their joint photo to her Moments, and then she had replied to someone: "What's the rush? I don't eat people, haha."

Who did she post that for to see?

Then, upon returning home, Wang Ruohai had called her under very strange circumstances. When asked what was wrong, he had hemmed and hawed, saying it was nothing.

There was also how Li Yifei had told her that day to go fetch a suit that didn't exist at all, and how upon her return, Liao Shiyu had suddenly announced that her apartment renovations were finished and she was moving out.

During the period she had been sent out, what had he and Liao Shiyu talked about?

...

Amidst the utter chaos, she gradually untangled the threads, and a state of unprecedented clarity slowly manifested in her mind.

She truly was stupid enough. Only now did she discover who exactly this woman before her eyes was.

●︶3︶●

Taking advantage of the brief lull in the conversation between Liao Shiyu and Vice President Liao, Qian Fei bid a simple farewell.

She stepped out of the office, and before she had walked more than a few paces, she heard the sound of the door opening behind her.

She heard Liao Shiyu calling her name from behind.

She paused, stood still, and turned around.

Liao Shiyu walked up to her, smiled, and said, "Qian Fei, I'm sorry for not telling you earlier where I worked. I am currently in charge of the group's financial operations. If there are any issues regarding finances, just ask me."

Qian Fei knitted her brows slightly. She felt that the person in front of her ought to feel sorry for far more than just the single matter she had mentioned.

After a moment's thought, she asked, "Your position is?"

Liao Shiyu replied, "Finance Section Chief."

The corners of Qian Fei's lips hooked up into a flawless, professional smile. "I'm sorry, but your rank isn't high enough. Your superior will need to interface with me for our work!"

Having said this, she watched as Liao Shiyu's expression stiffened. Continuing to smile, she said, "Goodbye," turned, and walked away.

Treading forward step by step, her heart was filled with an overwhelming mix of emotions.

With what kind of mindset had this woman approached her? Was it to see how much inferior she was compared to her?

Fortunately, she hadn't lost to her.

But if this were placed two years ago, she would have certainly seemed like a clown in front of Liao Shiyu. Standing together, the difference between high and low would have been instantly clear without even needing a comparison.

Yet today, she possessed the ability to match her as an equal; no, she even stood higher, with a much firmer stance.

She wondered, who was the one who had enabled her to undergo such a transformation within these two years?

The name of that man echoed in her heart.

●︶3︶●

When she returned home that evening, Qian Fei called Li Yifei, telling him to come over after work to have dinner before leaving. She cooked a large plate of sautéed eggplant strips, beautifully presenting it on the porcelain dish she had already decided to enshrine.

Li Yifei sensed an atmosphere that was different from usual, feeling that something he couldn't see was vibrating in the air. He said to Qian Fei, "I constantly feel that you're a bit different from your usual self."

Qian Fei asked, "What's wrong with me?"

Li Yifei said, "It's like you're holding back a whole bellyful of immense gratitude and looking for a place to vent it out!"

Qian Fei looked at him and smiled. "You guessed right! Today, I just want to find you to vent my immense gratitude!"

Li Yifei said, "I still hope you can vent something else on me, like animal desires or something."

Qian Fei countered, "My Aunt Flo thinks poorly of you these past couple of days."

Li Yifei wailed. It seemed today he could only eat vegetables and couldn't eat meat.

He asked Qian Fei, "Jinjin, what exactly is up with you today?"

Qian Fei looked at him without blinking a single time, saying, "Nothing. It's just that I suddenly realized that all this time, what you have silently done for me is far, far more than what I've seen!" She paused, her voice growing raspy as she added, "I'm a little moved!"

Li Yifei laughed and tapped her head. "How truly ugly! Your face is puckered up like a giant steamed bun! Don't try to play at being moved in the future—this image is way too ugly, I dare not look!"

Qian Fei let out a pfft and burst into laughter.

●︶3︶●

A week later, the intermediary coordination meeting convened in Conference Room Number One at the Qiansheng Group headquarters.

Originally, the scope of attendees was limited to group executives, executives of the subsidiaries involved in the restructuring, and core technical personnel. However, when Li Yifei went to check the layout of the venue, he specifically instructed his private assistant: "Send out a notice. Have Section Chief Liao of the Finance Department and Director Wang Ruohai of the Business Department attend the meeting as well."

Since Qian Fei had told him that she already knew who Liao Shiyu was, he would simply let these two individuals admire the charming moment of Sponsor Representative Qian's complete transformation together.

He had made this decision long ago. He wanted to give his woman a stage to display her talents to her heart's content, allowing the person who had once betrayed her to see just how brilliantly she shone today.

●︶3︶●

Wang Ruohai was merely mid-level management at the group headquarters. With his rank, he could only sit lower and lower and lower down the long conference table.

Directly across from him sat Liao Shiyu.

He cast a glance at her, seeing a mysterious and bizarre smile on her face.

He didn't know what kind of profound meaning lay behind that smile, so he furrowed his brows and averted his gaze.

He rarely had the opportunity to attend a meeting of this caliber in the past. He heard that this time, they were to carry out an asset restructuring for a listed subsidiary under the group, and everyone attending had to sign a confidentiality agreement. As for the reason he was called to participate, it was supposedly to facilitate cooperating with the securities firm to gain a deeper understanding of the group's and the subsidiaries' businesses.

The door to the conference room beside him opened, and various executives walked in one after another, heading toward the head of the conference table and taking their seats in order.

Strangely, they left the central seat empty; even Vice President Liao did not sit there.

He wondered in puzzlement who that seat was being reserved for. The Chairman? Unlikely, as the Chairman was currently recuperating, and all affairs had been left to Vice President Liao to manage.

Who could it be that was qualified to sit in such an important position, strategizing and commanding the entire scene?

More people continued to enter from the doorway.

He heard two core technical personnel beside him whisper that these people were the accountants and the valuers.

They took their seats across from the executives. The very top seat still remained empty.

He thought to himself that the seat should be reserved for the securities firm's sponsor representative.

Just as he was thinking this, another commotion occurred by the doorway next to him.

He turned his head, casually lifting his eyes to take a glance. And under this single glance, his entire being instantly froze in place.

The person who walked in this time turned out to be Qian Fei.

She walked at the very front like a queen, striding with her head held high, confident and composed. Beneath her tailored trousers, every single step she took struck a resonant chord in people's hearts. Several men in formal business suits followed behind her in a supportive posture, willingly slowing their steps behind her.

She walked all the way through, genuinely radiant with high spirits.

Looking at her current appearance, he could barely recall what she had looked like two years ago.

She walked all the way to the very front of the conference room. Vice President Liao stood up personally, welcomed her personally, pulled out the chair at the top seat personally, and invited her to sit.

She politely declined out of modesty, but in the end, she couldn't refuse his insistence and had no choice but to sit down.

His heart trembled as he looked at the person sitting at the absolute head of the table.

So that top seat was actually reserved for her.

Sitting at the lower end of the conference table, a sharp pain shot through his chest.

This was the gap between her and him that he had never anticipated within the span of two years.