101: Xie Guanglai's apology

“Mr. Xie, please have some tea first.”

Inside the lounge.

Seeing Old Xiao carefully pour the tea, Li Mubai then gestured to Chief Editor Xie Guanglai.

“Thank you!”

Chief Editor Xie Guanglai had a fawning expression.

Then, he pulled out two tissues from the box on the table and wiped the sweat from his forehead and neck.

After throwing the sweat-soaked tissues into the trash can, he carefully picked up the teacup.

The tea was not freshly brewed, nor was it some Oolong Dahongpao.

It was simply tea brewed with the most basic patchouli, with a refreshing taste, specifically used to relieve summer heat.

Compared to expensive tea leaves, Li Mubai preferred this.

Although the factory building was not exposed to direct sunlight, the indoor temperature was still quite high.

Even the workers in the factory operated on a one-hour rotation system; this was to protect the workers from injury, and also to protect the Steel Factory.

If an accident occurred,

the Steel Factory would have to shut down for rectification.

Chief Editor Xie Guanglai picked up the teacup, took a sip, and finding it not hot, immediately drank it all.

He had been standing outside earlier, sweating a lot, and was already parched. Now he didn't care about tea-drinking etiquette, only wanting to drink water immediately to quench his thirst.

After one cup of water went down,

the feeling of thirst was immediately relieved.

Chief Editor Xie Guanglai swirled his tongue in his mouth, finding the taste of the tea quite good.

His originally slightly irritable heart also settled down at this moment.

“Good tea!”

Chief Editor Xie Guanglai narrowed his eyes, immediately praising it.

Li Mubai just smiled faintly and asked, “Mr. Xie, what brings you here today?”

He didn't pick up on the other party's words, but went straight to the point.

He understood.

It wasn't that the tea was truly good, but rather that the other party was too thirsty.

It was like a person who hadn't eaten for three days; even a bowl of plain noodles without salt would still be devoured with praise.

Discussing this topic was meaningless.

He had limited time and was busy developing an automated production line.

He didn't have much time to waste with the other party.

If Chief Editor Xie Guanglai were not the editor-in-chief of Huaxia News Agency, which was beneficial to the Steel Factory,

he would never have spent time entertaining him.

Wouldn't it be better to assemble two more parts in that time?

“Mr. Li, actually, the main reason I came today is to apologize.”

Chief Editor Xie Guanglai's expression became serious, and he spoke in a earnest tone.

“Apologize? What wrong has your Huaxia News Agency done? It's just that the admission fee was a bit expensive, that's not your fault, it's that I'm too poor to even afford your admission fee.”

Li Mubai gently swirled the teacup in his left hand, his gaze flickering.

It seemed

he didn't care about this matter at all.

Seeing this, Chief Editor Xie Guanglai, however, dared not think so, and immediately showed a sincere apology on his face:

“Mr. Li, this matter was an error in our company's work.”

“China News Agency has never had such a high admission fee; even for a weekly, it only costs three hundred thousand.”

“It was our lax management of employees that led to this unpleasant incident.”

“I hereby offer you my sincere apology!”

Saying that,

Chief Editor Xie Guanglai directly stood up from the sofa and bowed to Li Mubai, remaining bent for a long time.

“Alright. There's no need for this. I haven't taken this matter to heart.”

Li Mubai interrupted the other party.

Indeed, this was true.

He truly hadn't taken this matter too seriously.

The National Daily's weekly had brought the Steel Factory unparalleled fame, and even secured countless large orders for the Steel Factory.

He was too busy being happy; how could he have the time to think about Huaxia News Agency?

As for the following few days,

he had focused even more on developing the automated production line, and had even less time to think about Huaxia News Agency.

It could be said that,

except for the very beginning, when he called Huaxia News Agency and was disgusted by that female customer service representative,

since hanging up the phone,

the three words 'Huaxia News Agency' had not appeared in his mind.

If Chief Editor Xie Guanglai hadn't sought him out today, he would have almost forgotten about that matter.

“Mr. Li, the employee involved has already been dismissed from our company. At the same time, I have also notified all major news agencies that this woman will not be able to find any news-related work in Yanbei City again!”

Chief Editor Xie Guanglai stood up straight, spoke these words with a solemn expression, then suddenly softened his tone and looked at Li Mubai, asking:

“Mr. Li, are you satisfied with this matter?”

Li Mubai nodded gently: “Satisfied.”

Actually,

he had long since put the customer service representative's actions out of his mind.

Huaxia News Agency's refusal to accept his news had already paid the price it deserved.

A few days ago,

a reporter from the National Daily called, saying that the sales volume of the weekly had directly exceeded one hundred million!

The result of this was that

the National Daily's position among news agencies directly rose from second to first.

Seeing Li Mubai nod,

Chief Editor Xie Guanglai suddenly took two steps forward, approaching Li Mubai.

What is this person going to do... Under Li Mubai's surprised gaze, Chief Editor Xie Guanglai pulled out a bank card from his pants pocket and placed it on the coffee table in front of him.

“What are you doing?”

Li Mubai frowned.

The latter, however, had a sincere expression: “Mr. Li, this is Huaxia News Agency's apology. There is one million in the card, and the password is six eights. Please accept it!”

“We are neither relatives nor friends, and there are no conflicts of interest between us. Please take this card back.”

Taking favors makes one beholden, eating favors makes one soft-spoken.

Li Mubai understood this principle.

There would be no free lunch in the world.

Chief Editor Xie Guanglai doing this naturally had an ulterior motive.

If he accepted this card now, it would be difficult to directly refuse the other party's request later.

Since that was the case, how could he accept it?

“Mr. Li, if you don't accept it, it means you haven't forgiven Huaxia News Agency, and my heart will not be at ease! Please accept it!”

Chief Editor Xie Guanglai pleaded bitterly.

“Your posture only makes me feel that you have another motive. Just tell me directly, what do you want to do?”

Li Mubai ignored his plea and merely analyzed calmly.

As soon as he said this,

Chief Editor Xie Guanglai indeed stopped his pleading expression, then smiled apologetically: “Mr. Li, you truly have discerning eyes and a meticulous mind.”

Li Mubai frowned: “Stop wasting time, get straight to the point.”

“Okay.”

Chief Editor Xie Guanglai responded, then said with a serious expression:

“Actually, the purpose of my visit today, Mr. Li, is not only to apologize to you, but also to ask you to give Huaxia News Agency an exclusive interview opportunity!”

Hearing this,

Li Mubai firmly shook his head.

“I promised the National Daily that I would not disclose information about the Numerical Control Machine Tool for one month.”

“Mr. Li, we don't necessarily need to know about the machine tool; any news about you can be a hot topic.”

Hearing this,

Li Mubai understood that the other party wanted to capitalize on the lingering popularity brought by the Numerical Control Machine Tool!

This was indeed the mark of an experienced news person.

However,

he didn't want to reveal too much personal information.

So he shook his head again, politely declining Chief Editor Xie Guanglai's proposal.

Fortunately, he hadn't accepted the other party's favor, otherwise, under the other party's persistent persuasion, he might have had to agree.

.....