Chapter 289
The two of them, acting like a close older sister and younger brother, walked shoulder to shoulder out of the library's main entrance. The afternoon sun pierced through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows over them.
Gu Ran, with his hands in his pockets and a skin as thick as a city wall, leaned in close to the young woman's ear, grinning playfully as he demanded an explanation.
"Dr. Ye, as the saying goes, even the emperor knows you can't send soldiers to war on an empty stomach."
He deliberately dragged out his words. "I was inside just now strictly upholding male virtue, desperately fending off the attacks of those crazy female admirers."
"Even if I didn't achieve anything great, I at least put in the hard work, right? As the Empress, shouldn't you give me a substantial reward?"
The older girl caught the loophole in his words. She raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes. "Empress? What, are you planning to have other concubines?"
The young man immediately begged for mercy, his face full of flattery.
"How could I? You are my one and only."
"Bah, shameless."
"Hey, I just need you."
"Look at you."
Ye Zhenzhen rolled her eyes at him with infinite charm, amused into laughter by his rogue-like behavior.
Suppressing the rising corners of her mouth, she took out the starch sausage she had just bought by the roadside from her pocket and stuffed it directly into Gu Ran's mouth.
"Stop being so glib. Here, this is your reward."
Gu Ran bit down on the starch sausage, his eyes full of reluctance.
He took the sausage in his hand, continued to shamelessly lean in close to the girl's ear, and muttered something in a low voice.
Although the exact words couldn't be heard clearly, judging from his lip movements, one could vaguely make out the word "hand."
Hearing these wolfish words, the aloof girl's ears instantly turned bright red, and she made a move to pinch him.
Seeing this, Gu Ran laughed even more brazenly.
He took the opportunity to wrap his arm around her slender waist, half-pushing and half-holding her as he led her to the Audi parked in the lot.
Just as the two sat in the car and Gu Ran was about to close the door to continue demanding the "reward" he hadn't received yet, the phone in his pocket rang at an extremely inopportune moment.
He paused his movements, took out his phone, and glanced at the caller ID, complaining with deep resentment.
"Does Ms. Li have a third eye or something? She specifically chose this critical moment to gank me."
Sitting in the passenger seat, Ye Zhenzhen covered her mouth, laughing so hard she trembled like a branch in the wind.
Seeing that Gu Ran still wanted to lean over without giving up, she reached out and patted his shoulder.
"Alright, stop messing around."
Ye Zhenzhen urged.
"Hurry up and answer the phone. Ms. Li must have some real business with you."
Gu Ran sighed helplessly and pressed the answer button.
As soon as the call connected, Li Sinan's uncontrollably excited voice immediately came from the other end.
"Boss Gu, guess who just called me?"
Li Sinan spoke rapidly, revealing irrepressible excitement.
"President Wang from Zhonghua Kulian, who previously left us out in the cold and stood us up, is now blowing up my phone!"
"He's begging like crazy, insisting on meeting today, saying he wants to quickly sign the contract we didn't sign last time!"
After hearing this, Gu Ran sneered outright.
"Now he knows how to be anxious?"
He leaned back in his seat, casually spinning the car keys.
"What was he doing before?"
"However he left us hanging back then is how we'll deal with him today."
"Tell him to come to our company and wait, and then you show up two hours late to see him."
"Remember to cut the previously discussed profit-sharing terms right in half, and add an exclusivity agreement."
He tapped his fingers rhythmically on the steering wheel, his tone certain.
"If he doesn't agree, don't worry. The supply and demand relationship has changed now; they have to be the ones begging us!"
Li Sinan understood perfectly on the other end of the phone, letting out a crisp laugh.
"Understood, mainly focusing on reverse PUA, right?"
Li Sinan's tone was relaxed and joyful.
"Then I'll go get a French manicure first, find a place to drink some afternoon tea, and go meet him when the time is about right."
Gu Ran waved his hand magnanimously and spoke very generously.
"Go."
"All food, drinks, and entertainment will be put on the company's tab. The boss's wife will pay for all the expenses, and you'll get reimbursed."
After hanging up, Gu Ran casually tossed the phone back onto the center console.
Ye Zhenzhen looked at his smug appearance and couldn't help but reach out a finger to poke him in the waist.
"You really are full of wicked ideas."
The girl teased with a smile. "Whoever messes with you is truly unlucky for eight lifetimes."
Gu Ran grabbed her mischievous little hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss.
"This is called business strategy."
He raised an eyebrow and said self-righteously, "To deal with fence-sitters who sway with the wind, you have to be even more ruthless than them."
...
Qinglin City, GR Company's reception room.
The once high and mighty President Wang was currently sitting on the sofa, occasionally raising his wrist to glance at his watch, looking as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
He had been sitting idly in this reception room, where the air conditioning wasn't even fully turned on, for a full two hours.
During this time, he had downed six pots of tea and made three trips to the restroom, but he hadn't even caught a glimpse of Li Sinan's shadow.
It wasn't until two and a half hours later that the reception room door was pushed open.
Wearing high heels, Li Sinan arrived fashionably late, admiring her freshly done French manicure.
She walked over and sat opposite President Wang, throwing his original excuse right back at him.
"Oh, I'm really sorry, President Wang."
"I had an important impromptu meeting just now, which kept you waiting."
"Someone with your broad perspective wouldn't mind, right?"
Hearing this, President Wang knew he was in the wrong and didn't dare to throw a fit. He could only put on an apologetic smile and wave his hands repeatedly.
"I don't mind at all!"
"Boss Li attends to a myriad of affairs every day; it's only natural that you are busy with work."
"As long as I can see Boss Li, waiting a little longer is totally worth it!"
As he spoke, he couldn't wait to take out the pre-installation factory contract he had prepared earlier from his briefcase.
"Boss Li, this is the contract we discussed previously."
President Wang respectfully handed the contract over with both hands.
"Our board of directors has already approved it. Please take a look, and if there are no issues, let's sign it today."
Li Sinan glanced at the handed-over contract, gave a cold snort, and pushed the document straight back.
"President Wang, have you misunderstood something?"
She leaned back against the sofa, putting on grand airs.
"The terms of that previous contract were what we discussed in the past."
"Have you heard a certain saying?"
President Wang thought to himself that this was bad and asked tentatively, "What saying?"
"The past is the past, and the present is the present!"
With that, Li Sinan pulled out a new contract from her folder and placed it on the coffee table.
"These are the new conditions set personally by Boss Gu."
She pointed at the clauses on the contract, her tone leaving no room for negotiation.
"The profit-sharing ratio is cut exactly in half from the original basis."
"Moreover, you must sign an exclusivity agreement. All of your factory-shipped phones must absolutely not be compatible with Penguin's WeChat!"
Hearing these conditions, President Wang was so anxious he almost jumped up.
"Boss Li, cutting the profit share in half is too ruthless, isn't it?"
He smiled with a bitter face. "And this exclusivity agreement, this is equivalent to making us completely offend Penguin!"
"Do you think we can discuss this a bit more and compromise a little?"
"Heh, didn't you refuse to sign what was previously agreed upon? Well, this is all we can offer now."
If President Wang feels the need to go back and discuss this with the board of directors, we can continue to wait.
But I cannot guarantee that our Boss Gu will still be willing to sign with you next time.
After she finished speaking, President Wang fell into a deep silence, staring at the contract in front of him for a long time without making a sound.
Seeing this, Li Sinan simply grabbed her bag from the side and made a move to walk out.
It seems President Wang still needs a moment to think it over. You can stay here, enjoy your tea, and take your time. I have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now.
Watching Li Sinan's resolute back as she walked away, President Wang completely panicked.
He hurriedly rushed forward and pressed his hands firmly against the new contract on the table.
Don't go! Boss Li, don't go!
President Wang swallowed hard as he looked at the new contract in front of him. Even though the profits had been slashed in half, there was still money to be made.
It was just that this exclusivity agreement would definitely offend Penguin.
However, even though Penguin was powerful, if it really came down to a head-to-head clash, a manufacturing company like theirs wouldn't necessarily be afraid of them!
After all, selling mobile phones and making more money was the absolute truth!
I'll sign! I'll sign, alright?!
Afraid that Li Sinan might change her mind, President Wang hastily picked up a pen and signed his name on the brand-new contract.
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
