“Little Yi, do you still remember Shanghai Shengyi?” her second uncle asked suddenly.
He Yi put down her gla.s.s and nodded. “Mn. What"s wrong?”
“Well, Shanghai Shengyi recently entered the market and signed an impressive bill that"s worth almost ten billion RMB with Apple. Since Apple is one of GGS" key compet.i.tors, we"re planning to strengthen our cooperation with Shanghai Shengyi and take as many of Apple"s resources from them as possible. Otherwise, we will lose a great deal of influence in China.”
He Jin gave his small gla.s.s of red wine a swirl before smiling. “I heard that the young master of Shanghai Shengyi is also playing Heavenblessed. He is one of the Top Ten Youths, and he has many companies. You"ve been single ever since you entered the work field, so why don"t you consider him as a potential partner? He has been pursuing you, hasn"t he?”
He Yi"s expression instantly turned frigid. “Second uncle, can you please stay out of my private life? Do you really know who w.a.n.g Dongliang is? If you don"t, then I would advise you to let me handle my life.”
“How can you say that?”
He Jin looked a bit angry. “I"m doing all this for your own good. You"re 26 years old already; is there really no one that meets your expectation? w.a.n.g Dongliang excels in both morals and studies, and he belongs to the Top Ten Youths. Do you really think he"s unqualified to be with you? You… your bar is a bit too high, isn"t it? No wonder sister-in-law couldn"t stop worrying about your future, sigh…”
He Yi protested indignantly, “Excels in morals and studies? Top Ten Youths? He only got the award because he made his dad pay 4 million RMB to bribe the committee! A Top Ten Youth like him is worth exactly nothing! Second uncle, I refuse to believe that you didn"t know this with your experience. My love life is mine, and no one can choose my partner for me!”
He Jin"s eyebrows knitted together. “For the past half a year or so, the board of directors has had problems with your work att.i.tude. You need to prove yourself by facilitating the successful cooperation between GGS China headquarters and Shanghai Shengyi, do you understand? Before I came over, Peter literally spent half the day talking to me about this, and even before today that he has been pressuring me greatly. If you refuse to change your mind, then the board of directors will be forced to take action.”
He Yi blinked and stared at her second uncle in shock. A long time later, she finally moved her lips and murmured, “What did you just say, second uncle? Care to repeat yourself?”
He Jin fell silent for a moment before replying, “Right now, your only out is to facilitate the cooperation between GGS and Shanghai Shengyi. This is for the sake of GGS" development in China, so I hope you can deal with this rationally. My suggestion for you is to disband Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and arrange an appointment with w.a.n.g Dongliang to talk about this. Long story short, the board of directors doesn"t want the company"s development in China to be negatively affected because their Asia region vice president is too engrossed in a game—”
“Enough.”
He Yi cut off her second uncle and rose to her feet. Her shoulders were shaking a little as she stared at the glistening lake outside the window. “I negatively affected GGS" development in China? Hehe. Who was the one who spent half a month negotiating in Beijing to finally convince the Ministry of Commerce to allow GGS to come ash.o.r.e? Who was the one who burned the midnight oil for seven days straight to create the PVF project, the project that won the position of China"s chief application software partner away from the Singaporeans? Who was the one who pushed strongly for financing and saved the company from sinking in the financial crisis last year?”
Her expression turned incredibly sad as she turned around to look at her second uncle. “So this is what they call "to boil the hound once it caught the rabbit". Since a year ago, the board of directors has been removing my power non-stop. They think I did too much for the company, and that I"m threatening their position, didn"t they? Peter... and even you really want me to leave GGS, didn"t you?”
He Jin fell quiet and said nothing.
He Yi let out a soft sigh before smiling suddenly, “In that case, there"s nothing else I have to say. I"ll send my resignation letter to the GGS headquarters in three days. From now on, Eve will no longer work with GGS.”
He Yi"s expression suddenly turned ice cold. “But remember, that doesn"t mean I"m retiring from the industry. GGS wants me gone? Very well, I"ll remove GGS from China, no, Asia itself! Just you wait. My word is my bond!”
He Jin exclaimed in shock, “What madness are you spouting, Little Yi? Do you really think it"s worth doing all this for a game and a couple of gaming friends?”
Smiling, He Yi shook her head. “They are my companions. A businessman like you will never understand this!”
He Jin: “...”
Clearly, the biggest reason He Jin returned to his country was to facilitate the cooperation between GGS and Shanghai Shengyi, and persuade He Yi to give up Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. However, he never thought that He Yi would react so fiercely, probably because he touched her reverse scale and caused her to lose her cool completely.
……
I stood up and put an arm around He Yi"s shoulder. I said, “Let"s go back, Eve. We don"t belong in such a place…”
She nodded slightly. “Mn.”
Murong Mingyue and Beiming Xue also followed us, and soon He Jin was the only one left in the side room. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn"t find the words he needed. Who would"ve thought that a simple squabble over power would result in He Yi resigning from GGS? Or maybe this was the price all overachievers who didn"t know how to show modesty must pay.
……
On the way back, He Yi stared at the running outside the window, hurt and angry. She must find it difficult to accept the sudden bad news.
“Eve?” I grabbed her hand gently before apologizing, “I"m sorry. You lost your cool because of us.”
He Yi returned the grasp and smiled back at me. “Idiot. How is it your fault?”
Murong Mingyue chuckled from the side. “It"s not all bad. You"re finally free to do what you want, right? After all, only in fairy tales can you get the best of both worlds.”
He Yi smiled a little before putting her cheeks on my shoulder. She looked very tired as she slowly closed her eyes. The way her eyelashes s.h.i.+vered broke my heart a little.
“What are your plans for the future, Eve?” Murong Mingyue asked.
He Yi opened her eyes and hummed in acknowledgment. Then, she said quietly, “To be honest, I have a feeling they"re wary of me since a long time ago. My influence and power in GGS are simply too big, and there were a couple of times I even challenged my president, Peter at the board meeting directly. Sigh, I should"ve known that a personality like me was more suited as a president than a vice president…”
Murong Mingyue burst into a giggle. “I understand now. You want to strike out on your own, am I right?”
“Yes!”
He Yi nodded strongly as her eyes glowed with intelligence. “Peter and second uncle only saw Shanghai Shengyi"s power and neglected another super corporation, Blue Star. Blue Star and Eternal Moon Corporation share a cooperation agreement right now, and they have incredible influence within China. Blue Star"s fatal flaw is that their software"s flexibility and security is far inferior to GGS". When Ling Tian was still alive I had talked to him about this, but unfortunately we ultimately weren"t able to come to an agreement. However, the current president of Blue Star, Ling Xue just came to me a few days ago to discuss the possibility of a cooperation, so my plan is to provide them with the technology they need and establish our foothold in China through this.”
I asked, “That sounds like a fine plan, but do you really have the manpower and wealth to carry it out?”
He Yi chuckled, “Idiot, do you think so little of my abilities? I"ve worked in GGS for years; I don"t have to tell you how good my connections and reputation in the industry is, do I? I even own a tonne of shares in GGS. Hmph! Believe me when I say that GGS" properties in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are all mine. All they require is a name change, and the cooperation with Blue Star will proceed as usual. As for manpower, hmph hmph, do you know that the core of GGS" technical employees were mostly my people? For example, the people I brought over from India will only acknowledge me as their superior, not GGS. Therefore, manpower isn"t a problem either!”
Murong Mingyue gave me a pat me on the shoulder before smiling, “It is as she says, Eve"s not a dumb dumb like you after all. Do you really think she would neglect developing her own henchmen after working in GGS for so many years?”
He Yi chided her in a kind tone, “What do you mean, "henchmen"? It"s called like-minded people, okay?”
“Right…”
He Yi was smiling, but I felt like crying. Not everyone could give up a ma.s.sive organization and rebuild their own company from scratch. He Yi had sacrificed so much for us, and yet she was smiling like everything was fine because she didn"t want us to be sad for her. Her smile was so strong that it pained me to see it.
……
He Yi turned serious again and said, “So, Mingyue and I won"t have much time to play the game for a month because there are preparations and recruitments to take care of. The new company must arrive at a cooperation agreement with Blue Star in a month or even a week to achieve the best results. At the same time, We need to take over as many GGS businesses as possible before the headquarters can stop us…”
He Yi looked at me. “Therefore, we are leaving the virtual gaming side of our business to you and Beiming Xue. Since Blue Star is a partner of Eternal Moon Corporation, naturally our new company will involve ourselves in Heavenblessed and provide you with a certain level of technical support. This means that Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls is now more than important ever before. Do you understand what I mean, Lu Chen?”
I nodded. “Yes, I do. Don"t worry, you can entrust everything in the game to me!”
“Good. Let"s all do our best!”
……
After we returned to the workshop, the first thing He Yi did was to lock herself and sis inside her room and making calls non-stop. Even from outside, I could hear her calling all kinds of people including the president of Blue Star, Ling Xue herself to make an appointment. Ling Xue was the fifth-placed CGL Hall of Famer and a greater player than even I was. The woman was a living legend.
Obviously, it took a lot of work to build a new company, not to mention that He Yi was trying to build a flags.h.i.+p of China"s software industry. It absolutely wasn"t something He Yi and Murong Mingyue could handle alone, so she needed all the help she could recruit as soon as possible.
I was planning to help her, but the mere sight of the complicated English text on the name cards numbed my scalp completely. It wasn"t long before a smiling He Yi pushed me out of the room. “Hey hey, I appreciate the thought, but don"t give me more trouble than I already have, okay? You should head into the game and check if Dark Moon City is still standing. It"s worth a lot of virtual wealth, you know…”
Left with no choice, I returned to my room and entered the game as ordered. As she mentioned earlier, Beiming Xue and my task was to protect all of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls" in-game properties.
Some time later, I left the room to pour myself a cup of tea. I saw Murong Mingyue at the kitchen drinking a gla.s.s of water.
“Sis?”
“Mn.”
“Eve, she…”
“Let me stop you right there.”
Murong Mingyue stared at me for a moment before smiling enigmatically. “I know you feel guilty, and I"m not even going to correct it. Yes, Eve broke up with GGS because of you. That stubborn girl might have a million reasons to leave you, but she only needs one to stay by your side…”
“...”
“Alright, you should get back into the game now. Everyone here has invested their heart and soul into the guild, and it would absolutely suck if our dreams were to vanish because of us, am I right?”
“Got it.”