Su Ning was already very familiar with coming to the city hall.
She didn't need anyone to lead the way at all. The people passing by weren't surprised to see her; they stepped back half a pace, lowered their heads, and greeted her warmly with smiles:
"Miss Su."
"Good afternoon, Miss Su."
"You're here..."
The person being greeted merely nodded lightly in response. Technically, this was quite arrogant, but they didn't mind. Instead, they began discussing with their companions in surprise:
"Did a magpie land on a branch today? Usually, Miss Su just walks straight past. Looks like I should go buy some charity lottery tickets after work; maybe I'll win some money."
"Something good must have happened, so she's in a good mood."
"What? The fertilizer plant? But that was almost half a month ago. Any excitement over that has long passed."
"Heh, what do you know."
The last speaker shook his head mysteriously. No matter how much the others pleaded, he wouldn't reveal a single detail. Showing off was one thing, but he had to keep his mouth shut.
He couldn't lose his job over a moment of loose lips.
Watching Su Ning's retreating back.
He thought to himself, of course Miss Su would be happy. Even he had heard the name of the person the mayor found. A graduate of the Whampoa Military Academy—his connections alone were solid enough.
His professional skills were also extremely strong.
Over the past two days, just a few casual pointers from him made the guards look much more decent.
It was just that his temper was a bit arrogant... but aren't all capable people like that? The more capable they are, the bigger their temper. Miss Su even fancied someone as soft as mud and unmanly as Chu Yan.
There was no reason she wouldn't fancy Mr. Huang, right?
...
Turning the corner.
Su Ning saw the secretary-general waiting at the door from a distance. The strange thing was that when she looked over, the secretary-general's face suddenly panicked, and he turned to the door as if to speak.
"Go, stop him."
The next second.
The secretary-general's hand, which was about to knock on the door, was firmly clamped down. His first reaction was that this was bad. Before he could even speak, Su Ning was already standing in front of him.
"Miss Su..."
"Shh."
Su Ning placed her finger against her lips, looking at the secretary-general with a faint, mocking smile. She looked like a cat watching a mouse struggling uselessly in its claws, playful yet ruthless:
"Don't speak."
The secretary-general really shut his mouth.
However, it wasn't voluntarily. Su One perfectly executed his master's order, covering the man's mouth with his left hand and pinning his hand with his right. Realizing he couldn't break free, the secretary-general frantically winked at this strange guy:
I'm behaving, let go quickly, good heavens, don't you think this posture is a bit inappropriate?
Su One: ...Is his eye cramping?
He exerted more force with his hands.
His reasoning was as follows: cramping causes pain, pain causes screaming, and screaming creates noise, which violates Su Ning's order.
There was no helping it.
You couldn't expect a robot to understand human eye cues. Every profession has its specialty, and his emotional interaction system wasn't that advanced.
Lin Sen secretly had a headache.
He felt that his previous wariness of Su One was laughable. This guy was very strong, but his emotional intelligence... Anyway, he posed no threat to him; they were on different tracks.
They could coexist.
He gave the secretary-general a helpless look. There was nothing he could do. He had tried before. To put it nicely, this Su One was loyal; to put it bluntly, he was missing a screw in his head.
He only listened to the Miss's orders.
So, what was Su Ning doing?
She was eavesdropping.
"...Why isn't she here yet? Huaiqian, you're playing the role of Beiping's mayor with quite the gentlemanly demeanor," a mocking male voice sneered:
"Then again, you bite the hand that feeds you at your own peril. This Su Ning has given you quite a few benefits. But I haven't taken anything from her. I'll wait ten more minutes. If she's not here by then, I'm going to eat."
"Calm down a bit."
It was Chen Huaiqian's voice. As a cooperative partner she got along well with, Su Ning could hear a hint of exhaustion in it.
She raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly.
This was the person he found for her?
Inside the door.
Chen Huaiqian looked at Huang Yu, who stood before him with crossed arms and a displeased expression. For the first time, he doubted whether bringing this troublemaker over was a mistake.
But thinking about it.
Only this troublemaker had the strength that might meet Miss Su's requirements. A military academy graduate, not only did he have rich theoretical knowledge, but he had also experienced real combat with live ammunition on the battlefield.
If it weren't for his terrible temper and bad luck.
He wouldn't have left the army.
"Miss Su is very punctual. Didn't the person who replied earlier say that she was discussing the fertilizer plant with those business people? This is very important..."
"Alright, alright, don't give me that."
Huang Yu waved his hand impatiently. He wasn't the type of soldier who only knew how to carry a gun; he understood the value of fertilizer. But he was just annoyed that Chen Huaiqian kept reminding him how amazing Su Ning was.
Being discharged from the army had already left him full of anger.
After coming to Beiping.
Finding out that his friend Chen Huaiqian had found him a new employer who was a merchant, and a young female merchant at that, he almost turned around and left.
It wasn't that he looked down on women.
But as a soldier who had survived a hail of bullets, Huang Yu felt that only fists and weapons could save China. As for merchants, they were just a bunch of profit-driven cowards!
Su Ning had even returned from abroad.
Surrounded by foreigners.
What kind of patriotic person could be raised in that environment? In his eyes, Chen Huaiqian was just too deeply involved and dizzy in the head to praise this merchant surnamed Su so highly.
"I'm going to eat."
Huang Yu shot Chen Huaiqian a provocative look and spread his hands: "Tell your Miss Su that whatever she wants to talk about can wait until after I eat."
"My stomach being hungry is also a very important matter."
With that, he walked to the door.
Creak—
The door opened.
But it wasn't him who opened it. Even the battle-hardened Huang Yu was momentarily stunned by the scene outside, and he subconsciously said to Su One:
"You're going to smother him to death like that."
"I won't."
Su One shook his head. His strength control was very precise, and from the neck pulse and the intensity of the struggle, he could analyze that the person was not at risk of suffocation for the time being.
"Hey, you..."
Huang Yu was the type who disliked being contradicted by others. Just as he was getting fired up and about to get physical, footsteps and Chen Huaiqian's voice suddenly came from behind.
"Miss Su, you're here?"
Su Ning?
His gaze fell on the woman at the front, and he subconsciously frowned. No other reason than she was beautiful, yes, but she didn't look like a good person. She perfectly matched his impression of a refined yet ruthless capitalist.
"Didn't Mayor Chen invite me?"
Su Ning sneered lightly:
"Besides, if I didn't come earlier, who knows how long I would have to wait later... There are no restaurants around the city hall."
Chen Huaiqian merely smiled bitterly.
He wanted to explain, but Huang Yu preemptively snorted coldly. He looked Su Ning up and down, though his words remained polite: "Miss Su, let me be honest with you. For Huaiqian's sake, I can help you train people, but once the framework is set up, I will still leave..."
"Wait."
Su Ning interrupted him.
Then, in an equally or even more brazenly rude manner, she looked Huang Yu up and down from head to toe. Shaking her head, she said meaningfully: "Nothing more than this."
Turning to Chen Huaiqian beside her:
"I made this trip simply to tell you that I have already found the right people. I will soon be recruiting soldiers and building my team, so... there is no need for you to flatter yourself, mister whatever-your-name-is."
Even without Su One.
A man who refused to be tamed by her, no matter how capable he might be, was completely worthless in Su Ning's eyes.
