Chapter 131: The Money Arrives

However, Xiao Xinhao didn't plan on letting Miao Mengyan get her way so easily. Dealing with a woman like her required keeping her dangling.

The reason he had Du San report to him in front of everyone today, besides giving Du San a boost, was to send a clear message to Miao Mengyan.

"I have this power in my hands. If you want it, then show your sincerity with some actual action."

Mutual consent would lead to a natural outcome.

That night, Xiao Xinhao naturally took Miao Mengyan home and treated her to breakfast the next morning.

Around noon the next day, Zheng Qian took Xia Xixi to meet the director of the Marine Administration.

The two parties had agreed to meet at a restaurant.

Zheng Qian and Xia Xixi arrived early.

But after waiting for a full half hour, there was still no sign of the director.

"Does this director have such a big ego? Making me wait?" Zheng Qian said, getting a bit impatient and dissatisfied.

"Just bear with it. We're the ones asking for a favor right now. Besides, it's the lunchtime rush hour, so maybe they're stuck in traffic," Xia Xixi explained.

Another twenty minutes passed, and it was almost one o'clock.

Just as Zheng Qian was losing his patience, a young and beautiful girl sat down across from him.

He looked up.

Holy crap!

"Why is it you?"

Zheng Qian and the girl blurted out almost at the same time.

"You're the chairman of Zhengxin Shipyard?"

"You're the director of the Marine Administration?"

For a moment, both of them were completely dumbfounded, unable to wrap their heads around it.

He didn't know what Chen Weiqiang had told them to reveal his identity like this.

This girl was Huo Muyan, the one he had clashed with in the Maldives!

She was actually the director of the Marine Administration?

No way!

Such a young director?

As a public servant, how could she afford a beachfront villa in the Maldives?

Wait, that wasn't right either. When they were in the Maldives, Zheng Qian had heard Manager Qiu mention that Huo Muyan was a fashion designer!

How did she suddenly become the director now?

"I'm not the director. The director is my father. Something came up at the last minute, so he had me come over to hand a document to you."

Huo Muyan looked at Zheng Qian with a face full of resentment; she was still brooding over what had happened in the Maldives.

Her father had left his briefcase in her car, so he had asked her to deliver it.

Before she left, she was also tasked with delivering another document on the way, and her father even asked her to apologize to Zheng Qian on his behalf.

If she had known it was Zheng Qian, she wouldn't have come even if it killed her!

Xia Xixi, who was standing to the side, naturally didn't know Huo Muyan. She sighed inwardly, wondering why women seemed to know Zheng Qian wherever he went.

Zheng Qian opened the document and saw that the land reclamation application hadn't been approved at all. The document stated that neither Zhengxin Shipyard nor the pier of Shuangluo Shipping had the necessary qualifications, so the application was rejected.

This didn't seem to match what Chen Weiqiang had said!

Having delivered the document, Huo Muyan picked up her bag to leave.

Zheng Qian quickly stopped her.

"Hey, hey, Miss Huo, don't leave just yet. You probably haven't eaten, right? The food at this restaurant is pretty good. Stay and have a meal before you go."

"Look, we've been waiting for your father and haven't ordered any food yet."

Huo Muyan thought about it and realized he had a point. Although she had a grudge against Zheng Qian, if she just walked away like this, wouldn't it make her seem ill-mannered and reflect poorly on her father's upbringing?

She actually had no interest in eating with Zheng Qian, but if she didn't stay, she would be giving people ammunition to use against them, and her father's reputation would be affected.

With extreme reluctance, Huo Muyan sat back down.

Xia Xixi kept glancing back and forth between Huo Muyan and Zheng Qian. She wished she could just stand up and tell Huo Muyan to leave quickly before the food started coming out.

Zheng Qian was no good guy.

If you had a meal with him, your body would probably end up defiled by him.

Zheng Qian, on the other hand, was a bit baffled. Why was Xia Xixi looking at him so strangely?

It was just a meal with Huo Muyan. Was that kind of look really necessary?

There was no need for that, right?

Zheng Qian ordered a lamb chop. Halfway through the meal, an idea popped into his head, and he took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Huo Muyan.

Currently, Huo Muyan's Favorability toward him was only 5 points, which was at the level of a mere passerby.

She had previously had a dispute with Zheng Qian in the Maldives. With such low Favorability, if she were to go to Director Huo and exaggerate things to speak ill of him, this land reclamation permit would be completely ruined.

Zheng Qian planned to win Huo Muyan over. It wasn't exactly bribery, but at least it would keep her from saying bad things to Director Huo.

"Miss Huo, I heard you're a designer, is that right?"

Xia Xixi sighed in her heart.

Zheng Qian was full of wicked ideas—he could even come up with tricks like setting off fireworks. She wondered what kind of scheme he would use this time to win over Huo Muyan.

"How did you know I'm a designer?" A look of surprise appeared on Huo Muyan's face.

"You don't need to worry about that. I have a job here. I wonder if Miss Huo is free?"

Zheng Qian had actually heard from Manager Qiu at the Maldives real estate agency that Huo Muyan was a designer with her own design studio.

Being able to go all the way to the Maldives to buy a beachfront villa meant she obviously made quite a bit of money.

"What kind of job?" Huo Muyan suddenly became interested.

It was currently the off-season. Businesses and studios of all sizes had already finished their summer design collections at the beginning of the year and were now starting to prepare for their autumn and winter designs.

As the chairman of Zhengxin Shipyard, Zheng Qian might not run a massive enterprise, but his network of connections should still be quite extensive.

If there was money to be made and she didn't take it, wouldn't she be a fool?

She would first hear what he had to say and see what kind of job it was.

"Well, in a week, our company will have twenty-five cargo ships. I'd like to hire you to design some liveries for them—the kind that look imposing," Zheng Qian said in all seriousness, as if he were genuinely discussing a business collaboration with Huo Muyan.

Huo Muyan: ???

"You've misunderstood. I'm a fashion designer, the kind featured in Harper's Bazaar. It's not what you think."

Hearing this, Xia Xixi almost couldn't hold back her laughter.

This time, Zheng Qian had really missed the mark. What kind of companies were featured in Harper's Bazaar? They were all about the absolute cutting edge of fashion trends.

If Huo Muyan was a designer of that caliber, how could you ask her to design ship liveries for their company?

It was simply unthinkable!

Besides, the company only had cargo ships, not cruise ships. Why on earth would they need custom liveries?!

Zheng Qian was also a bit surprised; he really hadn't known that Huo Muyan was a fashion designer.

Asking a fashion designer to design liveries for cargo ships did seem a bit outside her area of expertise.

But on second thought, so what?

As long as the money was right, would he really have to worry about Huo Muyan turning down the business?

Zheng Qian didn't care about what Huo Muyan actually designed; what he cared about was her Favorability toward him, just so she wouldn't stir up trouble behind his back.

"Miss Huo, if you're interested, I'm willing to pay one million."

One million?

Huo Muyan felt like laughing when she heard that.

Her studio had signed contracts with Burberry and Louis Vuitton. Simply putting out a single trendy item would bring in several million.

If it sold well, there would even be subsequent royalties.

Trying to hire her for just one million was simply a pipe dream.

"Miss Huo, now it's you who has misunderstood. I probably didn't express myself clearly just now."

"The one million I mentioned is the price for just a single cargo ship."

The price for a single cargo ship?

Then for twenty-five cargo ships, wouldn't that be twenty-five million?