Chapter 232: Platinum Princess (Part 5)

Next door.

Song Yaxian paced back and forth in her room, contemplating for over an hour.

She felt that she couldn't just let this bet be forgotten, all vague and unclear like this.

Song Yaxian had been waiting for Zheng Qian to knock on her door, but it never came.

"Forget it, I'm not waiting anymore! I have to go find him and clear this up!"

Song Yaxian reasoned that if this matter wasn't cleared up, she wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully tonight.

With this in mind, Song Yaxian walked out, ready to knock on Zheng Qian's door.

Her room was right next to Zheng Qian's; just turn left after stepping out and she would be there.

Song Yaxian happened to bump straight into Yao Manman, who was just about to leave.

Both of them nearly fell to the ground.

"Sorry, I'm sorry."

"It was my fault."

Both chose to apologize immediately.

Looking closer.

"Song Yaxian?"

"Yao Manman?"

Song Yaxian and Yao Manman had crossed paths at the company once before.

The day she officially started work was the exact same day Yao Manman was packing up her things to leave, which was why Song Yaxian had such a deep impression of her.

How could Yao Manman be here?

Besides bringing her down to Jiangnan, did Zheng Qian also bring Yao Manman?

Looking at the key card in Yao Manman's hand, it seemed like she was staying on the floor below?

This... this, this, this...

Song Yaxian was speechless; she didn't know what to say about Zheng Qian.

What a playboy!

Yao Manman didn't know who Zheng Qian had brought to Jiangnan, but the sounds she had heard were more or less... a bit like Song Yaxian.

But she hadn't expected to bump into her at the corner; it certainly couldn't be Song Yaxian then.

The two looked at each other, feeling incredibly awkward.

"Are you here to see President Zheng?" Song Yaxian asked proactively.

"Emmm, yes, but President Zheng said he was busy, so I think it's better not to disturb him for now." Yao Manman didn't mention what Zheng Qian was busy with.

Hearing this, Song Yaxian assumed Zheng Qian was busy with work, so she nodded and didn't go any further; she decided she would find another gap in his schedule to talk to him about the cruise ship.

"You... you're staying here?" Yao Manman, not knowing what she was thinking, blurted out the question unexpectedly.

"Uh... yes, I'm staying right next door."

"You're staying here too?"

After answering, Song Yaxian asked in return.

Both parties were curious about why the other was here.

"Yeah, I'm staying on the floor below."

Neither asked if Zheng Qian had booked the rooms, but they both had a rough idea.

Song Yaxian could be certain that Zheng Qian had already slept with Yao Manman.

And Yao Manman didn't know if Zheng Qian had slept with Song Yaxian yet; probably... not yet, right?

...

5:30 PM.

A young woman dressed in a black camisole dress, wearing simple makeup, walked with a purposeful stride toward Zheng Qian's suite.

Knock, knock, knock.

Jiang Yanran knocked on the door; she had only found out where Zheng Qian was staying after having Secretary Du Bingbing inquire about it.

A few minutes later, the door opened.

But it wasn't Zheng Qian who opened the door, but a woman.

Jiang Yanran actually recognized this woman.

Yao Qiuqiu!

Wasn't she that female captain from last time?

Jiang Yanran had even introduced her to a job on a friend's cruise ship.

Why would she appear in Zheng Qian's room?

"President... President Zheng, someone is here to see you."

"Let her in."

Jiang Yanran glanced at Yao Qiuqiu and strode into the presidential suite.

By this time, Zheng Qian and Yao Qiuqiu were already fully dressed, so Jiang Yanran didn't walk in on them in the act.

However... if Jiang Yanran were to walk into the bedroom, she would see a complete mess, as Zheng Qian hadn't had time to clean up the battlefield yet.

"What are you here for?" Zheng Qian, lying on the sofa and smoking a post-coital cigarette, glanced at Jiang Yanran.

Jiang Yanran had sent Zheng Qian seven or eight messages on her phone without receiving a single reply; otherwise, she wouldn't have bothered coming to this "hookup room" of Zheng Qian's that cost six figures a night.

Ask yourself, what man in this world could make her send seven or eight messages in a row?

Jiang Yanran felt that she had already lowered her posture significantly, yet she hadn't expected Zheng Qian to still be so indifferent to her.

"I came to tell you that there is a mole by your side, did you know that?"

Jiang Yanran tossed her bag onto the sofa and sat down right across from Zheng Qian very casually.

A mole?

Obviously.

Zheng Qian knew that, of course.

He had even gone along with the ruse, using a counter-espionage tactic.

Otherwise, how could he have won the bid for the platinum princess with a price difference of just one yuan?

"Whether there's a mole or not, I don't think that's something Miss Jiang needs to worry about, right?"

"Zheng Qian!"

Jiang Yanran glared at Zheng Qian.

"Don't be ungrateful."

She had come to visit with good intentions to warn Zheng Qian that there was a mole by his side, only to be treated with such an attitude?

Yao Qiuqiu was stunned watching from the side.

Zheng Qian's attitude toward Jiang Yanran had changed way too fast!

The last time they met, when Jiang Yanran came to poach his staff, Zheng Qian hadn't even dared to make a sound.

Now he was actually... leaving Jiang Yanran hanging?

If Yao Qiuqiu hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she simply wouldn't have believed it.

"Do you have anything else?"

"If not... Qiuqiu, see Miss Jiang out."

"We still have things to attend to."

Yao Qiuqiu: ???

Again?

Her legs were already so weak they were barely functional!

Was Zheng Qian not tired at all?

She had even had tears streaming down earlier.

Zheng Qian wasn't gentle at all, wuwuwuwu!

Jiang Yanran bit her lip with her pearly white teeth, glaring at Zheng Qian with a look of indignation.

If she wasn't mistaken, Yao Qiuqiu and Zheng Qian should have already...

She hadn't expected that Yao Qiuqiu would actually apologize to Zheng Qian like this, and even sacrifice herself, just for a long-term job for her and her sisters.

Forget it.

She wouldn't lower herself to Zheng Qian's level.

She came to see Zheng Qian for business; she wouldn't care about his private life.

"I came here for business."

"Oh? What business?"

"I want to talk to you about the platinum princess."

"I know your Qianhe Group is very large now, but you don't have prior experience in operating cruise ships, so I want to discuss a partnership with you."

"As long as we develop it together, we will definitely make it a success."

Jiang Yanran introduced the Jiang family's network of connections and influence to Zheng Qian.

Hearing this, Zheng Qian just shook his head silently and casually stubbed out his cigarette.

"I don't have the final say on this!"

"Didn't I say it on stage before? That cruise ship was something I bought as a gift for someone else; if you want to negotiate, go talk to her, I can't make the decision."

The expression on Jiang Yanran's face became increasingly ugly.

If he didn't want to talk, he didn't have to.

To come up with an excuse like this was just too clumsy, right?

Everyone knew he was just trying to brush it off by saying he gave it to a woman because he didn't want to reveal his future plans.

There were only three people in the room now.

Zheng Qian was still using this excuse?

Jiang Yanran didn't believe a single word of it.

"If you don't believe me, you can check with the auction house; whose name I signed on those documents, it truly doesn't belong to Qianhe Group, it belongs to her personally."

Zheng Qian might be telling the truth, that the platinum princess might not really belong to Qianhe Group, but Jiang Yanran interpreted this as a tax avoidance method and didn't know what kind of tricks Zheng Qian was up to.

Even if it wasn't under Qianhe Group, Zheng Qian would still have the power to make decisions, right?

Otherwise, why would Yao Qiuqiu have come to Zheng Qian?

"Zheng Qian, I'll be honest with you: with your current strength, even though you used a large portion of your funds to buy the platinum princess, you don't have enough capital for subsequent operations and maintenance."

"I know much more about cruise ships than you do!"

Jiang Yanran directly ignored Zheng Qian's previous wording.

In her eyes, Zheng Qian had mobilized over 70% of Qianhe Group's liquid capital to buy the platinum princess.

The subsequent operations, maintenance, and upkeep—the meager income of Qianhe Group simply couldn't handle it!

"You don't have the strength to do it; in the end, you'll only lose money. It would be better for our two companies to work together."

"I can be blunt: Asia Shipping can put up 500 million and be responsible for all subsequent matters; you just need to be a hands-off manager. A 60-40 split, I take 60% and you take 40%, how about that?"

?

A 60-40 split?

Asia Shipping takes 60%?

This is taking him for a fool.

"If you feel that's too much, we can do 50-50."

Seeing Zheng Qian's expression change, Jiang Yanran corrected herself.

This was her bottom line.

Operating a cruise ship was more complicated than imagined; she couldn't be the one paying and doing all the work without even getting paid for her trouble, right?

"Miss Jiang, are you capable of doing a losing business deal?"

"I've already said, I am not the owner of the platinum princess, and I don't have decision-making power over it."

"If you want to discuss a partnership, go next door and talk to her."

"Qiuqiu, show our guest out."

"You!"

Jiang Yanran was so angry her cheeks flushed slightly, and she couldn't say a word.

"Fine, Zheng Qian, you win!"

"We'll see about this!"

Jiang Yanran stomped angrily in her small leather shoes and left the presidential suite.

Glancing at the time, it was almost dinner time.

"Let's go, I'm taking you to a gathering; someone is treating us to dinner."

"My legs are a bit weak... I can't really walk, Qian..."

Zheng Qian: ...

He admitted that tossing Yao Qiuqiu around from noon until afternoon was a bit lacking in tenderness.

But Zheng Qian also had to defend himself.

It was mainly because Yao Qiuqiu's body was just too soft and too tender.

Both of them were responsible!

It couldn't all be blamed on him alone!