Chapter 393 - 243: Remind Them: Pay Attention to Safety

After hanging up on Qin Yangyang, Lin Jiang called Qin Zhengqing.

"Brother Jiang!"

It wasn’t Qin Zhengqing who answered the phone, but Qin Youyou.

"Why’d you pick up? Where’s Uncle Qin?"

"My dad and I just got back from a meeting. He got out of the car and forgot his phone."

Qin Youyou’s voice was tinged with delight. "Brother Jiang, are you calling my dad about something important?"

"Yeah, there is something I wanted to discuss with Uncle Qin. I can just call him back later."

"No, don’t! My dad will be right back. Just a second."

Then, Lin Jiang heard Qin Youyou shouting through the phone.

"Dad, hurry back! Brother Jiang’s on the phone for you!"

A moment later, Qin Zhengqing’s voice came through the line.

"Xiaojiang, what’s up?"

"There are two neglected residential communities in Red Star Town, and I can’t find anyone to take them over right now. I wanted to talk with you, Uncle Qin, to see if we can get this handled."

"Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight? It’s been a long time. We can talk while we eat—it’s hard to explain everything over the phone."

"I don’t want to be a bother. How about I come by the office? We can talk in person there."

"It’s no trouble at all. Just come over tonight. I happened to get my hands on a nice bottle of liquor, so we can have a few drinks."

"In that case, I won’t stand on ceremony."

"You’re not a stranger, so why be so formal? It’s settled, then."

"Okay."

After he hung up, Lin Jiang’s phone rang again. This time, it was Qiu Yunong.

"Brother Jiang, Trendy World recently organized a jazz dance competition. We had a meeting about it and are thinking of holding a similar event to try and secure this wave of user traffic. What do you think of the idea?"

’I was just about to find time to talk to her about this, and here she is calling me.’

"It’s a good idea, but don’t do jazz dance. You should do a cheerleading competition or a ’basketball babes’ competition. Target university students. It’ll make it easier to spread and promote the product. You know what I mean?"

"Got it. I’ll draft a proposal first and show it to you when it’s ready."

"Sounds good."

After hanging up, Lin Jiang drove back to Berkeley.

’I’m going over for dinner this afternoon, so I can’t show up empty-handed. I need to buy a few things.’

When he arrived at Berkeley, the renovation project was already underway.

Most of the scaffolding was already up. ’They’re working pretty fast,’ he had to admit.

He went into the mall, planning to buy some gifts like liquor, cigarettes, and sea cucumbers.

’But that’s not something I need to do myself. I can just have He Jing handle it.’

Arriving on the sixth floor, Lin Jiang passed by He Jing’s office and pushed the door open. He saw her inside with a man in his forties sitting across from her desk. The two of them were discussing something.

"President Lin."

Upon seeing Lin Jiang, He Jing instinctively shot to her feet.

Lin Jiang gave a nod in acknowledgment.

"Finish up what you’re doing, then come to my office."

"Understood, President Lin."

Lin Jiang left and went back to his office. He didn’t have to wait long before He Jing arrived.

What was different was that she had changed into a pair of shiny black stockings. It seemed she was ready for her "work report."

"President Lin, should I lock the door?"

Lin Jiang nodded.

A pleased expression appeared on He Jing’s face.

"Come over and give me your report. I happen to have something to tell you, too."

"Mhm."

He Jing clicked over in her high heels, stopping in front of Lin Jiang. Then, with practiced ease, she got to work.

"Later, go buy two bottles of Maotai, a box of sea cucumbers, a box of tea leaves, and pick out two decent cartons of cigarettes. I need them for tonight."

"I know, President Lin," He Jing said, her voice muffled.

"The renovation project has started. There will definitely be problems along the way, so you need to be in the middle of it all, coordinating and communicating well."

He Jing stopped what she was doing with her mouth, her expression turning serious.

"President Lin, we’ve actually run into a problem."

"Tell me."

"Because we’re also making changes to the interior, Huipin Supermarket on the B1 level is saying the mall’s renovation project will affect their business. They’re in talks with us about it now."

"How will it affect them?"

"They claim the interior renovations will involve some plumbing and electrical work that will impact them. I’ve already explained the situation, but they’re being relentless," He Jing said.

"We had an internal meeting and decided to offer them a discount, but they refused. They’re demanding a two million rent reduction."

"Two million? The nerve of them!"

"Because our contract with Huipin is about to expire. They’re using that as leverage to make us concede."

"Do they think Berkeley can’t attract any other tenants without them?"

"Well..." He Jing trailed off, hesitating.

"Just say what’s on your mind."

"As things stand now, Huipin is our best option. Other supermarket chains don’t have the same brand recognition they do."

"So that’s where they get the confidence to play hardball."

"Mhm," He Jing said with a nod.

"The timing is just right for them. Our agreement is expiring, and we would have normally renewed it. But now that it coincides with our renovation project, they’re seizing the opportunity to make this demand."

"Who’s the person in charge of this?"

"Han Guangqi, the Vice General Manager of Huipin Group," He Jing said.

"But there’s more to him than that. He’s also the son of Huipin Group’s chairman, Han Shengqun."

"Looks like the chairman is bringing his son in for some on-the-job training, and he’s using us as his practice dummy. Thinks he can squeeze some easy cash out of us."

"That’s what I was thinking, too. I heard he was studying abroad, got a degree in business administration. After he graduated and came back, he naturally slid right into a management position."