Outside the President’s office, the elevator dinged open revealing the Planning Director inside. Despite his efforts to look so unbothered, the creases in his clothes, some of his hair a bit out of place, and sweating despite the low temperature of the room revealed his true feelings.

  Even though Lu Shao said that he’ll call him back to set the place of their meeting, he still wanted to give it a shot and see if he could talk to the President. He went up to the President’s office on the top floor without giving a heads up to any of the secretaries upstairs.

  Just as what Xiu Mei’s assistant said, he saw the other secretary’s space empty. With his arrival, Lu Shao and Xiu Mei’s assistant was startled. Lu Shao pursed his lips when he stood up. Picking up his tablet, he stopped the Planning Director from further entering the room.

  "Mr. Bai, hello. Unfortunately, the conference room on our floor is reserved for use for the next half an hour so we’ll have to use one of the available conference rooms downstairs."

  Then he gestured him towards the direction of the elevator again.

  The Planning Director threw a hesitant look at the President’s door as if he was hoping that the President would suddenly walk out the door so he could talk to him directly. But he didn’t know he was doomed to fail from the very start.

  Lu Shao guided him to the conference room that he and Xiu Mei chose beforehand.

  As soon as they settled on their seats, Lu Shao opened his mouth.

  "You wanted to discuss about the negotiation with the foreign company we’re partnering with for the Green Energy Project?"

  The Planning Director nodded. "They’re demanding a higher budget for the operations. Since the expenses were higher than expected and they need more budget to fulfill the conditions set."

  Lu Shao opened the file about the project. He looked at the breakdown of the budget and how much they are investing in this project. Xiu Mei was the one monitoring this project so he already studied the entire report about this beforehand. But for the sake of acting like he wasn’t completely aware of the necessary details about the project, he read the file on it again in front of the Planning Director.

  After reading it, he continued discussing it with the Planning Director.

  "How much are they demanding to be added?"

  "Around 5 Million RMB."

  Lu Shao froze for a second before composing himself. It’s not that big of an amount for the whole Lu Corporation’s assets, but demanding that much amount to be added to the estimated budget, isn’t the discrepancy way too big?

  Waaaa, if it’s true, then the foreign company must be belittling them right? Do they think that they can easily fool us?

  Then he glanced at the Planning Director……

  Well, maybe some people.

  Oh, he’s drifting from the topic.

  "That’s too much difference from the initial budget they requested. Didn’t they say that the one they gave us was the current price of the materials in the market?"

  The Planning Director discussed how their conversation went with his previous meeting for negotiation.

  "So they’re implying that if we don’t give in to their demand that we add the requested budget, they’re going to break their agreement?" Lu Shao held back the scoff that was threatening to escape from his lips.

  "Yes, and according to our sources, they’ve been interacting with our competitor company for this project. It seems like they want to steal this project from us."

  Lu Shao’s gaze turned cold for a split second.

  "I see."

  Lu Shao acted as if he was contemplating about it. The longer he was silent, the more the Planning Director’s anxiety grew.

  "I heard they are being offered with a higher budget than ours so it’s very important that we inform the President about this." The Planning Director added.

  "How much are they offering to them?"

  "Almost double of what we’re offering to them."

  "I see." Lu Shao put down the tablet and took a deep breath as if he was deciding the greatest decision that the company was making.

  "Then we’ll give up on them." Lu Shao declared.

  The Planning Director’s eyes widened as he looked at the secretary with disbelief.

  "Pardon?"

  Lu Shao looked at him straight in the eye and repeated his words.

  "We’ll give up on them." He repeated without batting an eye.

  The Planning Director turned speechless. Lu Shao ignored his reaction and continued on what he was saying.

  "Please submit a report of the current expenses already spent on the project then I’ll personally discuss this with the President. I will inform you of his response once I’ve thoroughly discussed it with him."

  Lu Shao stood up and acted as if he was already done with the discussion and prepared to leave the room. The Planning Director returned to his senses and stopped him from leaving.

  "Wait, Mr.Lu Shao. We can’t do that."

  Lu Shao paused. He sat down on his seat again and asked the Planning Director to elaborate to him why they can’t cancel the project.

  "T-They’ve already spent about half of the budget that we provided to them. It’s going to be a big loss if we let this go. Besides, the competitor offered just about 95 million RMB, I believe the President would be fine with competing with them if they’re offering that."

  "……"

  Lu Shao gave him a dead stare as soon as he finished his statement. Seeing that, the Planning Director felt a chill down his spine and felt something ominous. He quickly shrugged it off and stood his ground against Lu Shao.

  "Mr.Lu Shao, I believe the President’s secretary can’t carelessly decide this. I need to have a word with the President first then he will decide if we’re going to stop cooperating with them or not." The Planning Director responded using Lu Shao’s position as an advantage.

  Even though the President’s Secretary is a position a bit higher than theirs, he pressed on the fact that the secretaries don’t have the say for the final decision of this project.

  "So are you implying that the President should waste 95 million RMB for a foreign company that can easily be bought with other companies once they offer higher deals than ours?"

  "W-What……?"

  "Mr.Bai, I believe you’re being blinded by the fact that the Lu Corporation does not invest with companies who are that vulnerable."

  "But this is an important project for our entry in the Energy Sector in the country!"

  "Finding a different company would be easier than wasting our time with them."

  "But we already spent so much……!!"

  "Ah, now that you mention it. Do give me a breakdown of the expenses for the project as well. We’ll have to investigate if the foreign company is trying to swindle us in the first place with their initial report. We’ll have someone from the Legal and Finance Department trace all the expenses and see if it was really a legit item purchase."

  "To go that far……"

  Lu Shao hardened his gaze.

  "No, Mr.Bai. We’re not doing it that far. You should be aware of how the President does not tolerate this kind of behavior."

  "But if we just add a few million on the budget, everything woul——"

  "The President will surely not agree with that. You, yourself know that very well."

  "But a lot of people already put the effort in this project! How can we waste that?"

  "Mr.Bai, I believe you already understand where I’m coming from with this decision. Or is it because you’re trying to hide something?"

  "What?"

  "A 95 million RMB invested by our competitor…… I wonder where you got information from, Mr.Bai?"

  "……!"

  "I highly doubt that the foreign company would reveal confidential information to us. After all, if it’s an agreement between them and our competitor, it’s going to be a big problem if they like to share information like that."

  "……"

  "Or is it that you have some connection on that company?"

  "……No."

  "Then do share to us Mr.Bai, which source said that it was 95 million RMB investment and how did you know of it?" Lu Shao casually leaned back on the office chair and coldly gazed at the Planning Director. The atmosphere in the room dropped as the tension inside the room turned heavy.

  Xiu Mei, who was watching from her laptop in the president’s office, was lamenting the fact that she should have brought some popcorn to snack on while enjoying how things are unfolding in the conference room.

  "How is it?" Lu Chen whispered from behind startling her. She spun her head to meet his gaze that was a few inches closer to her.

  "It’s going well. Lu Shao looks so cool right now ah!" She exclaimed as she withdrew her gaze from him. She returned to watching the video again that she missed the frown that suddenly appeared on Lu Chen’s face after she spoke.