"Su's Shipping?"
The Chinese spoken sounded normal enough, but there was a subtle, awkward accent in the details. The next second, accompanied by the crash of porcelain shattering on the floor, a voice roared—
"Baka, what is the meaning of this?"
Fujiwara was furious, completely losing the elegant demeanor of a millennium-old noble family that he was usually praised for.
The others' faces didn't look too good either.
"What else could it be? She doesn't take us major clients seriously, and she even wants to provoke us."
"How dare she!"
"Exactly. Taikoo Shipping is a big company, sure, but it's not like they have no competitors. Back then, even Fernand didn't dare to slight or neglect us. But her? She just took over and immediately caused several huge scenes, turning the whole place upside down. That would be one thing, but now she's recklessly offending us major clients. She's completely insane."
"Isn't she just a lunatic? She thinks that just because she has money, she can do whatever she wants. She probably thinks she's God."
It was undisguised sarcasm.
For one thing, no matter how rich and powerful Su Ning was, she was far away right now—could she really reach them here?
For another, they were all prominent figures in their own right. They couldn't lose their momentum. Plus, combined, they accounted for a very large portion of Taikoo Shipping's business.
No matter how you looked at it.
They should be the ones being begged!
Hearing this, Fujiwara's expression softened a little. However, he then remembered how he had confidently promised Kesley that he would be fine, even going so far as to offer him a girl with a noble surname in marriage just to tie him down more firmly.
The matter was already in the bag.
And then...
Su Ning. It was actually Su Ning again! This damn arrogant woman had ruined the Great Japanese Empire's plans several times already!
The flames of anger burned fiercely.
He gritted his teeth, his gaze exceptionally grim. This expression fell into the eyes of Huo Xiang, who sat to his right and hadn't spoken a word. Guessing the reason, Huo Xiang felt a twinge of pity in his heart.
This "Su Ning" was about to run into bad luck.
So what if she was wealthy, arrogant, and considered herself unmatched? It was all just an illusion.
Once Japan fully bared its fangs, she would be nothing but prey in its jaws... just like he had been in his original fate.
Thinking of the future that the "divine artifact" had shown him.
His heartbeat suddenly tightened.
Huo Xiang closed his eyes and quickly opened them again. There was no need to fear. Knowing who the victor would be, he had approached Japan in advance, showing his goodwill to become one of their own.
This "future" would definitely be changed.
Furthermore, he could use the future ruler of Asia to attain an even higher status!
As for the first step?
Wasn't there a perfect "stepping stone" right here?
"Mr. Fujiwara."
Seizing a lull in the conversation, Huo Xiang suddenly spoke up. As expected, he drew the attention of the man at the head of the table. To Fujiwara, Huo Xiang's status was quite different—at least, he was much more important than the others in the room.
What satisfied him was...
...that this renowned figure's expression and gaze both radiated respect toward him.
"What is it, Huo-kun?"
"Su Ning is so ungrateful. We were considerate of our many years of business relations and worried that Taikoo Shipping's morale would waver and cause trouble, but she doesn't appreciate it at all. It would be one thing to reject our proposal, but she actually insulted us by changing the name and raising the prices."
After just a few sentences.
Huo Xiang noted with satisfaction that the slightly subsided anger of the people in the room flared up once again.
Naturally, this included Fujiwara.
"In that case, we don't need to give her any face either. Taikoo Shipping isn't the only shipping company in the world. Once she loses us, she'll know what true heartache is."
These words made a lot of sense.
But everyone looked at each other in dismay, until finally one person sighed softly:
"But the other shipping companies have their own regular clients. I'm afraid they won't be able to take on all of our business at once."
What did they mean, won't be able to take it on?
Huo Xiang sneered inwardly. Nothing is closer than money. As long as you throw enough money at them, of course someone will take it. To put it bluntly, they were just reluctant to spend the cash.
Outwardly, however, he wore a smile:
"Don't worry about that, everyone. As soon as I received the news, I immediately contacted other shipping companies. Fortunately, they were willing to give me some face and have agreed to take on everyone's business."
He then turned to Fujiwara with an apologetic tone:
"However, there is a slight drawback. The prices have gone up a bit compared to before."
They had indeed gone up, but not by much.
At least, it was lower than the price increase Su Ning had demanded.
Everyone was overjoyed, talking over one another to praise Huo Xiang for being young and promising, loyal, and capable. He remained poised and calm, until Fujiwara at the head of the table also began to praise him with a smile.
Then, he expressed his thanks very solemnly.
The others: ...
???
The atmosphere became a bit subtle for a moment, but Huo Xiang didn't care at all. Seeing the undisguised delight in Fujiwara's eyes after his initial surprise only reinforced his belief.
Those who achieve great things do not bother with trifles.
Fujiwara's status in Japan was not low; his importance was very high.
As for the others.
He didn't take them seriously at all. In fact, he needed the contrast to make himself stand out. Without them, Fujiwara definitely wouldn't be this pleased.
Sure enough, Fujiwara's attitude toward him became much closer after that, and that was enough.
The atmosphere quickly returned to normal.
"Hmph, Su Ning probably never expected that we would abandon Taikoo Shipping. I'd really love to see the look on her face when she gets the news."
"What kind of expression could it be? She'll be filled with endless regret."
Everyone laughed heartily.
"I heard she spent a lot of money buying new ships. It's a pity she has ships but no business. They'll just sit there doing nothing, depreciating day by day."
"It's about time she learned how business is done. Money can't solve everything."
"You can't say that. It's a great virtue to correct one's mistakes. If she comes to her senses, we don't need to hold it against a young person. Of course, a lesson still needs to be taught—she has to lower the prices by at least ten percent."
"Makes sense..."
This group of prominent individuals beamed with joy, conversing happily.
If outsiders saw this, they certainly wouldn't believe it.
It couldn't be helped.
They were all human, and humans have emotions.
Even though they verbally dismissed Su Ning, they knew in their hearts that their combined wealth might not even match hers. Now that they could make her suffer a heavy loss, their inner pride and joy were obvious.
Once they actually saw Su Ning...
...they would put on a different face.
Huo Xiang knew this perfectly well and was too disdainful to join in. Even when someone tried to rope him into the conversation, he reacted plainly.
This caused some to secretly curl their lips in annoyance.
However, no one said much. After all, he was indeed the great contributor.
Who knew how he had managed it?
…………
This question.
Lin Sen also really wanted to know. In fact, he found it even more unbelievable, to the point where even his tone while asking for punishment carried a hint of it.
"Wait."
Su Ning raised her hand. "Are you saying that this Huo Xiang, in a very short period of time, coincidentally found the heads of various companies who were unaware of the merger news, and after meeting with them, convinced them to accept conditions that weren't even favorable?"
Lin Sen: ...
He wanted to say something, but had nothing to say.
He could only nod with difficulty.
The first part could barely be explained by good luck. After all, he was the "male lead," so it was somewhat normal. But the latter part wasn't right. The business world is like a battlefield; who would be kind enough to make less money or even take a loss—
Rejecting old clients would naturally result in losses.
Furthermore.
It wasn't just one person doing this, it was many!
Su Ning sneered. Even for a "male lead," this was just too ridiculous.
Talk about searching high and low... wait, no, she hadn't really searched at all. Either way, it had practically fallen right into her lap. It seemed she had finally found her "target."
"Host, there is something wrong with him!" the system stated solemnly.
