Chapter 186: Initial Meeting
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
A night passed in silence.
“You know, what if the boss is still asleep, and I wake him up? Will he get angry?” Lin Wu, who was standing at Zhou Chao’s door, glanced at Wang Lan and Li Wei beside him.
“Well, probably not,” Li Wei replied with a hint of a smile.
Hearing Li Wei’s words, Lin Wu felt that if he knocked on the door, Zhou Chao might give him a stern look.
“What are you mumbling about outside the door?” Zhou Chao stood behind them, holding breakfast in his hand.
“Uh, when did you get up, boss?” The group looked at Zhou Chao incredulously. They were all puzzled because the boss usually stayed in bed until around 10 AM.
“Well, there’s something important to do today. Why? Are you all surprised that 1 woke up early?” When they heard this, Lin Wu and the others shook their heads in disbelief.
When Zhou Chao checked the time and saw that it was already 9:10 AM, he spoke again, “Alright, it’s about time. Let me grab a bag, and then we can head out.”
Zhou Chao went back to his room to retrieve a bag, and then the group left the hotel. Li Wei and Wang Lan took one car and led the way, while Lin Wu drove another car behind them, heading towards the Fuxing Municipal Compound.
In less than 20 minutes, both Rolls-Royces arrived at the Municipal Compound. Many people in the compound leaned out of their windows to see the arrival.
“Li Wei, lead the way up front,” Zhou Chao said, and Li Wei went ahead. The group followed Li Wei and made their way to the third floor.
“Boss, I’ll go to the secretary’s office and inquire.” Upon hearing this, Zhou Chao nodded, and Li Wei turned to head towards the secretary’s office.
However, not long after, Li Wei returned with a displeased expression.
“What’s the situation?” Zhou Chao could tell that something was amiss from Li Wei’s expression.
“Boss, I went to the assistant’s office to ask, and they said that the leaders are currently unavailable, and we’ll have to wait,” Li Wei explained. Zhou Chao furrowed his brow upon hearing this.
“What did you tell them yesterday?”
“We made the appointment yesterday in the name of the steel mill. The assistant’s office assured me that they would inform the leaders and set up the meeting. It was the same person who told me about the scheduled meeting time,” Li Wei quickly recounted the events. Zhou Chao didn’t dwell on it too much, considering that Li Wei had experience in this area and was familiar with the process.
“Alright, let’s wait a bit longer,” Zhou Chao glanced at the time, and there were still 20 minutes left until 10 o’clock.
So, they all sat quietly in their chairs, waiting patiently.
The 20 minutes passed quickly, and Zhou Chao signaled to Li Wei with his eyes. Li Wei promptly stood up and went back to the assistant’s office.
However, Li Wei returned quickly, shaking his head slightly. Zhou Chao’s expression turned sour upon seeing this.
“Do you know where the secretary’s office is?” Zhou Chao turned his gaze towards Li Wei, who nodded in response.
“Take me there. You two stay here for now,” Zhou Chao said as he got up. Li Wei led Zhou Chao towards the secretary’s office.
“Boss, it’s right here.” Zhou Chao looked at the nameplate and nodded, then knocked on the door of the office.
“Please come in,” a middle-aged man’s voice came from inside.
Zhou Chao pushed the door open and walked in.
“Who are you?”
“Hello, Secretary. I’m here to receive the steel mill. We waited outside for half an hour, and we were told you were busy, so we had no choice but to come and knock on your door.” The middle-aged man sitting in the chair frowned.
“You’re here to receive the steel mill?” Zhou Chao didn’t waste any time and directly handed over the relevant documents from his bag.
The office soon filled with the sound of flipping through documents. After about two minutes, the middle-aged man confirmed that the documents were genuine.
“Hello, I am Bai Bo, the Secretary of the Fuxing Municipal Committee.”
“I’m Zhou Chao, Chairman of Dragonfly Group.” They shook hands firmly.
“Mr. Zhou, you mentioned that you had made an appointment before, but 1 haven’t received any communication from below.”
“We came yesterday afternoon and had arranged for a meeting at 10 a.m. today. The assistant’s office kept saying you were busy, so we had no choice but to personally knock on your office door.” Upon hearing Zhou Chao’s words, Bai Bo didn’t have any doubts. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel that someone lower in rank had made him look bad.
“Mr. Zhou, rest assured, 1 will give you an explanation,” Zhou Chao nodded in response.
“Well, there were some things 1 wanted to discuss with Secretary Bai, but 1 guess 1’11 save it for later. Let’s go and take a look at the steel mill for now.” When Bai Bo heard Zhou Chao’s words, he felt a slight unease. If he didn’t provide Zhou Chao with a satisfactory explanation, there might not be another chance to meet in the future.
Bai Bo knew that Zhou Chao, who was taking over the steel mill, must have a significant background. So, both professionally and personally, he had to be thorough in his work, as neglecting his duties would be unacceptable.
“Alright, I’ll arrange it right away!”
“No problem, Secretary Bai. We have cars. Do you need to bring anyone else? Let’s head there directly!” Seeing how efficiently Zhou Chao was handling things, Bai Bo nodded in agreement.
He then picked up the phone on his desk and made a call to a high-ranking official. He informed them of the situation and also instructed his assistant to come to his office.
A young man in his early thirties soon entered the room.
“Secretary Bai, you called for me?”
“Xiao Yang, 1 need you to investigate something. Find out the truth, no matter who is involved,” Bai Bo briefly explained the situation and asked him to conduct the investigation.
“Mr. Zhou, let’s go.” Zhou Chao walked ahead, and Bai Bo followed. Li Wei and the other two came out of the office.
Meanwhile, in the assistant’s office, a middle-aged man’s face turned pale.
Lin Wu and Wang Lan, who had been sitting in chairs, stood up when they saw Zhou Chao coming out.
As Zhou Chao and Bai Bo walked and chatted, Zhou Chao learned more about Fuxing’s current plans and development. He continued to integrate this information into his own blueprint for the future.
The group exited the office building, and Bai Bo immediately noticed the two Rolls-Royces waiting for them, both of them brand new. From this, Bai Bo could sense something out of the ordinary.
“Secretary Bai, let’s ride together and have a good chat.” Lin Wu quickly opened the rear door of the Phantom, and Zhou Chao and Bai Bo got in.
“I didn’t expect Mr. Zhou to achieve such success at such a young age.”
“It’s all about seizing opportunities and benefiting from favorable government policies. Originally, 1 had already started production at the steel mill in Peng City. But during the Chinese New Year, I made a trip to Jingdu, and they asked me to move here. It’s been quite a hassle!”
Both men understood each other’s intentions, which were to learn more about each other’s backgrounds. Zhou Chao only provided some vague information, as they were both astute individuals who knew when to keep certain details undisclosed.
The group soon arrived on the outskirts of the city. They parked the cars by a small hill and got out. Below them lay the factory area, which was the Fuxing Steel Mill that Zhou Chao was about to take over.
“This scale is indeed impressive. If it operates at full capacity, it may require thousands of workers,” Zhou Chao remarked as he looked at the factory buildings below.
“Yes, the current Fuxing urgently needs businesses to set up shop, and we hope that Mr. Zhou can start production as soon as possible.”
“Don’t worry, Secretary Bai. Trust me and our group. That day will come soon,” Zhou Chao reassured. Afterward, Bai Bo led Zhou Chao and the others to take another look around. As the time was getting late, Zhou Chao suggested they head back for dinner and continue their conversation later.
The group then drove back to the city center..