Mu Qingxue did not stand up; she merely gave a faint nod. Her voice was as cold and clear as jade beads falling on a plate, devoid of any warmth.
Her gaze lingered on Qin Xiao for only a second, while his followers, Fang Ming and A Biao, were completely ignored.
"CEO Mu is too polite."
Qin Xiao didn't care about her coldness. He sat down opposite her in a dominant posture and casually placed a string of priceless agarwood prayer beads on the table with a soft 'clack'.
"On such a hot day, I won't beat around the bush."
Qin Xiao leaned forward slightly, interlacing his fingers on the table as he looked at Mu Qingxue with an overwhelming sense of pressure:
"I want a 30% stake in Yunlan International for 300 million. Additionally, I want the exclusive license for the formula of your newly developed 'ice skin dew'."
Standing behind Qin Xiao, Fang Ming couldn't help but twitch his mouth when he heard this.
300 million for 30%? And the core formula too? Was this even a business negotiation? This was practically daylight robbery!
Yunlan International was in its growth phase with a valuation in the billions; 300 million wasn't even enough for a fraction of it.
Sure enough, a layer of frost appeared on Mu Qingxue's cold and elegant face, and the anger in her eyes was undisguised.
"Is Young Master Qin joking?"
She let out a cold laugh, her Montblanc pen tapping the table in a rapid, urgent rhythm.
"Yunlan's current cash flow is healthy, and we don't need financing. As for the formula, that is our core secret and the lifeblood of Yunlan; it's impossible to leak it."
"If there's nothing else, please leave, Young Master Qin. I'm busy and don't have time to listen to jokes."
The dismissal was crisp and decisive, giving him no face at all.
If it were the old Qin Xiao, he would have likely slammed the table and cursed at such a rejection, or signaled A Biao to go up and intimidate her.
But today's Qin Xiao was surprisingly calm.
Not only was he not angry, but he also leaned back against his chair and slowly pulled a cigarette from his pocket.
Snap!
The lighter ignited the cigarette. Qin Xiao took a deep drag and exhaled a pale blue smoke ring, looking at Mu Qingxue with a half-smile, his eyes like those of a hunter watching a fawn that had fallen into a trap.
"CEO Mu, healthy cash flow?"
"Then how did I hear that your largest raw material supplier, Sus Pharmaceutical Industry in Jiangnan, had a sudden warehouse fire last night that burned everything to the ground?"
As soon as those words were spoken, the entire conference room instantly fell silent.
Mu Qingxue's originally indifferent and arrogant expression froze instantly.
Her beautiful phoenix eyes widened suddenly as she stared fixedly at Qin Xiao, her voice wavering for the first time:
"How do you know?"
This emergency had happened late last night, and the news was under a total blackout; even the media hadn't caught wind of it yet.
Even she had only received a secret call from the Su family this morning and was currently frantically trying to find a way to redirect goods.
How could Qin Xiao possibly know so quickly?
"How I know isn't important."
Qin Xiao flicked the ash from his cigarette, his tone as relaxed as if he were discussing the weather. "What's important is that without Sus's premium rhodiola rosea, your 'ice skin dew'—which is about to hit the market and has already exceeded 100 million in pre-sales—will have to stop production entirely."
"Liquidated damages, the loss of massive early-stage marketing costs, the collapse of your reputation from consumer cancellations, plus the plummeting stock price..."
Qin Xiao held up three fingers and retracted them one by one. "CEO Mu, how many days do you think your Yunlan International can last? Three days? Or five?"
Mu Qingxue's face instantly turned pale. Her knuckles were white from gripping the pen too hard, and her entire body was trembling slightly.
This was her Achilles' heel.
Qin Xiao had grasped it with pinpoint accuracy, leaving her without even a sliver of room to resist.
"You... was it you?"
Mu Qingxue spoke through gritted teeth, her gaze looking like she wanted to devour him.
"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want."
Qin Xiao shrugged with an innocent face, even carrying a hint of concern:
"That was just an accident; the weather is dry, after all. But coincidentally... I happen to have hoarded a batch of premium rhodiola rosea. Not a huge amount, but just enough to last you about half a year."
"Now, is CEO Mu willing to re-discuss the terms from earlier?"
A deathly silence filled the conference room, broken only by the whirring of the central air conditioning and Mu Qingxue's rapid breathing.
Standing behind Qin Xiao, Fang Ming maintained a proper posture, his expression outwardly saying 'the boss is awesome'.
But inside, a storm was already raging.
Something was wrong, very wrong!
As Qin Xiao's personal assistant, Fang Ming knew Qin Xiao's background better than anyone.
This guy didn't understand business operations at all before, let alone such an obscure move like hoarding Chinese medicinal materials.
Moreover, the fire at Sus Pharmaceutical Industry happened last night. How could Qin Xiao have predicted it and hoarded the stock in advance?
This couldn't be explained by some mere intelligence network.
To hoard enough stock for Yunlan International for half a year, he would have had to start the layout at least half a month in advance—before the fire even started!
Unless... Fang Ming glanced at Qin Xiao, who was strategizing and driving the beautiful CEO to the brink of desperation.
A terrifying hypothesis emerged in his mind—could this guy have a system? Or perhaps some ability to foresee the future? Or... was he a transmigrator?
Only this could explain why his personality had changed so drastically lately, why he suddenly gave him a raise, and why he had become so shrewd.
Then there was Mu Qingxue.
With this level of beauty, this cold temperament, and this 'oppressed by the villain' starting point... wasn't this the perfect template for an urban novel's female lead?
If she was the female lead, then according to normal novel tropes, a male protagonist should jump out at the right time to help her solve the medicinal materials crisis and slap Qin Xiao in the face in the process.
But now, before that male protagonist could even appear, Qin Xiao had directly blocked the path and even used the crisis in reverse to keep Mu Qingxue under his thumb.
"Is this guy... intercepting the protagonist's opportunities?"
Fang Ming was dumbfounded, a chill running down his spine at his own guess.
If Qin Xiao really was a transmigrator or a system owner, it meant he had the world's trajectory in the palm of his hand.
His dealing with Chu Yao wasn't just for lust; it might have been to lure out the Soldier King Chu Feng or to grasp the Soldier King's weakness in advance.
His dealing with Mu Qingxue wasn't for money; it might have been to suppress another protagonist who hadn't appeared yet?
This villain had a brain, and he had the script in his hands? In this state, even the protagonist might not be able to deal with him. He needed to be even more careful step by step.
Holy crap!!
Qin Xiao didn't notice Fang Ming's expression. Instead, he spoke to Mu Qingxue, who was slumped in her chair with a pale face.
"CEO Mu, I'll have someone bring the contract over tomorrow. I hope you'll be sensible. After all... my patience is limited."
After saying that, Qin Xiao strode out of the conference room.
Fang Ming quickly followed. As the elevator doors were closing, he took one last look at Mu Qingxue.
Where was the pride of that cold female CEO now? She was slumped over, covering her forehead, her eyes filled with helplessness and resentment.
The elevator doors closed, cutting off the view.
Fang Ming looked at his reflection in the mirrored stainless steel, his face showing no emotion.
This script was getting more and more interesting. A villain with the script? How the hell was he, a double agent with only a Chat Group, supposed to play this?
"It seems I must hurry up and improve myself..."