Volume 1, Chapter 41: Su Jing in Danger, Zhou Yang Steps Forward

"Zhou Yang, let's go!" Su Jing said.

"Director Su, where are we going?" Zhou Yang asked, momentarily stunned.

"We are not doing business with this client anymore!" Su Jing replied.

"Huh?"

Zhou Yang was even more confused.

How could negotiations be called off just like that?

The next second, seeing that Su Jing had brought a young man along, Director He flashed a look of displeasure across his face.

"Director Su, I asked you to come here to talk with me alone. Why did you bring someone else with you?" Director He asked in a mocking tone.

"He Quan, do you think this is funny?" Su Jing said angrily. "You tricked me into coming all the way here just to talk business. Are you out of your mind?"

"Director Su, what kind of talk is that? I really do have a huge business deal to discuss with you!" He Quan spread his hands, looking quite shameless.

"Director Su, do you know this person?" Zhou Yang asked.

"Yes!" Su Jing nodded.

He Quan was a client on the EPS blacklist.

The EPS Group placed tags on dishonest clients, categorized into red alerts and a blacklist.

Clients with a red alert faced restrictions in cooperation, while those on the blacklist were completely barred from working with the company.

The reason He Quan's company ended up on the EPS blacklist was because he had been reselling pharmaceuticals and disrupting the market.

Under the guise of running a chain pharmacy company, he had promised to purchase over 100 million yuan worth of medicines from EPS annually. In return, EPS signed a contract with him and offered the massive discounts expected of a major client.

In reality, He Quan had no chain pharmacies at all; he was merely running a shell company.

He would turn around and sell the EPS products at high prices to small street-corner pharmacies, pocketing the price difference.

As a result, consumers found that EPS medicines sold at various pharmacies varied wildly in price, with some charging exorbitant rates.

This led many consumers to file direct complaints against the EPS Group with the Consumer Association.

With its reputation damaged, EPS placed He Quan on the blacklist, vowing never to work with clients who pulled such tricks again.

Cut off from EPS drugs, He Quan lost most of his financial lifelines. Desperate, he tried every possible trick to reinvent himself and sign contracts with EPS, even having family members register companies using their ID cards to attempt a partnership.

However, all his maneuvers were seen through by EPS. Now, a year had passed, and despite countless makeovers, he had failed to win a single opportunity for cooperation.

Left with no other choice, he had to conceal his identity, have someone from a branch office contact the municipal sales department, and lure Su Jing out for a proper meeting.

"Director Su, don't leave!" He Quan hurriedly stepped forward.

Su Jing had originally been the one leading a sales representative in negotiations with He Quan.

When things eventually went wrong, Su Jing had also lost face.

Because of this, she harbored a strong aversion to him.

"Director He, our business relationship is over!" Su Jing said.

"Director Su, you can't be like this!" He Quan said, his tone reeking of hoodlum swagger. "I know I was in the wrong back then, but I also brought you tremendous performance numbers!"

"I'd rather not have those performance numbers!" Su Jing retorted. "Besides, don't you know how much money you embezzled yourself? You were the biggest beneficiary!"

"Hahaha, Director Su is as ice-cold as ever!" He Quan said. "Let's put the past aside. Today, I want to have a proper discussion about a partnership with you."

"I'm sorry, there's nothing to discuss!" Su Jing quickened her pace, nearly reaching the exit of the private dining room.

"Director Su!" He Quan frowned and barked, "Surely you aren't uninterested in money, are you?"

"What do you mean?" Su Jing asked.

"If you give me a chance to cooperate, I'll split thirty percent of all the profits I make with you!" He Quan said. "Director Su, this is the utmost sincerity I can possibly show!"

During their last partnership, he had earned over 80 million yuan purely by reselling medicines.

Thirty percent of that would amount to more than 20 million yuan.

Even though Su Jing was a director-level executive at EPS, this massive sum of money was enough to keep her busy for several years.

He believed the conditions he offered were tempting enough.

Yet Su Jing merely gave a cold laugh. "Thirty percent? Even if you gave me all of it, cooperation is out of the question!"

With that, she resolutely turned around to leave.

"Director Su! You really don't know how to play the game, do you?"

He Quan gritted his teeth, gave a slight gesture, and a subordinate handed him a cigarette and lit it.

He Quan took a fierce drag, sizing up Su Jing's retreating back with lustful glint in his eyes.

Su Jing reached the door and prepared to push it open and leave, but the door panel seemed as heavy as a thousand pounds and refused to budge no matter how hard she pushed.

"Hahaha!"

With the cigarette dangling from his lips, He Quan walked toward Su Jing. "Director Su, we haven't even talked business yet. Why are you in such a rush to leave?"

"What do you want?" Su Jing asked, her eyes flashing with a cold light.

"What do I want? I want to talk business with you!" He Quan grinned, revealing half a mouthful of gold teeth.

"What you're doing is illegal," Su Jing said. "I advise you to act like an honest citizen, sooner or later, a prison sentence will come your way."

"Director Su sure has a sharp tongue," He Quan remarked. "However, since you've come to my turf today, the initiative rests entirely in my hands. I'll just ask Director Su one question: Can we cooperate or not?"

"No!"

Su Jing answered decisively and without a shred of fear.

Watching this scene, Zhou Yang felt a profound sense of admiration.

Stripped of her aura as a sales director, Su Jing was, after all, just a woman in her early thirties.

Faced with this group of ill-intentioned thugs from society, she remained completely calm under pressure, both domineering and composed.

Truly a heroine among women!

"Director Su, don't toast to fine wine only to be forced to drink a forfeit!"

He Quan removed his sunglasses, a cold gleam flashing in his narrow eyes.

"He Quan, let me tell you, don't try to scare people with these tactics. I, Su Jing, don't buy your act!" Su Jing's pretty face flushed with anger as she shouted, "Open the door, or I'm calling the police!"

"Calling the police? Heh!" He Quan sneered. "Do you think your call will even go through?"

His subordinates stepped forward, glaring menacingly at Su Jing.

If Su Jing dared to pull out her phone, they would snatch it away the next second.

"Director Su, someone as smart as you must realize that for He Quan to pull off this line of work, I have powerful backing!" He Quan said with a sinister laugh. "To be honest, I'm just a lackey taking orders. It's the big boss above me who wants me to deal with you. If you don't agree today, he's going to lose his temper."

"I don't care what kind of boss you have. I'll count to three, and you better let us out right now!" Su Jing said.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"You're pushing your luck!" He Quan roared. "Tie her up first!"

The henchmen behind him charged straight toward Su Jing.

"Let's see who dares!"

In the next instant, Zhou Yang stepped forward, putting himself right in front of Su Jing.

Looking at Zhou Yang's solid back, Su Jing was momentarily stunned.

She had been worried that Zhou Yang would be terrified in a situation like this, but she never expected him to step up.

Yet, she was the one who had brought Zhou Yang to meet the client today. If anything went wrong, it would mean she had dragged him down.

She tugged at Zhou Yang's sleeve and said, "Don't be reckless!"

Then, turning to He Quan, she said, "He Quan, didn't you want to talk business with me? Fine, I'll talk with you. Let my subordinate go outside first."

Su Jing's extraordinary bravery at this moment touched Zhou Yang deeply.

Faced with these wicked men, a frail woman like her possessed such courage and responsibility—it was simply admirable.

"Let him go outside?" He Quan gave a sinister smile. "No way!"

Realizing that Su Jing actually cared about her subordinate, he intended to use Zhou Yang as a bargaining chip; how could he possibly let him go?

"If you negotiate a partnership with me properly, both of you will be safe, and naturally, there'll be no need to let him out!" He Quan said. "Unless you're playing tricks on me!"

"He Quan, let me say this again: let my subordinate go first." Su Jing's imposing manner did not wane in the slightest, remaining fiercely aggressive.

"Let him go out to call the police? Haha! Stop joking, Director Su!" He Quan said. "I won't waste words with you either. You must sign the contract with me today, otherwise..."

His lewd gaze lingered on Su Jing's body, sweeping up and down before finally resting on her chest.

"Otherwise what?" Zhou Yang suddenly spoke up. "Are you going to eat us?"

"Is there any place for a punk like you to speak?"

A subordinate roared loudly, making a move to charge at Zhou Yang.

He Quan grabbed the subordinate, stopped him, and said to Zhou Yang, "Young man, how much do you make at your job? Don't throw your life away over this!"

Zhou Yang replied, "I don't want to throw my life away, but if anyone dares to touch my boss, I don't mind risking my life with them. My life isn't as valuable as anyone's sitting here—trading my life for one of yours is a break-even, trading it for two is pure profit!"

Then, he stared coldly at He Quan. "And if I happen to drag you down with me on my way out, I can die in peace!"

Zhou Yang's words actually startled the group.

They hadn't expected this mild-mannered young man to speak with such a hardened, underworld-style bravado.

"Kid, you've got guts!" He Quan said. "But you'd better not play the fool by trying to stop an elephant with an ant's strength."

The subtext was clear: *You tiny ant, don't think you're anything special.*

Zhou Yang gave a cold smile.

The reason he had such confidence was that when he happened to leave today, he had brought along the gold token given to him by Brother Long of the KTV.

He said to He Quan, "I may be an ant, but I have an elephant behind me. Have you ever heard of Qiao Youliang from Huaxi?"

Noticing that He Quan and his men also carried the swagger of hoodlums, he decided to gamble that they had heard of Qiao Youliang's name.

"Never heard of him!" He Quan said. "What, making up names to scare me?"

"No need!" Zhou Yang said. "If you don't believe it, I'll make a phone call right now and let you see who is the ant and who is the elephant."

"The hell you say?" He Quan mocked. "You're trying to call the police, right? Do you take me for a fool?"

"Whoever calls the police is a bastard!" Zhou Yang retorted. "I'm a friend of Qiao Youliang. If you dare to lay a hand on me today, Brother Qiao won't let you off the hook later."

Seeing how imposing Zhou Yang was, and realizing he didn't seem to be lying, He Quan began to harbor doubts.

"Fine, I'll let you make the call. I want to see what kind of Qiao or Liang this backing of yours really is!" He Quan said. "But you have to place your phone right in front of us while you call!"

"Alright!"

Zhou Yang took out his phone, pulled out the gold token as well, and dialed the number engraved upon it.

First looking at the gold token in astonishment, the group then waited in suspense for the call to connect.